The changes which the Lord announces throughout this portion of Isaiah (and specifically in 56:2-8) are not easy changes. One might say that they are “mind-boggling” groundswells on the order of all the ice in the Arctic completely melting or the entire Rock of Gibraltar dissolving into the Mediterranean Sea. Jesus, the Lord’s Servant, understood the upsetting nature of his ministry and God’s plan and purpose from his incarnation forward. …
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Denouement: Devotional 2.71
In the entire passage, verses 1-8, the Lord summarizes the new order. In the first two of these verses, the Lord describes his standard of behavior for his people. He names their reward. Then, in the following six verses, the Lord spells out how he includes the eunuch and the foreigner and how he blesses them equally with his elder son. …
Joy and Comfort: Devotional 2.69
And, in chapter 55, God continues to speak to his redeemed people with words of spiritual-literal comfort and joy. Spiritual-literal blessings are blessings that are very, very real, yet they are spiritual in nature. With these chapters, the Gospel of Isaiah leaves the confines of the concrete physicality of Old Testament physical-literalism and steps boldly into the realm of Spirit which Christ the Servant inaugurates in the New. And, within the realm of the Spirit, there is great joy and comfort. …
“Barren” Woman–Isaiah and Galatians: Devotional 2.68
What Paul finds in Septuagint Isaiah 54:1, as he expresses it in Galatians 4:21-31, is what God intends us all to see. The content of Paul’s understanding of Isaiah 54:1, as he presents it in Galatians, lies within the text from the beginning, even in Isaiah’s day. Readers can verify this by following the context throughout the chapters of Isaiah which occur previous to 54:1. …
God’s Faithful: Devotional 2.66
Chapter 51:1-8 completes what chapters 49-50 and previous chapters began. By the end of verse 8, readers can conclude that the reference to the “barren” woman in 54:1 looks back to the references in God’s speech to a faithful Sion. In chapter 51, these are God’s people who follow after righteousness and seek the Lord. Consistent with many prior chapters, God again makes clear that Gentiles will be intimately woven into Israel’s future blessings of comfort and prosperity. …
Sion and the Servant: Devotional 2.65
Septuagint Isaiah 49-50 flow as a single unit. These chapters teach that: 1. God intends to bless Sion. 2. He connects his blessing upon Sion to his call upon Gentiles. 3. Those who obey God will receive his blessing. 4. The ones who continue to worship idols will not. 5. God’s blessings upon Sion proceed from the work of his Servant. …