In this portion of Isaiah (Volume 2), God does not “hate” Gentiles. Gentiles, per se, are not the enemy God deals with. As in Ephesians 6:11-18, the enemy is spiritual. God welcomes repentant Gentiles into his Israelite family. God’s victory is not yet complete. There is eternity yet to come. This is the “already not yet” so popular in Christian writing today. But the major portion, the most difficult part, has already been achieved. John 19:30 … “It is finished” … Let us give God our “selah” and pause to celebrate with him and Isaiah in chapter 60. …
Condemnation Versus Blessing: Devotional 2.73
Consistently in Isaiah, “Israel” appears as a heterogenous group. God in Septuagint Isaiah does not give promises of salvation as a blanket statement to the nation of Israel as a whole. Rather, he gives his promises to his people. Sometimes he calls these people “Israel,” or “Zion.” But chapters 56-57 indicate in plain speech that God does not welcome into his assembly everyone found to be of Israelite descent. …
Strangers and Eunuchs: Devotional 2.72
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. …
“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 Complains: Devotional 2.63
After God states clearly that he intends to include Gentiles in his rebuilding of Israel, Sion complains. Her response resembles the response of the elder brother in the New Testament gospel narrative of the Prodigal Son. God reassures and rebukes Sion, but he holds steadfastly to inclusion of Gentiles in the blessing he gives his firstborn, Israel. …