Week 25, June 15–21: Isaiah 27–45; Psalms 75–81

• Sun      Jun 15 Isa. 27–29       Ps. 75
• Mon     Jun 16 Isa. 30–32       Ps. 76
• Tue      Jun 17 Isa. 33–35       Ps. 77
• Wed     Jun 18 Isa. 36–37       Ps. 78
• Thu      Jun 19 Isa. 38–39       Ps. 79
• Fri        Jun 20 Isa. 40–42       Ps. 80
• Sat       Jun 21 Isa. 43–45       Ps. 81 

Isaiah is a long book, and it can be daunting to read. Maybe this would be a good time to remind us that reading God’s word is a discipline worth cultivating. Reading each day is not something we are doing just out of a sense of duty, to check a box or to fulfill an obligation or to earn favor with others or with God. We are making a wise investment of time and prayerful effort, building the habit of spending time in Scripture so we can hear what God has said through the prophets, apostles, and others biblical writers.

The Lord has told us this is a valuable endeavor (2 Tim. 3:16–17), and we can trust this is true. Over time we will come to realize that value more and more as our thoughts, affections, and behaviors are shaped by the worldview of the Bible. Reading God’s word aligns our view of ourselves and the world with how things really are, how God made them.

The beauty of God’s word is that it is rooted in real history, and it communicates truth that transcends history, eliciting responses from faithful readers throughout history. God’s word was relevant in the time of the original audience, and it continues to speak powerfully and effectively to readers in every era after that.

In this week’s reading we read this in Isaiah 30: “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning [or repenting] and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’” (Isa 30:15) This is what Isaiah said to the rebellious people of Israel, pleading with them not to turn to Egypt for their protection from their enemies but to seek the Lord and trust him instead. This plea was directly meaningful to those who heard it in Isaiah’s time, even though, sadly, they would ignore it and turn to Egypt for help.

Then there were the generations that came after those first ones who heard Isaiah’s message spoken. Because his words were preserved in writing, they could read what God said through Isaiah. This would serve as a reminder and encouragement to them to turn from the rebellious ways of those who came before them and be renewed in their faith in the God who calls his people to repent and trust him.

And today, we can be encouraged in the same way too. We are not facing threats of Assyrian invasion, but God’s people have always had enemies, and the greatest threat we all face is the threat of sin, our own sin and the evil that has wreaked havoc on many of our lives and continues to wreck the world around us. The God who called Israel to turn to him in faith calls us to do the same. He “waits to be gracious to you and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (30:18).

Through the habit of daily Bible reading, we meditate on these ancient words, words that God’s people needed to hear then and words that speak just as powerfully to us today. As we do, we come to know God more deeply; our hearts become more fully convinced of his trustworthy, merciful, kind, and mighty character; and our lives are increasingly marked by thanksgiving and by behavior that is fulfilling for us and honoring to him.

Isaiah has two distinct parts, or “halves” of the book. It is inspired by God and unified in its message and themes, but there is a significant transition point at the end of chapter 39. Before Isaiah 40, the perspective mainly focuses on what happened in the time of Isaiah, during the reigns of the kings listed at the very beginning of the book. (Isa. 1:1) From chapter 40 to the end, the book shifts to more of a foretelling perspective, looking ahead to events that will occur after Isaiah’s time. It focuses especially on the exile of Judah to Babylon and then the eventual fall of Babylon to Cyrus and the Persians.

Having said this, it is also important to remember that, even though the book is framed in terms of these times in Israel’s history, the message is an eschatological one. That is to say, its ultimate vantage point looks at history much more broadly, seeing ahead to God’s great plans for his people and for the world through his Messiah long after the time of the exile.

The first part of Isaiah (chapters 1–39) ends with a narrative section summarizing some of the key events of king Hezekiah’s life. During this time, Assyria was the major enemy nation threatening Judah. They had already taken Judah’s estranged sister nation, Israel, out of the promised land and into exile, and now the Assyrian army was coming for Judah. Isaiah 36–39 may seem familiar as you read them, because the section is virtually identical to 2 Kings 18–20. Here we read of God’s miraculous rescue of Judah from the Assyrian army, then his deliverance of Hezakiah from what appeared to be a fatal sickness. But chapter 39 ends on an ominous note. Hezekiah carelessly shows the riches of Jerusalem to envoys from Babylon. This sets the stage for the future-oriented perspective of chapters 40–66, after the time of Judah’s exile into Babylon.

Hezekiah’s prayer in verses 16–20 of Isaiah 37 is one of the Bible’s great examples of how we ought to approach God in prayer. He begins by addressing God. “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.” (Isa. 27:16) The imagery of the Lord of hosts enthroned above the cherubim recalls the throne room scene in Isa. 6:1–3. Hezekiah’s prayer connects to a theme that runs throughout Isaiah; that the Lord, Yahweh, is the one true, Creator God over all.

When facing an apparently impossible situation, he cries out to God, and before saying anything else, before making any request, he proclaims the Lord’s uniqueness and power as Creator of heaven and earth. In this way, Hezekiah’s prayer is an exemplary model for us to follow. God is mighty and able to help no matter what the circumstances are. When prayer begins from a posture of praise, it builds upon a foundation of confidence in him—and he is worthy of our trust.

Hezekiah then moves towards making his petition, and he recounts the danger he and his people face from the threat of the Assyrians. Still, however, he highlights the truth that all other gods are nothing (vv 17–19). Yahweh alone is the one true God.

Eventually Hezekiah makes his request. He cries out to God and pleads, “So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” This too is instructive. His petition is not driven by selfish desires, nor is it even motivated primarily by the hope that Judah would be delivered. Rather, the aim of his prayer for deliverance is for the glory of God, for the Lord to be known. This too is a good example for us to follow as we make our requests to God in prayer.

The NT quotes or refers to Isaiah many times, more than any other OT book besides Psalms. Matthew quotes Isaiah 7 to show how the virgin birth of Jesus fulfills OT prophecy (Isa. 7: 14; Matt. 1:20–23). A quotation from Isaiah 8 and 28 supports Paul’s argument that the message of the gospel would be a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, to some, but all who believe in Jesus will not be put to shame (Isa. 8:14: 28:16; Rom. 9:33). It seems the NT writers always have Isaiah’s writings on their mind. The majority of the references from Isaiah in the NT come from the latter section, Isaiah 40–66. So much of what we are reading this week is the prophetic foundation of NT and its proclamation of the gospel of Christ and his coming kingdom.

And Isaiah prophesied several centuries before Jesus was born. This is the amazing thing about God’s word. God’s revelation through the prophets and the biblical authors is not constrained by time. The Lord is sovereign over history, and he knows the end from the beginning. In fact, this is also a theme through this week’s reading in Isaiah. One thing that sets the true God apart from other so-called gods is that, unlike these foolish idols, the Lord knows all things, even what will come about in the future. (Isa. 41:21–29; 44:7; 45:21; 46:10)

We often think of the gospel as a NT idea, and it is right to think of it this way. It is in the NT where the good news of Jesus is proclaimed and expounded, where we read of Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection and of the saving power of God demonstrated at the cross. And much of the point of the NT, especially the epistles, is to give instruction and exhortation to the church to live out the implications of this glorious good news of Christ. However, the foundation for the gospel is laid in the OT, and Isaiah is where we find so much of this gospel language and thematic backdrop to the NT.

Isaiah 42 envisions Zion as a “herald of good news” (Isa. 40:9). Without going into full Bible-nerd mode, the earliest Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish translations, before Christ and the NT) use the same language here that the NT uses for “gospel.” This is the same word from which we get words like “evangelism” and “evangelical”. A legitimate translation for Isaiah 42:9 would be, “Go up to a high mountain, O Zion, the evangelizer; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, the evangelizer.” As you read through these chapters in Isaiah, notice the theological truths that resonate with the message of the gospel of Jesus, and pay special attention to the Servant of the Lord we read of in this part of Isaiah.