Israel’s supreme religion
Today and for the next two weeks I want to study with you the high watermark of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible.
The book of the prophet Isaiah has been described as a symphony in three movements.
It is a massive book whose chapters cover more than two centuries of Israel’s history.
The first movement in chapters 1-39 covers that period when the 10 northern tribes were annihilated by the Assyrians and their capital city, Samaria, was destroyed in 722 BC.
The second movement in chapters 40-55 covers the period from 586 to 538 BC when the two southern tribes called Judah were exiled in Babylon.
The third section in this book, from chapters 56-66, covers the Jewish history after their return from the Babylonian exile.
Isaiah is one great book in three distinct historical sections.
I want us to study the second section of this book (chapters 40-55).
To me, these chapters contain the supreme expression of Jewish faith and the finest description of their religion .
The author of these chapters was described by the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as the Poet Laureate of the Jewish people.
What a beginning,‘Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, says your God, speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and tell her that her warfare is ended, her iniquity is pardoned and she has received double for all her sins’(Isaiah 40.1-2).
The Hebrew word for‘comfort’is ‘hal leb’and it means‘from the heart’.
When God spoke to Israel in the shame and bondage of their Babylonian exile, God spoke from his heart.
Isaiah 40-55 expresses a radiant religion from the pure heart and deep soul of the Jewish people.
The author of these chapters was a religious genius gifted with a clear spiritual insight to see the glory of the Lord.
These chapters defied the humiliating conditions of the Jewish people.
‘O Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength, fear not.. Declare to the cities of Judah, Behold your God’(Isaiah 40.9-11).
These words brushed aside every weak thought and blurred vision of the reality of God.
Isaiah shares his pure religion with his people.
He describes his unclouded vision of God :‘To whom then will you liken God ?’(Isaiah 40.18).
Then Isaiah asks the people,‘Has nobody told you ?
’‘Have you not known, have you not heard ? God sits upon the circle of the earth, God stretches out the heavens and spreads it out like a curtain’(Isaiah 40.22).
This is the witness to God that defied the discouraging conditions under which the people existed.
This is the vision of God to lift the spirits, to raise men and women above the ordinary, and to provide them with a religion and faith capable of strengthening their souls.
The message of the Lord was an invitation of hope for these people in their distress.
Surely it is still God’s message for today.
It is still God’s invitation of hope and encouragement for us in our time.
This section in Isaiah closes in chapter 55.
There we read,‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon the Lord while he is near’(Isaiah 55.6).
The prophet persuades the people that their Lord and God is beside them in their captivity and humiliation .
The prophet shows them that the counsels of the Lord are wiser and the plans of the Lord stronger than the forces and powers of their Babylonians rulers.
‘As the heavens are high above the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55.9).
Let us be encouraged by these words from the Lord.
Let our confidence be bolstered by this mighty vision.
Let us be strong in the Lord as we see Jesus striding through the mists of doubt and uncertainty to stand beside us.
Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40.31).
A little prayer – gentle Father God, cast aside the mists of uncertainty that we may clearly see the glory of the Lord. Encourage our faithfulness, strengthen our witness. Let us see and feel Jesus standing beside us. In His Name, Amen.