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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Is. 47
A few things I notice about Babylon in this chapter:
- God calls her “daughter”. God is, after all, God over all. He created everything and everyone. So why wouldn’t He call His creation, “daughter”? He cares, even about the wicked nations.
- She showed no mercy. This makes me think about what Jesus said in Matthew 7:3. “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?” It also makes me think of what Jesus told the men who brought the adulterous woman before Him. “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” (Jn. 8:7b). When God handed His people over to Babylon, she did not deal with them humbly. Instead, she took pride in her position over them, not considering that what God did to them He could also do to her.
- Her lack of mercy was not the full extent of her pride. She said, “I am, and there is no one else.” (From Is. 47:8). Thus, she put herself in God’s place.
This is the way of Lucifer, the Evil One, the Great Deceiver, the Father of Lies. He fails to acknowledge God as Sovereign Creator and tries to present himself as God. One way to worship him is to follow his lead, as Babylon did. But only God can say, “I am, and there is no one else.” Only He can sit as judge over all that He created. And He most assuredly will.
Is. 48
It is so amazing to see how God set up situations in the Old Testament to demonstrate the work He planned to do through Christ. In Isaiah 48:14 God says, “The LORD loves him; he will accomplish His will against Babylon”. The CSB notes that this refers to Cyrus, the one who freed God’s people to leave Babylon and return to God. God further says of Cyrus, “yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.” (Is. 48:15b). That mission was to make it possible for God’s people to answer the call later in the chapter. “Leave Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with a shout of joy,…’The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!’” (Is. 48:20a,c). I noted yesterday that Cyrus’ name indicates Christ. Today we see that so, too, did his mission.
Is. 49
It seems that Isaiah is speaking of himself in this chapter, and he probably is. However, the message also speaks of Jesus. Like Isaiah, God formed Jesus in His mother’s womb, naming Him before He was born, for the purpose of bringing His people back to Him. Isaiah’s purpose didn’t stop with Israel and Judah, however. And what God says to Isaiah here is true for Jesus as well. “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Is. 49:6). God is indeed God over all, and His salvation is for all who will receive it.