Day 210 (Isaiah 49-53) - Year 8

**Tara-Leigh Cobble** (0:01)
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.
Today we hit one of the most important sections of prophecy in the Old Testament. I can't wait to talk about those sections, but let's start in Chapter 49 First, you may be wondering who exactly the text is referring to when it uses the word coastlands. One of the first verses we read said, listen to me, oh, coastlands. The general opinion is that this is a catch-all word for all the nations of the world reaching to the far corners of the earth. God tells Israel, I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. He says that although Israel is a despised nation, he's chosen them and will use them to bless all the nations that despise them. So how will he do that? And what exactly has he chosen them for? He's chosen them to be the lineage of the Messiah. And that Messiah will save people from among every nation. His love will reach to those who hate him and the people of his lineage. And then he will turn his enemies into his family. In the meantime though, Israel feels forgotten and ashamed. Waiting can feel shameful and lonely. I'm sure you can relate. But God says those who wait for me shall not be put to shame. He reminds them that he cannot forget his people. They're engraved on the palms of his hands. By the way, I used to think this was a reference to Jesus and the nail marks in his hands, and maybe it is, but then I learned that Roman crucifixion put the nails in the wrists between the radius and all the bones, not in the palms of the hands. So who knows?
Chapter 50 brings us some beautiful prophecies of Christ. Here are a few of the things it says to point us to him. Verse four says, he knows how to sustain with a word him who is weary. This reminds me of the way Jesus spoke to so many people he encountered, from the woman caught in adultery, to Zacchaeus, the tax collector, to the woman at the well, to Peter after he betrayed him. His compassionate words sustained the weary.
Chapter 50 also points to Christ when it says, I was not rebellious. I gave my back to those who strike and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. Jesus endured all of that at his crucifixion. This chapter also begins to draw a unique distinction for us. So far, God has called a few people his servant, the pagan king Cyrus, Israel as a whole. But in pointing to Christ, these prophecies are pointing out that there's another servant, a superior servant, which only seems fitting because, frankly, Israel hasn't quite lived up to its role, and we know Cyrus doesn't have a heart for God, so this can't be referring to him. Christ is the Messiah. Christ is the servant.
Verses 10 through 11 are some of my favorite verses in the whole book. Once, when I was trying to make a decision about what I should do in a certain situation, my mentor said, Don't light your own fires. I didn't know what he was talking about until he quoted these verses. They tell the story of two different types of people, one who trusts God and obeys his servant, Jesus, and one who forges his own path. I want to read the verses to you one by one. See if you identify with either person. Verse 10 says, Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. That's verse 10 The man who trusts God and obeys Jesus. Despite feeling stuck in the dark, he knows God is with him there. And in contrast, verse 11 says, Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches, walk by the light of your fire and by the torches that you have kindled. This you shall have from my hand. You shall lie down in torment.
Verse 11 shows us the person who doesn't trust God to come through, who insists on making his own way out of the trials in the darkness. He lights his own fires. And God says, Enjoy the comfort of those torches because it's the only comfort you'll know. You'll never know the joy of my nearness in the dark or of the moment when I cracked the sky open with light to dawn on you. When I read these two verses, I want to be the person God is calling Israel to be in verse 10