Yes, this set of studies brings us to the end of the book of Isaiah, but there is not really a sense of ‘ending'. It is more a sense of ‘ongoing' prophecies really. It is a continuation of all that has gone before in that it is a continuing mix of warnings of impending judgement because of the ongoing sin of Israel, and promises of future blessing for the faithful remnant in their midst.

Past, Present and Future

Within these prophecies we will see frequent references to Israel 's past sin, but this is balanced by Isaiah as he encourages himself and appeals to the Lord on the basis of the good things that the relationship with the Lord has involved in the past.

The present, again and again challenges Israel on their present unfaithfulness. Not only are there references to Israel 's past unfaithfulness but there is also reminders of their present failings. The present does not seem good.

The future is a combination of both short term and long term judgement or blessing. The words of judgement are for Israel in the short term because of their ongoing sin, but there are also long-term references to judgement of the world for anyone who similarly insists on ongoing sin and rebellion. The blessings promised, similarly are fro the faithful remnant of Israel , but also there are long-term and eternal blessings spoken about for all believers, all who will respond to God and come into relationship with Him.

It is not easy to structure this part of the book and so we will simply take the studies, chapter by chapter. However, within these chapter studies, watch out for these different aspects of the prophecies noted here under this heading: past, present and future warning of judgment and promise of blessing.

PART 1 : "Revelation and Response"

In this first Part we will see revelation of God of the blessing bought by the Messiah that will mean restoration for His people. This, we will see, produces a response of praise and prayer in Isaiah, praise for the wonder of what God will do, prayer that God will do what He has said. Watch for the lesson seen in the heart of the prophet as he responds to the revelation he receives. May that be us as well!

Chapter: Isaiah 61

Passage: Isaiah 61:1-3

A. Find Out:

1. For what purpose was the Spirit on him? v.1a,b

2. What three groups was he being sent to? v.1c,d

3. What was he to proclaim? v.2a,b

4. Who was he to comfort? v.2c

5. What 3 things was he to give to replace what? v.3a,b

6. What will they then be called and for why? v.3c

B. Think:

1. What was the state of many people? (list the negatives)

2. What was Isaiah's role to be?

3. How was that to happen?

C. Comment:

These are, for many, familiar verses. Let's look at them in a way that is different from usual, what they meant to Isaiah's day. The first thing that must strike us is the state of the people to whom he is being sent. Note the words used: poor, broken hearted, captives, prisoners, mourn, grieve, ashes, mourning, and a spirit of despair. Now whether this is the state of Israel , or simply a graphic account of fallen mankind generally, isn't made clear. What is clear, however, is the Lord's desire to change all that. How is He going to do that?

Very simply He's going to put His spirit upon Isaiah, He's going to anoint him. In the Old Testament, kings or priests were anointed with oil, and when they were anointed it was always for a task. The oil was a symbol of the Spirit of God who would come on them to enable them to perform their God-given tasks. So Isaiah is to be directly anointed by the Holy Spirit to do this task. What will he do?

He will speak out the will of God in such a way that God will come and do these things. He will speak good news, freedom, release and comfort. He will announce that this is God's day for this to take place, a day of joy, gladness and praise, a day when people will be released into newness of life, to become an object to cause praise and honour for the Lord.

D. Application:

1. The Lord comes to bring release.

2. Are we ones who bring the good news?

Chapter: Isaiah 61

Passage: Isaiah 61:4-6

A. Find Out:

1. What will these freed people do? v.4a,b

2. How long have those places been like that? v.4c

3. Who will look after your flocks, fields & vineyards? v.5

4. And what will you be called? v.6a,b

5. Where will your resources come from? v.6c

B. Think:

1. What is the first change mentioned?

2. What is the second change?

3. What is the third change?

C. Comment:

The deliverance that is spoken of in verses 1 to 3, will result in a threefold change in their live as a society.

First, there will be a restoration of their communities (towns and cities). Whereas these will have been devastated for generations, they will now be fully restored. Secure community life is a characteristic of this new order.

Second, others will serve them. Whereas they had been dominated by other nations when they had been out of relationship with the Lord, now that will be reversed and others will come and work for them.

Third, they themselves will have a new relationship with the Lord whereby they will all be called priests or servants of the Lord. Originally the priests came from the tribe of Levi, and the other tribes provided for them. Now everyone who is the Lord's will be a priest and all other nations and peoples of the world will provide for them. The people of God will be elevated above all others, and the others will provide for them!

We must remember that this transformation will come about, not as a result of the work of men, but as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit. This is all the Lord's doing!

D. Application:

1. The redeemed people of God are a restored community.

2. The redeemed people serve God and will be served by others.

Chapter: Isaiah 61

Passage: Isaiah 61:7-9

A. Find Out:

1. What will replace what? v.7a,b

2. What will be the outcome? v.7c

3. What does the Lord love and what does He hate? v.8a

4. So what will He do with them? v.8b

5. Where will His people be seen? v.9a

6. What will the world know? v.9b

B. Think:

1. What transformation is show here?

2. Why is God going to do this?

3. And what will be the outcome as far as the world is concerned?

C. Comment:

The Lord continues to reiterate what He will do for His people. In the past there has been shame and disgrace. Israel has failed to be the covenant-keeping people of God and as a result they were overrun by other nations. Now, once the Lord has cleared away the unfaithful ones, the remnant will be raised up and will receive a double blessing from the Lord for their faithfulness, they will receive an inheritance, that which the Lord has had on His heart for them all this time. Joy will result.

Why is the Lord going to do this? Because it is in His nature. He hates wrong so He is going to deal with it and remove it. In its place He will bring blessing to His faithful ones, He will reward them for their faithfulness and He will re-establish His covenant with them which will last for ever.

Indeed, it will go from generation to generation, so that their descendants will be known throughout history as the people of God, a people He has blessed. Has this happened with Israel ? Well they do continue to exist, that is certainly true. But it seems it is more likely to apply to all those who respond to God across the world, the church that continues on from generation to generation. For a large portion of history Jews were spoken against and cursed as they were scattered across the globe. His faithful ones are the church across the globe.

D. Application:

1. Catch the sense of joy that is to be ours in our salvation here.

2. Understand the long-term plans of God throughout history.

Chapter: Isaiah 61

Passage: Isaiah 61:10,11

A. Find Out:

1. What was Isaiah's heart response? v.10a

2. What did he say the Lord has done? v.10b

3. To what 2 people did he compare himself? v.10c

4. What will the Lord make to happen? v.11b

5. To what will that be compared? v.11a

B. Think:

1. What is Isaiah's response to all the Lord has said?

2. What does he feel the Lord has done for him?

3. What does he see the Lord will do for the world?

C. Comment:

The Lord has spoken of what He will do and now we see Isaiah's response to this. It appears that it doesn't matter whether what the Lord has been saying was to be fulfilled immediately or in the long term, it nevertheless creates within Isaiah a sense of rejoicing. He feels that the Lord, speaking so clearly, has declared salvation over him, has declared righteousness over him, it feels like he has been dressed up with good things and they make him feel good.

He feels like a bridegroom who has had wedding garments given to him, or a bride who had had wedding jewels given to her. A wedding is a coming together and Isaiah has that sort of feeling as a response to all that the Lord has said, a closeness or intimacy of coming together. The Lord has spoken blessing over him and that is all that counts. He is blessed!

But there is more. In his awareness of all that the Lord has said, there is also an awareness that the Lord is bringing righteousness to the world and with that will come further praise. It's like the seeds in the ground – the conditions are such as to bring change. Thus, similarly, the Lord is moving in such a way that righteousness will come, it's part of His working & righteousness across the earth will be the end product of all that He has said and all that He is doing. It may not be obvious at first (like the growth in the ground) but the Lord is quietly working at this and it will come and will be seen and will bring forth praise on the earth.

D. Application:

1. God's word spoken personally to us brings a sense of intimacy.

2. God's purpose worked out is to bring righteousness to the earth.

Chapter: Isaiah 62

Passage: Isaiah 62 :1-3

A. Find Out:

1. Why will he not keep quiet? v.1a

2. What does he want to see? v.1b

3. Who will see what? v.2a

4. What will come from whom? v.2b

5. What will Zion be? v.3

B. Think:

1. How do you think these verses continue from ch.61?

2. What does Isaiah want to see?

3. Why do you think he wants that?

C. Comment:

In verse 3 the Lord spoke of those who grieve “in Zion ”. Zion is the centre of Jerusalem. It means fortress and is the hill where the Temple was built. It is the place of central encounter with God. Hearing God's will expressed as restoration in chapter 61, Isaiah's response now is a heart cry of agreement. The Lord has declared it so now he will pray for it and be part of the spiritual process to bring that restoration into reality. In this Isaiah teaches us an important lesson: when God expresses His will, don't simply sit back and wait for it to happen – join in the process for enabling His will to come about – pray!

So, says Isaiah, I'm not going to remain quiet until I see this come about, until Jerusalem , the city of God is fully restored to full splendour and she is seen as a place of righteousness, a place where the blessing of God brings great glory.

When this happens people will look at her and even give her a new name, for she will be so different from the old Jerusalem . People from all over the earth will see and know! She will be like a wonderful crown that God holds in His hand, a royal jewel of great splendour. She will be wonderful to see and all peoples will wonder. This is the picture that now grabs Isaiah's heart, this is the vision that entrances him and makes him cry, “I will not keep silent until….”

D. Application:

1. Do we understand that we are to be part of the process of bringing God's

declared will to reality as we pray?

2. Let God bring vision of what can be, to touch and move your heart.

Chapter: Isaiah 62

Passage: Isaiah 62:4-7

A. Find Out:

1. What will the land no longer be called? v.4a

2. But what will it be called instead? v.4b (see note at bottom of page)

3. To what will this be compared? v.5

4. What has the Lord done? v.6a

5. What are they not to do? v.6b,7a

6. Until when? v.7b

B. Think:

1. How is the land going to be transformed?

2. Yet how do verses 6 & 7 confirm the principle we considered yesterday?

C. Comment:

Isaiah is on a prophetic roll! In his spirit he has been rejoicing over what he senses God is going to do for Jerusalem . Whether he sees what has been or what will be isn't made clear, but he knows that Jerusalem and the land has been, is, or will be, desolate and deserted. But he also knows that the Lord is going to change that. It's all going to come about, this change, because God is going to come to them and enter into a fresh relationship with them, and delight in them. There will be a coming together as there is when there is a wedding.

Now, observe verses 6 & 7. Yesterday we noted a principle in those who are spiritually aware: they hear God's intentions declared and then they pray for those intentions to be fulfilled. Here we have that again. God has declared His intent in respect of Jerusalem and Israel , and now he sets intercessors and prophets to cry out to God until He does it! Some how there is a link between prayer and God moving. It is as if He wants us to more fully enter into the wonder of what He is going to do, and the way He gets us to do that is us to pray His will into being, or perhaps more accurately, to pray until He brings His will into being. As we pray, that which we have heard with our ears becomes a spiritual reality in our hearts, and as we become sure of it, we can start declaring it as truth that WILL be. And as it is declared as truth, God does it.

D. Application:

1. Have I simply heard God's will declared, and left it at that?

2. Am I praying out God's will until it happens?

Chapter: Isaiah 62

Passage: Isaiah 62:8-12

A. Find Out:

1. What solemn thing has God done? v.8a

2. What has He promised NOT to do? b.8b

3. Instead what will happen? v.9

4. What does He call to be done? v.10

5. What does He call to be proclaimed? v.11

6. What will be the result? v.12

B. Think:

1. How has the Lord “removed the past”?

2. What is the point of verse 10?

3. How is verse 11 the opposite side of that?

C. Comment:

Verses 8 and 9 are a seal on the past. In the past Israel had gone away from the Lord and as a result the enemies of Israel had come in and plundered the land. With what I'm going so do, says God, that will never happen again! At this point we have to ask serious questions: was that word immediately fulfilled? Is it yet to be fulfilled? The reality was that in following centuries the enemy came again and again. So does it mean some yet future fulfilment in modern day Israel ? Or was it fulfilled when the people of God ceased to be a geographical people and became an international world-wide people – the church?

The latter has got to be the answer. Make a way for “the people”… “the nations” says the Lord in verse 10. Prepare a way for people to come to Zion , the place of God's presence. Did that not happen through Jesus' ministry?

“Your Saviour comes!” is the cry. One is coming who will bring this tremendous change, who will bring tremendous life-changing blessing (his “reward”, v.11) and when He comes, a new people will be brought into being who, as a whole, will be called holy, the redeemed of the Lord, ones purchased by God. Is this not exactly what happened through Jesus' death on the Cross? It will be seen that there is a new community of God, and many will come looking for it.

D. Application:

1. Jesus is the Saviour who brought into being a new people.

2. The new people are a blessed, redeemed people – us!

RECAP - "Revelations & Response" - Isaiah Chapter 61 & 62

SUMMARY :

In this first group of 7 studies we have seen :

God's REVELATION to Isaiah:

- anointing is upon him to deliver captives (v.1-3)

- those captives will restore the land (v.4-7)

- God will make an everlasting covenant with them (v.8,9)

Isaiah's RESPONSE of prophetic praise & prayer:

- praise & rejoicing (v.10,11)

- a determination not to keep quiet (v.1)

- a declaration that Jerusalem will be beautiful again (v.2-5)

- a strategy to pray until God does this (v.6,7)

- assurance never again to be overrun by enemies (v.8,9)

- a call to prepare the way for people to come (v.10)

- an announcement of a coming Saviour (v.11)

- a declaration that a new people will arise (v.12)

COMMENT :

Herein, first of all, is a glorious declaration of the intent of God expressed through His servant, to release captives and restore His people. Such is God's intent through salvation. When the reality of that hits us it will release praise, prayer and prophecy. Revelation releases our heart and our spirit.

LESSONS?

1. The Lord uses His people to free His people!

2. Revelation requires a response of praise.

3. Revelation requires a response of prayer.

4. Prayer releases prophetic insight.

PRAY :

Thank the Lord that you are part of His redeemed community whose calling is to release the captives!

PART 2 : "Vengeance, Redemption & Prayer Responses"

In the next Part we will see revelation of a different sort and a prayer response again. The revelation this time will be of God who brings judgement on His unbelieving world. Uncomfortable words softened by the wonder of Isaiah's praying.