Our
preparations continue with good news to those who under God’s righteous
judgment for their infidelity to Him. Isaiah’s prophecies bring into focus the
destruction of Jerusalem, the demolishing of the Temple and the dispersion of
the people. In 586 BC, the Babylonians would
indeed destroy the Holy City. Defeated, humiliated and carried off into foreign
lands, God’s people would long for God to send the Promised One to deliver them
from their bondage. In that day, they would return to and rebuild Jerusalem. Just
as Isaiah predicted their predicament, in turn, He also speaks of their
restoration…
Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall
weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As
soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread
of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide
himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall
hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to
the right or when you turn to the left. And he will give rain for the seed with
which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be
rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24
and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder,
which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain
and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the
great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will
be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the
light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his
people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
Imagine the pain of losing a war, seeing your homeland
decimated, and being dragged back to your victorious enemies’ country where you
will dwell under severe oppression. Psalm 137 reveals the depth of sorrow
experienced by those retained in Babylon. By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when
we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there
our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us
one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign
land?” God’s people longed to go home.
In our
reading for today, Isaiah prophecies that these devastating days of dispersion
will conclude. God will hear the sorrowful songs and the pained prayers of His
people. Once again, Isaiah declares, a remnant will dwell in Jerusalem. The “Teacher”
will come and show you the “Way”. The wasteland will become fruitful again. The
nights will be like day, and the days will be brilliant, even seven times
brighter than before. In effect, what was dead will come back to life. In that
day, the day of the Lord, wounds will be healed and brokenness will be repaired.
God’s judgments will conclude with restoration and healing.
Psalm 147:1-6
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our
God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The Lord builds up
Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and
binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all
of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his
understanding is beyond measure.6 The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the
wicked to the ground.
Songs of praise are an appropriate
response for those who are returning to Jerusalem. God’s deliverance has come
as He gathers the remnant of Israel. God’s omnipotent and powerful hand is like
that of a gifted physician. He salves the sore places, binding up the wounds
and healing hearts torn asunder as a result of unfaithfulness and sin. God’s
grace is given as he lifts up the repentant and humble. Those who stand in
defiance, however, He will bury in their depths of their own depravity.
Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and
healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had
compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is
plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of
the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 1 And he called to him his
twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 5 These twelve Jesus sent
out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the
Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And
proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the
sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without
paying; give without pay.
Isaiah prophesied that the “Teacher”
would come at the time that the Kingdom would be restored. It is no coincidence
that Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages “teaching” them. Isaiah
spoke of the healing that would come in the day of the Lord. Again, there is no
serendipitous happenstance that Jesus, the “Teacher,” arrives “healing every disease
and every affliction”! Isaiah spoke of
the barren land becoming fertile again. Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful
but the laborers are few.” Jesus commends His followers to pray that God will
send out laborers to gather in the harvest. But, Jesus is not speaking about agriculture.
He is speaking of harvesting souls. Isaiah spoke of the restoration of Israel –
a reuniting of the twelve tribes. Jesus calls unto Himself twelve disciples and
sends them out to bring healing to the “lost house of Israel.” The message they
were to proclaim coincided with Isaiah’s prophecy – only greater. The Kingdom
they were to proclaim was the Kingdom of Heaven.
Just as
Isaiah spoke to those weeping under the righteous judgment of God, He may as
well have been speaking to all of humanity. Romans 3:23 declares that, “…all have
sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Paul went on to write in
Romans 6:23, “the
wages of sin is death….” We have all gone into the foreign country –
a dispersion of our own making. We desperately need to hear the “Teacher” who
will not just tell us the way to healing and restoration, He will lead us – for
He is the Way (John 14:6).
Mark 10:17
records a man coming to Jesus asking exactly the right question. “Teacher, what must
I do to have eternal life?” In Jesus, the Teacher had come. In the
twelve disciples we see the remnant of Israel being reconstituted. And because
of the Passion of Jesus – healing and restoration are made possible.
Prayer – Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son –
the Teacher – to us. May we listen to His instruction and follow His example.
For He is the Way that leads to eternal life, healing and renewal. May we offer
you our songs of praise, for you are most worthy. Amen.
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