Isaiah_42
Scripture:Isaiah 42:5-7 This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. Observation:Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the Israelites' exile in Babylon. This chapter contains a poem known as the first of the "Servant songs" about the servant – which depending on what you read is Israel/Israelites, Jesus or Cyrus. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_42]. The chapter begins with the character of the servant (vs. 1-4) followed by God’s promise to His servant. Understanding:I escaped lockdown this weekend for some much-needed nature therapy at Ventura County beaches. I’m often struck with awe at the understanding that the same God that created this crazy beautiful planet we live on and universe we live in – from its thousands of grains of sand, the huge expanse of the ocean and the varying decibels of the ocean waves crashing, that huge ball of gas that our planets orbits around and the stars in the sky that are too numerous to count – that God created and knows us…to the very number of hairs on our heads. [Which based on the number I lose daily, to stay up to date on that seems a job in itself.] Yet that God knows us, loves us and considers us “perfectly and wonderfully made.” And He did all of this – from sky and earth creation to Adam and Eve to the many generations between that brought us to this specific time in the blink of an eye we call life – for the purpose of relationship, for us knowing Him and making Him known. And, with that, comes a calling and a Holy Spirit empowerment… “7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Life Application: Know Him. [Spend time with Him.]Make Him known. [Share His love with others.]Live/walk in His power. Now [and I mean especially now] is no time to hold back or hide our flames. We must shine and burn brighter, walk in the power that He has bestowed in us and through us – taking every opportunity to share His love, grace, healing, kindness, justness, patience, goodness…in ways big and small. Rei PS As I read commentaries, I also loved and was encouraged by the below in reference to verses 3 and 4. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;4 he will not falter or be discouragedtill he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench: This is another reference to the gentle character of Jesus. A reed is a fairly fragile plant, yet if a reed is bruised, the Servant will handle it so gently that He will not break it. And if flax, used for tinder to start a fire, does not flame but only smokes, He will not quench it into extinguishing. Instead, the Servant will gently blow on the smoking flax, fanning it into flame again.…“We call ourselves Christians, but if you are like me, sometimes you are desperately ashamed of how dimly your light burns. There is far more smoke than fire: so little prayer, so little real testimony, so much depression and discouragement. But the Lord says He will not extinguish the smoking flax.” (Redpath)“He is not dismissive of others: however useless or beyond repair (bruised reed), however ‘past it’ and near extinction (smouldering wick) they may seem. The negative statements imply their positive equivalents: he can mend the broken reed, fan into flame the smouldering wick. The former has been internally damaged, the latter lacks the external nourishment of oil. The Servant is competent both to cure and to supply.” (Motyer) Jesus sees the value in a bruised reed, even when no one else can. He can make beautiful music come from a bruised reed, as He puts His strength in it! Though a smoking flax – used for a wick on an oil lamp – is good for nothing, Jesus knows it is valuable for what it can be when it is refreshed with oil. Many of us are like the bruised reed, and we need to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). Others are like the smoking flax and can only burn brightly for the LORD again when we are drenched in oil, with a constant supply coming, as we are filled with the Holy Spirit.Jesus wants us to have His heart towards the lowly, broken, and hurting. It’s easy to pass them by just as quickly as the priest and the Levite passed the man on the road to Jericho. “The superficial Christian worker ignores that kind of situation. He wants a sphere to serve where it will be worthy of his talent, if you please. A task where his abilities will be recognized and used, something that is big enough to justify all the training he has undergone. In the eyes of the Lord, the test of the real servant is, does he bend with the humility of Jesus Christ over a bruised reed and smoking flax?” (Redpath)He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged: The Servant is gentle, but not weak. He will bring forth justice for truth. There aren’t two ways about it; it will happen, and failure or discouragement will not stop the Servant.…Till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law: The work of the Servant will extend to the whole earth, and all the peoples – even those in the distant coastlands – shall serve Him.[https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/isaiah-42/] No one is too far gone to be loved and used by God…and justice will come, in God’s time and in God’s way, but it will come.