Title Isaiah 4914 To those who are afflicted
Contents
To those who suffer (Isaiah 49:14-26)
14 But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, and the LORD has forgotten me.
15 How can a woman forget her suckling child, and will she not have pity on the son of her womb? Even if they forget, I will not forget you.
16 I have carved you on the palm of my hand; your walls are always before me.
17 Your children will return quickly, and those who destroyed you and left you desolate
18 Lift up your eyes and look in all directions; they all gather together and come to you, declares the LORD, as I live, swearing by my life that you shall make all them adornment, and clothe them and gird them like a bride.
19 For your desolate and desolate places, and the land from which you were ruined, will now become narrow because of the large number of inhabitants, and those who swallowed you will go far away.
20 And the children born in affliction will say in your ears in the future, 'This place is cramped for us, expand it, so that we may dwell.
21 Then you will say in your heart, “Who has begotten this multitude for me? I have lost children, I am lonely, I am taken captive, I am wandering, who brought up this company, I am alone;
22 I will raise my hand toward the nations, and I will set my sign against the nations, says the Sovereign LORD, and they will come with your sons in their arms and your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your adoptive fathers, and queens will be your nurses, and they will bow down to you with their faces to the ground and lick the dust of your feet; you will know that I am the LORD, and those who trust in me will not be put to shame.
24 ○How can the hero take back what he took and 2) how can he rescue the captives of the victor?
25 Thus saith the LORD, I will take the captives of the mighty, and I will rescue the captives of the violent; for I will oppose those who oppose you, and I will save your children.
26 I will make those who oppress you eat their own meat, and make them drunk with their blood as with new wine, and all flesh will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, and the Almighty of Jacob.
I. The Tension Between God and Israel
The book of Isaiah was not written by a single prophet, Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah was active in the 8th century B.C.E. However, some parts of the book of Isaiah take place much later. They are usually added by the disciples of Isaiah or later unknown prophets. After Isaiah's death, his disciples faithfully memorized them in order to preach the Master's words, and they were supplemented in the process of conveying them. So, although the book of Isaiah was published under the name of one person, Isaiah, it has the character of a collection of prophecies that gather prophecies of several people.
Among them, chapters 40-66 of Isaiah are clearly classified as not the work of Isaiah. It is about 200 years after Isaiah. So, biblical scholars refer to this part as the Second Isaiah.
Chapter 49 of Isaiah we saw today belongs to the second Isaiah. The background of the times is the time when Israel lost its nation and was taken captive to Babylon and suffered sorrow or was just beginning to return from captivity.
But look at verse 14. It starts with the word ‘only’. In the English Bible, it is 'but'. "But! Zion says.” It can be seen that the contents of the preceding verse 14 and verse 14 are contradictory. What is the word in verses 8-13 just before the text?
“8…I will protect you and make you a covenant with the people, and I will raise up a kingdom, and they will inherit the desolate land” (Isaiah 49:8).
“Sing, O heavens; Rejoice, O earth; Rejoice, O mountains; Sing for joy, for the LORD has comforted his people, and he will have mercy on them who were afflicted” (Isaiah 49:13).
God's word about the restoration of Jerusalem comes out.
Verse 14 is Israel's questioning about these words of God.
“No, the LORD has forsaken me, the LORD has forgotten me” (verse 14).
A glimpse of the tension between Jehovah and Israel. Jehovah promises Israel's restoration, but Israel grumbles against God and does not trust in his promises.
Israel's appearance is no different from that of their ancestors, who complained about God when they left Egypt and passed through the wilderness. Just as the ancestors of Israel who received the promise of the land of Canaan through Moses and lived in the wilderness while they were living in the wilderness, did not believe in God's promise and complained.
Even Israel today does not believe in God's promise to end the Babylonian captivity and restore Jerusalem.
What makes them resent? What makes them confront God?
The first is because of the direct pain they are experiencing right now. And secondly, the realization of that promise of restoration is being delayed.
Jerusalem was occupied by the Babylonians, their children were taken captive, and the city was destroyed and devastated. Occupying forces build momentum inside the castle. The more you look at it, the more it seems that Israel's stomach is turned upside down.
Meanwhile, through the prophets, we receive Jehovah's promise of the restoration of Jerusalem, but in reality, there is no possibility that the promise will be fulfilled. 10 years, 20 years, and half a hundred years have passed, but the difficult reality continues and there is no end in sight when it will end. So what appears is the conflict between Israel and God in today's text.
II. Conflict between faith and life
The restoration of Jerusalem promised in the text primarily means the return from Babylon and the restoration of the city of Jerusalem, but secondarily, commentators interpret that it means the redemptive event of Jesus in the New Testament. However, for those of us who have already believed in Jesus and have been saved, we can accept this text as the tertiary meaning of God's promise for our future life, which we must live as children of God.
How has our life changed since we believed in Jesus? Do you win every day and feel good? Do you live a happy and thrilling life? Could it be that the more despairing and the more difficult? In fact, the life of faith gives us happiness, but also conflicts. Because there are many times when things that were nothing before we believe in Jesus trouble us anew. Visions of life that we do not have to have until we believe in Jesus are wriggling in our hearts and do not leave us alone. If you didn't believe in Jesus, you could date and play with anyone, but now you can't. If we believe in Jesus, we expect that real problems such as family, work, and disease will be solved, but on the contrary, it becomes more complicated. I wish I was more mature in faith, but I keep getting depressed, and only my shameful appearance is getting bigger and bigger. Comparing what I think of as ‘completed’ to who I am now, I look shabby and incompetent.
All of these things make it even more difficult for us who believe in Jesus.
Have you ever had the experience of gaining confidence in your faith while praying for a certain problem? Before I prayed, I fell on my face before God because my heart was stuffy, but when the prayer was over, I was filled with joy. With the assurance of help, my heart is warm, and hymns come out naturally. Every step you take gives you strength.
I also make a heartbreaking confession that God is also a good person. I clenched my fists, saying I don't have to worry anymore. But the answer doesn't come. Still, we encourage ourselves that God has given us promises, and we wait for God, holding on to the words, “Nothing is impossible for those who believe,” for fear that our faith will weaken. Still no change. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much you wait, realistic answers do not appear. Everyone has had this experience.
So what happens in the end? Slowly, I start to have doubts about God, or at least doubts about God's promises. “Is there a God?” “Is the promise God gave you right?”
So, the appearance of Israel in today's text is very natural. In fact, we can't blame them for being ugly. “The Lord comforts his people and has mercy on them.” If you say, “No! Jehovah has forsaken me! What we want to say is that the Lord has forgotten me!” is more like our appearance. Even a prophet named Habakkuk confronts God as soon as his prophets begin. “O LORD, when I cry, how long will you not hear me?” I said, “Violence!” and cry out (because of violence), but you do not save” (Hab 1:2).
III. God's Response in Conflict
How does God respond to God's people who ask such questions? Are you going to change reality right now? Isn't it? Just tell me one more time. “I am God.” “I am such a God” “It will be like this” To Israel, who claim that they can no longer believe in God, God only tells them to remember that He is God and keep their faith.
The representative person that comes to mind when we think of ‘affliction’ is the Old Testament Job. The book of Job has 42 chapters. However, chapters 1 to 37 tell the story of Job, who goes through severe difficulties. You will fall into physical, mental, and spiritual tests and melt down to every bone. God finally appears to Job in chapter 38. What does that God say? “You have endured well. Now I will solve all your problems”? You are not such a one-sided solution. This is what God is saying. “Job, look at the earth. look at the sea See the lightning and see the clouds. look at the goat see the ostrich Look at horses and hippos, look at eagles.” In other words, God's long words from chapters 38-41 are simply saying, "Think for a moment who is in charge of everything in this world, including the sufferings you are going through."
Then Job confesses.