Have you ever been really down and discouraged? The world looks very bleak and grim. It’s especially difficult when you know the bad situation you are in is due to your own fault. The prophet Isaiah had come to the Jewish people, and told them that God was going to judge them because of their sins. Many other prophets had said the same thing. The majority of the people individually, and the nation as a whole, corporately, had sinned against God by following after the pagan gods of the neighboring nations. Now God was bringing deserved judgment, and they had every reason to feel defeated and discouraged. As our Old Testament passage opens for today, Isaiah brings a ray of hope to the people. They may have messed up badly, but God would not completely forsake them.
When we feel depressed and discouraged sometimes it is difficult to get up and do anything. It might feel like our body doesn’t want to even move. Isaiah’s message today was to bring encouragement to the weak, feeble, and fearful (vs 3-4). In the midst of difficult days and judgment, God had good news for His people, and He wanted Isaiah to bring them this hope. The author of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament also used this verse to bring encouragement to the Christians who were suffering persecution (Hebrews 12:12). He gives hope to any who accept Him. Are there those around us who could use similar encouragement, who we could give strength and hope to?
What was this message of hope that God wanted Isaiah to give the people? It was the message that God would come to them and save them (vs 4). He had not forgotten them in their troubles. Maybe the situation they found themselves in was their own fault, but God still loved them. We see this fulfilled in God sending His Son, Jesus Christ to pay the price for our sins, and bring salvation to those who accepted Him. God did not abandon His people. He has not abandoned us, either. He sent the Messiah to them, just as He has for us. His desire to redeem us was so strong, He did it with a vengeance, to reverse all that Satan and sin had done to mankind.
There are many around us who are blind and deaf to God’s message of redemption (vs 5). This was the case during the days of Isaiah, the days of Jesus, and today. We need to pray and work to reverse the spiritual condition of those around us. The day will come in the future when everyone’s eyes will be opened and their ears unstopped. Isaiah closes this passage with giving us a brief glimpse of that day. When Jesus returns to earth to set up His Kingdom, spiritual blindness and deafness will be opened, and all will see and recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord and King (Philippians 2:9-11).
Not only that, but the physically blind and deaf will be healed then. Their eyes will be opened, and their ears unstopped so they both hear and see. Those who are crippled will be able to run and leap (vs 6). All physical ailments will be gone for those who live in God’s Kingdom.
There are many parts of the world where water is a scarce commodity. It is a necessity to life, even more so than food. When Jesus returns, Isaiah say that the desert areas on earth will have springs of water flowing through them (vs 6-7). To all those who are who have a covenant with God through the Blood of His Son, Jesus, He will give Living Water, the Holy Spirit. He is much more precious than water in a desert.
Be strong, because God has not abandoned us. He will rescue us, redeem us, and set us free. Sometimes we are fearful, especially when times are tough. Remember, though, God says to be strong, and fear not.
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