These chapters are rich in promises, and comfort. The people of Israel were in need of comfort, having been sent into exile due to their own sin. Yet—God was continually wooing them back to himself.

Isaiah 49-52 reminds us that salvation from God is meant for all mankind. I am touched that this was God’s plan before the birth of Christ. We are reminded the words of the Servant (Jesus) have power and authority. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, he was the covenant—the promise—to restore all mankind.

The first two chapters in this week’s reading program (Isaiah 43 and 44) have meant a great deal to me through the years. It’s not without some irony that I look back over my personal bible study journal, and see that on New Year’s Day, 2017, I was reading in and meditating on these same chapters. Because it was the turn of the year, I was looking to God’s word for some enlightenment as to what to expect. There is a tendency to pause at the start of every January; we make resolutions, we set goals, and we often try and predict what might happen. 

When I considered last week’s readings, I focused my comments on how the themes of each chapter would seem to veer from one extreme to another — Isaiah would write of the judgment of God falling on unfaithful Israel or its enemies in graphic, sensationalistic terms, with the next chapter suddenly shifting to a focus on God’s mercy, and how there was hope for the faithful remnant of God’s people. But here, after a brief pause for some narrative history in chapters 36-39, we find a complete change in tone and theme for the book of Isaiah.