A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 41: The Way of the Blind
A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 41: The Way of the Blind
In our last presentation in Isaiah we had discussed only five verses in Isaiah chapter 42, and in that effort, our endeavor was to explain why the nations in the coastlands and isles of the west would even need The Light of Judgment found in the promised Gospel of Christ. In the first four verses of this chapter there is a Messianic prophecy which concludes in verse 4 by stating: “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. ” Then the purpose of this Messianic figure is further expounded upon, and we read in part: “6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the [Nations]; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”
Of course, the people and nations which were to receive this light and this covenant are the children of Israel in captivity, and they were sent into captivity, which also signified their alienation from Yahweh, on account of their sins. In the warnings of the punishments for disobedience found in Deuteronomy chapter 28, we read in part: “28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.” Their foremost sin was idolatry, the worship of Baal and the other pagan idols of the surrounding nations, and idolatry led them to commit many more grievous sins. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 we read a commandment repeated on at least several other occasions to the children of Israel: “19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.”
Commentaries and Podcasts