August 2025

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.” 

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 40: The Light of Judgment

In our last presentation of this commentary on Isaiah, The Test of God, discussing Isaiah chapter 41 we had witnessed a description of the test of God as it was attributed to Yahweh God Himself through the words of Isaiah His prophet, and the valid conclusion for Christians must be that only God, the God of the Bible, has revealed the past as well as the future, and by that we should know that He is God. Of course, the proof that He has done this is found only through the study of His prophets alongside the subsequent events of history which demonstrate that His Word has been, and is true. So for that reason alone, men should dispense of their idols and worship and obey Him, in ways that are also revealed in His Word.

Having done that, we began our commentary for Isaiah chapter 42, but we only presented the first four verses of the chapter. So we will repeat them here, so that we may discuss at length a different aspect of the message which they contain.

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the [Nations]. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 39: The Test of God

As we have already sought to describe concerning these last twenty-six chapters of Isaiah, at this point in the life of the prophet the Assyrian captivities are nearing completion. This we hope to have further elucidated in our last presentation, The Beginning of Encouragement, in which we documented one later occasion, from the days of Ashurbanipal around 660 BC, when there were further captives taken from cities of Israel on the coast, namely Acre and Ushu, which was the Assyrian name for the mainland portion of ancient Tyre. However for the most part, from this point forward, Isaiah is primarily addressing the children of Israel as they had already gone into captivity. Moreover, as we progress throughout the balance of this book, it becomes apparent that Isaiah is not only addressing the Israelites of his own time, those of them who would be fortunate enough to hear or read these words, but also Israelites in the far distant future.

However Isaiah remained in Jerusalem itself, which was the only significant city of Israel and Judah that was virtually unscathed by the Assyrian conquests, and as he had prophesied, Jerusalem had a separate and distinct destiny from this point forward. While there is a Jerusalem which is mentioned in these final chapters of Isaiah, it is usually in visions of a prophetic Jerusalem within the context of Messianic salvation, and it is a seemingly different Jerusalem which is not even necessarily in Palestine. There is an exception in Isaiah chapter 44, in a prophecy which had a more immediate fulfillment, as later history had fully revealed, although even the fulfillment of that prophecy was for the purpose of the coming Messiah. So even if Jerusalem would have a history distinct from that of Israel from this point in time, ultimately the histories of Judah and Israel remained intertwined.