Last week, over the course of three evenings, Prof. Paul Koelpin from Martin Luther College, led us on a Bible Blitz through all 66 chapters of Isaiah! He gave us insights into the history of Isaiah’s great book, and he helped us grasp its themes. He shared masterful, memorable insights along the way--all to help us see the big picture.
This Wednesday Encouragement serves as a humble footnote to Prof. Koelpin’s presentation. We’ll focus on Isaiah 66:10-14.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her. Share her joy with her, all you who have been mourning over her, so that you may nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breast, so that you may suck and find delight from her milk-filled breasts. Yes, this is what the LORD says. I am ready to extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream. You will be nursed. You will be carried on her side, and you will be bounced on her knees. Just like a man whom his mother comforts, in the same way I myself will comfort you, and you will be comforted concerning Jerusalem. Then you will see, and your heart will be glad. Like grass you will receive new strength, right down to your bones. Then the LORD’s hand will be known to his servants, but his fury to his enemies.”
Isaiah’s ministry spanned close to 60 years, and it began in the years when the northern Kingdom of Israel still existed. But that kingdom was tottering and ready to fall, because her people had forsaken the Lord. Isaiah lived to see that fall in 722 BC, when the Assyrians swept into Israel and took the people into captivity.
But Isaiah lived through much more than that! About 20 years after the fall of Israel, Assyrian armies invaded the southern kingdom of Judah. They sieged Jerusalem. God’s people needed a miracle to survive. Together with King Hezekiah, Isaiah prayed for that miracle, and God sent it. An angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night! The siege was over! (Isaiah 37:36-37; see also 2 Kings 19:35-36 and 2 Chronicles 32:21)
Yet Isaiah also foresaw that the days for the southern kingdom of Judah were numbered. The Prophet warned good king Hezekiah, “The days are coming when whatever is in your house―everything that your fathers have stored up until today―will be carried away to Babylon. Not a thing will be left, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 39:6) Since God’s own people had come to believe that national security and economic prosperity were the most important possessions in the world, Isaiah had to tell them these things would be taken away from them. Their nation would be broken, plundered, and carried into captivity.
But exile in Babylon wouldn’t be the end of Judah nor the end of God’s people! Isaiah raises a banner of hope when he urges, “Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her. Share her joy with her, all you who have been mourning over her.” Isaiah sees tears of sorrow replaced with tears of joy! Why? “You will be nursed. You will be carried on her side, and you will be bounced on her knees.” Isaiah sees weary pilgrims—moms. dads, and babes in arms--coming back home. They come back to Jerusalem.
And the people of Judah did just that. After some 70 years, Cyrus and the Persians toppled the Babylonians. And one of the first things Cyrus did was issue a proclamation allowing the Jewish people to return to their homeland. He even opened his treasuries to help pay to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. (See Ezra and Nehemiah). It was a miracle.
But that fact of history only paved the way for a far grander miracle. One made possible by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through the Good News about Jesus, God’s Son! For you see, Isaiah joins other prophets (Micah, Joel) in using the title “Jerusalem” as a synonym for God’s people, believers! In the New Testament, St. Paul cements this connection into place for us in his letter to the Galatians, the latter part of the fourth chapter. There St. Paul uses an allegory to teach us that the new “Jerusalem” is much more than a place on the map. Rather, it is God’s people. It is God’s Church blessed to live under God’s Gospel. And ultimately it will be God’s Church gathered triumphantly in heaven (as a number of references from Hebrews and the book of Revelation also make crystal clear)!
So in the glorious conclusion of Isaiah’s great Gospel, the prophet looks ahead and he sees that time when “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs” heard the Apostles declaring the wonders of God! (Acts 2:9-11) 3,000 were baptized on that day of Pentecost and brought home to Jerusalem, God’s Church.
Since that day, God’s people have followed the Lord’s directive to take the Gospel out from Jerusalem, into Judea and Samaria, and to the “ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Through the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, countless lost souls have found blessings which only the new Jerusalem, God’s Church has to offer.
What are those blessings? Let’s focus on just one. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her. . .Yes, this is what the LORD says. I am ready to extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.” Jerusalem, God’s Church, will be inundated with a river of peace, a river that flows steady and strong, fresh and pure, continually renewed by the Lord.
“Peace like a river!” This is a peace with God which only God’s Son can provide, as Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Jesus went to his cross and shouldered every last ounce of God’s wrath and punishment to buy us this peace!
“Peace like a river!” See your worst sin--together with all your sins--washed away in the flood of Christ’s blood, in the river of God’s grace! Then drink in the comfort and joy Isaiah guarantees us. “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. When you see this, your heart will rejoice.” There is no greater comfort than knowing your sins are forgiven through the work of Jesus. There’s no greater joy than knowing that heaven waits for us because of Jesus. And there’s no greater privilege than sharing this Good News of God’s forgiveness with a neighbor or friend.
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
This Wednesday Encouragement serves as a humble footnote to Prof. Koelpin’s presentation. We’ll focus on Isaiah 66:10-14.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her. Share her joy with her, all you who have been mourning over her, so that you may nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breast, so that you may suck and find delight from her milk-filled breasts. Yes, this is what the LORD says. I am ready to extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream. You will be nursed. You will be carried on her side, and you will be bounced on her knees. Just like a man whom his mother comforts, in the same way I myself will comfort you, and you will be comforted concerning Jerusalem. Then you will see, and your heart will be glad. Like grass you will receive new strength, right down to your bones. Then the LORD’s hand will be known to his servants, but his fury to his enemies.”
Isaiah’s ministry spanned close to 60 years, and it began in the years when the northern Kingdom of Israel still existed. But that kingdom was tottering and ready to fall, because her people had forsaken the Lord. Isaiah lived to see that fall in 722 BC, when the Assyrians swept into Israel and took the people into captivity.
But Isaiah lived through much more than that! About 20 years after the fall of Israel, Assyrian armies invaded the southern kingdom of Judah. They sieged Jerusalem. God’s people needed a miracle to survive. Together with King Hezekiah, Isaiah prayed for that miracle, and God sent it. An angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night! The siege was over! (Isaiah 37:36-37; see also 2 Kings 19:35-36 and 2 Chronicles 32:21)
Yet Isaiah also foresaw that the days for the southern kingdom of Judah were numbered. The Prophet warned good king Hezekiah, “The days are coming when whatever is in your house―everything that your fathers have stored up until today―will be carried away to Babylon. Not a thing will be left, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 39:6) Since God’s own people had come to believe that national security and economic prosperity were the most important possessions in the world, Isaiah had to tell them these things would be taken away from them. Their nation would be broken, plundered, and carried into captivity.
But exile in Babylon wouldn’t be the end of Judah nor the end of God’s people! Isaiah raises a banner of hope when he urges, “Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her. Share her joy with her, all you who have been mourning over her.” Isaiah sees tears of sorrow replaced with tears of joy! Why? “You will be nursed. You will be carried on her side, and you will be bounced on her knees.” Isaiah sees weary pilgrims—moms. dads, and babes in arms--coming back home. They come back to Jerusalem.
And the people of Judah did just that. After some 70 years, Cyrus and the Persians toppled the Babylonians. And one of the first things Cyrus did was issue a proclamation allowing the Jewish people to return to their homeland. He even opened his treasuries to help pay to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. (See Ezra and Nehemiah). It was a miracle.
But that fact of history only paved the way for a far grander miracle. One made possible by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through the Good News about Jesus, God’s Son! For you see, Isaiah joins other prophets (Micah, Joel) in using the title “Jerusalem” as a synonym for God’s people, believers! In the New Testament, St. Paul cements this connection into place for us in his letter to the Galatians, the latter part of the fourth chapter. There St. Paul uses an allegory to teach us that the new “Jerusalem” is much more than a place on the map. Rather, it is God’s people. It is God’s Church blessed to live under God’s Gospel. And ultimately it will be God’s Church gathered triumphantly in heaven (as a number of references from Hebrews and the book of Revelation also make crystal clear)!
So in the glorious conclusion of Isaiah’s great Gospel, the prophet looks ahead and he sees that time when “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs” heard the Apostles declaring the wonders of God! (Acts 2:9-11) 3,000 were baptized on that day of Pentecost and brought home to Jerusalem, God’s Church.
Since that day, God’s people have followed the Lord’s directive to take the Gospel out from Jerusalem, into Judea and Samaria, and to the “ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Through the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, countless lost souls have found blessings which only the new Jerusalem, God’s Church has to offer.
What are those blessings? Let’s focus on just one. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her. . .Yes, this is what the LORD says. I am ready to extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.” Jerusalem, God’s Church, will be inundated with a river of peace, a river that flows steady and strong, fresh and pure, continually renewed by the Lord.
“Peace like a river!” This is a peace with God which only God’s Son can provide, as Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Jesus went to his cross and shouldered every last ounce of God’s wrath and punishment to buy us this peace!
“Peace like a river!” See your worst sin--together with all your sins--washed away in the flood of Christ’s blood, in the river of God’s grace! Then drink in the comfort and joy Isaiah guarantees us. “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. When you see this, your heart will rejoice.” There is no greater comfort than knowing your sins are forgiven through the work of Jesus. There’s no greater joy than knowing that heaven waits for us because of Jesus. And there’s no greater privilege than sharing this Good News of God’s forgiveness with a neighbor or friend.
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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