Day 205: Isaiah 49-51 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango

Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny Arango. Welcome to the Bible Department podcast powered by ARMA. We are walking through the entire Bible in a year. You can go to the description or thebibledepartment.com to download a reading plan and join the journey. Family, welcome to day 205. We are in the book of Isaiah. We're gonna cover chapters 49, 50, and 51. So three chapters of biblical text to get through today. And hey, if you've done the reading, everything that I'm gonna say to you is gonna make perfect sense. If you have not done the reading, go ahead, stop the video, pause the audio, and actually do the reading. Isaiah chapter 49 to 51. I have fallen in love with the book of Isaiah just by studying and reading it. I've fallen in love with it by teaching through this daily Bible reading plan. So there's a lot of context that I want to give you and then I'm gonna give you three nerdy nuggets and I'm always gonna leave you off with a timeless truth. So we kind of got a lot of context, a good amount of context today, maybe a little bit more than normal. So buckle up, okay, because we are going to get a courtroom scene, a law court scene in Isaiah chapter 50. And you may be thinking to yourself, why are we about to have a courtroom scene? Actually, I probably should have introduced this idea earlier. And if you're someone who loves to write notes, you can write this down. There are eight courtroom scenes in the book of Isaiah, eight. So we're gonna talk about those courtroom scenes and then we're really gonna talk through why. Why do they exist? What is the link between biblical prophets and a courtroom? What is the link here? What does the courtroom scene have to do with biblical prophets? So Isaiah chapter one, verse two to verse 31 is a law court scene. It's a courtroom scene, okay? So the book of Isaiah actually starts with a courtroom scene. Isaiah chapter three, verse 13 to 15 is a courtroom scene. So there's some key elements, accusation, evidence of sin, judgment, and an invitation to repentance. So an example verse from chapter one would be, hear O heavens and give ear O earth, for the Lord has spoken, children I have reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. Okay, so this is like classic courtroom language. All right, in Isaiah chapter three, verse 13 to 15, the Lord judges elders and leaders. Okay, the example verse would be the Lord has taken his place to contend.

He stands to judge peoples, okay? The third one is going to be Isaiah chapter five, verses one through seven. It's going to be a song of the vineyard. And the example verse here is what more was there to do for my vineyard that I did, that I have not done in it. When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? So evidence, okay, Yahweh's presenting evidence for his case against the people of Israel. Then we don't get any more in the first section of the book. And then Isaiah chapter 41, we're going to get what's going to be called the trial of the nations. The example verse here is going to be present your case, says the Lord. Bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. Isaiah chapter 41, verse 21. You can hear that, right? Bring your proofs, okay? Present your case. This is classic courtroom language in Isaiah chapter 41. Then this is going to happen again in Isaiah chapter 43, verses eight to 13. It's our fifth example of, uh, this is Israel as God's witness. And the example verse here is chapter 43, verse 10 says, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord and my servant whom I have chosen. The only place witnesses would need to be is in a courtroom during a legal proceeding. So this is legal language. Next we've got for our sixth example, Isaiah chapter 44. Um, this is a lawsuit against idols and in verse seven of Isaiah 44, it's going to say, who then is like me, let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me. So set the evidence before me. Okay. Is there another God that is like me? No.

Okay. There are no idols that could come into this courtroom and even content that they are anything like me or better than me or equal to me. Um, but I would love to hear the, the claim. And I would love to see the evidence you can hear the sarcasm in Yahweh's voice or and in an Isaiah's voice And then the text for the day for today is actually our seventh example And this is Isaiah chapter 50 Isaiah chapter 50 verse 1 to 3 and this is God's divorce Lawsuit against Israel example verse would be verse 1 thus says the Lord. Where is your mother's certificate of divorce? With which I sent her away So a certificate of divorce is a legal document So again, it's just courtroom language and then last number 8 Isaiah number 58 verse 1 to 14 an indictment of false Fasting. Okay, and then in verse 6 of Isaiah 58 we get an example verse is not this the fast that I choose To loose the bonds of wickedness to undo the straps of the yoke. Okay, so Wickedness Could also be translated as injustice and if something is unjust we need to go to court and we need to have a judge Settle it because judges judge Justly, okay. So those are all the examples of courtroom language now Why in the world? Does courtroom language even appear obviously in today's reading we have Isaiah chapter 50 and Isaiah chapter 50 is one of the eight Examples where there's courtroom language in the book of Isaiah So why in the world does this even occur and I'm gonna explain exactly why this occurs Okay So if you go back to Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 13 Deuteronomy chapter 18, you'll actually begin to see The official office of the prophet now, here's something you need to remember that Israel functioned as a theocracy. Okay in the same way that the United States of America is a Democracy and that democracy has certain offices, right? It has a judicial branch and has an executive branch and then it has a representative branch, right? so Congress in the Senate Congress House of Representatives and then you have the office of the president of the United States of America, and then you have the

Judicial branch. Okay, the Supreme Court. Okay, those three branches of the democracy create checks and balances Well, there are three offices of God's theocracy and those three offices are the prophet The priest and the king the prophet the priest and the king Okay, so when people say well Jesus is prophet priest and King Those aren't just three things that people are picking up at no Jesus represents all three official offices of God's theocratic system of governance So what people need to know is that if there's a hierarchy it is definitely a triangle with Priest and King Kings a little higher than priest. So it's a lopsided triangle, but prophet is up at the top Okay, you need a prophet to even go make a king It's the prophet that anoints the king so the prophet has a couple of jobs first one Prophets anoint Kings which means on the on the org chart Prophets outrank Kings and so prophets represent God to the people Priests represent the people to God and then Kings are actually supposed to be the role model They're supposed to live out Torah in such a way that it models for the rest of the people how to live out Torah They're supposed to be faithful to Yahweh. They're supposed to be you know, the the model Disciple family the wait is over. My brand new book crushing chaos is out now and available everywhere books are sold Literally today. I walked into a Barnes & Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location so you can grab this book at a physical Barnes & Noble or you can go to a books a million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy if you enjoy Reading the Bible from an ancient perspective if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in Context then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life I think this book is gonna be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one I think you should get a copy today. All right back to the episode So the Prophet has four jobs number one The Prophet anoints Kings number two the Prophet holds the nation Accountable to the Torah to the to the covenant of Deuteronomy number three Prophets stand in Yahweh's royal court, which means that when Isaiah gets called into the ministry He gets caught up to Yahweh's royal court

so there's a courtroom in the heavens and Isaiah is now a part of the divine council So the reason he can say with authority what God is saying is because he's hearing the voice of Yahweh because he's getting caught up to the royal court. And since the prophet is actually a human member of the divine council of heaven's royal court, then that means number four, the prophet's job is to provide legal representation for Yahweh here on earth. So when the people have sinned against Yahweh, it is 100% Isaiah's job eight times in the book of Isaiah to say, ah, God's got a legal dispute against you. And remember, the number one complaint of the people that are in exile is, I don't think we deserve to be here. This is unjust. Job is going to have a lot of this courtroom language as well, which means that we're going to get the view of the courtroom of heaven. God's going to say, no, you can run the security cameras. Look at what happened up in my courtroom since Job wants to bring a charge against me. Okay, I will defend myself and I've got witnesses. So this is courtroom language. And the reason that the prophet is going to use courtroom language in his poetry or his prophecy is because the prophet is Yahweh's legal representation here on the earth. So eight times in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah is going to be charged to represent Yahweh as Yahweh's legal representation. Okay, so hopefully that explanation of the prophet as legal representation for Yahweh helps to explain why we have eight courtroom scenes in the book of Isaiah and why we have one right here in today's reading. So that's context that I think we need to be able to

interpret some of this stuff well, or at least to answer the question, why is it here? Okay, next I got three nerdy nuggets for you. Okay, first nerdy nugget is that we're gonna get the second servant song. This is Isaiah chapter 49 and it's gonna be verses one through six. Okay, Isaiah chapter 49 verses one through six, and I'll read it. Okay, this is the second servant song that we're gonna get in the book of Isaiah. Listen to me, you islands, hear this, you distant nations. Before I was born, the Lord called me. Okay, so whoever this servant is is going to be called before birth. From my mother's womb, he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. Verse four, but I said, I have labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand and my reward is with my God. Verse five, and now the Lord says, he who for me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength. He says, is it too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept? I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. This is a servant song. This is the second servant song that we have in the book of Isaiah. There's a couple of things that I want to highlight about this servant song. Number one, the servant of Yahweh will be the true Israel in order to redeem the true Israel. So let's talk about what is the true Israel. Because Israel fails to actually be what God called Israel to be,

which is to be a light to the nations, which is to be a model to all the other nations. Israel keeps failing to actually be Israel. When God calls Abraham, he says, through you all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed, but all the nations of the earth are not blessed in the Old Testament because Israel fails to be Israel. So now there has to be a servant that's going to come along to be what Israel cannot be. Matthew is going to pick up on this hard core, the book of Matthew. For Matthew, Jesus is the true Israel. This is why Jesus's life literally models everything that Israel is supposed to do. So I'll give you six examples that are just from the book of Matthew. Being called out of Egypt, this is Matthew chapter 2 verse 14 and 15. Going through the waters and tempted in the desert for 40 days is Matthew chapter 3 verse 16. The anointed servant of Yahweh, Matthew chapter 12 verse 17 and 21. Being a prophet like Moses, okay? Chapter five through seven. So the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew is really framing Jesus as a new Moses, as a new leader, giving the law, giving God's instruction from a mountain. Suffering exile while on the cross. This is why Jesus is going to say, uh, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me because Matthew wants to paint Jesus' suffering on the cross as an exile. Uh, and then resurrection as restoration from exile, which is Matthew chapter 28, verse 18. So, uh, Matthew sees Jesus as the true Israel. And what is the true Israel supposed to do? Create a true Israel. And Paul is going to pick up on this huge. He's going to say things to the Galatians, to the Romans, like is a true Israelite, someone who's just circumcised in the flesh, or is it someone who's

been circumcised in their heart? What does it mean to be a true Israelite? Is it just ethnicity? Is it just what happens by birth? Or is it someone who has been saved, uh, by faith? Okay. Because the righteous will live by faith. This is Paul's entire argument that the true, the true Israel will create a true Israel, I hope that's not too confusing, but Israel failed to actually be what God intended Israel to be. So they need a servant. Who's Jesus to come along to actually be the true Israel for Israel to then create a true Israel, which AKA is the church. So this is a massive theme and it is found in this servant song, this second servant song, uh, this is clear that Paul and Barnabas are going to see Jesus as this, because they're going to quote this exact passage of scripture. They're going to quote this second servant song in Acts chapter 13. Okay. I'll read Acts chapter 13, verse 46 to 48 to you. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly. We had to speak the word of God to you. First you're talking to Jews, since you reject it and do not consider yourself worthy of eternal life. We now turn to the Gentiles for this is what the Lord has commanded us. And they're going to quote the book of Isaiah. I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. So Jesus is the true Israel.

Uh, and that's verse six, by the way. So, uh, Isaiah chapter 49, verse six says, I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. This is the last verse of the second servant song. And what does it mean to be the true Israel? It means to open up your borders for the Gentiles. That's the whole mission. When God called Abraham in the beginning, it wasn't just that the Jewish people could be blessed. It wasn't just for Israel. Israel has never existed for Israel. Israel has existed for the world, for the nations, for the pagans, for the Gentiles. But instead of existing for the Gentiles, Israel has acted like the Gentiles. Therefore, God says, let me send a true Israelite who can model what it means to actually be Israel and that servant, which will be the true Israel will then create a people, which will be a true Israel. And that true Israel will draw the Gentiles so that all the nations of the earth can be blessed. All right. That is a breakdown of the second servant song. That's huge. Okay. This, this idea of the servant songs, helping us to understand the identity of Jesus, this is why people look at the book of Isaiah as the fifth gospel, because there's all these breadcrumbs about the identity and about the vocation, the work and the ministry of Jesus right here in the book of Isaiah. All right. Two more nerdy nuggets for you. Is Isaiah chapter 50 verse one. Okay.

Isaiah chapter 50 verse one. Uh, there's going to be a certificate of divorce. Now I've heard this preached and essentially I've heard people say divorce is fine because even God's divorced. I don't think that's what the scriptures are saying, but we'll see, let's read it for ourselves. Isaiah chapter 50 verse one. Where is your mother's certificate of divorce? With which I sent her away? Question mark. Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Question mark. Because of your sin, you were sold because of your transgressions, your mother was sent away. Okay. This is the verse, uh, chapter 50 verse one. And here's the conclusion. It's a rhetorical question. And the answer is there is no certificate of divorce. Israel cannot produce a certificate of divorce. And in the ancient world, a divorce was not final until a woman was given a certificate of divorce. So essentially what Yahweh is saying is, yeah, I've wanted to divorce you. Definitely. You've been a terrible bride, but the final straw would be me writing. certificate of divorce. Remember, the context of this chunk of Isaiah is that people are in exile. So they're wondering, has God left us? Has he forsaken us? Has he divorced us? And actually this is God saying, if I divorced you, where's your certificate of divorce? And you can't produce one. You don't have one. Which means I'm still the God who's with you. I've never left you. I've never forsaken

you. I'm a faithful husband. And I'm a faithful husband even when you are an unfaithful bride. Last nerdy nugget is that Yahweh's a dragon slayer. Come on. Isaiah chapter 51. You know I love a dragon. Isaiah chapter 51 verse 9. I love talking about dragons in the Bible. Awake, awake, arm of the Lord. Clothe yourself with strength. Awake, as in the days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces? Rahab is a sea monster, a sea dragon. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces? Who pierced that monster through? Was it not you who dried up the sea? This is talking about God rescuing his people out of Egypt through the Red Sea. So whereas we would just think about the event literally, like, oh yeah, God split the sea so that the people could walk through. Isaiah is saying, well there was more happening. There was actually a spiritual element to what was happening. There was spiritual warfare overlaid on top of what was happening in the natural. Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the Great Sea, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing. So he's saying, whoa, I killed chaos before. I'll kill chaos again. I crushed chaos before. I'll crush chaos again. And now the exodus out of Egypt becomes the prototype for what God is going to do in this new generation, who needs to be rescued out, not of Egypt, but out of Babylon and brought back into the land. Okay. Those are all the nerdy nuggets I've got for you. You may not realize that Rahab is a sea dragon or a sea monster, but the event explained in the book of Exodus as the killing of Pharaoh or the drowning of Pharaoh and the passing through the Red Sea on dry ground. We would just think about that in natural terms, but God says, actually, uh, I see Pharaoh as a dragon. And while there was a natural element happening, there was spiritual warfare in the heavens and I killed Rahab, the dragon that represents, uh, Pharaoh in the same way that I crushed chaos before. I'll do it again. All right, let's get into our timeless truth. Uh, timeless truth is actually really, really easy. Number one, Yahweh is still a faithful husband and still the true Israel. Jesus is a faithful husband. Even when we're unfaithful, he's faithful. Even when we

don't seek him, he seeks after us. Even when we forget about him, he never forgets about us. This is not a 50 50 relationship. This is a 99 one relationship. This is not a relationship where you and God meet halfway. He is faithful when we are unfaithful. He is consistent when we are inconsistent. He is a God who can be trusted even when we cannot be trusted. And he is a true Israel in the same way that Israel needed a model. Jesus is a true Christian. Like he is the model for what it means to be a Christ follower because he's the Christ. So not only is he the true Israel, which means he is the prototype, the archetype for what it means to be Israel. He is also the prototype, the archetype for what it means to be a Christian. So not only is Jesus the faithful husband that Isaiah proclaims him to be, but he is still the faithful husband that Isaiah proclaims him to be. And not only was he the true Israel that Isaiah proclaimed him to be, but he still is. These are timeless truths. And these are new elements, new depths, new caveats so that we can worship Jesus for who he really is. I love getting to know more and more and more of the identity of Jesus, even in the old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures, because like Jesus says, all of the scriptures point to him. And so Isaiah definitely does that. All right. I'll see you tomorrow. All right. Tomorrow we've got day 206. Uh, we're going to pick up in Isaiah chapter 52 and we're going to study Isaiah chapter 52 to 55. I'm so proud of you, especially if you're on the street. I'll see you right here tomorrow as we continue our trek to the book of Isaiah. Love you. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful, how about you leave a comment, share with a friend and subscribe so that you never miss an episode. To learn more about the show, head to the bibledepartment.com. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. You