Babylon is called the ‘virgin daughter’ because to the remnant Jews the city and its empire appeared impregnable and invincible. Yet, Isaiah foretells Babylon’s destruction. For all her vaunted glory the Lord will bring her to her knees and humiliate her in the dust. Darius and Cyrus will be instruments in God’s hand but Babylon’s destruction is retribution directly from the Lord for the hurt inflicted on His people. ‘I will take vengeance’, says the Lord, ‘I will not meet thee as a man’. I will meet you as the sovereign, holy God to judge evil and punish sin without leniency or mercy. A lesson from the past The fall of Babylon did indeed occur as Isaiah had prophesied but beyond the mere history it…

Bel and Nebo, idol-gods of Babylon, are depicted by Isaiah as bowing down to Cyrus and the Persian army before being broken in pieces and carted off in ox-drawn wagons. Their destruction is symbolic of the overthrow of the Babylonian empire by Cyrus. Inserting these named gods for the Babylonian king and his people serves to emphasis the futility of idolatry. Far from delivering the nation as the worshippers might hope, the gods ‘themselves are gone into captivity’. ‘Unto you first …’ We remind ourselves Isaiah’s words are directed primarily to the Lord’s believing people among the Jews. The prophet’s message is designed to inform, by foretelling what will surely come to pass, and comfort, by assuring the elect that the events are according to…

Cyrus was spoken of briefly at the end of the previous chapter. Now he is addressed directly by God in a prophecy recorded several hundred years before his birth. Cyrus will be anointed by God to serve His cause and fulfil His will for the benefit of God’s remnant people among the Jews and His elect among the Gentiles of after-ages. Cyrus will be strengthened, enriched and emboldened by the Lord. His enemies will submit to his rule. Yet the purpose of all his elevation is God’s love for His church. They would be blessed and God’s name honoured.

There are a lot of trees in our chapter today. Isaiah speaks of cedar, cypress, oak and ash; all valuable trees of the forest, all prized by woodsmen and craftsmen for strength, grandeur and utility. Then the prophet speaks of another tree, the willow, not so grand or valuable, in fact, often little more than a weedy shrub. Isaiah likens God’s elect to the willow and pictures the Lord suppling the water-loving tree with all the moisture it needs. It is a type of distinguishing grace. In the gospel age, the spiritual descendants of Isaiah’s readers will be quickened with grace from heaven and ‘shall spring up … as willows by the water courses’.

There is a sense in which everything belongs to the Lord as Maker and Creator. ‘All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.’ Yet there is a distinct and separate ownership expressed in today’s passage of certain men and women formed as a new creation and redeemed by precious blood. ‘You’, says God, ‘are mine’. Here is another glorious gospel chapter that speaks of Christ’s special ownership of a known and named people, loved of God and called by grace. That’s comforting … The theme of comfort for the Lord’s people is again foremost in our Saviour’s message. He tells us to be unafraid. This must have greatly reassured the remnant people of Judah in Isaiah’s…

The beauty of this chapter will be enhanced by at once recognising the identity of the Lord’s servant. In the previous chapter the Holy Spirit left open the question of the identity of the ‘righteous man from the east’. This time there is no doubt. Matthew in his Gospel specifies the Lord Jesus Christ to be God’s chosen servant, God’s elect in whom His soul delights. It is the Lord Jesus in His mediator role who is endued with Holy Spirit strength to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Christ’s tender care In this passage we read both of the Lord’s successful deliverance of His people and His tender care towards them who are bruised and troubled. Our Lord Jesus in His humanity was fortified and…