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\u2019s 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\u2019s readers will be quickened with grace from heaven and \u2018shall spring up \u2026 as willows by the water courses\u2019.<\/p>\n
Jesurun, my beloved people<\/b><\/p>\n
God the Father dedicates Himself to redeem, save, preserve and provide for this people. He promises never to forget His elect saying, \u2018Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen\u2019. If these words are considered as being addressed first to God\u2019s Son in His mediatorial office and thereafter to all His people formed in Him, the full gospel import of this passage will begin to appear. Jesurun is another name for spiritual Israel, and carries the sense of the beloved and upright One.<\/p>\n
Spiritual Jacob and spiritual Israel<\/b><\/p>\n
As God\u2019s remnant people in Isaiah\u2019s day faced the wrath of Assyria and exile in Babylon the every-mindful Saviour comforted them with views of His great salvation and promises of spiritual deliverance. Our God still calms our fears by protecting those He delights to bless, nourish and refresh with views of Christ\u2019s mighty redemption. God\u2019s elect are again named with names symbolical of God\u2019s everlasting love and free grace. Jacob and Israel are appellations for God\u2019s spiritual church, chosen in the Beloved, created and formed in the womb of the morning to be Christ\u2019s eternal companion. A people to honour His glory, witness His beauty and serve His cause.<\/p>\n
Sins blotted out<\/b><\/p>\n
Divine redemption is asserted by the blotting out of transgressions and the taking away of sin. The Messiah\u2019s purpose is set clearly before the Old Testament people. Alluding, no doubt, to earlier evidences, the Lord the Redeemer describes the buying back of spiritual Israel from sin, Satan, and the law as having already occurred. The redeemed people are already bought; the purchase price already paid. It is true the Lord Jesus had not yet come, nor yet shed His blood but in the mind of our eternal, ever-present God, Christ is the Lamb of the everlasting covenant slain from the foundation of the world.<\/p>\n
\u2018Have not I told thee?\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
God\u2019s promises are to be received by faith as if already performed. The Lord \u2018confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers\u2019. Being assured of their deliverance, redemption, restoration and ultimate glory the people of God are to sing, shout and praise the Lord. The angels sang in heaven at the incarnation of Christ. The Gentiles sang in the lower earth when the gospel went forth by the apostles. Kings and commoners, great and small, sing praises to the Lord for His great salvation. On the basis of God\u2019s sure mercies the Lord\u2019s people sing the Lord\u2019s song in a strange land.<\/p>\n
\u2018He hath shut their eyes\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Once again, in setting forth what He shall do for His church the Lord strongly denounces the foolishness of idolatry. A man cuts down a tree, burns some to keep warm, more to cook his meal, then carves what remains into an idol before which he bends to worship. These are ignorant, blind people but so that all spiritual wisdom may be seen to be by grace it is said, \u2018They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand\u2019.<\/p>\n
Cyrus, my shepherd<\/b><\/p>\n
In the final verse a significant and detailed prophecy concerning a future Babylonian monarch is begun. A king called Cyrus will ascend to the throne whose lot it will be to fulfil God\u2019s will and restore the Jews to their own land to rebuild their city and temple. Just as previous Assyrian kings had been tools in God\u2019s hand for punishment, Cyrus would be a shepherd to nourish and preserve. He would be the means of bringing the Jews from exile that the Lord Jesus Christ should be born in Bethlehem and walk in the courts of Jerusalem\u2019s temple.<\/p>\n
Amen<\/p>\n