Day Fifty-Two -- Fear not, for I have redeemed you . . .

Isaiah 41:19 to Isaiah 52:12

Today our assigned reading encompasses most of what is called Second Isaiah, the portion of the book that addresses the people as they are being held in exile in Babylonian.  While there, surrounded by the man-made idols of the Babylonians, the LORD puts forth this exclusive claim: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God (Isaiah 44:6).  A craftsman fashions metal or wood into an image with his own hands and then bows down to it as if it were a god and had power, but the LORD says a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"(44:20).   There is a mocking tone, especially when the LORD points out that wood is man's fuel for burning, used to keep warm or to cook food: No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate.  Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?  Shall I bow down to a block of wood?" (44:19).

Within this message there is also the repeated claim that God will eventually save his people.  God granted the Babylonians the power to conquer his disobedient children, but the day is coming when the people of Judah and Jerusalem will have served their sentence and will be restored to their land.  None of this, however, will be of their own doing, for the LORD himself will be their savior.

But how is this to come about?  Will it be the unnamed "Servant of the LORD", first mentioned in today's reading, who will be given God's Spirit to bring justice to the nations?  For this servant, whom God destined in the womb for this purpose, has a far-reaching calling: "It is 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 you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth" (49:6).