Isaiah 52-54
Wake Up!
In Isaiah 52 God is calling the nation to wake up and get up from the dust. They have been crying out to God from their fallen state. It is hard for a person that is talking all the time to listen. This happens all the time when people are arguing. Both parties are talking but no one is listening. This also is a common occurrence in a crisis. Again, the one talking is so caught up in what has happened they are not listening.
God has been speaking words of comfort to the nation but the people were so busy crying out that they were not listening. God is saying to them, wake up and look around! You will be redeemed! Shake the dust off and get moving!
Years ago I went through a difficult event. I felt I had been mistreated and was constantly rehashing what had happened. The reality was that even though I had moved on in my life I was dragging this event that happened in the past with me. Each week I was meeting with a pastor friend for coffee. We would talk about a range of topics but inevitability I would bring up this event. After about a year of my bringing this up my friend said to me, “Dave I hope someday you get over this.” That was the last time I brought the event up. He was right. I was crying out from the dust even though God was doing a new thing. It was time to get up, shake off the dust, and depart from that place in my life. Verses 2&11
I needed to wake up and look around and see what God was doing today, not what had happened in the past. Verse 1
I had to quit talking and start listening. Verse 8
I needed to get up, shake the dust off, depart from the past, and touch nothing unclean. I needed to let go of my past and trust in what the Lord was doing and walk with Him.
For Israel and for us God was working out His plan. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4 that His plan for us is, …that we should be holy and blameless before Him… NASB
In order to be Holy and blameless before Him we must be redeemed from our fallen state. Before there can be restoration there must be redemption. God tells the nation crying out that they will be redeemed without money. In their history whenever there was an invasion the nation would hire another nation to go out and help them fight the war. This would usually result in them having to continue to pay tribute to the nation they hired.
God says He will redeem them without money. The reality is it will cost Him much more. He will give His Son, His only Son for their and our redemption. Chapter 53 describes the price that will be paid for our redemption.
In the Law there was a provision for a kinsman redeemer. If a person was poor or in debt they would sell themselves into slavery to either pay off the debt or simply survive. As slaves they would not have the means to buy themselves out of slavery so the prospects of becoming free again were slim to none. However, a relative could redeem the one enslaved by paying off the debt and buying the slave’s freedom. This is the principle we see here. Sin has enslaved us and there is no hope of redemption in and through our own strength or resources. The price is too high. God is our kinsman redeemer.
God has paid the price. He is saying to us, wake up! Get up from the dust! Listen up! Depart from slavery. You have been redeemed! Jesus paid the price even though it cost Him His life. He gave His life for you and you have been redeemed! Chapter 53
So rejoice! Enlarge the place of your tent, Stretch out the curtains of your dwelling, spare not; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your pegs. 54:2 NASB
In the Bible a tent is a symbol for our life here on earth. Jesus has set us free but sometimes we remain enslaved to our old ways and thinking. Is it time to stop complaining to the Lord and start listening? God has done great things. You and I are redeemed and have been set free. The price has been paid by Jesus. Sadly, many remain enslaved by past events. Is it time to wake up and shake the dust off? Is it time to stop whining and start listening to the Lord? Is it time to let go of the unclean and depart from the past?
Here are some verses every slave needs to listen to. John 8:31-47; Galatians 5:1
Pastor Dave