Wednesday 06 April 2011
- Bible Book:
- Isaiah
"Thus says the Lord: In a time of favour I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.'" (vv. 8-9)
Background
The book of Isaiah is filled with challenging calls to recommitto God and astonishing images of God's love and care for people.Here we see a more specific promise as the Israelites are told theywill be restored to the land from which they were exiled and thattheir period of exile will be brought to an end. They are promisedfood (verse 10) and a smooth journey (verse 11) and even thoseexiled as far as Aswan (now a region of southern Egypt) will berestored. This is a far reaching and deeply specific promise forGod's people offering them a concrete hope in a time of uncertaintyand suffering. But it is a promise that is not without relevancetoday. The image of God's dedication to the Israelites as beinggreater than that of a nursing mother (verse 15) to her child isextremely powerful, resonating in almost every generation andculture. It is an image which stresses the protection, strength andintimacy God offers and indeed promises even in the times when wemay feel forgotten.
The words of verse 9 take us a step further than the promises of
To Ponder
What hope does today's passage offer to themarginalised and overwhelmed in our society today?
What do you feel you could do to demonstrate thishope in your local context?