Isaiah 45–50: Sovereign & Servant

Read the Bible in 2011 ◊ Week 9: Friday

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:22

In Friday’s Bible reading of Isaiah 45–50, this phrase and similar words are found repeatedly in chapters 45 and 46 as God speaks of His sovereignty and power.

In chapter 47, God tells of the coming destruction of Babylon, and the focus changes again in chapter 48, to Israel; 49 and 50 contain two of the ‘Servant Songs’ of Isaiah (49:1–13; 50:4–9).¹

As you read you will again see God who is righteous and warns and judges the rebellious and wicked, yet in His mercy does not utterly destroy, but shows compassion and comfort as He promises to bring salvation not just to Israel, but to the ends of the earth.

“And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb
to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
And My God is My strength),
He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:5–6

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Isaiah 42 Photograph: ChristianPhotos.net – Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publications
¹Derek Kidner, “Isaiah,” The New Bible Commentary: Revised, D. Guthrie, J. A. Motyer, eds., A. M. Stibbs, D. J. Wiseman, contributing eds., p. 616.