Isaiah 66:5-9 – The Godly Delivered
Verse 5 ultimately looks forward from Isaiah’s day to the coming and the rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was hated, cast out, and put to death by His brethren, the Jews, but Jesus triumphed over all His enemies, delivering His people and working victory for them. And, as they hated Jesus, so they hate His followers. But deliverance shall come. Rescue shall come. Sin, the greatest enemy, is smashed. The last enemy, death, is defeated. And all the other enemies are in the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is now God’s king over all things.
The language in verse 6 is very vivid. There is crying out from the city. It is not the yells of the Assyrians outside the city, as happened in Isaiah’s own day. Rather it’s the terror and horror of those in the city as happened in A.D. 70 immediately before the Romans came in and destroyed everything. God ended the Temple and the sacrifices. All was destroyed by their rightful king Whom they rejected. God is faithful to His promises to His people and protects them. No matter how the wicked prosper for a time, they will be brought low.
Who is the “she” in verse 7? It is the Church. Christ is the Head and Husband of the Church, yet from her He comes (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 54:1; Galatians 4:26; Revelation 12:1-5). The picture is of a woman who knows she is soon to give birth, but it still happens quite suddenly. So it happened with the coming of Christ – He was generally expected by the godly (see Simeon and Anna in the Temple in Luke 2), but still arrived without great fanfare or general alert.
Verse 8 reminds us of Acts 2. In the space of a day the New Testament form of the Church came to be. No longer was it principally of the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but this was the start of it being of all nations.
God assures us in verse 9 that He will not bring to birth and then abandon. Christ’s commission to His people in Matthew 28:18-20 will come to pass. He shall exercise His power and authority to bring it about through us, His people. Let us joyfully pray and work, then, knowing that although it may look to be a day of small things to us, Christ is honoured by it, Christ honours us in it, and Christ is using and will use our labour to build His Church (Matthew 16:18).
Question
- What does God promise in verse 9?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that God is building His Church.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.