|
This week, we are walking through an amazing chapter of the Bible: Isaiah 55. Found in the Old Testament, it prophesies of so much that we see coming to fulfillment in the New Testament, namely through Jesus Christ. Let's pick up where we left off yesterday, in verse 3.
"Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you."
I'll be honest with you. When I first read this passage, I wasn't really sure what it meant. But I want to encourage you that when this happens, do not just say, "Oh well," and move on. Take the time to wrestle with, think through, and study passages that are unclear to you. There is so much to learn! Don't feel discouraged when you don't understand the Bible. We don't read the Bible to prove to ourselves or to God what we already know. We read it to get to know God and to let it lead us to worship Him.
As an encouragement to you, I want to share with you what I did when I read this passage and didn't quite understand it. First, I stopped and I prayed. I asked God to help me understand this passage. Then I read it a few more times. I remembered that this passage is part of the section of Isaiah that prophesies about the Messiah, as we discussed yesterday. So I tried to think about how this passage could be speaking about Jesus. Then, I read the passage in a few other Bible translations to see if that made the meaning more clear to me. It did!
The New Living Translation reads like this: "Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David. See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations. You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious."
The CSB says this: "Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live. I will make a permanent covenant with you on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David. Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you."
Do you see how reading different translations can help you to understand the meaning of a passage? In the Bible app, if you select a passage by clicking on it, you can then click "Compare" and see how other translations of the Bible read. This is a quick and easy way to compare multiple translations. You can customize which translations pop up, including in other languages, if you happen to speak more than one language.
This passage invites all who will come into the promises of the Davidic covenant. How cool is that?! One truth that I want to highlight from this particular passage is how it foretells the salvation of the Gentiles. The "nations that you do not know" are the Gentile people who will be welcomed and brought into the covenant through the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Jesus is not just the King of the Jews but the King of the whole world! He is the King of all people! Even though these Gentiles were far from God and at this time knew nothing of the one true God, God is showing here his heart for the nations. It was always His plan to welcome people from all tribes and nations all into His Kingdom.
|
Apple
Spotify
Stitcher
YouTube
