Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

I sometimes wonder what it must have been like to be Isaiah. He was given such magnificent revelations of the coming Messiah, and of the heart of God toward His people, yet tradition tells us his martyrdom was by being sawn in two. Internal evidence indicates he came from a wealthy family, probably nobility, yet he discarded it all to follow the God who spoke to him, answering His call with, “Here am I. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8) The question framed in this verse perhaps occurred to him often! He was blessed with marriage and children, but even to the point of what he named his children he was totally committed to communicating what the Lord showed him. That’s what makes this verse so plaintive. “Who has believed what I’ve seen?” He did not doubt the Lord who spoke to him, but he doubtless wished that more of the people to whom he spoke would believe what he had to say. However, genuine believers from that point onward poured over his writings to learn of the Messiah of whom he spoke, and from the evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we can say that the Essenes were a people genuinely prepared to receive and acknowledge Jesus when he began His ministry. That they would have carefully preserved a complete scroll of Isaiah’s writings, in virtually the exact form in which we have them today, is nothing short of miraculous. Isaiah may have felt unbelieved and unappreciated in his day, and he certainly met a horrible end to his physical life, but he was mightily used by God, and I’m sure his place in heaven is secure indeed.

Of all the Old Testament characters I have always felt the most affinity for Isaiah, for whatever reasons. I very early realized that Isaiah had more to say about Jesus than anyone outside of the Gospel writers, and in some ways he expressed more of the theological basis for Jesus’ ministry than they did. Isaiah 53:6 is one of the earliest Scriptures I remember memorizing, as part of my activities with Royal Ambassadors at the annual mission meetings. Isaiah is the one prophet who consistently writes of the Suffering Servant, not leaving out the triumph in the end but not glossing over any of what He would endure in the process. I think that agreed with what I saw of the world, even from childhood. I would be pleased if I don’t have to endure the sort of martyrdom that Isaiah did, but even that would be a small price to pay to know God’s heart and speak it. I too have times of crying out, “Who is believing what I am saying?” but I am to trust God and be faithful, knowing that it’s all about Him and not me in the first place.

Father, thank You for this further reminder. Thank You for what You have been bringing me through in recent weeks. Thank You that it does finally feel somewhat like it’s through, instead of just into! Thank You for the various opportunities You have provided for me to speak Your word over the next three weeks, particularly. May I do so with boldness and joy, so that Your Word through me may accomplish everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:11) for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!