The Thread of Yeshua in Isaiah’s Tapestry
God’s Grief and the Need for a Mediator
The Book of Isaiah has sixty-six chapters, comparable to the sixty-six books of the Bible. It is a book that gives us the story of God and His love for His covenant people (Israel), as well as His heart for the Gentile nations who will hear the testimony of His people through the words of His prophets. From the very first chapter, we see the God of Israel grieving over His people’s lack of understanding as they continuously bring worthless offerings into His courts (Isaiah 1). He commands them to wash themselves, remove the evil of their deeds, and seek justice. But in the chapters that follow, it becomes clear that this cannot be done in their strength alone; they will need a Mediator to take them into the LORD’s glorious presence (Isaiah will call Him a Beautiful Branch--Isaiah 4:2).
Woe is Me: Isaiah Encounters the King
After providing every reason why God’s people would not be able to change their ways, we learn that the prophet sees this Mediator, sitting on His throne, lofty and exalted. When he hears the praise that surrounds Him, he speaks words that follow the trembling thresholds of the temple’s foundation: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah tells the reader that he saw the King, and when he saw Him, he was fully aware of his own sin (and not just the sin of his people, which he had been lamenting in the five chapters previous). How do we know that this King is Jesus? The apostle John verifies it in his Gospel: These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. In John 12, the apostle was recording an event where Jesus had been revealing Himself as the Son of Man, a hard pill for the Pharisees to swallow. Jesus is the only one in scripture who gives Himself this title, as no one else would dare to use the name of the one Daniel saw approach the Ancient of Days…to receive dominion, glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him (Daniel 7:13-14). Jesus’ words were not received with faith by the crowds who stood to listen (since it was made up of those frightened by the Pharisees’ rule and opposition to Jesus as the Messiah), so it was a bold statement for John to make. But it is one that would also be validated by the apostle Paul, when he reminds us that “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), giving us just one of many examples of how scripture is its own commentary for scripture.
Light for the Nations: A Global Promise
I love what we see in Isaiah 9, just before the verses that are often read during Advent (verses 6-7). At the beginning of this chapter, we learn that the LORD will make a way for the Gentiles: for the people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them (verse 2). I can’t help but think that this is exactly what the magi saw in the sky (when Jupiter and Venus aligned to form what shone in a dark sky, guiding these Gentiles to Bethlehem to see the Prince of Peace). And in Isaiah 11, when we see the shoot that will come from the root of Jesse, the One who comes with wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and a fear of the LORD, and with righteousness and faithfulness (Isaiah 11:1-5), we witness these characteristics as Jesus walks through the four Gospels issuing each of these with grace and truth.
Rooted in Jesse: The Character of the Messiah
And finally, Isaiah gives us such a clear picture of what the Savior of the world would experience in the agony of a cross prepared for Him by God Himself. The prophet tells us that Jesus would grow as a root that comes from a parched ground; one who would be despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He would be pierced through for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities; and by His scourging we would be healed. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of the people, to whom the stroke was due. And perhaps the hardest verse for me to swallow is the one found in verse 10, where it says: But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. The LORD was pleased to crush His Son? Yes…if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities (Isaiah 53).
Did you see all those names and characteristics of the One Isaiah had written about all those years before? HE would be the sacrifice God would accept. HE would be the root, and the Beautiful Branch that would give us life as we abide in Him (John 15). The One who was despised and rejected as the Son of Man—the Messiah foretold by the prophets—would fulfill the role of God’s Servant, who would give His life as a ransom for many (1 Timothy 2:6).
Every Thread Leads to Jesus
I love that about the Bible, don’t you? That God would write-in so many “don’t miss this” places in His word for us to hover over and be Spirit-reminded that every single one of them were inspired by Him, and each one is like a thread to a tapestry He made for us to simply delight in.
As you read through His story in Isaiah, and as you study the picture of His love illustrated in those sixty-six chapters, don’t forget to turn it over and see how each thread was woven together to solidify your faith in the One who gave you the beautiful story of our beautiful Savior.
