Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 42:10-25
Isaiah changes gears in verse 10 and begins to look towards the distant future when Jesus returns a second time. The section sounds like a Psalm of praise to the Almighty God for what He is about to do. Isaiah calls people from the ends of the earth and even the islands to sing the Lord’s praise. Jesus will march out like a champion, raise the battle cry and triumph over his enemies. It is time to make everything right.
Isaiah quotes God yet again in this chapter. God tells us that he has been silent holding back His desire to bring justice to the earth. But the time of waiting is over – just like a woman in childbirth. Those who stand against him will be defeated.
Paul wrote about this period of waiting and how we are to wait patiently for the day the Lord returns:
“For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time… But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Rom 8:19-25).
But my favorite verse of this section is verse 16. Isaiah beautifully writes poetic language that the Lord spoke to him:
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them” (vs. 16).
Jesus fulfilled much of this verse when he came to earth the first time. This is similar language that we found in Isaiah 40 that Luke referenced in Luke 3:4-6 saying that Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy during his ministry. Jesus opened the eyes of the blind both physically and spiritually turning darkness into light. Through the Holy Spirit, he directs our spiritual paths and makes them smooth and straight.
But the ultimate fulfillment of verse 16 will come on his final visit. His promise not to forsake us is covenantal language. We could not hold up our end of the agreement to follow God’s laws perfectly. But He promises never to leave us and never to forsake us. In the end, Jesus is coming back for us.
He will show us ways that we didn’t even know existed. He will be our guide and hold our hand along paths that we have never travelled before. There will be a new heaven and new earth. There will be a new Jerusalem with gates made of pearls and “the great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass” (Rev 21:21).
I look forward to exploring these streets with Jesus!
Christ in the Old Testament 
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