Christ in the Old Testament

Isaiah 50:3

I clothe the heavens with darkness
    and make sackcloth its covering. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 50:1-11

After the second Servant Song of Isaiah 49, the rest of the chapter is God’s response to Israel’s complaint: “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me’” (Isa 49:14). The Lord has not forgotten Israel and He responds accordingly. His response overflows into Isaiah 50:1-3. These first three verses also serve as an introduction to the third Servant Song found in Isaiah 50:4-11.

Isaiah 50 is believed to be broken down into three sections:

• Verses 1-3: God the Father speaks, recognizing His relationship with Israel and His people is severed.
• Verses 4-9: The Servant speaks, recognizing the road he must travel to redeem his people.
• Verses 10-11: The Spirit speaks, counseling those who walk in the light and warning those who walk in the dark.

God opens this chapter by asking two questions of Israel which are His way of refuting the accusation that Israel didn’t deserve the punishment that fell on them. Israel enemies were victorious against them and God is basically saying, “don’t blame me, blame yourselves!” Their downfall was due to their own iniquities and transgressions.

God then goes on to ask four more rhetorical questions provoking Israel to remember who the LORD is and what He has done throughout their history. God came to His people yet they rejected Him. He called to them through His prophets yet they were ignored. God does not lack the ability to rescue Israel but they refused to obey and trust in Him. Their exile was not the result of God’s failure. Their sin was the reason for their downfall.

Ultimately, the heart of the issue was Israel’s failure to respond to God’s calling because of their lack of faith. True faith always responds in obedience. Paul says, “Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake” (Rom 1:5). Israel repeatedly disobeyed because they lacked true faith.

God has the power to simply speak the sea into dry ground. He showed that by parting the Red Sea and the Jordan River for them. He has the power to turn off all the stars in the sky. After all, He put them there to begin with. God was not the problem. The Jews were the problem!

But God would send Jesus to us anyway. Even though Israel’s sin led to their captivity, God would send a Savior. Even though our sin deserved death, Jesus would come to take our place and die for us. And in so doing, the heavens would be clothed in darkness.

“It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining” (Luke 23:44-45).

All of heaven would mourn his death by covering itself in sackcloth. Charles Spurgeon said, “The sun had looked upon him hanging on the cross, and, as if in horror, had covered its face, and traveled on in tenfold night. The tears of Jesus quenched the light of the sun.”

But then Jesus would rise from the grave and give us the “life [that] was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Lord for saving us anyway. We have been unfaithful and disobedient – underserving of your mercy. But Jesus came. Thank you for the gift of eternity.