When God’s people would face exile, there’s 2 questions that that they would certainly at least be tempted to ask, & wonder, & doubt:
“Is God able to save us?” And, even if he’s able to save us: “Does God want to save us?”
Have you ever had similar questions? Have you ever asked, or wondered, or doubted, if God is able to do what he promised?
If God is really able to forgive? If God is really able to deliver? If God is really able to save? If God is really able to work all things – even the tragic things – for the good of those who love him?
Or, if God wants to save? If God hasn’t just had enough of me; if God hasn’t abandoned me or stopped loving me or forgotten me?
And what this next section of Isaiah is doing is answering those questions for God’s people in advance and in no uncertain terms: No.
God is mighty to save; and the reason they would go into exile wasn’t because God had been defeated or his purposes had failed, but it was part of his purposes and in his control and he would demonstrate that by delivering his people out of exile back to Judah;
And God is full of compassion and patience and mercy and grace; and even after their sin and his just judgment took them away to exile, his mercy would remain, and he would have compassion again, and he wouldn’t forget nor forsake his people.
In this section of Isaiah, we see 1) God’s Ability to Save; 2) God’s Desire to Save; and 3) God’s Servant who Saves