In the Old Testament there are four prophetic books that we call the Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel & Daniel. Their stories and their ministries are all bound up with the period known as the Exile or the Babylonian Captivity of which we heard last week.
Daniel - In 606BC, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated Jehoiakim king of Judah, and demanded tribute - valuables from the temple, and some young men of noble blood to train at the king’s court in Babylon. Daniel was one these young men: he spent the rest of his life in Babylon, and that is the setting for his book.
Ezekiel - In 597BC after another military defeat, Ezekiel was deported to Babylon, along with thousands of others, the elite of Judah’s society. Ezekiel exercised his ministry there. Perhaps the best known passage in Ezekiel is his vision of the valley of dry bones, which the Holy Spirit brings back to life: a vision of hope for the exiles.
Jeremiah - was one of those who remained in Jerusalem. He exercised his prophetic ministry in the decades leading up to the final defeat of Judah in 587BC. Last week we heard part of the letter that we wrote to the exiles in Babylonia, recorded in Jeremiah 29. He ended his life in Egypt, having fled there with other Jewish leaders, in fear of the Babylonians.
Isaiah - The datable historical events in this book span more than 200 years: before the other major prophets, and after them. Isaiah tells us of his call from God, in ‘the year that king Uzziah died’, ie 740BC.
Chapters 1-39 relate to events before the defeat of the northern kingdom of Israel in 720BC, and the reign of Hezekiah in the southern kingdom of Judah, which ended in 686BC. Chapter 39 includes a prophecy that Jerusalem will be defeated and plundered at some time after Hezekiah’s death.
Chapters 40-55 relate to the time of the exile. [NB Isaiah does not mention the 90 year period between Hezekiah’s death and the beginning of the exile.
Chs 56-66 relate to the return to Judah, in 538BC, and the rehabilitation of the nation after that.
For the last 200 yrs many scholars have believed that the book was written by two or even three different authors. There is a case for that, although the language and theology are remarkably consistent. Certainly the different sections relate to different periods in the story of God’s people.
The passage we read this evening is one of many passages of hope to be found in the second and third parts of the book. We have to think ourselves into the mindset of the exiles:

• - their nation has been roundly defeated many times by its big neighbour, Babylonia;
• - the people have been rounded up and resettled in new surroundings, far from the ‘promised land’ that God gave to their ancestors;
• - the ark of the covenant, the box containing the ten commandments written on stone had been lost or destroyed when Jerusalem was demolished in 587
• - the temple of God, with its regular programme of worship and sacrifice had also been destroyed
• - they felt ashamed, that they were laughing stock of the other nations of the world.

And as they looked back on their history, they realised that their devotion to God had not been what it should, and they saw their present circumstances as punishment for the sins of their forefathers. But this passage points to history further back, as an encouragement. This is going back about 1000 yrs to the call of Abraham - that unlikely old man who responded to God’s call at the age of 75, with his wife Sarah, who had at that time no children of their own. They were the ancestors of these exiled people: the rock from which they were hewn, the quarry from which they were dug. The implication is that the God who made a great nation from Abraham has the power to restore the greatness of his people.
Then comes a reminder of the time the nation spent in Egypt: although they were slaves there, they grew in numbers, and in due time God opened the way for them to return to the promised land. This would have been so significant for the exiles: God had brought his people out of Egypt, despite the hostility of Pharoah, who punished the whole nation when Moses dared to ask for freedom; despite the barrier of the sea blocking their path; despite the harsh conditions of the wilderness through which they had to pass. Now through Isaiah God promises to bring them out of Babylon and return them to their rightful place. God is on their side and he will bring them home to everlasting joy and gladness. We know that this promise was fulfilled, when king Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon. Cyrus asked what all the Jews were doing in Babylonia, and issued a decree allowing any who wanted to go back to the land of their ancestors to do so.
Now as Christians we read these words of hope and we make them our own in two slightly different ways. First of all we make spiritual parallels with the core message of the Christian Gospel: the good news that Jesus dying on the cross frees us from the captivity of sin and death. In our state of rebellion against God we have no future, no hope - but Jesus came to put things right. Often our liturgy makes the link with the liberation of God’s people from Egypt - it is an easy link to make, because on the night before he died, Jesus was celebrating the Passover, which was all about remembering the night Israel left Egypt.
It is interesting to compare the two liberations: from Egypt and from Babylon. Liberation from Egypt entailed conflict with the oppressor, and bloodshed, pain and hardship, for all involved. The return from Babylonia, however, came about as a free gift, at the decision of king Cyrus. Our liberation from sin and its consequences has aspects of both: Jesus shed his blood on the cross for our salvation; but like the Jews in Babylonia, we are told that we can go free if we want: the battle has been fought on our behalf, we don’t have to fight it ourselves. Salvation and forgiveness are a free gift from God for those who come to him in trust.
Christians also interpret these hope-filled passages in Isaiah in another way. We look towards the time when God will set all wrongs right, and welcome us into the fullness of his kingdom. Many Christians are motivated by this hope to work for the transformation of society today. A member of the congregation shared with me a letter written this week by the Bishop of London, after he had visited riot-scarred Enfield and Tottenham. After condemning the rioters and praising the police, he writes of the good work of the churches, both in their immediate help for those affected by the riots, and in the long term work they are doing children and young people to give them the right start in life. The recurrent theme here is hope. Through Isaiah, God gave the Jews in exile hope of a return to the promised land. Through Jesus we have hope of eternal life as individuals, and hope of the realisation of God’s kingdom in a new heaven and new earth