He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a smoldering wick; He will faithfully bring justice. He will not grow weak or be discouraged until He has established justice on earth. The islands will wait for His instruction. (Isaiah 42:3-4 NET)
God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah about the coming Messiah. He would be a man of compassion. He would also be relentless in His task to bring justice to all the earth. The islands that wait for His instructions, represent the foreigners, the Gentiles who will also be included in His salvation. This, of course, is our Lord Jesus who would be born in Bethlehem hundreds of years after this was written.
The gods of all the nations around Israel at that time, and even leading up to the birth of Jesus, were generally demanding, ruthless and unpredictable. They were (and are) demonic spirits masquerading as “gods” to keep their followers in bondage, because any spirit that is not the Spirit of the One True God, is a spirit of evil. Even though these gods could grant favors and even perform supernatural signs and wonders, they were always selfish. The kings and rulers of these nations behaved much as their gods did, as money-hungry, power-grabbing tyrants.
The idea that God Himself would come to earth as the Messiah to establish justice for the worthless and rejected, was unheard of. He cared even about the one who was barely alive. The smoldering wick represented the life that seemed completely hopeless, about to be snuffed out. A common weed that grew in the wilderness would be noticed and cared for, even though it was bruised and wounded. This God and King was to be a Savior whose eyes of compassion were on every creature great and small, ready to give aid to the needy and new life to everyone who accepted it.
No matter how successful a person may feel about himself, there are always aspects of weakness in everyone. Often the most confident looking people have deep hidden failures and frustrations that they would never dare reveal. We are all bruised reeds, and we are all smoldering wicks without the new birth that comes from the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We all need justice established in our lives, because the devil has made sure to find ways to steal, kill or destroy whatever he can from the time we enter this world.
Jesus promises to be caring and compassionate, to fight for our freedom, to make sure justice is done. God’s justice is very practical, and spiritual, higher that the worldly idea of politics or crime fighting. Relationships that have been stolen from us, our health, peace of mind, opportunities, approval, and sense of self-worth that the devil has torn to shreds, are to all be restored to an even greater degree than that was taken. And our tormenters, the devil and his demons, will face the wrath of God’s punishment. But we who live for Jesus as our Lord, become new creations, where everything is changed and healed.
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