What if one of God's favorite ways to describe His people is His delight?

In this final episode from the book of Isaiah, Stephanie Hickox walks through Isaiah 60–66, where centuries of prophecy culminate in breathtaking promises of restoration, the coming Messiah, the future reign of Christ, and the new heavens and new earth.

As we finish Isaiah in our chronological Bible reading plan, we'll see why this remarkable book is often called the "Fifth Gospel." Jesus Himself began His public ministry by reading from Isaiah 61, declaring that He had come to bring good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim liberty to the captives.

For Christian moms, these chapters offer incredible encouragement. Whether you're raising children, rebuilding after hardship, or longing for the day Christ makes all things new, Isaiah reminds us that God delights in His people, comforts us like a loving parent, and faithfully completes every promise He makes.

In This Episode

• Why Isaiah 60 points us to Jesus, the Light of the World
• The beautiful prophecy Jesus read in the synagogue from Isaiah 61
• What it means to be clothed in garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness
• The powerful meaning behind the name Hephzibah: "My Delight Is in Her"
• How God rejoices over His people like a bridegroom rejoices over his bride
• Jesus' coming judgment and His perfect mercy
• The comforting picture of God as the Potter and we as the clay
• Isaiah's vision of the new heavens and new earth
• What the Millennial Kingdom reveals about God's future restoration
• The invitation to live humbly before the Lord while waiting for Christ's return

Key Bible Passages

• Isaiah 60:1–3
• Isaiah 60:19–22
• Isaiah 61:1–3
• Isaiah 61:10
• Isaiah 62:1–5
• Isaiah 62:11–12
• Isaiah 63:7–9
• Isaiah 64:6–8
• Isaiah 65:17–25
• Isaiah 66:2
• Isaiah 66:12–13

Encouragement for Christian Moms

As mothers, we often wonder if we're doing enough, loving enough, or pointing our children to Jesus well enough.

Isaiah reminds us that before we ever delighted in God, He delighted in us.

His love isn't based on our performance. His faithfulness doesn't depend on our circumstances. His promises extend beyond today's struggles to a coming kingdom where mourning, fear, and brokenness will finally give way to everlasting joy.

One of the sweetest promises in these chapters is God's tender assurance that He comforts His people with the compassion of a loving parent. As we seek to nurture our own children, we can rest knowing that our Heavenly Father cares for us with even greater tenderness.

What You'll Learn

• Why Isaiah's final chapters overflow with hope
• How Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 61 during His earthly ministry
• The significance of "My Delight Is in Her" in God's covenant love
• What Scripture teaches about the coming kingdom of Christ
• How the promise of a new creation gives us hope today
• Why humility and surrender prepare our hearts for Christ's return

Finishing Isaiah Together

As we close the book of Isaiah, we're reminded that every promise points us to Jesus—the suffering Servant, the coming King, and the everlasting Light of the world.

Thank you for reading through Isaiah with us. Whether you've been following the entire chronological Bible reading plan or joined us recently, our prayer is that you've seen more clearly God's faithfulness from beginning to end.

Join us as we continue our chronological journey through Scripture, discovering how every page reveals God's character and points us to Christ.

If this episode encouraged you, please follow The Dwelling Place, leave a review, and share it with another Christian mom who is longing to know God's Word more deeply.Resources Mentioned:

• Entrusted With a Child's Heart
• The Again Podcast
• Full-Circle Discipline Resources
• Bible Project: Isaiah (Part 2)

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

This is Abiding Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today

we're finishing the Book of Isaiah

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we'll be reading a portion

from chapters 60 through 66

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god promises

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That he will redeem Israel for his glory

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and I love this description of

what part of that will look like.

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In Isaiah chapter 60, in verse one: Arise,

shine, for your light has come, and the

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glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

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For behold, darkness shall cover the

earth, and thick darkness the peoples,

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but the Lord will arise upon you, and

his glory will be seen upon you, and

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nations shall come to your light and

kings to the brightness of your rising

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Scripture is using a metaphor in which

the light means the Messiah And not

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only will Israel come to His light,

but the Gentile nations will as well

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The sun shall be no more your light

by day, nor for brightness shall

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the moon give you light, but the

Lord will be your everlasting light,

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and your God will be your glory.

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Your son shall no more go down, nor

your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord

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will be your everlasting light, and

your days of mourning shall be ended.

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Your people shall all be righteous;

they shall possess the land forever,

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the branch of my planting, the work

of my hands, that I might be glorified

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Chapter 61 might be familiar to you.

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It begins, " The Spirit of the Lord God

is upon me, because the Lord has anointed

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me to bring good news to the poor.

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He has sent me to bind up the

brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty

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to the captives and the opening of

the prison to those who are bound.

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To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God.

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To comfort all who mourn, to grant to

those who mourn in Zion, to give them

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a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

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the garment of praise instead of a

faint spirit, that they may be called

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oaks of righteousness, the planting

of the Lord that He may be magnified.

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They shall build up the ancient

ruins, they shall raise up

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the former devastations.

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They shall repair the ruined cities,

The devastations of many generations

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The reason this probably sounds familiar

to you is that Jesus began his ministry

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by reading several of these verses from

the Scroll of Isaiah in the temple and

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saying that they had been fulfilled.

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What's interesting is that Jesus

stops reading after the portion

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that relates to his first coming.

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See, much of this relates to his

second coming, and he couldn't have

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said, "Today this is fulfilled in your

hearing if he read the entire portion

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when the first verse said, "The

Spirit of the Lord God is upon me

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because the Lord has anointed me"

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the Hebrew word for anointed is

the same Hebrew word as Messiah.

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So this is saying that the Holy Spirit

is going to equip Jesus to restore the

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people both physically and spiritually

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the whole chapter is so beautiful,

but I especially love verse 10.

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" I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.

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My soul shall exalt in my God, for He has

clothed me with the garments of salvation.

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He has covered me with

the robe of righteousness.

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As a bridegroom decks himself like a

priest with a beautiful headdress, and as

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a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

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It reminds me of Revelation 19 when

the marriage supper of the lamb

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comes and it says that the saints

are dressed in robes of righteousness

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In chapter 62, we read more

verses that I think can be

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especially appreciated by women

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And it kind of makes me

wonder if Isaiah was married

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Because I think his wife would've

been blessed by his poetic gifts

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I'll start at 62:1.

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"For Zion's sake I will not keep

silent, and for Jerusalem's sake

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I will not be quiet, until her

righteousness goes forth as brightness

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and her salvation as a burning torch.

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The nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory.

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And you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

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You shall be a crown of beauty in

the hand of the Lord and a royal

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diadem in the hand of your God.

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You shall no more be termed Forsaken

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And your land shall no more be termed

desolate, but you shall be called, "My

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delight is in her," and your land married.

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For the Lord delights in you, and

your land shall be married For as

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a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons marry you.

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And as the bridegroom rejoices over the

bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

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This weekend, I had the

blessing of going to a wedding

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And it was so sweet how the bride and

groom were delighting in each other.

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You could just see the purity

of their love and this is how

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the Lord delights in His bride

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I remember reading this when I was

pregnant with my daughter, and I

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came across that verse, " you shall

be called my delight is in her."

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And I found that in the

Hebrew, that name is Hephzibah.

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And I thought, " Oh, bummer.

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That's so beautiful But I can't

really name my daughter Hephzibah.

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I mean, what would you

call her for short, Hephy?

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And one day I was in the park and I

heard a mom call after her daughter,

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"Hephzibah," my jaw dropped and

I said, " My delight is in her."

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And she looked at me like, "Yeah,

I can't believe you know that."

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. If anyone does wanna name their daughter,

you won't be the first one, and I

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suppose it has a unique beauty about it

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And continuing on this theme in verse 11:

" Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the

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end of the earth, ' Say to the daughter

of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes.

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Behold, His reward is with Him and His

recompense before Him, and they shall

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be called the holy people, the redeemed

of the Lord, and you shall be called

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sought out, a city not forsaken."'"

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We know that so much of

this applies to Israel

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But as we're gonna study in the

New Testament, God chose you.

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He elected you.

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He foreknew you.

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If you're in Christ,

this is not a mistake.

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God also sought you out

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And all of these scriptures can

bring us joy and excitement at who

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Jesus is And how deeply he loves you

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but in chapter 63, it's that

Jesus coming in vengeance

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it might feel a little jarring,

But his garments are red

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And it says, "Because he has

trampled in his wrath, and lifeblood

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is splattered on his garments.

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For the day of vengeance was in his

heart and the day of redemption had come

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But it's interesting that the very

next section is about the Lord's mercy

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And in verse eight, " For he said, 'Surely

they are my people, children who will not

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deal falsely,' and He became their Savior.

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In all their affliction He was afflicted,

and the Angel of His presence saved them.

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In His love and in His

pity He redeemed them.

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He lifted them up and carried

them all the days of old."

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next the chapter describes

how they rebelled, but how God

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did not give up on His people.

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He is faithful and relentless

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And even when he promises that we

will not be forsaken or rejected

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We and Israel have

rejected God over and over

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but thankfully there is

hope in every chapter.

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Isaiah 64:4 says, " For of old no one

has heard or perceived by the ear,

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no eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for Him.

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You meet him who joyfully

works righteousness, those who

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remember you and your ways.

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Behold, you were angry and we sinned.

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In our sins we have been a long

time, and shall we be saved?

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We have all become like one who

is unclean, and all our righteous

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deeds are like a polluted garment

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That phrase polluted garment

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Translates to the cloth that a woman

would use during her menstrual cycle

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But when we do them through the

Holy Spirit and we do the works

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that the Lord has called us to

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Scripture gives us a much different

picture of those deeds, and they

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are beautiful before the Lord

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Verse Eight.

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" But now, O Lord, you are our Father.

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We are the clay, and you are the potter.

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We are all the work of your hand."

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And if God is the potter and we

are the clay, We need to honor

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Him and what He's created us for.

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That's why we teach our

kids it's not all about us.

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This is about the Lord and His glory.

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And when we pursue that, that

is when we'll be most satisfied

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I love God's availability and

vulnerability in chapter 65.

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Beginning in verse one, " I was ready to

be sought by those who did not ask for me.

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I was ready to be found by

those who did not seek me.

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I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to a

nation that was not called to my name.

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I spread out my hands all the day to a

rebellious people who walk in a way that

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is not good, following their own devices

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As Isaiah continues to warn that

judgment is coming, God's mercy and

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love for Israel is interwoven and

listen to how powerful this picture of

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the new heavens and a new earth are.

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In Isaiah 65:17-25, " For behold, I

create new heavens and a new earth,

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and the former things shall not

be remembered or come into mind.

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But be glad and rejoice

forever in that which I create.

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For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a

joy, and her people to be a gladness.

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I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in My people.

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No more shall be heard in it the sound

of weeping and the cry of distress.

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No more shall there be in it an infant

who lives but a few days or an old

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man who does not fill out his days.

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For the young man shall die a

hundred years old, and the sinner a

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hundred years old shall be accursed.

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They shall build houses and inhabit them.

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They shall plant vineyards

and eat their fruit.

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They shall not build, and another inhabit.

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They shall not plant, and another eat.

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For like the days of a tree shall the

days of My people be, and My chosen

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shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

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They shall not labor in vain

or bear children for calamity.

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For they shall be the offspring

of the blessed of the Lord and

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their descendants with them.

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Before they call, I will answer.

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While they are yet speaking, I will hear.

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The wolf and the lamb

shall graze together.

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The lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and dust shall be the serpent's food.

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They shall not hurt or destroy in all

My holy mountain,' says the Lord."

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Most scholars believe that

this is referring to the

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millennial reign of Jesus.,

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i'm just gonna read this portion

from Rydelnik and Spencer

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from the Moody commentary

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Although it is possible for people to die

in the Messianic Age or the Millennial

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Kingdom, people will live much longer,

and premature death will be banished.

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At that time, the land will be secure from

enemies, free from fears of having another

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inhabit or bearing children for calamity.

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The people will experience the

closeness of God, who will answer

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and who will hear, and all creation

will exhibit an unprecedented

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peace, free from evil or harm.

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Even the animal kingdom will change,

removing the curse on it so that the

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predators will become herbivores.

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One aspect of the animal world that will

remain, serpents will still eat dust.

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this will be a perpetual reminder

of the curse on the serpent

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If we wanna experience these blessings

of the reign of Christ, then we better

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make sure that we have surrendered our

lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ

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Isaiah 66:2.

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" But this is the one to whom I will

look, he who is humble and contrite

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in spirit, and trembles at my word."

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In that tender metaphor of God loving

us like a mother loves her children

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appears once again in verses 12

and 13: " For thus says the Lord,

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' Behold, I will extend peace to her

like a river, and the glory of the

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nations like an ever-flowing stream.

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And you shall nurse, you shall be carried

upon her hip and bounced upon her knees.

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As one whom his mother

comforts, so I will comfort you

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But I end with this warning from chapter

66, " I also will choose harsh treatment

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for them and bring their fears upon them,

because when I called, no one answered.

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When I spoke, they did not listen, but

they did what was evil in my eyes and

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chose that in which I did not delight."

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Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at His word.

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, We thank you for

your patience to contend with mankind.

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That you continually stand at the door

and knock, even though so many reject you

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We thank you that you chose us

before the creation of the world

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to do good works for your glory

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So I pray we would live lives

that are completely surrendered

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to your lordship and your reign

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Quicken us to your spirit

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That we would recognize your

voice . But I also pray that we would

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order our lives intentionally in

ways that we know would please you

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We pray for our children that they

would be humble and lowly in heart

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That they would learn to surrender

their will and their desire to you and

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seek after your plans for their lives,

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We thank you that your delight is in us

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and I pray, Jesus that even as

we experience a creation that

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is so far from the restored

creation that we read about today

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That you would increase our joy and

our delight in you because when we are

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most satisfied in you, you are most

glorified and you're so worthy, Jesus.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen