Isaiah 42:22
But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
The verse pictures God's people as robbed and plundered, all of them snared in holes and hidden in prison houses, made a prey with no one to rescue them and a spoil with no one to demand restoration. Their spoiled and enslaved condition is like Israel going down to Egypt to keep from starving and then being treated as slaves, until God took hold of them again and delivered them by making a path through the sea. The verse belongs to the section in Isaiah 41-45 that reveals God's purpose for His people, directing them to seek wisdom from God rather than from finite human beings.
Its chapter is a source of promises and assurance to give encouragement amid God's coming judgments, which fall on a rebellious world though Christ's sincere and righteous followers also feel their effects. Its chapter shows that the set time to favor Zion will soon come, that God has provided men and means to accomplish His work, that He will not leave His people to shame but will carry out His work just as He ordained it to move, and that covenant with Christ joins the majesty of an omnipotent King with the gentleness and tenderness of a caretaking shepherd. It is a prophecy to be fulfilled concerning God's chosen people in the last days when His law is made void, and their spoiled condition marks the time when the Lord will manifest His great grace to His chosen ones more fully than ever, being well pleased for His righteousness' sake to magnify the law and make it honorable.
Its chapter foretells the great and solemn work of presenting the warning message to the world and explaining why believers believe as they do, with camp meetings providing opportunity to give that information. That work requires money, including establishing sanitariums in different parts of the world as an educating power to reform people and restore the moral image of God in them, so that through knowledge of the Word people are converted and use their means and ability to spread the truth. It includes awakening the slumbering senses of the people to see how far they have departed from the Lord's ordinances by adopting worldly policy and conforming to worldly principles in transgression of God's law. Its picture of bands and imprisonment warns against leaders putting bands and fetters on God's people.
In connection with Isaiah 40 and Second Peter, its chapter calls for deeply spiritual work and thorough reformation among the mixed company at Takoma Park who do not understand the nature of that work and whose hearts are not prepared to receive God's messages. It calls for men of clear understanding worked by the Holy Spirit to lead out with no haphazard work while heeding the testimonies given during the recent General Conference in Washington. The same rescuing God calls His people now to greater trust and confidence, to stand where He can work with them and they can honor and glorify Him in unknown times ahead.