Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Wait for the Gift | Historical Books | Isaiah 50

Episode Date: December 23, 2025

Do you appreciate God's gift? How do we cultivate hopeful anticipation? Why can we trust God's gift? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Isaiah 50 encourages us to spend this Advent season waiting and watching for Jesus, the best gift. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Isaiah 50

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Gift-giving is one of my love languages, and as you know, we tend to give the language that we also like to receive. So I like to give gifts, and I like to receive gifts. Last night we were talking with some friends, and I was asking, you know, what do you most want for Christmas? And it's really funny because sometimes, or at least in this experience, the thing the spouse said they actually wanted for Christmas. is the one thing the spouse was like, oh, I would never do that or buy that for you. So it's an

interesting way that we handle this. But the perfect gift, at least in my opinion, should show that you know the person you're giving the gift to. Like you know them, you listen to them, you know what they need or what they want. But it should also be something that should surprise or delight them. Now, that can be hard. This summer, my niece was getting married and I couldn't wait to pick out her wedding gift. I just thought I knew exactly what she wanted. But I hopped on the knot.com to make sure that she'd actually registered for it. And so I ordered it. I had it shipped to our house. I wrapped it. And then I took it down to give it to her on the day of her wedding shower. We couldn't go to the shower, but I wanted her to have it. So I carried it out of the car. I just had all this anti-pride that I had

picked out the perfect gift from my niece. I felt so prepared. So I walked towards Katie with the gift, and she totally had me beat because as I handed her the gift, she handed me back a thank you note. And I was like, what's this, Kate? And she said, oh, Aunt Tan, it's your thank you note. Well, a thank you note, you haven't even opened the gift yet. And she said, oh, yeah, I got a notification from the registry that you bought our mixer, so I just went ahead and wrote a thank you note. Wow. She already knew the gift. She already knew who it was from. She had already raised. She had already written out, I think you know, for the exact right gift. The Old Testament is filled with that same kind of anticipation, and it gives us information about the gift, the exact gift that God will give

to save the world. It's a world consumed with idolatry and materialism. It's a world that's driven by injustice. It's a culture that's neglecting the poor and the needy. And into that world, God announces a rescuer. And the book of Isaiah reads almost like one of the Gospels, with page after page just pointing us straight to Jesus. In fact, one of the commentators said, if Isaiah had a subtitle, it would be looking for Jesus. Isaiah is given the gift of prophecy to see and tell the world about the greatest gift of all time. So our question for today, how acquainted are you with the gift the entire Old Testament is pointing to? Let's just stop and pray.

Lord, this is a busy time of year. Be with us. Make us more aware of your presence and more watchful for you. Pull us out of our heads, out of our battles, and out of our pride. Teach us to look for your better story. And fill us with the joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control that comes from your Holy Spirit as we wait. Amen.

Isaiah points to Jesus, but Isaiah chapter 51 asks a very specific question. Is God's gift worth waiting for? And Isaiah's answer is yes, because the servant is coming. He will be humble, powerful, and transforming. His life, death, and resurrection will actually break over this world and break over your life like a dawn. His reign will be unlike anything you've ever known. The day is drawing near and your life will change. Now before this, Israel had leaders, rulers, and kings, but none of them could fix the people's hearts.

None of them could heal their relationship with God. None of them could save. So today we're going to talk about what makes this gift so special, looking at three reasons right out of Isaiah chapter 50 that show why we can put our trust and hope in the gift of Jesus. Then we're going to reflect on how we can practice that kind of hopeful anticipation, in our own lives. The first thing we see in Isaiah 50 is that the servant, God's gift, will be gentle and patient with you. Israel had a history of leaders who took advantage of the vulnerable and ignored the needy.

They were people that had power, but often used it for themselves. So they needed something better. We need something better. Jesus is the powerful king who leads by serving, not crushing. He became weak. so he could empathize with us. He is all-knowing and all-powerful, yet he never breaks the bruised reed or snuffs the smoldering wick. Jesus says in Matthew 1128, come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Now we know these words, but we can be fearful,

and we can hide our weaknesses instead of handing them over. But Hebrews 4 reminds us, our high priest understands us. He faced what we faced, yet without sin. Mercy and grace are his. Now, Jesus will give us the courage and the strength and the grace for each next step. His power will not defeat his broken hearted sinners. His power actually restores them. The second thing we see is that this servant, God's gift, willingly suffered so you don't have to. Now, yes, we will experience suffering in this but we will never face what Jesus faced. You will never be separated from the Father because Jesus took that separation for you. Through the cross, he gave us that power. The servant submitted to God's will even when he knew it would crush him, but he was upheld by the Lord.

He was not defeated. He defeated sin and death. Sometimes we hesitate to come to Jesus because we're afraid of where he'll lead us. What if his plan isn't what we imagined, but Isaiah shows us, Jesus' willingness to do what we could not is the clearest reason to trust him, because our worst-case scenario has already been solved. So we are free to follow him without fear of losing everything, because Jesus already secured everything that truly matters for us. And third, this gift, the servant, is living proof that God will defend his faithful servants. Jesus faced mockers and accusers on the cross. But human words could not derail God's plan for salvation. They couldn't break God's promises. So as the one who went before us, he guarantees

that God will be with us in our darkest hours. What do we have to fear? He already took our punishment and he already conquered our greatest enemy. So we have anticipation. Imagine that a dear friend tells you that they've sent you a Christmas gift. And they tell you it's something that you need, something that you'll love, and something that will comfort you again and again. Would you think about that gift as it made its way to your house? Would you anticipate it? Would you be thinking about the one who sent it to you? Would you already be preparing how you would open it and take that gift into your life. Well, of course you would.

You'd be excited. You wouldn't forget to open it, and you wouldn't forget to express gratitude to the one who sent it. But as I write this, in the middle of Advent, a season of waiting for the gift of Christmas, I realize,

I haven't thought much about the gift my father sent me. I've been busy buying things, managing schedules, finishing work, just scrolling my phone. I haven't thought much about Jesus, the servant we just talked about, who rescues me from the very things that distract me.

I haven't thought much about his peace, his joy, his presence, his patience, his love. I haven't remembered to give thanks, but I don't want to be that way. I don't want to be forgetful. Advent reminds us to wait and look for Jesus the way Isaiah was showing us, to remember our king who came and who will come again.

Dietrich Bonhofer wrote, Look up, your redemption is drawing near. Something different than what you see daily will happen. Be aware, be watchful. Wait just another short moment. Wait. And something quite new will break over you. God will come.

Friend, your obsessions will be no more. Your grief will be gone. Your pain and your sadness will be wiped away. Your sin will be washed clean. Just be aware and watchful. Remember, you live in a bigger story. You live for a better king. Wait, just another moment. God will come.