Isaiah 49-52
Chapters 49 and 50 are the second and third chapters in Isaiah that speak about the Messiah. The first is 42 and the final one is Chapter 52:13 – 53:12. Glory follows suffering.
Chapter 49 opens with the Servant of Jehovah describing his own ministry.
Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength — ” (Isa 49:1-5)
It is not hard to see in this section the events our Lord fulfilled in the days of his flesh. This passage is addressed to the Gentile peoples of earth, reaching far beyond Israel to the “coastlands,” the continents of earth.
- Called by God: The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.
- Equipped by God: He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.
- Owned by God: he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,
- Rewarded by God: in whom I will be glorified.
- Labored for God: But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” Verses 4-5 speak of his experience of rejection by the people to whom he came. At first his ministry was sensational. He attracted crowds everywhere he went. But soon he began to experience rejection and apparent failure, so that in the end he had to say, “All have forsaken me.” This is reflected in these words, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.” Even in those words, however, there is a confidence that God will recover and do his will
- Working for God: And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength
- Sustained and Rewarded by God: for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength
Verses 8-13 continue the description of what God has called his servant to do. There is a remarkable promise in Verse 6, where Yahweh looks on to the worldwide ministry that the Servant will have.
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see thee and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” (Isa 49:6-7)
I believe the point of this passage is clearly that God was not going to expend such a precious part of Himself to reach on the nation of Israel. God’s plan was always for the Messiah to reach to the end of the earth. But there is a clear description of what I have often called God’s value system or economy. What are the things that God values? To answer that question, look to what He rewards. Also, the life of Christ reflected very clearly what God values because Jesus had the heart of His father and look and see where it led Him: It lead Him to the cross.
In Verse 14 of this chapter, Israel (or Zion, a name for Jerusalem) cries out,
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” (Isa 49:14)
If you believe this sounds like a child who sees that Mom or Dad loves their siblings and can’t imagine that they are also loved by their parents. In our world, we usually prefer one over another. We can’t see how someone could love two people equally. But God is not like people. The Jews, seeing God’s gift being provided to the nation, is under the impression that God had forgotten them. They cannot understand the wanderings through the centuries, the nameless horrors of the Holocaust, and other persecutions. But Yahweh reminds them, in Verses 15-16:
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” (Isa 49:15-16)
That is God’s word that he will not forget his promises to Israel. Paul takes this up in Chapters 9, 10 and 11 of Romans, and asks the question, “Has God cast off his people whom he knew?” (Rom 11:2a). His answer is, “Absolutely not.” God will fulfill these promises.
Here Jehovah reminds them, “Though you may feel neglected and forgotten, I cannot cast you off. I will never forget you, ‘Can a mother forget her sucking child?'” Mothers can forget their children. We live in a world where a Mother’s love seems at times dubious. But even if a Mother could forget her child, God cannot: “Behold, I have inscribed you, engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Last week I was in a home with a little girl who had fallen on her hands and had poked a small hole in the palm of her hand. I have regretted not mentioning to her that we are engraved in God’s hands. Interesting picture when you think of the meeting in the upper room and Jesus shows the scars on His hands from the resurrection. Those wounds in his hands were marks of love and their very names were engraved in his hands.
This entire section is a great word for hearts that are burdened with loneliness. Not sure if you have ever felt like God has forgotten you, that he has turned his back on you? Maybe you attribute this to some sin that you think might have been the last straw. It might even be for a decision that you thought would distance you from grace for the rest of your life. It is not that unusual, and probably more so among women, that people feel that God has forgotten them, or perhaps God has chosen not to forgive them.
But God has a ministry to the discouraged and defeated ones. What I think is that we are a little like that spoiled child from verse 14. In order to find our encouragement, we must remember how God has acted in history towards the ones He has chosen. The greatest example of that is the nation of Israel. Here in Isaiah, God declares that He will restore and do a work that will leave them amazed and baffled at the wonders that he produces. If we continue to read Verse 19, God says to Israel:
Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land — surely now it will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. The children born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: “The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.” Then you will say in your heart: “Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; whence then have these come?” (Isa 49:19-21)
Hear the amazement in the people who are alert enough to see what the power of the Lord has accomplished. The increase of population, the return of prosperity, and the blessing of God upon the people! That is the encouragement of the OT, that in it we find a God who doesn’t forget His chosen. And of course, we have our own stories too, but it is when our own landscape is spotted with desolate places and devastated land we need to look to how God has dealt with others in the past. God has changed their lives and blessed their hearts beyond their dreams.
That is a huge part of the good news, that God doesn’t abandon His chosen ones. The rest of Chapter 49 describes in beautiful words this promise to his people. Look at 49:23b, and think about this promise. Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.
Chapter 50 continues with God’s answer to the charge of forgetting his own people. Yahweh asks in the opening verse: Thus says the Lord: “Where is your mother’s bill of divorce, with which I put her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? (Isa 50:1a)
Though the people felt like God had forgotten them, divorced them, and cast them off, God says, “All right, prove it! Where is your bill of divorce? Where is a bill of sale to these people whom I have allegedly sold you?” They cannot produce it, of course, because it has not happened. But God says to them, “Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was put away. Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, was there no one to answer?” (Isa 50:1b-2a)
First God declares that He didn’t sell them into the slavery they were about to enter. It was not God’s fault that they will be made to wander through the nations of earth enduring terrible trials and horrible treatment. This verse asks, “Where were you when I came? Why when I called did no one answer?” He is speaking, of course, in view of the future ministry of Christ. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not,” (John 1:10-11).
This rejection did not happen because of any lack of power on God’s part. The passage goes on to claim that God has ample power to deliver. The problem is human pride; that obstinate resistance to being helped which we all feel in our hearts at times. It is an unwillingness to admit that we need anyone. That is why the gospel can only be received by those who have been humbled, those who understand their lack and their need.
But the prophecy does not stop with that. The passage goes on k tell us what God does to overcome that our pride. How does He deal with this? How does He remove this block? Listen to this picture the life of our Lord: The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. 6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. (Isa 50:4-6)
Two remarkable things are described here by the servant. He says, first, “Morning by morning God taught me truth. I listened to my Father.” Remember the many times Jesus said in his ministry, “The things that I say unto you I have heard from my Father.” Again and again he made that claim. He had the ear of a learner. He pored over the Scriptures. He saw himself in them. He understood what his work would be. There came dawning into his heart the revelation that he was to endure anguish, pain and rejection. But, as he says, “I was not rebellious. I was willing to go ahead. I gave my back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”
One author wrote: “It is good for us to remember frequently the sufferings of Jesus, the sheer physical agony that he went through. Think of the Upper Room and the Last Supper when he said his soul was “exceeding sorrowful unto death” (Mark 14:34); the shadows of Gethsemane among the olive trees; his loneliness, his prayers, his disappointment with his disciples; his bloody sweat, the traitor’s kiss, the binding, the blow in the face; the spitting, the scourging, the buffeting, the mocking, the crown of thorns, the smiting; the sorrowful way and the burdensome cross he had to bear. Think of his exhaustion, his collapse, the stripping of his garments, the impaling on the cross, the jeers of his foes and the flight of his friends; the hours on the cross, the darkness, his being forsaken of God, the terrible cry of anguish, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34). And then at the end Christ states, “It is finished” (John 19:30). This is all seen in anticipation by the prophet and was all fulfilled in Jesus.”
But that is not the end. It is well to remember what the book of Hebrews says, ”We have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,” (Heb 4:15a). He has been through it all. “He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” (Heb 4:15b). Jesus knew it was a wise to call us to remember His treatment – which is one of the reasons why we are called to share the cup of communion. To remember, but we shouldn’t just remember the first Sunday of every month; we should keep that in our thoughts very often because it is a purifying and a sanctifying reflection.
The chapter closes with a word of warning and a word of encouragement. First the word of encouragement: Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God. (Isa 50:10)
That is the word for all who feel forsaken. God cannot and will not leave you. He will deliver you. But what about those who do not trust Him, those who insist on trying to work it out their own way?
Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who set brands alight! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the brands which you have kindled! This shall you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment. (Isa 50:11)
That is not spoken out of anger or vengeance. God is speaking truth here. It is as if we were trying to warn a child not to stick their fingers in the light socket. Not because we are mad, but because we want to help them to assist the pain, even the possible death of their actions. God is saying, “If you turn to something else, if you try to work it all out yourself, if you ‘build your own fire’ and try to warm yourself by other means, the results will not be good. You will lie down in torment. Trouble, unrest, and unhappiness are the end of the road that you are traveling on when you light your way with a flame that is not of the Lord.
Chapters 51 and 52 give specific steps which believers can take when they feel discouraged and forsaken of God. This section is gathered around two different phrases, “Hearken to me,” and “Awake, awake,” each of which is repeated three times. These provide remarkable insight into God’s program for the discouraged.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, Who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2 “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.”. (Isa 51:1-2)
In other words, if you are discouraged we are to look back to where we have come from! Israel was to look back to Abraham, back to the time before he left Ur of the Chaldees. When you are discouraged, look back. You may not be what you want to be, or even what you ought to be, but thank God you are not what you were! Remember Paul’s words to the Corinthian believers, “. . . neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God,” (1 Cor 6:9b-10). But the apostle continues, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God,” (1 Cor 6:11). Look back. Has God changed you? Has he altered your inner life and changed your heart?
Then also look ahead, God says.
“Pay attention to Me, O My people, and give ear to Me, O My nation; For a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. 5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait for Me, And for My arm they will wait expectantly. 6 “Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment And its inhabitants will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not wane. (Isa 51:4-6)
Have you ever wondered how the Apostles put all this together in terms of understanding God’s bigger plan? I believe that once God gave them a richer, deeper understanding of the OT, it all became obvious to them, with the help of the Holy Spirit of course. Truthfully, there is no way we can understand God’s larger plan outside of His assistance to comprehend. Here God is telling Isaiah to look ahead! A new day is coming! God has a plan and we are not headed for darkness and despair, we are headed for peace and light and glory; for power and ministry such as we could never dream. That is what God is saying. It will not last forever. We are headed for light, for peace, and for glory.
Verse 7 adds another “Hearken.” Do not only look back and look ahead, also look around! “Hearken to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my deliverance will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.” (Isa 51:7-8)
We live in a world where people make a pretty good living churning up fear. It is best interest of the world news to show turmoil, death and destruction. But God is saying here that no one needs to fear. There is an invisible destruction going on in the lives of those who revile and reproach God and His people. An unseen judgment is already taking place, one which is called here, the judgment of the moth and the worm. The days of destruction by moths seem to have long passed but I remember there were things that smelled like moth balls. There was even a Jerry Seinfeld story about moths that destroyed some clothes they were trying to sell. That is the picture here the moth and the termite which destroys foundations. That is why we are told again and again in the Scriptures not to fear cruel and violent people, because God is undermining them. God is at work in way and places they don’t see. The psalmist says in Psalm 73, “He has set their feet in slippery places,” We ought to pity them as their foundations are being slowly destroyed.
But God’s slow and assured judgment is not enough for these impatient hearts. In response to this, Israel cries out with desire to see this happen immediately. “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord [that is, the Messiah]; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab [Egypt] in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon [Pharaoh, king of Egypt]? Was it not thou that didst dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that didst make the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isa 51:9-11)
Don’t you feel this way at times? Don’t you want to say, “Lord, I’ve had it. Come soon.” That is how the Bible ends: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” But God puts great value on waiting on Him. He insists that we must wait, but he does not leave us comfortless during our waiting.
“I, I am he that comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy?” (Isa 51:12-13a)
“I will comfort you,” says God, “I will come in my own time. But in the meantime I have a work for you to do.” He tells us what that work is in Verse 16:
“And I have put my words in your mouth, and hid you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.'” (Isa 51:16)
God wants to tell others of this wonderful way of deliverance, of the encouragement he has for those who are discouraged of heart. “I have put my words in your mouth,” he says, so that we can share with others what he has done for us. He calls then to Israel to awaken itself.
Rouse yourself, rouse yourself, stand up O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl of staggering. (Isa 51:17)
Through the rest of the chapter God describes Israel’s task, to speak to the nations, to wake up and to tell the world about God. There is a third call to “Awake” in Chapter 52, where God again says he will truly bless this nation.
Awake, awake, put on your strength O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust, arise, O captive Jerusalem; loose your bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. (Isa 52:1-2)
What will happen in the earth in the day when Israel recognizes her Messiah? Paul tells us in Romans that the whole world is awaiting that day of discovery. That is reflected here in verse 7:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tiding of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isa 52:7)
This is what we must declare. This is the message that a truly joyous believers declares with every drop of hope and love they display to the rest of the world. We must show it on our faces, and let it be heard in our voices. God will come and the terrible times will end. We (and Israel) will one day hear the welcome summons:
Depart, depart, go out thence [from the time of trouble], touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. (Isa 52:11)
That is what is required of Christians today. We are not to go along with all the mistaken ways of the world, chasing illusions, and seeking things that will not satisfy. Rather, we should cleanse ourselves, for the promise is, For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. (Isa 52:12)
We are so often like the Israelites at the Red Sea: the water before us, Pharaoh’s army chasing us down from behind. We are not sure where to turn or what to do. But then the word of the Lord comes, “Stand still, and see the salvation of your God,” (Ex. 14:13). That is the way out. Trust in your Lord. He will open a way through whatever stands as insurmountable before you.