These are the first words represented as being by the Servant. Compare 41.1. There the coastlands/isles were to witness the rise of the Servant. And it was followed by ‘beholding the Servant’ (42.1). But they had also witnessed that Israel did not live up to being the Servant. So now, having seen the failure of that Servant, they are spoken to by the new Servant. And he has a new task. He is to be concerned with the restoration of Israel, as well as with the purpose of fulfilling the destiny of the Servant towards the nations. He is to take on himself the whole world.

So in these words he speaks to the wider world. The ‘coastlands/isles’ are the world across the sea, while the ‘peoples from afar’ are all the nations not closely associated with Israel. The message is for the whole world because all have an interest in it.

Firstly he identifies himself. He was called from the womb and mention was made of his name by God even from the inner parts (bowels) of his mother, so closely was his destiny connected with God and His will. In Isaiah there is only one of whom this is true, ‘an ‘almah will be with child and will bear a son, and his name will be called Immanuel’ (7.14). He was named even before he was in the womb. There was only One other Who was accorded this privilege, ‘you shall call His name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1.21), and Matthew links Him with this prophecy of Immanuel. In contrast Maher-shalal-hashbaz was named after he had left the womb, for he was but a sign to Israel (8.3).

Earlier Israel as the Servant had been ‘formed from the womb’ (44.2, 24) and had from the womb been ‘borne’ by Yahweh (46.3) but they were not described as ‘called’ from the womb or ‘named’ in the womb. God had a purpose for them from the beginning, but they were not called or named while in the womb. Here then is someone very special who has a special destiny, he is ‘called’ from the womb’, and significantly ‘named’ while in the womb prior to his birth because of his destiny. In Isaiah there is only one such, Immanuel (7.14; 9.6-7). For Immanuel was to come forth from his mother as one already named by God. Immanuel was not just a name given to him after he was born, it was a name intended to be pregnant with significance in his very birth, a significance which proved that Yahweh had uniquely set him apart. Indeed a direct contrast is made with Israel, for they were ‘called a transgressor from the womb’ (48.8), whereas He from the womb was called ‘God with us’ (immanu el). We are immediately therefore taken back to the coming greater David.

This interpretation is supported by the reference to His mother. Israel is never described as being born from a mother but ‘formed from the womb’, with the one who did the bearing being indefinite. In their case it means ‘each from his very beginning, as part of the whole’. But the birth of God’s chosen one is regularly connected specifically to His mother (7.14; Genesis 3.15; Psalm 22.9), and surely here has 7.14 especially in mind. Such a reference stresses the individual nature of the Servant here, even though he incorporates in himself his people. Ultimately the Servant is Immanuel.

49.2

His mouth is His powerful weapon, a sharp sword with which He is able to smite men with His words and discern their inner thoughts (compare Revelation 1.16; 19.15; Hebrews 4.12; Ephesians 6.17). He needs no earthly sword. He will win with words. This is no ordinary king. He does not require weapons of iron, He uses powerful words.

‘In the shadow of His hand He has hidden me.’ ‘In the shadow of His hand’ parallels ‘in his quiver has He kept me’. The latter speaks of the quiver as enclosing the arrow, and the former must therefore be connected with the sword. It is telling us that the sword, which is His mouth, is sheathed in the shadow of God’s hand. There it is completely preserved and when it comes forth, it comes forth from God’s hand. It is evidence that His words come from God. He does not speak of Himself, but what Yahweh would say, that He will speak (see 50.4 and compare John 7.16-18). But it is not only the sword which is in that scabbard, He too is in that scabbard. He too therefore is the preserved of God and revealed as God’s weapon.

A polished shaft/arrowhead is one that has been made deadly accurate. It will not swerve from its main course. Thus is He set to move forward with accuracy and speed, He is kept safe and close and polished in the Almighty’s quiver. He is powerfully armed with all that God has provided for Him, and He does not just use the weaponry, He is the weaponry.

49.3 ‘And he said to me, “You are my servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’

The Servant is now addressed as ‘My Servant Israel’. The one who stands here has taken over the mantle of Israel. Israel had proved faithless. Thus they had to be replaced by one who would restore Israel. This one has been selected out to represent Israel and fulfil Israel’s destiny as the Servant so as to bring glory to God. He stands in the place of Israel. He is the ‘Israel’ who acts in Israel’s name. As Immanuel He has been chosen so that He may restore Israel, and more, be a light to the Gentiles. And He will do it along with those who are His faithful people. Typical of His true people will be that they cry, ‘Glory to the Righteous One’ (24.16). He sums up Israel in Himself, and the true Israel follow His bidding. By this God will be glorified.

‘In whom I will be glorified.’ The purpose of the Servant is that he might bring glory to God by the carrying forward of His purposes. God was not glorified in Israel. Israel had brought shame on His name. And so He appoints one to act in Israel’s name, to do what Israel has failed to do.

When Jesus came He laid great stress on this, and on His own responsibility to fulfil Israel’s destiny. He spoke of Himself as ‘the true Vine’ (John 15.1). He summed up Israel in Himself. He declared of Himself ‘I have glorified You on earth, I have finished the work that you gave me to do’ (John 17.4). He saw Himself as the Servant, Who had come ‘to serve and to give His life a ransom for many’ (Mark 10.45), and He saw Himself as having satisfactorily completed that task. But He also told His disciples that they must let their lights shine before men that they may see their good works and glorify their Father Who is in heaven (Matthew 5.16). They too were to be the Servant (compare Acts 13.47).

49.4

Here He identifies Himself with the Servant in the past. He looks back at the past efforts of the Servant. The Servant had achieved little. Even Isaiah’s words have been in vain up to this point (6.9-13). Almost nothing has been achieved. But it cannot continue so, for Yahweh passes judgment in His favour, and His God will recompense Him for His efforts. Thus He knows that as the Servant He will have a powerful and effective future.

49.5

He both identifies Himself with the Servant mentioned previously, ‘formed from the womb’ (44.2, 24; 46.3), and distinguishes Himself by His task. Israel/Jacob were formed from the womb that they might be mightily blessed and be witnesses to the nations (44.1-4; 43.10). But they had failed miserably. The first task of the new Servant is to fulfil the Servant’s task and bring Jacob back to Him again, and gather Israel to Him. This is a question of restoring the disobedient to obedience. The whole of Jacob has been in rebellion, categorised as transgressors (46.8; 48.8). They must be sought with a view to bringing them back to God. It is puerile just to see this as a question of restoring exiles, unless we include in it that they are repentant exiles. God is not seeking to people a land, but to establish a witness to the nations. He has the whole of Israel/Jacob in mind. They have to be brought back to Yahweh, to be restored to Him, and must be if they are to fulfil the Servant’s task.

And He can do this because unlike Jacob/Israel He is honourable in Yahweh’s eyes, and His God is His strength. This stresses the dishonourable and weak state of Jacob/Israel. It is also questionable whether to Isaiah a prophet would be spoken of in these terms. Isaiah had seen himself in the light of the holiness of God and had been appalled. He was therefore unlikely to describe a prophet as honourable. But it would be different with the miraculously born child (7.14) Whom God would raise up Whose destiny was to be the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father (9.6). He was truly honourable.

The strict reading in MT is ‘but Israel is not (lo’) gathered’. An alternative reading is ‘And that Israel be gathered to him (low)’ , an ancient correction (qere). The point in the strict MT reading would signify that while it is His task, it is not yet accomplished, but the whole context points to the correction as being correct.

49.6 ‘Yes, he says,

‘Raise up the tribes of Jacob’ is in parallel with being ‘a light to the Gentiles’ which confirms its moral significance. It is not just a matter of restoring exiles to the homeland, but of bringing them back to the light. ‘Restoring the preserved of Israel’, also has the same significance. Yahweh has preserved some of His people so that they might be restored to Him by the Servant (they will then again become part of the Servant). They are those remaining after God’s judgments (1.9; 6.13), even though at present in rebellion against God and battered down. They need to be raised up and restored. This is His first task.

But in view of Whom He is this is but a light task. It is too small. He is therefore also set to be ‘a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.’ He will bring light to the nations who are in darkness, illuminating their minds and revealing the truth about Yahweh. Thus He will not only deliver Israel, but also the ends of the world, bringing them too into the everlasting kingdom, He Himself being their salvation (see Isaiah 53).

Note the parallel ‘you should be my servant’ with ‘that you may be my salvation’. He is to be both the Servant and the Deliverance. The deliverance is wrapped up in His person. He is to be the Saviour of the nations. He is thus more than a king, He is more than a prophet, He is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (9.6).

The Triumph of the Servant Out of Humiliation (49.7-13).

49.7 ‘Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

The Servant is now put in true perspective (compare verse 4). Initially he will despised by men, he will be hated by nations, he will be a servant of rulers. This depicts both the humiliation of Israel and the humiliation of the coming One as described in 53.1-4. But such humiliation only came on Israel when they sought to serve Yahweh only. It was their very distinctiveness that marked them out for such treatment, just as it would be the uniqueness of the Servant in chapter 53 which would bring on Him ignominy and shame. While they joined with others in their idolatry Israel would be welcomed. They would simply blend in with others. But once they turned from idols and put forward God’s Instruction, all would change. The world would turn on them because of their ‘peculiarity’, just as the Servant in chapter 53 would be treated in the same way because of His unique message and way of living. His life would be an offence because men had turned into their own way.

So Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, is the One Who has raised up this Servant to carry out His task of redemption. And it is the One Who is still Israel’s Holy One, will Who now speak to Him Who is despised by men (compare 53.3; 50.5-6) and abhorred by the nation (50.5-6), a servant of rulers (in a position where He has to submit to earthly rulers because He has not yet attained the authority which should be His).

Note the contrast between the Holy One and the despised One, One is in heaven and the other on the earth, One is set apart in holiness and glory, the other is walking in humility as a hated One and a mere servant. It is the Servant of the Holy One Who walks in humility and humiliation (compare Philippians 2.5-11). Men will despise Him because He seems so unimportant, (53.3 - and because He will be a despised Galilean), the nation will abhor Him because they feel uneasy at Him and dislike His message. Rulers will see Him as a common servant, to be treated as such because they reject His authority. Note also again the contrast. He is the exalted Servant of Yahweh, but rulers will see Him as but a common servant.

But Yahweh will turn the tables for Him. In the end kings will arise in His honour, princes will pay Him homage. And this will all be because of Yahweh’s faithfulness to Him, He Who as the Holy One of Israel has chosen Him. This anticipates 53.12, but also keeps in mind verse 23, and 60.3, 14-16.

Here again then we have blended King and people. Every nation saw itself as honoured when its king was honoured, that was also why they were to blame for his behaviour. It was why when the king was evil in the sight of Yahweh the people shared his ignominy. He could not do it unless they were willing. And when the king did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, the effect passed on to the people. But the major impact came first through the behaviour of the king.

The reference of these verses to the ministry of Jesus and then to His resurrection glory is apparent. Beginning in humility and ending in glory He too would reveal Himself as the triumphant Servant (52.13-53.12).

What must now also be seen as significant is that although up to this point the use of the designation ‘Israel’ has been prolific in almost every chapter from chapter 40 onwards, the contrast here in verses 3, 5 and 6 are the last mention of Israel as such in this section up to chapter 66. It is henceforth only used genitivally, as for example when describing God as ‘the Holy One of Israel’. The people will from now on be referred to as ‘Zion’ and Jerusalem, or as ‘Jacob’. This must be seen as significant and surely has the purpose of preventing the too close identification of the One now spoken of as ‘Israel’ with the failing people of God. Israel has reached its ultimate in this distinctive Servant. The term can no longer therefore be applied in this context to the failing people. For from now on we have the contrast between God’s failing people and God’s humiliated but triumphant Servant.

The seeming exception in 63.16 is not really an exception because there Israel the Patriarch is in mind. (See on that passage). So all this may be seen as confirming that once ‘Israel’ had come to its culmination in the One Who represented it as only He could, and once He was called ‘Israel’, Isaiah was determined not to use it for any other, lest He Who is the only true representative of Israel be in some way diminished.

49.8-9a ‘Thus says Yahweh,

Yahweh now speaks to the Servant again. When the acceptable time comes, the time of God’s favour, when the day of salvation is about to dawn, Yahweh will answer Him and help Him. He will preserve Him and give Him for a covenant of the people. That is, He will cause Him to stand before the people as a guarantee of Yahweh’s covenant with them, the everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David (55.3). And the purpose of this will be so that He might raise up the land and cause them to inherit desolate heritages. The land will be restored and He will make ‘a way in the wilderness’ (43.19-20). The heritage of each family will cease being desolate, and they will walk in well-watered ways. The Servant is acting for God on behalf of the people. He is doing the work of God. The result is that the land that they had inherited would become fruitful again. Out of their despair would come full restoration at His hands. And the ones who are to inherit will be called out of bondage and out of the darkness of prison houses, and told to go out and show themselves so that all might see that they have been delivered. It is a picture of triumphant salvation by the One of the many. The whole picture is of an ideal future.

To a certain extent some of this was fulfilled by men like Nehemiah and Ezra, Zerubbabel and Joshua, Haggai and Zechariah. They caused His returning people to inherit. But none of them became a light to the Gentiles, and for His salvation to the ends of the earth. That awaited the coming of Jesus, Who came into the world and restored those of His people who would hear the new covenant, releasing those who were bound by sin or in darkness, and easing the way for all to prosper under God. He came as a light into the world that men might not walk in darkness but might have the light of life (John 8.12). And in the end it was He alone Who could be for salvation to the ends of the earth, although we must include within His ministry His Apostles whom He appointed. They too were the Servant. If we ask which of the people of Israel alive in 1st century AD fulfilled these promises there can only be one answer. It the world was initially turned upside down by Jews, and those Jews were Jesus Himself, and the Apostles and their followers, and it was with a salvation centred on what Jesus had done. This is not just an interpretation, it is a unique fact of history. These were the first century fulfilment of the Servant.

This is now followed by a glorious picture of the new Exodus as God’s people travel home to Him.

49.9b-12

The exiles of Israel will come from all parts of the world to have their part in this glorious salvation. It is for Israel both near and far. But note that this is not people returning in unbelief. They are responding to the call of the Servant. And God will be with them and will make the way pleasant for them. The mountains of the world belong to Him, and all its highways. And His mountains will all provide passage for His people, none will be insuperable, and they will walk in exalted highways, not those walked by unbelievers.

While it is a new worldwide Exodus, they will not this time have to come through a wilderness but across land abundant with food and pasture. There will be no hunger and thirst. No heatstroke or sun will smite them. For the One Who has mercy on them will be the One Who leads them, and He will guide them by springs of water. The way through the mountains will be made easy, and the lowly highways will be raised up. No up and down experiences for these. And they will come from far, from north and west and from the land of Sinim. Sinim is to us unidentified, (although connection with a tribal area of China has been suggested), but it is noteworthy that none were to come from the east. Babylon and the east are not mentioned, perhaps because Babylon was now seen as having been destroyed (47). These are the worldwide exiles which have resulted from the continual ravages of Assyria.

The later early returning exiles from Babylon would have opened their eyes at these words as they struggled back along the weary way, constantly searching for water, as would many who returned from other exiles. But that is not really the point behind the description. It rather speaks of spiritual welfare and blessing, and the help of God in whatever way they walk. And it was all a preparation, a foundation for what God would do in the future. The point being made is that God’s salvation will be made available wherever they are. The journey is really the journey back to Him. But of course it had to result in a return of the faithful to Jerusalem, for it was from there that His word had to go out to the nations (2.1-4).

It was therefore no mere coincidence when Luke pointed out that there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews from every nation under heaven (Acts 2.5). The exiles had returned. And it was from those of them who responded to Jesus Christ that God’s salvation was to be taken out to the ends of the earth. But the message was helped on by Jews of the Dispersion who came to Christ in many countries around the world, as well, of course, as by the new Israel of God. Thus His people came back to Him in all parts of the world. And the idealistic final picture behind all this is of all God’s people coming to the everlasting kingdom through the work of the Servant, and being provided for and helped on the way (35.10).

49.13

Once again the whole of creation is called on to declare its joy at what God has done for His people, and to wonder at His goodness and compassion on those who through affliction (48.10) have been brought back to Him. Both the heavens and the mountains, the exalted parts of creation, are to sing, and especially the mountains, for it is from them that the Good News is to be declared, while the whole earth is to be filled with joy. For Yahweh has brought about what He promised in 40.1, and has revealed His great mercy on them.

The book of Isaiah began with Yahweh calling on the heaven and earth as witnesses in 1.2. There they were to witness the failure and disobedience of Israel. In 44.23 heaven and earth then rejoiced at Yahweh’s offer of forgiveness of sins, and His potential blotting out of their transgressions, and the redemption of those who were truly His people. Now the same occurs again because of the Servant’s work on behalf of His people, restoring them and giving them hope.

The Despair of the People And Their Final Hope (49.14-26).

The picture now reverts. Yahweh’s call to them was to be His Servant, but instead they are sitting moaning on the ground. Here the picture is of Jerusalem in despair because of her present state and because so many of her children are so far from her in exile in different parts of the world, taken their by various invaders or having fled there for refuge. But God assures her of His love for her and that her children will return. And she is given the picture of her children returning in droves and reaching out and possessing the land. The picture is one of full restoration to the nation of their dreams, a guarantee that one day all will be put right in the everlasting kingdom. And that will be in the new heaven and the new earth (65.17).

We should note here that this is not the picture of a totally deserted Jerusalem needing to be inhabited. It is a picture of an inhabited and walled Jerusalem seeking to be delivered from her oppressors and longing for the return of its exiles, which fits Isaiah’s period perfectly.

49.14 ‘But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” ’

Notice the change of description of God’s people to ‘Zion’. It is vivid. The picture is of Zion/Jerusalem sitting pathetically ringing her hands and looking round at her desolation. She is deserted and forsaken. She considers that she has no future. In 41.27 Zion had been addressed and had been told to behold Yahweh’s words through Isaiah. Now their failure to do so is made apparent.

So, in contrast with the greatness of the Servant, is the plaintiveness of the people as a whole, now no longer the wondrous vision of ‘Israel’, the strong Servant, but the sad picture of ‘Zion’ the self-pitying, the petulant (compare 40.27). You might get the impression here from what she says that Zion was totally without blame and that God had behaved dreadfully. They may even have felt that. In spite of all that they had done in forsaking Yahweh they were still unwilling to accept the truth about their own sinfulness and what they deserved. They had forsaken Him and forgotten Him, pushing Him to one side. And now they claimed that it was all His fault. Once we start to blame God it is a sign that we are totally wrapped up in ourselves and in our sin.

Isaiah has gradually been building up to this use of ‘Zion’. Previously it has mainly been ‘the daughters of Zion’ because Zion was seen as their abode, but as in 40.9; 41.27 Zion has gradually been personalised to represent its people. Zechariah will even use it of His people in far off countries (Zechariah 2.7). The use now fluctuates between meaning the people and meaning the place.

Their complaint is seen to be folly. Yahweh is the great covenant God, the One Who could say, ‘I am the One Who is there’ (Exodus 3.14), Who had proved His faithfulness through the generations, and Who mightily delivered them from Sennacherib. And yet they say that He has forsaken them, overlooking the fact that it is they who have failed to fulfil their part in the covenant, and it is they who have forsaken Him. They are like a man who deserts his wife and home for a good time, and, finding himself alone in a bedsit, having broken his marriage vows, blames is wife for letting him down. Then they add, ‘the Sovereign Lord has forgotten me.’ This is an equally foolish statement. They were claiming that He was so high and mighty that He had no time for them, when it was they who had had no time for Him. Their present state was all their own fault.

49.15-16

Yahweh’s reply is magnificent. Would a nursing mother forget her child, her own born son? Yes, that is even possible. It has happened. But on no account will Yahweh forget the people of Jerusalem. For Jerusalem is His daughter (1.8). She is engraved on the palms of His hands so that its walls are continually before Him. Note the implication that the walls are still standing. He has not forgotten Jerusalem. He had already proved it by His treatment of Sennacherib and Assyria.

Such statements as this built up the myth of the inviolability of Jerusalem. But while God would never forget Jerusalem, with all that it symbolised as the centre of His people’s worship, (a centre later transferred to heaven along with the resurrected Jesus, to the Jerusalem which is above - Galatians 4.26), it did not mean that He would not allow it to be taught a vivid lesson.

49.17 ‘Your children hurry, your destroyers and those who made you waste will go forth from you.’

She need not be concerned. Her children who have been exiled around the world are in a hurry to return, and they will hurry to her, while those who ravage her will depart. She will be left secure. The promise is a general one, it covers any who seek to lay her waste. All her enemies without exception will depart and leave her alone, for when her children return it will be to the everlasting kingdom. For ‘laid waste’ see verse 19. It is speaking of the lands around which are part of Jerusalem. It need not refer to the actual destruction of the city.

Some MS and versions have ‘your builders’ instead of ‘your children’ but verse 18 refers back to it and supports ‘children’.

49.18

Zion is to cease moaning with her eyes cast down and is to look up, and look around. And then she will behold. Then she will see her children gathering to her. And if only she will believe (‘see’) she will be able to take them all and wear them as an ornament, and decorate herself with them like a bride decorates herself with jewels. All that was needed was the eyes of men and women with faith in Yahweh who would recognise what God could do.

49.19

This could refer to any period when invaders had come in and ravaged the land. It would happen again and again. But she need not fear. For when her children return they will be so many that they will spread abroad and inhabit the land. The small amount she now possesses will be too restricted. And no one will be able to prevent it because those who ‘swallowed her up’ and so restricted her will be far away. Final triumph is guaranteed. The Assyrians had for a while left Judah with only a small area around Jerusalem. But Yahweh would expand it and ensure that it was inhabited.

49.20-21

She feels that she has been bereaved of her children, but those very children will yet return, and they will be so many that they will complain that there is not enough room and will require more space, filling the land to overflowing, and inhabiting it. And in amazement she will ask where these children have come from, even doubting that they can be her own. Note the sad description of her state, alone, without anything worthwhile and wandering helplessly and aimlessly about. And now she complains about her children having left her. When she was left alone, where were they? Thus when she does see her multiplicity of children she is pictured as being resentful. The idea is of a dissatisfied and discontented woman so as to bring out Judah’s present state.

The picture is one of hope out of despair. Who could have believed that stricken Jerusalem and its immediate environs would grow until it would contain almost the whole land of Israel. And yet that was what happened in later centuries. But even more astounding was the growth of ‘Zion’ when it began to take in the multitude of Gentile Christian converts to form the new congregation (ecclesia) of Israel, the ecclesia which we translate as ‘church’. And the growth will be greater still when the multitude that no man can number are gathered to the new Jerusalem.

49.22-23 ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh,

Yahweh’s response is positive. Here God depicts the return of exiles from all over the world, as described in verses 20-21, as a triumphant march in response to God’s beckoning with the hand and the raising of His banner (compare 11.11-12). It is in total contrast with the flight from Babylon of lovers of Babylon depicted in 48.20. These return in triumph. The nations respond by bearing God’s people in their hearts and on their shoulders, kings and queens care for them and nurture them, and all fall down before them and lick the dust of their feet. This is not of course to be taken literally. It is a picture of triumphant progress towards the everlasting kingdom. The licking of the dust is a sign of defeat for their enemies, the bowing down a recognition that they are God’s chosen. They bow down to them because their King reigns supreme. The action of the kings and queens evidence, firstly, that God’s people are superior to all royalty except the son of David, and secondly, that all authority is subject to them and will take the greatest care of them (see 14.2).

Then they will have learned that Yahweh is indeed the One Who is, the Lord of history, and that those who wait in expectancy on Him will never be put to shame.

The idea is, of course of the final triumph of the people of God. God’s people can be sure that whatever their present tribulations in the world one day it is they who will be honoured because of the Servant’s work on their behalf. One day they will enjoy the honour of all.

49.24

The question comes back in astonishment. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? Shall those rightfully captive be delivered? Is this possible? They deserve to be captives, as what Isaiah has said previously has demonstrated, and their captors are mighty. They have no deserving, nothing to their credit, and they are weak. Will then God deliver even such as these?

49.25-26 ‘And thus says Yahweh,

Yahweh comes back with His reply. He will indeed fight for them, for He is the Mighty One, not only of princely Israel but of lowly Jacob. He will take away the captives from the mighty, He will deliver the prey of the terrible, He will contend with their contenders, and save their children. He will deliver them from all evil. Indeed the mighty and the terrible will rather fight each other, ‘eating each others flesh’, a vivid way of saying slaughtering each other, ‘drinking their own blood’, that is, satiating themselves with their bloodthirsty activities with each other. (Note how this gives a background to the meaning of ‘eating flesh and drinking wine’ in John 6 as signifying the slaying of Jesus).

It need hardly be pointed out that this partially ‘contradicts’ verse 23, which suggested a bloodless coup, but not really, for none are to be taken literally. They are varying pictures of God’s saving activity and God’s judgment through time.

Then not only Israel will know (verse 23) but all flesh will know that their Deliverer and Redeemer is Yahweh. And that He is the people of Jacob’s Champion. He is ‘The Mighty One of Jacob’ (compare 60.16; Genesis 49.24), the Mighty Warrior Who fights on their behalf. Note that ‘Jacob’ is used and not ‘Israel’. After the naming of the Servant as ‘Israel’, that name as used for the people is being avoided.

Chapter 50 The Call For A Man And The Reply Of The Servant.

Chapter 49 ended with the idea of the return of the exiles around the world which had made the bewildered Zion look around unable to believe her eyes. In chapter 11 the same idea of the return followed the rise of the Spirit filled son of Jesse. So now the cry is, ‘is there no man?’ If the exiles are to return, where is the one who can deal with the situation and act for them before God? The answer is given here. He is the Servant. But first He will be rejected and falsely accused.

Is There No One To Answer When Yahweh Has The Power and the Will To Deliver? (50.1-3).

Yahweh now rebukes His people. He points out that their failure to enjoy His blessings cannot be laid at His door. He has not turned away from them and divorced them. He has not sold them off as a creditor sells off his children. Their present position and condition is entirely due to their own fault.

Indeed His power is not diminished at all. He is still powerful enough to dry up the sea with a rebuke, as He did in Egypt, and make the rivers a wilderness as He did to the Assyrian forces around Jerusalem, and will do to Assyria and Babylon. Note how this is the very opposite of what He has promised for His people. Such language refers as much to blessing and judgment, as it does to natural events. Overflowing water means blessing, drought means judgment.

The problem is rather that there is no one on whom He can call who will respond to His words. There is no one on whom He can rely, through whom He can deliver them. God is looking for a man to stand in the gap.

50.1 ‘Thus says Yahweh,

God now points out that it is not He who has divorced them, it is they who have gone away from Him as a result of their sins, through their iniquities and transgressions. It is not He Who has sold them in order to pay off His debts, it is they who have sold themselves to sin.

Here the thought in 49.14 is now being dealt with, the suggestion that Yahweh had forgotten Zion and treated her badly. Yahweh stresses that firstly He has not divorced the children of Jacob’s mother, the stem of Jacob. They have simply been separated from Him for a while. The covenant has not been finally cancelled, only suspended. And secondly that His children have not been sold off to pay His creditors. A creditor had rights against a debtor to obtain payment by the sale of a man’s children. But Yahweh has no creditors. He has no need to sell off His children. Any suggestion therefore that He has been unfair or blameworthy is false. The reason why they were ‘sold’ into enemy hands was rather because of their iniquities (the wickedness of the inner heart), and their mother was put away because of her sins, her transgressions (outward disobedience and rebellion). All the blame lies with them.

50.2a

Indeed the opposite situation pertains. When He came and sought for a man to assist Him, there was no man. And when He called for response there was no answer. It was they who had forgotten Him. He had wanted to save and deliver. He had wanted to buy them back. He had the means to do so. His hand was not too short (see Numbers 11.23), His power was not so limited. But what was lacking was a man, the right man. There had been no man willing to facilitate the task. That was the reason that things were as they are. (There may here be the thought that Ahaz and Hezekiah had proved themselves not worthy, as had all the other sons of David).

The idea of God calling for a man takes us back to man’s beginnings when God walked in the Garden and called to a man. Then there was an answer, but it was, alas, the wrong one. There was no right answer. There was no one to say, ‘Here I am’. And that is the point here, that God was looking for the right answer. But, alas, there was no answer.

It is significant that in the same way, when the same situation was earlier put to idolaters there was no response from them also (41.28-42.4), then too there was no man, in that case it was also followed by the coming of the Servant, as here. Each call for a man is therefore followed up with a description of the Servant, God’s man to fill the breach.

It is significant also that Isaiah does not see himself as possibly being that man. He knows that God is talking about Immanuel, Who alone can fill the role.

50.2b-3

God then reminds them that there was no reason to doubt that He had the power. His power to redeem and deliver had been revealed in the past, when He dried up the sea for Israel to pass through at the Exodus (Exodus 14.21). When He makes the rivers a wilderness all the fish stink and die (Exodus 7.18, 21). This was true in Egypt, it will also be true for Assyria and especially Babylon. In Egypt the heavens became pitch black so that a man could not see his fellow (Exodus 10.22-23), and they were covered as with sackcloth because of what was happening. There is possibly in this last the reminder of the death of the firstborn. But the same is true throughout history. He makes the heavens black with judgment, or not, as He wishes.

The idea is probably intended to go beyond the Exodus as a reminder that Yahweh has life and death in His hands at all times, of which Egypt was but an example. For if rivers dry up it is not only fish that die, but men also. And sackcloth is also a sign of continual mourning. So this could be seen as the heavens in mourning because of what Yahweh’s judgments would do. This being so, Yahweh has shown that He is well able to deliver, and to deal with the hostility of the most powerful foes.

But There is One who Will Answer, the Servant of Yahweh (50.4-9).

But then there is an answer. There is a man who speaks up answers, but it is not quite as expected. Instead of the Spirit-filled King who will stride forward like a mighty warrior and exact justice (11.1-4), it is the voice of a humble Teacher, of One despised and ill-treated, One who is being falsely accused. For Israel are so sinful that they have even rejected God’s Man. He is not seen as Israel’s champion, He is treated as Israel’s reject. The King thus comes as a humiliated Servant.

We can compare with this how, when Immanuel comes, times will be hard (7.15 with 21-22, 23-25). He will come in humble surroundings. He will not immediately take His throne.

The Servant describes three gifts that ‘the Lord Yahweh’ has given Him. The tongue of those who are taught, the opening of the ear in obedience, and Yahweh’s own powerful assistance. In other words, the ability to sustain others by His teaching, the ability to obey in the face of reproach and humiliation, and the ability to stand firm in the face of false accusations, resulting in final vindication. That one individual is in mind here comes out vividly. The suffering He faces is very much individual. And this is ‘the man’ who alone responds (contrast verse 2). There is only One Who can go through what this one has to go through, God’s anointed. It is not without significance that in Isaiah 61.1-2, God’s anointed is depicted as a prophet.

50.4

The Servant (verse 10) speaks up humbly. He acknowledges that He is but a disciple, a learner at the feet of the Lord Yahweh. The sovereign Lord, Yahweh, has given Him a tongue trained by Him, the tongue of one whom He has taught. For morning by morning He has awoken Him so that He may learn from Him. He is sharpening His sword, and polishing His arrow (49.2).

And the aim of the teaching is that He may be able to sustain the weary with words. The difficulties of the way for believers is stressed. Note the heavy stress on the use of words and teaching. There is no thought of force. The thought is of the power of the word. We remember how Jesus used to rise a great while before day in order to speak with His Father (Mark 1.35) and insisted that He spoke nothing of Himself but only what He heard the Father speak (John 7.16; 8.26, 38). He was echoing the life and words of the Servant.

When Jesus said, ‘Come to me all you who labour wearily and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,’ (Matthew 11.28) He probably had this verse in mind.

50.5-6

It was Yahweh Who had given to Him His message. It was He Who opened His ear. And He did not rebel. He did not turn backward. Although He knew what it would mean for Him the Servant went resolutely on, for He knew the truth about those who claimed to be God’s people. He knew that One Who showed them the truth about themselves would not be popular. He yielded His back to the smiters, His cheeks to those who plucked out the hairs, His face to those who spat on Him and treated Him shamefully. He was flogged, He was ill-treated, and He was scorned, and it was not for anything that He had done, but because He had taken to them the word of God for the weary. In the words of Jesus, ‘the Son of Man must suffer many things -- and they will mock Him, and will spit on Him, and will scourge Him’ (Mark 8.31; 10.34). The personal nature of the treatment indicates that here we are speaking of one man, the One Who has answered God’s call for ‘a man’.

This vicious and uncalled for treatment is basically a new, unexpected thought. In 49.7 we learned that He would be despised and hated for a time, but there was nothing there to suggest this personal, physical pain and humiliation. But it serves to bring out the sinfulness of those to whom He is speaking. This was why Israel had been put away, and sold off. Because she treated God’s messengers like this. How could she complain when she behaved in this way towards His servants?

The parallel with the treatment of Jesus is clear. He too was scourged, mocked at, treated shamefully. Such was the destiny of the Servant of Yahweh.

This shameful treatment is in direct contrast with the sufferings of Israel. Here it is made clear that, while they had received only what they deserved, this One receives what is undeserved. This is exacted on One Who when brought to court will be fully vindicated. It is in direct contrast with 42.24; 43.28; 47.6b; 48.9; 51.17, where we have described the deserved suffering of Israel.

50.7

He is firm in His resolution because it comes from God. It is because the sovereign Lord, Yahweh, helps Him that He is not dismayed and despairing, and that is why they will not be able to declare Him guilty. That is why He sets His face like a flint (compare Ezekiel 3.9; Luke 9.51). And He is confident that finally He will not be put to shame, because God will stand up for Him. His whole trust is in God.

50.8

He recognises that men will put Him on trial. But His confidence is in the fact that One is near Who will declare Him to be in the right. Whatever men may say God will justify Him. Thus He is not afraid of anyone. Who would contend with Him? Let them face Him as man to man. Who would be His adversary? Let him approach. The language is that of a court of law. He is ready to defend Himself against all comers, for God stands at His side and has already declared the verdict (compare 41.11-12). We can contrast his confidence with Isaiah’s ‘woe is me for I am undone’ (6.5), Isaiah’s recognition that he could not defend himself, and his constant identification of himself as being included among the sinful. But a greater than Isaiah is here. He can declare Himself to be without sin.

50.9

Because He knows that God is on His side He can face up to anything. Who can possibly condemn Him when He has such a helper? (Compare 41.13). For the One Who stands with Him is the Judge of all, and He knows the truth. Thus those who try to condemn Him will simply become worn out like old clothing and will be eaten up by moths, for they will go uselessly on and on until they are no more.

Notice here the two ‘beholds’. On the one hand, Behold, Yahweh will help Him. On the other, Behold, His enemies will grow old and be consumed by moths.

So we have here the description of One Who is humble, willing to hear, submissive, yielding and not rebellious, determined to follow God’s way, and Who obeys at all costs. He is the exact opposite of faithless Israel. And He is confident in God’s support and verdict on Himself. He knows that He is in the right, for what He has taught is what God has taught Him. He is certainly not the kind of helper that Israel was looking for. But God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts not our thoughts.

There was only One in history Who could be seen as fulfilling these words, Jesus of Nazareth, Immanuel, Who could say, ‘which of you can convict me of sin?’ (John 8.46). And the suffering described here is unquestionably mirrored in His own suffering.

Isaiah’s Appeal For Men To Hear Him.

50.10

Isaiah now makes his appeal to those who fear Yahweh and obey the voice of His Servant. They walk in darkness, the way seems dark before them, everything is black before them, there seems to be no light. (This is not the same as the idea of walking in spiritual darkness. This is the darkness which God uses to test our willingness to serve Him ‘in the dark’, when all is not clear). But they must trust God in the dark. They must trust in the name of Yahweh and stay themselves on God. So even those who fear Yahweh are in a kind of darkness and need to receive light from the Servant. Those who walk in such darkness are described in 42.16, and they are promised that they will find light as they walk in the way with God. The secret of deliverance is to hear the voice of Yahweh’s Servant and to trust in Yahweh Himself (John 5.24). For His way is not easy, and we must walk with Him in it.

Note that a clear distinction is made here between the Servant and those who generally fear God. They must hear the voice of His Servant. He has now become the One to Whom believing Israel must look.

50.11

But there are those who kindle a false light. The way is dark and so they seek to stir up flames and clothe themselves with firebrands, that they may see. This is their way of dealing with life. But there is no answer in the flames. Flames are destructive not constructive. They clothe themselves with false fire, anything rather than trusting in God. Then there grow up among them the product of such fires, fiery men, men of violence, men of deceit, and men of destruction. And they will walk in the midst of what they have kindled. And they will have from God’s hand a sorrowful end, an end in torment. The judgment of God will come upon them.

Chapter 51 Exhortations To The People To Respond To God.

We now have here three remarkable calls to faithful Israel, ‘listen’ (verse 1) - ‘attend’ (verse 4) - ‘listen’ (verse 7). They have heard the voice of the Servant (50.10), now it is open to them to respond. And how are they to appreciate the truth about the Servant? They are to look back to Abraham, and to recognise how when he was but one God blessed him and made him many, and then they are to recognise in this new Servant someone who is similar to Abraham, for in His purposes Yahweh is planning to make His people fruitful and bring His blessing on them too, and all this will be through the One who will become many.

Indeed His instruction will go out to the nations, along with His saving purposes, and the isles/coastlands will wait for Him and trust in His arm. The heaven will disappear like a waft of smoke, and the earth will grow old and become worn out, but His salvation will be for ever, and His righteous deliverance will not be done away with.

So those who know His word must stand firm and not be afraid. They must be ready to face the reproach of men without fear or dismay, for while the rebellious against God will be eaten up as by moths, those who experience His righteousness and salvation will endure for ever.

Here Isaiah makes clear that he recognises that earth and heaven will pass away, but that God’s people will go on for ever within His righteous, saving activity. Thus in each case those who do hear and listen can look forward to the everlasting kingdom.

In the passage a clear distinction is made between faithful Israel and the Servant. It is in the Servant that Yahweh’s saving work goes on, and the people receive it at His hands. They are to trust and not be afraid as they behold His powerful activity.

The call then goes up to Yahweh to awaken and reveal His mighty power. He who destroyed Egypt and all that it stood for, can equally make a way for his people to go forward in triumph. All will be joy and gladness, and all sorrow and sighing will flee away. And then the ransomed of Yahweh will return to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads.

The chapter then finishes with a description of Jerusalem that reveals its present state, but even this ends with the assurance of God’s deliverance .

God’s Call To His True People To Consider Abraham (51.1-3).

The first call goes out to ‘listen’. They are to hear His voice as He reminds them about Abraham, the man of faith, who is the father of all who have faith. He was blessed because of his faith (Genesis 15.6). Those who would be blessed must be blessed because of their connection with, and likeness to, faithful Abraham. And all has come from the one man to whom God had promised that he would become many.

51.1-2

Isaiah now speaks to the believers in Israel, the faithful, those who follow after righteousness and seek Yahweh. To ‘seek’ does not mean try to find Him, but to seek to enter into all His fullness. They know Him and they want to enjoy Him more fully. He tells them to look to Abraham, their father, and to Sarah who bore them. They are now all seen as descendants of Abraham by faith, and within the line of promise through Sarah. He is the rock from which they were hewn, and if they look back they can see the hole in the quarry from which they were dug. They were dug out of him. Thus their position and privilege stems from Abraham.

This ‘descent’ was of course a descent through faith. The majority of them were not literally descended from Abraham. But they had all become linked in one way or anther with the family tribe of Abraham and the covenant with Yahweh. All who truly believe in Yahweh are thus sons of Abraham.

Coming in the midst of the Servant narratives this confirms our application of 41.2-4, 25; 46.11 to Abraham. He was the one who came from the east and called on Yahweh and was blessed and made mighty. It was from him that they came. They were of his ‘stuff’, coming from Abraham who loved Him. Without the background there these words would have been of limited significance. It was because Isaiah has previously outlined his greatness and association with God that these words are so significant.

Both 41.8 and this verse gain significantly from the background of Abraham’s call and activity. They are the many coming from the one, and associated with him as God’s Servant. They had entered the land in him. It was in him that they were called. It was in him that they were to be blessed. It was because Abraham, with Sarah their ‘mother’, was the called one who came and triumphed and defeated and trod down the enemy and divided the spoil (like a bird of prey) that he was so important. The land has become his through his descendants. The mention of Sarah is important because it limits the application of the illustration. It was only given to the spiritual ‘descendants’ of Abraham/Sarah, the children of promise.

It seems to us inconceivable that Isaiah would have introduced Abraham at these two vital points if he had not already provided us with a background to look to. He would not just assume that all Israel would recognise the greatness of Abraham without any reminder about it at all. His points are powerful exactly because he has previously portrayed that greatness. Without it Abraham is just introduced with no background.

But the stress on Abraham’s ‘oneness’ gives special significance to the previous reference to ‘the one’, the unique One, absent in 50.2. Just as Abraham was called as one and became many, so the Servant is to be called as One and will be made many. God’s pattern is repeating itself. From the One will come the many.

Abraham was of course never literally ‘but one’. He came with his wife and his servants, and his herds and flocks. But he was ‘but one’ with regard to his position with God. Then all the others were irrelevant. It was one man and his God. It was from that relationship that the many were blessed. And thus is it to be with the Servant. From One Man and His God will come the promised blessing and the manifold seed and the division of the spoil (53.10, 12), as with Abraham. So let them look back to Abraham to whom they trace their antecedents, and see that all that was promised in Abraham is now to be fulfilled in Yahweh’s greater Servant who is coming, the great Seed of Abraham.

51.3

The blessing of Abraham is here described in the blessing of his seed, as though it were already accomplished. His being blessed was not just the blessing of having many seed, but of what that seed would enjoy. This is the ‘comfort’ to which 40.1 referred. When God has completed His work all her wilderness and waste places will become like Eden, a new Paradise. The effects of the curse will have been removed. It will be made like the Garden of Yahweh. It will be filled with singing. And it is offered to ‘Zion’, God’s wayward people as symbolised by Jerusalem. If only they will they can respond and enjoy His blessing. The devastations of the past will be forgotten. The wilderness will become Paradise, and her people full of gladness and praise and song.

That this is not all intended literally again comes out in the application. It is not really a city which is to be blessed, but a people, and those people of widespread nature. For never again could they all join together in a literal Jerusalem. There would not be room for so many. It would have to be a new Jerusalem of vast proportions, a heavenly Jerusalem as the New Testament declares (Galatians 4.26; Hebrews 12.22; Revelation 3.12), just as God would visit His people with a heavenly Temple (Ezekiel 40-48). It is a picture of the sublime. This is even more exemplified in the next summons.

Note that we find here an echo of Isaiah’s previous promises in the first part of his book. Compare 12.3; 33.20-21; 35.10 (quoted in 51.11); see also 11.5-10; 49.10.

God’s Or The Servant’s Call To His True People To Consider His Everlasting Salvation (51.4-6).

His people are not just to listen, they must also pay heed. They must ‘pay attention’ to His instruction which will come through His Servant as a light to the peoples (compare 42.6; 49.6; and see 2.2-4). They must respond to the salvation that He brings, which is both for Israel and for the Gentiles.

51.4-5

The difficulty here is to know whether these are the words of Yahweh or the words of the Servant. If the words are Yahweh’s then here God refers to the work that His Servant will do as if it were His own (which of course it is). If the words are the Servant’s then they outline His coming activity. His own people and nation are to see and consider. His Instruction will go forth (compare 2.3; 42.4), and His righteous teaching and requirements, revealed in His jurisdiction over them, will ‘rest’ for a light to the peoples (42.4; 49.6). It is to be their permanent experience.

All are to learn from Him. For His righteous activity is about to happen (is ‘near’ in God’s timing) and His deliverance has, as far as He is concerned, already gone forth (compare 45.8; 46.13; 56.1; 59.16). It is on offer if men will but receive it. Then His arms will judge the peoples, bringing about justice and righteousness (they will be ruled under His mighty arm). He will Himself rule over them with power. The distant isles and coastlands will wait for Him in ready obedience (42.4; 60.9) and they will rely on His power, His mighty arm. The tenor behind this is reminiscent of previous words to the Servant (42.4; 49.6), thus linking Him with the promises in 2.1-4. We can now be in no doubt that the message of the Servant is for all nations, and that He will ensure that it reaches them.

The plural ‘arms’ is indicative of the many ways in which God will protect and care for His people (compare 30.30; 33.2; 40.11; ), the singular ‘arm’ stresses His mighty power on their behalf (40.10; 62.8).

51.6

The description above can only apply to an eternal kingdom, for here earth and heaven are to pass away. In a dying world, death is to be the lot of all men, but His people are to enjoy everlasting deliverance and permanent righteous rule. Compare 26.19. So Isaiah is making clear that all His promises have been pointing towards that which is above.

The call is to consider both heavens and earth. Smoke in the heavens was regularly seen when armies invaded, when stubble was burned or when there were fires in forests and bushland. But always the smoke eventually faded and disappeared. So will the heavens disappear in days to come, rapidly like thinning, wispy smoke. Similarly the earth will age like old clothing ages, to be thrown away. The thought, in parallel to what happens to the heavens, is that it too will come to an end. What is more all earth dwellers will die ‘in the same way’, that is, like old, tossed aside clothing (compare 50.9; 51.8).

‘But my deliverance will be for ever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.’ In contrast this is promising life, continuing existence in glory, in contrast with the wispy smoke and the death just described, confirming that this is the everlasting kingdom, and it is after earth and heaven have passed away. The thought is not analysed and expanded on but the thought is clear. It strongly confirms that Isaiah’s many pictures of the future state do have what we would call ‘Heaven’ in mind. Compare here 25.8.

God’s Call To His People Not To Fear Men Or Their Reproaches Because They Will Fade Away While God’s People Will Go On For Ever (51.7-8).

Again, for the third time, He stresses the importance of ‘listening’. They are to observe His instruction from their hearts. For those who have His instruction in their hearts need fear nothing, because they are not living in the light of this world, but of eternity. The world will pass away, but His word and His salvation will never pass away.

51.7-8

The fact that there are three calls emphasise the threefold completeness of the message. All are concerned with righteousness. In the first they are people who follow after righteousness and seek Yahweh (verse 1). In the second His righteousness is near to come (verse 5). Here in the third the hearers ‘know’ righteousness. Thus His faithful people are in mind.

In the second His instruction went out to the nations to enlighten them, here He speaks to those in whose heart is His instruction. It may be that we are to see a progression from the people who look back to Abraham their father, to the nations who receive His instruction and light and come under His righteous jurisdiction, moving forward to a combination of these two as one people, conveying the idea of the reproach that they will face, and the triumph that will be theirs.

If that be so He addresses all His own as a people who know righteousness, they have heard it spoken of, they have come to an understanding of it, and they live it out in their experience. And through it they know the Righteous One. (To follow after righteousness is to seek Yahweh - verse 1). For His instruction is within their hearts. They love His Law.

The command to them is then not to regard the reproaches of men (’enosh - weak and frail man), or their insults and vile words, for they are to recognise that the destiny of such people is to wear away, for like old clothing they will be eaten by moths and devoured by worms. In contrast the faithful will enjoy God’s everlasting righteous deliverance, and a salvation that goes on and on and on. They will enjoy the everlasting kingdom.

Note again the similarities with 50. 6, 9. But while for the Servant in chapter 50 it was the present endurance that was in mind, here it is the reception of His word and of His instruction, and the future glory of His own, both Israel and the nations, that is emphasised. The work of the Servant has resulted in Israel turning to God and the nations receiving His light (49.6). His task is seen as fulfilled.

Yahweh Is Called On To Awake and Reveal His Power and Israel Are To Awake To The Power And Holiness Of Their Redeeming God (51.9-52.12).

God having given to His faithful people the commands to ‘listen -- attend -- listen’ the prophet now calls on Yahweh also to awaken on behalf of His people, for Him too there is a plea that He listen to the call of His people. It is then followed by a call to all His people to awake. Thus there is a threefold call to ‘awake, awake’, in 51.9; 51.17 and 52.1, firstly to Yahweh and then to His people. The tension is now mounting. Note the constant use of repetition. ‘Awake, awake’ (three times). ‘Depart, depart’ (52.11). There is a sense of urgency. This will then be followed by the depiction of the cost of the salvation that is being offered to them in 52.13-53.12, as the Servant’s destiny is described in full. The culmination of their deliverance is near.

The First Call to Awake - Spoken To The Arm Of Yahweh (51.9-16).

Note that each call to awake is followed by Yahweh speaking to His people. It is a cry for Yahweh to awaken and act on behalf of His people.

51.9-11

Isaiah )or the remnant of Israel) reply to Yahweh’s wakening call and in turn call on the arm of Yahweh to awake and put on its strength (compare 40.10; 52.10; 62.8). It is a cry for God to reveal His power as He has done in the past. To once more act as He did of old. For it was then that His mighty arm cut Rahab in pieces and pierced the monster. Here Egypt is vividly described in terms of a mythical monster as defeated by Yahweh (compare 30.7; Psalm 89.10), but contained within it is the thought that no gods can stand before Yahweh. Then He dried up the sea, the mighty deep, and made a way for His redeemed people to pass through. (The excessive description of the Reed Sea comes from the myths which surrounded Rahab. He was seen as a monster of the deep). Now the cry is that He might do it again. He redeemed them then, so let Him now enable His redeemed people to return to Him and come with singing to Zion. This includes all His people who are redeemed, not just those in exile. All are to unite in returning to Him and coming to Zion (compare 35). The whole idea is of coming into His presence and becoming one with Him.

‘And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.’ These words are cited almost exactly from 35.10. The same words are here repeated emphasising the fulfilment of his prophecy soon to come. This is more than the earthly Zion, for here they will find everlasting joy. All will be gladness and joy. There will be no more sorrow and sighing, it will simply take to its heels and flee. It is the Paradise of verse 3, the place of everlasting deliverance (verse 6).

Yahweh then responds to the plea, speaking to His faithful ones in their weakness and fear.

51.12-13

Note the strength behind the reply. ‘I, I’ parallels the repetition in ‘awake, awake’. God wants them to recognise, that His reply is consonant with their concern.

The change from masculine to feminine and back again is puzzling under any explanation. It may arise from the fact that ‘who are you that you are afraid of man who will die’ was a well known saying and has been quoted verbatim without changing the ‘person’, with Isaiah knowing that it will be recognised, or it may be asking, ‘why are you behaving like a lot of women before frail man?’ Some see it as referring to Zion, Yahweh’s daughter, but why then is it followed by a masculine?

Whichever way it is the basic question is why they are terrified of frail mortal man (’enosh), the son of man who will wither and perish like the grass.

So Yahweh’s reply is that He is indeed there as the One Who will comfort them all, that is Who will act on their behalf with His strength, and will protect them. Why then is each one so afraid? They are not such as should fear man who keeps on dying and has been appointed to wither like grass. But they do fear because they have forgotten Yahweh Who made them, the same One Who by His mighty power stretched out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth.

‘Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth.’ The contrast is powerful; weak, frail man who is like grass and Yahweh, the great Creator Who made the world, the grass, man and all that is in it.

So how foolish they are to fear the oppressor continually all the day because of his fury and intention to destroy. For where is his fury? From now on it will be as nothing, because Yahweh is at work.

51.14

So those who fear should not fear, for as they cower in their fear they will be set free (and should not therefore be cowering). Not for them to go down into the grave. They are awaiting God’s great deliverance. Indeed even their bread will not fail. For God is with them. This may have in mind the faithful among the exiles around the world, or it may simply indicate His people’s position as being like prisoners cowering in their cells, afraid and under the authority of outsiders, fearful of death or of not receiving sufficient food. The assurance is not that no one will suffer in the near future, but that all may recognise that in the final outcome they will prosper. We must keep in mind here 25.6; 26.19; 53.10-12.

51.15-16

And the reason why they need not fear is because Yahweh is their God, and it is He Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. It was He Who stirred up the sea when they were redeemed from Egypt, and made the waves roar against their enemy. And He still has the same power, so that it is clear that they need fear no one. He is Master of the waves.

This continues the thought of verses 9-10. He is the Master of the deep as revealed by His victory over Rahab/Egypt, but here the thought is not so much of His redeemed walking through the sea, but of Him as making the waves roar to defeat their enemies. For He is Yahweh of hosts, the God of battle.

‘And I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand.’ As His true and redeemed people they too will assist in the fulfilling of the Servant’s task. For God will put His words in their mouth (the tense indicating that it is already seen as certain and complete) and has brought them under His protection so that they might carry His words everywhere (2.2-4).

The shadow of His hand parallels the Servant’s protection in 49.2. There it was connected with His sword. So here ‘my words in your mouth’ are probably to be seen as the equivalent of their receiving their sword with the protecting hand of Yahweh over them. It will be like the shadow of a tree protecting from the sun, although much more effective and substantial, protecting from all that can harm. They share the Servant’s weapons.

‘That I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are my people’.’ Thereby He will plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and be able to claim Zion finally as His true people. The new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem are already envisaged (64.17-18), brought in by the activity of His Servant. ‘Plant’ and ‘lay the foundations’ are both indications of beginning a new thing. Note how Zion is no longer Jerusalem but represents His people.

We saw in verse 6 that the heavens were to disappear in a similar way in which smoke disperses, and that the earth would grow old and worn, and that all in it would die. But here we have the consequence for the true people of God. New heavens will be planted, a new earth will be founded. And then His people will have full recognition for what they are. All this is the literal truth.

The Second Call To Awake - Spoken to Distressed Jerusalem (51.17-23).

These words are spoken in view of Yahweh’s previous ‘awaking’ (verse 9) and are to stir up Israel to respond, having drunk sufficiently of God’s anger against their sins. Again it is followed by a word of assurance and promise from Yahweh. He will remove that which is causing her distress and her dreadful condition, and will pass it over to her enemies.

51.17

Their position is first stated. They (represented as Jerusalem) had been under His wrath and made to drink of the cup of His fury, the cup that had rendered them helpless and unable to cope for themselves, so that they have staggered and collapsed. But now they have drunk it and drunk it to the full, so that His anger against their sin is over. The cup represents all the historical events that have come on them leaving them destitute and helpless, the consequence of God’s anger over the continual sin and rebellion that had finally become too much. ‘The cup of staggering’ does not just refer to being drunk, but to having come to such a drunken state that is impossible to recover. They have reached the final stages of delirium.

We can contrast the Lady Babylon on her throne, who was dragged down to her dreadful state (chapter 47) without hope, with this drunken helpless woman who is to be dragged up from her dreadful state by God’s rescue mission. When Babylon drags men and women down, God can lift them up again. God’s power works both ways.

So now they are to ‘stand up’. Note that while Yahweh’s arm was to ‘put on strength’ on awakening (verse 9), all that is required of Jerusalem is that they ‘stand up’, that they stagger to their feet. All that is required is that they stand and see the salvation of Yahweh. Yahweh will do the rest.

The picture is vivid, Jerusalem slumped like a dishevelled woman by the wayside, drunk, prone and helpless, and now being exhorted to pull themselves together and stand up because God is about to act. For without God her situation is hopeless as we will now see.

51.18-20

But what hope is there for her if she stands up? There is no one to take her by the hand and lead her. She has had many sons, the people of Jerusalem and Judah, those who had claimed that they were the people of God, but they cannot help her. For they themselves have fainted away, having become hopeless drunkards, and having collapsed at the road heads, unable to get home. They are like an antelope caught in a net, thrashing about and not free to do anything, a permanent victim with no hope of recovery. For they too are under the heavy hand of Yahweh because of their sins, they are still surfeited with Yahweh’s fury, God’s rebuke.

And she has faced two things, desolation and destruction in terms of dire famine and sword (no mention of exile). This is what has actually caused her state, continual bouts of famine and invasion. But there is none to bemoan her for they are all taken up with their own deep problems. With her sons in the condition that they are, how is God to comfort her?

The aim is to demonstrate how totally helpless she is, so that from an earthly point of view God can find her no comfort. Her position is totally hopeless. What on earth can she do? The answer is, nothing.

However, there is an answer, and God will provide it. But before that answer is produced the truth must be out.

51.21 “Therefore hear now this, you afflicted and drunken, but not with wine.”

Here is the truth of the matter. Her drunkenness is not due to wine, it is due to that which has brought on them God’s wrath and rebuke, His fierce anger (verse 20). It is due to sin. It is due to an oversurfeit of wickedness and rebellion against God. And it results in their not being aware of Yahweh’s words (29.9-10). This is why no one can help her, for her sins are too deep-dyed.

51.22

Indeed her full humiliation is now described. As a drunken woman in the street those who had afflicted her had taunted her and told her to lie there while they walked all over her, and she had done as she was bidden. She had become the lowest of the low, the drunken plaything of drunkards. Everyone walked over her. This scene of a misused, drunken woman is played out in many drinking places around the world. It is a sign of the world’s sinfulness.

But now Yahweh steps in, the One Who makes the plea for the cause of His people, their judge. He will take the cup from her hand, the cup that is causing her all the trouble, and give it to those who afflict her. She will be released from her problem, and it will be laid on others. She has Yahweh’s promise that she will be made free. It remains for the next verses to reveal how this will come about.

‘The Lord Yahweh.’ Unusually, in this phrase ‘Lord’ is in the plural. Perhaps the idea is to bring out that He is not only her Sovereign Lord, but also her ‘lord’ as her husband or parent (54.5) He is acknowledging responsibility for her. Or it may be placing great stress on Lord, a plural of intensity.

We note here a typical Isaianic reversal. In verse 17 it was ‘the cup of His fury -- the bowl of the cup of staggering’, here it is ‘the cup of staggering -- the bowl of the cup of His fury.’ Fury begins and ends the situation, resulting in the staggering.

‘You will no more drink it again.’ Isaiah thus has the final everlasting kingdom in mind. The cup will then be given to those who take part in the final judgment.

Who then is Jerusalem in this sad picture? As with all illustrations we must not press too closely. In one sense it is all Israel, for all will be welcomed if they come. Certainly they are all drunk and have drunk of the cup of His fury. But in the finality it is those who will respond and will come to Yahweh, and listen to the voice of His Servant. It is only they who can be sure that the cup of Yahweh’s fury has been taken from them. It is only they who can stand rightly and recover to walk again. And certainly it is they who are spoken of in the next verses. It is the holy seed who come from the remnant who are left (6.13).

Chapter 52 The Call To Jerusalem - The Rise of the Servant.

The Third Call to Awake - Spoken To Zion/Jerusalem As The Redeemed Woman (52.1-12).

Yahweh Will Redeem His People (52.1-6)

The drunken woman is no more. Now the new Zion, rising out of the old, is to put on her beautiful garments. She must clothe herself with the righteousness and salvation which has been provided by God. For it is He Who will provide her with the garments of salvation and cover her with the robe of righteousness as He welcomes her as the equivalent of His Bride (61.10; 62.5; 54.5; Ephesians 5.25-27). What she must do is put them on by responding to Him.

52.1-2

Note the double intensities. ‘Awake, awake, -- put on, -- put on.’ There is a sense of urgency here. Having had her cup of staggering taken from her hand she can now take the next step. She can arise, shake herself free of the dust, take off her chains, the chains of Assyria (verse 4) and all others who will have come against her, and reclothe herself. She can be freed from her chains. For she is promised that none shall enter her again who is not within the covenant, and none who would defile God’s holy city. But she is to do it in righteousness. God will never accept an unrighteous bride.

Here we have described for us the pure city that can never be defiled. It is the city where nothing impure can enter in (Revelation 21.27). It is the everlasting city. In the ‘garments of beauty’ we are probably to see the high priestly garments of Exodus 28.2, ‘garments made for glory and for beauty’. She is probably here to be seen as not only reinstated but as becoming the holy nation, the kingdom of priests of Exodus 19.5-6.

‘There will no more come to you the uncircumcised and the unclean.’ Certainly the mention of circumcised refers to participation in God’s covenant. Only those who are ‘circumcised’ may enter. But to the prophets circumcision had in mind not only the physical act but the circumcision of the heart. What mattered was that the heart was made right, that God’s covenant was within their hearts and that they walked in His ways (Deuteronomy 10.16; 30.6; Jeremiah 4.4; 6.10; 9.26; Ezekiel 44.7, 9). Being clean meant being free from anything that could contaminate and make them unworthy to approach God. Thus the idea is that only those can enter who are true to the covenant and pure and undefiled. It is the prophet’s idea of spiritual perfection.

Note therefore the indication that all the Gentiles who flock to her will be circumcised, that is, bound by the covenant. That is why Paul stresses that all true Christians are circumcised with the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 2.11-13).

This picture of Jerusalem rising from the dust counteracts 51.23, and is in direct contrast to the experience of proud Babylon. God’s enemy, Babylon, went from her throne into degradation, Jerusalem is raised from degradation to her throne. For in the end Babylon and all her beauty (13.19), and all that its stands for must go into the dust, and in the end God’s true people will all arise from the dust (26.19) to give Him glory and be made glorious.

There is no reason at all for to thinking that here Isaiah has the future Babylonian captivity in mind. It does not figure in his thinking for he is not aware of the full details of what is to come. He knows only of the captivity under Assyria, ruling Judah from Babylon, of a future invasion by Babylon to strip Jerusalem of all its treasures and its future kings, of the future punishment of Babylon for what it is, and then of the restoration of Jerusalem to full holiness (4.3), and final triumph.

The picture here is thus of Jerusalem, and of Jerusalem where she was, and what she will finally be. His final picture here is not of some particular time in history but of God’s saving action in the end when He will restore His own. We may certainly see it as accompanying and following the action of Cyrus (44.28-45.13), and the rebuilding of the city and the Temple, for that is the first stage in her reinstatement, but no historical environment is specifically described there or here. And Isaiah is now looking beyond that to the final triumph. A Jerusalem into which no one who is literally uncircumcised can enter is hardly an earthly reality, and in no way can we see Isaiah as saying that all who are circumcised will enter it. It is quite clear that the circumcision of the heart is what is in mind, as Paul so clearly saw (Romans 2.25-29). The picture is in terms of 4.3. So there is a sense in which the arising and dressing of Jerusalem takes us in Isaiah’s eyes to the end of time. For this is restored and purified Jerusalem, it is ideal Jerusalem, the holy city, now clothed in beautiful clothing with all chains removed, the place where only those united with God by covenant can come, where all that is impure is excluded. It is the final Paradise, God’s final intention for His people (Revelation 21.10-22.5).

But unknown to Isaiah her clothing in beautiful garments will take a long time. It will commence not long after his time, it will advance at the first coming of Christ, and it will continue on through two thousand years and more. Once the king has come it will go on through the centuries. But at last she will be ready, clothed in the righteousnesses of the saints, as the bride of Christ, ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19.7-8).

52.3-6

Note the connecting ‘for’. Jerusalem can be raised from the dust precisely because Yahweh has acted to redeem her.

There could be no clearer indication that Isaiah see Jerusalem’s two great enemies as having been Egypt, and as being at this time Assyria. He does not go beyond Assyria. (Overall rule by Babylon is simply not in mind). These are the nations to whom Israel was ‘sold’. But His people had not been dealt with fairly. They had only gone to Egypt to sojourn there. The Assyrians had had no cause to oppress them. Why then had they been taken into bondage? There had been nothing right about either bondage. They had been ‘sold for nothing’, for they had been ‘taken’. No price had been paid. It was theft. Neither Egypt nor Assyria had any rights over them. So Yahweh feels quite justified in redeeming her for nothing.

The fact that Yahweh used both Egypt and Assyria as His means of chastening His people does not alter the position. Yahweh may do what He will. But that provides no excuse for Egypt and Assyria. They did what they did because of their sinfulness, not because they were obeying Yahweh. We note again the two nations who are seen as oppressors at this stage.

And now the position is that those who rule over her ‘howl’. The verb usually indicates mourning and weeping and distress. However in Hosea 7.14 it probably indicates a howling of self-pleasing and self-gratification, possibly sexual. That may be the meaning here. They howl because they take advantage of them, because they get their enjoyment by misusing them. It is a howl of glee, of rapaciousness. Thus is calumny brought on the name of Yahweh for allowing His people to be treated in this way. Furthermore the thought may include that some of His people had joined in with the wild behaviour and had themselves blasphemed Yahweh in their enjoyment of it. All are guilty.

‘You will be redeemed without money.’ This must be taken strictly. Redemption demands a payment, but as she was bought without money she will be redeemed without money. Yahweh is too powerful to submit to demands for ransom. Yet she has to be redeemed, so if not by money, how? The question is left in suspense for it will be answered later (see chapter 53). For the freeness of their redemption compare 55.1-2; 35.10; 51.11 (where her current oppressors are to be dealt with in the same way as Egypt was).

The result of Yahweh’s redemption of them will be that His people will ‘know His name’ that is, thoroughly know and understand Who and What He is. And they will know Who has spoken to them, saying ‘Behold me.’ For they will see Him as He is. And from His saving action they will know that He is truly the faithful Kinsman Redeemer of His people, willing to pay any price for those on whom He has set His love.

The Proclamation of the Good News of Yahweh’s Deliverance; The Message Is To Be Taken To The World (52.7-12).

Isaiah is so confident that God will deliver His people, that he already visualises God’s Servant (the Messiah and His true followers) going out onto the mountains of the world to take good news to the ‘Zion’ among the peoples (compare 49.11), telling them that God reigns.

The parallels between these verses and 2.2-4 should be noted. Here he is explaining in more detail how 2.2-4 will come about. In 2.2 the mountain of Yahweh’s house will be established as the highest of the mountains. Here the Servant will be exalted, lifted up and be very high (verse 13). In 2.2 the mountains represent the nations. Here the Good News is taken out into the mountains of the nations. In 2.2 God’s Instruction goes out from Zion, and Yahweh’s word from Jerusalem, here those who go out ‘from thence’ (i.e. Jerusalem - verse 11 with verse 9) are to go out as His pure people bearing the vessels of Yahweh (verse 11) so that they may sprinkle the nations (verse 15) with God’s means of purification (Numbers 19.17-18), so that all the ends of the earth might see the salvation of God (verse 10) because Yahweh has bared His holy arm before all nations in His redeeming work through His Servant (52.13-53.12; compare 40.10, ‘His arm will rule for Him’). And yet it is to happen in such a way that who could have seen in this the arm of Yahweh? - 53.1).

52.7

As we have already seen the mountains represent the nations (2.2). The feet that bring good tidings are always beautiful, in whatever state they may be. Men will kiss such feet. But this man is not seen as running from anywhere. He is coming from God. The mountains are the mountains of the world (49.11). The comparison simply brings out how glorious is the bearer of good news. Even his dusty, tired feet are beautiful because of the wonderful new that he bears. “The Kingly Rule of God is at hand” (compare Matthew 4.17 and parallels). ‘Your God reigns.’

This can only be speaking of the Servant. He is the One Who comes to bring good news of good to the poor and afflicted (61.1; compare 40.9, ‘good tidings -- good things’), to publish peace (49.6), to bring good news of good (42.6-7; 49.9-10), who publishes salvation (49.6b, 8), who declares ‘The Kingly Rule of God is at hand’ (42.1, 4; Mark 1.15). And along with Him will be His servants who will