“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek Yahweh: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; 2 look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many. 3 Yahweh will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (Isaiah 51:1-3 NIV).”
As I commented a few weeks ago, when we were studying chapter 48 in which God accused the exiles of sinful rebelliousness, the fact that they fell short of God's ideal behavior is not different from the situation of many of us who are Christians. We are God's people not because we are sinless, but because Christ died for us and we believe.
In this section of Isaiah the prophet alternates between mentioning the Jewish exiles' failures and their persistent faith. Here he describes his addressees as "you who pursue righteousness" and "you who seek Yahweh" (v. 1). This can hardly be a description of a worthless people. If they are doing the right thing by pursuing righteousness, then what precisely is their problem? All of the promises of deliverance given in these verses imply that they needed encouragement that their faith and efforts were not in vain.
1-2 Here is a perfect example of where it is important to read the entire context before drawing conclusions. Usually, if I were to say to you "Look to the rock," you would think that the rock was God, and that looking to him meant trusting him. He is called "our Rock" in the Psalms. But verse 2 is merely repeating the thought of v. 1 in different words, as is the custom in Hebrew poetry. The rock is Abraham and Sarah. What does God mean when he asks them to look to Abraham and Sarah? Yes, he was an example of faith. And Isaiah does call him a rock, which we tend to think of in terms of solid faith. But significantly he also calls him and Sarah a "quarry". What important aspect does that term add? How does a quarry differ from a rock? He mentions, that from one man (and his wife) God made a huge nation (v. 2). How is that relevant to the exiles plight? This leads up to v. 3, where he seems to draw his conclusion.
3 In Ezekiel 33 God described the Jews in Israel right before the exile as using the same argument about Abraham being one but now they are many to justify their false confidence that with their present numbers they could keep the land and protect it from the Babylonian armies. Through Ezekiel God warned them that that attitude would get them nowhere.
Then the word of Yahweh came to me: 24 “Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’ 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’ 27 “Say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague. 28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them. 29 Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.’ (Ezekiel 33:23-29 NIV)
But here in Isaiah God used the one-to-many imagery in a different way. The renewal and repopulating of the land after the exile would not by a people violating the dietary laws or relying on the force of arms, but through the compassion of Yahweh, as he looked upon the ruins and wished to comfort his people. He, not they, would make their deserts like Eden. He, not they, would produce joy, thanksgiving, and singing. This was a promise of grace.
“Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: Law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. 5 My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The distant coastlands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. (Isaiah 51:4-6 NIV)
4-5 Count the number of times the word "me" and "my" occur in verses 4 and 5. Yes, 11 times! Do you see the emphasis of God here? Israel's salvation—and even the salvation of the distant nations—will not be based upon what they do, but on what God does for them. Three images describe what God will bring: his righteousness, his salvation and his arm. The meaning of the first two is fairly clear.
“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. (Exodus 6:6 NIV)
Is. 48:14 The LORD’S chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians.
Is. 51:5 My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The distant coastlands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.
Is. 51:9 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through?
Is. 52:10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
Is. 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Is. 59:16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
Is. 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.
Is. 63:12 who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown,
In verse 6 the heavens and earth—symbols of what will seemingly last forever—are said to be even less enduring than the salvation that God offers to those who trust in him.
“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.” (Isaiah 51:7-8 NIV)
Again, the people who are addressed are defined as those who "have my law in your hearts". This reminds us of the description of the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah in chapter 31, especially verses 33-34:
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares Yahweh. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares Yahweh. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34 NIV adapted)
Who are those who will insult and demean the Jews of the New Covenant? In the books of Ezra and especially Nehemiah we read of those who ridiculed the Jewish returnees and their attempts to honor Yahweh by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and the temple. In the days of the Maccabees, Jews who believed in the law of Yahweh and wished to keep all the terms of his covenant with them were hounded and persecuted. And of course, when Jesus appeared as the promised Messiah, those Israelites who honored him and believed in him were not only insulted and persecuted by Romans and Greeks, but even by the leaders of the Jewish nation, who did not have Yahweh's law written in their hearts.
Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of Yahweh; awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through? 10 Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? 11 The ransomed of Yahweh will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 51:9-11 NIV)
It seems almost rude to modern Western Christians to command God to wake up. We need to read the prayers of Moses and other great heroes of faith in the Old Testament. It was quite normal for men and women of faith in those days to speak to God in ways that they felt were intimate and trusting, but which seem to us as culturally impolite. Saints like Isaiah knew that God was just and loving and protective of his own. When they did not see this happening, the normal reaction was to call upon God to "Wake up!" God himself is referred to by the words "arm of Yahweh." What were the "days gone by" to which Isaiah refers? Who or what was "Rahab" that was "cut in pieces"? See Isaiah 30:7 for a clue:
An oracle concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation, 7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-nothing. (Isaiah 30:6-7 NIV)
See also Psalm 87:4, where "Rahab and Babylon" means "Egypt and Babylon." Do not be misled by the identical English spellings of "Rahab": the letters and sounds of this name for Egypt and the name of the believing harlot Rahab in Joshua are different. No possibility of confusion existed in Hebrew: only in our English Bibles.
What famous biblical event is referred to in v. 10? How is this similar to what God is promising the exiles here?
How were the returning Jewish exiles properly called "the ransomed of Yahweh" (p'dûyê Yahweh) in verse 11? The same Hebrew verb is translated either "ransom" or "redeem". This is the only time this verb is used in the second half of Isaiah, although the concept is expressed with other terms. Furthermore, this verse is a verbatim repetition of Isaiah 35:10. There the context is the following:
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of Yahweh will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 35:8-10 NIV)
In Isaiah 29:22 it is said that Yahweh is the one who "redeemed/ransomed Abraham". Since no sacrifice or payment was made to bring Abraham out of Ur and into the covenant with God, what can be the meaning here of "ransomed/redeemed"? It seems likely that the answer is the use of the name "Abraham" in 29:22 as a name for Israel, his posterity, just as the nation Israel is often called "Jacob". So God certainly did "ransom/redeem" the nation Israel from Egypt with both the sacrifices of the Passover lamb and with the judgment on Pharaoh in the Red Sea. The phrase "the ransomed of Yahweh" then is a term for the nation Israel, always referring back to the Exodus event, although it has a continuing relevance to Yahweh's powerful presence among them to save and purify.
“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, 13 that you forget Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? 14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. 15 For I am Yahweh your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—Yahweh of Hosts is his name. 16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” (Isaiah 51:12-16 NIV adapted)
One of the many tricks that Satan uses on believers is to get them focusing on their circumstances instead of on their identity? What difference should it make in what circumstances we find ourselves, if we are "sons of God"? Similarly, he deceived Eve in the garden of Eden by getting her to focus on the particular circumstance of the prohibition of eating the fruit instead of on the character of the God who made her. See how God reverses that perspective in these verses by focusing Israel's attention on his own identity and on theirs as his chosen people. How can Israel fear? Only by forgetting who God is and who they are. Our circumstances are constantly changing: today everything goes well and we are ebullient. tomorrow everything goes wrong from the moment we get up from bed, and we are miserable. But nothing changes in who God is or who we are. It is a matter of keeping our focus on the unchanging things. Are you ill? You are still God's child, and he your lover and healer. Are you unemployed? He is still you lover and your provider. Have you been insulted by someone? He is your lover who gives you the power to return good for evil.
Let us all use these certain truths about our Savior God and about our own secure position in his love to revolutionize the way we live each day.
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