ISAIAH
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| 1. | The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles (Cont) | 3. | The Servant, Israel's Hope | |
| 2. | God Will Remember Zion | 4. | Lesson 25 from the Amplified Version | |
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In this verse the speaker meets the words of divine calling and promise with a complaint, which, however, immediately silences itself.
In the midst of his activity no fruit was to be seen, and the thought came upon
him, that it was a failure;
but this disturbance of his rejoicing in his calling
was soon quieted in the confident assurance that
| his mishpât | (i.e., his good right in opposition to all contradiction and resistance) | |
| and his "work" | (i.e., the result and fruit of the work, which is apparently in vain) | |
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Barnes says:
He knew that God would own and accept his work though it was rejected by mankind. It indicates perfect confidence in God, and a calm and un wavering assurance of his favor, though his work was comparatively unsuccessful - a spirit which, it is needless to say, was evinced throughout the whole life of the Redeemer.
| Never did he doubt that God approved his work |
| Never did he become disheartened and desponding, as if God would not ultimately give success to his plans and to the labors of his life |
| He calmly committed himself to God. |
| He did not attempt to avenge himself for being rejected, or for any of the injuries done him. |
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (4) I Said, “For nothing have I labored. I have exhausted my strength on worthlessness and on emptiness. Yet my cause is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.” |
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In essence, He says: "Though the Jews refuse my message, yet God will approve my ministry."
This is expressly fulfilled by Jesus the Christ (Messiah).
Not only is the restoration of the remnant of Israel the work of the servant of Jehovah; but Jehovah has appointed Him for something higher than this.
| He has
given or set Him for the light of the Gentiles, to become His salvation to the end of the earth. |
Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him
as one grieves for a firstborn. (NKJV)
Luke 2:25-32
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was
righteous and devout ... and when the parents brought in the little child Jesus
to do for Him what was customary according to the Law, [Simeon] took Him up in
his arms and praised and thanked God and said ...
"... my [own] eyes I have seen Your Salvation, [Isaiah
52:10.] which You have ordained and prepared before (in the presence of)
all peoples,
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Acts 13:46-47
Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of
God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the
Lord has commanded us:
| 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, |
| That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'" (NKJV) |
Isaiah 52:10
The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the
nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
(NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (5) And now says the Lord – who formed you (me MT) from the womb as his servant, to bring Jacob back to him again, that Israel might be gathered to him; I have gained honor in the sight of the Lord, and my God has been my help (strength MT) – (6) he says, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back the preserved of Jacob. I will also give you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends (end MT) of the earth.” |
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Go'eel (OT:1350) | Redeemer |
| to ransom by means of a price, or a valuable consideration, as of captives taken in war; |
| or to redeem a farm that was sold, by paying back the price. |
| deliverance from danger or bondage without specifying any price that was paid as a ransom. |
| Exodus 6:6 | I will redeem you with an outstretched arm |
| Exodus 15:13 | he people whom You have redeemed |
there is still retained the idea of a ransom in some
form;
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| Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba are mentioned as the ransom; |
| Babylon was given in the place of the ransomed captives, or was destroyed in order that they might be redeemed. |
or caused him to be put to death,
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Nation
The Hebrew word is goi - a heathen nation.
So called here for its unbelief
and rejection of the Messiah.
The words of the servant of God, in which he enforces his claim upon the
nations, are now lost in words of Jehovah to him, which are no longer reported
by him, but are appended as an independent address.
His present condition is one of the deepest humiliation.
The person addressed here is the Restorer of Israel, the Light of the Gentiles, and the Salvation of Jehovah for all mankind. When kings and princes shall
behold Him who was once brought so low, delivered from His humiliation, and
exalted to the glorious height of the work to which He has been called, they
will rise up with reverence from their thrones, and prostrate themselves upon
the ground in worship for the sake of Jehovah, as before Him who is faithful, showing Himself sincere in His
promises, and for the sake of the Holy One of Israel, in that, as is now made
manifest, "He has chosen you."
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
To him whom the nation abhors
Literally, who is an abomination to the nation.
The Jews contemptuously call Him always Tolvi, 'the crucified.'
However, on account of Goi, the Hebrew term for nation, being
usually applied to the Gentiles, and that for people to the Jews,
we can take "nation" here collectively for the Gentile world,
which also spurned him (Psalms 2:1-3; Acts 4:25-27).
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright
(c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
Psalms 2:1-3
Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings
of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD
and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break their bonds in
pieces and cast away their cords from us." (NKJV)
Acts 4:25-28
Who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of
the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the LORD
and against His Christ.'
For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be
done. (NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (7) Thus says my Lord, the Lord your Redeemer, Israel, (the Redeemer of Israel MT) and his Holy One, to one despised, to ones abhorred (one abhorred MT) as a nation, to a servant of rulers – kings see and rise, and princes (will see, and princes will rise, and they MT) will bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who chose you . |
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These two verses describe what is the glory of the vocation to which Jehovah, in accordance with His promise, exalts His chosen One.
Jehovah heard His servant, and came to his help when he prayed to Him out of the
condition of bondage to the world, which he shared with his people. He did it at
the time for the active display of His good pleasure, and for the realizing of
salvation, which had been foreseen by Him, and had now arrived.
The fact that Jehovah makes His servant "a
covenant to the people," i.e., the personal bond which unites Israel and its God
in a new fellowship (see Isa 42:6), is the fruit of his being heard and helped.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
An acceptable time
'In a time of grace' (Hengstenberg):
Hebrew, bª`eet (OT:6256) raatsown (OT:7522):
in the time of God's goodwill.
A limited time (2 Corinthians 6:2). The time judged by God to be the best
fitted for effecting the purposes of His grace by Messiah.
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright
(c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of
salvation I have helped you."
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
(NKJV)
Isaiah 61:2
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD...
(NKJV)
Luke 4:17-19
And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened
the book, He found the place (Isa 61:2) where it was written: "The
Spirit of the LORD is upon Me ... to proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD."
(NKJV)
Matthew 11:4-5
And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see:
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by
healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news
(the Gospel) preached to them. [Isa 35:5, 6; 61:1.] (AMP)
To those who are in darkness
Synonymous with being prisoners, as prisoners are usually confined in dark
cells.
The Gentiles having no light as to the one true God.
Isaiah 60:2-3
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people;
but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be
seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the
brightness of your rising. (NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (8) Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I will answer you, and in a day of salvation I will help you. I have protected you, and given you as a covenant of the people, to reestablish the land, to redistribute the inheritances that have been devastated; (9) saying to prisoners, “Come out!” and to those who are in darkness, “Go free!” They will feed upon all the mountains, and their pasture will be on all the heights. |
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The person of the servant of Jehovah now falls into the background again, and the prophecy proceeds with a description of the return of the redeemed.
The people returning home are represented as a flock.
They shall neither hunger nor thirst
Quoted in Revelation 7:16
| Revelations 7:14-17 (14) I replied, Sir, you know. And he said to me, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [Gen 49:11; Dan 12:1.] (15) For this reason they are [now] before the [very] throne of God and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary (temple); and He Who is sitting upon the throne will protect and spread His tabernacle over and shelter them with His presence. (16) They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any scorching heat. [Isa 49:10; Ps 121:6.] (17) For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. [Ps 23:2; Isa 25:8; Ezek 34:23.] (AMP) |
By the roads that they
take to their homes, they are able to obtain sufficient pasture, without being
obliged to go a long way round in order to find a sufficient supply; and even
upon bare sandy hills there is pasture found for them.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Nothing is wanting; even the sun does not hurt them, for He whose compassion has been excited by their long pining misery (Isa 41:17-20) is leading them, and bringing them along in comfort by bubbling springs of real and refreshing water. Jehovah also makes all the mountains into roads for those who are returning home, and the paths of the desert are lifted up, as it were, into well-made roads.
My mountains ... My highways
They are called my mountains and my highways, because they are His creation; and therefore He is also able to change them, and
now really does change them for the good of His people, who are returning to the
land of their forefathers out of every quarter of the globe.
Sinim
Arias Montanus was among the first to suggest that the Sinim are the Sinese
(Chinese).
‘The Biblical mention of a people in the Far East named “Sinim” together with
references in ancient secular histories to people in the Far East called “Sinae,”
at least suggests the possibility that some of Sin’s descendants migrated
eastward, while others went south into the land of Canaan. It is significant
that the Chinese people have always been identified by the prefix “Sino-“(e.g.,
Sino-Japanese War; Sinology, the study of Chinese history). The name “Sin” is
frequently encountered in Chinese names in the form “Siang” or its equivalent.’
(The Genesis Record by Henry M. Morris Baker Book House Page 256)
History:
The objection brought against the supposition, that the name of the Chinese was
known to the nations of the west at so early a period as this, viz., that this
could not have been the case till after the reign of the emperor Shi-hoang-ti, of the dynasty of Thsin, who restored the empire that had bee broken up into
seven smaller kingdoms (in the year 247 BC), and through whose celebrated reign
the name of his dynasty came to be employed in the western nations as the name
of China generally, is met by Lassen with the simple fact that the name occurs
at a much earlier period than this, and in many different forms, as the name of
smaller states into which the empire was broken up after the reign of Wu-wang
(1122 BC - 1115 BC).
"The name Ehi'nai (Strabo), Si'nai (NT: 4614) (Ptol.), Ezi'nitza (Kosmas), says
the Sinologist Neumann, did not obtain currency for the first time from the
founder of the great dynasty of Tsin; but long before this, Tsin was the name of
a feudal kingdom of some importance in Shen-si, one of the western provinces of
the Sinese land, and Fei-tse, the first feudal king of Tsin, began to reign as
early as 897 BC"
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
However -
| The LXX | calls it | the land of Persia | |
| The Targums | call it | the land of the south | |
| The Dead Sea Scrolls | call it | the land of Syene | |
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From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (10) They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching desert or sun harm them; for one who has compassion on them will lead them and guide them along springs of water. (11) I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be elevated. (12) see they will come from afar: these from the north and from the west, and others from the land of Syene. |
Isaiah 49:13-26
Zion - Reconciliation, Restoration, and Enlargement
| 49:13 | Introduction | The Call to Rejoice | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sing = Shout in triumph.
The Figures of Speech here are Paeanismos, or,
Exultation.
| Calling on others to rejoice over something. |
| Things that are represented as persons. Inanimate things such as heavens, earth, mountains.. |
In this return of the exiles from every quarter of the globe to their fatherland, and for this mighty work of God on behalf of His church, which has been scattered in all directions, the whole creation is to praise Him.
The future alternates with the perfect:
| the act of consolation takes place once for all, [perfect] |
| but the compassion lasts for ever. [Future] |
Here again the glorious liberty of the children of God appears as the focus from
which the whole world is glorified. The joy of the Israel of God becomes the joy
of heaven and earth.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (13) Sing out, heavens, and rejoice, earth! Break out, mountains into song! The Lord is comforting his people and will have compassion upon his oppressed ones. |
| GOD WILL REMEMBER ZION |
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The LORD has forsaken me
See how deplorable the case of God's people may be sometimes, such that
they may seem to be forsaken and forgotten of their God; and at
such a time their temptations may be alarmingly violent.
Unbelievers, in their presumption, say God has forsaken the earth
(Ezekiel 8:12 The LORD does not see us, the LORD
has forsaken the land), and has forgotten their sins (Psalms
10:11 God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see).
Weak believers, in their despondency, are ready to say, "God
has forsaken his church and forgotten the sorrows of his people." But
we have no more reason to question his promise and grace than we have to
question his providence and justice. He is as sure a rewarder as he is a
revenger.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Can a woman forget her nursing child
In reply to the complaining church, which knows that her home is in
Zion-Jerusalem, and which has been kept so long away from her home, Jehovah sets
forth His love, which is as inalienable as a mother's love, but far greater
than even maternal love.
| There is the figure of Zion, unapproachable to every creature, yet as close to Him as He is to Himself, and facing Him amidst all the emotions of His divine life. |
| There has He the walls of Zion constantly before Him; and even if for a time they are broken down here below, with Him they have an eternal ideal existence, which must be realized again and again in an increasingly glorious form. |
On
the palms of my hands
Alluding to Israel's custom (perhaps drawn from Exodus 13:9) of puncturing on
their hands a representation of their city and temple, in token of zeal for them
(Lowth). (S. of Songs 8:6.)
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright
(c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
| Exodus 13:8-9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD's law may be in your mouth. (NKJV) |
| Song of Songs 8:6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death. (NKJV) |
C. H. Spurgeon said in 1882 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington, CT:
| This assurance is the Lord's answer to Zion's lament, "Jehovah
hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me"; so take it
from God's own mouth, and never doubt it. God's remembrance of
His people as a whole, and of each individual in particular,
has been secured by Him beyond all question. "That we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" Hebrews 6:18, He has said to each of us , "`I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands,' I have done it, and I have done that which will render it utterly impossible that I should ever forget one of my people. I the Lord have committed myself to something which will henceforth render it absolutely certain that I never can forget my own. A man cannot leave his hands at home. If he has put something, by way of memorial, upon the walls of his house or the gates of his home, he may go away, and forget it. Or if, as I have said, he shall write the memorial upon some precious diamond, or topaz, or other jewels which he wears, yet he might lay them on one side. But God says, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands", so that the memorial is constantly with Him; yea, it is in God Himself that the memorial of His people is fixed. God remembers His eternal love to His people, and His remembrance of them is constant because of that love. He says to each believing soul, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" Jeremiah 31:3. |
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (14) But Zion had said, “The Lord has abandoned me; my God has forgotten me.” (15) Can a woman forget her infant, lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget; I, however, I will not forget you. (16) Look, I have inscribed you upon the palms of my hands, and your walls are constantly before me. |
Note: In the second clause of verse 14 the scribe of 1Q1sa first wrote “my Lord” (in agreement with the Masoretic Text), then wrote “my God” above it, at least as an alternative reading but probably as the preferred reading.
|
It is this fact of a renewed glorification which presents itself afresh to
the prophet's mind.
The
thought that Zion's children come and restore her fallen walls, follows of
itself from the very antithesis: her children come; and those who destroyed
their maternal home, and made it a desolate ruin, have to depart from both city
and land.
Zion is to lift up her eyes, that have been cast down till now, - to lift them up round about; for on all sides those whom she thought she had lost are coming in dense crowds to her, i.e., henceforth to belong to her again.
As I live, says the Lord
Jehovah pledges His life that a time of glory is coming for Zion and her
children.
The customary form of an oath when Yahweh swears it is a solemn assurance that
the event shall as certainly occur as he has an existence (45:23).
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
Kiy (OT:3588) - surely - in the affirmative sense, springing out of the confirmative after an affirming oath.
As an ornament
The population which Zion recovers once more, will be to her like the ornaments
which a woman puts on, like the ornamental girdle which a bride
fastens round her wedding dress.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Bind them on you as a bride does
As Zion is often compared to a bride, so the accession of converts is
like bridal ornaments ("jewels," Isaiah 62:3; Malachi 3:17).
| Malachi 3:17 And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). (AMP) |
| Isaiah 62:3 You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (NKJV) |
and only secondarily to her spiritual children by conversion to Christ.
Israel shall be the means of the final complete conversion of the nations (Romans 11:12,15).
| Romans 11:12-15 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! ... For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (NKJV) |
The sentence means, as a bride binds on her ornaments.
The Septuagint has supplied this, and renders it, 'As a bride her
ornaments'.
The sentiment is, that the accession of the large number of converts under
the Messiah to the true church of God, would be the real ornament of Zion,
and would greatly increase her beauty and loveliness.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (17) Your builders (Sons MT) are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you will depart from you. (18) Look up all around and see: they have all gathered to come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will be clothed with all of them like ornaments and adorn yourself with them like a bride. |
|
Thus will Zion shine forth once more with the multitude of her children as with a festal adorning.
The word "for" (kii) introduces the explanatory reason for the figures just employed of jewelry and a bridal girdle.
That thus the country which was waste and desolate, and without
inhabitant (Isaiah 5:9;
6:11), shall be
again peopled, nay, it shall be over-peopled.
Here is blessing poured out till there be not room enough to receive it.
Not that they shall be crowded by their enemies, or straitened for room,
as Abraham and Lot were, because of the Canaanite in the land. "No,
those that swallow thee up, and took possession of thy land when thy
possession of it was discontinued, shall be far away. Thy people
shall be numerous, and there shall be no stranger, no enemy,
among them."
Thus the kingdom of God among men, which had been
impoverished and almost depopulated, partly by the corruptions of the
Jewish church and partly by the abominations of the Gentile world, was
again peopled and enriched by the setting up of the Christian church, and
by its graces and glories.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Zechariah 10:10
I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt, and gather them from
Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
until no more room is found for them. (NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (19) Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, your destroyed land – indeed now you will be too cramped for inhabitants and those who would swallow you up will be far distant. (20) You will yet hear the children of your bereavement say, “This place is too cramped for me. Make space for me where I may settle.” |
|
The words that sound in the ears of Zion are now followed by the thought of astonishment and surprise, which rises up in her heart.
Who has begotten these for me?
She sees herself suddenly surrounded by a great multitude of children, and yet she was robbed of children, and galmuudâh - am desolate - (lit. hard, stony, the hardest stone), i.e., one who seemed utterly incapacitated for bearing children any more.
She therefore asks, who has borne them for me? She cannot believe that they are the children of her body, and her children's children.
Who has brought these up?
In the second question, the thought has dawned upon her mind, that those by whom she finds herself surrounded are her own children; but as she was left alone, while they went forth, as she thought to die in a foreign land, she cannot comprehend where they have been hitherto concealed, or where they have grown up into so numerous a people.
The image in this entire verse is one of great beauty.
It represents a mother who had been suddenly deprived of all her children,
who had been made a widow, and conveyed as a captive from land to land.
| She had seen ruin spread all around her dwelling, and regarded herself as alone. |
| Suddenly she finds herself restored to her home. |
| Suddenly she finds herself surrounded with a happy family. |
| She sees her family increased beyond its former numbers. |
| She sees herself blessed with more than her former prosperity. |
| She looks with surprise on this accession. |
| She asks with wonder from where all these have come? |
| She asks where they have been? |
The idea is plain.
| Jerusalem had been desolate. |
| Many of her inhabitants had been carried captive. |
| Many of her inhabitants had been put to death. |
| But she should be restored. |
| And she should be restored beyond her original state. |
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (21) Then you will say to yourself, “Who has begotten these for me – though I was bereaved and barren, and an exile and cast away – who has raised these? Behold, I was left in solitude; these, from where did thy come?” |
|
The prophecy now takes a step backward in the domain of the future, and describes the manner in which the children of Zion get back to their home.
I will lift up my hand
To lift up the hand is a sign of beckoning to, or inviting - God would
call the Gentiles to partake of the blessings of the true religion, and to
embrace the Messiah
Set up My standard
A standard, or an ensign was erected in times of war to rally the forces of a
nation around it. An ensign or standard was usually lifted up on the mountains
or on some elevated place.
God would erect an ensign high in the sight of all the nations, and would call
them to himself, as a military leader musters his forces for battle; that is, he
would call the nations to embrace the true religion.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
The setting up of a standard (Isa
5:26; 11:12;
18:3, cf., 62:10 "Lift
up a banner for the peoples!) is a favorite figure with Isaiah, as well as
swaying (lifting up) the hand. Jehovah gives a sign to the heathen nations with His hand, and
points out to them the mark that they are to keep in view, with a signal pole
which is set up. They understand it, and carry out His instructions, and bring
Zion's sons and daughters thither, and that as a foster-father ('oomeen) carries
an infant in the bosom of his dress (chootsen, as in Neh 5:13; Arabic as in Ps
129:7, hidn, from hadana, to embrace, to press tenderly to one's self; vid., Num
11:12), or upon his arms, so that it reclines upon his shoulder ('al-kâtheeph;
cf., 'al-tsad, Isa 60:4; 66:12).
In their arms...on their shoulders
The babes are carried and cradled safely in the arms;
but children were usually carried astride the shoulder as soon
as they can sit.
Daughters shall be carried - Showing the care they shall
receive, for girls were usually left to shift for themselves.
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (22) For thus says the Lord: (my Lord the Lord MT) Watch, I will lift up my hand to the nations and raise my signal to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. |
|
Such affectionate treatment does the church receive, which is assembling once more upon its native soil, while kings and their consorts hasten to serve the re-assembled community. As foster-fathers devote all their strength and care to those entrusted to them, and nurses nourish children from the very marrow of their own life, so will kings become the shelterers of Zion, and princesses the sustainers of her growth.
All that is true in the regal headship of the church will be realized, and all
that is false in regal territorialism will condemn itself: (Jerome). They do
homage to the church, and kiss the ground upon which she stands and walks.
According to Isa 45:14, this adoration belongs to the God who is present in the
church, and points the church itself away from all thought of her own merits to
Jehovah, the God of salvation. Observe, however, that the state will not be
swallowed up by the church - a thing which never will occur, and is never meant to
occur; but by the state becoming serviceable to the church, there is realized a
prelude of the perfected kingdom of God, in which the dualism of the state and
the church is entirely abolished.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
This promise was in part fulfilled to the Jews, after their return out of captivity.
| Several of the kings of Persia were very tender of their interests, countenanced and encouraged them, as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes |
| Esther the queen was a nursing mother to the Jews that remained in their captivity, putting her life in her hand to snatch the child out of the flames. |
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Lick up
the dust
Denoting subjection and submission, as in Psalm 72:9 and Mic. 7:17.
Psalms 72:9
Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, and His enemies will lick
the dust. (NKJV)
Micah 7:16-17
The nations ... shall lick the dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from
their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the LORD
our God. (NKJV)
It is well known that expressions of submission, homage, and reverence have been carried to a great degree of extravagance.
| (1) | When Joseph's brothers were introduced to him, "they bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth." (Genesis 42:6). |
| (2) | The kings of Persia never admitted any one to their presence without exacting this act of adoration. |
| (3) | Alexander, intoxicated with success, affected this piece of oriental pride: "The Macedonians, after the manner of the Persians, saluted their monarch with the ceremony of prostration."- CURTIUS, lib. viii. |
| (4) | Mr. Harmer, Observ. ii. 43, gives the following instance
of it from D'Herbelot: "This prince threw himself one day on the
ground, and kissed the prints that his victorious enemy's horse had
made there; reciting some verses in Persian, which he had
composed, to this effect: "The mark that the foot of your horse has left upon the dust, serves me now for a crown. The ring which I wear as the badge of my slavery, is become my richest ornament. While I shall have the happiness to kiss the dust of your feet, I shall think that fortune favors me with its tenderest caresses, and its sweetest kisses." |
Those who wait for Him, in a dependence upon His promise and a
resignation to his will, shall not be made ashamed of their hope
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Psalms 102:15-22
So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. For the LORD shall build up Zion;
He shall appear in His glory. He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
and shall not despise their prayer.
This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD. For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner,
to release those appointed to death, to declare the name of the LORD in Zion,
and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
(NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (23) It will happen that kings will be your foster fathers and their princesses those nursing for you. They will bow to you with their faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who wait for me will not be shamed. |
|
There follows now a skeptical question prompted by weakness of faith; and the divine reply.
The question -
"Can the booty indeed be wrested from a
giant, or will the captive host of the righteous escape?"
| The question is
logically one, and only divided rhetorically into two (Ges. §153, 2). The giant,
or gigantically strong one, is the Chaldean. The exiles are called shebhii, not, however, as captives wrested from the righteous but merely as a host of captives consisting of righteous men (Hitzig). |
The divine answer -
"But thus says Jehovah, Even the captive hosts
of a giant are wrested from him, and the booty of a tyrant escapes: and I will
make war upon him that warrs with you, and I will bring salvation to your
children. And I feed them that pain your with their own flesh; and they shall be
drunken with their own blood, as if with new wine; and all flesh sees that I
Jehovah am thy Savior, and that your Redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.
| We might take the kii (But) in v. 25 a as a simple affirmative, but it is really to be taken as preceded by a tacit intermediate thought. Rosenmüller's explanation is the correct one: "that which is hardly credible shall take place, for thus hath Jehovah said." |
| He has also given the true interpretation of gam (Even): "although this really seems incredible, yet I will give it effect." |
Moreover, it must not be forgotten that:
| The Old Testament church was a nation, |
| The spirit of revelation in the Old Testament assumed the national form, which it afterwards shattered to pieces. |
The name of God which we meet with here, viz., the Mighty One of Jacob, shows Who is the author of the prophecy which is concluded here.
| The first half | set forth, in the servant of Jehovah, the mediator of Israel's restoration and of the conversion of the heathen, and closed with an appeal to the heaven and the earth to rejoice with the ransomed church. |
| The second half | rebukes the despondency of Zion, which fancies itself forgotten of Jehovah, by pointing to Jehovah's more than maternal love, and the superabundant blessing to be expected from Him. (vv. 14-26) |
| It also rebukes the doubts of Zion as to the possibility of such redemption, by pointing to the faithfulness and omnipotence of the God of Israel, Who will cause the exiles to be wrested from the Chaldean, and their tormentors to devour one another. The following chapter commences a fresh train of ideas. |
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (24) Can they seize prey from a warrior, or the captives of a tyrant (righteous one MT) be rescued? (25) Thus says the Lord: Even the prey (captives MT) of the warrior will be seized, and the captives of the tyrant will be rescued. I myself will oppose those who oppose you, and I myself will save your children. (26) Those who maltreat you I will make eat their own flesh; and they will be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. Then all flesh will know that I am the Lord, your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. |
| THE SERVANT, ISRAEL'S HOPE |
Second Prophecy (Chapter 50)
Israel's Self-Rejection; and the Steadfastness of the Servant of Jehovah
Isaiah 50:1-11
Sin: The Cause Of The Separation
| A | Isaiah 50:1-3 | The Breach: caused by Israel’s sin | |
| B | Isaiah 50:4-11 | The Breach: healed by Messiah |
Isaiah 50:1-3 The Breach: The Cause
| Isa 50:1- | Jehovah | Question | Words | ||||
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| Isa 50:-2, 3 | Jehovah | Question | Power | ||||
|
The words are no longer addressed to Zion, but to her children.
Certificate of your mother's divorce
It
was not He who had broken off the relation in which He stood to Zion; for the
mother of Israel, whom Jehovah had betrothed to Himself, had no bill of divorce
to show, with which Jehovah had put her away and thus renounced for ever the
possibility of receiving her again (according to Deut 24:1-4), provided she
should in the meantime have married another.
God here speaks of himself as the husband of his people, as having married the church to himself, denoting the tender affection which he had for his people. This figure is frequently used in the Bible.
| Isaiah 62:5 | And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. |
| Isaiah 54:5 | For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; |
| Jeremiah 3:14 | "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. |
| Ezekiel 16:8-15 | Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine," says the Lord GOD ... "But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot" |
The phrase, 'bill of divorcement' or 'certificate of
divorce' refers to the writing or instrument which
a husband was by law obliged to give a wife when he chose to put her away. This
custom of divorce Moses found probably in existence among the Jews, and also in
surrounding nations, and as it was difficult if not impossible at once to remove
it, he permitted it on account of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews
(Deuteronomy 24:1; compare Matthew 19:8).
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
Deuteronomy 24:1
When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor
in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a
certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house.
Matthew 19:8
He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you
to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so."
Which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
Among the Hebrews, a father had the right, by the law of Moses,
if he was oppressed with debt, to sell his children (Exodus 21:7; Nehemiah 5:5).
| Exodus 21:1-7 | If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing...and if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. |
| Nehemiah 5:4, 5 | There were also those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. Yet now...we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. |
| Exodus 22:2, 3 | If the thief is found breaking in...he should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. |
| Leviticus 25:39, 40 | And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. |
| 2 Kings 4:1 | Your servant my husband is dead...and the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves. |
| Matthew 18:25 | But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. |
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
But
God did not sell His children - THEY SOLD THEMSELVES to
sin to buy their own lusts and pleasures.
And for this, their mother was put away.
Their present condition was indeed that of being sold and put away; but this was
not the effect of despotic caprice, or the result of compulsion on the part of
Jehovah. It was Israel itself that had broken off the relation in which it
stood to Jehovah.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (1) Thus says the Lord: Where is your mother’s divorce decree, by which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you? Look, because of your sins you were sold, and because of your transgressions your mother was sent away. |
|
The radical sin, however, which has lasted from the time of the captivity down to the present time, is disobedience to the word of God. This sin brought upon Zion and her children the judgment of banishment, and it was this which made it last so long.
Jehovah has come, and with what?
It follows, from the fact of His bidding them
consider, that -
| His hand is not too short to set Israel loose and at liberty | ||
| He is not so powerless as to be unable to draw it out | ||
He is the Almighty, who by His mere threatening word can
dry up the sea
|
||
He is the Almighty, who by His mere threatening word can
turn streams into a hard and barren soil, so that the fishes putrefy for
want of water
|
It follows from all this, that He has come with a gospel of deliverance from sin and punishment; but Israel has given no answer, has not received this message of salvation with faith, since faith is assent to the word of God.
And in whom did
Jehovah come? Knobel and most of the commentators reply, "In His prophets."
This
answer is not wrong, but it does not suffice to show the connection between what
follows and what goes before. For there it is one person who speaks; and who is
that, but the servant of Jehovah, who is introduced in these prophecies with
dramatic directness, as speaking in his own name?
John 1:11
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
Jehovah has come to His people in His servant. We know who the servant of Jehovah in the historical fulfillment was. It was He whom even the New Testament Scriptures describe as:
| to’n | [The one] | (NT: 3588) | pai'da | [Servant] | (NT: 3816) |
| tou' | [The one] | (NT: 3588) | kuri'ou | [Lord] | (NT: 2962) |
| Acts 3:13 | The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. |
| Acts 3:26 | To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. |
| Acts 4:27 | "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together |
| Acts 4:30 | ...by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. |
It was not indeed during the Babylonian captivity that the servant of Jehovah appeared in Israel with the gospel of redemption; but, as we shall never be tired of repeating, this is the human element in these prophecies, that they regard the appearance of the "servant of Jehovah," the Savior of Israel and the heathen, as connected with the captivity: the punishment of Israel terminating, according to the law of the perspective foreshortening of prophetic vision, with the termination of the captivity - a connection which we regard as one of the strongest confirmations of the composition of these addresses before the captivity, as well as of Isaiah's authorship.
But this anthroo'pinon (human) (NT: 442) does not destroy the
thei'on (divine) (NT: 2303) in
them, inasmuch as the time at which Jesus appeared was not only similar to that
of the Babylonian captivity, but stood in a causal connection with it, since the
Roman empire was the continuation of the Babylonian, [See Daniel 2] and the
moral state of the people under the iron arm of the Roman rule resembled that of
the Babylonian exiles (Ezek 2:6-7).
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (2) Why, when I came, was there no one there? When I called, was there no answer? Was my hand too limited to redeem? Have I no strength to rescue? Look, with my rebuke I dry up the sea, transform the rivers into a wilderness. Their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. (3) I spread darkness over the heavens and make sackcloth their covering. |
Isaiah 50:4-11 The Breach: Healed By Messiah
| Isa 50:4, 5 | Messiah | Qualified | |||
|
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| Isa 50:7-9 | Messiah | Helped | |||
|
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|
He in whom Jehovah came to His nation, and proclaimed to it, in the midst of its self-induced misery, the way and work of salvation, is He who speaks now.
That I should know how to speak - He spake none other words than those
given Him by the Father.
The seven times this was asserted by Messiah
| (1) | John 7:16 | "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me." |
| (2) | John 8:28 | "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things." |
| (3) | John 8:46 | "Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?" |
| (4) | John 12:49 | "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak." |
| (5) | John 14:10 | "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works." |
| (6) | John 14:24 | "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." |
| (7) | John 17:8 | "For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me." |
"He wakened morning by morning, wakened mine ear," recalls to mind the parallelism with reservation which is very common in the Psalms, and more especially the custom of a "triolet-like" (poem-like) spinning out of the thoughts, from which the songs of "degrees" (or ascending steps, shiir hamma'alooth) have obtained their name.
The servant of Jehovah affords us a deep insight here into His hidden life.
The
prophets received special revelations from God, for the most part in the night, either in dreams or else in visions, which were shown them in a waking
condition, but yet in the more susceptible state of nocturnal quiet and rest.
Here, however, the servant of Jehovah receives the divine revelations neither in
dreams nor visions of the night; but every morning,
i.e., when his sleep is over, Jehovah comes to him, awakens his ear, by making a
sign to him to listen, and then takes him as it were into the school after the
manner of a pupil, and teaches him what and how he is to preach.
Nothing indicates a tongue befitting the disciples of God, so much as the gift
of administering consolation; and such a gift is possessed by the speaker here.
Jerome has given the correct rendering: "that I may know how to sustain him that
is weary with a word."
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (4) My Lord the Lord has given me a learned tongue to know how to sustain the weary with words. And he stirs morning after morning, and he stirs my ear to listen like those being instructed. |
|
Matt 27:30-31
(30) And they spat on Him, and took the reed (staff) and struck Him on the head.
(31) And when they finished making sport of Him, they stripped Him of the robe and
put His own garments on Him and led Him away to be crucified.
(AMP)
John 19:1
So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged (flogged, whipped) Him.
(AMP)
His calling is to save, not to destroy; and for this calling he has Jehovah as a teacher, and to Him he has submitted himself in docile susceptibility and immoveable obedience. He put him into a position inwardly to discern His will, that he might become the mediator of divine revelation; and he did not set himself against this calling (mârâh, according to its radical meaning stringere, to make one's self rigid against any one, antitei'nein), and did not draw back from obeying the call, which, as he well knew, would not bring him earthly honor and gain, but rather shame and ill-treatment.
Ever since he had taken the path of his calling, he had not drawn timidly back from the sufferings with which it was connected, but had rather cheerfully taken them upon him.
He did not hide his face, to cover it up from actual insults, or from being spit upon -
| kolafi'zein | (NT: 2852) | strokes with rods | ||
|
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| tu'ptein | (NT: 5180) | to strike, smite | ||
|
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| rhapi'zein | (NT: 4475) | blow with a hand, rod, staff or scourge | ||
|
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| What was typified in Job | ||||
|
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Psalms 22:7-8
All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head,
saying, "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!" (NKJV)
Matthew 27:43
"He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him."
(NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (5) My Lord God (the Lord MT) has opened my ear, and I did not rebel; I have not shrunk back. (6) I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. My face I did not turn aside from insults and spitting. |
|
But no shame makes him faint-hearted; he trusts in Him who hath called him,
and looks to the end.
The wa (for) introduces the
thought with which his soul was filled amidst all his sufferings.
In nikªlaamªtiy (will be disgraced) (OT:3637) lo' (NOT) (OT:3808) he affirms, that he did not suffer himself to be inwardly overcome and overpowered. The consciousness of his high calling remained undisturbed; he was never ashamed of that, nor did he turn away from it.
I have set My face like a flint
Note the fulfillment.
His death was not an
event which happened.
He “accomplished” it Himself (Luke 9:31), and, after
saying this, “He steadfastly set His face,” as above, “like a flint.” He laid
down His life Himself: but not till His hour (the right hour) had come (John
10:15-18).
Luke 9:30-32
Two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory
and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
(NKJV)
John 10:15-18
As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life
for the sheep...Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life
that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of
Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
command I have received from My Father. (NKJV)
Luke 9:51
Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up,
that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
(NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (7) My Lord the Lord will help me, so I will not be shamed. So I have made my face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame. |
|
In the midst of his continued sufferings he was still certain of victory, feeling himself exalted above every human accusation, and knowing that Jehovah would acknowledge him; whereas his opponents were on the way to that destruction, the germ of which they already carried with them.
hitsªdiyq (justifies me) (OT:6663) and hirªshiya` (condemn me) (OT:7561) are forensic antitheses:
| the former | (justifies me) | signifies to set one forth, both practically and judicially, as righteous |
| the latter | (condemn me) | as guilty = prove Me lawless |
Ba'al (OT:1167) mishpâtii (OT:4941) (my adversary) means, "he who has a judicial cause of lawsuit against me," just as in Roman law the dominus litis is distinguished from the procurator, i.e., from the person who represents him in court.
"They will all" (kullâm): this refers to
all who are hostile to him.
They fall to pieces like a worn-out garment, and fall a prey to the moth
which they already carry within them, (cf., Job 13:28; Hos 5:12), and one which, although apparently insignificant, is
yet really a terrible one, inasmuch as it points to a power of destruction
working imperceptibly and slowly, but yet effecting the destruction of the
object selected with all the greater certainty.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Job 13:28
Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.
(NKJV)
Hosea 5:12
Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like
rottenness. (NKJV)
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (8) He who justified me is near. Who will dispute with me? Let us stand up together. Who has a case against me? Let him approach me. (9) See, my Lord the Lord will help me. Who is it that will condemn me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them. |
|
Thus far we have the words of the servant.
The prophecy opened with words of Jehovah (vv. 1-3), and with such words
it closes, as we may see from the expression, "this you shall
have from My hand," in v. 11 b.
The first word of Jehovah is addressed to those who fear Him, and hearken
to the voice of His servant.
The question is asked for the purpose of showing to any one who could reply, "I am one, or wish to be such a one," what his duty and his privileges are.
In the midst of the apparent hopelessness of his
situation, and of his consequent
despondency of mind,
|
The second word of Jehovah is addressed to the despisers of His word, of which His servant is the bearer. The fire is not the fire of divine wrath, but the fire of wickedness, more especially that hellish fire with which an evil tongue is set on fire (James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.); for the ziiqooth (sparks), i.e., shots, and indeed burning arrows, are figurative, and stand for the blasphemies and anathemas which they cast at the servant of Jehovah.
From The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible
| (10) Who among you revere the Lord, obeying the voice of his servant? Who walk in darkness and have no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God. (11) But, all those (you MT) who light a fire, who surround yourselves with torches, walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have set ablaze. You will have this from my hand: you will lie down in the place of torment. |
| LESSON 25 FROM THE AMPLIFIED VERSION |
Isaiah 49:4 - 50:11 - from the Amplified Version
49:4 THEN I
said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in empty
futility; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense is with my
God.
(5) And now, says the Lord — Who formed me from the womb to be
His servant to bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him
and not be swept away, for I am honorable in the eyes of the Lord and my God has
become my strength —
(6) He says, It is too light a thing that you should be My
servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors [of the
judgments] of Israel; I will also give you for a light to the nations, that My
salvation may extend to the end of the earth.
(7) Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel's Holy
One, to him whom man rejects and despises, to him whom the nations abhor, to the
servant of rulers: Kings shall see you and arise; princes, and they shall
prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, Who is faithful, the Holy One of
Israel, Who has chosen you.
(8) Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable and favorable time I
have heard and answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; and I
will preserve you and give you for a covenant to the people, to raise up and
establish the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and cause
them to inherit the desolate [moral wastes of heathenism, their] heritages, [2
Corinthians 6:2.]
(9) Saying to those who are bound, Come forth, and to those
who are in [spiritual] darkness, Show yourselves [come into the light of the Sun
of righteousness]. They shall feed in all the ways [in which they go], and their
pastures shall be [not in deserts, but] on all the bare [grass-covered] hills.
(10) They will not hunger or thirst, neither will mirage [mislead] or
scorching wind or sun smite them; for He Who has mercy on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will He guide them. [Revelation 7:16,17.]
(11) And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways will be
raised up.
(12) Behold, these shall come from afar — and, behold, these from the
north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim (China).
(13) Sing for joy, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into
singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have
compassion upon His afflicted.
(14) But Zion [Jerusalem, her people as seen in captivity] said, The Lord
has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.
(15) [And the Lord answered] Can a woman forget her nursing child, that
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet
I will not forget you.
(16) Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you
on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your walls are continually before Me.
(17) Your children and your builders make haste; your destroyers and those
who laid you waste go forth from you.
(18) Lift up your eyes round about and see [the returning exiles, ready to
rebuild Jerusalem]; all these gather together and come to you. As I live, says
the Lord, you [Zion] shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an
ornament and bind them on you as a bride does.
(19) For your waste and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of
destruction surely now [in coming years] will be too narrow to accommodate the
population, and those who once swallowed you up will be far away.
(20) The children of your bereavement [born during your captivity] shall
yet say in your ears, The place is too narrow for me; make room for me, that I
may live.
(21) Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, Who has borne me all these
children, seeing that I lost my offspring and am alone and barren and
unfruitful, an exile put away and wandering hither and thither? And who brought
them up? Behold, I was left alone [put away by the Lord, my Husband]; from where
then did all these children come?
(22) Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentile
nations and set up My standard and raise high My signal banner to the peoples;
and they will bring your sons in the bosom of their garments, and your daughters
will be carried upon their shoulders.
(23) And kings shall be your foster fathers and guardians, and their
queens your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with their faces to the
earth and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know [with an
acquaintance and understanding based on and grounded in personal experience]
that I am the Lord; for they shall not be put to shame who wait for, look for,
hope for, and expect Me.
(24) Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives of
the just be delivered?
(25) For thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty will be taken
away, and the prey of the terrible will be delivered; for I will contend with
him who contends with you, and I will give safety to your children and ease
them.
(26) And I will make those who oppress you consume themselves [in mutually
destructive wars], thus eating their own flesh; and they will be drunk with
their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh will know [with a knowledge
grounded in personal experience] that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your
Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
50:1 THUS SAYS the Lord: Where is
the bill of your mother's divorce with which I put her away, O Israel? Or which
of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you
were sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
(2) Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, why was
there no one to answer? Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or
have I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the
rivers a desert; their fish stink because there is no water, and they die of
thirst.
(3) I clothe the heavens with [the] blackness [of murky storm
clouds], and I make sackcloth [of mourning] their covering.
(4) [The Servant of God says] The Lord God has given Me the
tongue of a disciple and of one who is taught, that I should know how to speak a
word in season to him who is weary. He wakens Me morning by morning, He wakens
My ear to hear as a disciple [as one who is taught].
(5) The Lord God has opened My ear, and I have not been
rebellious or turned backward.
(6) I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to those who
plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting. [Matthew 26:67;
27:30; John 19:1.]
(7) For the Lord God helps Me; therefore have I not been
ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know
that I shall not be put to shame. [Luke 9:51; Isaiah 52:13; 53:10-12.]
(8) He is near Who declares Me in the right. Who will contend
with Me? Let us stand forth together! Who is My adversary? Let him come near to
Me. [Romans 8:33-35; 1 Timothy 3:16.]
(9) Behold, the Lord God will help Me; who is he who will
condemn Me? Behold, they all will wax old and be worn out as a garment; the moth
will eat them up. [Hebrews 1:11,12.]
(10) Who is among you who [reverently] fears the Lord, who obeys the voice
of His Servant, yet who walks in darkness and deep trouble and has no shining
splendor [in his heart]? Let him rely on, trust in, and be confident in the name
of the Lord, and let him lean upon and be supported by his God.
(11) Behold, all you [enemies of your own selves] who attempt to kindle
your own fires [and work out your own plans of salvation], who surround and gird
yourselves with momentary sparks, darts, and firebrands that you set aflame! —
walk by the light of your self-made fire and of the sparks that you have kindled
[for yourself, if you will]! But this shall you have from My hand: you shall lie
down in grief and in torment. [Isaiah 66:24.]
(End of Lesson 25)
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Second Covenant |
Topical Studies |
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