Awake, Awake! Rise Up, O Jerusalem,
You Who Have Drunk the Cup of His Wrath
51: 17-23

Awake, Awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of His wrath DIG: How do we know the context of this section is the Great Tribulation and not the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the Babylonians? Why must the Jews go through the Great Tribulation? What is the LORD’s ultimate purpose for them? What double calamities will Zion suffer? How will they be refined and tested? Why? When will Jerusalem drink the cup of God’s wrath for the last time? Why?

REFLECT: The world rulers in the end times will only see themselves as working to build up their own power, yet unwittingly, they will actually be accomplishing ADONAI’s plan to reach all types of people. Knowing how protective God feels about Isra’el, how does this make you feel about how He views you? When was the last time you felt God’s protection? Do you believe the LORD has plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future? How do you feel about YHVH punishing those who are oppressing His children? Why doesn’t He allow everyone into heaven with His children? How far would you go to protect your children? Why are these eternal consequences necessary from God’s point of view?

This is a far eschatological prophecy to Jews living in Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation. Just like the Northern Alliance’s invasion of Isra’el before the Great Tribulation (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Bi – Set Your Face Against Gog, of the land of Magog, the Chief Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal), ADONAI will seduce the antichrist and the armies of the world to Jerusalem to destroy them. The unholy trinity of Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet, hate the Jews, and their hate will ultimately be their undoing. The LORD affirms: I will gather all the Gentile nations to Jerusalem to fight against it (Zechariah 14:2a and 16a).

Yerushalayim will become the religious capital of the antichrist during the Great Tribulation. He will set up an image of himself in the Most Holy Place of the Tribulation Temple to be worshiped by the world (see my commentary on Revelation Dn – All the Inhabitants of the Earth will Worship the Beast). If found, the Jews will be persecuted and executed in Jerusalem. But with the help of the pro-Jewish sheep Gentiles (see my commentary on Revelation Fc – The Sheep and the Goats) an underground resistance will evidently be formed. Apparently this will be enough of a problem for the antichrist that he will proceed south from the Valley of Jezreel with his armies to obliterate them. The Jews will vigorously defend Zion, but inevitably they will be brutalized by the invading armies (Zechariah 14:2a). Half of Jerusalem will go into exile, but the rest of the people will probably be imprisoned, but will not be taken from the City (Zechariah 14:2b).

One of the three purposes of the Great Tribulation is to break the spiritual stubbornness of the Jewish people. The LORD, through His prophet, tells us: I will bring them into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold (Zechariah 13:9a). The persecution they will endure at that time will force them to choose between the counterfeit antichrist, or the Messiah. The unsaved Jews will call upon ADONAI to awake and deliver them from their physical plight; but at that time their spiritual needs will be even greater than their physical needs. God will tell them that it is not He that needs to be awakened. They are the ones who need to be awakened from their helpless condition and receive the promise that her warfare had been completed (40:2). Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath (51:17a). The defeat of the antichrist and his armies are in the background providing the imagery, but they are never mentioned explicitly.

You who have rained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger (51:17b). Zion is to be reminded that her judgment is a result of the Servant of the LORD in Chapters 49 and 50. The reason that Isra’el (pictured as Jerusalem) was lying helpless before the armies of the antichrist, was because of her sin. It was not God who needed to be awakened to action, but Isra’el who needed to be aroused to faith. Isaiah uses a reflexive verb here that actually means wake yourself, as God calls upon Isra’el to pay attention to her own condition of drunken stupor. If she lies sprawled out drunk on the ground now, it is not a result of her enemies. It is a result of the justice of God Himself. Thus, because her enemies did not put her there, they could not prevent her from getting up. When God’s wrath is put upon Jerusalem there will be four results in 51:18-20.

First, there will be depopulation. Of all the sons she bore there was none to guide her; of all the sons she reared there was none to take her by the hand (51:18). We have a picture of a drunken old woman whose children are either dead or so helpless that there is no one left to help her. In the whole Land, declares the LORD, two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it (Zechariah 13:8). She is virtually helpless. Yet, God calls on her to stand. Since no one else can pick her up and lead her to salvation, then God will redeem her (Isaiah 40:11, 49:10; Psalm 23:2).

Secondly, there will be ruin and destruction for the City. The destruction will be so terrible that Jerusalem will experience double calamities, both spiritual and physical. A counterfeit Temple (see the commentary on Revelation Bx – The Tribulation Temple) will be sitting in Zion with an image of the antichrist in the Most Holy Place being worshiped by people around the world, and as noted above: The City will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of Jerusalem will go into exile, but the rest of the people will probably be imprisoned, but will not be taken from the City (Zech 14:2). These double calamities have come upon you – who can comfort you – ruin and destruction, famine and sword – who can console you (51:19)?

Thirdly, they will be like antelope caught in a net. Left to her own devices, she was totally helpless and Isaiah uses several images to give us a snapshot of her situation: Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like antelope caught in a net (51:20a). God says: I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped (Zechariah 14:2a). Why did this happen? The prophet wants to make it perfectly clear it was not by chance or the superior force of the enemy. It was their rejection of Messiah that will cause all of their suffering.

Fourthly, they will be filled with the wrath of ADONAI. They are filled with the wrath of the LORD and the rebuke of your God (51:20b). They will have drunk from His cup of wrath and have fallen senseless. Not just God, but their God who will send His rebuke upon His people. This is the same rebuke that dried up the Red Sea (50:2). One of the purposes of the Great Tribulation is to break the resistance of the Jews to the gospel. The more stubborn the child, the more severe the discipline. It is no wonder that the LORD had to go to such drastic means to let them get to the end of their pride and self-reliance. But ADONAI will also use the punishment of Jerusalem to gather in her enemies (Zechariah 14:2a). But the Day of wrath (Zephaniah 1:15) is coming when God will take this cup of wrath from the hands of Isra’el and it will be given to her enemies to drink (see Kh – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon).

The context will not allow this to be a near historical prophecy of the return from the Babylonian Captivity. In fact, the return described in Ezra and Nehemiah are exactly opposite of what is described here. First, there was no depopulation because Jerusalem had been virtually deserted. When 49,897 exiles returned under Zerubbabel, the population increased (Ezra 2; Nehemiah 7:4-73, 11:1 to 12:26). Secondly, the Temple was not was not destroyed, but rebuilt (Ezra 5:1 to 6:22). Thirdly, the exiles were not caught like antelope in a net and God did not gather all the nations of the world to fight against Jerusalem because the wall of Yerushalayim was dedicated (Nehemiah 12:27-47). Fourthly, they were not filled with the wrath of the LORD because they were blessed (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Cr – Nehemiah’s Final Reforms). No, this is a far eschatological prophecy to the unbelieving Jews during the Great Tribulation.

Therefore, hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine (51:21). It is hard to imagine a clearer, near historical example of God causing Israel’s enemies to drink the cup they had once forced on Isra’el than that of Nazi Germany. From the Night of the Broken Glass in the early 1930s, when the windows of Jewish-owned stores were smashed and the goods looted, through the terrible destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, through the degradation and terror of the death camps, Germany made His people drink a cup of almost unimaginable horror.

Who now speaks to this drunk and afflicted one? Is it their judge, or their nemesis? No, it is their Comforter (40:1). If He was separated from her (50:1-3), it will not be forever because He is still her husband (Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14; Hosea 2:16-19). It is the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies who defends her, and He intends to defend her from every charge brought against her (1:17, 38:8, 41:11 and 50:8). Jeremiah would say it this way: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). What God wants for them, and for all believers, is not to drink from the cup of wrath, but to drink from the river of life (see my commentary on Revelation Fw – Then the Angel Showed Me the River of the Water of Life, Clear as Crystal).

This is what your Lord ADONAI says, your God, who defends His people, saying: See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of My wrath, you will never drink again (51:22). The poor drunkard will wake up to a wonderful realization. The cup has been taken out of the hand that held it so justifiably. Wrath will be deserved, wrath will be handed out, but then, the wrath will be gone – and gone forever. The context of this verse cannot be the destruction of Zion in 586 BC by the Babylonians and the subsequent exile to Babylon because God says very plainly here: You will never drink from that cup of wrath again. And, of course, in 70 AD Jerusalem was leveled by Titus the Roman general and about a million Jews were killed, many by crucifixion. So the context here must be Jerusalem in the Great Tribulation, for indeed, after the Second Coming, Yerushalayim and God’s people would never drink from that cup again.

In the near historical sense, it is clear that God, who defends His people, held the German people accountable for the Holocaust in World War II. The goblet of His wrath had been taken from the hands of the helpless Jews and put into the hands of their tormentors, the all-conquering Nazis. The end came when the Red Army raped its way into Berlin. That was the final straw of degradation and humiliation. If Germany was permitted by God to do what it did, it was not able to escape His justice in the end.²⁰⁸

As Yeshua said: I tell you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has the power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him (Luke 12:4-5). The ultimate judgment for all those who have rejected Christ will be at the conclusion of the thousand-year messianic Kingdom. At that time the spiritually dead, great and small, will stand before the throne. The books will be opened and each person will be judged according to what they have done. If anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, they will be thrown into the lake of fire (see my commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). The enemies of God, whether in a near historical or a far eschatological sense, will not escape His judgment.

The judgment, again pictured as a cup to be drunk, would then be given to her tormentors who had walked over murdered Jewish bodies in Jerusalem. But I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, “Fall prostrate that we may walk over you. And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked over” (51:23). In this way the justice of God will be proved. If He uses wicked people to discipline His own, it does not mean that the wicked will escape judgment (Habakkuk 2:4-20).

However, Isaiah would say to the antichrist and all the world who opposed the Jews during the Great Tribulation. They will be the ones who will drink the cup of God’s wrath, not the Jews, because God says that cup of wrath against Isra’el is full. God has dealt with Isra’el to the full and she will learn from God’s judgments. The one-third of the Jews left at the end of the Great Tribulation will be the believing remnant. They will call on My name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are My people,” and they will say, “ADONAI is our God” (Zechariah 13:9b). At that time, the cup of wrath will be taken from her hand. And to whom will it be given? God says: I will put it into the hands of your tormentors. Israel’s suffering will pass over to the antichrist, the armies and nations of the world. In relationship to Isra’el, we must always remember what God says concerning her: I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and the peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3).

Awake! Awake! Clothe Yourself,
with Strength, O Arm of the LORD
51: 9-16

Awake! Awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD DIG: Who is speaking here? For what nation was Rahab a nickname (30:7)? To what event is the speaker referring? What does the speaker mean by calling upon the LORD to “do it again?” What effect would recalling this event have upon the believing remnant during the Great Tribulation? What words or pictures are used to describe what the persecution of the antichrist felt like to those people who loved God? How would you sum up ADONAI’s message to these people? What would that message do for you when you are persecuted today?

REFLECT: When feeling persecuted, what event in your personal history can you look back upon and call on to believe that ADONAI is really there with you in the midst of the trial? What promises of the LORD encourage you to keep on following Him even when things seem impossible? Why do they mean so much to you? How hard is it for you to live out the reality of your faith when being confronted with fear? If the disciples could be afraid (Mark 4:35-41), and if Peter could say that he didn’t know Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75), what does that say about us? What do you say to that part of you that is afraid in the face of persecution? What is your answer to, “Who is YHVH?”

Chapter 51 is a far eschatological prophecy and a message of comfort to the believing remnant during the Great Tribulation. Zion, or Jerusalem, will be under extreme persecution from the antichrist and the armies of the world (Zechariah 14:2). At that time, they will be encouraged to clothe themselves with strength and call on Jesus Christ, or the arm of the LORD (51:9a). No matter what age we live in, believers need to cling to ADONAI. The Psalmist reminds us of this important lesson when he says: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).

The doctrine of progressive revelation applies here to this concept of the arm of the LORD. This is the idea that later revelation builds upon earlier revelation. The new revelation is complementary and supplementary to past revelation, not contradictory. Note the way in which Jesus elevated the teachings of the Torah by extending, expanding, and internalizing them. He frequently prefaced His teaching with the expression: You have heard it said . . . but I say to you. In a similar fashion, the author of Hebrews points out that God, who in the past spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, who reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of His nature (Heb 1:1-3).²⁰³ Progressive revelation, then, takes place in Isaiah, just as it has taken place in the sixty-six books of the Bible. This is especially true of the Suffering Servant. Like all progressive revelation it develops from vagueness to clarity, from shadow to reality.

Another important example of progressive revelation is the arm of the LORD. It is referred to nine times in Isaiah, but the concept develops gradually. At first it is merely a phrase, but in the end the identity of the arm of the LORD is unmistakable and moving. First, he introduces it in 30:30 and 32, secondly and thirdly, he mentions it again in 40:10 and 50:2. Then fourthly, for the first time Isaiah ties the concept of the arm of the LORD to salvation (51:5 and 9). From this point forward all the references to the arm of the LORD and salvation will either be coupled together directly or in context. Fifthly, in 52:10 Isaiah declares that the LORD will 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.

Sixthly, Isaiah goes into great detail about who this arm of the LORD is going to be (53:1). For those who trusted in the LORD, five times earlier Isaiah had talked about this arm resulting in salvation. Whom should the Israelites believe in? Isaiah reveals that the arm of the LORD is none other than the Messiah, who by means of His humiliation and suffering would bring about salvation for Isra’el (Romans 11:25-26). So how will these people gain salvation that will result in righteousness? By faith in Yeshua Messiah alone.

The seventh time we see the arm of the LORD, ADONAI will hear His holy ones (Zechariah 14:5) confessing their sins (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). At the end of the Great Tribulation they will have become a prey to the antichrist; however, God will see that they are defenseless against Him. And as a result, He will not abandon them. So God’s own arm will bring salvation and righteousness to the believing remnant (59:1 and 16). God says to believers of every age: I will never leave you; never will I abandon you (Hebrews 13:5b).

The eighth time Isaiah uses this concept we see that He has set angels, or watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem to remind Him constantly of His promises to the City; for He has sworn that she will never again be plundered by enemies, but will enjoy the fruits of her labor in security and peace. The LORD has sworn this by His right hand and by His mighty arm (62:8). The antichrist will not succeed. Zion will be God’s holy City.

The ninth time we see the arm of the LORD is at the Second Coming (63:5). Isaiah reemphasizes that Messiah will fight alone. There is no one else in the world that can save Isra’el from the invading armies, and the antichrist himself will be the first casualty of the battle (Second Thessalonians 2:8). God’s own arm will work salvation for the Jews, and His own wrath will sustain Him during this campaign (see Kh – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon). Therefore, we can see that through progressive revelation, Isaiah, under the inspiration and direction of the Spirit of God, has taken the concept of the arm of the LORD from vagueness to clarity, from shadow to reality.

The context of these last six descriptions of the arm of the LORD is built around the cry of the Jews during the Great Tribulation. Just as the hand symbolizes personal activity (Exodus 13:14; Ezra 7:28; Isaiah 25:10; Ezeki’el 3:14), so the arm symbolizes personal strength in action. Not even the greatest of the righteous of the TaNaKh are described as the LORD’s arm. Rather, the arm went with Moses (63:12) and strengthened David (Psalm 89:20-21). The metaphor calls upon the LORD Himself to act.²⁰⁴

Therefore, Isaiah responds and tells them: Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength and call on the arm of the LORD (51:9a), which Isaiah 53 will clearly confirm as the Messiah Himself. The doubling of awake is for emotional intensity of the appeal. In the midst of their persecution, Jesus Christ will show the believing remnant during the Great Tribulation that on the basis of the miracles He had performed in the past, they could trust Him in the present, saying: Awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. What were those past miracles?²⁰⁵

First, He had cut Rahab to pieces (51:9b). The name Rahab is a poetical name of Egypt (Isaiah 30:7; Ps 87:4). So here Isaiah is referring to the miracles of the exodus (see the commentary on Exodus Bj – The Ten Plagues of Egypt). And how were the miracles of the exodus performed? From one Person, over and over again, who is given a special title throughout Exodus. He first appeared at the burning bush (see the commentary on Exodus Aq – Flames of Fire from within a Burning Bush). His title is the Angel of the LORD (Ex 3:2), who is the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the same Person referred to here as the arm of the LORD.

Secondly, He had pierced the monster through (51:9c-10). In reference to Egypt, the monster was pharaoh (Ezeki’el 29:3; 32:2). When did God pierce pharaoh? When He killed his firstborn son with the tenth plague (see the commentary on Exodus By – At Midnight the LORD Struck Down all the Firstborn in Egypt). Evil is not some ancient chaos monster, it was pharaoh who tried to threaten the redemptive plan of God. So the drying up of the Sea of Reeds (see the commentary on Exodus Ce – Salvation at the Red Sea), was also a miracle when ADONAI made the waters of the great deep dry up, and made a road in the depths of the Sea of Reeds so that the redeemed might cross over and escape the Egyptians (51:10).

The ransomed Israelites of ADONAI will return to Jerusalem victorious. 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 (51:11). We have seen this response earlier, virtually word-for-word (see Gm – The Highway of Holiness Will Be There). The ransomed Israelites will wear everlasting joy on their heads like a wreath of flowers worn for celebration during the feasts. Therefore, it will be during the messianic Kingdom, when sin and sorrow will be defeated forever, fleeing away from their mighty Conqueror. Finally, after a long struggle, gladness and joy will be theirs forever more.

The Comforter of Isra’el is the Creator of the universe. Therefore, Isra’el need have no fear of her puny mortal oppressors.They needed to remember and believe the words of King David: The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in righteousness for His name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23). ADONAI, in a three-part answer, promises that He will act on behalf of His people during the Great Tribulation as He had acted in the past. These are also lessons for us to remember.

First, is the pointlessness of living in fear in light of God’s power. Even with the armies of the antichrist at the gate, ADONAI says, It is I, even I am He who comforts you. Who are you that you need to fear mortal man (51:12a)? There are three different Hebrew words for man. One word means mankind, like Adam. The second Hebrew word is the word ish (pronounced eesh). This word simply means man in contrast to woman; male in contrast to female. But the word used here is the Hebrew word enosh that pictures man in his feebleness or frailty. So Isaiah is emphasizing man’s weakness here. In light of ADONAI’s tremendous power, why should the believers have any fear when the sons of man are but grass (51:12b)? It was God who made the heavens and the earth so why should they fear man who will wither away like grass? The LORD, who raises storms alike in the world of nature and history, is able to quiet them, thus His children have no need to fear.²⁰⁶

Secondly, is the problem of forgetting their Maker. That you forget the LORD 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 (51:13)? To live in constant fear of humans is to have effectively forgotten God. I know that is easy to say, but it is true nonetheless. It is not that God has forgotten His people (49:14); it is that they had forgotten Him! This was the problem of Ahaz (7:1-17), it was the problem of the exiles, and it can be a problem for us today if we let it. If God is indeed our Maker, then we need not fear anyone. None of this is to deny the horror of oppression. This is not an exercise in self-delusion. Rather it is a call to focus on the spiritual reality. If the oppressor fills my horizon, then I have only one option: be ruled by fear and hatred. But if we can see the big picture of the Gospel, then where is the anger of the oppressor? If we know that it is God who holds our ultimate destiny, then the oppressor no longer holds power over us. Yes, oppressors may hurt us, even kill us, but they do not have the power to make us follow them. God is the ruler over all.²⁰⁷ This is not easy, but it is possible.

This could not be a description of the Jews living during the Babylonian Captivity. Once there, they settled in and would live in peace and prosperity (Jeremiah 29:4-11). They did not live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction. In fact, when it was time to leave with the decree of Cyrus (see Ia – The Deliverance by Cyrus the Great), most stayed in Babylon. No, the Jews who will live in constant terror every day will be those living during the Great Tribulation. They will fear the wrath of the oppressor (Daniel 8:19), the antichrist.

Thirdly, is the promise of the restoration. The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread (51:14). God will not allow His oppressed people to perish. There will always be a believing remnant, and as a result, there would be another exodus as they return to Jerusalem from all over the world (Isaiah 60:4; 62:10; Jeremiah 23:3 and 8, 30:1-3; Ezekiel 36:24-28). That was the basis of the prayer in 51:9-11. On the basis of what He was able to accomplish for Isra’el in the past (51:11), He is asked to perform future miracles to fulfill prophecy. And in 51:14 ADONAI makes the promise that He would fulfill that prayer. Why will His people not be wiped out by the antichrist? Because of who God is in 51:15 and what He is already doing in 51:16. Here Isaiah asks the people of his own day, the Jews at the end of the Great Tribulation, and of us today the question of the ages first framed by Pharaoh: Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him (Exodus 5:2)? How we answer that question will determine where we spend eternity.

For I am ADONAI your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar – the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies is His name (51:15). The sentence starts with the waw conjunctive, the all-purpose connector of the Hebrew language. Here it expresses the idea that the prisoners will soon be set free because ADONAI is in control of human affairs. If the God of Israel is ADONAI, the great I am, then everything must be viewed from that perspective. The whole earth is the LORD’s (6:3), and He moves history toward His intended conclusion.

Then at the end of His answer about how He will act on their behalf, ADONAI declares: 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, says to Zion, “You are My people” (51:16). Although it is true that God has made the world, yet, that world is still filled with oppressors. Yes, it is true that ADONAI chose the people of Israel for Himself, but through their sin, those people had come to be called a godless nation, a people who angered Him (10:6). In view of these facts is He really the LORD? Yes, for the universe is to be remade (65:17), and the people of whom it was said not My people shall be called My people (Hosea 2:23; Isaiah 65:19). How will this happen? It is to happen through the arm of the LORD, His Servant the Messiah. The believing remnant will need to cling to Jesus Christ as they walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Is it not the same for us today in this evil world?

What, then, shall we say in the midst of our own persecution? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen as His own? No one – for God Himself has given us a right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one – for Messiah Yeshua died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God the Father’s right hand, interceding for us. We have an advocate who pleads our case. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous (Romans 8:31-34 and First Peter 2:1 NLT).

Look to the Rock from which You Were Cut,
and to the Quarry from which You Were Hewn
51: 1-8

Look to the Rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn DIG: Chapters 51:1 to 52:12 are an extended poem, summing up ADONAI’s intent for the believing remnant. How is their current situation like that of Abraham and Sarah? Since Abraham was so old and his wife, Sarah, was barren, why would God use this example for the righteous of the TaNaKh? If the previous verses were meant to give hope to the faithful remnant, what would these verses do for them? What does this indicate about the LORD’s purpose in restoring Zion? Compare 51:6 with Genesis 15:5. How does the heavenly vision of the faithful remnant compare with that of Abraham? What does this stress about God?

REFLECT: When have ADONAI’s promises seemed to you like mere words? At those times, what forces seem to be stronger to you than the LORD? When you feel like that, how might the faith of Abraham, who waited 25 years to see one child born, encourage you? If you were being persecuted to the point of death, what would it mean to you to realize that God’s promises are more enduring than the stars or the earth around you? How might meditating upon the lesson of the stars give you a new perspective on the problems that face you today? Do you believe that the salvation granted by the Servant will last forever and never fail? What is the basis for your belief? How do you hide ADONAI in your heart? How are you at odds with this fallen world? Has it cost you anything? Do you have a light touch on the things of this world? How so? Is there anything you need to let go of? Does the Lord mean what He says?

Chapter 51 is a far eschatological prophecy and a message of comfort to a generation that had not even been born yet. It was a message of comfort (40:1-11) to the last Jewish generation before the Messiah returns at the end of the Great Tribulation (to see link click Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah). They were being persecuted, hunted down and killed like animals by the antichrist and the armies of the world; therefore, the LORD gives His chosen people three messages of comfort because her sin had been pardoned. First, He asks them to look at their glorious past in order to learn lessons for the future (51:1-3). Secondly, there is the comfort of God’s salvation (51:4-6), and thirdly, there is comfort from knowing that their enemies will perish (51:7-8).

The first message of comfort comes from Israel’s origin (51:1-3). Just as God had blessed one man, Abraham, by making him the ancestor of numberless descendants (Genesis 13:16), He would also bless Abraham’s offspring who were being persecuted and slaughtered by the antichrist.¹⁹⁹ Those whose hearts are hardened toward God will not particularly be disturbed by His apparent failure to keep His promises, if they were even aware of them at all. But the believing remnant will be discouraged. They will be decimated, scattered, and desperately trying to avoid death at the hands of the antichrist and his henchmen. However, those who would listen to the voice of the Servant would learn and receive encouragement from what had happened in the past.

Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD (51:1a). This call, listen to Me, is clearly to the faithful remnant. Only those who pursue righteousness and seek the LORD are faithful. During the Great Tribulation, in the midst of their turmoil and pain, God asks the holy ones (Job 5:1; Deuteronomy 33:2-3; Psalms 16:3 and 34:9; Zechariah 14:5) to think about the background of their nation.

Figuratively speaking, Isaiah asks the believing remnant to look to the rock from which they were cut and to the quarry from which they were hewn (51:1b). The rock was Abraham and the quarry was Sarah, “founders” of the nation. What is the point He is making? How big was the Jewish nation in the days of Abraham? The entire Jewish race was literally in Abraham. There was only one Jew and his wife. Yet, out of that one Jewish couple came a nation. And certainly the faithful remnant was greater than one Jew. And if God can make a great nation out of one Jew, He could certainly make even greater things out of a small faithful remnant.

Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth (51:2a). When God told them to look, He used the same verb that He used in Genesis 15:5 to command Abraham to look up at the heavens and count the stars. So just as Abraham was called on there to look and believe for a numberless offspring to come from the barren womb of Sarah, Isra’el is here called to look at the faithfulness of ADONAI in the past and to believe in, to trust in, to have faith in God, that He would yet again keep His promises to a barren Zion with children from around the world. Here again, the path to righteousness with God is through belief, truth, and faith in the promises of the LORD (Genesis 15:6).²⁰⁰ Would they believe that? Do you believe that?

When I called him, he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many (51:2b). Here God used three Hebrew words (phrases in English) concerning Abraham. God says I called him, I blessed him and then the main point, I made him many. This was the comfort. God says, when I do the calling, then I do the blessing. And when I do the blessing, then it multiplies. When Abraham was but one, I called him, I blessed him, and I made him many. That is, He gave the patriarch many descendants as He had promised (Genesis 12:2, 15:5, 17:6, 22:17). For many years Abraham and Sarah had no children, but they believed God’s promise (Genesis 15:6). The same will be true of the faithful remnant, the Hebrew believers of every age. Although small in numbers, God does the calling, God does the blessing and eventually, God will multiply them. Though they had not yet seen the fulfillment of God’s promises about Isra’el living at peace in the Land (Genesis 15:18-21), they have His sure word that the Messianic Kingdom would be established upon the earth.

The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins. Comfort for the past should provide comfort for the future. Just as God had prospered Abraham even though his nephew Lot had selfishly chosen the well-watered plain of the Jordan, which was like Eden, the garden of the LORD (Genesis 13:10-11), so also God would now bring the believing remnant back to the Land and make her deserts like Eden, and her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. The result will be joy and gladness, thanksgiving and the sound of singing (51:3).²⁰¹ Therefore, the first message of comfort comes from Isra’el’s origin.

Comfort from God’s Salvation (51:4-6). A second call comes to the believing remnant. Here the address is made even more personal than in 51:1. Who are these people who are desperately seeking ADONAI? They are His people, His nation. The Servant says: Listen to Me, My people; hear Me, My nation (51:4a). No matter what happened in the distant past, no matter how far they had missed the mark, no matter how much they had sinned, if they were truly seeking the LORD, He calls them His own. All His promises are theirs. Therefore, we know God is not talking to the whole nation but only the faithful remnant.

My [just rulings] will go out from Me; My justice will become a light to the nations (51:4b). What rulings is He dealing with here? They are not the Torah, these are the just rulings that Isaiah mentioned at the beginning of his book. There, Isaiah first announced that the Messianic Kingdom would draw all the Gentile nations to it. But notice what is drawing them, “In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s Temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths. His just rulings will go out from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2-3). These rulings Isaiah is dealing with are not the Torah because it was never given to the Gentiles to begin with. He is dealing with the just rulings of the Messianic Age that will be applied to the Gentile nations of the Kingdom, and from these just rulings He will establish His justice, which will become a light to the Gentile nations.

As a result, the context here will not allow this to be a message to the exiles returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity. God’s justice did not become a light to the Gentile nations around the world at that time. That will not happen until His millennial reign. In fact, later in 70 AD the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, killing over a million Jews and sending the rest into the Diaspora for twenty centuries (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Mt – The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple on Tisha B’Av in 70 AD).

The Suffering Servant says: My righteousness draws near speedily, My salvation is on the way, or gone forth (51:5a). All this is said to be imminent. On the way is a prophetic perfect, meaning that the prophet sees the reality of what ADONAI is going to do so clearly that in his mind it is already done. As the Jews were being tracked down and hunted by the antichrist and the armies of the world, without realizing it, their salvation was speedily near. As the noose was tightened around their collective necks in Jerusalem and Bozrah, the spiritual scales would fall from their eyes and they would recognize Yeshua was the Messiah and cry out for Him to return (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ), and the LORD would battle with the antichrist and the armies of the world (see Kh – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon).

Righteousness is the result of salvation. When we receive Messiah as our Lord and Savior, we are transferred from the family of the Adversary to the family of God by virtue of having salvation. The result of having salvation is being declared righteous. That’s what justification means, to be declared righteous (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith). All the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed, or credited to our account, and then we are declared righteous (Romans 1:17; Second Corinthians 5:21). In other words, we do not get to heaven by our own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Messiah. Righteousness is a result of salvation, and that salvation will go out to all the Gentile nations during the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6).

He says: My arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands (the ends of the earth) will look to Me and wait in hope for My arm (51:5b). Here we have the fourth of nine references to the arm of the LORD (30:30 and 32, 40:10, 50:2, 51:5 and 9, 52:10, 53:1, 59:1 and 16, 62:8 and 63:5). How could someone hope or trust in an arm? At this point Isaiah is introducing a theme that will be developed beautifully in Chapter 53. There will be interplay between the arm of God and the giving of salvation. In 53:2, Isaiah says: He grew up. The pronoun He refers to the Messiah who is about to die for Isra’el’s sins. Therefore, the arm in 51:5b refers to Messiah, the Servant of the LORD.

My righteousness (which is a result of salvation) draws near speedily, My salvation is on the way (the Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua), or My Yeshua is on the way; and My arm (God’s judgment) will bring justice to the Gentiles nations. The islands (the ends of the earth) will look to Me and wait in hope for My arm. But My salvation will last forever, My righteousness will never fail (51:6b). Having spelled out that salvation will come by means of the arm of the Servant of God in 51:5, in 51:6 Isaiah points out that the salvation granted by the Servant will last eternally. Once we are saved, does eternal mean eternal? Yeshua says to us today: My sheep listen to My voice: I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one (John 10:27-30).

Some questions need to be asked about eternal salvation. Would Yeshua use the word eternal if our salvation were temporary? We are a gift from the Father to God the Son (also see John 6:37-40, 17:2, 6, 9 and 24). Would Jesus ever refuse a gift from the Father? Would Messiah ever allow that precious gift to be lost? If believers could lose their salvation, the Father would have to take back those whom He gave to the Son as a gift. Why would ADONAI ever present someone as a gift to the Son if He knew they were going to lose their salvation? If we could lose our salvation, could we be re-saved? Why doesn’t the Bible ever mention being re-saved? Is salvation that will last forever to be considered cheap grace? Read Chapter 53 and decide for yourself (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

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 (51:6a). But, in stark contrast to the transitory nature of the heavens and the earth, His salvation will last forever. Therefore, the doctrine of the security of the believer is not merely a New Covenant doctrine: it is already found here in the TaNaKh. Divine instruction, justice, and salvation will be a light to the world. The nations will seek guidance from God and the righteous will be assured of His everlasting salvation and favor.

The first comfort was for the faithful remnant to look back on Isra’el’s history because God can do great things through small numbers of people. Secondly, they should rejoice and be happy over their salvation, which will be extended to the Gentiles and will be eternal. Thirdly, we see in the next two verses, comfort against Isra’el’s enemies.

Comfort Against Enemies (51:7-8). Hear Me, you who know what is right, you people who have My Torah in your hearts (51:7a). The eternal salvation and favor promised should provide the faithful with moral courage and strength to withstand the momentary taunts and abuse of the ungodly. Once again there is a message of comfort to the faithful remnant. We know it was addressed to the faithful remnant because of two phrases: you who know what is right, and you people who have My Torah in your hearts (Psalm 119:11). Notice that both of these statements point to inward conviction and not external practice. The Torah does not save us, nor does external religiosity. Some people put on a good show, but are far from the LORD. Will spending time sitting in your messianic congregation or church make you a believer? Will spending time sitting in your garage make you a car? No! One can keep the Torah externally and be lost. But what we believe saves us. The heart is a symbol in many societies for the seat of our emotions. Jesus says: Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Thus, knowing from 51:6b, that God’s salvation will last forever, and that His righteousness will never fail, we should take courage and not be terrified. Anyone who fears God and listens to His Servant will certainly find themselves at odds with the fallen world.

The point here is this, do not fear the criticism of men, or be terrified of their insults (51:7b). Why? 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 (51:8). In the same way, God says your enemies will perish like a moth-eaten garment. But the salvation and righteousness that they now possess, through the arm of the LORD, will last forever. Is that Good News or what?

The cries of the oppressed for justice and deliverance have hardly ever been heard so loudly as in the twentieth century. The brutality of oppressors was not new, but science and industry gave them an ability to extend and multiply their oppressive force in previously unheard-of ways. As a result, we have the terrors of Auschwitz and the “killing fields” of Cambodia. In situations such as these, the cry comes again: Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD (51:9). And again: How long, O Lord? Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood (Revelation 6:10)? Why does God not act on behalf of His people, or if they are not His people in particular, at least on behalf of the helpless and downtrodden, whom the Bible declares have a special place in His heart?

If there were an easy answer to this question, it would have been given long ago, and there would be no more books on the problem of evil. But, as in the book of Job, the Bible does not answer the question. But it does offer an alternative. We can serve the God of the universe who loves justice and will ultimately balance the books. The only other option is to have a world in which we and our abilities are supposedly supreme. A wise person will certainly choose to serve the LORD, as Job did, for to choose that path is not to answer the problem of evil in the world, but to render it sheer nonsense. If ADONAI is good and just, then we have hope that oppression can be, and will be, overcome.²⁰² In short, we must have faith (Hebrews 11:1). Then along with Job we can say: I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my body has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God (Job 19:25)!

Everlasting Salvation for Isra’el
51:1 to 52:12

In the second half of his book, Isaiah’s main thrust is to write words of comfort to the nation of Isra’el. The first 39 chapters have been chapters of judgment against Isra’el, with the final threat in Chapter 39 being that although ADONAI would save Judah from the Assyrians, He would send her into the Babylonian captivity. But now her sin had been pardoned, therefore, the content and the tone of the message changes; it is one of comfort rather than judgment. The key phrase here is: Awake, Awake! This doubling is used by Isaiah to emphasize something very urgent and important. This is seen in Ch 51:9 and 17, and Ch 52:1. Three times we see this expression because that is the theme of this section.

We also see an extension of the Cone of Isaiah (to see link click  Hl – The Cone of Isaiah), which is divided into three parts. The base of the cone is comprised of the nation of Isra’el, and out of the nation comes a believing remnant, which is the middle section of the cone in view here. Then in Chapter 53, out of this believing remnant, the point of the cone, or the Messiah, is seen.

Chapters 51 and 52 describe a far eschatological prophecy of comfort (40:1-11) to a generation that had not even been born yet. There are prophecies to the Land (51:3), unbelieving Jews, the believing remnant and to Jerusalem herself (52:1) that preclude a picture of a return from the Babylonian Captivity. Hence, the context of these chapters demand that they are a message to the last Jewish generation before the Messiah returns at the end of the Great Tribulation, where ADONAI will lay bare His holy arm, Yeshua Messiah, in the sight of all nations, and all the ends of the earth will see Him (52:10).

Because the Sovereign LORD Helps Me,
I Will Set My Face Like a Flint
50: 1-11

Because the sovereign LORD helps me, I will set My face like a flint DIG: What is the LORD emphasizing with the rhetorical questions here? This is the third of four Servant Songs. How would you describe the Servant’s mission? His relationship to God? How does this differ from the nation of Isra’el (see 48:8)? What new element about the Servant, not found in the previous two songs, is added in 50:6-9? Consider the response of the people to Isaiah in 28:9-10 and 30:9-11. What might cause the Servant to be mistreated like this? What gives the Servant confidence and hope in spite of such ill-treatment? What might the prophet mean by those in the dark? What are they to do? How might God’s example encourage them?

REFLECT: How would you describe your current relationship with God: (a) Not Looking? (b) Casual date? (c) Going steady? (d) Engaged? (e) Married? (f) Happily-Married? (g) Separated? (h) Divorced? (i) Restraining Order? Why? What would it mean for you to start your day by listening to ADONAI? How might you do so? Recently, has the voice of Jesus been one that sustains you when weary? Or one that cuts like a sharpened sword (49:2)? Why? When was the last time you were walking in the darkness? Did that experience strengthen your relationship with God or cause you to doubt? Who would benefit from your doubting? Who would benefit from your trust, faith, and belief in the LORD?

The context of these verses is the crucifixion of Yeshua Messiah, the Servant of the LORD, on the cross. Adonai ELOHIM has opened My ear, and I neither rebelled nor turned away. I offered My back to those who struck Me, My cheeks to those who plucked out My beard; I did not hide My face from insult and spitting. For Adonai ELOHIM will help. That is why no insult can wound Me. That is why I have set My face like a flint, knowing I will not be put to shame (50:5-7 CJB). The means by which Isra’el’s sin will be pardoned is by the death of the Suffering Servant. As a result, Isaiah is pointing to the final salvation and restoration of Isra’el at the very end of the Great Tribulation.

ADONAI was ready to help His people, but they refused to repent. They have always had trouble trusting the LORD. When Pharaoh’s army had them pinned in after leaving Egypt, they complained. They didn’t believe that God had led them out of Egypt. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert (Exodus 14:11-12)!” They also complained during the Babylonian captivity, where they looked upon themselves as a displaced people.¹⁹⁴ And they will also grumble at the end of the Great Tribulation when the armies of the world close in on them. They will use the same old tired line and say: ADONAI has abandoned us; Adonai has forgotten us (49:14 CJB).

Isra’el’s sin and the Servant’s obedience: So here, God asks them some rhetorical questions that provide evidence of His faithfulness. It is as if ADONAI is asking the Jews in the last days as He had in the days of Jeremiah, “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away?” The answer is there wasn’t any. Why? Because the LORD was faithful to that generation just as He will be faithful to the last generation before He returns. In addition, He will ask: Or to which of My creditors did I sell you (50:1a)? The Jews are seen as complaining that God had arbitrarily divorced them and sold them into slavery because under the Torah if a man got himself into debt and could not pay it, he could sell his own children into slavery and buy them back in the Year of Jubilee.¹⁹⁵ God did not sell His children into slavery and in addition, God has no creditors. The problem is not divorce or being in debt, the problem is sin. It was because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away into the Babylonian captivity (50:1b).

But more importantly, for this last generation before He returns, it will be as if the LORD is saying, “It is because of your sins that this is happening to you. Will you never believe in Me? I was not too weak to save you from Pharaoh and from Babylon and I am not too weak to save you now! My power is overwhelming.” When I came, why was there no one else to help you? No, instead of trying to fix the blame on God, the people should be committing themselves to the power and grace of their Creator and Redeemer in 50:2-3.

When the LORD issued a call for salvation, no one responded. Humans are incapable of gaining salvation by themselves, that was why ADONAI sent His Son the Suffering Servant (John 3:16). When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was there a problem with God’s ability to save? He asks rhetorically: Was My arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you (50:2a)? As the arm is an emblem of power, the shortness of the arm signifies diminished power, and length of the arm an increase. This is the third of nine occurrences of the arm of the LORD (30:30 and 32, 40:10, 51:5 and 9, 52:10, 53:1, 59:1 and 16, 62:8, 63:5). ADONAI’s power to deliver His people from their bondage of sin is expressed through the common ancient idiom of the arm. The LORD will rain blows on their ancient enemy and force them to give His people up. God’s arm is not too short, or weak, for the task. But what will His arm look like? Its appearance, just as in 9:6-7, will be surprising (52:14 to 53:3). Instead of power to smash the enemy, it will have the power to absorb the worst the enemy has to offer, and yet give back love.¹⁹⁶ No, God lacks neither the desire nor the ability to deliver His people from sin. The only issue is whether they will repent and answer Him in faith when He calls.

The evidence that ADONAI’s arm is not to short is seen in His control over nature. The allusions to the exodus cannot be missed (50:2b-3): By a mere rebuke I dry up the Sea of Reeds (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Ci – The Waters Were Divided and the Israelites Went Through the Sea on Dry Land), and I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst (see the commentary on Exodus Bk – Strike the Water of the Nile and It Will Be Turned into Blood). I clothe the sky with darkness and make sackcloth its covering (see the commentary on Exodus Bs – Moses Stretched Out His Hand Toward the Sky and Total Darkness Covered All Egypt For Three Days). All these seem to be drawn from that experience. When all was said and done neither the strength of the sea, nor the power of the sky could resist Him. It does not matter how much water is in the ocean, or how bright the sun is in the heavens; the LORD can dry up the one and darken the other. No one should doubt His ability to save the apple of His eye (Deut 32:10b)!

Despite God’s promises of redemption (49:1-13), Isra’el believed she was rejected (49:14 and 24). But ADONAI insists that is not the case because He can and will deliver her (49:15-50:3). In these verses the Servant speaks. He doesn’t tell us why He is suffering here, but later we learn that it was to ensure that her sin had been pardoned. This would ultimately point to the fact that the Suffering Servant of Isaiah would be Jesus Christ and His atoning death on the cross would forgive the sin of the people. This is the third of Isaiah’s four Servant Songs (42:1-17, 49:1-6, and 52:13 to 53:12).

When Messiah, the Son of God, was born, there is ample biblical evidence that the man Yeshua was a fully human person, not lacking any of the essential elements of humanity that are found in each of us. He was truly human in both the physical and psychological sense. Intellectually, He had remarkable knowledge, yet this knowledge was not without limits. Yeshua frequently asked questions, and the impression given by the gospels is that He asked because He did not know. It is difficult to account for the fact that Jesus’ knowledge was extraordinary in some things, but definitely limited in others. But the point in these verses is that He had to undergo a learning process like everyone else. In His humanity Yeshua had to learn certain things. When He is twelve years old He was found by His parents in the Temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. The Bible tells us that they were amazed at His understanding and His answers (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ba – The Boy Jesus at the Temple). But how did He gain His knowledge? We are not told anywhere in the New Covenant how Messiah learned what He knew in His humanity. Luke simply summarizes that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). But how did He learn it? Isaiah tells us.

The Servant of ADONAI: Adonai ELOHIM has given Me the ability to speak as a man well taught, so that I, with My words, know how to sustain the weary (50:4a CJB). God the Son was discipled by God the Father. Early in the morning, morning by morning, He wakens My ear to listen like one being taught (50:4b). The phrase like one being taught in Hebrew is not a verb, it is a noun, meaning a disciple. So what it is really saying is: He wakens My ear to listen like a disciple. Just like we need to be discipled, God the Father would arouse God the Son in His humanity, take Him out somewhere and disciple Him. And one of the things He learned was to know the word that sustains the weary; or to minister with meaningful words. This is the same mission that was spelled out in Chapter 49 of Isaiah. Later Jesus would say: Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

But that is not all He was trained for. Next we learn that Yeshua was trained for the rebuke, but that He would endure. We are told the Servant did not react against mistreatment: God opened His ears so that when He was abused and mistreated at His trial and crucifixion He never rebelled. And I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back (50:5). There was no animosity or anger on His part. Neither did He draw back because morning by morning God the Father trained Messiah for the suffering task to which He was called.

Then His suffering is described: First, I offered My back to those who beat Me. At no point did Jesus try to retreat, or cower away from the blows. He offered His back to the forty lashes that was given to Him before His crucifixion.

Secondly, He offered His cheeks to those who pulled out His beard. This is the equivalent to what we term “pulling the hair out by the roots.” It was sometimes a self-inflicted suffering as a token of mourning (Ezra 9:3), sometimes an act of wanton persecution as shown here, and sometimes punishment, as represented in the text. It is said the ancient Athenians punished adulterers by tearing the hair from the scalp and then covering the head with hot ashes.¹⁹⁷ To understand what is happening here we need to look at the TaNaKh and its concept regarding beards. They were a meaningful symbol throughout. Therefore, pulling out someone’s beard was a sign of utter contempt (Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 13:25). That is why the LORD forbid Jews from shaving their beards.

Thirdly, Yeshua says: I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting (50:6). As Roman guards began to spit on Christ, He never lifted up His hands, or ducked His face to protect Himself from this mocking. The fulfillment of this is found in four passages, Matthew 26:67, 27:26 and 30; Mark 14:65 and John 18:22. But while on the one hand men despised the Servant, God the Father aided Him. Messiah willingly subjected Himself to these things because He knew that ADONAI would come to His aide. And because of this, Christ set His face like a flint to the task to which He was called, specifically, the task to suffer and die for the sins of the world. And He was so sure of this, He set His face like a flint (also see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gk – As the Time Approached, Jesus Resolutely Set Out for Jerusalem) to the cross to suffer because Jesus knew He would not be put to shame (50:7).

As a result, the Servant was vindicated. He who vindicates Me is near. Who then will bring charges against Me? Let us face each other! Who is My accuser? Let him confront Me (50:8)! But there is only silence because there is no one who can take this Servant to trial. It is only the Father who will vindicate Him. This vindication comes by means of the resurrection. Regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:3 and 4). Now Messiah always was the Son of God, but the justification or the proof of His Sonship with God the Father came by means of the resurrection. He did not become the Son of God by the resurrection; He was proved who He claimed to be by the resurrection. Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Ruach ha-Kodesh, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory (First Timothy 3:16). Notice He was vindicated by the Ruach ha-Kodesh, being taken up in glory, after the resurrection. In fact, the resurrection proves the deity of the Son.

The Servant was not condemned. Once again there is recognition of God the Father’s aid. Look, if Adonai ELOHIM helps Me, who will dare condemn Me? And for those who would dare to contend with the Son, here, they are all falling apart like old, moth-eaten clothes (50:9). They will die away like an old piece of cloth. The Servant is eternal and will live forever because of the resurrection that justified His claim. But, for those who dispute His claims, they will fade away with age because they do not have the Spirit to teach and guide them. It is interesting to note that some of the sages teach that the Suffering Servant is Isaiah himself. But others regard him as the personification of the saintly minority or Isra’el, the faithful remnant.

The Message to Believers and Unbelievers Alike: Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on His God (50:10b). Throughout Chapters 49 and 50, primarily the Servant, but to some extent, God the Father has been speaking. But now Isaiah speaks and asks: Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of His Servant (50:10a)? The prophet encourages his people who were wondering whether their dark situation was evidence that God had forgotten them. Isaiah’s answer is to have faith in the word of His Servant. No matter how gloomy things get, if we trust and obey, the LORD will be with us. Therefore, to trust and obey ADONAI would seem to imply being in the light. On reflection, however, that is not necessarily the case. Those who follow the Servant may indeed walk with Him into the darkness of trouble or distress. But this does not imply that we should forego our reliance on Him. Through the ages, believers have equated ADONAI’s blessing with comfort and a sense of well being. But that is not the way of the Servant. Therefore, the challenge is again and again, do not lose your confidence in the LORD. Put your hope, your trust, and your belief in Him.¹⁹⁸

However, for those who insist on walking by their own light, they will suffer the fate of those who reject Yeshua Messiah. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. The final verse is an ominous warning: This is what you shall receive from My hand: You will lie down in torment (50:11). This is a Jewish expression meaning: You will lie down in sh’ol. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment . . . he begged father Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house for he had five brothers. He wanted Lazarus to warn them, so that they will not come to that place of torment (Luke 16:23 and 27-28). Therefore, unbelievers who self-righteously light their torches to illumine their own paths (that will supposedly lead them to safety), will only receive judgment (see the commentary on Revelation Fp – The Lake of Fire is the Second Death).

For believers, no matter how dark it gets, we are to rely upon ADONAI. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Gentiles and the Return of Isra’el
49: 22-26

The Gentiles and the return of Isra’el DIG: These verses present a military image where the conquered bring their spoil and bow down before the victor. How does that fit in with the LORD’s work in the world (also see 45:22-23)? What is the ultimate purpose of it all (also see 49:23b and 26b)? What response is God looking for in Isra’el? What does ADONAI Nissi mean to the Gentile nations? To the Jews?

REFLECT: Is the freeing of the Jews by ADONAI at all like what Jesus has done for you? How so? When have you had to wait on the LORD for something you desperately needed? Did you wait? Or did you take matters into your own hands? Was God late in answering your prayers? How does 49:25 illuminate Jesus’ comment about binding the strong man (Matthew 12:29)? How have you been retrieved from the fierce? What is one thing that convinces you that the LORD, and not some other god or force, is indeed the one you can trust? When is the last time you admitted God into the equation of your life? Did you trust God with His answer?

These verses provide the answer to the question: Who brought these up? in 49:21. God says that He is the One who has brought these Jewish descendants back to her. He is Adonai ELOHIM (49:22a CJB). If He decrees it, it will happen. He is the One who controls history.

Here in this far eschatological prophecy Isaiah declares that righteous, or sheep Gentiles (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fc – The Sheep and the Goats), will aide in the return of Jacob to the Land during the Great Tribulation. See, I will beckon the Gentiles, I will lift up My banner to the Gentile peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders (49:22b). Earlier, ADONAI called the nations to come and plunder Isra’el and Judah, and He would do so by lifting up His banner (30:17). But here, ADONAI Nissi, ADONAI is my banner, says that He will lift up His banner, so that all the Gentile nations near and far will see and understand that they need to aid in the return of Isra’el. These righteous Gentiles will protect the Jews as they return and will be in subjection to Isra’el during the thousand-year reign of Messiah (see the commentary on Revelation Fi – The Government of the Messianic Kingdom).

Isra’el had suffered much at the hands of the Gentile nations, but in the final analysis, it will not be the Gentile nations who hold Israel’s destiny in their hands. It was, and is, and will be, ADONAI. He will make sure that the high and mighty of the earth bring the children of the LORD home.

Therefore, it is ironic that the Gentile nations, before whom she had once groveled in an effort to gain support, and who had mockingly turned against her, humiliating her for her false trust, will come crawling to her feet, bringing with them her children from around the world (also see 11:11-12, 66:20). Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground, begging for mercy for the wrongs that had been done. They will lick the dust at your feet (49:23a). We must remember that this is figurative language. What at first glance seems to be subservience is, in reality, spiritual indebtedness. The point here is that God’s people should never fear the power of Adonai ELOHIM (CJB), because He is the author of history.

What will Zion learn from what God is going to do for her? Then she will know ADONAI, and realize the value of waiting on His timing (49:23b NKJ). When we wait on the LORD, we need to understand that He will probably act on His own timetable. But He will act! When we take matters into our own hands, we only end up with wood, hay, or straw on the Day of Judgment (First Corinthians 3:12-15). As a result, to wait for God’s timing is to demonstrate faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). God says to the Ahaz in all of us: Don’t be afraid (because when we wait we are afraid that things are not going to turn out the way we want). God is saying, “Will you believe that I am with you, and let Me do it My way (7:1-14)? When we allow God to work, and only act when He says to act, we will not be disappointed (49:23c). For those who wait on the LORD (NKJ) with hopeful expectancy will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (40:31). Because of humanness, this concept of waiting is easy to say, but hard to do.

God will fight for the liberation of Isra’el against the all-powerful nations who want to destroy her during the Great Tribulation. ADONAI knew that those Jews sitting in Bozrah (see Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah) would have a hard time believing this promise because of their lack of faith. He could hear them saying to God, “Look, the antichrist and his armies rule the world. No one would even dare challenge them. We know that You have limitless power, but let’s talk reality here. How can we defeat all the armies of the world? What is going to change?” For those in “the real world” this is a roundabout way of saying that the LORD’s power has no effect on our regular day-to-day life as we experience it. This, of course, directly contradicts the classic definition of faith in the book of Hebrews. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). If the Jews would admit God into the equation (as Isaiah had tried to get Ahaz to do in 7:4-14), everything could be changed. They will be returned to the Land and the antichrist and his armies will be defeated at the end of the Great Tribulation; the Servant will defeat sin and bring Isra’el and the world back to ADONAI.

Today, many believers are afraid to hope for something, or say they have faith in the LORD to accomplish certain things in their lives for fear of disappointment. They are saying that God’s power has no effect on their regular day-to-day life as they experience it. Bur they are afraid to admit God into the equation of their lives because they don’t want to be disappointed, or even worse, be accused of lack of faith or sin in their lives by those like Job’s three “friends,” Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar! How do we respond? Can the LORD move mountains? Yes, but only if He chooses to do so. We cannot play God and order Him around. Because God stands outside of time, He knows what will be in our best interests. What we must actually believe is that when He says, “No,” it is for our benefit. We must really have faith that He loves us, even in the midst of a trial.

Calling Zion’s children home involved, first, breaking the powers that holds them. As a result, God asks rhetorically: Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce (49:24)? Then ADONAI answers positively and Isaiah uses one of his many Hebrew wordplays to say, “The taken thing will be taken from them.” But this is what the LORD says: Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce. I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save (49:25). No, from a human standpoint Isra’el will not be able to defeat the antichrist and the armies of the world. But that will not mean that her deliverance cannot occur. In the strongest possible figurative language’ the LORD makes the point that those who plundered His people will themselves be plundered.

In graphic imagery, ADONAI makes the point that those who had once figuratively feasted on the blood and flesh of those whom they had conquered will then turn on themselves. I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine (49:26a). In no sense is God commanding cannibalism. He is simply illustrating the fact that those who violate His people will themselves be violated.

Millions and millions of Gentiles will survive the Great Tribulation and will enter into the thousand-year reign of Yeshua Messiah (Revelation 20:1-6). They will have one hundred years to either decide to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior or die (see Kq – The Wolf and the Lamb Will Eat Together, and the Lion Will Eat Straw Like the Ox). During that time all mankind will recognize who the LORD really is: Isra’el’s Savior, their Redeemer, and the Mighty One of Jacob (49:26b). Therefore, God’s eternal power and divine nature will be clearly seen, so they will be without excuse (Romans 1:20b).

This concludes Chapter 49 and the mission of the Servant. His ultimate purpose is to bring salvation to Jews and Gentiles, and to bring about the final restoration of the Jewish nation.

Zion Not Rejected
49: 14-21

Zion not rejected DIG: What are Isra’el’s doubts in 7:14 and 24? How does this passage answer them? Having children was important, both as a sign of ADONAI’s blessing and for provision for the future. What then does it mean that the people feel like a barren and widowed woman? What images does God use to respond to that feeling?

REFLECT: How do you react when you feel like the LORD has forgotten about you? Do you believe your feelings? Can they mislead you? Or do you rely on God’s word? Who could gain from having you feel this way? What can you do about it? When in your life have you felt barren and bereaved, and unexpectedly received a gift from God, and said in your heart, “Where did that come from?”

These verses contain Zion’s complaint, or her assertion, that ADONAI had forgotten and rejected her, saying: But Zion, or the people of Jerusalem, said . . . the opening word, but, argues that this thought is a continuation of the previous section (to see link click In – He Has Made My Mouth like a Sharpened Sword). In response to the promises of the restoration of Isra’el from Messiah’s perspective in 49 1-13, it is as though Zion was saying, “All that is really nice, but that has nothing to do with me because God has given up on me.” ADONAI has abandoned me; Adonai has forgotten me” (49:14 CJB).

Zion, pictured as a rejected and abandoned wife, is emphasized going forward (51:11, 16, 18-20, 52:1, 54:1-8 and 66:7-14). This foreshadows the expanded focus of Chapters 49-55. Although the metaphors of exile and captivity are still used, God no longer addresses the exiles in Babylon; however, the relationship of the nation to ADONAI, and the implications of that relationship, is emphasized.

Then God responds in a very beautiful and moving way, saying, “No, no! You have not been forgotten. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? Though she may forget, I will not forget you (49:15)! You are included in My plan of redemption. In fact, it is through you that it will be realized.” It is very seldom that mothers can forget or abandon their children. Yet as rare as this happens, from ADONAI’s perspective He will never forget Jerusalem no matter how bad it seems to look. His love is even greater than a mother’s love. Much the same point is made in Psalm 27:10, where we read: Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Why can’t God forget Jerusalem? He tells us in the next verse.

Sometimes we face struggles in life, and we are tempted to think that God has forgotten us. We may even believe that He no longer loves us. But the LORD’s love for us is as wide as the open arms of Messiah on the cross. And the tender compassion of ADONAI is more dependable and more lasting than the love of a nursing mother for her child. Be comforted: For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:5).

Then God uses a second image to assure Zion that He has not forgotten her: See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands (49:16a). This is opposite of the normal practice. Instead of the master’s name being written on the servant’s hands, the servant’s name is written on the Master’s hands. This is a figurative way of expressing that the LORD will never forget Zion. The City is represented as graven on His hands, so that its walls are perpetually in His sight, and thus the people of God, who are figured by the City, are kept in everlasting remembrance. A similar form of speech is frequently used in India to express one’s destiny. It is common to say, in reference to men or things, “They are written on the palms of his hands.” Remembrance of an absent one is expressed by a figure of speech used in this verse: “Ah, my friend, you have long since forgotten Me!” But have I forgotten you? Never!¹⁹²

Quite a thought isn’t it? Your name written on God’s hands. Your name on the LORD’s lips. Maybe you’ve seen your name in some special places. On an award or diploma . . . But to think that your name is on the LORD’s hands and on His lips . . . could it be? Or perhaps you have never seen your name honored. And you can’t remember when you heard it spoken with kindness. If so, it may be more difficult for you to believe that ADONAI even knows your name. But He does. Written on His hand. Spoken by His mouth. Whispered by His lips. Your name (from When God Whispers Your Name, Nashville: W Publishing Group, 1994).

He cannot forget Jerusalem because every time ADONAI lifts up His hands He sees the name Zion. In addition, He says your walls are ever before Me (49:16b). He explains this phrase later in Isaiah when He says the walls of Jerusalem are continually before Him. How are the walls of Jerusalem continually before God? He says: I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth (62:6). There are angels standing around the walls of Jerusalem to this day. They have only one ministry; they are God’s reminder that He has made a promise that Jerusalem will be the praise of the earth, so that God will fulfill that promise. As a result, when God says your walls are ever before Me this is what He means. God has not forgotten Zion, and the proof that God has not forgotten her is three-fold. First, Zion is written on the palms of God’s hands.

Secondly, Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you (49:17). In this far eschatological prophecy the enemies of Zion, the antichrist and his armies, will disappear when the Sons of Zion ultimately return.

Thirdly, Zion was encouraged to lift up her downcast eyes and look around; all her sons will gather and come to her (49:18a). One of the reasons we know this is a far eschatological prophecy rather than a near historical one, is that not all of the Jews came back to Zion after the Babylonian captivity. In fact, most did not. Consequently, for all her sons and daughters to be gathered to her, it has to be during the Millennial Kingdom (the context is important, so see Iq – The Gentiles and the Return of Isra’el). Surrounded by her children, she asks, “How can this be?” God has sworn it on His own life, “As surely as I live, declares the LORD, you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride” (48:18b). During the Great Tribulation, the wretched old woman who had seemingly lost everything will suddenly have children all around her, wearing them like many ornaments. Zion will be clothed with Jews returning from all over the world. When they get there, what will happen? That’s what Isaiah describes next.

Zion will be restored. Here, then, is further evidence of her final restoration and that her sin had been pardoned. Though you were ruined and made desolate and your Land laid waste, Isra’el will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away (49:19). The Land laid waste refers to the places that will be devastated within the Land of Isra’el during the Great Tribulation. It is as if ADONAI were saying, “The antichrist and those who tried to destroy you will all be gone, and in their place will be so many Jews that the Land seems to be overflowing.” Although Zion will be threatened with total destruction by the antichrist and his worldwide army (see Kh – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon), she will survive.

The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, “This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in” (49:20). So many Jews will return to Zion from all over the world, that Isra’el will be teeming with them. Babylon was not her final destiny. When reading Isaiah’s prophecy and looking into the far eschatological future the Babylonian captives would be encouraged by the abundance of their future.

Here we hear Zion thinking out loud, like an old woman’s astonishment over having children around her again when those she had borne were dead. As though she was too old to have any more children. And it is as if she is saying, “Where did these come from? Then you will say in your heart, “Who bore me these?” I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these – where have they come from” (49:21). I thought I was left alone. I thought I would have no more Jewish children to live within me. But look, they have started to come back.” One can imagine Naomi holding the grandson she thought she would never see saying something similar (Ruth 4:13-17). Are these children a result of something she has done? No, they are the gift of God. She did not bear them, nor did she rear them, so where did they come from? It could only come from the fruitfulness and the grace of God. This theme runs straight through the Bible, from Sarah onward.

In ourselves we are barren and bereaved, no more able to bring abundant life or eternal life onto this planet than we are able to give ourselves physical life. If abundant, eternal life is to be ours, it will be the gift of God, and we will look on in amazement, saying, “Where did that come from.” For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).¹⁹³

Zion Consoled
49: 14-26

In the first half of the chapter we saw the final return of the Jews to Zion, or Jerusalem, from the Messiah’s perspective. Now, in these verses we see the Servant’s message of final salvation and restoration of all Isra’el, even as the armies of the antichrist are bearing down on them. Even though these events are in the far eschatological future, Isaiah, as a prophet, was writing about them during his day. Zion is not just the city of that name, it is its people. Zion is not simply their home; it is their name, their identity. If Zion is ruined, so are they. If Zion weeps, so do they. And they will never be fully themselves again until Zion is restored to its former glory. It is hard for us to appreciate such a complete identification of a people and their city. There is nothing quite like it in our own experience. No earthly city has the same significance for us that Zion had, and have, for the people of the LORD.¹⁸⁹ In the second half of the chapter we see the final restoration of Isra’el from her perspective. She is being consoled by the fact that the promises of 49:13 also include her, and that she is not forgotten.

The recurring theme in this passage is God’s attempt to overcome unwillingness on Israel’s part to believe what ADONAI says. This is particularly evident in the contrast between 49:13 and 14. God has promised comfort and compassion, but the people say that is not true because ADONAI had forgotten them. ADONAI promises that one day in the far eschatological future, when the Servant sets up His Messianic Kingdom, they will be in the Land and restored in glory. But it was not easy to wait on the LORD to fulfill His promises, especially with the armies of the world bearing down on them. This was especially true in regard to the promises of the Suffering Servant, who would defeat the power of sin and bring the Kingdom of God to the earth. It took about seventy years from the time the first captives were taken in 605 BC until the first return in 538 BC, but it took hundreds of years for the Servant to come. It has been more than two thousand years since Isaiah wrote his book, and still we wait for the Messiah to return. The LORD’s timing is not our timing. Down through time, from Abraham’s day to Isaiah’s day, to today, there have been believers who never saw the promises of God fulfilled. They died before Jesus was born, or before He returns in glory. So, they waited in faith. And when Yeshua was born there were people like Anna and Simeon who were ready to recognize Him (see my commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Au – Jesus Presented at the Temple). They were at the end of a long line of believers who had waited confidently, and in the end, their faith was not disappointed (49:23). If you wait in faith for Him you will not be disappointed, for ADONAI is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him (30:18b)!¹⁹⁰

Part of the reason that some of the Jews had lost hope was that they could not really believe in the LORD’s love for them. No doubt there were a number of different types of thinking in that group. First, some frankly thought that God had treated them unfairly. After all, the people of Judah weren’t that bad, and there were people around them who were at least as bad, maybe worse (Hab 1). Also, if their parents had been so bad, as bad as the prophets insisted they had been, then ADONAI should have punished them and not their “innocent” children. So, this group would say, “If God loves us so much, we shouldn’t be in this mess at all.”

Others admitted that God had treated them fairly. This generation was just as unfaithful as the preceding ones had been, and the LORD had given them exactly what was coming to them. Being as bad as they were and having failed God so miserably, they could not imagine that God could ever love a people such as them.

Finally, there were those who said, in effect, “So what!” These people looked at their circumstances and concluded that the situation was hopeless. Whether they had gotten into this mess fairly or unfairly was beside the point. The point was that there was no way out. Thus, the LORD could say He loved them all He wanted, but it simply would do no good.

Those same groups of people exist today. You may know some of them. To those who believe they have been treated unfairly, God calls them to trust Him and rely on Him in the midst of their pain. Undoubtedly there will be individual Jews who truly do not deserve to be killed by the antichrist. Just like there are those today who do not deserve to be born into an abusive family, be poor or without an absent father. These individual Jews might be people of faith who are living in obedience to the LORD, yet this terrible thing will happen to them. This would be the case with Dani’el, his three friends, and Ezeki’el. But the question in that circumstance is not, “Why?” and hold ADONAI hostage for an answer. Rather, it is, “What now?” and look to God for the strength and wisdom to go on. For them, the LORD’s declaration of love will be their lifeblood as they seek to cope with the unfairness of life. The fact is that we are part of a much larger picture than our own actions, and if circumstances do not turn out as we might wish, that is no indication that ADONAI does not love us or care for us.

The second group longs for God’s love and forgiveness but simply believes that the LORD cannot forgive them for what they have done. This is sometimes a reverse form of pride: “What I have done is too much for the LORD.” But more often, it is an inability to forgive oneself: “God can’t love me; I am just so worthless. Nothing I say or do is worth anything.” They think to themselves, if I am this disappointed in myself, think how infinitely more disappointed ADONAI is. Sometimes God is disappointed with us, but that does not change the fact that He loves us unconditionally. In the humiliation of admitting that ours is not the worst sin in the world and that our disappointment in ourselves is not the issue, there is a possibility of realizing that the LORD wants to forgive us if we will only let Him. In receiving that forgiveness, there is finally the possibility of forgiving ourselves.

The situation of the third group is much like that of the second group. If God’s love is to be experienced, it must be surrendered to. The pride that says, “My situation is hopeless,” is the one that refuses to believe ADONAI is greater than anything this world can throw our way. What God asks for is the opportunity to try. He asks us to test Him in faith, not doubt, and to allow Him to show us the love He has for us and to demonstrate that love can conquer any obstacle it meets. His arm is not too short to ransom us, nor does He lack the strength to rescue us (50:2).

To all of these, the LORD says the same things as He said 2,700 years ago; He can no more forget us than a mother can forget her nursing baby (49:15). And we have even more evidence of that truth than Isaiah did, for when He speaks of the names of the faithful being engraved on the palms of My hands (49:16), we think of the nail scars in the hands of His Son. When He has done that for you, how could He forget you?¹⁹¹

He Made My Mouth like a Sharpened Sword
49: 1-13

He made my mouth like a sharpened sword DIG: How is the Servant’s mouth like a sharpened sword? How does that contrast with the Servant’s type of speech in 42:2? Why does God the Father say Isra’el here, when He is referring to the Messiah? How do we know that He is really talking about the Messiah here and not the nation of Isra’el (49:5)? How was the Servant received by the nation of Isra’el in 49:4 and 7? How does this reflect the experience of Isaiah (30:9-11)? In His discouragement, what promises does the Servant receive from God? How is this related to the prophecy of 11:10? What does this imply about the identity of the Servant? What will happen for the exiles in the day of salvation? How will the nations learn of the LORD’s covenant promises (45:1, 22-24)? How does Isra’el reflect the mission of the Servant (42:6)?

REFLECT: Does it help you or stumble you to see the humanness of Christ? Was Yeshua fifty percent man and fifty percent God, or one hundred percent man and one hundred percent God? What difference does that make? What examples can you think of in Jesus’ life when His speech was gentle (42:2)? When was it cutting like a sword? Why the difference? When is it best to speak gently with people? To be strong and cutting? When was the last time the LORD displayed His splendor through you? Emotionally and spiritually, what does it mean to be a forsaken captive? What can cause you to feel that way? Right now, do you feel more like that or like a person coming home to a long-awaited reunion? Why?

If the Servant of Isaiah is the God of history and can control human events, why are His desires frustrated by Jacob, His people? Put another way, could the LORD have forced Jacob to do His will? Yes, He could have. But the reason He did not force them and is frustrated by their, and the world’s, lack of faith in Him is that He gave us free will. We would not be who we are if we did not have free will. If we are truly human, we must have the ability to choose, and do things, which are even contrary to Ha’Shem’s desire. Apparently God felt that, for reasons which were evident to Him, but which we can only partly understand, it was better to make human beings than androids. And evil was a necessary addition of  ADONAI’s good plan to make us fully human.¹⁸⁵ Far too many times, people blame Him for their misery instead of recognizing it is the Adversary and their own sin nature that is the root of their problems. How could a loving God . . . you fill in the blank.

Therefore, the fact that the Jews chose to reject Yeshua does not mean that Messiah failed in His ministry. It is specifically because He is the God of history and can control human events that all Isra’el will be saved (Rom 11:16). At the very end of the Great Tribulation, all the believing remnant living at that time in Bozrah will be saved (Zech 12:10-14 to 13:1 and 9). But before that time, two-thirds of the Jews will reject Him and perish (Zech 13:8). That is not what He would want, but because He gave us free will, He will allow men and women to make that choice. Some would view that as failure. But in the end, ADONAI will have His way.

This is the second of Isaiah’s four Servant Songs (also see 42:1-17, 50:4-9, and 52:13 to 53:12). The sages teach that this is Isaiah speaking (representing the ideal Isra’el). The Servant is speaking in these verses. First, He calls out to the Gentile nations to listen to Him, saying: Listen to Me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations. Before I was born the LORD called Me (49:1a). The words hear this should take us back to 48:16 where the transition from Cyrus to the Messiah took place. Now that same Person speaking in 48:16 is the One speaking in Chapter 49 as He calls attention to the world to listen to the Servant. He says that before He was born ADONAI called Him. He was elected for the task to which He was given. The expression before I was born is one of election for a specific purpose. We find the same language in Jeremiah 1:5. And just as God separated Jeremiah from the womb to be a prophet of Israel’s condemnation, the prophet to announce the Babylonian judgment, in the same way the Servant was elected to bring redemption to them.

Also, from My birth He has made mention of My name (49:1b). We have already seen this to be true in 7:14 when we had the first prediction of the virgin birth of King Messiah. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel. Chapter 49:1 is a reiteration of the truth of 7:14. The fulfillment will come in Mathew 1:21 and Luke 1:31. Throughout messianic prophecy we often have mention of the mother. Here it is implied when the Servant says: From My birth He has made mention of My name (49:1c).

But there is not a single messianic prophecy in the TaNaKh that mentions the father of the Messiah because of the virgin birth. He had no human father. We see this in the two genealogies in the gospels. Matthew’s genealogy traces the birth of Christ from Joseph’s perspective. The purpose of Matthew’s genealogy is to show that if Jesus really was Joseph’s son, He could not be King. But Luke’s genealogy tells us about the birth of Christ from Mary’s perspective. Luke shows why Yeshua could be King. Jesus was from the House of David, but apart from Jeconiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ai – The Genealogies of Joseph and Mary).

Next, we have the Servant’s position. First, the Servant Himself says: He made My mouth like a sharpened sword (49:2a). This expression means that He will have the ability to pronounce judgment. He will be decisive and be able to get down to the very root of the problem and pronounce it. A good example of this is found in the gospels (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Jd – Seven Woes on the Torah-Teachers and the Pharisees). There, Jesus denounces the Torah-Teachers and the Pharisees, for specific sins, especially the sin of leading the nation astray. Paul would later take Isaiah’s sharpened sword motif and use it when describing the armor of God in Ephesians 6. When Paul said: the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), he was not describing a Roman soldier, but was either directly quoting or paraphrasing the TaNaKh. His point is that we should resist the Adversary as Messiah did in the wilderness, with Scripture.

Secondly, the Servant states His position: in the shadow of His hand He hid Me (49:2b). This implies protection. Not only will the Messiah be given the ability to be incisive and pronounce judgment at the root of the problem, but He will also have the special protection of God the Father.

Thirdly, the Servant will be like a polished arrow, concealed in His quiver (49:2c). This implies that He will always be available to be immediately used for anything that God the Father might call Him to do. Hence, this is Messiah’s relationship with ADONAI.

ADONAI says of the Messiah: You are My Servant, Isra’el, in whom I will display My splendor (49:3). Why does He say Isra’el here, when He is referring to the Messiah? We know this because of the context. If a rabbi disputed that this is a messianic prophecy, he would argue that it doesn’t say “the Messiah,” it says “Isra’el.” But the Servant is distinguished from Isra’el in the very same context. Look at 49:5a: And now the LORD says – He who formed Me in the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him and bring Isra’el to Him. And also look at 49:6a: It is too small a thing for You to be My Servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Isra’el I have kept. Context. Obviously the Servant in this message is not the nation of Isra’el but the Messiah, because this Person fulfills what Isra’el should have done and He will be used to restore Isra’el. And since the Servant is distinguished from Isra’el in 49:5 and 6, then 49:3 is not dealing with the nation of Isra’el. Therefore, what does God the Father mean when He says You are My Servant, Isra’el, in whom I will display My splendor (49:3)?

There are two ways we can look at it. First, the Servant could be the ideal Israelite. He will accomplish, as an individual Jew, what all Isra’el failed to do. In that sense He would be the true Isra’el. In other words, He will accomplish the calling of Isra’el. Secondly, Isra’el means a prince with God and who could be more of a prince with God than the Messiah? So, in 49:3 we are dealing with the ideal Israelite, and He is the true representative of the name because Messiah will indeed be a Prince with God. And ADONAI will be glorified in this Servant. Now where do we have a reference to this very prophecy? In John 17:1-5, God the Father is glorified in His Son. And here is the basis in the TaNaKh for that statement.

Then we come to the point where the Servant actually voices His frustration. If the Servant described in this passage is more than human, He is not less than human. Frustration and a feeling of futility, all too familiar to everyone who inhabits flesh, are part of the burden He came to bear.¹⁸⁶ The Servant is to be God’s special instrument, to accomplish what all Israel failed to do. Notice, however, how He voices His frustration. He says: But I have labored to no purpose; I have spent My strength in vain and for nothing (49:4a). The phrase no purpose means emptiness. The phrase in vain here means vapor. The word nothing is the same word used in Genesis 1:2 meaning formless. In essence what He is saying here is, “My work will be like a vapor that will vanish into thin air.” Now when do you suppose He felt this way? At what stage do you think He might have prayed this type of prayer? It was probably in His agony of Gethsemane (Mt 26:36; Mk 14:32; Lk 22:39).

The Servant saw little evidence of change in the Jews. No fruit was visible because only a handful of men and women believed in Him. It seemed like the whole nation was rejecting Him and He would not accomplish what He set out to do (John 1:11). In fact, today Muslims use this verse to supposedly prove that Muhammad is the one true prophet because they say that Jesus admits here that He had failed in His mission. Is that true? No, this merely shows Jesus’ human nature. In His First Coming, He came as the Lamb of God to be slain for the sins of the world (John 1:29). But in His Second Coming, He will come like the Lion of the tribe of Judah and rule the entire world from Jerusalem (Revelation 5:5).

But we can see the Servant’s faith when He says yet. This is the participle that means nevertheless, or but surely. Yet, what is due to Me is in the LORD’s hand, and My reward is with My God (49:4b). Too often we miss the two-sidedness of what is being said here. On the one hand, we often believe that if we really trusted in God, we would never have feelings of futility. But trust ultimately has to do with the final outcome, and of this the Servant is fully confident.¹⁸⁷ It is ADONAI (not the world or even the Servant), who will make the final judgment concerning His ministry. In other words, the LORD knows the situation and would reward Him in due time. Consequently, while 49:1-4 seems to be a prayer of frustration and discouragement, they actually display great faith. We see God’s answer in the next two verses.

Then the LORD answers the Servant’s prayer. He reiterates the Servant’s original commission. He who formed Me in the womb (once again a reference to the mother) to be His Servant (49:5a). There is a two-fold path to the Servant’s original calling. First, to bring Jacob back to Him (49:5b). There is a sense of conversion or redemption here. One aspect of the Servant’s ministry is to bring salvation to Isra’el. Second, gather Isra’el to Himself (49:5c). This speaks to the restoration of Isra’el. The Servant, then, had a two-fold commission, the redemption and the restoration of Isra’el. And He states the reason: For I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and My God has been my strength (49:5d). Therefore, the Messiah’s commission is to restore the tribes of Jacob and Isra’el to ADONAI.

But in addition to His original commission, He adds something else: It is too small a thing for you to be My Servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Isra’el I have kept (49:6a). The Father says to the Son, “I know it seems like no one is following You. And although it seems like Isra’el will not be saved, nor restored, quite the contrary, the day is coming when Isra’el will be saved and restored, but it is too simple a thing for Me to use You to save only Isra’el; I am going to use You in a greater way. You will not only bring salvation to the Jews, You will also bring salvation to the Gentiles.” He states: I will also make You a light for the Gentiles (49:6b). This is the background to the statement by Jesus: I am the light of the world (John 8:12). Not merely the light of Isra’el, I am the light for Jews and Gentiles alike. So, the Servant receives an additional commission to bring My salvation (My Yeshua) to the ends of the earth (49:6c).

This statement in 49:6 is also the background to Romans 11, which is an expansion of this one verse, that God has a plan for Isra’el. She rejects the Messiah, but Isra’el’s rejection temporarily opens up the gate of salvation for Gentiles. Look at Romans 11:1-10, Paul tells us how the nation of Isra’el rejected Messiah, although Jews individually are accepting Him. But then in Romans 11-12, Paul describes the ingrafted branches of the Gentiles. Again, I ask: Did they (Isra’el) stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! What Romans 11 is doing is expanding the theology of Isaiah 49:6. In summary, the Messiah comes with the purpose of restoring Isra’el, she rejects Him, and the Servant is frustrated, but ADONAI says do not worry, the rejection is temporary. It is through the rejection of Isra’el that you will be a light to the Gentiles, and once the Gentiles are saved, all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26).

This is what the LORD says – the Redeemer and Holy One of Isra’el (49:7a). This is a summary of the entire ministry of Christ, including both His First and Second Comings. Then we are told about His rejection. He was despised by the Gentiles and abhorred by the nation of Isra’el (49:7b). The Creator of the world becomes the Servant of rulers of the world. He also had to give to Cesar the things that were Cesar’s during His lifetime (20:20-25). There will be a time coming, however, when this despised and abhorred Kosher King will rise up and be exalted. Kings will see Him and rise up in due respect. Princes will see and bow down, because He is the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Isra’el. He will be the One who has been chosen by God (49:7c).

Therefore, 49:7 is an answer to the Servant’s frustration in 49:4, where it seemed that He had been rejected. Here God the Father says that the temporary rejection by the nation will give way to exaltation. A similar statement is made twice in Chapter 53. First, He says: See, My Servant will act wisely; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted (53:13). Then, He declares: So, will He sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand (53:15).

Walk Through the Bible teaches that there is a big idea for each book of the Bible. For the book of Isaiah, the big idea is groan to glory. The groan is the temporary near historical rejection of ADONAI and the Babylonian exile; but the glory is the permanent far eschatological acceptance of Yeshua as the Messiah and His reign in the Messianic Kingdom. Because they do not see the Messiah in any of these verses, the sages teach that Isra’el is in view here. From her lowest depths of degradation Isra’el will rise to the loftiest heights of respect and honor.

This section ends with the restoration of the Servant (49:8-13). Remember that His original commission was to restore the people of Isra’el (49:5-6). Nevertheless, when He came then, she rejected Him and the restoration could not be completed at that time. But God said this was part of His program to bring salvation to the Gentiles. However, once the LORD’s mission among the Gentiles is completed by the Servant, then the restoration of Isra’el will be accomplished.

Isaiah, speaking with the voice of ADONAI, declares that the Servant’s task is to make it possible for the believing remnant around the world to return to Him. In the time of My favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You. The phrase, in the time of favor, reflects the idea of the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-54), when the captives were set free, and inheritance were restored to the rightful tenants under ADONAI’s ownership (also see 62:2). The word answer here has the sense of responding with support, as the parallel word help demonstrates. I will keep You and will make You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the Land and to reassign its desolate inheritances (49:8). When the time for Isra’el’s restoration comes, Messiah’s prayer for her restoration will be answered. Then God the Father says that He will make the Servant to be a covenant for the people. It is by means of the New Covenant that Isra’el’s salvation comes, because the New Covenant is dealing with the national salvation of Isra’el (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – The Days are Coming, declares the LORD, When I Will Make a New Covenant with the House Judah and the House of Isra’el).

There will be a removal of all obstacles for the return of the believing remnant to the Land. He lists four things here. First, He proclaims that the captives will be free. To say to the captives, “Come out,” and to those in darkness, “Be free” (49:9). That this will be done through the Servant is clear from 61:1-4, where the agent of ADONAI, not ADONAI Himself, takes action. That passage reminds us while physical imagery is being used in both 49:9 and 61:1-4, it is imagery of being held captive to spiritual blindness, ruin, loss and bondage. The Adversary has blinded the spiritual eyes of unbelievers (Second Corinthians 4:4). But the Servant’s ministry will not be to merely set them free from bondage and sin, but to lead them all the way back to God’s presence.

Secondly, as the exodus from Egypt led to a journey under God’s care (see the commentary on Exodus Cr – I Will Rain Down Manna from Heaven for You), so in this journey of the heart back to ADONAI there will be ample provision. They will neither hunger nor thirst because spiritual food and water will be provided to them (49:10a).

Thirdly, they will be protected from the elements because neither the desert heat, nor the sun will beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water (49:10b). The journey will be under divine protection. The LORD will take the Israelites to His heart and under His care. The language is a combination of Psalm 23 and the Exodus. God will guide and protect them, as the pillar of cloud and fire did (see the commentary on Exodus Cg – After Leaving Succoth they Camped at Etham). Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil (Psalm 23:1-4). He will also lead them to springs of water, as in the wilderness (see the commentary on Exodus Cu – Strike the Rock and Water Will Come Out).

Fourthly, highways will be provided by God to return to the Land. Nothing will be allowed to stand in the way of the worldwide assembly. I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up (49:11). The main thoroughfare back will be the Highway of Holiness (see Gm – The Highway of Holiness Will Be There), but there will be other raised highways as well. Evidently the purpose of these supporting raised highways will be to transport Jews to the main Highway on their way to Zion. Nothing can stop them.

See, they will come from afar – some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan (49:12). God will bring the holy ones (Deut 33:2-3; Job 5:1; Psalms 16:3 and 34:9; Zech 14:5) to Himself. This return and restoration is not merely one from Babylon by a handful of Judean exiles; this gathering will be worldwide. Some will come from Aswan, which is a town in southern Egypt. Ezeki’el 29:10 uses the phrase from Migdol to Aswan, which probably indicated all Egypt, just as from Dan to Beersheba meant all of Isra’el.

From here to the end of the book, the sages substitute the nation of Isra’el for the Messiah in their teaching. They picture this section of the book as returning from the Babylonian captivity, not the final restoration of Isra’el. Therefore, the sages teach that God’s acceptance of the prayers of the exiles, their redemption from the captivity, and their safe and pleasant return to the homeland is in view here.

God’s purposes in the earth center on the nation of Isra’el. When she is back in the Land, both the heavens and the earth can rejoice. ADONAI will do it all, the only thing they will have to do is sing! Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones (49:13). It is not surprising that the possibility of universal redemption should issue in a call to praise here. This is a pattern that we see in Isaiah. In each case we see the work of God in salvation from sin, which is the motivating factor for universal praise. And every time, nature, the nature that was initially called to hear God’s case against His people (1:2), is for the salvation that will come to the human race (Romans 8:19-22). For its own redemption is intimately connected with ours. This idea of cosmic redemption occurs in 65:17, where the conclusion of the book describes new heavens and a new earth.¹⁸⁸

The Mission of the Servant of the LORD
49: 1-26

If you trace the Servant motif beginning from Chapter 49 you will see it can only refer to the Messiah and not to Isra’el. Because once Isaiah establishes who the Servant is here in Chapter 49, he consistently maintains the same motif through Chapter 53. This is critical in the interpretation of Isaiah 53. This chapter is perfectly divided into two thirteen verse segments. Verses 1 through 13 show us the restoration of Isra’el from the Messiah’s perspective, and verses 14 through 26 reveal the Servant’s final salvation and restoration of Isra’el.

That Her Sin Had Been Pardoned
49:1 to 57:21

Chapter 40, verses 1 through 11 are the prologue, where Isaiah sets the stage for the seventh and final segment of his book. He said: Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. This segment is comforting because it describes the final redemption and restoration of Isra’el. And in Chapter 40 verse 2 he gave us an outline for a three-fold message in the rest of the book. The first was that her warfare had been completed from Chapters 40 to 48. With this chapter we are starting the second of the three-fold message, which is, that her sin had been pardoned in Chapters 49 to 57. Here Isaiah is no longer dealing with near historical prophecy primarily (except for a brief segment from 56:9 to 57:21), but far eschatological prophecy. Cyrus will not be mentioned again. Now Isaiah is dealing with the final salvation and restoration of Isra’el; in the course of which, he is going to give us the key means by which the sin will be pardoned and that is by the death of the Suffering Servant, especially in Isaiah 49, 50 and 53. Here he deals primarily, but not exclusively, with the Suffering Servant, through whom Isra’el’s sin will be pardoned.

Listen to Me, O Jacob,
Isra’el Whom I Have Called,
the Sovereign LORD Has Sent Me with His Spirit
48: 12-22

Listen to Me, O Jacob, Isra’el whom I have called, the sovereign LORD has sent Me with His Spirit DIG: Who are the two people God has specifically called in 48:12 and in 48:14b-15? What has each been given to do? What message has YHVH been communicating to the exiles? In what way is Cyrus the LORD’s chosen ally? What has their history of rebellion and ignoring Ha’Shem cost the people? Chapters 40-48 reach their climax here. If you were reading these words to the people, would you sob with tears of joy? Shout in victory? Or whisper? Why? What about ADONAI will this deliverance communicate to all the nations? What was motivating God’s compassion in these chapters? How does His compassion toward the Church made up of Jews and Gentiles differ from this?

REFLECT? In what way is Cyrus’ deliverance of the Jews from Babylon like the deliverance from sin that Messiah has won for His people? How did you first respond to the news that you were free from the enslavement of sin (Romans 8:1-3)? Has there been disobedience in your life that has cost you? How so? Do you feel like you have been forgiven? What have you learned from all of this? Have you ever been at odds with the Lord and felt like there was no peace for you? What did you do? What is the answer? What did you feel like, what did you act like when that time in your life had ended? From the time Isra’el returned to the land, idolatry has never been an issue with them again. Has the issue that resulted in no peace in your life resurfaced? What did you learn from it? What are you still in the process of learning?

This section opens with a call to listen, but then follows a description of a nation that, in fact, had not heard. In a sense, therefore, it is a reprise of 48:1 and signals the beginning of the second half of the poem. ADONAI had declared to them what would happen in the future, but they had credited the fulfilled prophecies to idols. Now God was telling His people the good news of their return from exile. Once again they are called to listen. Not only to listen but to believe and act, even though their deliverance would come through the pagan emperor Cyrus. The inspired prophet offers five reasons why the Israelites should listen:

First, He is the God of eternity. Listen to Me, O Jacob, Isra’el, whom I have called; I Am He; I am He, I am the first and the last (Isa 48:12; Rev 1:17, 2:8, 22:13). This verse, along with the following, is a summary of ADONAI’s claim to be able to deliver the Israelites from Babylon, and to be able to use whoever He wanted to make it happen. The LORD had called Isra’el because she was part of a larger plan that included the coming Messiah and the redemption of the world. She was not subject to the whims of some god of wood or stone. He was the only God. The phrase: I Am He is Isaiah’s equivalent of God’s declaration: I Am Who I Am (Exodus 3:14). It is the claim of the LORD of heaven’s armies, and He can use someone like Cyrus because nothing is outside His control. He had no limitations. Should Jacob and Isra’el not listen to Him? Shouldn’t we?

Secondly, He is the God of creation. Moreover, My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together (48:13). Moreover shows how ADONAI’s creation flows from His being. The entire universe is the servant of God, and when He commands, the entire universe responds. The idea is described beautifully by the Psalmist: Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures. Your rulings endure to this day, for all things serve You (Ps 119:90-91). The earth and the heavens are used as polar opposites to express the whole: God created the earth and everything below, the heavens and everything in between. His right hand spread out the heavens. Everything in the universe, including the stars (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lw – The Witness of the Stars), appear and disappear at His command.

Thirdly, He is the God of human affairs. The focus moves from creation to history. ADONAI said: Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His purpose against Babylon (49:14a). When God’s people would read this prophecy about 200 years from then, it would reassure them that this really was His plan. Yes, Cyrus was a pagan king. Yes, they had misgivings (45:9-10, 46:8 and 12). But ADONAI was, and is, the God of human affairs. They needed to trust Him. God Himself was behind it, and as such, they must be for it. Cyrus was, after all, His chosen ally.

When ADONAI says: I, even I, have spoken: yes, I have called him. The emphasis in the Hebrew is cannot be missed. Literally, I, I, I have spoken; moreover, I have called him. When God spoke through His prophet saying, “I will bring him and he will succeed in his mission, and his arm will be against the Babylonians,” He was talking about Cyrus (48:14b-15). The phrase his arm here symbolizes the strength and power of Cyrus and his army. God was declaring to the disbelieving people of Isra’el in the strongest possible terms that the mission of Cyrus will only succeed as a result of God working in human history. These two verses summarize everything said about Cyrus in Chapters 40 to 47. God said five things: Cyrus will capture Babylon, it was the LORD who called and brought him, ADONAI will help him succeed in his mission, and all of this brings out the truthfulness of God’s claims.

Fourth, He is the God of prophecy. This verse sums up the appeal of the four previous verses. Once again the call to hear is repeated. ADONAI commanded, Come near Me and listen, “From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I Am there” (48:16a). From the beginning, God has not spoken in secret (45:19). His promises have not been mystical or mysterious. His words to Abraham, and before him, to Adam and Eve, were in plain language. As a result, the truth of His promises is easily verified. This also means that the LORD has been intimately involved in the affairs of humanity. He has made Himself accessible as He revealed His will and made it happen.

This is the basis of the incarnation. When Yeshua Messiah became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14a), it was not some new manner of revelation; it was the logical result of all that God had been doing in and through Isra’el up to that point. They needed to listen up because two things should have been abundantly clear: ADONAI could be understood and what He said was going to happen. This is no less of a lesson for us today, is it not?

Fifthly, he is also the God of the Trinity. And now Adonai ELOHIM has sent Me with His Spirit (48:16b). This is the second, and by far the clearest, of four examples of the Trinity in the TaNaKh. We see the Trinity in 42:1, here, in 61:1 and 63:7-14. And now Adonai ELOHIM (God the Father) has sent Me (God the Son), with His Spirit (God the Ruach ha-Kodesh). Once again there are only three Persons that are ever called God in the TaNaKh. The context began in 48:12 where One Person was speaking. The personal pronoun I has been used from 48:12 where He says I am the God of eternity, the God of creation, the God of human affairs, and the God of prophecy. This divine personality, the Me of 48:16b, is God the Son. At this point the Second Person is being introduced because the main topic of the second section of the rest of the book, that her sin has been pardoned in Chapters 49 to 57, will no longer be Cyrus but Messiah the Servant. However, the rabbis teach that to believe in the Trinity is blasphemy and they bend over backwards to prove it is not so. Therefore, we see a transition from Cyrus in Chapter 48 to the Messiah in Chapter 49.

These verses serve as a conclusion, summarizing Chapter 48. They remind the reader of what might have been if Isra’el had listened and obeyed God (48:17-19). How bright and prosperous would her condition have been if she had followed the guidance of the LORD, her helpful teacher and trustworthy guide. The political solution of returning home from Babylon did not recover the peace that might have been. It was the sin of disobedience that needed to be dealt with, and until that wickedness had been confronted, their peace would remain an illusion.

Therefore, there was a call to obedience. The LORD is our Redeemer, our Next-of-Kin, the Holy One of Isra’el. He is the One who teaches Isra’el to do what is best for them and teaches them the way they should go (48:17). God did not reveal Himself to them in order to dominate them, nor for them to master Him. Rather, He has shown Himself to have a relationship with us. However, Isra’el’s rejection and disobedience produced four results.

First, if only she had paid attention to the LORD’s mitzvoth, or commands, her peace would have been like a river (48:18a). Their Redeemer had constantly been teaching and guiding Isra’el by means of the Torah, but she didn’t listen. This prepared them to hear again the wonderful promise of redemption. Her future obedience would then promise peace (9:6, 26:3, and 12, 32:17) like a river. And that river would be a constant flooding stream, not a seasonal trickle. This is what God says: I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem (see Kv – I Will Extend Peace to Her Like a River, and the Wealth of the Nations Like a Flooding Stream).

Secondly, if only she had paid attention to ADONAI their righteousness would have been like the waves of the sea (48:18b). Righteousness is seen to be the characteristic of the reign of God and waves often picture overwhelming power (Psalm 42:7, 65:7, 107:25). Those who stand on the beach are surely impressed by the constant march of waves onto the shore. There is no stopping them. The implication is that if she would trust in the LORD her righteousness would give her overwhelming power once again.

Thirdly, if only she had paid attention to God, her descendants would have been like the sand, her children like its numberless grains (48:19a). But because she did not, there would be no increase in Jewish population. To this day, Jews only number about fifteen million. Jews have been around long enough to number in the hundreds of millions. But the Jewish population has been kept small because of constant disobedience. However, her name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before ADONAI (48:19b), because she is, and will always be, His Covenant people and as the writer to the Hebrews would later write: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5b).

The fourth result was the Babylonian captivity itself. Four results, because of Isra’el’s refusal to obey. No peace, no righteousness, no increase in population, only captivity.

Even though they had not done so in the past, the Israelites were challenged to start believing in ADONAI and return home to Judah (48:20-21). But the captivity was over with. Remember, that Chapter 48 is written for the Jewish generation at the end of the captivity. And fulfilled prophecy carries with it specific obligations. What prophecies were fulfilled? Namely two. First, Cyrus has taken over the Babylonian empire and second, Cyrus has issued a decree for the Jews to leave Babylon and return to the Land. But this was a daunting task. By the end of the sixth century BC it was little more than a forsaken ruin, its walls broken down, its temple destroyed, and most of its citizens in exile. But for all that, it would continue to be the place God had chosen as the center of His Kingdom on earth. It would once again be the holy city, not just in the sense that no evil will be found in it (1:21-26; 52:1), but that God Himself would return to it and rule from it (2:1-4).¹⁸⁴

With Cyrus’ edict (Second Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4), the Jews were urged to leave Babylon and return home. Isaiah said: Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! They were to leave Babylon with shouts of joy (in other words not turning back) and to declare to the whole Gentile world that the LORD had redeemed His servant Jacob (48:20). Because being redeemed, was like being bought out of slavery. This would remind the exiles of the exodus from Egypt.

After the Egyptian Exodus God provided water in the deserts from the rock (see my commentary on Exodus Cu – Strike the Rock and Water Will Come Out of It): They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock. He split the rock and water gushed out (48:21). Here too, it is implied that ADONAI would miraculously provide for them in their second Exodus.

This section ends with this warning: There is no peace, says the LORD, for the wicked (48:22). To understand what this is referring to, go back to 48:18 where it reads: If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river. But because Isra’el disobeyed the earlier prophecies, there was no peace like a river. However, for those Jews who do return in 48:21 will receive peace like a river on their journey home. But for those who stayed behind in Babylon, those who reject the obligation of fulfilled prophecy, there will be no peace. We know that this was true from historical records. The Jews who remained in Babylon had continuous strife as anti-Semitism there grew.

This verse ends the first of the three-fold message in the second half of the book of Isaiah, that her warfare had been completed. It was completed with the Babylonian captivity (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). Now Babylon will be conquered and the Jews will be permitted to go back. Thus, the basic content of Chapters 40 to 48 has been completed. God has showing His absolute superiority over the idols by doing something never before done in human history: causing a conquered people, His people, to return from exile to their native land (41:1 to 44:22). He will do this by destroying proud Babylon through Cyrus. Not surprisingly then, the primary person Isaiah talked about in this section was Cyrus. But not exclusively, he has mentioned Messiah twice. Each of these three-fold messages ends with this phrase: there is no peace for the wicked. We will see it again at the end of Chapter 57.

I Foretold the Former Things Long Ago,
I Announced Them and Made Them Known
48: 1-11

I foretold the former things long ago, I announced them and made them known DIG: For what does the prophet rebuke the nation? How might this attitude account for the LORD’s ridicule of idolatry in Chapters 40-48? Why has God gone to such lengths to announce this deliverance ahead of time? Why does ADONAI bother to save Isra’el (see 48:8; 45:14)? If He had cut her off, what would the nations assume about Ha’Shem compared to the gods of Babylon?

REFLECT: The Jews, both before and during the captivity, never gave up worship of YHVH, but many added idolatrous practices to their Judaism. Where do you feel caught between relying on biblical doctrines yet living by the values of modern idols? How might God be getting the message across to you that you can’t have it both ways? Have you ever been influenced by the rebellious attitude of other believers? How has your rebellion at times affected others? What has it cost you in terms of ADONAI’s peace and blessing in your life? Does it really matter whether we try to obey God? How so? What do these verses have to say about the grace of our LORD? If you had a choice, would you want God to be fair to you, or gracious? Why?

God’s strongest case against idolatry in Chapters 40 through 47 has been the fulfillment of prophecy. In this section God is going to turn to Isra’el, about 200 years later and say, “Look at My prophecies concerning the coming of Cyrus and the deliverance from Babylon. Were they not fulfilled exactly the way I prophesied?”

The central question of Chapters 7 to 39 was: Will you trust God? That question was asked in the context of the Assyrian threat. And here, although the threat is not the same, Isaiah shows that the issue has not changed. The same house of Jacob that doubted that they could trust ADONAI to deliver them from the Assyrians would also doubt that they could trust the LORD to deliver them from the Babylonians.

To be sure, the appeal in Chapters 40 to 47 has moved a step farther. In the earlier chapters concerning the Assyrians, the message was: If you do not trust God, destruction will come on you. Now, concerning the Babylonians, the message is: Trust God because He has unconditionally pardoned you and will break the power of those who hold you. In the same way the proofs of God’s ability to help Isra’el (and us) have also advanced. With the Assyrians, it was the inability of any other nation to help Isra’el. Here with the Babylonians, it is the LORD’s ability as Creator to master history, and the evidence of fulfilled prophecy. But the issue is the same with Isaiah. Will we respond in trust? God’s trustworthiness has been demonstrated in Chapters 7 to 39, and His grace has been offered in Chapters 40 to 48, but it is all for nothing unless we humans act on it. Trust demands surrender to our proud independence and does not come naturally to us.¹⁸²

Isaiah starts out this chapter with a rebuke and reminds the Israelites of their hypocrisy. Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line, or waters, of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Isra’el (48:1a). What is the point of piling up all these names? It sets the stage for what follows. There is an appeal to the past: Jacob, meaning Isra’el and Judah. Who were they? They existed because of what ADONAI had done to and with their ancestors. But it was a proud claim without reality. They swear by the name of Ha’Shem and claim to trust in Him, but in reality their claim is hypocritical.

But not in truth of righteousness though you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Isra’el (481b-2) – the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies is His name (48:2). They took oaths, invoking God’s name, but they were not righteous. They thought that being citizens of Jerusalem, though they were not living there, was enough. But they were actually citizens of the holy city in name only. In reality, they were strangers to God. They thought that claiming to rely on ADONAI, even though they were not, was enough. Because many had become comfortable over the course of the seventy years of captivity, many considered it unimportant to go back to live in Judah. In that regard they had failed, nevertheless, God’s plans were not frustrated. How could Isra’el realize all the potential that her grand heritage and proud faith had to offer? By squarely facing the contradiction between her words and her actions. She needed to pay careful attention to what God had done for her in the past and learn from it.

From the beginning of Isaiah 1:2 to the end in 66:24, God, through His prophet Isaiah, addresses rebellion. And when you think about it, the Bible says that we were created to live within certain limits and our refusal to “stay within the lines,” sooner or later, results in disaster. Spiritual anarchy as a life plan never works.

Our refusal to follow the LORD’s commands is not just an ignorant missing of the mark, it is an intentional and deliberate rebellion against what we know we should do. At its deepest level, it is a rejection of a relationship of dependence upon God, a refusal to acknowledge that He has the right to declare what is right and wrong for us. This is a part of the significance of the book of Deuteronomy, which places the entire element of obedience and dependence upon God in the midst of our relationship with Him. What the Jews did when they rebelled against God was not merely disobedience, but treachery (48:8), or a breaking of faith. So in the end rebellion, stubbornness, and treachery are what sin is all about. It is entirely appropriate that Messiah should have been betrayed by one of His own disciples, because that is what God’s family has been doing to Him since the dawn of time. We have not accidentally fallen into a ditch. Instead, like the two-year old who has been told not to ride his big-wheel down the driveway into the street, and who looks to make sure that he is not being watched before he starts, we have consciously and willfully chosen to fall into the ditch.¹⁸³

The first part of the argument had to do with what the LORD had done for the Israelites in the past (48:3-6a). Throughout this section God made the case of the former prophets. I foretold the former things long ago, My mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass (48:3). It was He who inspired them, and now the prophecies had come to pass. Suddenly implies that the fulfillment of the prophecy was not always in the time or place expected (see 5:19, 46:10 and 48:14), but according to His sovereign will. ADONAI declared Himself to be both the declarer and the doer of prophecy. In other words, YHVH not only predicts, but being the sovereign God, He also brings about the fulfillment of His own prophecy. The fact that He can predict comes from His omniscience, and the fact that He can bring it to pass comes from His omnipotence. This is the sovereign God who was speaking to the Israelites.

Then He gives us two reasons why ADONAI fulfilled these prophecies quickly and suddenly. The first reason was because they were stubborn. For I know how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze (48:4). The image Isaiah uses here is that of a stubborn animal that digs its heels, stiffens its neck and refuses to be led in the way it does not want to go. Over and over again Moses accused Isra’el of being stubborn (Ex 32:9; 33:3 and 5; 34:9; Deut 9:6 and 13, 27; 10:16; 31:27) because he experienced it over the forty years of wilderness wanderings. And in Deuteronomy 31:27 he realized that even after his death, Isra’el will continue to be stubborn. In fact, according to Dani’el 12:5-7, one of the main purposes of the Great Tribulation is to break the stubbornness of the Jewish nation so that they will come to know God. But here, He fulfilled prophecies suddenly so that Isra’el’s stubborn ways would be revealed and she might see that her precious idols had failed her. God alone made those prophecies come true.

God did not choose Jacob and his sons because they were superior, nor did He choose us because we are superior. The LORD chose Jacob and us because of His grace and because He saw our great need. Also, God must deliver His people so the world may know the Truth. Jesus said: You are right in saying I am a King. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me (John 18:37).

The second reason was to make sure that the idols do not get the credit, because Isra’el was prone to give it to them. Therefore, I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, “My idols did them, my wooden image and metal god ordained them” (48:5). It was not Bel or Nebo (46:1) who caused the fall of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon, it was ADONAI. Neither would they free the exiles to go home. Nor was it some creation of human intellect or cunning that announced those events to happen; it was the living God.

Before proceeding to the next stage of his argument, Isaiah sums up what he had just said: You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them (48:6a)? Isra’el did not hear the prophecy before, but now they are hearing it. And now they are obligated to proclaim that the idols failed where God succeeded. She could no longer refuse to allow the facts to persuade her. For far too long, it was as if Isra’el had said, “My mind is already made up, don’t confuse me with the facts!” That would have to end.

Next, we see the case for new prophecies (48:6b-8). From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown you (48:6b). Isra’el had ignored the previous prophecies, so God now announces the coming of new prophecies. Having heard the predictions and witnessed their fulfillment, the people can no longer doubt that the LORD alone plans and rules the destinations of nations. They must, therefore, also believe in the new prophecies now made by His prophet. Once again, the test of a prophet was this, after successfully prophesying near events, the prophet could be trusted with success in prophesying far events. The easiest thing to do is to predict the events of a thousand years in advance because they would not be around to suffer the consequences if their prophecies were not fulfilled. It is quite another thing for a prophet to prophesy something six months to a year in advance because if the prophecy did not come true he would be stoned to death. But God here subjects Himself to the test of a prophet. He reminds them of the former prophecies that had come to pass. So now He says that since these earlier prophecies had come to pass, they could trust Him for the far prophecies. Therefore, there is an announcement of new prophecies to come.

God gives two reasons why He will predict new prophecies. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. Therefore, you cannot say, “Yes, I knew of them” (48:7). The refusal to believe in revealed truth was the cardinal sin of God’s people (Amos 2:4). The LORD’s prophecies were created now, not that God had never thought of them before, but that they would be put into effect now. From Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Isra’el knew she would be brought back to the Land after captivity. After all, her living in the Land was guaranteed by the Abrahamic Covenant (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Eg – I Am the LORD, Who Brought You Out of Ur of the Chaldeans to Give You This Land). But until Isaiah’s prophecies were given, she did not know how God would deliver her. This was so the Israelites would not feel smug, thinking their own cunning had liberated them. They were actually spiritually insensitive.

The second reason was because of Israel’s treachery in giving credit to idols. You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open (48:8a). Again, the point is made that these prophecies had never been made before. Why not? Would it have been just another opportunity for unfaithfulness? But if that were true, why give them any more prophecies at all? The reason is simple: so that it will be obvious that it was the LORD at work and not the idols.

From the very beginning Isra’el was prone to idolatry. We saw this right after the exodus when she made a golden calf while Moses was up on Mount Sinai. And throughout Isra’el’s history up to Isaiah’s day, Isra’el was prone to idolatry and to spiritual adultery. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth (48:8b). This was her treachery. God performed miracles for Isra’el, and whom did she thank? She thanked idols for performing the blessings that God alone had given her. ADONAI wanted to make sure she understood that her physical and spiritual deliverance would not come from her own goodness or planning, but from His grace.

In view of God’s firsthand understanding of Isra’el’s stubborn tendencies to idolatry (48:5) and rebellion (48:8), why had He not abandoned them (48:9-11)? He could have. He had the right to. Her sin was great enough for total destruction. So why was He going to do those new things to make her deliverance possible? Isaiah answered with a theme that began in Exodus 34 and reached its inevitable conclusion in Ezeki’el 37.

When ADONAI entered into a covenant with the people of Isra’el, His name, His reputation, became forever linked with them. For My own name’s sake, I delay My wrath; for the sake of My praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off (48:9). Moses presented the argument to the LORD when God asked why He should not destroy Israel after the golden calf incident (see the commentary on Exodus Gs – Now Leave Me Alone So That My Anger May Burn Against Your People). The question was not one of legality or justice, but, more accurately, what the Gentile nations would think of ADONAI if He would abandon or destroy her. Consequently, the real question was not whether God was just, but whether He would be gracious to her. Will the nations observing God’s justice accuse Him of being fickle like all the other gods? Or would they see the One who was unlike any they had ever seen because of His incredible patience and mercy? He didn’t want to destroy Jacob, but He did hope to bring her to her senses as she experienced the fruit of her rebellion.

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (48:10). The purpose of the exile was to refine her so she would return to the Land in faith. The captivity was like a furnace, to test her, not to destroy her.

The story is told of a group of women that met for Bible study. While studying in the book of Malachi, they came across verse three which says: He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver (Malachi 3:3a). This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study. The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest, beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold it in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he also had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy . . . when I see my image in it.”

If ADONAI would go back on His word about her return, His reputation would be defamed. So, He declared: For My own sake, for My own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself, I do this? How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another (48:11). There are three reasons why God did not totally destroy Isra’el.

First, for God’s own name’s sake and for the sake of His praise. God has a covenant relationship with Isra’el and therefore is a covenant keeper, part of which marks the eternity of Jewish existence. If the Jews cease to exist, it would reflect badly on God.

Secondly, for Isra’el’s refinement. There is a time coming in which Isra’el will be tested in the furnace of affliction. In Ezeki’el 20:34-38 it is clear this furnace of affliction is the Great Tribulation. Therefore, although God judged Isra’el partially, ultimately, they will be totally refined.

Thirdly, so that Gentile nations could not claim it was their idols or gods who cut Isra’el off forever. If Isra’el were to be cut off, the Gentiles would not give glory to God, but to their idols and idolatry. The LORD would not allow that to happen. He would demonstrate His covenant relationship with them, by delivering His people against all odds, whether political or spiritual. Similarly, ADONAI declared at Mount Sinai: But I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, “Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this” (Deuteronomy 32:27). On the people’s part, they needed to make up their minds once-and-for-all to give Him their absolute loyalty. Is the same not true for us today?

How Can We Know When a Message
Has Not Been Spoken by the LORD?
48: 1-22

In 40:1-2 Isaiah wrote a prologue to the last section of the book. In this last section, Isaiah gives a three-point message. First, that her warfare had been completed. Each section ends with a statement about the state of the wicked. And Isaiah 48:22 says: There is no peace, says ADONAI, for the wicked. Thus, Chapter 48 ends this first section. In Chapters 40 through 47, Isaiah has been dealing with the bottom third of the Cone of Isaiah (to see link click Hl – The Cone of Isaiah). Each part deals with a servant of the LORD. In this bottom part, he has been dealing with the nation of Isra’el in captivity and sums up what has been said about Cyrus and the return to the Land from Babylon. He will not discuss these topics for the remainder of the book. Later, in the middle part, the believing remnant will arise out of the nation, and finally the point of the cone will be the Messiah who will arise out of the believing remnant of Isra’el. But in Chapter 48, Isaiah will bring these nine chapters together. It is a summary of Chapters 40 through 47, in the course of which he is going to give one of the clearest presentations of the Trinity in the entire TaNaKh.

ADONAI’s strongest case against idolatry in Chapters 40 through 47 has been the fulfillment of prophecy. But the fulfillment of prophecy carries with it certain demands and obligations. And that is what Isaiah is going to detail in Chapter 48. What God is doing here is subjecting Himself to the test of a prophet (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Dk – A Prophet Like Moses). The key test of a prophet according to Moses was that he had to prove himself by giving some near predictions. Then only if those near predictions came to pass, according to the very letter of the prophecy, only then could that prophet be trusted to be accurate on prophecy very far in the future. So here, God is subjecting Himself to the test of a prophet. In Chapters 40 through 47 He had made various prophecies; near historical prophecies regarding the coming of Cyrus and deliverance from the Babylonian captivity, and far eschatological prophecies regarding the ultimate and final restoration of the Jews under the Messiah in the Messianic Kingdom. Therefore, in Chapter 48 He is going to subject Himself to the test of a prophet. Chapter 48 is really speaking to the generation of Isra’el about 200 years later, at the close of the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. He will force the Jews of that generation to conclude that what ADONAI said concerning His near historical prophecies were indeed fulfilled; therefore, they have a two-fold obligation. First, respond to the commands of the LORD. And two, believe God regarding the far eschatological prophecies.

Go Down, Sit in the Dust,
Virgin Daughter of Babylon
Sit on the Ground Without a Throne
47: 1-15

Go down, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon sit on the ground without a throne DIG: What does the picture of a queen reduced to slavery tell you about Babylon’s past and future? Since Babylon was not destroyed, though literally conquered by Cyrus in a single day, what is the meaning of this image? What is the reason for this judgment (also see 10:12)? What does this say about God? What do you learn about the spiritual beliefs and practices of Babylon? What do you imagine they were doing as Cyrus came closer and closer? What will they inherit for all their activity? How does this highlight the truth proclaimed in Chapter 40, that there is no other God but the LORD? Of what value would this truth be for the exiles?

REFLECT: The Babylonians ignored God, mercy, and justice by hiding behind self-deification, pride, wealth, and magic. How do people today do these same things? What helped you see that these things could not be trusted? Might some of these still be tempting you today? How so? In our sophisticated and cynical age, why do you think most major newspapers faithfully print astrological information day after day? Have you ever been drawn to astrology or any other occult practice? Why? Do you think it is appropriate for believers to be involved in these things? Why or why not? During the 1950’s and 1960’s, many people predicted that the rise of science would lead to a decline in people’s interest in the supernatural, yet the sales and use of occult books and devices has risen dramatically since then. What does that show you about people? What would it take to have an effective witness to someone involved in these practices?

Seventy long years had passed since the first exiles were deported from Jerusalem (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). Life in Babylon was far from oppressive (Jeremiah 29:4-7), but there were those who could not satisfy their longing for Yerushalayim (Psalm 137). For them, the day of deliverance (48:20-21) could not come soon enough. But finally, it did come with the lightening speed for which Cyrus was famous for. It was on all this that Isaiah meditated: the fall of Babylon (47:1-15), and the call for the captives to go home (48:1-22).¹⁷⁹

In October 539 BC, Cyrus advanced into lower Mesopotamia and, leaving Babylon until last, he conquered and occupied the surrounding territory. King Nabonidus of Babylon deserted the city, leaving his eldest son Belshazzar to rule as coregent. In anticipation of a long siege by Cyrus, Nabonidus had stored supplies to last for twenty years. The Euphrates River ran through the city from north to south, so the residents had plenty of water. But Belshazzar had a false sense of security because the Persian army was outside Babylon’s mighty city walls. They had constructed an exterior wall and an interior wall to fortify it. They were among the seven wonders of the ancient world. The exterior walls were 56 miles long, 300 feet high, and 25 feet thick, with a deep moat that encircled the city. The interior walls were 75 feet high, with 250 towers that were 450 feet high. The city walls were so thick that two chariots could ride on top them side by side.

Not only was the Persian army outside the city walls, but it was divided. Half was stationed where the Euphrates River entered Babylon to the north and the other half was positioned where the river exited the city to the south. But the army dug a canal from the river and diverted the water north of the city into a lake nearby. Thus, the level of the river receded and the soldiers were able to enter by going under a sluice gate. Since those areas of the wall were apparently unguarded, once inside, the Persians were able to easily conquer it. Thus, the overthrow of Babylon took place in a single day, October 12, 539 BC. Chapter 46 described the fall of Babylonian idolatry about two hundred years before it actually took place. The Babylonians, Judah’s captors, would become captives themselves. With this God brings an end to His long war with the idols of Babylon. In Chapter 47 He then turns to the fall of the city of Babylon.

First, we see the declaration of the fall of Babylon in 47:1-5. The language of this poem is harsh, almost brutal. Babylon had lorded her power and wealth over the world as though it were somehow her right, but now she would come face-to-face with reality. The opening imperatives set the tone – they are tense and abrupt. Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon (47:1a). Babylon is called a virgin probably meaning that her city walls had never been penetrated. The city and the empire are depicted as a Virgin Daughter, someone who is young and used to luxuries, who has never had to face the harsh realities of life. Now, all that was gone forever. Although Babylon thought herself destined for a throne, her rightful place was in the dust. An act depicting great mourning (Jonah 3:6). Go down, sit in the dust.¹⁸⁰ She went from throne to dust, from pampering to poverty.

God then commanded her to sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate like a virgin. When the word daughter is used in the singular, it refers to an entire population. If the plural word daughters is used, it refers to the women of a particular nation. The population of the Chaldeans in the nation of Babylon that ruled the ancient world for seventy years will now be leveled to dust. No more will you be called tender or delicate, shielded from the realities of danger (47:1b-c). The virgin daughter will work like a slave girl. Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Work at the millstones was considered the lowest form of slavery (Exodus 11:5; Jab 31:10; Matthew 24:41). The ordinary hand-mill consisted of two circular stones from eighteen to two feet in diameter and about six inches deep. The lower stone, was usually heavier and a harder stone than the upper. The upper stone was a slightly concave surface, had a peg fixed in the middle. The upper stone, with a concave surface, covered the lid of the lower that was convex. There was a pivot that rose from the center of the lower stone, on which the upper stone revolved. Near the edge of the upper stone was a perpendicular stick or handle by which it is turned, and at the center is a hole for the pivot, and also for the grain to fall through upon the stone below. As servants of the conquerors, they would have to grind the flour.

Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams (47:2). As a slave, the women could no longer wear the veil and long gown characteristic of upper-class women. After Babylon’s fall, the thought that her beauty was too valued to be seen was ridiculous. There was no longer anything special about her. She would gather up her skirts and bare her legs as she worked, probably in the irrigation ditches.

Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance. The Hebrew word for vengeance, naqam, implies Babylon’s downfall was her just reward. God declared: I will spare no one (47:3). Many of them would be raped and abused. The city itself will be violated. This depicted the indescribable humiliation that Babylon was finally subjected to. She may have thought she was better than all the other nations, but she wasn’t. She was just one more human nation, subject to the same discipline as any other.

Isaiah records Isra’el’s sense of relief as a result of Babylon’s defeat. She had mistreated the Israelites, but the day came when she was brought low. Seeing God’s vengeance on her captors, the Israelites would praise the LORD for they realized that relief from their bondage would come from God, not themselves. As a result, she would call ADONAI her Redeemer (see my commentary on Exodus Bz – Redemption), the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (CJB), the Holy One of Isra’el because He had judged that evil city and empire (47:4). The beginning of knowledge is the fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7).

Sit in silence, go into darkness, Daughter of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms (47:5). And the virgin daughter not only sits in the dust, she now sits in silence and goes into darkness. The LORD had used Babylon to judge Judah, but like Assyria she had abused her authority (Habakkuk 1:6-11). So God had pronounced His sentence upon the daughter of the Babylonians. No more would she be called the eternal queen, ruling over hundreds of lesser kingdoms subjugated by the Babylonian military. That would come to an end when she herself was subjugated.¹⁸¹ Babylon’s ill-treatment of God’s people would be the cause of her humiliation.

Next, the reasons for the judgment are given in 47:6-10. The LORD addresses Babylon. There are two reasons why He was bringing about Babylon’s judgment. First, ADONAI judged Babylon because of her treatment of Isra’el. I was angry with My people and desecrated My inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. God made it very clear that the reason Babylon was able to take His people into captivity was because He allowed it and not because Babylon was so great. God had delivered the Israelites into the hands of the Babylonians because they had sinned against Him. He was judging His own people. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke (47:6).

But Babylon said: “I will continue forever – the eternal queen!” And God replied: You did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen (47:7). Babylon’s claim to lordship over the earth gave her the idea that she could do as she pleased. But she went beyond the punishment that God had intended for Isra’el to endure. The prophet Zechariah spoke for the LORD when He said: I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity (Zechariah 1:15). Zechariah was a prophet after the Babylonian captivity and after the prophecies of Isaiah had already been fulfilled. Here God states that, yes, I was angry with My people and turned them over to the Gentile nations, but they added to the calamity because they went beyond the boundaries that I set for them. This was especially true for Babylon. It is true that ADONAI had commissioned Babylon to take the Jews into captivity, but she showed no mercy in doing so (2 Chron 35 and 36). So once again we have an example of Genesis 12:3: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse. That is the first reason why Babylon would be judged.

Then secondly, ADONAI judged Babylon because of her self-deification. It was pride the brought Babylon down. Notice how she used the language of God Himself. Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, “I am, and there is none besides me” (47:8a). Isaiah here paints a picture of thoughtless indulgence. Babylon assumed that wealth and position were hers by birthright. The private name of the God of Isra’el is I Am (see my commentary on Exodus At – I AM Has Sent Me To You). Also, throughout these sections of Isaiah, in Chapters 40 through 46, God says over and over: I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God (45:5). This is the very thing that Babylon says of herself, “I am, and there is none besides me.” What God claimed for Himself (43:11, 44:6, 45:5-6, 14, 18, 21-22, 46:9), Babylon claimed for herself. Thus, because of Babylon’s self-deification, judgment would come to her.

Because of her self-deification, Babylon was filled with self-assurance. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children (47:8b). Speaking figuratively of her desolation from defeat, she stated she would never be widowed or childless. She made no other provisions because she could not imagine it. She thought that whatever happened to other empires could never happen to her. She was different, she was special. But then God told Isaiah, that she would end up being both a widow and childless because her population would be slaughtered. Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day; loss of children and widowhood (47:9a). Babylon and several other nations also fell in a single day (see Gw – Then the Angel of the LORD Put To Death a Hundred Eighty Five Thousand Men in the Assyrian Camp).

They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells (47:9b). The magical arts were highly cultivated in Babylon, but they were incapable of averting disaster. Sorceries translates kesapim, a word used in the TaNaKh here and Second Kings 9:22, Micah 5:12 and Nahum 3:4. It suggests seeking information about the future by using demons. The occult, and the demonic activity in such affairs had its beginnings in Babylon (see the commentary on Genesis Dl – The Tower of Babel). But now God tells us Babylon will cease to exist. During the Messianic Kingdom, as we know elsewhere in Isaiah, while everything is perfect and beautiful, Babylon is nothing but a wasteland (see the commentary on Revelation Er – Babylon Will Never Be Found Again). And who is living there for one thousand years? Demons!

Once again we turn to Babylon’s false security. You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, “No one sees me.” Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, “I am, and there is none besides me” (47:10). Those who say there is no God and no life to come, opt for a world without moral consequences. Their own delusional brand of wisdom and knowledge arose out of a sense of self-sufficiency and unaccountability.

The King of Tyre, because of his position of authority in Ezekiel’s day, which was 70 or 80 years after Isaiah, declared himself to be god. He copied the same thing that Babylon mimicked. I am a god (Ezeki’el 28:2). Later in Ezeki’el 28:11-19, the Adversary also said that he was god; in reference to the world, he said to Jesus, “All this I will give to you if you bow down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). As a result, this desire to be god was found in the King of Tyre, Satan, and in Babylon as well.

Then we see the actual fall of Babylon (47:11-15). Although this prophecy by Isaiah was about 200 years in the future, it would point to the end of the punishment of Isra’el for her spiritual adultery and war with the LORD. When Cyrus defeated Babylon and her gods, the way would be cleared for Isra’el to return to the Land, rebuild the Temple and their way of life. At that time, Israel could say that her warfare had been completed (40:12 to 48:22).

The disaster would come swiftly upon Babylon. She will be caught totally by surprise when the fall comes. Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away (47:11a). There will be no warnings from her gods; neither sorcery nor the occult will help Babylon in her moment of trial. She prided herself in her sorcerers who supposedly could tell the future and cast spells to influence others. So mockingly, Isaiah challenged the Babylonians to look to their sorcerers after the fall had already come. Could they conjure it away? Obviously they could not.

The Babylon that felt secure in her wickedness (ra’a) would find evil (ra’a) turning on her. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you (47:11b). When Babylon fell, all her ritual and magical arts would prove worthless. She had made her ethical choices and was going to pay for them. All her ritual was less than worthless. The LORD could not be charmed out of His righteous anger.

ADONAI sarcastically urges Babylon to turn to the witchcraft that she trusted and that got her into trouble in the first place. Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored since childhood, that is, since the nation was founded. God sarcastically stated: Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror (47:12). It was though God was saying, “If you don’t believe Me, go ahead and put your faith into your foolish magic. Who knows, maybe it will help you.” Maybe her sorcerers could perform some magic spell that would terrorize the hearts of her enemies and cause them to run away. Ridiculous! If they wanted terror they only needed to wait for God’s judgment. Then they would know terror.

Ironically ADONAI suggests that the astrologer and stargazers save them. Astrology was common in Babylon and she was tireless in her pursuit, more than any other nation in the ancient world. Her priests would read the intestines of sacrificial animals, her astrologers would chart the movements of the constellations. But it was all for naught. Isaiah cautioned: All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming to you (47:13).

Isaiah finally reveals the result of Babylon’s dependence on the magic arts – utter disaster. The fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame (47:14a). But their work was worthless, like mere straw, they were like dried stalks of grain that burned quickly. Those sorcerers could not even save themselves, let alone Babylon. Yet, they persisted in their error. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by (47:14b). The idols will be burned, and they will be burned in such a way that they will not even provide warmth from the cold. There will be no comfort from them. Then comes the conclusion; the fall of Babylon will be total. After Chapters 46 and 47 Babylon will not be mentioned again for the remainder of the book.

That is all they can do for you – these you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them wanders off on in their error, there is not one that can save you (47:15). The end result was that there was no savior to whom Babylon could turn. Her pride? Her glory? They were only dust and ashes. Her gods? She had to carry them. Her ancient wisdom? Gone with the wind. But by contrast, there was Isra’el. Whereas Babylon had nowhere to turn but herself, Isra’el could turn to the Holy One of Isra’el, her Savior.

Like Babylon, all mankind will also be judged. The Bible teaches that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow (Philippians 2:10a), and that all judgment has been entrusted to the Son (John 5:22). Unbelievers will face the LORD before His throne (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). Believers will also stand before Yeshua Messiah but our judgment has nothing to do with salvation (James 2:18-26), only rewards for our work for the Kingdom of God. While in this life we are building on the foundation of Yeshua Messiah who is the chief cornerstone of our faith. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the LORD (Ephesians 2:20-21).

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day of Judgment will bring it to light (First Corinthians 3:12). The building materials mentioned here are in two categories, each listed in descending order of value. The first category – gold, silver, costly stones – clearly represents high-quality materials. The second – wood, hay or straw – just as clearly represents inferior materials. Gold represents the greatest faithfulness, the most skillful and careful work done for ADONAI. But, straw represents the least, the spiritual leftovers. God wants us to build with only the best materials because only the best materials are worthy of Him, are the most effective and will last.

Ultimately the flame of God’s judgment will test what we have done. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. The wood, hay and straw are not sinful things, but spiritually inferior things. But when tested by fire, they all burn up. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. Only the most faithful, skillful and careful works of gold, silver and costly stones will survive the flame of judgment. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward of crowns (see my commentary on (see the commentary on Revelation Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ). If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames (First Corinthians 3:13-15). We build for the Lord in three basic ways.

First, we build by our motives. Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time, each will receive their praise from God (First Corinthians 4:5).

Secondly, we build by our conduct. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or phaulos, best translated worthless (Second Corinthians 5:10).

Thirdly, we build by our service. The way we use the spiritual gifts God has given us (Romans 12:6-8; First Corinthians 12:1-11; Ephesians 4:11-13; First Peter 4:10-11), the way we minister in His name, is of greatest importance in our building. God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Tim 2:19-21).

Bel Bows Down, Nebo Stoops Low
and They Go Off Together to Captivity
46: 1-13

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low and they go off together to captivity HDIG: Bel and Nebo were the names of two principle gods in Babylon. What are they carrying? What happens to them? How does this compare with the LORD in 46:3-4? What do they do for the people that worship them? What things does God say He has done and will do for Isra’el? Who are the rebels in 46:8 and the stubborn-hearted in 46:12 (see 42:18-25)? How does this relate to the promises in 46:3-4? What will the people learn once more through the events that are soon to occur? The man in 46:11 is Cyrus. Although Isra’el is currently far from righteousness, how will God use Cyrus to bring righteousness near to them? Why is the LORD doing this?

REFLECT: Have you seen people today worn out and let down by the very idols to which they have devoted themselves? Has this happened to you? In contrast to the idols in 46:1-2, how have you experienced God as a Father carrying you when you were weak? Or as a Strong Man, sustaining you when you were tired? Or as a Warrior rescuing you when you were trapped? Isaiah concludes there is none like God. Based on your sampling of modern idols, what would you say comes the closest to, or even approaches God? How do you go about remembering the works of God in your life? Is there anything you could do differently to help yourself remember them? How has God brought His righteousness near to you (Rom 3:21-24; Eph 2:13)?

Throughout his prophecies, Isaiah has periodically prophesied about the city of Babylon. Sometimes he dwells on the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar and sometimes the rebuilt city of Babylon of the antichrist. In this case he is talking about the near historical Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar and her idols. Babylon is the original source of all idolatry. It started with the Tower of Babel (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Dl – The Tower of Babel), and the rebellion of Nimrod (see the commentary on Genesis Di – The Line of Ham). Idolatry will end at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation where Jerusalem will become the religious capital of the antichrist and he will set himself up to be worshiped as god in the Most Holy Place (see the commentary on Revelation Dr – The Abomination That Causes Desolation), and Babylon will become his political and commercial capital (see the commentary on Revelation Em – With a Mighty Voice He Shouted: Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great).

In 44:24-28, Isaiah called Cyrus His Shepherd, and 45:1-8 saw him launch into his dazzling career. Now the heart of the matter, as far as Isra’el was concerned, was at hand – the fall of Babylon. What makes this prophecy remarkable is the fact that at the time of Isaiah’s writing, Babylon was a very small and insignificant kingdom. It would be almost a century before it would become a world power. We are given a bird’s-eye view as the phony gods of Babylon are unceremoniously carted off from the doomed city. Of course, it did not happen that way. Isaiah used figurative language while dealing with pictures and principles. His purpose is not to describe but to expose. There is no recorded evacuation of Babylon either before or after Cyrus’ assault, but in a strikingly visual way Isaiah presents the truth that Babylon’s false gods could not save her.

Because they could not save, Babylon’s idols are pictured as being taken into captivity. Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by animals, beasts of burden. The loads you yourselves were carrying are now burdening tired animals (46:1 CJB). Isaiah exposes the two key Babylonian gods as being worthless and unable to help the Jews in any way. Behind the idols of that day was satanic worship, which is becoming more and more popular in our own day. The Word of God repeatedly warns us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, we need to defend ourselves by putting on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18).

Bel bows down (46:1a). Bel, the same title as Ba’al, or lord, is the shortened form of Bel Marduk, the Babylonian god of light. Bel is also found in the first part of Beelzebub – one of Satan’s names (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, that This Fellow Drives Out Demons). There is an apocryphal book named Bel and the Dragon. The Church fathers did not include it with the canon of inspired Scripture, but it is interesting reading in a historical sense. Later, Bel Marduk became known as Jupiter in the Roman Empire. Bel was the title originally given to Enlil, the so-called father of the gods whose center was at Nippur. But Marduk, the city god of Babylon and hero of Enuma Elish (the Babylonian creation story), eventually became the chief god of southern Mesopotamia, and the title became his. But now these two most important gods of the Babylonian pantheon were seen to be stooped low as if they were in carts to be carried away. The judgment of God fell upon these gods through Cyrus.

Nebo stoops low (46:1b). Nebo, Bel’s son, was worshiped by the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Sabians in Arabia. He was their god of wisdom, and was carried annually to Babylon to accompany his father in the New Year processions. There he supposedly wrote on “tablets of destiny” what the coming year would hold for Babylon (but apparently he wasn’t so prophetic when it came to Cyrus). He corresponds to the Latin Mercury, the Greek Hermes, and the Egyptian Thoth. The name Nebo, or Nabu, was supposedly derived from nabah, meaning to prophesy, and the office of this deity was that of interpreter for the gods. His symbol was a simple wedge or arrowhead and the name of the planet nearest the sun, Mercury. The popularity of this god is seen in the combination of his name with the names of ancient kings: for example: Nebu-chadnezzar, Nebu-zaradan, Nebu-hashban, Nabo-nedus, Nabo-nassar, Nabu-rianus, Nabo-abus, Nabo-polassar. In light of the prominence of Nabu in these names it seems likely that Nebo, or Nabu, was the title that the kings of the Babylonian Empire chose to identify themselves with. He was the patron of the art of writing and patron-god of the Babylonian city of Borsippa, some ten miles south of Babylon.

The expressions, bows down and stoops low, evidently refer to the downfall of these idols, and of the system of idolatry of which they were the symbols. According to the prophecy this was to be accomplished by the Persian power. It is, therefore, proper to remark here, that though the Persians worshiped the sun, the moon, the earth, etc., images of gods were entirely unknown among them. Herodotus says of them, “they have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars and consider the use of them a sign of folly” (Book 1, chapter 131). Thus, it was in perfect accordance with their own customs that the Persians should destroy the graven images of other nations. To Cyrus the Persian monarch is this work of destruction (46:1).

When all was said and done, Babylon’s mighty gods were reduced to being dependent on pack animals. Their idols are borne by animals, beasts of burden. The loads you yourselves were carrying are now burdening tired animals (46:1 CJB). These two were not only the most prominent of the Babylonian gods, but also especially appropriate for Isaiah’s denunciation because they were carried in the annual New Year’s Festival procession in Babylon. This picture of worshipers carrying their gods would be especially appropriate here and in 46:7. It is as if God were saying, “How can a god that you have to carry around ever save you?” The impotence of the gods of Babylon is contrasted with the supreme power of the God of Isra’el. The former are carried away from their country into exile, while God carries His people from captivity into freedom.

They stoop and bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but they themselves go off into captivity (46:2 CJB). So utterly helpless are Nebo and Bel, that they cannot deliver themselves from captivity, and so worthless that they are counted only as burdensome images that are carried about by beasts of burden.¹⁷⁷ Isaiah says that they are burdensome, a burden for the weary. Furthermore, he tells us that they were unable to rescue the burden. These gods could not deliver Babylon from the invasion of Cyrus and the Persians. Now, they themselves go off into captivity, the property of Cyrus the Great. It is important to see here that the gods of Babylon were gods that needed to be carried. That is his main point. But in the rest of the chapter, ADONAI gives three warnings.

Now God turns the tables. The focus of His ire is not on the false gods of Babylon, but on the fragile faith of the Israelites (46:3-7). The first warning is to listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all who remain of the house of Isra’el, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth (46:3). God’s admonition to the Israelites to listen to Him is frequently seen in the prophecies of Isaiah (44:1, 46:3 and 12, 47:8, 48:1, 12, 14 and 16, 51:4, 52:8, 55:2). In contrast to the false gods that had to be carried in ritual procession, ADONAI is seen as carrying Isra’el from the beginning and will continue to do so until the end. Carrying brings three images to mind: a father carrying his child (Deuteronomy 1:31), a shepherd carrying his lamb (Psalm 28:9), and an eagle carrying its young (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11).

Even to your old age and gray hairs I Am He, I am He who will [carry] you (46:4a). In 46:3 God carried His children since birth, in 46:4 the LORD says even when you are old I will carry you. The contrast is even more precise and vivid in the Hebrew text. The carts and the carriages were loaded with the weight of the idols (46:1); but we are loaded upon ADONAI. Idols are a burden, a thing to be carried; but the LORD has gladly carried us since our birth. Isra’el has changed, from the child in the womb, to the infant growing through adolescence to adulthood, to the onset of gray hairs in old age. But one thing had not changed – the burden-bearing God, who carried His people.

There will never come a time when we outgrow our dependence on the LORD. We are as dependent on Him in our old age as we were when we were infants (Psalm 71:9 and 18). Nor will there ever be a time when a wobbly old grandfather God will somehow need to lean on us, or we will need to find a young, virile God in the future. He is not subject to history; in every age He is the unchanging I Am He. The I Am is self-existent, self-dependent. He is above the changes, the limitations, the unforeseen of time and space. ADONAI can surely carry us through whatever may come our way in this life.

I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you (46:4b). Nothing could be more comforting, for our Father loves and cares for His children. He carries every care and worry that comes our way throughout our lifetime. The Word of God encourages you to cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you (First Peter 5:7). The reason they needed to listen was to understand that God is the One who carries, and does not need to be carried. In contrast to the Babylonian idols that needed to be carried, the God of Isra’el is a God who carries the Jews from the cradle to the grave.

To whom will you compare Me or count Me equal? To whom will you liken Me that we may be compared (46:5)? And the reason it is so difficult to explain is because He is infinite and we are finite and live in a finite universe. There is nothing to compare Him to. He cannot be reduced to our vocabulary without losing all meaning. He cannot be translated into human language. This is why Jesus became a man. The only way we can know ADONAI is through Yeshua. He revealed God to us. As He Himself said: Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9b).

To reinforce the foolishness of any attempt at comparison, Isaiah launches into the fourth and last exposure of the contradictions of idol worship (40:19-20, 41:6-7, 44:9-20 and here). Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it (46:6). Here God challenges all to compare Him with the Babylonian idols, all of which were made by human hands. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move (46:7a). Isaiah includes a bit of sarcasm here. This is one of several times that Isaiah belittled idols (40:18-20, 41:7, 44:9-20, 45:16 and 20, 46:1-2). All the false gods had to be carried and set in their place because they could not move. Some god! They lugged it around on their shoulders and when they got home, they put it in the corner. In other words, they are unable to save anything. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles (46:7b). This shows the absolute absurdity of idolatry. Though they might give it all their love and attention, but when all was said and done, a thing that could not help itself, could not help others.

The second warning (46:8-11). The second warning is to remember the works of God. He challenges the Israelites to remember their past and reminds them that the Jewish prophets had predicted everything that has happened to them so far. Thus, ADONAI had shaped the past and revealed the future, not the idols of Babylon, but the God of Isra’el. The real question was this: Given the astonishing nature of His claims and promises, would Isra’el believe the LORD or remain stubborn-hearted (see 46:12 below)?

Isaiah had been fighting against the sheer stupidity of idolatry. He cautioned: Remember this, fix it in your mind (found only here in the Bible), literally make yourselves firm and take it to heart, you rebels (46:8). Isra’el did and could know better – if only she would take a thoughtful account of things, as she should have already done. She needed to give it some serious thought. This is the same theme found in Deuteronomy. What was the antidote to her unbelief? Memory. Moses and all the prophets should have reminded her that when she remembered the former things, those of long ago she would see God as He really is and know that she could believe in Him. Is this not true for us also? He says, even to us today: I am EL and there is no other; I am ELOHIM and there is none like Me (46:9). He alone is God.

I made known, or declared, the end from the beginning, from ancient times, and what is still to come (46:10a). He is not only the revealer of the things in the past, He is the revealer of things in the future. He reveals the whole sweep of human history. God says: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please (46:10b). As in creation (Psalm 33:9), so in history, ADONAI’s will cannot be hindered. Even when some particular experience sidetracks God’s people, His desire will still be accomplished. It is unalterable. The difference between Him and the supposed gods of wood and stone should have been obvious.

Once again He refers to Cyrus. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose (46:11a). He pictures Cyrus (whose standard was an eagle) as a bird of prey because he will devour the nations that he comes up against. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that will I do (46:11b). His promises will be brought about because God Himself will be at work in human history to accomplish them.

There is a third warning (46:12-13). These two verses turn out to be Isaiah’s final appeal to Isra’el to accept ADONAI’s will in the matter of Cyrus. Isra’el needed to trust Him that He could and would deliver them. They were to listen and respond to God’s righteousness. Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are far from righteousness (46:12). God first brings them to the spiritual reality that they are stubborn-hearted, or headstrong, and far from Him and His righteousness.

To continue to question God is no longer an absence of faith but a stubborn-hearted refusal to believe. We often consider stubborn-heartedness the result of arrogance, the attitude of those who do not think they need deliverance. But it may be just as much, as we see here, the response of those who recognize their need but cannot believe that the LORD can meet it. Here the unbelief seems to be focused on three questions: Is God really strong enough to wrestle His people away from the gods of Babylon? Would He want to save them at all, since their sin has been so grievous? And is the conquest of Babylon by another pagan, Cyrus, really an acceptable mode of deliverance?

It is important to notice Isaiah’s increasingly harsh tone that he uses to convince the Jewish people to take his words to heart. In 40:27 he simply asks why the people would even question God. By 42:18 Isaiah is calling them deaf and blind to the truth. In 45:9 he pronounces doom on those who presume to define what God can and cannot do. He calls them rebels in 46:8, and then stubborn-hearted here. Finally, Chapter 48 is a denunciation of those who have heard with their ears, but not their hearts. They have never heard the truth about themselves or about God (6:9-10). The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity (Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2), but there is an end even to that, as the generation in the wilderness and the destruction of Jerusalem should tell us.¹⁷⁸

I am bringing My righteousness near, it is not far away; and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, My splendor to Isra’el (46:13). The idolater makes a god in his own image; ADONAI intends to make His people in His. As a result, God calls them to righteousness. This is an evangelistic plea to believe and be saved. That has always been His will for all mankind. But Isra’el has always been the focal point of salvation. Whatever horrible things they have done, however His name has been defiled, it is through Israel that He has chosen to make His salvation known to the world. He has been faithful and a covenant keeper. Therefore, should we not believe God?

The Judgment of Babylon and Her Idols
46:1 to 47:15

The business of magic and foretelling was big business in Babylon. There were classes of priests whose business was to read the significance for the future from the shape of a sacrificial animal’s innards. These omens were carefully cataloged and recorded; their official listing ran to more than seventy tablets. When we think of the tremendous effort that went into compiling and categorizing these, we get some idea of what Isaiah is talking about. By comparison, it makes the acquisition of a Ph.D. degree today look pretty easy. At the same time, one would have to gain great skill at covering up all the wrong prognostications.

The same kind of incredible effort went into the study of the horoscope. How much time must have been spent staring into the night sky in order to find some coordination between the placement of the stars and current events. Then they had to answer to the kings and rulers as to whether to undertake certain activities. In some ways, they would have been better off if they did not have so much intelligence. They would not have had the illusion of being in control of the fates that ruled their lives and country. The amazing fact is that the horoscope is still being used today. People who deny that Jesus ever did a miracle will open the newspaper to read it. This is nothing other than a continuation of that failed Babylonian wisdom.

The word mazzaroth is the Hebrew of what we commonly call the zodiac. The word zodiac is actually a transliteration of a Greek word. But the Hebrew word zodi means the Way, which is a euphemism for being a follower of the Messiah (Acts 9:2, 19:9 and 23, 22:4, 24:14 and 22). Therefore, the original story told in the stars was the story of the Messiah, from Virgo, the virgin Mary, to Leo, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lw – The Witness of the Stars). But the Adversary has turned the truth of the gospel into a lie. Today we have only a corrupted understanding that goes back to the Latin, Romans, and the Greeks.

What is the attraction of the zodiac today? The same attraction that it has had for five thousand years. People think they can get control of their lives by getting a glimpse of what fate dictates will happen today. The life of faith in Messiah is vastly different. He asks us to surrender our lives and our futures into His hands for His direction, multiplication, and blessing. But we humans would rather not surrender. Too much of the time, we would rather apply our vast intelligence to getting control of the world for ourselves, just like the Babylonians.¹⁷⁶ The message in these scriptures is that Babylon would be used by ADONAI to judge Judah, but God in turn would destroy her. Her gods, mere idols, would not be able to save her from defeat in Chapter 46 and Babylon would fall in spite of her sorceries and wisdom in Chapter 47.

Turn to Me and Be Saved,
For I Am God and there is No Other
45: 18-25

Turn to Me and be saved, for I am God and there is no other DIG: What lessons from 44:24-26 are repeated here? What is the purpose of this continual contrast between God and idols? From this passage alone, what does God say about His character? His purposes? His desires? Where is 45:23 quoted in the New Covenant, and in reference to whom?

REFLECT: How do these verses form the backdrop for Philippians 2:10-11? Accordingly, who are the descendants of Israel (see Galatians 3:29)? What do these verses indicate about the ultimate purpose of God’s judgments and acts in history? God calls all types of people to come to Him. How does that affect your prayers? Your priorities? Your sense of purpose? Your hope?

Isaiah continues his near historical prophecy about the approaching deliverance for those Jews sitting in Babylon who needed hope. Yeshua is our blessed hope (Titus 2:13); He is the Creator and the Revealer. God’s creative power is proof that what He predicted about Cyrus is true. For this is what the LORD says, He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it (45:18a). The Greek word ki, meaning for or because, shows that what follows only confirms what went before it. And what went on before it was that ADONAI was the Potter and Isra’el was the clay; He was the Holy One of Isra’el and its Maker (45:9-11). Four different verbs underscore His creative powers, and two of them are repeated twice, to make the point that the heavens and the earth are the works of His hands. He created, and fashioned, and made and founded the earth.

He did not create it to be empty, or chaotic, but formed it to be inhabited (45:18b). Some use this verse to prove that there is a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Ah – The Supposed Gap Theory). I do not believe in the Gap Theory because of context, context, context. In Genesis 1:31, God saw all that He had made and it was very good. If the world had been laid waste between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 it would not have been very good. In comparison to the living God, the idols that Isra’el had been worshiping continued to disappoint them. Chaos did not exist before God, and God did not bring chaos into existence. He brought order in existence. Rather, ADONAI created the world specifically for humans to live an orderly life. Who could the Israelites trust? God’s order or the idol’s chaos?

Therefore, God communicated the truth to them by saying: I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, “Seek Me in vain.” I the LORD, speak the truth. I declare what is right (45:19). Another proof that what God had said about Isra’el’s salvation is the very nature of God’s Word. He is the Revealer and speaks only what is true. Isaiah said God had not spoken in secret because everything that has happened has been prophesied. Also, He has not spoken out in a land of darkness, like what took place with the occult worship in Babylon. When the Babylonian prophets spoke, they were in contact with darkness and the world of darkness. YHVH never told Isra’el to seek Him in vain. Because whenever sinners seek God, they will find righteousness and salvation. Jesus said it this way: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

Who could deliver Isra’el? The LORD or the gods? Far from Isra’el being concerned over whether God could deliver her from Babylon, it was the mighty Babylonians who needed to worry about whether the gods whom they had served could deliver them! Then Isaiah moved to his amazing conclusion. If Babylon wanted to be delivered from its coming destruction, it needed to look to the God of the captives, the God of Isra’el. It wasn’t like the LORD was going to secretly whisk His people back to Judah. No, it was their own make-believe gods that would utterly fail the Babylonians.

Therefore, God called the peoples of the world to come together to test His true identity. Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Those fugitives seemed to look forward to the time when the judgments associated with Cyrus (45:1-3, 14 and 16) had already occurred. Those who were left after the destruction were invited to reflect on what all of it meant. Ignorant are those who carry about empty idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save them (45:20). Those fugitives were portrayed as carrying around sacred pieces of wood, praying to them even though all the evidence pointed to the fact that they were utterly useless.

But what about Isra’el? Would she continue to trust in her idols that got her into trouble in the first place? This was a teachable moment, and Isra’el’s great tragedy became God’s great opportunity. This was a close analogy to the ark narrative in First Samuel 4-5. There, because of the magical trust in the ark of the covenant, Israel was defeated and it taken. But that defeat then became a perfect opportunity to show the Philistines that God was not defeated just because Isra’el was. Likewise, here, Isra’el’s captivity, the result of false trust in the Temple (Jeremiah 7:3-15), among other things, became an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of God to the idols of Babylon.¹⁷³ Isra’el was called upon to repudiate all idolatry. The idols are so helpless that they could not even carry themselves. They needed to be carried by their worshipers to their temples, and in their processions into battle (Second Samuel 5:21).

Isaiah then asked the Israelite exiles in Babylon to present their strongest case possible for idolatry. He said: Declare what is to be, present it – let them take counsel together. Who foretold the Babylonian captivity long ago? Who declared it from the distant past (45:21a)? The scene is reminiscent of Psalm 2:2 where the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against His Anointed One. But their cause is just as hopeless here as it was there.

Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me (45:21b). ADONAI alone had the ability to predict the future accurately. That had been at the heart of all the disputes between Himself and Isra’el from the beginning (41:22-27; 43:9-10; 44:7-8). The real proof of Ha’Shem’s superiority is His sovereignty over history. To put it simply, ADONAI can make things happen, while the idols just sit there.

Therefore, both the logic and evidence presented by Isaiah were indisputable. Since the LORD is the only revealer of things that came in the past and things that were coming in the future, He is the only righteous God and Savior. The gods of Babylon will not save the Jews, only the LORD will save Jacob’s descendants. In the captivity the Israelites could count on the fact that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would deliver them from exile by the hand of Cyrus. There is none like Him. He is the Promise Keeper, and says: I am the LORD, and there is no other (45:18c).

Isaiah continued with his prophecy, declaring that one day the Gentile nations would know the LORD in a personal way. We cannot go wrong if we remind ourselves again that Isaiah’s name means the LORD saves and conclude that the primary theme of the book of Isaiah is salvation. Isaiah 45:22, then, can serve us well as the key verse for the book as a whole: Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. The God of Isra’el turns to the Gentile nations and calls for them to turn to ADONAI. This phrase means to believe in the LORD and be saved. This is the consistent message of the Bible from beginning to end. In Genesis 12:3 we read: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. And in Revelation 5:9 it says: They sang a new song, “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” This has always been a blind spot for the Jews (see the commentary on Acts Bg – Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius).

God swears by Himself because what He says is spoken, or uttered in all integrity, a word that will not be revoked (45:23a). What He says is true and will never be retracted. There is only one God to whom the world owes allegiance, only one by whom oaths can be guaranteed. Thus, there is only one Judge and Savior of the whole world. This has implications for Isra’el, but it also has implications for the Gentiles. All will be judged and give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:10-12), and before Him every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father (Isaiah 45:23b; Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus Christ alone will judge all mankind . The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son (John 5:23). And God alone will save all the earth. Thus, while bowing the knee may be the act of a condemned criminal, it is also that of a pardoned sinner!

The only hope for Isra’el, for the world, and for you and me continues to be the LORD. He is not the Savior of Isra’el because He is Isra’el’s God. He is the Savior of Isra’el because He is the Savior of the world. Moreover, ADONAI declares: They will say of Me, “In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength. And all who have raged against Him will come to Him and be put to shame” (45:24). The implied far eschatological prophecy given here describes the final verdict given to the spiritual rebels in the courtroom of Jesus Christ (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). For the faithful remnant, the great white throne judgment will be something to look forward to, for it will vindicate their lives. Evil will be punished and their faithfulness will be rewarded.

Recorded history will show that the vast majority of Jews have not accepted Yeshua as their Messiah. To this day most refuse to bow the knee and confess that Yeshua Messiah is Lord. But at the Second Coming, all the righteous of the TaNaKh will be saved (Romans 11:26a). At that time, during the Millennial Kingdom, when the world finally admits that its gods are nothing, all the descendants of Isra’el will be found righteous in the LORD and will rejoice in Him (Isaiah 45:25). He will be the One who vindicated them and who is glorified in them. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). All that is praiseworthy is a result of who God is and what He has done for Isra’el and for us.¹⁷⁴ Will Cyrus physically deliver them from the Babylonian captivity? Yes, but that physical deliverance only foreshadows a far greater spiritual deliverance to come. We have reached a turning point in Isaiah’s book. From this point on Cyrus fades into the background and the rest of the story is dominated by the One who had chosen to use him.

The righteousness of God is seen most clearly in His gracious gift of salvation. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Charles Spurgeon, the famous preacher-evangelist, not yet sixteen years old, was converted to faith in Christ after hearing a layman’s sermon on Isaiah 45:22. It was as if YHVH was speaking directly to him, saying: Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I Am God, and there is no other.¹⁷⁵ God was the only one who could save Isra’el from Babylon, and He is the only One who can save us from our sin.

The fact that there is only one God and only one way to heaven is just as fundamental and distasteful today as it was many centuries ago. This is a radically exclusive message. There is only one God and one Savior, and He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yeshua said it this way: I Am the Way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me (John 14:6). Wow, is that offensive to unbelievers. They say, “How narrow-minded,” or “How judgmental!” But the offense is real (Galatians 5:11). In reality, Messiah’s message is our only hope (Jeremiah 29:11-14). You must either accept it, or reject it. You cannot ignore it, for to ignore Messiah’s message is to reject it. Make a wise choice for eternal joy and happiness.

I Will Rise Up Cyrus in My Righteousness,
I Will Make All His Ways Straight
45: 9-17

I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness, I will make all his ways straight DIG: Evidently, some people objected to the prophet’s declaration that God would use a pagan as the means of deliverance. How does God refute that objection? How does the LORD reassure the Israelites that they indeed have a future and have not merely been swallowed up in a Gentile take-over of the world?

REFLECT: Do you have any outstanding quarrels with your Maker? What are they? What should you do to resolve them? Is there anything you are worshiping right now that causes you to feel ashamed or disgraced? How did Isra’el overcome that tendency? How can you overcome it? Why does the fact that Isra’el is saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation good news for you?

This is an address apparently directed to those who questioned the propriety of the selection of Cyrus, rather than a descendant of the house of David, as the liberator of Isra’el. When we put ourselves into the position of the Hebrew people, it is not hard to realize how difficult it would be for them to accept Cyrus as God’s shepherd, or His anointed. When they thought of returning from the Babylonian exile, they must had thought of a second exodus, manna from heaven, water from rocks, and another Moses. It was shocking for them to hear that their deliverer would be a pagan who did not even know God. They wondered out loud why ADONAI would have to use a Gentile king and an idolater like Cyrus as a means of accomplishing His plan. Therefore, God was being criticized for it here by some Jews of that day. These verses are a rebuke of those critics. Two points are made.

First, we see the absurdity of the criticism and the critics themselves. Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a broken, discarded piece of pottery, or a potsherd, among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?” Does your work say, “He has no hands” (45:9)? It is like clay talking back to the potter. The clay never does that. It would be absurd. That is how God pictures these critics. ADONAI is the Creator of the entire world. He knows how best to work out His own plan. Who are these critics to criticize Him?

Secondly, nor do children have the right to question why their parents brought them into the world. Woe to him who says to his father, “What have you begotten?” Or to his mother, “What have you brought to birth” (45:10)? It is like a fetus in the womb complaining and demanding to know what is happening. Fetuses don’t do that (although they may complain after they get out) ! In the same way, Isra’el has no right to question God, her Maker.

Next, God defends His own sovereignty to do as He pleases. This is what the LORD says – the Holy One of Isra’el, and its Maker. Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My children, or give Me orders about the work of My hands? The LORD points out that no one can command God as to how He should accomplish His plan. It is His program and no mortal finite human can possibly command an immortal infinite God. ADONAI is the Maker of all that exists and He can do with it as He chooses. To emphasize this point He declares: I Am the One who made the earth, and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I organized their starry skies (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lw – The Witness of the Stars). All we have has been given to us, but it isn’t ours. It belongs to our God who created it. We care for it on His behalf. So, we need to serve Him with gladness and thank Him for His good gifts (45:11-12).

Then ADONAI reaffirms and restates His current purpose with a near historical prophecy. Speaking through His prophet, He said: I will rise up Cyrus in My righteousness; I will make all his ways straight. Cyrus is going to be raised up to carry out the program of righteousness. Now he was not righteous himself, but God’s program is a righteous program. And part of carrying out His righteous program is using Cyrus as an instrument of His will. He will rebuild My City and set My exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD of heaven’s armies (45:13). As a result, Cyrus will set the Jewish exiles free to rebuild Jerusalem.

As believers, we need to be careful not to fall into the same trap that those Jews did during the life of Isaiah and that the Pharisees did during the life of Christ. Both generations put ADONAI in a box. Some of the Jews of Isaiah’s generation could not accept the fact that God could use a Gentile king and an idolater like Cyrus to accomplish His plan. Most of the Pharisees of Messiah’s generation could not accept that He did not believe in nor follow, the Oral Law (see The Life of Christ – Ei The Oral Law), or the tradition of the elders (Matthew 15:2). It was people who zealously studied the Scriptures who could not believe that Jesus could be the promised Messiah. It was people who wanted to please God who could not accept His friendship with notorious sinners. It was people who had almost made a life’s work of studying God’s ways who could not allow Yeshua to deliver people in ways that seemed to violate how ADONAI was supposed to act. Both generations were wrong, and both suffered tragic results. We need to be careful that we do not put the LORD in a box. Just when we think we have Him all figured out, He surprises us. He is God and we are not.

The rise of Cyrus will not only signal the Jewish return to the Promised Land, but also the eventual birth of the Messiah and the fulfillment of His will for both Jews and Gentiles. Isaiah clearly telescopes the entire period between the return from exile to the coming Messiah by giving a far eschatological prophecy about the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6) and the submission of the Gentile nations to Isra’el (see the commentary on Revelation Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom). The Israelites did not need to worry. ADONAI’s promises to David were not swallowed up in, what seemed to be at the time of the exile, a Gentile take-over of the world. The LORD had promised David that he would rule the nations (Isaiah 9:7, 11:12-16; Psalm 2:7-12) and that they would submit to him (Isaiah 7:23; Psalm 72:8-12). As strange as it sounded to them at the time, the rise of Cyrus to power would start that process.

At the time of this prophecy, the Jews were living in Judah and thought Isaiah was a fool. But the LORD knew that about 200 years later, when they were in Babylon and in the midst of depression from their departure from the Temple and the Land, that they would need hope. In a corporate lament, the Psalmist would write: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion (Psalm 137:1-9). So here Isaiah continues his message of comfort (40:1-11) and tells them that not only would they come back from the captivity, but one day the Gentile nations would be subject to them! Hence, ADONAI describes the submission of the Gentiles to the people of Israel as we also see in 49:23 and 60:4-9.

Isaiah then describes the submission of three Gentile nations. This is what ADONAI says: The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush (Ethiopia), and those of the Sabeans (a tribe in Upper Egypt lying between Egypt and the Ethiopians) – they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you willingly, as if in chains. By coming to Israel’s Messiah, the Gentiles will come to Isra’el.

They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying: Surely God is with you, and there is no other, there is no other god (45:14). He is essentially dealing with the Northeast countries of Africa. These are the very enemies of Isra’el today. Yet someday they will submit themselves to the people of Isra’el. The reason they will come is that they will recognize that God is with them. In fact, this is a summary statement of Chapter 19, which details the submission of Egypt to the people of Isra’el. It is also a summation of Chapters 17 and 20, which deal with the submission of Ethiopia to the people of Isra’el. So, ultimately the Muslims are going to confess that ADONAI, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is the one true God. At that time, they will know and experience the grace of Jesus Christ.

When Isaiah saw this future prophecy, he broke out in song: Truly you are a God who hides Himself, O God and Savior of Isra’el (45:15). When Isaiah says that God hides Himself, he doesn’t mean that God is being secretive. God hides Himself in the sense that His program is a mystery. When the Bible uses the term mystery, it means something that was once hidden, but has now been revealed. In other words, when Isaiah is given all this revelation about ADONAI’s program he breaks into song about how the ways of the LORD are being revealed at that time. No false god, no phony prophet could come up with such a fantastic plan. We see the same thing in Romans 9, 10, and 11 where ADONAI deals with His program with Isra’el. And much of what Paul writes about in the book of Romans has its seeds in the book of Isaiah, which he quotes rather heavily throughout. In Chapter 9 he points out the fact that Isra’el’s unbelief in the Messiah did not take Ha’Shem by surprise at all. He knew she would do so and used her disobedience for His ultimate plan. So that in Romans 10, opportunity might be given to the Gentiles to come to a saving knowledge of ADONAI.

Furthermore, in Romans 11 Paul says that not all Jews have rejected the Messiah, so throughout this present dispensation there is always going to be a believing remnant of Jews who will believe in Yeshua Messiah. At the end of Romans 11:25-32, Paul declares that ADONAI’s program with Isra’el will ultimately be fulfilled. He says the day is coming when all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26). After Paul reveals this information about God’s program, he too breaks out in song in Romans 11:33-36. So, both Isaiah and Paul declare that the LORD’s ways are thoroughly unsearchable. It is a plan that is magnificent. It is ADONAI’s plan, and no one, on their own, cannot discover it. It has to come by revelation.

The last two verses in this section are commentary on the previous statements, and are in the context of the millennial Kingdom. All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together (45:16). During the Great Tribulation, the occult will reign freely as the restraining influence of the Spirit of God will have been removed from the earth. Any unbelieving Gentiles who are born during and live in the Millennial Kingdom will be put to shame and disgrace because of the idols they have trusted in. They will not be ashamed of themselves for trusting in idols because they still have unrepentant hearts, but nevertheless, they will go into disgrace together. There is a play upon words in this verse. Notice the term disgraced or confused. The Hebrew word for confusion is babel. It is also the name for Babylon. The source of idolatry and occult worship, and therefore the source of confusion, ultimately goes back to the city of Babylon. But that will not be the case for believing Isra’el.

But Isra’el will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation. Jeremiah would later emphasize that God had said: I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Jesus would announce: I tell you the truth, whoever believes [in Me] has everlasting life (John 6:47). In contrast to all the Gentiles who went through the Great Tribulation, the LORD said of Isra’el, “You will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting (45:17). The good news for believers, is that if Isra’el cannot lose her salvation because of her sin, neither can you lose your salvation because of your sin! The only kind of salvation ADONAI gives is everlasting salvation (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

Isra’el, who used to be prone to the idol worship of the Babylonian gods, would never be put to shame or disgraced (confused) by idols again (Isaiah 54:4; Romans 9:33, 10:11; First Peter 2:6). Consequently, the righteous of the TaNaKh, and those who repented and accepted Jesus as the Messiah at the end of the Great Tribulation (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ), will enjoy ADONAI’s everlasting salvation.

This is What the LORD says to Cyrus His Anointed
45: 1-8

DIG: In the past, only Israelite kings were called God’s anointed. What is the significance of the LORD’s using this title for a pagan king? Why does God give victory after victory to Cyrus? Since no other deported people ever maintained their ethnic and religious heritage, how will the re-establishment of the Jews fulfill these purposes in 45:6-8? Several times in this section Ha’Shem repeats that there is no God but Him. Does ADONAI’s deliverance of the Jews from Babylon by the hand of a Persian prove this claim? How so? What does this communicate to the Jews? What does 45:6 communicate to the Gentile nations? Persian religion taught that a god of light and a god of darkness were in perpetual warfare with each other. What light does this shed on 45:7? What are the implications of 45:7 (Job 2:10, Amos 3:6, and Romans 11:36)?

REFLECT: Do you think that the LORD still shapes all of history around the purpose of saving His people? How might the purpose of God be traced in some recent world event? From this passage, what should be your response to that event? Think about the continued existence of the Jews, despite their long history of persecution and oppression, even today – what does that show us of ADONAI? In what ways are the actions of Cyrus like the work of Messiah? What other Christ-like figures today do you think God might be using to accomplish His purpose?

This chapter begins with Cyrus as the last chapter ended with him. Here, ADONAI talks directly to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of (45:1b); however, this message is not really addressed to the Persian king. It was meant for the downtrodden Israelites who could not see how God’s promise of restoration could possibly happen. The great issue was convincing the LORD’s people that He could rescue them.

From the famous Cyrus Cylinder, discovered by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in 1879, we have learned that Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, was highly displeased with the Babylonian king Nabonidus’ cruelties. Therefore, he called upon Cyrus to conquer Babylon, and restore the proper devotion to himself. So there was a dramatic difference between Marduk’s supposedly calling Cyrus and ADONAI’s calling of him. Marduk supposedly chose him because of his admirable qualities, strength and leadership skills. But with God those traits did not matter. What really mattered was the God of Isra’el had summoned him by name (45:3), even though Cyrus did not acknowledge Him (45:4), so that men and women everywhere would know the LORD (45:6). As a result, Cyrus’ mission was solely dependent on the nature and character of ADONAI, not the calling of Marduk. It is not the perfect man that would save the world, but a holy God.

Cyrus was named almost two hundred years before he was born. I believe there are three reasons. First, primarily for identification. When Cyrus did appear on the scene, there would be no misunderstanding about whom Isaiah had spoken about. Secondly, Cyrus would be the man responsible for a decree that would return the Israelites to the Land. Thirdly, it would prepare the Israelites for the coming of Messiah. If in two hundred years Isaiah’s near historical prophecy about Cyrus was accurate, then God could also be trusted that His future prophecy about the One born of a virgin, Immanuel (to see link click Cb – The LORD Himself Will Give You a Sign), would also be accurate.

This is what the LORD says to His anointed (45:1a). If Isaiah’s hearers were shocked earlier at Cyrus’ being called God’s shepherd (44:28), they must have been even more so at his now being called My anointed. This title had previously been reserved only for priests, prophets, and kings of Isra’el. Could God possibly use a Gentile to accomplish His purposes? Yes! That is exactly the point that Isaiah is making. God is not the LORD of Isra’el alone; He is the God of the whole world. Israel’s election is not for itself, and thus neither is its deliverance necessarily to be effected by itself. It is this sense in which anointed is used here; Cyrus has been especially chosen and empowered to carry out the purposes of God. In that sense he is God’s chosen instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes will be accomplished, especially that through him God will be revealed to the world. To subdue the nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut (45:1c). The true Messiah will bring spiritual deliverance to Isra’el, but Cyrus, pointing us to the true Messiah, would bring physical deliverance to Isra’el.¹⁷⁰

Isaiah describes God’s work on behalf of Cyrus. I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron (45:2). It is God who will go before the conqueror and prepare the way for him. It is God who declares that He will ensure his victories over impregnable cities. We have many extra-biblical records to support this. When Cyrus began his conquest he was unstoppable, and supposedly unconquerable cities like Sardis were captured easily. Isaiah describes the victory Cyrus will have over Babylon because God talks about the gates of bronze and the bars of iron. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Babylon had 100 gates around the city all made of bronze. Yet, God declares that these bronze gates will be powerless to stop Cyrus and he will be given Babylon as part of his conquest. In addition, God will give him victory over the nations before him, which included Croesus and the Lydian Empire.

As reported by Herodotus, the thing Croesus was famous for was his wealth. In fact, the legend of the king with the golden touch actually comes from Croesus. Midis was another name for him, but Croesus was actually his Greek name. Croesus had his headquarters in the city of Sardis. There he hid his gold in underground tunnels. That is why God says: I will give you treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places. Yet, Cyrus was able to defeat Lydia with ease, and all the wealth of Croesus, in the billions of dollars by today standards, went into the pockets of Cyrus the Great. Thus, God declared that He would conquer Babylon and Lydia, the two major empires that Cyrus conquered to establish the Medo-Persian Empire.

In Matthew, Yeshua tells us that: The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field (Matthew 13:44). The possession of wealth often becomes a problem in the east, because of its insecurity. With every man being his own banker, ingenuity is taxed to devise some plan of concealment, or to find some place where money, jewels, and other valuables may remain free from molestation or suspicion. Sometimes these treasures are hidden in secret closets in the house, or in vaults under the house; sometimes they are buried in the field, in a spot unknown to all save the owner. It frequently happens that the owner goes away and dies before the time of his intended return, his secret dying with him. Times of war and pestilence carry off great numbers, who leave treasures concealed; no one knows where. There are, no doubt, deposits of immense value thus buried in different parts of the east. These facts illustrate the text. Other references of a similar character are made in different parts of the Bible, showing how ancient and how widespread is the custom of hiding treasures (Joshua 7:21; Job 3:21-22; Proverbs 2:4; Ecclesiastes 5:12).¹⁷¹

Then God gives three reasons why He would use Cyrus to free the Jews from Babylon and bring them back to the Land. First, God would use Cyrus for Cyrus’ sake. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Isra’el, who calls you by name (45:3). God is giving Cyrus, a Gentile monarch, an opportunity to know the LORD. To some extent, Cyrus did recognize that the God of Isra’el was aiding him. But he did not submit himself to the God of Isra’el; in other words, he was never a true believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Cyrus was polytheistic; he simply included the God of Isra’el with all his other gods. He gave the LORD credit for victory, but he also gave Marduk, the god of Babylon, credit for victory. So ultimately, he did not make ADONAI his only God, the one true God. He had the opportunity to know the LORD, but he didn’t take it.

The second reason why God is going to use Cyrus is for Isra’el’s sake. For the sake of Jacob My servant, of Israel My chosen, I call you by name and bestow on you a title of honor. But even though Cyrus would enjoy a special relationship with God (43:1), and was honored by the LORD, he still was not a believer for he did not acknowledge ADONAI as the true God (45:4). Because of God’s covenantal relationship with Isra’el, He promised that Cyrus would be His human instrument to end the Babylonian captivity after 70 years.

The third reason is for the world’s sake. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged Me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides Me. I Am the LORD, and there is no other (45:5-6). I will, so that all nations may know the Lord. Here Isra’el is regathered in belief (27:12-13) with the key purpose that the entire world would know Him. However, in the days of Cyrus that never happened. Yet, God says that He is going to use Cyrus for the ultimate accomplishment of this third purpose; that all nations would know Him. Cyrus has long been dead, and the day when all nations will know ADONAI is still in the future. So how will God use Cyrus for this? God is going to bring the Babylonian captivity to an end so that the Jews can go back to the Land. Then Messiah could be born in Bethlehem. After He is born, and leaves after His First Coming, He will come back a second time. At that time, all nations will know the LORD. So in that sense, God is using Cyrus to accomplish the ultimate goal that all nations will know Him. Someday, because of Cyrus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

The climax of this section speaks to the fact that nothing and no one compares to the LORD. Here Isaiah spells out exactly what he means when he says that there is no other God. If any questions still remained in the minds of the Israelites of the uniqueness of ADONAI, he would put them to rest. He chose two polar opposites in the realm of nature and history to make His case. Here, Isaiah declares that the LORD, as Creator, is ultimately responsible for everything in nature, from light to darkness, and for everything in history, from good fortune to misfortune. No other gods or forces can effect anything.

First, Isaiah addresses nature and speaks against the very religion of Persia, of which Cyrus is a part. Zoroastrianism was their religion and was a religion of dualism. It said there are two independent forces, the god of light and peace and the god of darkness and calamity. There was a duel between good and evil, with no god ever having complete control. But here God speaks directly against this dualism. He says that He is the God of both light and darkness. ADONAI says: I form the light and create darkness (45:7a). He was answering Zoroastrianism that worshiped the god of light. It was as if God was saying to those devotees, “I want you to know that light is no god. I created it!”

Secondly, He addresses history by saying: I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things (45:7b). The Bible here says that God created disaster. Some have interpreted this as God creating evil. But there is a basic misunderstanding as to the usage of the Hebrew word ra (short a). It is used in classical Hebrew in two different senses. It could mean evil in the sense of sin, but it can also mean evil in the sense of disaster or calamity. That is the way it is used in reference to God. The Bible makes it clear that God is not the author of sin and James argues that in detail. God does not create sin, nor does He tempt anyone to commit an act of sin (James 1:13-15).

But, Ha’Shem certainly does cause disaster such as the flood of Noah, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and other physical judgments. That is the meaning of the text in reference to ADONAI. It is also true that Satan’s ability to do evil is within the permissive will of God. What the Adversary could or could not do to Job, his family, and his property was based on what YHVH permitted him to do. As the LORD of heaven’s armies, He can do anything, even use the schemes of Satan, to fulfill His near historical purposes and desires. And His desire was to use Cyrus to free the Jews from Babylon and bring them back to the Land.

But there was also a far eschatological purpose for God’s calling of Cyrus. When the messianic Kingdom is established on the earth (see the commentary on Revelation Fh – The Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom), the heavens above will figuratively rain down righteousness on the earth (45:8a). God’s holy standard of righteousness will be followed. The inspired prophet declared: Let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up like a great harvest, and let righteousness grow with it. I, the LORD, have created it (45:8). For this to happen the Israelites needed to be sent home to Judah; to be sent home to Judah, Babylon had to be defeated; for Babylon to be defeated Cyrus needed to become the LORD’s anointed. That was the big picture.

In the prospect of this ultimate and saving purpose of the mission of Cyrus, in other words, the redemption of Isra’el and the conversion of the Gentiles, heavens and earth will then be summoned to bring forth and pour down spiritual blessings according to the will and in the power of the LORD.¹⁷² Isaiah says it is the work of God. This verse is actually a prayer that interrupts the flow of the prophecy and serves to highlight an important feature of Chapters 40 through 48, the people’s unbelief. Isaiah is praying that the prophecies given in 44:24 through 45:7 might begin the process of delivering every person from the consequences of his or her own sin, if only he or she will allow Him to do it. When that happens people everywhere will know ADONAI, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).