Isaiah 51
I. (1-39) Condemnation
A. Chapters 1-12—Prophecies against Israel and Judah
B. Chapters 13-23—Prophecies against the Nations
C. Chapters 24-27—Prophecies of the Day of the Lord
D. Chapters 28-35—Prophecies of Judgment and Blessing
E. Chapters 36-39—Historical accounts
II. (40-66) Consolation
A. Chapters 40-48—Israel’s God
B. Chapters 49-54—Israel’s Messiah
1. \\#Is 49:1-26\\ Messiah’s Mission
2. \\#Is 50:1-11\\ Messiah’s Obedience
3. \\#Is 51:1-52:12\\ Messiah’s Message - This message is dual
nature in scope. It was to encourage the then-present Jews to
do stand strong for the Lord was their Keeper, but it is
especially to the endtime Jews who will be persecuted by the
anti-Christ.
I. \\#Is 51:1-52:12\\ Messiah’s Message
A. \\#1-8\\ Listen to Me - Three different times God says "Hearken unto
me" \\#1, 4, 7\\. It is obvious that the Almighty has an important
message.
1. \\#1-3\\ To the Righteous, Look at Your Past.
a. \\#1\\ "ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the
Lord" - God is speaking to those who are striving to do right
in Israel.
b. \\#1\\ "look unto the rock whence ye are hewn…the hole…
whence ye are digged." God urges the righteous to keep looking
at where they came from, i.e. that is look to the God who has
made you what you are.
c. \\#2\\ "Look unto Abraham… Sarah…for I called him" - Again,
God tells them to look to their past. He reminds them that He
is the Source of all of Israel’s blessings.
(1) It appears the Lord is directing the righteous to stay on
the road of righteousness. Looking at the past is a good
way to keep oneself walking a straight path to their
future.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest
thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;
(2) If the righteous can maintain their righteous walk, they
will inherit great blessings—if not now, in the future.
d. \\#3\\ From those challenges to look to their past, God makes
three promises.
(1) "for the Lord shall comfort Zion"
(2) "he will make her wilderness like Eden"
(3) "joy and gladness shall be found therein"
2. \\#4-6\\ To His People, Judgment Is Near
a. \\#4-5\\ God uses many different phrases all of which paint the
same picture. God is soon to move in judgment. For a future
righteous Israel, this judgment will be their deliverance. For
the then-present Israel, it was not to their benefit.
(1) \\#4\\ "for a law shall proceed from me"
(2) "I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the
people"
(3) \\#5\\ "My righteousness is near"
(4) "my salvation is gone forth"
(5) "my arms shall judge the people"
b. \\#5\\ The judgment that God brings will have far ranging
consequences.
(1) \\#5\\ "the isles (Gentile continents) shall wait upon me"
The rest of the world is waiting to see what God will do.
This implies that what happens to the world is largely
determined by what God does with His people.
(2) "on mine arm shall they trust" - The Gentiles shall trust
in the Lord after they have seen what God does to His own
people. This did not happen when Assyria or the other
nations conquered Israel. It is an endtime prophecy.
(3) \\#6\\ "the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the
earth shall wax old like a garment" - This is an endtime
prophecy of the present earth’s destruction. It’s
fulfillment will occur after the millennium \\#Rev 21:1\\.
It is debated whether God completely destroys the existing
earth or keeps some parts of it to form His new heavens
and new earth.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat?
Hebrews 1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old
as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but
thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
(4) "and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner"
God’s point is not to teach of the earth’s destruction but
to point out that when His judgment comes, those against
Him will die in like manner.
(5) "but my salvation shall be forever" - When judgment comes,
those who are under God’s salvation will be spared. This
was encouraging to the righteous of Isaiah’s day and will
be encouraging to the endtime Jews.
3. \\#7-8\\ To the Understanding, Stay Strong
a. \\#7\\ "ye that know righteousness… the people in whose heart
is my law" - God is still speaking to the righteous in Israel.
That would be a very small number in Isaiah’s day but a large
endtime number.
b. "fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid" - Doing
right causes a negative response from the wicked. God is
encouraging the righteous to stay strong regardless of the
opposition.
c. \\#8\\ "the moth… the worm shall eat them" - The enemies of
God’s Law shall ultimately be destroyed.
d. "but my righteousness shall be for ever" - But God will exalt
right and those who do it.
B. \\#Is 51:9-Is 52:12\\ Wake up - Three times God says "Awake, Awake"
\\#Is 51:9, 51:17, 52:1\\.
1. \\#9-16\\ Awake, O Lord, and deliver us.
a. \\#9-10\\ A Request to God
(1) "Awake, awake… O arm of the Lord" - The verse does not
mean to imply that God is asleep or unaware. It is a request
for God to defend Israel as He has promised He would do.
While God did spare Judah from Assyria, the "everlasting
joy" of \\#11\\ has not been theirs. This is a dual
reference prophecy with the ultimate fulfilling coming in
the endtime.
(2) Several examples of His great deliverance are given.
(a) "Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab" - The term RAHAB
is thought to be a poetic term to apply to Egypt. It
literally means BREADTH, that is the ability to
understand a large range of topics, but comes to stand
for arrogance. This exact word is thought to be used in
this poetic sense two other times
\\#Psalms 87:4, 89:10\\ and once \\#Is 30:7\\ in
another variation (STRENGTH). The evidence to support
this thought is weak but it is probably as good an
interpretation as will be found for the word. If RAHAB
is Egypt, then THE DRAGON would be so as well.
(b) \\#10\\ "Art thou not it which hath dried the sea… for
the ransomed to pass over?" A definite reference to the
children of Israel crossing the Red Sea.
b. \\#11-16\\ A Promise Given
(1) \\#11\\ Of comfort
(a) \\#11\\ Because God will deliver "the redeemed of the
Lord shall return… with singing unto Zion."
(b) No more sorrow or mourning, but an "everlasting joy" will
accompany the Jews upon their endtime return to the land.
(2) \\#12-13\\ Of deliverance
(a) \\#12\\ "I, even I" - Verses 12 and 13 form a question.
"Since it is God Almighty who is their Deliver…"
(b) "a man" - "What man should they be afraid of…" Notice
that a single man is the meaning of the text. Since
these are obviously endtime verses, the only "man" who
will be of any consequence is the anti-Christ. This
passage gives comfort to the Jews that during their
greatest persecution, God will both deliver them and
slay the man that has come against them.
(c) \\#13\\ "And forgettest the Lord?" "And who is this man
that can make them forget their Lord?" Remembering that
their Lord is…
i. "thy maker"
ii. the One who "stretched forth the heavens"
iii. "and laid the foundations of the earth"
(d) \\#13\\ God wants to know who this "oppressor" is who
thinks he is about to destroy God’s people. These
verses are powerful insults to the anti-Christ and
just as powerful comforts to the Jews.
(3) \\#14-16\\ Of protection
(a) \\#14\\ "The captive" just wants to be safe…
i. "that he may be loosed"
ii. "should not die in the pit"
iii. "nor that his bread should fail"
(b) \\#15-16\\ "But" the Lord has something better for
Israel.
i. \\#15\\ He is "the Lord thy God!" He has the power
to divide seas.
ii. \\#16\\ "I have put my words in the mouth" - He has
given His Word and, in the endtime, the Jewish
people will be talking of His promises, that is,
trusting in them.
iii. So the Lord will "have covered thee in the shadow of
mine hand." He will hid and protect them that by
them, He might calm His people.
iv. This is the Lord’s promise that these words will come
to pass in the endtime days.
2. \\#17-23\\ Awake, O Jerusalem, A Change Is Coming
a. \\#17-20\\ What is.
(1) \\#17\\ "O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the
Lord the cup of his fury" - Israel, as mentioned by its
capital, Jerusalem, has indeed drunk of the depths of God’s
cup of fury. Unfortunately, what has happened so far will
not compare to what lies ahead.
(2) \\#18\\ "There is none to guide her" - While some of the
kings in Isaiah’s day were godly, the overall direction of
the nation was the wrong way. Likewise, Israel had no
righteous prophets to call her own.
(3) \\#19\\ Instead, Israel had two things:
(a) "desolation and destruction"
(b) "famine and the sword"
(4) \\#19\\ "by whom shall I comfort thee?" Who could God use
in this wicked nation to bring God’s power and comfort to
these people?
(5) \\#20\\ "Thy sons have fainted" - The children of Israel
had no real strength. They were not anchored to the truth
of God’s Law.
(6) \\#20\\ "they lie at the head of all the streets" - One
might think this is a picture of a drunken Israel but the
next verse dismisses that thought. Instead, they are
suffering from a spiritual weakness.
b. \\#21-23\\ What will be.
(1) \\#21\\ "hear now this" - But God has a message for this
afflicted people.
(2) \\#22\\ "I have taken out of thine hand the cup of
trembling… thou shalt no more drink it again" - The
judgment God has given to Israel will one day end.
(3) \\#23\\ "I will put it into the hand of them that afflict
thee" - God will give the judgment of sorrow and defeat to
those who have oppressed Israel.
(4) \\#23\\ "Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid
thy body as the ground" - Perhaps this is where the
expression "to walk over someone" or "to be someone’s
doormat" came from. Regardless, Israel will never be
someone else’s doormat again.
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