I. Introduction
Our purpose is to render a commentary on Isaiah chapter fifty. This chapter finds Isaiah (the Holy Spirit):
(1) delineating the Sin which has caused his people’s Misery (iniquities and transgressions, and in no small way rejection of God’s offer to help them, by way of His servants, pull free of their Misery),
(2) speaking an extraordinary albeit counterintuitive (in the sense of unmerited) word of comfort to captive Judah long before the fact of the captivity (Isaiah was probably martyred sometime during the reign of Manasseh [687-642 BC] while the captivity commenced in 586 BC),
(3) prophesying of another Servant God would send them, similarly rejected, the Suffering Servant, the incarnate Jesus, Messiah Jesus; prophesying of His humiliation, His faith in God, His resolve to do His God’s and our God’s will, which is precisely freedom, freedom from Misery; that is, restoration and reunion (Redemption and Salvation). In this section we hear our great savior God Jesus, even Jesus our Jubilee, speaking to us quite directly through the lips of His prophet Isaiah,
(4) preaching Salvation (restoration, reunion, eternally) on the one hand, and the sure-fire means to miss out on the same on the other.
O let us don a posture of attentive listening unto learning as we prayerfully contemplate the awesome Communique given to us by God in this amazing chapter of His Holy Word.
We will follow this format:
· Verse of Scripture utilizing the YLT text followed by an NASB mouseover of that verse. Key words in the YLT text will be footnoted with a link to a word study based on the Hebrew text, and/or a general discussion relative to the given word. We are not biblical Greek or Hebrew scholars, please consider our grammatical constructions with a critical eye.
· Commentary We shall be commenting on this passage keeping before us at all times the crucial fact that every jot and every tittle comprising these verses came forth under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit. We pray that He, by His grace, helps us along the way.
II. Isaiah Chapter Fifty Commentary Verses
50:1-3-A Writ of Separation, Not Divorce, Says Father God
YLT TEXT: Thus said Jehovah [1]: ‘Where is this — the bill of your mother’s [2] divorce [2a], Whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold [3] you? Lo, for your iniquities [3a] ye have been sold, And for your transgressions [3b] Hath your mother been sent away. Wherefore have I come, and there is no one? I called [4], and there is none answering [5], Hath My hand been at all short of redemption [6]? And is there not in me power to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up a sea, I make rivers a wilderness, Their fish stinketh, for there is no water, And dieth with thirst. “I clothe the heavens with blackness And make sackcloth their covering.” (Isa 50:1-3, cf. Isa 50:1-3, NLT).
COMMENTARY: In keeping with the chronology referred to in note two, we are going to assume that the “mother” of our passage: “…Where is this — the bill of your mother’s divorce, Whom I sent away?…”, and again: “…for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away….”, is the northern kingdom of Israel, and the second person “ye, you, your”—“… for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away…” is the whole lot of those that fit this judgment, that is, both the northern kingdom of Israel (Israel henceforth), and the southern Kingdom of Judah (Judah henceforth), in the decades surrounding Isaiah’s ministry (740 BC minus 18 years=722 BC until 687 BC minus 101 years=586 BC, or until 642 BC-56 years=586 BC, where the red font marks the beginning and approximate end of Isaiah’s ministry, and the yellow highlighting represents the Assyrian captivity [=spiritual divorce] and the cyan highlighting represents the Babylonian captivity [=spiritual separation]).
See how our God is concerned to isolate the cause of His people’s misery (captivity)—He makes it clear that iniquities and transgressions have caused this: “…Lo, for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away…” He in no uncertain terms acknowledges the fact of the misery, and His execution of the judgment, but makes it clear that it is not for arbitrary reasons that misery had visited them—it is specifically Sin that He judges here; the Sin of His people, who were cognizant of, yet willfully delinquent in, upkeep of the Mosaic covenant, over against which Sin is made lucid. What we understand today of course is that had He not dealt with Sin once and for all at Calvary (He bearing the brunt of the judgment at Calvary), this sort of judgment would be our sore reward ad infinitum. Now concerning Israel, prosperity, notably under Israel’s Jeroboam II (coregent with Jehoash 793-782, sole reign 782-753, E. Thiele; contemporary with Amaziah [2Ki 14:23] and Uzziah [2Ki 15:1], kings of Judah, where similarly prosperity prevailed at this time), bred moral, social, and religious decay of the type here related (iniquities and transgressions), and concerning Judah, irresponsible trust in the Davidic covenant, bolstered by prevailing prosperity, similarly bred moral, social, and religious decay of the type here related (iniquities and transgressions). Before the commentary proceeds, in order to somewhat understand God’s concerns and motivations here, let us try to get a feel for this decay, first in Israel and then in Judah:
“…Israelite society, as Amos lets us see it, was marked by egregious injustices and a shocking contrast between extremes of wealth and poverty. The small farmer, whose economic status was marginal at best, found himself often at the mercy of the moneylender and, at the slightest calamity—a drought, a crop failure (cf. Amos 4:6-9), liable to foreclosure and eviction, if not bond service. The system, which was itself harsh, was made harsher by the greed of the wealthy, who took unmerciful advantage of the plight of the poor in order to enlarge their holdings, often resorting to the sharpest practices, the falsification of weights and measure, and various legal dodges to achieve their ends (Amos 2:6-7, 5:11, 8:4-6). But though dishonest practices obtained everywhere, since the judges were venal (Amos 5:10-12), the poor had no redress. In increasing numbers, they were robbed and dispossessed. […] The rise of the monarchy, with the attendant organization of life under the crown, had transferred the effective basis of social obligation to the state and, together with the burgeoning of commercial activity, had created a privileged class, weakened tribal ties, and destroyed the solidarity characteristic of tribal society. Moreover, the absorption of numerous Canaanites, who were not integrated with the tribal system, and whose background was feudal, had given Israel a mass of citizens with little comprehension of covenant or covenant law. These trends, begun with David and Solomon, had, in spite of protest and revolution, gone on unchecked. By the eighth century, though Yahwism remained the national religion, with lip service given to Yahweh’s covenant, covenant law had in practice come to mean little. […] As the above would lead one to suspect, social disintegration went hand in hand with religious decay. Though the great shrines of Israel were busy, thronged with worshipers, and lavishly supported (Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-24), it is evident that Yahwism in pure form was no longer maintained . Many of the local shrines were no doubt overtly pagan; the fertility cult with its debasing rites was practiced everywhere (Hos 1-3, 4:11-14). […] A Yahwism so diluted could scarcely be expected to have any keen feeling for covenant law or effectively to rebuke breaking it. The priests of the local shrines, pagans or half pagans that they were, certainly could not. As for the clergy of the state cult, there were officials and great men of the state who could neither utter reproof of it nor countenance any (Amos 7:10-13). […] The truth is that an inner perversion of Israel’s faith had taken place. The gracious acts of Yahweh toward Israel were doubtless assiduously recited in the cult, and her covenant with him periodically reaffirmed; but it appears (Amos 3:1-2, 9:7) that this was taken as earnest of Yahweh’s protection of the nation for all time to come, the obligation imposed by Yahweh’s favor (cf. Amos 2:9-12), and by the covenant stipulations, having been largely forgotten. Indeed, it seems that the notion had established itself that the bond between God and people was something that existed in the nature of things, assuring the nation unconditionally the divine favor. Covenant obligation, insofar as it had not lost meaning altogether, was conceived as a purely cultic matter, the demands of which could be met—and in Israel’s view were being met—by elaborate ritual and lavish support of the national shrines.” (Bright 260-62).
Let us consider Judah in this context and time frame (mid to late eighth-century BC). Speaking of the prophets in late eighth-century Judah John Bright says: “…To appreciate these prophets one must understand the crisis that the nation faced. This was not merely the external, physical menace of Assyrian aggression [“Isaiah Chapter Seven Commentary”] already described, but a spiritual emergency coincident with, and attendant upon it, which threatened the national character and the national religion at its foundations. This emergency stemmed in part from the same internal sickness that had destroyed northern Israel and that was present in Judah also, albeit on a reduced scale. […] In short, with the progressive disintegration of ancestral social patterns, the Sinaitic covenant with its austere religious, moral, and social obligations, which had been the original basis of Israelite society, had been largely forgotten by many of Judah’s citizens, to whom Yahweh had become the national guardian whose function it was, in return for meticulous cultic observance to give the nation protection and blessing (Isa 1:10-20). This, however, was not the whole of it. As we have said before, the monarchy in Judah was given legitimacy, not by the ancient Mosaic covenant, but by Yahweh’s eternal covenant with David. This rather different notion of covenant had apparently obscured the older notion of covenant in the national mind. It was believed and cultically affirmed that Yahweh had chosen Zion as his dwelling and promised to David an eternal dynasty; that each king, as Yahweh’s anointed “son” (Psa 2:7, etc.), would be protected from his foes; that the dynasty would in the end gain a domain greater than David’s, with the kings of the earth fawning at its feet (Psa 2:7-11, 72:8-11, etc.). The state’s existence, in short, was not based in the terms of Yahweh’s covenant made in the wilderness, but in his unconditional promises to David. Although these two notions of covenant were not wholly incompatible, as is illustrated by the fact that adjustment was made between them, there was nevertheless a certain tension [Bright references his work Covenant and Promise: The Prophetic Understanding of the Future in Pre-exilic Israel at this point]. In the official theology, though the moral obligations proper to Yahwism were imposed on the king (e.g., Psa 72), who was to maintain justice on pain of severe chastisement, the promises were sure and unconditional (Psa 89:1-4, 19-37, 2Sa 7:14-16). The official cult was the servant of the national theology. Its business was, by sacrifice and offering and by ritual affirmation of the promises, to assure the well-being of the nation. […] We know little of Micah save that he came from the village of Moresheth-gath in southwestern Judah (Mic 1:1), and that his ministry began approximately when Isaiah’s did and continued into the reign of Hezekiah (cf. Jer 26:16-19). Micah’s attack followed the classic prophetic pattern, with stress—perhaps because of his own humble origins—on socioeconomic abuses, particularly the oppression of peasant landholders by the wealthy nobles of Jerusalem. It seemed to Micah that Jerusalem was in every respect as bad as Samaria, and equally under judgment (Mic 1:2-9), There he saw greedy men dispossessing the poor (Mic 2:1-2, 8-9), corrupt rulers who did not dispense justice but were themselves guilty of cruel oppression (Mic 3:1-3, 9-11), and a clergy that uttered no rebuke because its only concern was its living (Mic 3:5, 11). Micah vehemently denounced all this—and was not thanked for his trouble (Mic 2:6)! Yet with amazement he saw that this people, secure in the unconditional promises of the official theology, and confident that Yahweh dwelt in their midst, felt no fear of danger (Mic 3:11). […] Micah pronounced a doom on Judah of total proportions. Going far beyond Isaiah, he even declared that Jerusalem and the Temple would be left a heap of ruins in the forest (Mic 3:12)! The confidence supported by the official theology, that Yahweh had chosen Zion as his dwelling place forever (cf. Psa 132) is rejected outright. Yet even here (and probably by Micah himself, but certainly by those disciples who preserved his words) the hope inherent in the Davidic covenant is still retained (Mic 5:2-6)—but with a difference; it is expected that Jerusalem will fall, but that Judah, marvelously delivered, will be ruled by a Davidic prince from Bethlehem who will usher in the age of peace.” (Bright 288f, 292-94).
The iniquities and transgressions, then, for which judgment fell, were moral (for example, the debasing excesses of the fertility cults), and social (for example the cruel and heartless demands of the nobles, the wealthy, the landowners, upon the poor; the bribable, corrupt, crooked, purchasable character of the judges and rulers), and religious (preeminently idolatry; that is, spiritual adultery, which, carried out “in the high places,” and, “under every green tree,” actually had an immoral character to it besides).
God having in no uncertain terms acknowledged the fact of the misery (His awareness of it), and His execution of the judgment which brought said misery (captivity, exile), and having made it clear that it was not for arbitrary reasons that misery had visited them, that it was specifically His people’s Sin that He had judged here; His people, who were cognizant of the Mosaic covenant, over against which Sin is made lucid, yet were willfully delinquent in its upkeep, straightaway lets them know that He had, through His Spirit and through His prophets, extended His hand to them and offered to pull them up and out of the cesspool of Sin (iniquities and transgressions) in which they were drowning: “…Wherefore have I come, and there is no one? I called, and there is none answering, Hath My hand been at all short of redemption? And is there not in me power to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up a sea, I make rivers a wilderness, Their fish stinketh, for there is no water, And dieth with thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, And sackcloth I make their covering…” But they would have none of it; they would have none of Him (Jer 35:15, 2Ch 36:16). That is, infatuated and pleasure-sick as they were with their Sin both in the north and in the south, they rejected God, who through His servants was calling them to accountability and repentance and to re-tether themselves to God and so avoid the imminent Misery. God’s love for His people is deep however, and even though they sinned/were sinning, and not least rejected Him up front here for a long time by way of rejecting His servants, we shall see God’s love-motivated persistence in the matter as He shows us prophetically that yet one more Servant was to come to them, very God incarnate in Jesus, the Suffering Servant (see here the Eternal Mind in the day of His visitation looking backward in time at all of this and predicting His own end at the hands of the kin of those rebels from ancient Judah Luk 20:9-15,16-19).
50:4-9-My Face is Set Like a Flint to Do Your Will Father God Jehovah, Says God the Son
YLT TEXT: The Lord Jehovah hath given to me The tongue of taught ones [7], To know to aid the weary [8] by a word [9], He waketh morning by morning, He waketh [10] for me an ear to hear [10a] as taught ones. The Lord Jehovah opened [11] for me the ear, And I rebelled [12] not — backward I moved not. My back I have given to those smiting, And my cheeks to those plucking out, My face I hid not from shame and spitting. And the Lord Jehovah giveth help [12a] to me, Therefore I have not been ashamed [13], Therefore I have set my face as a flint [14], And I know that I am not ashamed. Near is He who is justifying [15] me, Who doth contend [16] with me? We stand together, who is mine opponent? Let him come nigh unto me. Lo, the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Who is he that declareth me wicked? Lo, all of them as a garment wear out, A moth doth eat them. (Isa 50:4-9, cf. Isa 50:4-9, NLT).
COMMENTARY: Though these words are spoken by Isaiah, they are done so under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit and, in fact, prophesy of Jesus and His Suffering Servant ministry. Let us examine them as four groups; our focus is on Jesus in this amazing section of biblical prophecy (highlighting added within a group).
“…The Lord Jehovah hath given to me The tongue of taught ones, To know to aid the weary by a word…”
This bespeaks of the incarnate Jesus having been given the full measure of the Spirit (Col 1:19): “…given to me The tongue of taught ones…” In context particularly apt is Isaiah 11:1-2 where the connection to Jesse is clear (Isa 11:10, Rom 15:12, Rev 22:16, note 1Sa 16:11-13). Please notice something important here: it is Jesus our Jubilee who speaks a Word to the weary (Mat 11:28-30, “Jesus Our Jubilee: the Jubilee Operatives of Rest, Liberation, and Restoration”).
“…He waketh morning by morning, He waketh for me an ear to hear as taught ones. The Lord Jehovah opened for me the ear, And I rebelled not — backward I moved not…”
In the bosom of God since time immemorial, very God, Jesus (Pro 8:22-28, 29-31, Jhn 1:1-4). And in our passage, nothing different; nothing different in His incarnation—He, Jesus, ever by Him [Lord Jehovah], as one brought up with Him, beside Him (for prayer is a spirit tether no less), a master Workman, daily, morning by morning, His Delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His world, His earth, in the sons of men…thus so, in the days of His flesh (Luk 11:1, 6:12, 9:18, 21:38-we can be sure that Jesus had been in prayer here quite early, in God’s presence, by Him, with Him, Luk 9:28, 22:41-42 [cf. our passage: ‘…and I rebelled not—backward I moved not…’, Jhn 17:1ff—mission accomplished, as in prayer daily He heard of it; in prayer conversed with God of it; and, setting His face as a flint to the task, obeyed to the precise accomplishment of it).
“…My back I have given to those smiting, And my cheeks to those plucking out, My face I hid not from shame and spitting…”
Here is the Suffering Servant Jesus, squarely in the will of God; rebelling not, backward moving not (consider please these amazing corroborative verses of Scripture [Isa 52:13-14, Mat 27:27-31, Jhn 19:1-5]).
“…And the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Therefore I have not been ashamed, Therefore I have set my face as a flint, And I know that I am not ashamed. Near is He who is justifying me, Who doth contend with me? We stand together, who is mine opponent? Let him come nigh unto me. Lo, the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Who is he that declareth me wicked? Lo, all of them as a garment wear out, A moth doth eat them…”
Jesus disdained the shame of the Cross. How? And why? Scripture gives us the answer to the how in context here and then the answer to the why by way of that elegant high priestly letter to the Hebrews. First the how: Father God Jehovah helped/helps His Suffering Servant Jesus’ ministry for God is how: “…Jehovah giveth help to me, Therefore I have not been ashamed…” Another way to put it for clarity: it is solidarity of purpose with God who succors along the way in the accomplishment of His purposes that drives this: “Near is He who is justifying me, Who doth contend with me? We stand together …” Being wholly thus in the will of God must needs always shame mundane valuations of shame, for what, what aspect of, the will of God is there ever to be ashamed of? And does not God always accomplish His will?, thus finding oneself on the winning (Winner’s) side? But, is there conflict here with Psalm 22:1 and Mark 15:34 (“Psalm Twenty-two Commentary”)—“Jehovah giveth help to me…”? Clearly no. Jesus suffered alone on the Cross; and God certainly did not make it easier for Him while on the Cross (witness how he suffered [Psa 22:7-13, 15-19], and how the crowd for the most part was undeterred either in their indifference to His sufferings, or reveling in them, or taunting Him, and how Satan was undeterred in different ways and at different times to either keep Jesus off the Cross, or to come down from it, and so on). Nay, the help that Jesus received concerned bigger things than His sufferings and immediate circumstances, over which He had perfect control at all times (He allowed His immediate circumstances because His “meat” was to be/stay in the will of God). Jesus was always aware of those bigger things, going way back into eternity past when God purposed them; those bigger picture things that were sure to come to fruition because they were the purposed will of God, and God would of course make it happen, His will that is, and that is where and why the help was administered. See here please the bigger picture and God’s help in its coming to fruition: Father God made Jesus’ work at Calvary a huge success, first by way of Jesus’ resurrection, and then by way of those whom He redeemed and sanctified and brought into the Kingdom of God. In this way Jesus faced the Cross and disdained the shame, whatever shame by human thinking here being of no account over against the big picture in the Eternal Mind. The big picture is a Kingdom-of-God-Picture, itself rooted in Salvation; that is, the eternal fellowship with Jehovah God of His redeemed people, sanctified, by the blood of Christ, on the very Cross which shame thereof He necessarily disdained. And now the answer to the why question, which complements the answer to the how question; let us restate it: why did Jesus disdain the shame of the Cross? He did so for the joy that was set before Him (Hbr 12:1-2). Joy?! What joy could possibly put the deep grief and piercing sufferings that our Lord endured to naught? That would be Salvation. The Salvation that He extends to you and me dear friend (“A Letter of Invitation”). Dearest reader, can you see the depth of love God has for humankind in all this in that fixing His eyes on those He came to redeem and sanctify He counted it but joy to suffer for them so that He might ever fellowship with them in accordance with, without compromise of, His holiness? What a Savior; we do exceedingly love you great savior God. So the answer to the how question (=God’s help) and the answer to the why question (=the joy set before our Lord) have some overlap, the overlap of a bigger picture, anchored in the solidarity of purpose in the Godhead in the painting of that picture: “...Therefore I have set my face as a flint, And I know that I am not ashamed. Near is He who is justifying me, Who doth contend with me? We stand together…” Our Lord, for His part, ‘…set His face as a flint…’ in the painting of this picture (cf (luk 9:51, “Holy Week”), confident of His justification by God, by the Painter, in the particulars drawn on Him, even the strokes thus drawn, some fine, some bold, of this great salvific picture drawn in eternity past: “Near is He who is justifying me…”, necessarily quite unashamed of the odium that those particulars, those strokes, would register in the minds of people (the accusations against Him accounting Him guilty, a wicked criminal dying a criminal’s death, low-plane things, stemming from mundane thinking, ever so incapable of appreciating fine, nay, the finest art): “…who is mine opponent? Let him come nigh unto me. Lo, the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Who is he that declareth me wicked?…” Where by the way are the contenders of His day, and the Pharisaic Judaism they cozied-up to (cf. Mat 21:19, 23:37-38, “Matthew Chapter Twenty-Three Commentary”)? “…Lo, all of them as a garment wear out, A moth doth eat them…”
50:10-11-Kiss the Son, Says God the Holy Spirit
YLT TEXT: Who is among you, fearing [17] Jehovah, Hearkening [18] to the voice of His servant, That hath walked in dark places, And there is no brightness for him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah [1, O, That Name!], And lean upon his God [19]. Lo, all ye kindling a fire, girding [20] on sparks, Walk ye in the light of your fire, And in the sparks ye have caused to burn, From my hand hath this been to you, In grief ye lie down! (Isa 50:10-11, cf. Isa 50:10-11, NLT).
COMMENTARY: We are going to focus on the Redemption | Salvation angle in the outworking of these two verses. It follows that Isaiah (the Holy Spirit) would speak of the mechanics of Redemption | Salvation right here, given the previous verse sets that were so intimately focused on the Suffering Servant Jesus ever in the will of God. He, in this way, bringing to fruition the great purposes of God, central to which certainly with respect to humankind are Redemption | Salvation. We read here, almost to the letter, the Gospel. It is the lot of the unsaved—all of us at one time—to be walking in darkness, in spiritual darkness, with nary a whit of light to guide one’s steps. With nary a whit of light to guide one’s steps all the while drowning, going under in a cesspool of Sin. But then comes the blessed turnaround wherein the movement of God’s Spirit in one’s life shines light in the darkness and exposes the cesspool of Sin by way of stark contrast; that is, by making lucid the surpassing glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, whereupon, in those whom this glory dawns, follows a love for God’s excellent Name, and straightaway owing to the character of that Name an attendant fear of the Lord, and with said fear in force—awe, love, reverence—one hearkens to the voice of that Suffering Servant Jesus in whose face God has purposed to reveal Himself (His Name). The typical spiritual pattern: first 2Cr 4:4 and darkness, muddling in the darkness, serving Satan, and self, and Sin, and then by the grace of God comes 2Cr 4:6 and the turnaround—serving God, not self, not Sin, and then hard on the heels of that comes a hearkening walk (Jhn 10:27) and an attendant burgeoning faith and trust in God, not self, or society and its secular Sin-songs: “…Who is among you, fearing Jehovah, Hearkening to the voice of His servant, That hath walked in dark places, And there is no brightness for him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, And lean upon his God…” (cf. The Gospel Act 13:37-41, Rom 10:9-13; cf. Jhn 3:16; Fig. 1).
It is sad though, that for many, probably most, the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ does not dawn. Why would this be? Possibly we find the answer in our passage near the end here: “… Lo, all ye kindling a fire, girding on sparks, Walk ye in the light of your fire, And in the sparks ye have caused to burn…” The conclusion we draw from this is that some, while cognizant of it, simply will not appropriate God’s light, and this because their own light (or Satan’s, or some combination of the two) is to them more glorious. What a blatant offense, and spiritual adultery (idolatry), in the extreme. We are not surprised even a little bit that God says here He will not put up with that sort of thing from His creatures: “…From my hand hath this been to you, In grief ye lie down!…” (cf. Pro 1:22-27, 28-33, Gal 6:7-8, “Be Holy”; we updated this section 09/20/2015 just slightly from the original by changing the order of the sentences somewhat and adding some red font; nothing else in the commentary has been updated, A.s.).
Praised be your Name great Jehovah God, even the glory you have revealed in the face of Jesus Christ; we love you and adore you and trust in you, to the end. Amen.