1
Isa 50:1-11.
2
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2. I--Messiah.
no man--willing to believe in and obey Me
(Isa 52:1, 3).
The same Divine Person had "come" by His prophets in the Old Testament (appealing to them, but in vain,
Jer 7:25, 26),
who was about to come under the New Testament.
hand shortened--the Oriental emblem of weakness, as the long stretched-out hand is of power
(Isa 59:1).
Notwithstanding your sins, I can still "redeem" you from your bondage and dispersion.
dry up . . . sea--
(Ex 14:21).
The second exodus shall exceed, while it resembles in wonders, the first
(Isa 11:11, 15; 51:15).
make . . . rivers . . . wilderness--turn the prosperity of Israel's foes into adversity.
fish stinketh--the very judgment inflicted on their Egyptian enemies at the first exodus
(Ex 7:18, 21).
3
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3. heavens . . . blackness--another of the judgments on Egypt to be repeated hereafter on the last enemy of God's people
(Ex 10:21).
sackcloth--
(Re 6:12).
4
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4. Messiah, as "the servant of Jehovah"
(Isa 42:1),
declares that the office has been assigned to Him of encouraging the "weary" exiles of Israel by "words in season" suited to their case; and that, whatever suffering it is to cost Himself, He does not shrink from it
(Isa 50:5, 6),
for that He knows His cause will triumph at last
(Isa 50:7, 8).
learned--not in mere human learning, but in divinely taught modes of instruction and eloquence
(Isa 49:2; Ex 4:11; Mt 7:28, 29; 13:54).
speak a word in season--
(Pr 15:23; 25:11).
Literally, "to succor by words," namely, in their season of need, the "weary" dispersed ones of Israel
(De 28:65-67).
Also, the spiritual "weary"
(Isa 42:3; Mt 11:28).
wakeneth morning by morning, &c.--Compare "daily rising up early"
(Jer 7:25; Mr 1:35).
The image is drawn from a master wakening his pupils early for instruction.
wakeneth . . . ear--prepares me for receiving His divine instructions.
as the learned--as one taught by Him. He "learned obedience," experimentally, "by the things which He suffered"; thus gaining that practical learning which adapted Him for "speaking a word in season" to suffering men
(Heb 5:8).
5
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5. opened . . . ear--(See on
Isa 42:20;
Isa 48:8);
that is, hath made me obediently attentive (but MAURER, "hath informed me of my duty"), as a servant to his master (compare
Ps 40:6-8, with Php 2:7; Isa 42:1; 49:3, 6; 52:13; 53:11; Mt 20:28; Lu 22:27).
not rebellious--but, on the contrary, most willing to do the Father's will in proclaiming and procuring salvation for man, at the cost of His own sufferings
(Heb 10:5-10).
6
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6. smiters--with scourges and with the open hand
(Isa 52:14; Mr 14:65).
Literally fulfilled
(Mt 27:26; 26:27; Lu 18:33).
To "pluck the hair" is the highest insult that can be offered an Oriental
(2Sa 10:4; La 3:30).
"I gave" implies the voluntary nature of His sufferings; His example corresponds to His precept
(Mt 5:39).
spitting--To spit in another's presence is an insult in the East, much more on one; most of all in the face
(Job 30:10; Mt 27:30; Lu 18:32).
7
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7. Sample of His not being "discouraged"
(Isa 42:4; 49:5).
set . . . face like . . . flint--set Myself resolutely, not to be daunted from My work of love by shame or suffering
(Eze 3:8, 9).
8
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8.
(Isa 49:4).
The believer, by virtue of his oneness with Christ, uses the same language
(Ps 138:8; Ro 8:32-34).
But "justify" in His case, is God's judicial acceptance and vindication of Him on the ground of His own righteousness
(Lu 23:44-47; Ro 1:4; 1Ti 3:16,
with which compare
1Pe 3:18);
in their case, on the ground of His righteousness and meritorious death imputed to them
(Ro 5:19).
stand together--in judgment, to try the issue.
adversary--literally, "master of my cause," that is, who has real ground of accusation against me, so that he can demand judgment to be given in his favor (compare
Zec 3:1, &c. Re 12:10).
9
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9. (Compare "deal," or "proper,"
Isa 52:13,
Margin;
Isa 53:10; Ps 118:6; Jer 23:5).
as a garment--
(Isa 51:6, 8; Ps 102:26).
A leading constituent of wealth in the East is change of raiment, which is always liable to the inroads of the moth; hence the frequency of the image in Scripture.
10
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10. Messiah exhorts the godly after His example
(Isa 49:4, 5; 42:4)
when in circumstances of trial ("darkness,"
Isa 47:5),
to trust in the arm of Jehovah alone.
Who is, &c.--that is, Whosoever
(Jud 7:3).
obeyeth . . . servant--namely, Messiah. The godly "honor the Son, even as they honor the Father"
(Joh 5:23).
darkness--
(Mic 7:8, 9).
God never had a son who was not sometimes in the dark. For even Christ, His only Son, cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
light--rather, "splendor"; bright sunshine; for the servant of God is never wholly without "light" [VITRINGA]. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and light. A wicked man's way may be bright, but his end shall be utter darkness
(Ps 112:4; 97:11; 37:24).
let him trust in the name of the Lord--as Messiah did
(Isa 50:8, 9).
11
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11. In contrast to the godly
(Isa 50:10),
the wicked, in times of darkness, instead of trusting in God, trust in themselves (kindle a light for themselves to walk by)
(Ec 11:9).
The image is continued from
Isa 50:10,
"darkness"; human devices for salvation
(Pr 19:21; 16:9, 25)
are like the spark that goes out in an instant in darkness (compare
Job 18:6; 21:17, with Ps 18:28).
sparks--not a steady light, but blazing sparks extinguished in a moment.
walk--not a command, but implying that as surely as they would do so, they should lie down in sorrow
(Jer 3:25).
In exact proportion to mystic Babylon's previous "glorifying" of herself shall be her sorrow
(Mt 25:30; 8:12; Re 18:7).
Isa 50:1-11.
THE JUDGMENTS ON ISRAEL WERE PROVOKED BY THEIR CRIMES, YET THEY ARE NOT FINALLY CAST OFF BY GOD.
1. Where . . . mothers divorcement--Zion is "the mother"; the Jews are the children; and God the Husband and Father
(Isa 54:5; 62:5; Jer 3:14).
GESENIUS thinks that God means by the question to deny that He had given "a bill of divorcement" to her, as was often done on slight pretexts by a husband
(De 24:1),
or that He had "sold" His and her "children," as a poor parent sometimes did
(Ex 21:7; 2Ki 4:1; Ne 5:5)
under pressure of his "creditors"; that it was they who sold themselves through their own sins. MAURER explains, "Show the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom . . . ; produce the creditors to whom ye have been sold; so it will be seen that it was not from any caprice of Mine, but through your own fault, your mother has been put away, and you sold"
(Isa 52:3).
HORSLEY best explains (as the antithesis between "I" and "yourselves" shows, though LOWTH translates, "Ye are sold") I have never given your mother a regular bill of divorcement; I have merely "put her away" for a time, and can, therefore, by right as her husband still take her back on her submission; I have not made you, the children, over to any "creditor" to satisfy a debt; I therefore still have the right of a father over you, and can take you back on repentance, though as rebellious children you have sold yourselves to sin and its penalty
(1Ki 21:25).
bill . . . whom--rather, "the bill with which I have put her away" [MAURER].