‘Rock’ is a picture word, to mean ‘strong foundation’. (‘Foundation’ means a strong base that provides security.) ‘Rock’ is one of God’s names (see Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 32:18). • The next words in this verse explain the meaning as a reference to Abraham. He was a man of... [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH: GOD CONTROLS THE NATIONS GOD’S SPECIAL SERVANT ISAIAH CHAPTER S 49 TO 57 _NORMAN HILLYER_ CHAPTER 51 ABRAHAM WAS YOUR EARLY RELATIVE V1 ‘Listen to me,’ says the *Lord. ‘You desire to live in the right way. You come to me, your *Lord, for help. Think about the rock from which you came.... [ Continue Reading ]
God gave Abram a new name, ‘Abraham’ (the name means ‘father of a crowd’). Abraham was already very old and he had no children. But God promised Abraham that he would still have a very large family (see Genesis 17:5). *JERUSALEM WILL AGAIN BE BEAUTIFUL V3 Now the *Lord will surely comfort *Jerusal... [ Continue Reading ]
The intention of the *Lord’s ‘comfort’ is to convince the *exiles that their future will be happy and peaceful. • The state of the people’s relationship with God affects the state of the rest of the world that God created (see Isaiah 44:21-23; see also Colossians 1:20). GOD WILL GOVERN THE WORLD... [ Continue Reading ]
In Hebrew, the language of the *Old Testament, the word ‘law’ is _torah_. The basic meaning of this Hebrew word is ‘to point’, as with a finger. We are not to think of God’s law as merely a list of rules. God’s _torah_ is his personal direction to each believer on how to live life. • ‘Light’ is a... [ Continue Reading ]
The heavens and the earth are not as permanent as they may seem. • Here ‘smoke’ is a picture word, to mean something that has no substance. So it quickly blows away. • Nothing in this life or in this world is permanent. But God makes an absolute promise to rescue people. A person’s continuous stat... [ Continue Reading ]
For ‘law’, see my note on verse 4. CALL TO GOD TO ACT V9 Awake, *Lord, awake! Dress yourself to act in strength! Awake, as you did in ancient times, when you destroyed Rahab. V10 You made a dry road through the deep waters of the sea to rescue your people from Egypt. V11 The *Lord will again save... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah uses the name ‘Rahab’ to refer to Egypt. That country was the enemy of the people of God in ancient times (see Exodus 14:30-31). • Verse 9 seems to describe the *Lord as he awakes from sleep. Of course, this is picture language. The *Lord never sleeps (Psalms 121:4). In other words, he is ne... [ Continue Reading ]
Here ‘forget’ is more than a temporary failure of memory. It means that the people from Israel could neglect to give honour to their *Lord. But they have a special place in God’s love. So he will take great care of them. The God who created the world and everything in it has complete power (see Isai... [ Continue Reading ]
The Book of Isaiah emphasises this special name for the *Lord over 60 times (see my note on Isaiah 44:6).... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Lord encourages his Servant. The *Lord will tell him exactly what to say. Jeremiah had a similar experience (see Jeremiah 1:9). THE END OF *JERUSALEM’S PAIN The rest of chapter 51 contains pictures in words that describe *Jerusalem and its people. Isaiah’s words are describing a period about... [ Continue Reading ]
The ‘cup of anger’ is a picture in words. It refers to the *Lord’s punishment of his people, because they refused to obey him. • The punishment was severe. So the people felt like men who had swallowed too much alcohol. *JERUSALEM WAS LIKE A MOTHER WHO HAD LOST HER CHILDREN V18 There was nobody t... [ Continue Reading ]
The city of *Jerusalem was like a mother with many sons. That is, the city had very many inhabitants. But they had no leader to take responsibility. So when these troubles happened, the people suffered greatly. And nobody helped them. *JERUSALEM WAS LIKE A PRISONER WHO HAD LOST ALL HOPE V21 Listen... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Lord had severely punished his people because they refused to obey him. But now he had completed their punishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Lord had used certain enemies as his agents to punish his people. But those agents took advantage of *Jerusalem’s weakness. In other words, they wanted to gain personal benefit when God’s people were weak. So they were very cruel to God’s people. And God’s people suffered much more than God int... [ Continue Reading ]