ISAIAH 51

ISAIAH 51

I believe the last few chapters of Isaiah’s writings are pre-written history. I do not make any claims to having all the answers, because I do not have access to all the facts of history. Neither am I smart enough to know the significance of the historical facts if I did now them. Furthermore, I realize that if I SAY that the LORD SHOWED ME the things I am about to relate, there can be NO POSSIBILITY OF ERROR. I WILL NOT MAKE SUCH A CLAIM, for I know too well that I am fully as capable of being mistaken as anyone else is.

With that disclaimer, I submit to you what I THINK the Lord has shown me.

1. JOHN AND JESUS BORN IN A BARREN LAND.
2. A SPIRITUAL STIRRING IN THE LAND.
3. THE REAL ZION.

Isa 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Isa 51:2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

· CHAPTER 51 (Good News Bible)
· Isa 51:1 The LORD says, "Listen to me, you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help. Think of the rock from which you came, the quarry from which you were cut.
· Isa 51:2 Think of your ancestor, Abraham, and of Sarah, from whom you are descended. When I called Abraham, he was childless, but I blessed him and gave him children; I made his descendants numerous.

I believe this chapter is describing conditions immediately prior to the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist. We are told that there had been no prophetic messages to Israel in the last 400 years. But now there was a stirring in the land of Judea, and hope was beginning to build up in the hearts of the devout Jewish people. Simeon had been told by the Holy Ghost that he would see the Salvation of The Lord before he would see death. And an old woman named Anna had felt strange stirrings within her soul as she fasted and prayed in the Temple.

Little was said about it, but there was a young woman who was with child, though she had not been with a man. She had been visited by the Messenger Angel and told that she would become the mother of the Messiah of Israel, the Son of The Highest.

Isaiah related it in this manner several centuries before it happened. His writings also went beyond the immediate occasions, and described the RESULTS of what was to take place.

Isa 51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Isa 51:4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
Isa 51:5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

· Gen 10:5 By these were the isles (countries) of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

The Prophet writes as though it had already been done. It was only about to begin. God, however, considered it already a fact, just like He considers His Kingdom to be a reality today, because He has planned it long ago.

Isa 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Isa 51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

God has never been without a witness in the earth. There were folks who knew something was about to happen, and had great anticipation.

Next, the Prophet calls on the Lord, reminding Him of His past exploits, especially the deliverance of Israel from Egypt by way of the Red Sea.

Isa 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, (Egypt) and wounded the dragon?
Isa 51:10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

The Prophet expresses confidence in God that He will complete the work that was begun on Passover night in Egypt.

The Lord answers with a promise of another mighty deliverance in the future.

Isa 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Isa 51:12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
Isa 51:13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Though the governments of the world would try to thwart God’s plan for His People, God would hold them in derision.

· Psa 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
· Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
· Psa 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
· Psa 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
· Psa 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
· Psa 2:6 Yet have I SET MY KING UPON MY HOLY HILL OF ZION.

ZION IS TO BE A PEOPLE, rather than a MOUND OF EARTH AND ROCKS. The BIRTH OF JESUS signaled the beginning of the NEW CREATION.

The NATURAL MOUNT ZION was the highest point in the old city of Jerusalem. That is NOT what is being referred to here. The NATURAL HIGH MOUNTAIN was a TYPE of a SPIRITUAL PHENOMENON that is being formed RIGHT NOW by the SPIRIT OF GOD.

It is happening IN THE HEART AND SPIRIT of Christian Believers. The degree of our RESPONSE to the SPIRIT OF GOD in our lives will determine the relative degree of “Glory” we will achieve in the Economy of God.

Isa 51:14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
Isa 51:15 But I am the LORD thy God, THAT DIVIDED THE SEA, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

Isa 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Isa 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.

The Prophet describes the deplorable state of a Nation (any nation) that has neglected and forgotten their heritage in God.

Jesus decreed desolation on Judah at the closing of His earthly Ministry. It cannot be reversed by any means short of calling on the Name of Jesus, and saying, “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.”

Isa 51:18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.
Isa 51:19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

The end of the Jewish Nation was impending, (In 70 years) because they would reject (In about 33 years) that very SALVATION that their Nation had brought forth—Jesus Christ.

Isa 51:20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, AS A WILD BULL IN A NET: THEY ARE FULL OF THE FURY OF THE LORD, THE REBUKE OF THY GOD.

The leaders of the Jewish religion and Nation were very troubled at the events which led up to the birth of Jesus, and didn’t know what was going to happen. Their “religious machine” was running quite smoothly, and they were upset at the prospect of a drastic change.

God would offer Salvation and deliverance to the Jewish nation in deference to the patriarch Abraham, to whom He had given a Covenant of Promise 2000 years before.

Isa 51:21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
Isa 51:22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
Isa 51:23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

A bona-fide offer of freedom, but they would not accept it because of what it would do to their religious beliefs.

· Joh 19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

Note: Ten-tribed Israel was NOT IN THE LAND at this time. They DID NOT RETURN FROM Assyrian captivity.