Isaiah 51:13-23

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?

Here is the typical focus of man.  What they do is fear other men before they fear the LORD.  The LORD is the one who created the heavens and the earth plus he is the one who has created man.  They fear the creature more than they fear the Creator.  We get a further warning from Jesus in Matthew.  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)  We are not to fear man who can only kill the body but our true fear should be of God who is able to kill the soul in hell long after the body is dead.  God speaks of the oppressor as being one who was ready to destroy.  In other words, it was not in the power of the oppressor to actually kill any of them and in fact, where is the fury of the oppressor?  The Babylonians would be conquered by Cyrus and they would be able to enact nothing.  These are not the ones they should live in fear of.

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.

The captives although living in Babylon will not die there.  Judah will be released and allowed to return to the land.  They will once again resume their lives but this time they will have learned their lesson and will have rejected idolatry and false religions.  They will now be obedient unto the LORD.  This also has allusion to the time when they were in Egypt and the LORD freed them and brought them through the Red Sea and eventually into the Promised Land.

Isa 51:15

But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

Here God distinguishes himself from the idols and the false gods reminding them that he is the LORD their God who divided the Red Sea before them and it was not any of those mythical false gods.  He parted the sea when it was at its height with the waves roaring and he reminds them that his name is the LORD of hosts which means that he has under his command all the armies of the world and heaven.  Therefore, no army in the world can ever make a move without the permission and knowledge of the LORD and if they attempt to march against the LORD’s decrees, they could be destroyed at will.

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.

Then the LORD speaks to the true believers in Israel that he has placed his words in their mouth.  But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. (Deuteronomy 30:14)  These are not the vain teachings of men but the words are the great promises which God made to them.  They are not only in the prophet’s mouth but in the mouth of all the people.  He has also protected them by his power when he could have easily given them into the hands of the enemy when they started turning to idolatry, ye he sustained them for the sake of the Elect among them who would be the truth teachers.  God gives a glorious promise here that we find also in Revelation.  He will plant the heavens and the foundations of the earth.  This is not speaking of the initial creation which the people were now standing on but he is speaking about the New Heavens and the New Earth which he will create out of the old order.  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17)  Then the only ones who inhabit them will be the true believers which are called Zion because they are called “my people” by God and the people of God are the ones in Christ.

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.

Then God commands Jerusalem to awake and he states it twice which means it is an important message coming. Jerusalem had long held the displeasure of God for the simple fact that they had adopted false religions and had departed from the LORD and his law.  Israel and Judah because of their wicked ways had suffered under the judgment of God.  Israel would be taken into captivity by Assyria never returning to the land and Judah will be taken by Babylon when they come in and even destroy the temple of Solomon which was the center of worship for them.  The dregs were the sediments in the bottom of the cup and here signifies the worst judgments that God could place on them short of total annihilation.  For the ancient Jew to be placed under the authority of a pagan empire meant they could not partake of the sacrifices or feasts required under the law.  To wring something out is to squeeze or twist until every drop is out.  This would refer to the fact that God would continually wring them out until every vestige of their national sin of idolatry was expunged from them.

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.

Israel had become so apostate that there was absolutely no one to guide her into the truth or to show them the error of their ways.  This is why God had to send prophets to her so they would prick their consciences and bring them back to serving the LORD.  They were like a child going their own way without a parent and of all those who were born in her, that should have known the way of truth, there wasn’t anyone to lead them by the hand as a parent leads a child.  Their children were not instructed properly in the ways of the LORD which was a violation of the LORD’s command.  ⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: ⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) 

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 two things which will come upon them will be the judgments from God and the second thing will be they will have no friends to come to their aid when those things happen to them.  In fact the world around them will rejoice when these things will happen.  Then the LORD tells them that desolation and destruction will come upon them by means of famine and the sword.  Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? (2 Chronicles 32:11)  When Isaiah was written Assyria was still a threat to Judah.  Then the LORD had declared unto them that if they broke his covenant they shall face these calamities.  The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:25)  Then the famine will be so great in the siege the people will resort to cannibalism.  And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. (Jeremiah 19:9)  This is how serious things can get when one walks opposite the law of God.  Then there will be no one to comfort the people, that is, to deliver them or give them relief from the invasion.

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 people of Jerusalem are so under the wrath of God that those sons who should have been the comforters are now the tormentors.  Their strength has failed and they are just like a wild bull that was caught in a net that jumps wildly trying to get free.  The people will look for any way to become free but will be futile just as a trapped animal cannot escape a net.   The people of Jerusalem are now experiencing the fury and rebuke of the LORD as they do what they can to escape the consequences of their actions but the judgments are decreed against them and there is nothing they can do to escape.

Isa 51:21

Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

Therefore because of all the fury from the LORD which has come upon them, they are afflicted and they walk about as a drunken man yet they are drunk without wine.  They do what they can to escape the consequences of their sins as a drunk cannot escape the effects of alcohol, they cannot escape the effects of their idolatry as they turned away from the LORD.

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:

Then the LORD makes the promise to Jerusalem that he will plead the cause of his people like he is their defense lawyer.  This verse gives a promise that there will be an end to the judgments which have come upon Jerusalem.  God was the one who decreed their judgment and now as much as they tried to escape, they could not as God is the only one can remove what he has placed there.  He promises them that their sufferings will come to an end and they will not have to worry about enduring the plight of being taken from their land into a pagan nation.  This is speaking about the people in Isaiah’s time because Israel will be completely destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans who will kill many of them and remove the rest to Rome to become slaves.

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.