“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many. The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
“Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: Instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
“Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.”
Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength! Awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger. Among all the children she bore there was none to guide her; among all the children she reared there was none to take her by the hand. Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine. This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, ‘Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.’ And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked on.”
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Isaiah 51 has a similar message as proclaimed earlier in the prophet's collection of oracles. God will return the Jews from exile to their home in Judea. God will turn against Babylon to set the Jews free. The Jews were in exile because of God's wrath, because of their unfaithfulness to God. But now God has turned wrath to compassion. His compassion is for Israel. God's wrath is reserved for Babylon.
Isaiah 51 begins with the word "Listen". Three times the righteous who heed the word of the Lord are called to hear Him speak anew. God has a message of hope, a promise of salvation and the endurance of righteousness. Those who seek the Lord, who know what is right, are being called to listen and to look. Listen to the message of the Lord through Isaiah. Look to the examples of the past.
Look to Abraham and Sarah. They were small in number but became a mighty nation, wealthy and respected. God promised this to Abraham and it became so. Look to the works of God's hands, the heavens and the earth. Though they will one day pass away, God's promise of salvation and righteousness will never pass away. Look to the history of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, poetically referred to as Rahab the monster. God delivered the nation from Egyptian slavery. God can and will deliver the nation from the tyranny of Babylon.
But not only is Israel waiting for justice, other oppressed nations are waiting for relief from Babylon too. God will grant them salvation as well. They too wait for God to act.
The Jews need not fear their captors, those who insult and abuse them. God is eternal. This exile in Babylon is temporary. God encourages them not to fear, but to acknowledge that He is coming soon to set them free. The Jews should acknowledge their special relationship with God through Abraham and Moses. Though they failed to keep the covenant through Moses, they are still the chosen nation through which God will bring His salvation to all the world.
Isaiah 51:16 NIV
I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
Israel is the messenger, the witness to Yahweh. They are a nation meant to be blessed by God through holy living, so that the knowledge of God through them might bless the entire earth. His hand is over them, shaping and training them for righteousness. His hand is over them protecting them from extermination. He saves a remnant who take His instruction to heart. They will return to Jerusalem and start again. They will resume proper worship and holy living and the surrounding nations will learn of the Almighty God. Though God made the Jews staggering drunk with the cup of His wrath, they will be renewed when God puts His wrath upon their oppressors, the Babylonians.
Whenever you cross a street, you learned to stop, look and listen. Whenever you cross through a time of difficulty or challenge, remember to stop being fearful, listen to the word of God, and look to the many examples of God's power to make things new, to rescue and to save. Though you and I may fail to be faithful to God, God is ever faithful to us. His righteousness and salvation endure forever.
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