Isaiah 50

Isaiah 50:1

2. The Messiah as True Disciple (Chap. 50)50:1-3 In a heart-to-heart talk with Israel, Jehovah reminds them that it was not for some trifling whim that He divorced them (though He did divorce them, Jer_3:8), nor did He deliver them to the Chaldeans because of any debt to that Gentile nation. The cause was their own iniquities and transgressions. No one in the nation welcomed Him, and no one answered His call. Did they think He was powerless to deliver them? Had He not dried up the Red Sea and the Jordan River? Had He not clothed the heavens in mourning? 50:4-9 The Messiah speaks next. The nation that spurned Jehovah in the OT spurned Jesus in the NT. He came as the True Disciple, taught by God to speak the appropriate word. Every morning His ear was opened to receive instructions from His Father for that day. He delighted to do the will of God, even if it meant going to the cross. He did not turn back but willingly gave Himself over to suffering and shame. In full confidence that God would vindicate Him, He set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. He was vindicated, of course, by His resurrection. Now he challenges the adversary, Satan, to condemn Him. (We too can now throw out the same challenge, Rom_8:31-39.) All His foes will grow old like a moth-eaten garment. 50:10 The last two verses describe two classes of people. The first are those who walk in dependence on the LORD. They confess their own need for guidance. For them God’s advice is to trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon their God. Then they will be flooded with illumination. 50:11 The second class are those who try to manufacture their own guidance, feeling no need of divine direction. They can walk in the light of their own sparks but the Lord will see to it that they will lie down in torment.