Isaiah 50

Isaiah 50:1

Isaiah: God controls the nations God’s special servant An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 49 to 57 www.easyenglish.info Norman Hillyer This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 50 Israel has refused to trust the *Lord v1 This is what the *Lord says to the people from Israel: ‘You cannot produce any official notice of divorce. You have no evidence that I ever sent your mother away from me. You cannot prove that I sold you as slaves in order to pay some debt. No, you became slaves because of your wicked behaviour. And your mother had to go away because you frequently refused to follow my plans for you. v2 Nobody was there when I came. Nobody answered when I called. But I have the resources to buy you back. And I have the strength to rescue you. With just a word, I can make the sea dry. I can change rivers into a desert. And without water, the fish die. v3 I cover the skies with darkness. Even the sky seems to wear *sackcloth because my people are so sad.’

Verse 1

A husband in Israel could divorce his wife, if she did not remain true to him (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4). This was well-known. The Bible often refers to the *Lord’s relationship to Israel as that of husband and wife. And people could understand that picture in words. But the relationship had broken down, because Israel did not carry out its promise to obey the *Lord. However, there was no legal evidence that the *Lord had in fact divorced Israel.

 Nor had the *Lord sold Israel. This uses another picture in words. An extremely poor father, who was desperate to pay a debt, might sell his children to be slaves (see Exodus 21:7). The *Lord created the world and everything in it. He cannot owe anything to anyone!

 ‘Mother’ and ‘children’ form another picture in words, to refer to the entire nation of Israel. Israel had continued to refuse to obey the *Lord (see Isaiah 43:23-24). So he sent them all away to a foreign country where they were *exiles.

 The people could not blame God for their troubles. They themselves were responsible for their own evil deeds. Their troubles were the result of those evil deeds.

Verses 2-3

After many years as *exiles, nobody imagined that they would ever see their own country again. It was impossible. So, when the *Lord promised to bring the *exiles home, nobody believed him.

 But several times the *Lord told the people that they had a wonderful future (see Isaiah 12:3-6, 35:3-10, 49:22). And later, he will repeat this good news (see Isaiah 51:3, 60:10, 61:1-11).

 God reminds his people that he has done such ‘impossible’ actions in the past. For example, when he rescued his people from Egypt (see Exodus 10:21-22). The Servant obeys the *Lord Verses 4-11 provide the third of the ‘Servant Songs’ (see my notes at the beginning of Chapter 42 and the notes on 42:1).

v4 The *Lord God has given me a tongue (speech) that a teacher has trained well. So I will know how to speak words of comfort to those who are tired. He wakens me every morning. He prepares my ears to hear clearly. So I can listen carefully, like a student that a teacher has trained well. v5 The *Lord opened my ears. So I understood clearly what he wanted me to say. I did not hesitate to obey him. But I knew that I would suffer as a result. v6 I made my back bare to those who struck me. And I let them pull off the hair from my cheek. Nor did I hide my face from shame and insult.

Verse 4

Here ‘tongue’ is a picture word, to refer to the Servant’s authority to speak God’s message. The Servant qualifies to be God’s *messenger, because God has taught him what to say (see Jeremiah 1:9. Ezekiel 3:27).

Moreover, God had comforted his special Servant. So the Servant can also speak from personal experience (see Isaiah 40:1-2).

Verse 5

The Servant must listen carefully. That is, not only to hear God’s words, but also to understand God’s meaning.

Verse 6

The Servant was willing to suffer.

 To pull out the hairs of a man’s beard was not only painful. It was the traditional way to bring shame upon a man (see Isaiah 7:20; Isaiah 15:2; Nehemiah 13:25). The Servant trusts the *Lord v7 The *Lord God will help me. Therefore shame and insult cannot hurt me. That is why I make my face as hard as stone. I know that nothing and nobody can cause me shame. v8 My defender is near me. He will prove that I am innocent. Let my accuser dare to meet us in court. Let him bring his evidence against me. v9 The *Lord God will help me. Nobody will be able to say that I am guilty. See! Those who oppose me cannot succeed. They will become like old clothes that insects have eaten.

v10 But some people do give honour to the *Lord. And they obey the message that the *Lord’s Servant delivers to them. Life for them may seem like a walk in darkness. There is no light to guide them. Let such people continue to trust in the name (character) of the *Lord. Let them continue to place their complete confidence in their God.

Verse 7

The Servant concentrates his mind on the *Lord. That action gives the Servant the determination that he needs to carry on the *Lord’s work. That determination is the meaning of the word picture about stone.

Verse 8

The language of a court of law shows the Servant’s attitude. He has complete confidence in the *Lord’s judgement.

Verse 9

The attacks of those who oppose the Servant are too weak to succeed. Old clothes that insects have spoiled will fall to pieces. And the accuser’s arguments have no more substance than those old clothes.

Verse 10

The Servant stands firm. He has complete confidence in the *Lord. That encourages other people also to put their complete trust in the *Lord. The fate of those who refuse to obey God v11 ‘Carry on, you people who have started your own fire. Bring piles of wood! You have chosen your own way, not God’s way. Continue to walk by the light of your own fire. But I, the *Lord, have declared your certain fate. You will come to a terrible end.’

Verse 11

Some people refuse to listen to the *Lord’s servant. They want to live in whatever manner pleases him. They care only about themselves. These people would suffer a terrible punishment. The verse refers to their awful deaths.

 This verse may refer to the people whom the Roman army defeated in *AD 70. The Roman army completely destroyed the country called Judah. It was a terrible event. (The Roman army was the most powerful army in the world for many centuries.)

© 2007 Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

July 2007

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