Isaiah #12: Listen and Wake Up (51)
an fx.church re:group study on select chapters from Isaiah
We all come to a place in our lives when we realize we can’t save ourselves. We are forced to ask: who will save us and how? Isaiah proclaims THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL’s justice against sin and rebellion, and hope as the saving Messiah. Isaiah’s message is simple: Yahweh, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, is Judge and Savior of His people (1-12), of the nations (13-27), of Jerusalem (28-39), while in exile (40-48), as the suffering Messiah (49-55), and as LORD forever and ever (56-66).
Isaiah Studies
#1 - Covenant, Curse and Chaos (24)
#2 - Leviathan and The Vineyard (27)
#3 - Ariel (29)
#4 - Battle Flag (31-32)
#5 - Wasteland and Streams (34-35)
#6 - Six Speeches (40)
#7 - My Servant (42)
#8 - Blind Witnesses (43)
#9 - The Rescuer (44-45)
#10 - Streets of Old (48)
#11 - Servant Songs (49-50)
#12 - Listen and Wake Up (51)
Outline
Act I: Prelude to an Exile (1-39)
Act II: A Second Exodus (40-55)
40-43 The Stage Is Set (of speeches, servants, and witnesses)
44-48 The Cyrus Cycle (Messiah 1)
49-53 The Servant Songs (Messiah 2)
Background (previously on…49-50)
Act 2 begins with 40:2 “her time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
two Messiah’s become the double portion received: Cyrus to end forced labor, Christ to pardon iniquity
44-48 cycles around Cyrus Messiah, a necessary precursor to the second Messiah
49-53 sings of Christ the Messiah
Isaiah composes two of four Servant Songs in 49-50 giving us:
the Servant’s Call (42:1-7)
the Servant’s Commission (49:1-13)
the Servant’s Obedience (50:4-9)
the Suffering Servant (52:13–53:12)
the second Servant Song (49:1-13) breaks the news that the second Messiah is commissioned not just for Israel, but for the nations
and the heavens and earth shout for joy at this news flash (49:13), but instead Israel complains of abandonment and being forgotten (49:14)
in the middle of the two songs the LORD compares Himself as a MINDFUL MOTHER (49:14-21), a CONQUERING CHAMPION (49:22-26), and a POWERFUL PA (50:1-3) to show Israel how He remembers them
a MINDFUL MOTHER does not forget the baby nursing at her breast, and will be amazed at the gathering of all the prized children, even as builder-sons rebuild what the departed destroyers left behind
a CONQUERING CHAMPION goes to any length to return the captives of Israel (as children), raising signal flags to get kings to act as body guards who bow in submission as they escort the children back, and taking the spoils (as children) of a righteous tyrant, thus conquering the conquerors
a POWERFUL PA sends away rebellious children, not for cash, but because they are rebellious, so much so that ma must be sent away too
the children lacked repentance when called, otherwise they wouldn’t have been sold off, but their lack of deliverance was not because of PA’s weakness, as He is powerful enough to control nature to dry up the sea, or turn light into darkness (recalling Genesis and Exodus themes)
the third Servant Song (50:4-9) shows the servant to listen in order to be a spokesperson to the weary, to pursue obedience even to the point of suffering, and is a reminder that none can contend with the second Servant, because He is vindicated and rewarded by the LORD
50 ends with a call to listen to the Servant of the third Servant Song
obedience to the Servant has the same outcome for you as it did for Him, it will involve walking in darkness (to return to Jerusalem) and trusting in the LORD (to rebuild your lives)
if you don’t want the darkness of obedience, and wish to brandish your own light, then it will consume you
note to self: don’t light a fire and walk in it while shooting flaming arrows, you are going to catch your clothes ON FIRE!!
Study Questions
REMEMBER THE ROCK 1-8
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness,
who seek the Lord.
Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,
at the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look at Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I summoned him, he was a lone individual,
but I blessed him and gave him numerous descendants.
3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;
he will console all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her arid rift valley like the garden of the Lord.
Happiness and joy will be restored to her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
51 is a reflection on the third Servant Song (50:4-9) with the expectation to listen to the Servant. Three times in 1-8 God calls on His people to listen to Him.
What is the first “listen,” who is it for and where should the people look?
Who is the Rock and why remember him? What have you been chiseled from?
“Certainly the Lord will console Zion” could be an answer to what previous response? (Hint: who needed consolation)?
What is the significance of the wilderness remade into Eden? Who is mentioned that had happiness and joy restored after a long period of desolation (barrenness)?
4 Pay attention to me, my people.
Listen to me, my people!
For I will issue a decree,
I will make my justice a light to the nations.
5 I am ready to vindicate,
I am ready to deliver,
I will establish justice among the nations.
The coastlands wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power.
6 Look up at the sky.
Look at the earth below.
For the sky will dissipate like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give is permanent;
the vindication I provide will not disappear.
What is the second “listen,” who is it for and where should the people look?
What is God doing and to what aim?
What will ultimately happen to earth and sky? What can man do to prevent this? Where should Israel (and us) find hope?
7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law.
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse.
8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;
a clothes moth will devour them like wool.
But the vindication I provide will be permanent;
the deliverance I give will last.”
What is the third “listen,” who is it for and where should the people NOT look?
What will happen to those who insult and abuse? Where should Israel find hope?
RAHAB AND THE DRAGON 9-16
9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord!
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity.
Did you not smash the Proud One?
Did you not wound the sea monster?
10 Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea,
so those delivered from bondage could cross over?
11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;
they will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them,
happiness and joy will overwhelm them;
grief and suffering will disappear.
12 “I, I am the one who consoles you.
Why are you afraid of mortal men,
of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass?
13 Why do you forget the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor?
14 The one who suffers will soon be released;
he will not die in prison,
he will not go hungry.
15 I am the Lord your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name!16 “I commission you as my spokesman;
I cover you with the palm of my hand
to establish the sky and to found the earth,
to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
Israel is calling out to God for help, likely the believing remnant returning to Jerusalem. He tells them to WAKE UP and remember their past.
Israel was the arm of the Lord, an arm that defeated powerful foes. Who were the Rāhab and Tannîn representative of? (Note: both were sea monsters, the former was often called the Proud One, the latter a sea dragon but not the Ugaritic Lôtān of ch. 27). I.E. Who did Hulk smash? (Hint: look at v10).
Again in v12 we find the one who consoles (see v3). What is His response to Israel crying out? If Israel is the arm of the Lord, what describes the might of this Lord (v15)?
Who is commissioned in v16 and to what purpose?
GOBLET OF ANGER 17-23
17 Wake up! Wake up!
Get up, O Jerusalem!
You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you,
which was full of his anger.
You drained dry
the goblet full of intoxicating wine.
18 There was no one to lead her
among all the children she bore;
there was no one to take her by the hand
among all the children she raised.
19 These double disasters confronted you.
But who feels sorry for you?
Destruction and devastation,
famine and sword.
But who consoles you?
20 Your children faint;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a snare.
They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger,
by the battle cry of your God.
21 So listen to this, oppressed one,
who is drunk, but not from wine.
22 This is what your Sovereign Lord, even your God who judges his people says:
“Look, I have removed from your hand
the cup of intoxicating wine,
the goblet full of my anger.
You will no longer have to drink it.
23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors
who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’
You made your back like the ground
and like the street for those who walked over you.”
Again Israel is called to WAKE UP!! This time to realize their time of punishment is really over.
What goblet had they been drinking of? What double disasters did they experience (19)? What was Israel drunk from (21)?
Who did the LORD give the goblet to (vv22-23)? Where do we find this literal fulfillment in history, and where is it going to happen in the future? How is this a message of hope to Israel?
Answer Key
The first listen is for those who pursue godliness and seek the Lord (Israel) to remember the past and God’s covenant with Abraham. LOOK BACK!
Abraham is the Rock, and out of this righteous old man and his barren wife, God made a populous nation of people. His covenant will be fulfilled, a numerous people and a promised land (Canaan). God will restore Zion, the people to a place.
This verse to console and restore is likely an additional response to 49:14, “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the sovereign master has forgotten me.’”
God will undo the curse of Gen. 4 upon the garden of Eden during the Millennial Reign as the Fertile Crescent is remade fertile. Zion is the Sarah 2.0, finding joy and happiness after a lifetime of desolation and barrenness and now (in the end) being surrounded by a multitude of children (49:15ff).
Pay attention and listen My people (Israel) and remember who God is. LOOK UP!!
He will issue decree, vindicate, deliver, establish justice, reveal power. This is all for the nations but certainly Israel is at the center.
Regardless of our best climate protection effort, the sky will dissipate and the earth wear out. Israel’s hope (our hope) is in the Lord’s deliverance and vindication.
Listen those who know right and are aware of the law (Israel) and don’t pay attention to men. DON’T LOOK OVER!
Those who speak insult and abuse will eventually be devoured. Hope is found in the LORD who vindicates and delivers.
The language of v10 makes it clear this verse is talking about the first Exodus from Egypt. As such the proud one is Egypt, and the dragon in this instance is Pharaoh. (See also Isa. 30:7, Ps. 87:4 and Ezek. 29:3).
The LORD’s response is why do you fear men instead of God? This LORD is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, as Israel is just the “arm.”
Verse 16 describes the commissioning of the second Messiah, Christ, to create new heavens and a new earth literally at the end of the Millennium.
Israel was drinking from the goblet of judgement in to Babylonian Captivity and possibly end times scattering post AD 70. The double disasters are likely poetic in form listed following, destruction and devastation, and then famine and sword. Israel is intoxicated from the wrath of God, that’s all they’ve known.
The LORD is giving the goblet of the wrath of God to Israel’s tormentors, to Babylon in their release from captivity, but to the nations that gather in the end times against her. Ultimately the LORD uses the surrounding nations to punish the Israelite’s for their disobedience (the sins of Manasseh, etc.), but will restore His people and punish the punishers, conquer the conquerors for their wicked treatment of God’s people being walked over.
Resources
find a group to meet with others during the week and re:group in a smaller setting for Bible study and fellowship
discover the re:group Vault for additional Bible Study content
find fxtalk podcast episodes on “Isaiah: The Holy One of Israel” by Mat Shockney
listen on Bandcamp to original song and verse, based on fxchurch sermon series
Credits: background sources generally include Dr. Thomas L. Constable, BibleRef, GotQuestions.org, and Enduring Word. All Scripture taken from the NET Bible except where noted. Based on a message series “Isaiah: The Holy One of Israel” by Mat Shockney, lead pastor. Artwork by Luke Bilotta. Series summary by Mat Shockney. Substack content by Jason Snyder, associate pastor.