Isa 50:2 | KingComments | STEP | This chapter deals with two facts: Israel’s responsibility for their rejection and the steadfastness and faithfulness of the Servant of the LORD. In the LORD asks two questions as a protest. They contain the reproach of the thought that what has happened to the people is the result of an arbitrary act of the LORD. But it is not like that. Their condition is due to their own transgressions. The first question is a denial of the LORD that He has broken the relationship in which He stands with Zion, the mother of Israel. This is the LORD’s answer to Zion’s complaint: “The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me” ( ). He has bound Himself to Zion and she cannot show a certificate of divorce that He has sent her away. If that would have been the case, He would also have taken away the opportunity to take her back to Zion in case she had married someone else ( ). She went herself , she left Him (cf. ). The second question is so far true that the LORD has sold His people to strangers. But that is not because He owes those strangers anything. He knows no creditors. Again it is because of their own iniquities. The LORD is not to blame for their condition. Surely, He has rejected and sold, but it is because His people have obliged Him to do so. Therefore the mother, Zion, suffers because of the depravity of her children. The LORD did give a certificate of divorce to the ten tribes, who had been carried away by the Assyrians long before, and are scattered until now ( ). There are more questions to ask ( ). In the beginning God already has come to man with a question when he has fallen into sin ( ). Later the LORD came to His people in the prophets to make them return to Him ( ). But has anyone received them or listened to them? The questions asked have a prophetic meaning especially in view of the first coming of the Lord Jesus. Here it is foretold that He will not be received by anyone and that no one will answer His call to repentance. This is the attitude of the people as a whole when He comes to them ( ). The rejection of the Messiah, not paying attention to Him, filled the measure of their iniquities mentioned in . Their confession is that they are waiting for the Messiah. But when He comes, it turns out that they don’t want Him. They want Him to deliver them from the yoke of the Romans, but they are not aware of the yoke of their sins from which they must be set free. He calls to gather them to Himself, but at the end of His service He must say, “and you were unwilling” ( ). Only a few disciples follow Him. Is it because, although God offers salvation, He is incapable of working it out and bringing it about? No, for God, and He alone, has the power to save. His hand is really not too short, i.e. without power, to ransom ( )! Didn’t He formerly deliver His people from Egypt by His power? Didn’t He by His punishment, that is, by the power of His word, make the Red Sea dry, so that His people could pass through it? Didn’t He make the rivers a wasteland in Egypt, so that the fish stank in them and died? Didn’t He also make it dark in Egypt ( )? It is clear that the sea, the rivers and the heavens are all under His command and that He acts with them as He sees fit, also for the benefit of His people.

‏ Isaiah 50:2

Questions of the LORD

This chapter deals with two facts: Israel’s responsibility for their rejection and the steadfastness and faithfulness of the Servant of the LORD. In Isa 50:1 the LORD asks two questions as a protest. They contain the reproach of the thought that what has happened to the people is the result of an arbitrary act of the LORD. But it is not like that. Their condition is due to their own transgressions.

The first question is a denial of the LORD that He has broken the relationship in which He stands with Zion, the mother of Israel. This is the LORD’s answer to Zion’s complaint: “The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me” (Isa 49:14). He has bound Himself to Zion and she cannot show a certificate of divorce that He has sent her away. If that would have been the case, He would also have taken away the opportunity to take her back to Zion in case she had married someone else (Deu 24:1-4). She went herself, she left Him (cf. Jer 31:31-32).

The second question is so far true that the LORD has sold His people to strangers. But that is not because He owes those strangers anything. He knows no creditors. Again it is because of their own iniquities. The LORD is not to blame for their condition. Surely, He has rejected and sold, but it is because His people have obliged Him to do so. Therefore the mother, Zion, suffers because of the depravity of her children. The LORD did give a certificate of divorce to the ten tribes, who had been carried away by the Assyrians long before, and are scattered until now (Jer 3:8).

There are more questions to ask (Isa 50:2). In the beginning God already has come to man with a question when he has fallen into sin (Gen 3:8-9). Later the LORD came to His people in the prophets to make them return to Him (Jer 7:25b-26). But has anyone received them or listened to them?

The questions asked have a prophetic meaning especially in view of the first coming of the Lord Jesus. Here it is foretold that He will not be received by anyone and that no one will answer His call to repentance. This is the attitude of the people as a whole when He comes to them (Jn 1:11). The rejection of the Messiah, not paying attention to Him, filled the measure of their iniquities mentioned in Isa 50:1.

Their confession is that they are waiting for the Messiah. But when He comes, it turns out that they don’t want Him. They want Him to deliver them from the yoke of the Romans, but they are not aware of the yoke of their sins from which they must be set free. He calls to gather them to Himself, but at the end of His service He must say, “and you were unwilling” (Mt 23:37).

Only a few disciples follow Him. Is it because, although God offers salvation, He is incapable of working it out and bringing it about? No, for God, and He alone, has the power to save. His hand is really not too short, i.e. without power, to ransom (Isa 59:1)!

Didn’t He formerly deliver His people from Egypt by His power? Didn’t He by His punishment, that is, by the power of His word, make the Red Sea dry, so that His people could pass through it? Didn’t He make the rivers a wasteland in Egypt, so that the fish stank in them and died? Didn’t He also make it dark in Egypt (Isa 50:3)? It is clear that the sea, the rivers and the heavens are all under His command and that He acts with them as He sees fit, also for the benefit of His people.