For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 51:1-3    

1 ‘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;
2 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.
3 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.

A. Find Out:

1. To whom does the Lord now speak? v.1a,b
2. What does He tell them to do? v.1c,d,2a,b
3. What does He say about Abraham? v.2c,d
4. What does He say will do for Jerusalem? v.3a
5. What specific areas will He touch? v.3b-d
6. What will be the result? v.3e,f

B. Think:

1. Of what does the Lord use Abraham as an example?
2. How does He apply that into the present and future?
3. What group of people is this word for?

C. Comment:

Throughout these prophecies of Isaiah come words to the faithful remnant, the minority who are believers, who do seek the Lord and put their trust in Him. We saw them mentioned above in verse 10, and now they are addressed here.

To this group the Lord speaks.  Think back to your origins is what He says (v.1).  Think of what I did for Abraham and Sarah (v.2).  He was childless, she was past the age of bearing children.  Yet I promised to make a nation out of him, and so I did.  The implication is clearly that if God could do this for Abraham, He could still bring a mighty change about in the fortunes of Jerusalem.

Look, He says, I will comfort Jerusalem and rebuild the ruins (v.3a,b).   In the surrounding land, where it is barren and empty (v.3c) after the invader has come and gone, I will bring life and transformation (v.3d). The end result of all this will be pure joy (v.3e). You will sing again with gladness and thanksgiving for all the changes that will come (v.3f).

Remember two things: first this is a word for the faithful remnant, not the unbelievers.  Second, because in the face of ruin such a thing seems impossible, such a word needs to come again and again. The Lord knows our need to hear this sort of word repeatedly. Look at your own situation, God CAN bring change!

D. Application:

1. The Lord looks for a faithful remnant. Make sure you’re part of it.
2. Trust in the Lord, the blessing will come!

Passage: Isaiah 51:4-6

4 ‘Listen to me, my people;
    hear me, my nation:
instruction will go out from me;
    my justice will become a light to the nations.
5 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.
6 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 for ever,
    my righteousness will never fail.

A. Find Out:    

1. To whom does the Lord speak? v.4a
2. What does He say will happen? v.4b
3. What is coming soon? v.5a,b
4. How will this be expressed and what will it bring? v.5c,d
5. What may happen? v.6a-d
6. Yet what will last for ever? v.6e,f

B. Think:

1. What will draw people from all over the world?
2. How do you think salvation and justice are the same?
3. How is this salvation not just a “temporary fix”?

C. Comment:

The Lord has just been speaking about how He will bring comfort and blessing to Jerusalem, and now He enlarges on that.  As He said previously to His servant (49:6) His plans are much bigger than just Israel, they encompass the entire world!

The Lord uses a whole spectrum of words to describe what He is going to do – law, justice, light, righteousness, salvation, hope.   Let’s examine them one by one.

•  First the Lord sends His law (v.4b) and the world realises there are standards to be attained.
•  Then He speaks of justice (v.4b)which means failure is to be called to account. He then shows us that Jesus has died to take the punishment for the failure. Justice has been seen to be done.
•  As the Spirit convicts us, we see the light, (v.4b) and realise our need and the answer and we come to Him in repentance.
•  As we respond like this we are declared righteous by God (v.5a) and salvation flows in our lives (v.5b) which are made anew as we are cleansed and empowered.
•  Suddenly there is hope (v.5d) of a new future, both here on earth and in eternity.

These are the things the Lord speaks of here, the possibility of salvation coming to His world through the life and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is bigger than salvation for one small people group.   This is the Lord’s plan to be received by the whole world!

D. Application:

1. Justice demands that Sin be punished. Jesus has received that.
2. Justification means we are declared righteous by God.

Passage: Isaiah 51:7,8   

7 ‘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.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
    the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last for ever,
    my salvation through all generations.’

A. Find Out:

1. Who does the Lord address? v.7a,b
2. What does He tell them not to fear? v.7c,d
3. What two things will happen to them? v.8a,b
4. But what does He say about His salvation/righteousness? v.8c,d

B. Think:

1. Why do you think the Lord appeals to believers?
2. How may the enemy put them down?
3. So what is the Lord’s answer?

C. Comment:

The Lord again appeals to those who seek Him. He keeps doing that in different ways. In verse 1 He spoke to those who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord.  In verse 4 He appealed to ‘my people’ and now it is (v.7) to “you who know what is right” and you “who have my law in your hearts”.  Now that last description cannot apply to the whole of Israel, but to the faithful remnant.  The Lord is bringing encouragement to believers and He speaks against the majority or the powerful who might have influence upon this smaller group (as it tends to be). He is speaking against one of the most common ways that the enemy seeks to quash God’s people – by derision.

The unbelieving world mocks believers and calls them stupid for holding such “outdated” or “foolish” beliefs. The enemy tries to make believers feel small and foolish, because if he can do this they do not take action again him and his will prevails. This is exactly what is happening in so much of the West today. It is called marginalising God’s people, pushing them aside and making them feel irrelevant!

The Lord’s answer to this?  Don’t worry about them, they are going to be destroyed! Their time is limited but yours isn’t!  God’s salvation is eternal which means it will keep coming down through history – while the current unbelieving set are wiped away and forgotten – and the effect of salvation will mean that you have eternal life and will never be destroyed. Hold onto the truth!

D. Application:

1. Mockers will pass away. Ignore them!
2. Salvation is eternal. Hold onto it and rejoice!

Passage: Isaiah 51:9-11      

9 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?
10 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?
11 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.

A. Find Out:    

1. What is the prophet’s response to all that has been said? v.9a,b
2. What does he say the Lord has done in the past? v .9,10
3. What had the Lord enabled to happen? v.10d
4. So what does he say will happen now? v.11a,b
5. In what state? v.11c,d
6. And what will go? v.11e

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise the prophet’s response?
2. What is the purpose of his remembering past history?
3. How can that help us?

C. Comment:

The Lord has just been speaking about what He is going to do. Now the prophet Isaiah himself speaks up. It is a heart or spirit response to all he has heard. It could basically be summarised as, “Go for it, Lord!”

He starts out by a call to the Lord to arm Himself with strength to do the things He’s said. Do it like you did such things in days gone by, is what he adds. Then he starts recounting the past great things that the Lord had done for Israel.  In the language and descriptions that follow he can only be describing the Exodus, thus Rahab must be a sort of code word for the might and pride of Egypt. Pharaoh and his court with their idol worshipping were like a huge monster and the Lord pierced them through! The Lord then dried up the sea and led Israel to freedom.

That Exodus, the prophet realises, is just like what the Lord has been talking about for the future. The Lord will release His people out of the bigger ‘Egypt’, the world, and bring them back to their land. This is a declaration of faith-prayer that rises up in Isaiah. Yes, he is saying, it WILL Happen! 

It is good for us to affirm and declare the already declared will of God, to bring ourselves in line with it. The more we do that, the more it hastens its outworking.

D. Application:

1. Be aware of the declared will of God. Affirm it in your life.
2. Agree with what God says and praise and worship Him.

Passage: Isaiah 51 :12-14

12 ‘I, even I, am he who comforts you.
    Who are you that you fear mere mortals,
    human beings who are but grass,
13 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?
14     The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;
they will not die in their dungeon,
    nor will they lack bread.

A. Find Out:    

1. How does the Lord now start? v.12a
2. But what does He ask them? v.12b,c
3. What second question does He ask them? v.13a-c
4. What has that left them with? v.13d-f
5. What will soon happen to whom? v.14a
6. What won’t happen to them? v.14b,c

B. Think:

1. How is verse 12 a direction continuation from the previous verses?
2. How are Israel being negative?
3. What grounds does the Lord give for them being positive?

C. Comment:

In verse 11 either the prophet or the Lord declared the certainty of Israel returning to Jerusalem.  At the beginning of verse 12 the Lord confirms that it is He who is speaking and bringing comfort to them.   But then He questions why they are so fearful.  Obviously they are afraid of their neighbours, or even the nations a little further off (e.g. Babylon) and the Lord asks them why they are afraid of mere men.  Men after all, die off like the grass, He adds.

Then comes the real reason for their fear: they have forgotten the Lord.  God is THE Creator of all things, the One who is all-powerful, the One who has been promising to protect them and bring back future generations to this land. If they trusted in the Lord they would not fear, but instead they are left feeling vulnerable and open to the attack of the enemy and so live in fear.

There is a major basic principle here: You will either trust in the Lord and be at peace, or you will forget Him and live in fear. If you do not have a living relationship with the Lord, whereby you know His presence and His power that is there to provide for you and protect you, you will be prey to every fear.  It is a worrying world but only if you are in it alone!  With the Lord there is strength and security and peace of mind. These are key issues of faith even today.

D. Application:

1. Am I aware of the Lord’s presence with me? Be at peace.
2. Am I unaware of Him? Seek Him!

Passage: Isaiah 51:15-17

15 For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar –
    the Lord Almighty is his name.
16 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.”’

17 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.

A. Find Out:

1. How does the Lord describe Himself? v.15
2. What 2 things does He say He has done? v.16a,b
3. What has He done with the earth? v.16c,d
4. What has He done with Israel ? v.16e
5. Who doers He then address? v.17a
6. What does He say they have done? v.17b-d

B. Think:

1. How are verses 15 and 16 a direct continuation?
2. How is that a word of assurance?
3. What does the Lord do in verse 17?

C. Comment:

From verse 12, the Lord speaks to Israel, challenging those who lived in fear because they had forgotten (turned away from) the Lord.   In verse 14 He had declared that this people who were fearful will be set free from the dungeons of their fear. The picture is of a people who have become prisoners to fear, but the Lord has declared freedom for them. This state will not go on for ever.

In verse 17 He speaks specifically to Jerusalem as the capital city, a city which has born the brunt of the Lord’s displeasure against the sin of the nation. They have received the full outpouring of the wrath of God.  No wonder they have been in a state of ongoing fear!

But the challenge of verses 12 to 14 were not to fear but to trust in the Lord, and in verses 15 and 16 He again reminds them of who He is and why they can trust in Him.   He is the I AM, the one who has come to them and revealed Himself.  He is the all-mighty One who affects and changes even nature on their behalf.  He has come to them and spoken and He has come to them and protected them.  He is the One who has both created all things and entered into a personal covenant with Israel.  There is within this a reminder of both His power and His personal commitment to them.  He has the power to change history for them, and the personal concern to do it for them as a people.

D. Application:

1. Nothing is impossible for the Lord. Trust Him.
2. The Lord is FOR His people. Worship Him.

Passage: Isaiah 51:18-20

18 Among all the children she bore
    there was none to guide her;
among all the children she brought up
    there was none to take her by the hand.
19 These double calamities have come upon you –
    who can comfort you? –
ruin and destruction, famine and sword –
    who can console you?
20 Your children have fainted;
    they lie at every street corner,
    like antelope caught in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
    with the rebuke of your God.

A. Find Out:

1. What had none of ‘Jerusalem’s sons’ done? v.18
2. What was she in need of? v.19
3. What had come upon her? v.19
4. What had happened to her ‘sons’? v.20a,b
5. Why was that? v.20c,d

B. Think:

1. Read on verses 21-23. What is the context of v.18-20?
2. This is a picture of past to present. What has happened?
3. What is the end product and why?

C. Comment:

At first sight these are not exactly edifying verses but we must see them in context. The Lord is speaking about the present state of Jerusalem and will go on to say that this time is coming to an end. It is important therefore to catch a sense of the state of Jerusalem as it was.

Verse 17 summarises what has happened – God’s wrath has been poured out on Jerusalem, or to use the picture that is often used and is used here, Jerusalem has drink from the cup that God has provided, the cup of His judgement. That cup will be taken away (v.22).

Disaster has come upon Jerusalem so that property is demolished (ruin and destruction) and people died (famine and sword).  God’s anger came with very tangible results.  This devastated city is in dire need of comfort, but there is no one (apart from the Lord) to bring it.   Why?   Because of what has happened to them.

Who are the ‘sons’ referred to several times?  Well in prophetic imagery Jerusalem is being personified as one who has grown up and who should have produced those who could look after the city, protect and develop it, but that hadn’t happened. This city held the meeting place with God (the Temple) and so new believers, strong in God, should have (with God’s help) guarded Jerusalem, but instead the devastations that have come have left them helpless and useless in this respect. There is no one in the city now capable of doing this.  It will have to be God!

D. Application:

1. In God, we should be looking after our towns and villages. Do we?
2. Is the absence of such protection a sign of God’s judgement?

Passage: Isaiah 51:21-23

21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one,
    made drunk, but not with wine.
22 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.
23 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.’

A. Find Out:

1. How does the Lord now address Jerusalem? v.21
2. How does He describe Himself? v.22a,b
3. What has He taken from them? v.22c,d
4. What does He say about the future? v.22e
5. To whom instead will He give it? v.23a
6. What had they done to Jerusalem? v.23b-d

B. Think:

1. What was “the cup” that the Lord spoke of?
2. What effect had it had?
3. But what was the Lord now saying?

C. Comment:

In verse 17 the Lord had introduced the concept of a cup that Jerusalem had had to drink from, the cup of God’s wrath. Having to drink of God’s anger is the picture here. Jesus used this same picture (Mt 20:22 ,23, 26:39,42).  The picture is of drinking so that you take down the contents into you and fully experience them. You are required to drink it, there is no escaping.

So it had been for Jerusalem.  The judgement of God had come upon them (and would come on them at the Exile) as enemy invaders had come against them, as we saw in verse 19, with destruction and death. The result was that the inhabitants that were left staggered about like they were drunk.  We might say they were ‘punch drunk’ because of all the things that happened to them.  They didn’t know what they were doing or what was happening to them any longer.

Now comes the word of deliverance from the Lord – I’ve taken this cup from you and you’ll never have it again. The anger of the Lord has gone from them, the judgement has been lifted, and they are to be free from oppression. Instead that anger and judgement will be transferred now to those oppressors who came and subjugated them and made them lie down and be walked on. No, the judgement has ended and the enemy who caused it will be dealt with, so it will not be repeated!

D. Application:

1. When God deals with a nation, He does a proper job of it!
2. Yet the Lord plans for restoration not total destruction.