Isaiah Chapters 46,47, 50/Commentary

Isaiah Chapters 46-47,50 46:1-2 The false god named “Bel” was also called Marduk, the sun-god, and Nebo, was the Babylonian god of learning, writing, and astronomy. Both of these will bow down, that is be completely helpless to save the Babylonians. By contrast, such idols would be a heavy burden. “Large images of those gods, carried about on Babylon’s New Year’s Day festival, were heavy and burdensome” (Bible Knowledge Comm. pp. 1100-1101). In this section we will find that the Babylonian’s had to carry their gods while the true God carried Israel. How sad and worthless to have a god that one must carry! “The idols are taken from their places of honor and placed on the backs of animals, bundled off perhaps first in flight and then to captivity. They have become a liability to both man and beast” (Gaebelein p. 274).

46:3 God often exhorts His people to listen (44:1; 46:12; 47:8; 48:1,12,14,16).

“How different is the Lord’s relationship to His people! No contrast could be greater. His people do not carry Him; rather He bears them, and moreover He always has done so and always will” (Gaebelein p. 274).

46:4 God also cares for His people throughout their entire lifetime, from birth to old age. 46:5-6 In light of the previous contrast, it would be foolish to think that an idol would be the equal of the true God. “Pagans hired craftsmen to make heavy gods out of precious metals and then had to carry them to their resting places, from which they could not move. Unlike the false gods, the true God can answer people’s prayers and save them” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1101).

“These pagan gods must be transported from place to place; is anything sillier than worshipping a deity that must be carried about?” (Jackson p. 92).

46:7 Every step of the way from manufacture to display, it should have been obvious that such idols are absolutely powerless to do anything.

46:8 “This part of Isaiah concentrates largely on consolation and encouragement, but the prophet was a realist and knew from experience that there was much unbelief among the people. They approached the prophecies of Cyrus and his work with skepticism” (Gaebelein p. 275). “Isaiah now addresses those ‘transgressors’ (rebels) who could not make up their minds whether to serve God or idols” (Jackson p. 92). 46:9-10 Yet such unbelief was inexcusable in light of the plain facts. God’s track record in predicting the future and keeping 1

His promises is perfect. In this section note that faith is to be rooted in evidence and God’s revelation (Romans 10:17).

46:11 ”Cyrus will swoop on his victims, as suddenly as the descent of an eagle or a falcon from the sky. Whether they believe it or not, it will happen” (Gaebelein p. 275). We need to learn a lesson here. God fulfills His promises and threats and they are fulfilled exactly as predicted. Many people today talk about God altering His commands and expectations at the last day and allowing people in heaven who have not done His will. God has never done that in the past, rather God has always been true to His word and His plans.

46:12-13 Nothing much has changed, many people still remain “stubbornminded” in reference to God’s word. To the unbelieving Jews and Babylonians, God declares that He will bring His righteous judgment upon the unbelievers and His salvation for the believing remnant.

Chapter 47 God will not describe Babylon’s fall to the Persian Empire, remember that this prophecy was given 150 years before the actual collapse of the Babylonian Empire.

47:1-2 “Babylon is addressed as a ‘virgin daughter’, probably indicating that she had never been molested before; the time is coming, however, when the proud city will ‘sit in the dust’, that is be conquered” (Jackson p. 93). Probably meaning that her walls had never been breached and she had never been conquered.

The one proud Empire that lived as a pampered woman will now have to live as a slave, accepting the hard grind of manual labor. “As servants of the conquerors, they would have to grind flour” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1101).

47:2-4 “She is a fugitive, needing to tuck in her skirts to enable her to cross streams, abandoning the necessity of decorum that befitted her former station” (Gaebelein p. 277). “Unable to worry about their clothing or modesty, some of them would have to flee across streams. Many of them would be raped and abused” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1101). All of this would happen because God was redeeming Israel from their captors and bringing His vengeance upon the wicked (47:4). “The Lord declares all this to be an expression of His impartial punitive justice, and the prophet follows this by asserting that the judgment is to be understood in the context of His holy and redemptive purpose for Israel” (Gaebelein p. 277). Therefore, the downfall of Babylon is not simply “bad luck”, but a direct judgment from God. Point to Note: From verse 2 some have argued that the term “nakedness” applies when someone exposes their thigh. While I am not interested in seeing a person’s

2

thigh, such a use of this verse fails to see that verse 2 also mentions “removing the veil”, and no one views not having a veil on at all times as an act of nakedness. Added to this the NASV uses the term “leg”. Verse 2 is teaching that pampered Babylon would be forced to live like slaves, and the uncovering of the leg was not for immodest purposes, but rather for the purpose of crossing streams as they fled. Finally, the nakedness of verse 3 is speaking more of rape and abuse, than one being naked because they removed the veil or uncovered their leg to cross a stream.

47:5 6 Yes God had used the Babylonians to punish His people, but the Babylonians had been cruel and excessive in their punishment, they even placed a heavy burden upon the aged.

47:7-8 Here is a description of Babylon’s pride and arrogance. She thought of herself as an eternal queen, one that would always rule the world. She considered herself invincible and would be immune from the tragedies that had come upon other nations. She considered herself unique, “I am, and there is no one besides me”. “This pleasure-loving lady of leisure will soon find herself as a childless widow” (Gaebelein p. 277). Notice that God calls her “sensual one”.

Here is a city and empire that loved comfort, ease, and luxury. Her entire goal was to pamper and pleasure herself (2 Timothy 3:1ff).

Even though history is filled with the examples of nations that fell because of immorality and slackness, our nation today seems to be filled with people who feel that what happened to others will never happen to us, that we have reached the point where man no longer reaps what he sows, where sin is no longer a reproach to a people, and where righteousness no longer exalts a nation.

Babylon had similar feelings!

47:9 Babylon was a hotbed of astrology, sorcery, and the occult, yet all her experts failed to see the destruction that was coming upon her. “Babylon prided herself in her sorcerers who supposedly told the future and cast spells to influencing others. Such supposed knowledge, however, was unreliable, for the sorcerers could not foresee Babylon’s forthcoming calamity and would not be able to conjure it away” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1102). Such false knowledge only would blind and deceive the Babylonians and make them believe in false promises.

We need to make the point that Babylon was the place for the occult. These men and women were not amateurs, rather they were experts in this craft and yet they were all completely unable to predict the coming disaster. Such stands as proof for all time that there is no knowledge or power in such practices and that they only blind and enfeeble a person rather than giving them insight and power.

“Sorcery had induced a mood of complacency” (Gaebelein p. 277). Our country needs to beware because we are living once again in a time when the occult and the sciences are being combined.

3

47:10 The people also felt secure in their sins as if no one saw them. How many people in our country have the same feeling? They feel that no one sees them because they have been taught that God does not exist or that He does not punish. Yet God does see them (Hebrews 4:12-13), and will hold them accountable for their sins. “Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you”: Could not God say the same thing to our culture? Our centers of higher learning give sinners a false sense of security. The wisdom of the Babylonians was rooted in the occult, the “wisdom” of our culture today is rooted in evolution, pluralism, political-correctness, postmodernism, and situation ethics.

How many people have been deluded by the philosophy that there is no such thing as absolute truth?

47:11 “I am, and there is no one besides me”: I see the exact same attitude in our culture today, especially in the Northwest. The feeling is that all our ideas today are far superior to anything in the past (including the Bible), that we have arrived, and that we are no longer accountable to any God or standard of absolute truth or morality. 47:11 God’s judgment cannot be “charmed away”! In addition, a culture cannot “atone” for their sins; the only way to avoid judgment is to repent! (Jeremiah 18:1ff).

47:12 Here is God’s challenge! “Stand with your sorceries, which you have practiced from your youth; see if these will be able to help you” (Jackson p. 94).

Once again, please note that if there is anything to astrology, then the Babylonians would have found it, for they were the experts, this nation had practiced the occult from their youth.

47:13 “You are wearied with our many counsels”: The problem with any false religion is that there is no standard of absolute truth, no objective standard like a Bible verse to rest upon for counsel. Instead, the people are besieged with all sorts of contrary opinions and feelings. Here is a classic description of the sinner apart from God, wearied by all the contradictory philosophies and advice they receive from the world. There is a definite weariness that comes from listening to human opinion! “What should this say to modern folks who scarcely start the day without consulting a horoscope?” (Jackson p. 94).

47:14-15 “Their work was worthless, like mere stubble, the dried stalks of grain that burn quickly. Those religious leaders could not save even themselves, let alone Babylon. Yet they persisted in their error” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p.

1102). Make no mistake about it, the “fire” in verse 14 is not a friend (that fire that would give warmth), but it is an enemy. “The whole history of Babylon’s long flirtation with astrology is bluntly dismissed in verse 15. All this effort, all this expenditure, and at the end---nothing! Those who have turned from the living God to the daily horoscope in our own society would do well to heed this passage” (Gaebelein p. 278).

4

Chapter 50 50:1-3 “Verses 1-3 of this section forms a brief interlude in which the Israelites are directly addressed again. Zion is symbolically viewed as a mother (49:1422), and the Hebrews (as they are pictured in captivity) are seen as the children.

In response to Israel’s complaint that Jehovah has forsaken them, the Lord asks that the ‘bill of divorcement’ be produced. It cannot be, for God had not cast off His people. Neither had He sold them as one might sell another into slavery for money. Rather, their predicament in the Captivity was the consequence of their personal transgressions. Though the Creator had called unto His people through the prophets, virtually no man had answered. It was apparently assumed that His ‘hand was shortened’, that is, He was unable to deliver His people. Surely that cannot be the case, as indeed history confirms. Almighty God, who can even control the forces of nature, can surely redeem His chosen ones” (Jackson p. 100).

50:1 To this day unbelievers often assume that God has forsaken them when life is hard but they easily forget that many of their problems are simply the consequences of a life lived in rebellion to God (Romans 1:26-27; Galatians 6:67).

50:2 God is not limited, but man complicates things with his sins. “Through the prophets God has called to the people but found no answering response of obedient faith” (Gaebelein pp. 288-289). The people will cry out to God in Captivity, but God says, “Where were you when I was crying out?” This is a reminder that God had given the nation many opportunities to repent! “Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke”: “A mere rebuke suggests how simple an act of deliverance is for Him” (p. 289). One mere rebuke from God and the Red Sea parted!

50:4 Here is a contrast. God is no longer speaking to Israel, rather, God’s Servant, the future Messiah is speaking here. “The tongue of disciples”: This Servant has a trained tongue and a trained ear. “The training is not, however, the gaining of a technique, but the practice of discipleship. He waits on God in the morning watch (Mark 1:35), the word He speaks comes from the God who sent Him (John 7:16-18)” (Gaebelein p. 289). “That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word”: Obediently following and listening to God will enable Him to comfort those who are weary in sin (Matthew 11:28). In contrast to rebellious Israel, the Messiah will obediently listen to God, His ear will always be open to heavenly instruction.

50:5 “The servant is responsive even when a destiny of suffering and shame is the subject of God’s word to Him” (Gaebelein p. 289). See John 8:28-29.

50:6 During His pre-crucifixion ordeal, Jesus was beaten (Matthew 26:67; John 19:1), according to this prophecy, the hair from His beard was pulled out, and He

5

was spit upon (Matthew 26:67; 27:30). “He does not draw back but offers His body to His tormentors” (Gaebelein p. 289). “I did not cover My face”: That is He did not attempt to defend Himself. “In extremely difficult circumstances, more difficult than what Isaiah’s original readers were facing, the Servant was obedient and submissive (1 Peter 2:22-23)” (Bible Knowledge Comm. pp. 1104-1105).

50:7 “I am not disgraced”: Even though the treatment He received was designed to humiliate Him, He was not ashamed and knew that God would vindicate Him. “Therefore, I have set My face like flint”: “His face, cruelly assaulted, will not flinch before suffering” (Gaebelein p. 289). Compare with Ezekiel 3:8-9. Because Jesus knew that He was doing God’s will and that God would vindicate Him, He was able to endure tremendous humiliation and suffering, and yet He did not view Himself with a victim mentality. Jesus is not ashamed, but those who are persecuting Him will be!

50:8-9 Here is a clear picture of Jesus’ innocence. “Even if it did not seem as if He were winning a battle, He was convinced that He was doing God’s will. The Servant was aware that those who falsely accused Him will eventually face Him as their Judge and will come to nothing. Like moth-eaten garments, they will perish” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 1105). Jesus would challenge His enemies, “Can any of you prove Me guilty of sin” (John 8:46). In the resurrection, Jesus was vindicated (Acts 2:23-24; 3:15; 13:29-30).

50:10 An exhortation is now addressed to a mixed group. The Lord asks concerning who will fear Him and obey the voice of His servant. Those who will follow the Messiah will not walk in the darkness any longer, yet those who reject the Servant and provide firebrands for themselves (that is, following their own ideas), they will be destroyed in their own fire. The punishment will be torment!

Compare with John 12:44-45.

50:11 “Who encircle yourselves with firebrands”: That is, insist on following and believing their own ideas. To this day, many people surround themselves with their own ideas and the smooth sounding teachings of men in the attempt to get out of being exposed by the true light. There is a warning here, people who want their own light, and reject God’s message, will lie down in torment (Luke 16:23,28; Revelation 20:13-15; 21:8).

6