Isaiah 50:1-11--Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

Isaiah 50
English Standard Version

Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience
50 Thus says the LORD:
“Where is your mother's certificate of divorce,
    with which I sent her away?
Or which of my creditors is it
    to whom I have sold you?
Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
    and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man;
    why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
    Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,
    I make the rivers a desert;
their fish stink for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness
    and make sackcloth their covering.”

4 The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
    him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
    and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
6 I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

7 But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8     He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.

10 Who among you fears the LORD
    and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the LORD
    and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
    who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
    and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand:
    you shall lie down in torment.

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If we needed any more confirmation that the Servant of the LORD that is being highlighted in these chapters is the Lord Jesus Christ, we need look no further than this chapter.  It is here that the Servant's faithfulness is contrasted with Israel's unfaithfulness and the ideal of substitution (or at least the need for it) starts to form, which leads us into the passages that will talk about His penal substitutionary atonement like Isaiah 53.

Sometimes, it is because of the sins the parents that children suffer--divorce or bad management of money and other resources that led to the children being sold off into slavery.  God asks rhetorically if that is the situation here.  Is here someone else they can blame for them going off into Exile?  Though they should know the answer, He answers for them that they are being sent out of the Land because of their own sins.  They cannot blame Him or earlier generations or anyone else for what is happening to them.  They are not victims of circumstance; they are lawbreakers facing judicial punishment.

They have forsaken the LORD and rejected Him instead of calling out to Him in their time of need.  They have turned to idols and rejected the true and living God.  They have not listened to the prophets He sent to them and have even mistreated them.  They have purchased for themselves false prophets that will tell them what it is they want to hear.  (This is not that different from today).  God is the only one able to do the things that seem impossible like controlling the weather and the oceans and all the things that He did during the ten plagues in Egypt and will do again in the last days.

If we would just listen to the World of the Lord and obey it, we would have life, freedom and blessing instead of death, exile, and curses.  However, people did not listen to the prophets, and they did not listen to Jesus who was the Prophet promised from Deuteronomy who would be greater than Moses.  The text here even points to being beaten and having one's beard pulled out--that's exactly what happened to Jesus, though it could have happened to many others as well, this is definitely speaking of Him.  He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.

Though this is humiliating to be rejected by everyone and to be crucified, the Father would not let His Son be put to shame, for on the third day, He would be raised back to life to receive a declaration that He was "no guilty" in the eyes of God and that He was victorious over all of His enemies.  None of them can stand before Him now and all power and authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him.  Those that tried to exercise authority over Him and falsely accused Him will be under His authority and He will judge them rightly and only those that trust in the sacrifice that He made on their behalf can be saved.

Therefore, there is a call to all who are walking in darkness to come to the LORD by the Way that He provided and become children of His marvelous Light.  We are to walk in the light as He is in the Light.  Trust in the Name of the LORD and the salvation that is provided through Him and Him alone.  He will then set our hearts on fire so that we will be little lights walking around in the darkness showing those who are stumbling in darkness the Way, the Truth, and the Life (see John 14:6).  Though the world may hate us for the Light that is within is (for the love the darkness because their deeds are evil) and though they may torment us, we will be able to be at peace.  The LORD Himself will be within us, and He will protect us and deliver to us a blessing that can never be taken away--not even by death.