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Journal Entries

Isaiah 51:1-23--The LORD's Comfort for Zion

3/24/2025

 
Isaiah 51
English Standard Version


The LORD's Comfort for Zion
51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
    you who seek the LORD:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
    and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
    and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
    that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the LORD comforts Zion;
    he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
    her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the voice of song.

4 “Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment,
    and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
    the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
    nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
    and the worm will eat them like wool,
but my righteousness will be forever,
    and my salvation to all generations.”

9 Awake, awake, put on strength,
    O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
    the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
    who pierced the dragon?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
    for the redeemed to pass over?
11 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
    who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
    of the son of man who is made like grass,
13 and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
    who stretched out the heavens
    and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
    And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
    he shall not die and go down to the pit,
    neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the LORD your God,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--
    the LORD of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth
    and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing the heavens
    and laying the foundations of the earth,
    and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

17 Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, the cup of staggering.
18 There is none to guide her
    among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
    among all the sons she has brought up.
19 These two things have happened to you--
    who will console you?--
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the LORD,
    the rebuke of your God.

21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
    who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD,
    your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
    who have said to you,
    ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
    and like the street for them to pass over.”

The people of God are about to go through some really hard times and the righteous (though they are few) and the wicked will go into Exile together--the righteous do not escape this judgment like the final judgment that is only reserved for the wicked.  However, the righteous may have a different perspective that will help comfort them and help them to get through.  If they remember what the LORD did for generations past, starting with Abraham and Sarah and how He cared for His people as they were wandering in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, then they will know that the LORD always watches after His people.

The time of the LORD's call for people to come to Him for salvation has some kind of time limit.  As some point in the future, judgment will come, and all those who have chosen to reject His salvation (even if that rejection comes in the form of "not now, I'm busy") will experience the fury of His wrath and judgment.  He calls on all His people (but really all the people of the world) to look to the heavens where their hep comes from (from the LORD, the Maker of Heaven and Earth) and to cry out to Him for salvation while there is still time.

God tells His people not to worry about the persecution or scorn of evil men.  The wicked will all perish in the judgment and everything that they value will rot and decay, but those who trust in the LORD will not be put to shame for His salvation is both certain and everlasting.  The LORD has already done so much to save and preserve His people and to save them throughout the years that this truth needs no further evidence or proof to support it.  He is the Savior of His people, and He cares greatly for them.

Wouldn't it be great at this time to hear the LORD still say to them, "You are My people."  Not only that, but He tells them that He still has a mission for them even though they seem to be like a ship that's out in the midst of a storm subject to the waves--that sea of the Gentile nations that appears to be raging uncontrollably is raging at the direction of the LORD and will bring His people to His desired destination for them.  Though everything looks out of control, He is in control.  He will protect them even as it gets "dark" and "scary" for them like they are in the midst of a storm at night on the high seas with no land in sight and nothing to navigate by.  They can trust that the LORD is in control and will protect them.  He has also given them a message that He has put in their mouths, and He will cause them to speak His Name and His Word among the nation.  It has always been God's plan for His people to be His messengers and ambassadors to a dark and dying world.

Now though, He tells Jerusalem and all of the Judah with them to wake up from their spiritual slumber and to no longer delay as judgment day is approaching for them.  If they do not, then they will lose everything they value (if they do not value the LORD, for He will be all that is left for them).  Their houses, fortunes, and families will all be destroyed.  Their idols they worshiped and trusted in will be destroyed and will not save them.  Only those who put their faith and hope in the LORD will have the right perspective going through this.  The LORD calls them to stop their drunkenness (not just physical, but spiritual as they are trying to numb themselves with their idolatrous practices).

They were drunken and staggering trying to drink from the cup of the wrath of God and the bowls of His judgment (we see both of these images in the book of Revelation).  God warns them to stop doing the things that will lead to His wrath having to be poured out on them and to instead serve and worship Him alone and obey Him once again so that they can experience His blessings.  God promises that if they do this, the judgment they deserve will be given to those who torment and oppress them.  They just need to remember the command "Worship the LORD your God and serve Him only."

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    Daniel Westfall

    I will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others.

    Occasionally, I'll also post some true blog/opinion pieces focused on what the Bible has to say about current events or the importance of a particular spiritual discipline, or something more topic-related to orthodoxy (right belief) or orthopraxy (right living).  You can also find those blogs over at Faith and Culture.

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  • Home
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