Isaiah 44-59

Isaiah 44-45[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: The return of the Jews out of captivity and the naming of Cyrus for the purpose of final salvation.

In these chapters we see a contrast between the ineffectiveness of idols compared to the almighty power of the one true and living God. He is the Creator, the Provider and Protector of His people. He is the first and the last.

For their unfaithfulness, Judah will be taken into captivity, but God will not forget them there. He will bring them out under the Persian king, Cyrus, who will command that the city of Jerusalem and the temple be rebuilt.

44:17But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

The reason they will be allowed to return is that their purpose is not yet fulfilled. After Cyrus lets them rebuild, God will finally send salvation in the Messiah, and through Him Israel will find that salvation.

44:20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

So, too, shall the Gentiles find salvation by leaving the path of idolatry and seeking after Jehovah God.

45:15Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

45:21Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I Jehovah? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

God here again declares that He is a just God and Saviour and that there is no other Savior beside Him. Once again, if Jesus is the Saviour, then Jesus must be Jehovah God.

45:23I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

And this salvation of the Jews and Gentiles was accomplished in the time of the coming of the Lord when every knee was to bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 11:15).

NT References:
Isa. 44:6 - Revelation 1:8, 11, 17; Revelation 2:8, 19; Revelation 22:13
Isa. 45:9 – Rom. 9:20
Isa. 45:23 – Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 11:15

Isaiah 46[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: The call of the remnant of the Jews to repentance.

The remnant of the house of Jacob is far from God, but God calls them to repentance, to remember the old ways, and to be saved.

46:13I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Salvation in Zion (Jerusalem, the people of God). Jesus would come through the Jews and through Him, God would save those who listen to His call.

Isaiah 47[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: Judah is again compared to Babylon.

In this chapter, Babylon is told that God was upset with Judah and so allowed Babylon to take the southern kingdom captive. But now, Babylon is marked for destruction because of its wickedness. Remember, though, that this is Isaiah prophesying TO Judah and Jerusalem. It is a warning of what will happen to them should they turn to idolatry and witchcraft.

47:14Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Once again, fire is used as an emblem of God’s judgment against a wicked nation, just as fire is used throughout the NT to speak of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews. We see the image of stubble used again by Paul in 1 Cor. 3:10-15.

NT References:
Isa. 47:14 – 1 Cor. 3:10-15

Isaiah 48[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: In familiar symbols, God speaks of Israel coming out of Babylonian captivity as a “new creation”.

48:1Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

The Jews are said to call themselves “of the holy city” but, as Isa. 1:21 says, they are turned harlot, unfaithful. God has sent them into captivity under Babylon as punishment for their wickedness.

48:6Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

Judah, being brought out of captivity, is said to be “new things” that are “created now”. This new creation is a type of what we see in 2 Pet. 3 and Rev. 21:1.

48:12Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Alpha and Omega reference as seen in Revelation several times as well as Isaiah. Here it is a reference to God as the mover of nations, the source and the end of all things. It is used the same way in the entire Bible wherever it is used.

NT References:
Isa. 48:6-7 – 2 Pet. 3; Rev. 21:1
Isa. 48:12 - Revelation 1:8, 11, 17; Revelation 2:8, 19; Revelation 22:13

Isaiah 49[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: Judah, Israel, and the Gentiles saved.

49:1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far…

49:6And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

God speaks of the isles [Gentiles] once more, and like physical Israel, will give the Gentiles light and salvation. This was the great mystery that Paul spoke of in the NT and it was in Christ, in His body, that is the church, that this happened.

NT References:
Isa. 49:6 – Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47
Isa. 49:8 – 2 Cor. 6:2
Isa. 49:10 – Rev. 7:16

Isaiah 50[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: God divorces the nation of Israel.

50:1Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

God asks why Israel is being divorced and sold off and then claims that it is Israel who is the cause of this. The multitude of sins, of unfaithfulness to God, has caused God to do that which He hates. They have caused God to divorce them (Malachi 2:16).

This image of divorce is contrasted with the marriage of the church to Jesus Christ that we see in the NT, especially in Revelation. The last two chapters of Revelation are what we would call “the wedding reception” after the marriage. The marriage (founding of the church) took place on Pentecost, but the wedding reception (full establishment) had to wait until after the church’s deadliest enemy, God’s “ex” had been destroyed.

50:11Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

For their unfaithfulness, Israel is again seen as destroyed by fire.

NT References:
Isa. 50:10 – 1 John 1:6-7

Isaiah 51[]

TO : Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT : Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT : God provides comfort and a new Eden for the faithful and the Gentiles receive salvation as well, while Jerusalem is destroyed finally.

51:2Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. 3For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

For those who turn and do righteousness as Abraham did, God will provide comfort, a new Eden, a garden paradise. This Zion comforted is the church, its garden is that seen in Revelation 22:1-2.

51:4Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

The New Testament, the gospel. This is the law that would go forth out of Jerusalem (Isa. 2:3) and did (Acts 1:8; 2).

51:5My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

The islands [Gentiles] would come to trust in God and receive salvation. (Matt. 12:21; Rom. 15:12).

51:17Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. 18There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. 19These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee? 20Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God. 21Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: 22Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: 23But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

Jerusalem destroyed. Of God’s cup of wrath Jerusalem would “no more drink it again”. This must be referring to Jerusalem’s final destruction and it happens at the time when the Gentiles would receive salvation.

NT References:
Isa. 51:3 – Rev. 22:1-2
Isa. 51:4 – Acts 1:8; 2
Isa. 51:5 – Matt. 12:21; Rom. 15:12
Isa. 51:17 - Rev. 14:8,10

Isaiah 52[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: Jerusalem redeemed.

52:1Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

The New Jerusalem where unclean things may never enter. See Rev. 21:2, 27.

There are a number of direct quotes from this chapter in the New Testament with an “it is written.

NT References:
Isa. 52:1 – Rev. 21:2, 27
Isa. 52:5 - Rom. 2:24
Isa. 52:7 - Rom. 10:15
Isa. 52:11 - 2 Cor. 6:17
Isa. 52:15 - Rom. 15:21.

Isaiah 53[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: The coming Messiah who would heal God’s people through His suffering.

This chapter is a major Messianic prophecy quoted numerous times in the NT.

NT References:
Isa. 53:1 - John 12:38; Rom. 10:16
Isa. 53:4 - Matt. 8:17
Isa. 53:5 - 1Pet. 2:24-25
Isa. 53:7-8 - Acts 8:32-33
Isa. 53:9 - 1Pet. 2:22
Isa. 53:12 - Mark 15:28

Isaiah 54[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: The new mother, spiritual Jerusalem.

54:1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Paul quotes this passage in Gal. 4:27 and applies it to “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” He writes in that context of an allegory between Agar and Sarai, the slave woman and the free. Agar is the physical Jerusalem “that is now” according to Paul, but the spiritual Jerusalem, the “mother” of Christians, is the free woman.

Also, we can see here the image in Revelation 12 of the woman and the starry crown.

NT References:
Isa. 54:1 – Gal. 4:27
Isa. 54:13 – John 6:45

Isaiah 55[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: God the provider for those that hunger and thirst after righteousness.

55:1Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

God promises to provide for those who seek after him. We see this image throughout the NT. (Matt. 5:6; 6:25-26; Luke 6:21; John 4:13-15; 6:35; 7:37; Rev. 7:16; 22:16-17).

NT References:

Isa. 55:1-2 - Matt. 5:6; 6:25-26; Luke 6:21; John 4:13-15; 6:35; 7:37; Rev. 7:16; 22:16-17

Isaiah 56[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: God grants to the faithful a new everlasting name, while the beasts are called to destroy the unfaithful.

56:5Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

To the faithful, God will give a new name that will never be cut off. This is the name of Christian. (Rev. 2:17; 3:12).

NT References:
Isa. 56:5 – Rev. 2:17; 3:12
Isa. 56:7 - Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46

Isaiah 57[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: Judah described as an adulterous whore.

57:3But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

God calls the adulterous whore, Judah, near to explain what He will do to her. In the following verses He describes the nature of the whore:

57:4Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood.

The whore “kisses” other nations in the form of disobedience to God and preaching falsehoods. We see this in the Jews who followed the gospel preachers like Paul around sowing lies about Christianity behind him.

57:5Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? 6Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? 7Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

She worships the idols of other nations

57:8Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. 9And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hades.

She reveals her ‘naked body’ to those other than her husband by making covenants with them she is not authorized to make, trusting in foreign nations rather than God to provide peace, riches, and safety.

In the perfumes and ointment and other decorations we see the very picture of the woman in Revelation who is called Babylon.

NT References:
Isa. 57:3 – Rev. 17-19
Isa. 57:19 - Eph. 2:17

Isaiah 58-59[]

TO: Judah and Jerusalem
ABOUT: Judah and Jerusalem
CONTEXT: If Judah repents, God will save, comfort, and provide. If not, He will destroy.

59:20And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. 21As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Another prophecy of the Messiah, the new, everlasting covenant, and the church in the midst of the destruction of the Jews.

NT References:
Isa. 59:7, 8 – Rom. 3:15
Isa. 59:17 – Eph. 6:14-17
Isa. 59:20, 21 - Rom. 11:26, 27

In Truth and Love.