Isaiah51

The chapter begins by calling those who seek righteousness to remember their origins in Abraham and Sarah, promising God's comfort for Zion and her waste places. It emphasizes the eternal nature of God's salvation and righteousness, contrasting it with the fleeting existence of man and the heavens. The Lord assures His people not to fear human reproach, as He, the Creator, will deliver them and turn the cup of His fury upon their oppressors.
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Remember Your Ancestral Origins

1
“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you 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 but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him. ​
3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song. ​

God’s Eternal Law and Salvation

4
Pay attention to Me, My people, and listen to Me, My nation; for a law will go out from Me, and My justice will become a light to the nations; I will bring it about quickly. ​
5
My righteousness draws near, My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look for Me and wait in hope for My arm.
6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail. ​

Do Not Fear Human Reproach

7
Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults. ​
8
For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”

Call for God’s Mighty Intervention

9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon? ​
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 for the redeemed to cross over?
11
So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12
“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
13
But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?
14
The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.
15
For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of Hosts is His name.
16
I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
17
Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs— the cup that makes men stagger.
18
Among all the sons she bore, there is no one to guide her; among all the sons she brought up, there is no one to take her hand.
19
These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can 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 now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
22
Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.
23
I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

Study Notes for Isaiah 51

Verse 1

The call to look to the 'rock' and 'pit' is a metaphor for Israel’s humble, initial origins, specifically Abraham and Sarah, reminding the people that God can build a great nation from nothing.

Verse 2

By recalling Abraham, whom God called 'alone' and increased, the prophet assures the discouraged exiles that God is capable of restoring the desolate nation (Zion) despite its current smallness and weakness.

Verse 3

The promise of restoration for Zion uses powerful Edenic imagery ('wilderness like Eden'), signifying a return to perfect fertility, joy, and peace after the devastation of exile.

Verse 4

God promises that His 'law' (Torah/teaching) and 'judgment' will proceed forth, indicating that Israel’s restoration will serve as a light and instruction for all surrounding nations ('my people,' 'O my nation').

Verse 6

This verse contrasts the reliability of God’s salvation with the temporary nature of the created order. Even the heavens and earth will perish, but God’s righteousness is eternal and cannot be abolished.

Verse 7

Addressed to those loyal to God’s law, this section encourages perseverance. The fear of human insult or oppression is irrational because mortals and their power are fleeting.

Verse 9

This is a dramatic appeal (apostrophe) to God’s power ('arm of the LORD'), urging Him to intervene immediately, referencing His mighty acts performed in the past.

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