Isaiah 51:9-16 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 51:9-16. Let’s go!
Isaiah 51:9-11 (NIV)
9 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through?
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 so that the redeemed might cross over?
11 The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Whereas 50:1-8 was the Servant speaking, at verse 9 it seems that it is no longer the Servant speaking but someone else. Who is it? It is not entirely clear. One possibility is that it is God’s people who are complaining to God in verses 9-10. Though their complaint may not be as intense as we heard it in 49:14, they recall (as in other times in Isaiah) how the LORD had previously had made a way for His people through the sea and wonder when He will act this way again. In response to such questions, verse 11 reassures God’s people that they will return and rejoice in the end.
Just as the LORD had done great things for His people in the past, so with God the final story is always that His joy replaces our sorrow, that singing will replace our weeping.
Isaiah 51:12-16 (NIV)
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass,
13 that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread.
15 For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar– the LORD Almighty is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand– I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.'”
On verses 12-16: Here the LORD personally speaks to His people. What can we learn from these verses?
– He reiterates one of the ongoing themes in Isaiah: do not fear mortal men, but fear the LORD (v12-13).
– God promises to release His people from captivity. In this case, the captivity that God is most concerned about here is people’s captivity to sin and Satan. God’s agenda is to set His people free from such captivity (v14).
– God is sovereign over all of creation (v15-16).
– God wants to have a relationship of belonging with us: He is the LORD our God (v15), and we are His people (v16).
– About His people, God says that He covers them with the shadow of His hand. “Shadow” connotes protection. With the LORD in your life, you can live with confidence, knowing that you live under His protection (v16).
Thank You Father that I get to live under the shadow of Your hand, protected and secure. Because of that, thank You that I needn’t fear what mortal men can do to me. Thank You that I belong to You and You belong to me and that with You is always the final victory. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
