Isaiah chapter 51 opens with a glorious note of promise! To the believing sons of Abraham anyway.
“Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. 3 For 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.” Isaiah 51:1-3
The imperative verb “hearken” is “shama” in Hebrew, meaning “listen, hear,” and even “obey!”
The paragraph is NOT addressed to the ungodly in Israel, not this Text! Rather, the Prophet is talking to those who “follow righteousness” and “seek the Lord.” (People “hungry” for the things of God!)
First, these good people are minded to not forget their past. Their very existence is owed to the miracle working Power of God! “Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you.” Verse 1b and 2a, blended.
Maybe Sarah’s dead, dry womb (at age 90) was the “rock” or “hole” from which Israel was “hewn.” We know (from the context) that the “hewn rock” and “digged pit” refer to Abraham and Sarah in some manner. (Every Christian who is Spirit-filled also ought to “remember” his or her past! The hard, rocky place where the Lord “found” you!)
Think … God twice promised “honey” from the rock … and now “life” itself from the rock! See Deuteronomy 32:13 and Psalm 81:16.
All these born-again Israelites have historically come from one person, one man! (That being Abraham!) Whom God abundantly blessed and multiplied as promised back in Genesis 12:1-3. Here is verse 2 of that Text … “And I (the Lord) will make of thee (Abraham) a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.“)
Wow!
We too, every Christian who reads these lines, also came (spiritually) from one man! One Whom Paul calls “the last Adam,” that being none Other than Jesus Christ our Saviour! (Romans 5:15 … “The grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by ONE MAN, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.”)
Then today’s Paragraph reaches it zenith (high point)! Verse 3: “For 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.” Layered promises, one upon another!
As I titled this Lesson … “God’s future for Israel.”
Comfort! (The verb is “nacham,” expressing deep “compassion,” from the very depths of God’s Heart.)
Transformation! (The stark, arid desert becoming like the Garden of Eden!) By the way, here is proof that Isaiah interpreted the first chapters of Genesis literally!)
Internal delight! Both (synonyms) joy and gladness, each being very emotional words! Plus thanksgiving, no more national grumbling! And also singing, as in “the voice of melody.” (God’s people have always had songs in their hearts!)
I will assure you that in the dark days ahead, for Israel as a people, she will come to these three verses and read them again and again!
Utilizing what Paul the Apostle much later called “the comfort of the Scriptures!” (Romans 15:4 … For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”)
Amen!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
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