Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 02 Dec 2007
12. I myself am He who comforts y’all.
Who are you that you are afraid
of the man who dies
and of the son of a man who will be given [to the] grass?
13. And you forgot Jehovah,
your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and founded the earth,
and you were in continual dread all the day
from the face of the wrath of the oppressor,
such as when he set up to destroy.
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14. The stooping one has hastened to be released
and will not die in respect to the pit,
neither will his bread be lacking.
15. And I am Jehovah your God, who stirs the sea and its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts His name!
16. And I set my words in your mouth,
and in the shadow of my hand I covered you,
to plant the heavens
and to found the earth
and to say to Zion, “You are my people!”
17. Wake yourself up! Wake yourself; stand up, Jerusalem,
which drank from the hand of Jehovah the cup of his wrath.
You drank - you drained - the goblet cup of the trembling.
18. There is not a guide for her from all the sons she bore,
and there is not one who strengthens her hand from all the sons she brought up.
19. Both of these will meet her - Who will sympathize for her?
The violence and the breakup and the famine and the sword - How shall I comfort her?
20. Your sons have fainted,
they dropped down in the beginning of all the streets like an antelope from the net;
those filled with the wrath of Jehovah, the rebuke of your God.
21. Therefore, please hear this, lowly one, and intoxicated one (but not from wine).
22. Thus says your Lord Jehovah and your God, who will contend for His people,
“Look, I take from your hand the cup of trembling.
The goblet cup of my wrath you will not be caused to drink any more of it again.
23. And I will set it in the hand of your tormentors,
who said to your soul, ‘Bow down and let us pass over,’
so you set your back like the ground and like the street for those who pass over.”
In my home, there are many opportunities for giving comfort.
But what about when I need comfort?
Where do you turn for comfort?
God claims that He is the source of comfort for His people. He is the one we should turn to for comfort.
Here in chapter 51 of Isaiah, verse 12, God says, “I myself am He who comforts you.”
How does this work? How can someone you can’t taste, touch, smell, see, or hear possibly provide comfort that is more satisfying than all those comfort foods and comfort activities we are tempted to indulge in, in order to soothe our hurts and fears?
i. This, as we saw last week is a reference to God delivering His people from slavery in Egypt.
ii.
It is also a quote from the book of Job which speaks of God’s almighty
power
Job 26:12-14 By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he
shattered Rahab. 13 By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced
the fleeing serpent. 14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and
how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can
understand?"
i. ANSWER: I am a child of God, covered in the shadow of His hand. I am somebody special to the Lord of Hosts. I must not forget who I am and become afraid!
ii. God commanded me not to be in dread in 44:8. You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. 2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not dread; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation." (12:1-2)
i. v.14 describes someone who is bowed down, stooped over, a prisoner of some sort, cowering, a captive exile.
· These captives will hasten to be released and will not die in bondage.
· The promise of release from captivity in Babylon was definitely fulfilled in 536 B.C.
ii.
Interestingly enough, the only other place this word (stooping/exile) is
used in Isaiah is in 63:1 to describe Jesus who released us from bondage to
sin.
Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become
slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal
life.
i. The wording of v.16 is startling. “I have set my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand in order to plant the heavens and to found the earth and to say to Zion, “You are my people.” I believe that the ESV and NIV are wrong to omit the preposition “to” from the Hebrew text in its three occurrences in this verse.
ii. What is the connection between God putting words in His servant’s mouth and the creation of the heavens and earth and the identity of God’s People?
· “A new spiritual creation of which the liberation of Israel is the first cornerstone” Ewald
· Jehovah intends to create a new world of righteousness and salvation and practically to acknowledge Zion as His people. The preparation for this great… work of the future is aided by the true Israel.” Delitzsch
· “heavens and earth are said to be restored by the doctrine of salvation… Godly teachers renovate the world [which is disfigured by sin]” Calvin
· 49:1-3 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
· 59:20-21 "And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," declares the LORD. 21 "And as for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth..."
· Although Calvin applies this to all preachers, only God can say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ I suggest this is Christ, for whom the ministry of teaching was paramount while He lived, who set the foundations of the new heavens and the new earth where only righteousness dwells, and who calls us out to be His people. This work of the Christ was part of the promise God held out to His people to comfort them.
After we see the manner in which God acts to comfort His people through reminding them of His power to deliver, through freeing them from the fear of man, and through making promises of deliverance, Isaiah writes three imperatives in v.17, followed by a fourth in v.21.
After Isaiah prayed for God to awake earlier in this chapter (v.9), God responds with a message that it is His people that should do the waking up! They are to awaken themselves and stand up in order to hear the message of comfort coming at the end of the chapter.
26:19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall stand up. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
49:6 "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to stand up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
52:1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, holy city…
Here are three ways that we can wake ourselves up and stand up and listen:
i. Psalms 75:7-8 but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. 8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
ii. Ezekiel 23:33-35 you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria; 34 you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring."
iii. Jeremiah 25:14-16 …I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands… Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them."
iv. Revelation 14:9-10 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” followed by the 7 bowls of wrath in chapter 16.
v. This is what Jesus took for us when He died on the cross. He drained that cup of judgment for us in order to save us:
vi. Matthew 20:22 Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" …
vii. Matthew 26:39 …He fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
i. One solution is to lump together the first two and the last two of the four griefs listed in v.19 - Devastation/violence and destruction/brokenness could be lumped together and then “famine and sword” can be lumped together.
ii. Another is to list the first two as the two afflictions and count the second two as causes of the first two and not really additional points on the list. Sword and famine caused the violence and brokenness.
iii. E.J. Young suggests that the two things refer to the two points of the previous verse – v.18, which states there is no leadership to guide Israel and there is no one with the strength to take anyone else by the hand and be a support.
iv. Calvin takes v.18 as the first calamity and v.19 as the second, thus the desertion of her sons – the internal threat is the first, and the destruction caused by external threats is the second. He also notes that “No affliction more severe can befall a mother than to be deserted by her children.”
v. Delitzsch wrote that the two things devastated were the land and the people.
vi. Whatever the case, it is obviously an echo of Isaiah 47:9 These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you..
vii. The loss of leadership and sustenance is an accurate prophecy of the poor quality of Judah’s final kings and noblemen, and then the state of the nation when the Chaldeans carried all their leadership off to Babylon.
viii. However, the only guide who would truly be able to lead His people well would be the one born of the virgin. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (40:11) they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. (49:10) "I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. (42:6-7)
i. There are no men to lead because they’ve all dropped down dead at the head of every street.
ii. Perhaps they tried to run away, but they were either too drunk or too weak and couldn’t even get started down the street before they were overcome.
iii. Jeremiah uses this phrase multiple times in his Lamentation to describe the state of Judah during the Babylonian exile.
iv. Isaiah 5:25 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
v. They are like an antelope in a net (the Septuagint says, “Like a half-boiled beet.” Where on earth did they get that?!) – trapped, struggling, unable to get away from the judgment which God has brought upon them.
vi. In v.21, they are drunk because they’ve had all they can take of the cup of God’s wrath, and they’re delirious from it. 29:9 Pause and be amazed; blind yourselves and be blind; they have gotten drunk, but not through wine, they have tottered, but not through liquor. 10 For Jehovah has poured upon y’all a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes. The prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered.
“Believers ought not to throw away the hope of grace, though innumerable calamities prompt and urge them to despair” (Calvin) We must cling to the truth of who our God is and we will find comfort in Him.
Finally we get to the heart of the message: the proclamation that God will bring an end to the suffering:
Then you are plugged in to the only effective source of comfort there is on earth!
Marriage
· Genesis 24:67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
· 2 Samuel 12:24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him
Family/Children
· Genesis 37:35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, "No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
· Genesis 50:21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
· 1 Chronicles 7:22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him.
· Job 42:11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
· Lamentations 1:16 "For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed." 17 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the LORD has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
· Jeremiah 31:15 Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."
· Matthew 2:18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."
· Acts 20:12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Kind speech
· Ruth 2:13 Then she said, "I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants."
· Job 21:2 "Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort.
· Job 21:34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."
Friends&Fellowship
· Job 16:2 "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.
· Lamentations 1:2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
· Jeremiah 16:7 No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.
· Job 2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
· 2 Corinthians 7:4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy… 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more… 13 Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
· 2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
· Colossians 4:11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.
· 1 Thessalonians 3:7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
· Philemon 1:7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
· 2 Corinthians 2:7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
GOD
· Job 15:11 Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?
· Rod & Staff Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
· Psalm 71:21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.
· Psalm 86:17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
· Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
· Psalm 119:52 When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.
· Psalm 119:76 Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.
· Psalm 119:82 My eyes long for your promise; I ask, "When will you comfort me?"
· Isaiah 12:1 You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
· Heaven-End of suffering Job 6:10 This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
· Isaiah 49:13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
· Isaiah 51:3 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… 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,… 19 These two things have happened to you-- who will console you?-- devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?
· Isaiah 52:9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.
· Isaiah 57:18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
· Isaiah 61:2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
· Mother Isaiah 66:13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
· Jeremiah 31:13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow….
· Zechariah 1:13 And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me… 17 Cry out again, Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.'"
· Heaven Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
· Heaven Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
· Holy Spirit Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
· To Comfort others 2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
· BENEDICTION: 2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions
Christ the Redeemer Church website - Sermons