ISAIAH LESSON 59


     We will begin this lesson with Isaiah 50:1 "Thus 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."

     Just as in Hosea, we see that God regards the falling away of His
people as being divorced from them. Their idolatry was like spiritual
adultery on their part. God had not sold them into captivity, nor run
them off for their unfaithfulness. Their departure was of their own
making. God had delivered them from Babylon, but they must accept the
free gift He gave them. They, of their own free will, could follow
God, or follow the false gods of the world. God made them free agents.
They had chosen to leave God. Hosea's harlot wife was symbolic of
Israel, who was unfaithful to God.

     Isaiah 50:2 "Wherefore, when I came, [was there] no man? when I
called, [was there] none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that
it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke
I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh,
because [there is] no water, and dieth for thirst."

     We can easily see why God was angered with them. He had gone to
the trouble to send them a Deliverer, and they had refused to be
delivered. They were in a sense denying that God had the power to
deliver them. He explains that He is the same One that dried up the
Red Sea for them to cross over. He controls the rain and the sun. He
brings a drouth, or a flood, just by saying the word. The elements
obey Him. Nature is controlled by God. He set the world in orbit, and
started the rivers to flowing, and all of the other things, but He
still has perfect control over all of nature. He can stop the rain for
years, if He desires. He can start it up just as quickly as He stopped
it. He controls the earthquakes and the storms of all kind. God is
Supreme.  He rules everything.  God did not establish nature, and then
let it do as it wishes. He controls nature. We know this to be true.
Jesus spoke to the raging sea, and it became calm at His voice.

     Isaiah 50:3 "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make
sackcloth their covering."

     One of the most vivid examples of darkness coming upon the earth
at the command of God, was one of the plagues spoken upon Egypt.
Exodus 10:21  "And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand
toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even
darkness [which] may be felt." Exodus 10:22 "And Moses stretched forth
his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land
of Egypt three days:" Mark 13:24  "But in those days, after that
tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give
her light,"  Revelation 6:12 "And I beheld when he had opened the
sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became
black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"  The
Scriptures just given, leave no doubt that God makes the sun to shine,
or darkness prevail. "Sackcloth" is a symbol of mourning. It would be
time to mourn with this darkness.

     Isaiah 50:4 "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the
learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him that
is] weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to
hear as the learned."

     Jesus says, in the following Scripture, that the words He speaks
are the words of the Father in Him. John 14:10 "Believest thou not
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he
doeth the works."  The Scripture above is intended to contrast the
Israelites, who were unlearned, to Jesus, who is all Wisdom and
Understanding.

     Isaiah 50:5  "The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back."

     Jesus submitted to the Father to the extent that He said,
"Nevertheless not my will, but thine. Matthew 26:39 "And he went a
little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou [wilt]."  Jesus was obedient even unto the cross.

     Isaiah 50:6 "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."

     These things happened to Jesus at His trial and crucifixion.
Matthew 26:67 "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and
others smote [him] with the palms of their hands," Jesus endured all
the pain and humiliation for us. He was not forced to suffer all of
this. At any time, He could have stopped the whole thing. He went
through all of this willingly knowing it would bring life to His
creation.

     Isaiah 50:7  "For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I
not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I
know that I shall not be ashamed."

     "The Lord GOD will help me" is a very knowing statement. There is
no doubt at all in this statement. If we could just get that stamped
into our thoughts, we would be bettered by it. Jesus was not to be
turned away from doing what He had set out to do. The victory for all
of Christendom was won on the cross. This was not a defeat, it was
victory.

     Isaiah 50:8 "[He is] near that justifieth me; who will contend
with me? let us stand together: who [is] mine adversary? let him come
near to me."

     Jesus rose from the grave and left no doubt at all of who He was.
Who can stand against Him? The answer is no one. At the name of Jesus,
every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. Not even death could overcome the Lord Jesus. He was victorious
in even that. Because He lives, we shall live also.

     Isaiah 50:9 "Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who [is] he
[that] shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the
moth shall eat them up."

     Jesus Christ is the Judge of all mankind. What a horrible fate,
to stand before Him, knowing you condemned Him! There is a time to die
for everyman, and then comes the judgement.

     Isaiah 50:10  "Who [is] among you that feareth the LORD, that
obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh [in] darkness, and hath
no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his
God."

     Leave the darkness and come to the marvellous Light {Jesus Christ
our Lord}. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Darkness
is the absence of Light. To be saved, we must put our faith and trust
in the Lord Jesus. Read Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10. We must not
wander away after we receive the Lord. Notice, the word "stay". Look,
with me, at what Jesus said about this in the next Scripture. John
8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life."

     Isaiah 50:11 "Behold, 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."

     This appears, to me, to be speaking of someone depending on their
own knowledge, and not depending on God. Look whose light this is. It
is their own and not the Light who is Jesus Christ. No man can save
himself. Jesus is our only hope. The sorrow will come, because you
cannot save yourself.

















                          Isaiah 59 Questions


1.  God regards the falling away of His people as what?
2.  For your ______________ have ye sold yourselves.
3.  Their idolatry was like ____________ __________.
4.  ______ made them a free agent.
5.  Who was Hosea's harlot wife symbolic of?
6.  Why was God angered with them?
7.  Name some of the things of nature God controls.
8.  Who controls all of nature?
9.  What did Jesus do, that showed He had power over the elements of
    nature?
10. What is a very vivid example of God bringing darkness?
11. Quote Mark chapter 13 verse 24.
12. What is "sackcloth" a symbol of?
13. The words Jesus spoke were whose?
14. What was the contrast to this in verse 4?
15. Quote Matthew chapter 26 verse 39.
16. What did this show about Jesus?
17. Where do we find the Scripture where they spit in the face of
    Jesus?
18. Was Jesus forced to suffer for us?
19. Why did He go through with the cross for us?
20. He had set His face like a _______.
21. What was said, in verse 7, that shows no doubt at all?
22. At the name of Jesus, every _______ will _____.
23. Who is the Light?
24. Quote John chapter 8 verse 12.
25. What is verse 11 speaking of?