Isaiah 49-51: Hope for a Battered People

The last few readings in Isaiah have shifted from the Judgment of a rebellious people to a message of comfort and hope in light of the coming restoration of Israel.

8 Thus says the LORD: "In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Appear.'

He’s not just promising relief from hard circumstances – he is dedicating the people of Israel as a “covenant to the people”, a shining light for all the world to see. A people that will fulfill His mission of setting captives free and bringing people out of darkness and into the light.

Isaiah also gives comfort to the battered and beaten people of Zion:

19 These two things have happened to you-- who will console you?-- devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?... 21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: 22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: "Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; 23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors…

God is telling His people that He will deliver them from their sufferings and famine – he will take from their hand the “cup of staggering” and “the bowl of wrath they shall drink no more”. Not only will they be delivered from this, but those very sufferings will be inflicted upon their tormentors. This is not to say that Israel will never suffer again, but is an exhortation to take heart and know that their Deliverer will protect them from many of their current sufferings.

After all of the sobering judgment that Isaiah pronounced in most of his writing, I feel like this portion yields a sigh of relief – a reminder that despite our brokenness, rebellion, and wrongdoing, God is still fiercely loyal to those He loves, and will pursue them relentlessly.