Isaiah 50:1 - Meaning and Application

People who have claimed to be God’s people, yet feel that he has dealt harshly with them, are often quick to complain against him. They lay the blame on God, as if he had been unjust or severe without cause. In answer to those complaints, Isaiah gives them a challenge and a warning.

First, God calls them to prove that the trouble began on his side, Isaiah 50:1. They could not say that he had wronged them or treated them unfairly. He had been like a husband to them, and in that day husbands could put away their wives for almost any reason, giving a certificate of divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1; Matthew 19:7). Yet they could not say that God had done that to them. They were now separated from him and had gone many days without priestly service, altar, or sacrifice, but whose fault was that? They could not show any proof that God had given their mother a divorce, for a bill of divorce was given to the woman who was sent away.

He had also been like a father to them. In those days fathers could even sell their children as slaves to pay debts they could not otherwise settle. It is true that the Jews were sold to the Babylonians and later to the Romans, but did God sell them to pay his own debts? No. He owed nothing to those to whom they were handed over, and if he had sold them, he did not gain wealth from the price (Psalm 44:12). When God disciplines his children, it is neither for his pleasure (Hebrews 12:10) nor for his profit. All who are saved are saved by grace, but those who perish are cut off by God’s holiness and justice, not by a careless show of power.

Second, God lays the blame on them. He shows that they were the ones who brought their ruin on themselves: “Because of your sins, you have sold yourselves.” Their sins came from their own desire and from the satisfaction of their sinful cravings. They were not sold like children by a parent to pay a debt, but like criminals sold by a judge to receive punishment. They sold themselves to do evil, and so God justly sold them into the hands of their enemies (2 Chronicles 12:5, 2 Chronicles 12:8). It was because of their sins that their mother was sent away, for her unfaithfulness and adultery were always considered a fair reason for divorce. The Jews were sent to Babylon because of idolatry, which broke the marriage covenant, and they were finally rejected for crucifying the Lord of glory. These were the sins for which they were sold and put away.

Third, God confirms both this challenge and this charge. It is clear that their rejection came from themselves, because God came to offer them his favor and his help, either to keep trouble from coming or to rescue them from it, but they ignored him and all the grace he offered. “Do you blame me?” God says. “Then tell me why, when I came, there was no one to meet me, and when I called, there was no one to answer?” (Isaiah 50:2). God came to them through his prophets, asking for the fruit of his vineyard (Matthew 21:34). He sent his messengers, rising early and sending them again and again (Jeremiah 35:15). He called them to turn from their sins and escape ruin, but almost no one listened, answered, or followed the warnings. That is why they were sold and put away. Because they mocked the Lord’s messengers, God brought the king of Babylon against them (2 Chronicles 36:16, 2 Chronicles 36:17).

At last, he sent his Son to them. He came to his own people, but his own did not receive him. He called them to himself, but none answered. He would have gathered Jerusalem’s children, but they would not come. They knew the things that belonged to their peace, but they would not know them, and they ignored the day when God visited them. Because of that sin, they were put away, and their house was left desolate (Matthew 21:41; Matthew 23:37, Matthew 23:38; Luke 19:41, Luke 19:42). When God calls people to happiness and they refuse to answer, they are justly left to misery.

Their ruin was not because God lacked power. He is almighty and could have rescued them from so great a death. It was not because Christ lacked power either, for he is able to save completely. The unbelieving Jews in Babylon thought they were not delivered because their God could not save them, and the Jews in Christ’s day mocked, “Can this man save us? He cannot even save himself.” But God says, “Is my hand too short, or has it lost strength?” Nothing can limit all-powerful God. Can the great Redeemer not redeem? Can the one whose power is endless not deliver?

To silence their doubts about his power, God gives clear proof. When he chooses, he can dry up the seas and turn rivers into desert land. He did that for Israel when he redeemed them from Egypt, and he can do it again to redeem them from Babylon. He does it as easily as speaking a word. He can dry up rivers so fully that the fish die for lack of water and decay there. When God turned the waters of Egypt into blood, he killed the fish (Psalm 105:29). The Savior’s words about faith moving mountains and planting trees in the sea show something similar. If faith could do that, then surely faith would save them, and they would have no excuse if they perished in unbelief.

He can also, when he chooses, hide the lights of heaven, covering them with darkness and making them seem clothed in sackcloth, Isaiah 50:3. He does this through thick and dark clouds that he controls and arranges (Job 36:32; Job 37:16).