The Lord Will Comfort Zion

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, who seek the Lord! Look at the rock from which you were chiseled, at the quarry from which you were dug! 51:2 Look at Abraham, your father, and Sarah, who gave you birth. When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, but I blessed him and gave him numerous descendants. 51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Happiness and joy will be restored to her, thanksgiving and the sound of music. 51:4 Pay attention to me, my people! Listen to me, my people! For I will issue a decree, I will make my justice a light to the nations. 51:5 I am ready to vindicate, I am ready to deliver, I will establish justice among the nations. The coastlands wait patiently for me; they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 51:6 Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For the sky will dissipate like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give is permanent; the vindication I provide will not disappear. 51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right, you people who are aware of my law! Don’t be afraid of the insults of men; don’t be discouraged because of their abuse! 51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes; a clothes moth will devour them like wool. But the vindication I provide will be permanent; the deliverance I give will last.” 51:9 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity! Did you not smash the Proud One? Did you not wound the sea monster? 51:10 Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage could cross over? 51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return; they will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear. 51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. Why are you afraid of mortal men, of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? 51:13 Why do you forget the Lord, who made you, who stretched out the sky and founded the earth? Why do you constantly tremble all day long at the anger of the oppressor, when he makes plans to destroy? Where is the anger of the oppressor? 51:14 The one who suffers will soon be released; he will not die in prison, he will not go hungry. 51:15 I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves surge. The Lord who commands armies is his name! Zion’s Time to Celebrate 51:16 I commission you as my spokesman; I cover you with the palm of my hand, to establish the sky and to found the earth, to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” 51:17 Wake up! Wake up! Get up, O Jerusalem! You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you, which was full of his anger! You drained dry the goblet full of intoxicating wine. 51:18 There was no one to lead her among all the children she bore; there was no one to take her by the hand among all the children she raised. 51:19 These double disasters confronted you. But who feels sorry for you? Destruction and devastation, famine and sword. But who consoles you? 51:20 Your children faint; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a snare. They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger, by the battle cry of your God. 51:21 So listen to this, oppressed one, who is drunk, but not from wine! 51:22 This is what your sovereign master, the Lord your God, says: “Look, I have removed from your hand the cup of intoxicating wine, the goblet full of my anger. You will no longer have to drink it. 51:23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’ You made your back like the ground, and like the street for those who walked over you.”

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Isaiah 51:1-23 tells God’s faithful people to remember how he began with Abraham and Sarah, and to trust him to finish what he promised. He will comfort Zion, restore joy, and make his saving justice known. Human oppressors are temporary, but the Lord’s deliverance lasts. Jerusalem had drunk the cup of God’s anger, but the Lord promises to remove that cup and give it to her tormentors.

The chapter begins by calling those who seek the Lord to look back to Abraham and Sarah. God took one man and made a nation from him. That reminder is meant to build faith. If the Lord could do that at the start, he can restore ruined Zion now.

The Lord promises comfort, not mere words. He will turn wilderness into a place of life and joy. He will also show his justice openly to the nations. His saving power is not small or private. It reaches beyond Israel and shows that he rules all peoples.

The chapter also contrasts God’s lasting salvation with the short life of the world and its rulers. The sky and earth wear out. Human enemies pass away. Their insults and threats should not control God’s people. The Lord’s deliverance does not fade.

Isaiah then recalls the Lord’s past power in the exodus. The God who divided the sea and freed his people is the same God who will bring the ransomed back to Zion with joy. This is not a new god and not a new promise. It is the same Lord acting again for his people.

The Lord answers by saying, in effect, “Do not fear men. Remember who made you.” He is the Maker of heaven and earth, and he commands the sea. He alone can comfort his people and call them his own.

The last part of the chapter speaks very seriously about judgment. Jerusalem had been made to drink the cup of God’s anger because of her sin. She was helpless and crushed. But the Lord promises to remove that cup from her hand. He will place it on her tormentors instead. This shows both God’s holiness and his mercy. He truly judges evil, and he truly restores the people he has chosen.

• God can restore what looks ruined because he is the Creator and Redeemer.
• The Lord’s salvation is permanent, while human power is brief.
• God’s justice is real and will be seen among the nations.
• Fear of people is wrong when it makes us forget the Lord.
• The exodus shows that God has saved his people before and can save again.
• Jerusalem’s suffering was real judgment, not a small matter.
• God promises to remove the cup of wrath from Zion and give judgment to her oppressors.

• Warning: do not fear mortal men more than the Lord.
• Warning: do not forget the Lord who made you.
• Warning: Jerusalem drank the cup of God’s anger because of judgment.
• Promise: the Lord will console Zion and restore joy.
• Promise: the Lord’s deliverance and vindication will last.
• Promise: the cup of anger will be removed from Jerusalem and given to her tormentors.
• Command: listen to the Lord and look to him for strength.

The chapter fits the Bible’s larger pattern of judgment and restoration. God disciplines his people for sin, but he does not abandon his covenant purpose. He remembers Abraham, shows his power in the exodus pattern, and promises lasting deliverance for Zion. The Lord’s saving justice points forward to his final rule over all nations and to the complete end of oppression.

When God’s people are afraid, they should remember what he has already done. Hard times do not mean the Lord has failed. His power is greater than rulers, insults, and present trouble. The right response is faith, repentance, and steady trust in his word. Believers should also remember that God’s comfort does not cancel his holiness. He judges sin, but he also restores those who belong to him.

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