Trust - Isaiah 50

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."

It is immediately established by the Lord that he himself did not put Israel away but they had only themselves and their transgressions to blame. But He still loves them and is well able to help them.

v2 "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."

The same God who made the earth and all that is it it still has dominion over it and can do with it as he wills. He has not lost any of his ability to save his people.

v4 "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."

Here we look forward to Jesus in his earthly body and he speaks of the fellowship he has with the Father and the wisdom that is imparted to Him.

Luke 4:22 "And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? v32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power."

Next we look forward to the relationship of son and father as it pertains to God the Father and Jesus the Son. Jesus takes his place in his earthly body as the son and is in subjection, willing to be obedient although the Bible says he learned obedience. For example, He showed us how to honor authority.

v5 "The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back."

That is a much bigger statement than it seems at first, for Jesus knew he was destined for the cross and that he would be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Yet he "neither turned away back."

Then we look toward his suffering and humiliation. I know this was a mystery when it was written but we can look back to it now.

v6 "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."

Accept for a moment that Jesus is the God of the universe. He is in human form and allows the very creation he created to put him to shame - for a reason - to save them.

v7 "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."

To further explore the sufferings of Christ one can read the four gospels or go to Psalm 22.

Jesus then lays down a challenge to his enemies. He so trust that he will reach the cross and be victorious that he invites his enemies to come forth.

v8 "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."

Even in these prophecies of suffering that is in the distant future then, Jesus looks beyond to victory.

v9 "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. "

For a time Jesus walked as a man and felt pain as a man, but beyond this, he is still God and while man goes through the process of getting older, He remains the same in the end.

v10 "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."

It is sin that seperates mankind and God. God does not just walk away from us. He has proven his love with the ultimate sacrifice. May we not turn him away.