In Isaiah 50, YHVH asked His people where their mother’s certificate of divorce was which showed that He had put her away. YHVH also asked His people to which of His creditors did He sell them. YHVH explained His people were sold to His creditors because of their sins; they were divorced because of their crimes.
Did YHVH really divorce His people? Many people I’ve talked with say no. They believe this is just figurative language and that YHVH would never do that because He hates divorce. I do not believe this is figurative language. He married His people on Mount Sinai when they agreed to the terms of the covenant. I think He really did divorce His people because I do many things I hate to do because I have to. The same is true with YHVH. YHVH tolerated their idolatrous behavior for many years but He finally had to divorce His people because they refused to repent. They were hard-hearted and rebellious. They abandoned Him to commit idolatry. YHVH allowed for divorce in circumstances like this. Not only did YHVH divorce them, He sent them into exile in the land of their enemies. Surely it grieved Him to do this to His own people.
YHVH asked why no one was there when He came and why did nobody answered when He called. Today it is the same way. Very few come to the Lord. Very few respond when YHVH speaks to their heart. YHVH is not the only one who speaks to them. They listen to and are deceived by their three enemies: their flesh, the world, and the members of Satan’s kingdom.
YHVH’s arm is not too short to redeem them. He is powerful enough to save them yet they believe lies that say otherwise.
Isaiah 50:2-3 says, “Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink because there is no water, And die of thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering.”
Through Moses, YHVH defeated the gods of the Egyptians, divided the Rea Sea, made bitter water sweet, provided quail and manna to eat, and brought forth water from a rock. These were miraculous things yet the people failed to remember these things. Since His people would not repent of their rebelliousness in sackcloth and ashes, He humbled them by sending them into exile.
Many years later, Yeshua turned water into wine, healed the sick, cast out demons, provided bread to feed multitudes, calmed a storm, and raised several people from the dead. In Luke 19:41-44, Yeshua wept over Jerusalem because by rejecting Him, they missed the opportunity for peace. He wept because He knew of their coming destruction. By His death and resurrection, He redeemed those who put their trust in Him. Those numbers were few.
Isaiah 50:4-6 continues, “The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. 5 The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away. 6 I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”
The phrase “Lord God” is Adonai YHVH. Because of how it is translated we may assume the Hebrew is YHVH Elohim but it is not. Adonai YHVH is the Father who gave Yeshua the ability to speak and teach the simplest of men. The Father gave Yeshua the ability to hear, listen, and obey Him. Yeshua was not rebellious nor did He turn away from the Father. He submitted to the Father. He endured the torture inflicted by the members of the Sanhedrin and the High Priest who beat and spit on Him (Matt. 26:67).
Isaiah 50:7-9 says, “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. 8 He is near who justifies Me; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. 9 Surely the Lord God will help Me; Who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment; The moth will eat them up.”
Yeshua was not rebellious like those who went into exile. He did not allow anything to deter Him from fulfilling the will of the Father. Adonai YHVH gave Yeshua the ability to endure what He knew would take place. Many believe the Father abandoned Yeshua when darkness covered the earth saying the Father cannot look on sin. That is not the case. The Father sees sin all the time. According to Isaiah 59:2, sin hides God’s face from us. It was sin that hid the Father’s face from Yeshua. The Father never abandoned Yeshua–He just couldn’t see the Father.
The reason Yeshua was put to death is because He was convicted of blasphemy despite the fact Yeshua was who He said He was. Those who convicted Yeshua to death were different from Yeshua because they eventually died and their flesh decayed. Yeshua’s body did not see decay because He rose from the grave.
Isaiah 50:10 asks: “Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light?”
Today few people fear YHVH. Very few obey the voice of Yeshua. They prefer to walk in darkness instead of light by following their own evil desires. This is rebellion against God. If only they would trust in the name of YHVH and submit to His will.
Everyone needs to hear what happened to the jailer who almost killed himself in Acts 16:25-32. While Saul and Silas were in prison and singing hymns to God, a violent earthquake shook the prison so hard that the prison doors opened. Fearing that his prisoners had escaped he drew his sword to kill himself but Saul told him not to. In that moment, he asked Saul and Silas what he must do to be saved. They answered, “Trust in the Lord Yeshua (Jesus), and you will be saved – you and your household.” When truth came to this man’s house, they believed and trusted in the name of Yeshua. This is the name of YHVH.
Isaiah 50:11 says, “Look, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with sparks: Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled — This you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.” When we are rebellious and ignore the Light of the World, we will be walking in a false light. That which is false leads to death. It leads to the lake of fire, a place of torment.
Instead, we are to listen to John 8:12: “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 5:24-29 sums it up this way: “Most assuredly, I [Yeshua] say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
Will you choose life or death–submission and obedience to YHVH or rebellion and disobedience to YHVH? It’s an individual choice that everyone must make.
Highway to Holiness 