Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Isaiah 50: the servant of the Lord is mistreated.

 In Isaiah 50:1-9, we read the servant saying:

1-3 God says:

“Can you produce your mother’s divorce papers
    proving I got rid of her?
Can you produce a receipt
    proving I sold you?
Of course you can’t.


for people in Judah, the Lord has forsaken them; but the Lord is asking if they can prove it.

Of course you can’t.
    It’s your sins that put you here,
    your wrongs that got you shipped out.
(...)
Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help?
    Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver?
I’m as powerful as ever,

I sometimes may think that the Lord is far way from me. Is it really true?

Then, the servant says:

4-9
The Master, God, has given me
    a well-taught tongue,
So I know how to encourage tired people.
    He wakes me up in the morning,
Wakes me up, opens my ears
    to listen as one ready to take orders.
The Master, God, opened my ears,
    and I didn’t go back to sleep,
    didn’t pull the covers back over my head.
I followed orders,
    stood there and took it while they beat me,
    held steady while they pulled out my beard,
Didn’t dodge their insults,
    faced them as they spit in my face.
And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me,
    so I’m not disgraced.

The servant was ill treated, but he trusts in the Lord; that is why he is not disgraced.

Therefore I set my face like flint,
    confident that I’ll never regret this.
My champion is right here.
    Let’s take our stand together!
Who dares bring suit against me?
    Let him try!
Look! the Master, God, is right here.
    Who would dare call me guilty?
Look! My accusers are a clothes bin of threadbare
    socks and shirts, fodder for moths!

As in a judgement, the servant is confident that his accusers have no reason to accuse him.

In verses 10-11, the prophet (writer) calls Judah (in captivity) to trust in the Lord.  

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