Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. [Art] thou not it that hath cut Rahab, [and] wounded the dragon?
9. put on strength ] Lit. “clothe thyself with strength,” as Psa 93:1.
The arm of the Lord is apostrophised, as the symbol of His might, possibly with a reference back to Isa 51:5.
that hath cut Rahab &c. ] R.V. that cut Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon. The verb “cut” is strictly “hewed” or “split.” Rahab is the sea-monster (ch. Isa 30:7); and the “dragon” ( tannn) probably one of the “helpers of Rahab” (Job 9:13); both together represent the chaotic elements from whose dominion the habitable world had to be recovered; hence the line expresses poetically the same thought as the following “Art thou not it which dried up the sea” &c.? The original mythical emblem survives in one of the most beautiful personifications of O.T. poetry, the comparison of the sea to a restless, unruly creature, waging impotent war with heaven, and seeking to devour the land, but a creature whom Jehovah holds completely in His power, now stirring it to fury (see Isa 51:15) by His rebuke, and again stilling its commotions.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9, 10. These verses are addressed to Jehovah, either by the prophet himself, or by the community of true Israelites. It is difficult to decide between these two views, but the dramatic unity of the passage is best preserved if we adopt the latter, taking Isa 51:9-10 as a prayer called forth by the previous exhortation, and Isa 51:12 ff. as the Divine answer to this prayer.
The imagery of the verses is obviously mythological. It rests on the conception of a conflict in days long past between Jehovah and the monsters called Rahab and the Dragon. Now both these names came to be used as symbols of Egypt (see on ch. Isa 30:7, and Isa 27:1); and most commentators have thought that this is the case here, the historic reference being to the humiliation of Egypt, and the dividing of the Red Sea in the days of Moses. But it is doubtful if this interpretation exhausts the significance of the passage. The prophet seems to make direct use of current mythological representations, as is frequently done by the author of the Book of Job (see the notes on Isa 3:8, Isa 9:13, Isa 26:13 in Davidson’s Book of Job). And if this be so there cannot be much doubt as to the nature of the myth in question. It is most probably a Hebrew variation of the Babylonian creation-hymn, according to which the creation of the world was preceded by a conflict between the God of light and order and the monsters that symbolise the dark powers of Chaos (so Duhm; see also Gunkel, Schpfung und Chaos, pp. 30 ff.). The fundamental idea of the verses would therefore seem to lie in the analogy between the original creation of the material world, and the restoration of the moral order of the universe, which has been disturbed by the reign of brute force in the Babylonian empire (cf. Isa 51:16). At the same time, the undoubted allusion to the Exodus in 10 b, shows that the historical application of the imagery was present to the mind of the prophet (see below).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Awake, awake – This verse commences a new subject (see the analysis of the chapter). It is the solemn and impassioned entreaty of those who were in exile that God would interpose in their behalf, as he did in behalf of his people when they were suffering in cruel bondage in Egypt. The word awake here, which is addressed to the arm of Jehovah, is a petition that it might be roused from its apparent stupor and inactivity, and its power exerted in their behalf.
O arm of the Lord – The arm is the instrument by which we execute any purpose. It is that by which the warrior engages in battle, and by which he wields the weapon to prostrate his foes. The arm of Yahweh had seemed to slumber; For seventy years the prophet sees the oppressed and suffering people in bondage, and God had not come forth to rescue them. He hears them now lifting the voice of earnest and tender entreaty, that he would interpose as he had in former times, and save them from the calamities which they were enduring.
Awake, as in the ancient days – That is, in the time when the Jews were delivered from their bondage in the land of Egypt.
Art thou not it – Art thou not the same arm? Was it not by this arm that the children of Israel were delivered from bondage, and may we not look to it for protection still?
That hath cut Rahab – That is, cut it in pieces, or destroyed it. It was that arm which wielded the sword of justice and of vengeance by which Rahab was cut in pieces. The word Rahab here means Egypt. On the meaning of the word, see the notes at Isa 30:7; compare Psa 88:8; Psa 89:10.
And wounded the dragon – The word rendered here dragon ( tannyn) means properly any great fish or sea monster; a serpent, a dragon (see the notes at Isa 27:1), or a crocodile. Here it means, probably, the crocodile, as emblematic of Egypt, because the Nile abounded in crocodiles, and because a monster so unwieldy and formidable and unsightly, was no unapt representation of the proud and cruel king of Egypt. The king of Egypt is not unfrequently compared with the crocodile (see Psa 34:13-14; Eze 29:3; Eze 32:2). Here the sense is, that he had sorely wounded, that is, had greatly weakened the power of that cruel nation, which for strength was not unfitly represented by the crocodile, one of the most mighty of monsters, but which, like a pierced and wounded monster. was greatly enfeebled when God visited it with plagues, and destroyed its hosts in the sea.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 51:9-10
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord
The awaking of Zion
(with Isa 52:1 (a)):–Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord.
In the one, as Priest and Intercessor, He lifts the prayers of earth to heaven in His own holy hands–and in the other, as Messenger and Word of God, He brings the answer and command of heaven to earth on His own authoritative lips–thus setting forth the deep mystery of His person and double office as mediator between man and God. But even if we set aside that thought the correspondence and relation of the two passages remain the same. In any case they are intentionally parallel in form and connected in substance. The latter is the answer to the former. The cry of Zion is responded to by the call of God. The awaking of the arm of the Lord is followed by the awaking of the Church. He puts on strength in clothing us with His might, which becomes ours.
I. We have here a common principle underlying both the clauses, namely, THE OCCURRENCE IN THE CHURCHS HISTORY OF SUCCESSIVE PERIODS OF ENERGY AND OF LANGUOR. It is freely admitted that such alternation is not the highest ideal of growth, either in the individual or in the community. Our Lords own parables set forth a more excellent way–the way of uninterrupted increase. So might our growth be, if the mysterious life in the seed met no checks. But, as a matter of fact, the Church has not thus grown. Rather, at the best, its emblem is to be looked for, not in corn but in the forest tree–the very rings in whose trunk tell of recurring seasons when the sap has risen at the call of spring, and sunk again before the frowns of winter. In our own hearts we have known such times. And we have seen a like palsy smite whole regions and ages of the Church of God. Where is the joyful buoyancy and expansive power with which the Gospel burst into the world? If, then, there be such recurring seasons of languor, they must either go on deepening till sleep becomes death, or they must be broken by a new outburst of vigorous life. And it is by such times that the Kingdom of Christ always has grown. Its history has been one of successive impulses gradually exhausted, as by friction and gravity, and mercifully repeated just at the moment when it was ceasing to advance and had begun to slide downwards.
II. THE TWOFOLD EXPLANATION OF THESE VARIATIONS. That bold metaphor of God sleeping and waking is often found in Scripture, and generally expresses the contrast between the long years of patient forbearance, during which evil things and evil men go on their rebellious road unchecked but by Love, and the dread moment when some throne of iniquity is smitten to the dust. Such is the original application of the expression here. But the contrast may fairly be widened beyond that specific form of it, and taken to express any apparent variations in the forth-putting of His power. We may, then, see here implied the cause of these alternations on its Divine side, and then, in the corresponding verse addressed to the Church, the cause on the human side.
1. As to the former. We have to distinguish between the power, and what Paul calls the might of the power. The one is final, constant, unchangeable. It does not necessarily follow that the other is. The rate of operation, so to speak, and the amount of energy actually brought into play may vary, though the force remains the same.
2. Our second text tells us that if Gods arm seems to slumber, and really does so, it is because Zion sleeps. He works through us; and we have the solemn and awful power of checking the might which would flow through us.
III. THE BEGINNING OF ALL AWAKING IS THE CHURCHS EARNEST CRY TO GOD. It is with us as with infants, the first sign of whose awaking is a cry. For every such stirring of quickened religious life must needs have in it bitter penitence and pain at the discovery flashed upon us of the wretched deadness of our past. Nor is Zion s cry to God only the beginning and sign of all true awaking; it is also the condition and indispensable precursor of all perfecting of recovery from spiritual languor. Look at the passionate earnestness of it–and see to it that our drowsy prayers be like it. Look at the grand confidence with which it founds itself on the past, recounting the mighty deeds of ancient days, and looking back, not for despair, but for joyful confidence on the generations of old; and let our faint-hearted faith be quickened by the example, to expect great things of God.
IV. THE ANSWERING CALL FROM GOD TO ZION. Our truest prayers are but the echo of Gods promises. Gods best answers are the echo of our prayers. As in two mirrors set opposite to each other, the same image is repeated over and over again, the reflection of a reflection, so here, within the prayer, gleams an earlier promise, within the answer is mirrored the prayer. And in that reverberation, and giving back to us of our petition transformed into a command, we are not to see a dismissal of it as if we had misapprehended our true want. The very opposite interpretation is the true one. The prayer of Zion is heard and answered. God awakes, and clothes Himself with might. Then, as some warrior king, himself roused from sleep and girded with flashing steel, bids the clarion sound through the grey twilight to summon the prostrate ranks that lie round his tent, so the sign of Gods awaking and the first act of His conquering might is this trumpet call–The night is far spent, the day is at hand–put off the works of darkness, the night gear that was fit for slumber–and put on the armour of light, the mail of purity that gleams and glitters even in the dim dawn. Nor is it to be forgotten that this, like all God s commands, carries in its heart a promise. But the main point which I would insist on is the practical discipline which this Divine summons requires from us.
1. The chief means of quickened life and strength is deepened communion with Christ.
2. This summons calls us to the faithful use of the power which, on condition of that communion, we have. So, let us confidently look for times of blessing, penitently acknowledge that our own faithlessness has hindered the arm of the Lord, earnestly beseech Him to come in His rejoicing strength, and, drawing ever fresh power from constant communion with our dear Lord, use it to its last drop for Him. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
The Church s cry and the Divine answer
(with Isa 52:1):–
I. THE CHURCHS CALL ON GOD. Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord.
1. The figure used here is simple enough. The arm is a natural symbol of power, for it is through it that we execute our purpose. If it is benumbed, insensitive, and motionless, we say that it is asleep; but when it is stretched out for action it is awake. And what the prophet pleads for is that some display of Divine power might be granted, such as had once been seen in Egypt, when Rahab (the fierce and boastful power of heathenism) had been broken in pieces and the dragon (or rather the crocodile, the recognized symbol of Egypt) had been sorely wounded. Now, the uses to which we put our arm may, any of them, suggest the actions to which we would summon our God in earnest prayer. The arm of the warrior bears the shield which protects his own body and those of weak and wounded friends lying at his feet; and we want such overshadowing protection against the fiery darts of the wicked. The arm is naturally outstretched to point the way to one who is ignorant and bewildered, and when we are perplexed as to doctrine or duty, we find it is not a vain thing to pray: Teach me Thy way, O Lord. What is needed now, as of old, is the realization and the manifestation of the presence of God in the Person of Christ, His Son; so that now there may come about a true revival of religion, a living, unshakable belief that God is amongst His people of a truth. If only He reveals Himself in and through His Church, sin will be conquered and the world redeemed.
2. The necessity for this prayer arises from the fact that the work which lies before us as Christian Churches cannot be done by human power.
II. GODS CALL UPON THE CHURCH. Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion, etc.. God never does for His people what they can do for themselves.
1. The Church is called upon to arouse from slumber–and whether it is the result of despondency, or of indolence, sleep must be shaken off.
2. The Church is also to endue herself with strength, to resume courage, and renew effort with a fresh sense of her responsibility.
3. But let us be thankful that there is room in Gods heart for quieter service. They who fail to put on strength, can at least put on the. beautiful garments of holiness; and although these should endue the most active worker, they can transform into a saintly witness the solitary sufferer.
4. The Church is summoned here to consecrate herself anew to God. She is represented as a female captive in degrading servitude, whose hour of deliverance has come, and who is to shake herself free from the bands which have held her, and rejoice in new found liberty. It is not only sin which holds the Church in bondage, but sometimes formalism and ceremonialism, and we must beware, lest, with our love for order, we become thereby crippled and hindered. Let us be ready to make any change of mode or organization, to cast off any prejudices, if they prevent successful whole-hearted service for our God, and let us regard this as a time for renewed consecration to Him, to whom we owe ourselves, our time, our all. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)
The arm of the Lord invoked
I. EXPLAIN WHAT IT IS TO WHICH THE INVOCATION IS ADDRESSED. O arm of the Lord.
II. THE OBJECTS WHICH THIS INVOCATION INVOLVES. Awake, awake, etc. It is an earnest application on the part of the prophet, that God would come forth as He had done in former periods. We may refer to a number of great events, of which the people of old could scarcely form an idea. We remember what God did in the fulness of time when He sent His Son into the world to restore mankind. We remember what He did on the hill of Calvary. We remember what He did when He raised Him up from the dead, and set Him on His own right hand, and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church. We remember what He did on the Pentecostal day, when He sent down His Holy Spirit. After allusion has thus been made to the former displays of the Divine power, there is an evident contrast as to what was the state of things in the prophets day. There seemed to be a suspension of this energy; the heritage of God was wasted, His truth was insulted, His worship was slighted, His requirements were contemned. And what is it we want? We want His power to accompany the preaching of the Word. It must be remembered that there is no manifestation of the Divine power so glorious as that which is seen in the extension of the Gospel, and its power on the souls of men.
III. THE ENCOURAGEMENTS WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THE INVOCATION SHALL BE FULFILLED.
1. Consider the care of God over the Church in past ages of the world.
2. From the character of God as the hearer and answerer of prayer.
3. From the nature of the promises recorded in the sacred pages. (J. Parsons.)
Prayer for national prosperity, and for the revival of religion, inseparably connected
I. THE IMPORT OF THIS PRAYER. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! In general such a petition as this suggests to us that our prayers for Divine interposition and deliverance from public calamities should be supremely directed to the glory of God. A just regard to the glory of God in our prayers implies the two following things:
1. That we expect deliverance from God alone, desire that it may be attended with such circumstances as His hand and power may be seen in it, and are willing to acknowledge Him as the supreme and only Author of it.
2. We ought also to pray for a dispensation of His grace and mercy that a revival of religion may accompany temporal relief.
(1) We have no warrant to ask the last of these without the first.
(2) We have no reason to expect that it will be separately bestowed.
(3) If it should, in any degree, it would not he a blessing but a curse.
II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRAYER. Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of old, etc. The prophet animates his faith, and encourages his own dependence, and that of others, upon the promises of God, by celebrating the greatness of His power, as manifested in former memorable deliverances granted to His chosen people. Consider the effect of such a view upon the mind, and its influence in prayer.
1. It satisfies us of the power of God, and His ability to save.
2. The same view serves to ascertain us of the mercy of God, and His readiness to help us in distress.
III. APPLY THE TRUTHS on this subject to our own present situation as to public affairs. Let us remember that we serve an unchangeable God. (J. Witherspoon, D.D.)
Christ the arm of God
Christ is here called the arm of the Lord. The arm of the Lord means God in action. The grand purposes of redemption, conceived in eternity, were dead thought, if lawful so to speak, in the mind of God, until they were revealed in Christ, the executor of the thoughts of the Godhead. Christ was ever called the Logos, the expression of Divinity. When the hand is spoken of in the Bible, it means the exact working of God in nature, providence and grace. The arm is that which sends the hand into action. The outstretched arm is the far-reaching power of God. By the right hand or arm of God we are to understand a more special and dazzling display of Gods power. In all instances the hand or arm of God means Christ. The prophet appeals to the past, Awake, as in the ancient days, etc. In the context he looks to the future and catches glimpses of the glory of the Advent, and he cries, It is the arm of God! The text is an invocation for Christ to come in the Advent. This arm of God is the revelation–
I. OF GODS GLORY.
II. OF HIS SAVING POWER. It is an arm that can reach everywhere. There is no height so high or depth so deep as to be beyond its reach to save.
III. A UNIVERSAL REVELATION OF GOD. It means the revealing of God in creation, in providence, in redemption, in the family in the closet, in the soul, in death, at the judgment, in eternity, where it will secure the eternal triumph of those whose faith will then merge into sight. Conclusion:
1. What are your relations to this arm of God? Has it been to you only an object of wonder as the bow in the clouds, or has it been an arm bared to the shoulder, entwined about you, filled with a vitality which it imparted to you as it defended and lifted you?
2. Have you thought what this arm hath wrought for you? How it suffered itself to De shorn of its strength that you might be strong!
3. Have you not thought of the final triumph of that arm? (N. Schenck, D.D.)
Thy strength! my strength
(with Isa 52:1):–
1. Everything seemed to have gone against the exile. Life had no longer for him a programme, but only a retrospect; no longer a radiant hope, but only a fading reminiscence; no longer an alluring vision, but only a distinguished history. Here he lay in captivity; the songs of Zion had fled from his lips, and his mouth was filled with wailing and complaint. The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Where is He that brought us up out of the sea with the Shepherd of His flock? Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within us? And now and again the exile half-turned himself in angry, hopeless cry, Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou,, wouldst come down! And again he relapsed into the low and cheerlees moan: My Lord hath forgotten me. And yet again he pierced the heaven with his searching supplication: Awake, awake, put on Thy strength, O arm of the Lord, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.
2. What will be the Lords reply to the cry of the exile? Here it is: Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion! The Divine response is a sharp retort. It is not thy God who sleepeth! It is thou thyself who art wrapt about in a sluggish and consuming indolence! Thou art crying out for more strength; but what of the strength thou hast? Thy trumpet is silent, and thine armour is rusting upon the walls! Thou art like a vagrant asking for help, when thou hast a full purse hidden between the covers of an idle bed! Thou art pleading for reinforcements, and thy soldiers are on the couch! Thy prayer is the supplication of a man who is not doing his best! Clothe thyself in thy present powers, consecrate thine all to the purpose of thy prayer, and stand forth in battle array. I need not say that there is nothing in the Lord s response which disparages the ministry of prayer. It does, however, tend to put prayer in its right place, and to give a true apprehension of its purpose and ministry. Prayer is not a talisman, to be used as an easy substitute for our activity and vigilance. Prayer is a ministry in which our own powers can be quickened into more vigorous and healthy service. God has given us certain endowments. Certain talents are part of our original equipment. We are possessed of powers of judgment, of initiative, of sympathy; and the primary implication of all successful prayer is that these powers are willingly placed upon the altar of sacrifice. Any prayer is idle when these powers are indolent. We too frequently pray to be carried like logs, and it is the Lords will that we should contend like men! The principle is this–our strength must back our supplications. Is the backing always present?
(1) Take the matter of our personal salvation. Every one is conscious how immature he is in the Divine life we know how dim is our spiritual discernment. We know how few and infrequent are our brilliant conquests, and how many and common are our shameful defeats. And again and again we supplicate the Almighty: Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Is it possible that the response of the Lord, may be the retort of the olden days: Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion? We are so prone to divide the old psalmists counsel, and to pay heed to one part and to ignore the other. Bring unto the Lord glory! And so we do! We bring our glorias, our doxologies, our hymns, and our anthems, and we do well, but it is a maimed and lifeless offering if, with the glory, we do not bring our strength. Bring unto the Lord glory and strength! It is in this lacking of strength in our personal religion that we are so woefully deficient. We need to bring to our religion more strength of common-sense–more inventiveness, more fertility of ideas, more purpose, more steady and methodical persistence. And we need to bring a more commanding strength of will. So many of us would like to be saints without becoming soldiers, and the desire can never be attained. Let me tell you a story. Two little girls in the same class, one at the top and, the other at the bottom. The one at the bottom consults the one at the top. How is it that you are always at the top of the class? Oh, I ask Jesus to help me! Then I will do the same, said the undistinguished member, and she forthwith put the counsel into practice. Next day their relative positions were unaltered, one at the top, and the other at the bottom. The consultation is renewed. I thought you said that Jesus would help me, and here I am at the bottom again! Well, so He will, but how long did you work? Oh, I never opened a book!
(2) Take the matter of the salvation of the home. We have interceded for our little ones at the throne of grace. Are we putting our strength into the salvation of the home? I do not know a better pattern of a home than Charles Kingsleys, but he brought his strength to its creation. It was a home whose moral atmosphere was like the air on Alpine heights, home in which, in all perplexities, the only referendum was the Lord Himself, a home all of whose ministries were clothed in grace and beauty. I shall never forget hearing a long conversation between two men, one of whom had inquired of the other the size of his family. I have ten, he said. What a responsibility! replied the other. To which there came at once the glad response: And what a privilege, for they are all workers on the side of God.
(3) There is the matter of social redemption. How often have we prayed for the city: Awake, awake, lint on strength, O arm of the Lord! And still, I think, there comes the Divine retort, Put on thy strength, O Zion! We abuse the privilege of prayer when we make it a minister of personal evasion and neglect. That is my message. There is no true prayer without a full consecration. (J. H. Jowett, M.A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Awake, awake, thou who hast carried thyself like one asleep, and unconcerned for thy people, and unable to save them. The prophet having foretold what great things God would do for his church, and longing for the accomplishment of them, and knowing that prayer was one means by which God fulfils his promises, he poureth forth his prayer to God in his own name, and in the name of Gods people.
Put on strength; clothe and adorn thyself with mighty works; put forth thy strength.
That hath cut, Heb. hewed, with thy sword, Rahab; Egypt, so called here, and Psa 87:4; 89:10, either from its pride or strength, or from the shape and figure of that land. The dragon; Pharaoh, so called Psa 74:13; Eze 29:3; 32:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Impassioned prayer of theexiled Jews.
ancient days (Ps44:1).
Rahabpoetical name forEgypt (see on Isa 30:7).
dragonHebrew,tannin. The crocodile, an emblem of Egypt, as represented oncoins struck after the conquest of Egypt by Augustus; or rather here,”its king,” Pharaoh (see on Isa27:1; Psa 74:13; Psa 74:14;Eze 32:2, Margin; Eze29:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord,…. The Septuagint and Arabic versions take the words to be an address to Jerusalem; and the Syriac version to Zion, as in Isa 51:17, but wrongly: they are, as Jarchi says, a prayer of the prophet, or it may be rather of the church represented by him; and are addressed either to God the Father, who, when he does not immediately appear on the behalf of his people, is thought by them to be asleep, though he never slumbers nor sleeps, but always keeps a watchful eye over them; but this they not apprehending, call upon him to “awake”; which is repeated, to show their sense of danger, and of their need of him, and their vehement importunity; and that he would clothe himself with strength, and make it visible, exert his power, and make bare his arm on their behalf: or they are an address to Christ, who is the power of God, that he would appear in the greatness of strength, show himself strong in favour of his people, and take to himself his great power and reign:
awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old; which is mentioned not only as an argument to prevail with the Lord that he would do as he had formerly done; but as an argument to encourage the faith of the church, that as he had done, he could and would still do great things for them:
art thou not it that hath cut Rahab; that is, Egypt, so called either from the pride and haughtiness of its inhabitants; or from the large extent of the country; or from the form of it, being in the likeness of a pear, as some have thought; see Ps 87:4 and the sense is, art thou not that very arm, and still possessed of the same power, that cut or “hewed” to pieces, as the word p signifies, the Egyptians, by the ten plagues sent among them?
and wounded the dragon? that is, Pharaoh king of Egypt, so called from the river Nile in Egypt, where he reigned, and because of his fierceness and cruelty, see Eze 29:3. So the Targum interprets it of Pharaoh and his army, who were strong as a dragon. And that same mighty arm that destroyed Egypt, and its tyrannical king, can and will destroy that great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, and the beast that has two horns like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon, and to whom the dragon has given his seat, power, and authority; and the rather this may be believed, since the great red dragon has been cast out, or Rome Pagan has been destroyed by him, Re 11:8.
p “quod excidit”, Piscator; “excidens”, Montanas.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But just as such an exhortation as this followed very naturally from the grand promises with which they prophecy commenced, so does a longing for the promised salvation spring out of this exhortation, together with the assurance of its eventual realization. “Awake, awake, clothe thyself in might, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of ancient time, the ages of the olden world! Was it not thou that didst split Rahab in pieces, and pierced the dragon? Was it not thou that didst dry up the sea, the waters of the great billow; that didst turn the depths of the sea into a way for redeemed to pass through? Ad the emancipated of Jehovah will return, and come to Zion with shouting, and everlasting joy upon their head: they grasp at gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing flee away.” The paradisaical restoration of Zion, the new world of righteousness and salvation, is a work of the arm of Jehovah, i.e., of the manifestation of His might. His arm is now in a sleeping state. It is not lifeless, indeed, but motionless. Therefore the church calls out to it three times, “Awake” ( ur : to avoid monotony, the milra and milel tones are interchanged, as in Jdg 5:12).
(Note: See Norzi and Luzzatto’s Grammatica della Lingua Ebr. 513.)
It is to arise and put on strength out of the fulness of omnipotence ( labhesh as in Psa 93:1; cf., Rev 11:17, and , arm thyself with strength, in Il. 19:36; 9:231). The arm of Jehovah is able to accomplish what the prophecy affirms and the church hopes for; since it has already miraculously redeemed Israel once. Rahabh is Egypt represented as a monster of the waters (see Isa 30:7), and tannn is the same (cf., Isa 27:1), but with particular reference to Pharaoh (Eze 29:3). , tu illud , is equivalent to “thou, yea thou” (see at Isa 37:16). The Red Sea is described as the “waters of the great deep” ( t e hom rabbah ), because the great storehouse of waters that lie below the solid ground were partially manifested there. has double pashta; it is therefore m ilel, and therefore the third pr. = (Ges. 109, Anf.). Isa 35:10 is repeated in Isa 51:11, being attached to of the previous verse, jut as it is there. Instead of , which we find here, we have there ; in everything else the two passages are word for word the same. Hitzig, Ewald, and Knobel suppose that Isa 51:11 was not written by the author of these addresses, but was interpolated by some one else. But in Isa 65:25 we meet with just the same kind of repetition from chapters 1-39; and in the first part we find, at any rate, repetitions in the form of refrains and others of a smaller kind (like Isa 19:15, cf., Isa 9:13). And Isa 51:11 forms a conclusion here, just as it does in Isa 35:10. An argument is founded upon the olden time with reference to the things to be expected now; the look into the future is cleared and strengthened by the look into the past. And thus will the emancipated of Jehovah return, being liberated from the present calamity as they were delivered from the Egyptian then. The first half of this prophecy is here brought to a close. It concludes with expressions of longing and of hope, the echo of promises that had gone before.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Prayer in Behalf of Israel; Encouragement to the People of God. | B. C. 706. |
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? 11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; 13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? 14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
In these verses we have,
I. A prayer that God would, in his providence, appear and act for the deliverance of his people and the mortification of his and their enemies. Awake, awake! put on strength, O arm of the Lord! v. 9. The arm of the Lord is Christ, or it is put for God himself, as Ps. xliv. 23. Awake! why sleepest thou? He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when we pray that he would awake, we mean that he would make it to appear that he watches over his people and is always awake to do them good. The arm of the Lord is said to awake when the power of God exerts itself with more than ordinary vigour on his people’s behalf. When a hand or arm is benumbed we say, It is asleep; when it is stretched forth for action, It awakes. God needs not to be reminded nor excited by us, but he gives us leave thus to be humbly earnest with him for such appearances of his power as will be for his own praise. “Put on strength,” that is, “put forth strength: appear in thy strength, as we appear in the clothes we put on,” Ps. xxi. 13. The church sees her case bad, her enemies many and mighty, her friends few and feeble; and therefore she depends purely upon the strength of God’s arm for her relief. “Awake, as in the ancient days,” that is, “do for us now as thou didst for our fathers formerly, repeat the wonders they told us of,” Judg. vi. 13.
II. The pleas to enforce this prayer. 1. They plead precedents, the experiences of their ancestors, and the great things God had done for them. “Let the arm of the Lord be made bare on our behalf; for it has done great things formerly in defence of the same cause, and we are sure it is neither shortened nor weakened. It did wonders against the Egyptians, who enslaved and oppressed God’s son, his first-born; it cut Rahab to pieces with one direful plague after another, and wounded Pharaoh, the dragon, the Leviathan (as he is called, Psa 74:13; Psa 74:14); it gave him his death’s wound. It did wonders for Israel. It dried up the sea, even the waters of the great deep, as far as was requisite to open a way through the sea for the ransomed to pass over,” v. 10. God is never at a loss for a way to accomplish his purposes concerning his people, but will either find one or make one. Past experiences, as they are great supports to faith and hope, so they are good pleas in prayer. Thou hast; wilt thou not? Ps. lxxxv. 1-6. 2. They plead promises (v. 11): And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, that is (as it may be supplied), thou hast said, They shall, referring to ch. xxxv. 10, where we find this promise, that the redeemed of the Lord, when they are released out of their captivity in Babylon, shall come with singing unto Zion. Sinners, when they are brought out of the slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of God’s children, may come singing, as a bird got loose out of the cage. The souls of believers, when they are delivered out of the prison of the body, come to the heavenly Zion with singing. Then this promise will have its full accomplishment, and we may plead it in the mean time. He that designs such joy for us at last will he not work such deliverances for us in the mean time as our case requires? When the saints come to heaven they enter into the joy of their Lord; it crowns their heads with immortal honour; it fills their hearts with complete satisfaction. They shall obtain that joy and gladness which they could never obtain in this vale of tears. In this world of changes it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world sorrow and mourning shall flee away, never to return or come in view again.
III. The answer immediately given to this prayer (v. 12): I, even, I, am he that comforteth you. They prayed for the operations of his power; he answers them with the consolations of his grace, which may well be accepted as an equivalent. If God do not wound the dragon, and dry the sea, as formerly, yet, if he comfort us in soul under our afflictions, we have no reason to complain. If God do not answer immediately with the saving strength of his right hand, we must be thankful if he answer us, as an angel himself was answered (Zech. i. 13), with good words and comfortable words. See how God resolves to comfort his people: I, even I, will do it. He had ordered his ministers to do it (ch. xl. 1); but, because they cannot reach the heart, he takes the work into his own hands: I, even I, will do it. See how he glories in it; he takes it among the titles of his honour to be the God that comforts those that are cast down; he delights in being so. Those whom God comforts are comforted indeed; nay, his undertaking to comfort them is comfort enough to them.
1. He comforts those that were in fear; and fear has torment, which calls for comfort. The fear of man has a snare in it which we have need of comfort to preserve us from. He comforts the timorous by chiding them, and that is no improper way of comforting either others or ourselves: Why art thou cast down, and why disquieted?Isa 51:12; Isa 51:13. God, who comforts his people, would not have them disquiet themselves with amazing perplexing fears of the reproach of men (v. 7), or of their growing threatening power and greatness, or of any mischief they may intend against us or our people. Observe,
(1.) The absurdity of those fears. It is a disparagement to us to give way to them: Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid? In the original, the pronoun is feminine, Who art thou, O woman! unworthy the name of a man? Such a weak and womanish thing it is to give way to perplexing fears. [1.] It is absurd to be in such dread of a dying man. What! afraid of a man that shall die, shall certainly and shortly die, of the son of man who shall be made as grass, shall wither and be trodden down or eaten up? The greatest men, and the most formidable, that are the terror of the mighty in the land of the living, are but men (Ps. ix. 20) and shall die like men (Ps. lxxxi. 7), are but grass sprung out of the earth, cleaving to it, and retiring again into it. Note, We ought to look upon every man as a man that shall die. Those we admire, and love, and trust to, are men that shall die; let us not therefore delight too much in them nor depend too much upon them. Those we fear we must look upon as frail and mortal, and consider what a foolish thing it is for the servants of the living God to be afraid of dying men, that are here to-day and gone tomorrow. [2.] It is absurd to fear continually every day (v. 13), to put ourselves upon a constant rack, so as never to be easy, nor to have any enjoyment of ourselves. Now and then a danger may be imminent and threatening, and it may be prudent to fear it; but to be always in a toss, jealous of dangers at every step, and to tremble at the shaking of every leaf, is to make ourselves all our lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. ii. 15), and to bring upon ourselves that sore judgment which is threatened, Deu 28:66; Deu 28:67. Thou shalt fear, day and night. [3.] It is absurd to fear beyond what there is cause: “Thou art afraid of the fury of the oppressor. It is true, there is an oppressor, and he is furious, and he designs, it may be, when he has an opportunity, to do thee a mischief, and it will be thy wisdom therefore to stand upon thy guard; but thou art afraid of him, as if he were ready to destroy, as if he were just now going to cut thy throat, and as if there were no possibility of preventing it.” A timorous spirit is thus apt to make the worst of every thing, and to apprehend the danger greater and nearer than really it is. Sometimes God is pleased at once to show us the folly of so doing: “Where is the fury of the oppressor? It is gone in an instant, and the danger is over ere thou art aware.” His heart is turned, or his hands are tied. Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise, and the king of Babylon no more. What has become of all the furious oppressors of God’s Israel, that hectored them, and threatened them, and were a terror to them? they passed away, and, lo, they were not; and so shall these.
(2.) The impiety of those fears: “Thou art afraid of a man that shall die, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, who is also the Maker of all the world, who has stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and therefore has all the hosts and all the powers of both at his command and disposal.” Note, Our inordinate fear of man is a tacit forgetfulness of God. When we disquiet ourselves with the fear of man we forget that there is a God above him, and that the greatest of men have no power but what is given them from above; we forget the providence of God, by which he orders and overrules all events according to the counsel of his own will; we forget the promises he has made to protect his people, and the experiences we have had of his care concerning us, and his seasonable interposition for our relief many a time, when we thought the oppressor ready to destroy; we forget our Jehovah-jirehs, monuments of mercy in the mount of the Lord. Did we remember to make God our fear and our dread, we should not be so much afraid as we are of the frowns of men, Isa 8:12; Isa 8:13. Happy is the man that fears God always, Pro 28:14; Luk 12:4; Luk 12:5.
2. He comforts those that were in bonds, Isa 51:14; Isa 51:15. See here, (1.) What they do for themselves: The captives exile hastens that he may be loosed and may return to his own country, from which he is banished; his care is that he may not die in the pit (not die a prisoner, through the inconveniences of his confinement), and that his bread should not fail, either the bread he should have to keep him alive in prison or that which should bear his charges home; his stock is low, and therefore he hastens to be loosed. Now some understand this as his fault. He is distrustfully impatient of delays, cannot wait God’s time, but thinks he is undone and must die in the pit if he be not released immediately. Others take it to be his praise, that when the doors are thrown open he does not linger, but applies himself with all diligence to procure his discharge. And then it follows, But I am the Lord thy God, which intimates, (2.) What God will do for them, even that which they cannot do for themselves. God has all power in his hand to help the captive exiles; for he has divided the sea, when the roaring of its waves was more frightful than any of the impotent menaces of proud oppressors. He has stilled or quieted the sea, so some think it should be read, Psa 65:7; Psa 89:9. This is not only a proof of what God can do, but a resemblance of what he has done, and will do, for his people; he will find out a way to still the threatening storm, and bring them safely into the harbour. The Lord of hosts is his name, his name for ever, the name by which his people have long known him. And, as he is able to help them, so he is willing and engaged to do it; for he is thy God, O captive-exile! thine in covenant. This is a check to the desponding captives. Let them not conclude that they must either be loosed immediately or die in the pit; for he that is the Lord of hosts can relieve them when they are brought ever so low. It is also an encouragement to the diligent captives, who, when liberty is proclaimed, are willing to lose no time; let them know that the Lord is their God, and, while they thus strive to help themselves, they may be sure he will help them.
3. He comforts all his people who depended upon what the prophets said to them in the name of the Lord, and built their hopes upon it. When the deliverances which the prophets spoke of either did not come so soon as they looked for them or did not come up to the height of their expectation they began to be cast down in their own eyes; but, as to this, they are encouraged (v. 16) by what God says to his prophet, not to this only, but to all his prophets, nor to this, or them, principally, but to Christ, the great prophet. It is a great satisfaction to those to whom the message is sent to hear the God of truth and power say to his messenger, as he does here, I have put my words in thy mouth, that by them I may plant the heavens. God undertook to comfort his people (v. 12); but still he does it by his prophets, by his gospel; and, that he may do it by these, he here tells us, (1.) That his word in them is very true. He owns what they have said to be what he had directed and enjoined them to say: “I have put my words in thy mouth, and therefore he that receives thee and them receives me.” This is a great stay to our faith, that Christ’s doctrine was not his, but his that sent him, and that the words of the prophets and apostles were God’s own words, which he put into their mouths. God’s Spirit not only revealed to them the things themselves they spoke of, but dictated to them the words they should speak (2Pe 1:21; 1Co 2:13); so that these are the true sayings of God, of a God that cannot lie. (2.) That it is very safe: I have covered thee in the shadow of my hand (as before, ch. xlix. 2), which speaks the special protection not only of the prophets, but of their prophecies, not only of Christ, but of Christianity, of the gospel of Christ; it is not only the faithful word of God which the prophets deliver to us, but it shall be carefully preserved till it have its accomplishment for the use of the church, notwithstanding the restless endeavours of the powers of darkness to extinguish this light. They shall prophesy again (Rev. x. 11), though not in their persons, yet in their writings, which God has always covered in the shadow of his hand, preserved by a special providence, else they would have been lost ere this. (3.) That this word, when it comes to be accomplished, will be very great and will not fall short of the pomp and grandeur of the prophecy: “I have put my words in thy mouth, not that by the performance of them I may plant a nation, or found a city, but that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth, may do that for my people which will be a new creation.” This must look as far forward as to the great work done by the gospel of Christ and the setting up of his holy religion in the world. As God by Christ made the world at first (Heb. i. 2), and by him formed the Old-Testament church (Zech. vi. 12), so by him, and the words put into his mouth, he will set up, [1.] A new world, will again plant the heavens and found the earth. Sin having put the whole creation into disorder, Christ’s taking away the sin of the world put all into order again. Old things have passed away, all things have become new; things in heaven and things on earth are reconciled, and so put into a new posture, Col. i. 20. Through him, according to the promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth (2 Pet. iii. 13), and to this the prophets bear witness. [2.] He will set up a new church, a New-Testament church: He will say unto Zion, Thou art my people. The gospel church is called Zion (Heb. xii. 22) and Jerusalem (Gal. iv. 26); and, when the Gentiles are brought into it, it shall be said unto them, You are my people. When God works great deliverances for his church, and especially when he shall complete the salvation of it in the great day, he will thereby own that poor despised handful to be his people, whom he has chosen and loved.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 9-11: DELIVERANCE, AS FROM EGYPT
1. Verse 9 seems to express the longing of the remnant for the manifestation of Jehovah’s saving strength.
2. They knew that His arm had overthrown Pharaoh and all his hosts, (Exo 6:6; Deu 4:33-35).
3. He cut Rahab in pieces and pierced the dragon – evidently referring to Pharaoh through whom Satan worked to frustrate the will of God, (Psa 89:10; Isa 30:7).
4. He had dried up the Red Sea so that Israel (the redeemed) could pass over dry land, (Isa 11:15-16; Isa 50:2; Isa 63:11-12; Exo 15:13; Psa 106:9-11; Isa 63:9; Isa 63:16).
5. As they recall the adequacy of divine grace for the needs of their ancient fathers, the Lord gives sweet and blessed assurance concerning the future of His people, (vs. 11).
a. The ransomed of the Lord will again return unto Zion with a song in their hearts, (Isa 35:10; Isa 49:13).
b. Sorrow and sighing will be banished – FOREVER! (Isa 25:8; Isa 60:20; Isa 65:19; Rev 7:17).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. Awake, awake. Here the Prophet instructs us, that, when God cheers us by his promises, we ought also to pray earnestly that he would perform what he has promised. He does not comfort us in order to render us slothful, but that we may be inflamed with a stronger desire to pray, and may continually exercise our faith. The Prophet speaks according to our feelings; for we think that God is asleep, so long as he does not come to the relief of our wants; and the Lord indulges us so far as to permit us to speak and pray according to the feeling of our weakness. Believers therefore entreat the Lord to “awake,” not that they imagine him to be idle or asleep in heaven; (24) but, on the contrary, they confess their own sluggishness and ignorance, in not being able to form any conception of God, so long as they are not awaro of receiving his assistance. But yet, though the flesh imagine that he is asleep, or that he disregards our calamities, faith rises higher and lays hold on his eternal power.
Put on strength, O arm of Jehovah. He is said to “awake” and “put on strength,” when he exhibits testimonies of his power, because otherwise we think that he is idle or asleep. Meanwhile, the Prophet, by addressing the arm of God which was concealed, holds it out to the view of believers as actually present, that they may be convinced that there is no other reason why they are so bitterly and painfully afflicted by their enemies than because God has withdrawn his aid. The cause of the delay has been already shewn, that they had estranged themselves from God.
In ancient days. By the term “ancient days” he shews that we ought to bear in remembrance all that the Lord did long ago for the salvation of his people. Though he appears to pause and to take no more care about us, still he is the same God who formerly governed his Church; and therefore he can never forsake or abandon those whom he takes under his protection.
In ages long ago past. This repetition tells us still more clearly, that we ought to consider not only those things which have happened lately, but those which happened long ago; for we ought to stretch our minds even to the most remote ages, that they may rise above temptations, which otherwise might easily overwhelm us.
Art thou not it that crushed the proud one? (25) The numerous testimonies of grace which God had displayed in various ages are here collected by the Prophet, so that, if a few are not enough, the vast number of them may altogether confirm the faith of the Church. But, since it would be too tedious to draw up an entire catalogue, he brings forward that singular and most remarkable of all such events, namely, that the people were once delivered from Egypt in a miraculous manner, for I have no doubt that by Rahab (26) he means proud and cruel Egypt; as it is also said,
“
I will mention Rahab and Babylon among my friends.” (Psa 87:4.)
In like manner Ezekiel calls the king of Egypt “a Dragon.”
“
Behold, I am against thee,O Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon, who dwellest in the midst of thy rivers.” (Eze 29:3.)
It is sufficiently evident, and is universally admitted, that the Prophet here calls to remembrance the miraculous deliverance of the people from Egypt. “If at that time the pride of Egypt was tamed and subdued, if the dragon was put to flight, why should we not hope for the same thing?”
By putting the question, if it be the same arm, he argues from the nature of God; for this could not be affirmed respecting the “arm” of man, whose strength, though it be great, is diminished and fails through time? Milo, who had been very strong, when he became old and looked at his arms, groaned because the strength which he possessed at an earlier period had now left him. But it is not so with God, whose strength no lapse of time can diminish. These words ought to be read ἐμφατικῶς emphatically, “Art thou not it?“ For he shews that the Lord is the same as he formerly was, because he remains unchangeable.
(24) “ Non pas qu’ils le pensent oisif ni endormi au ciel.”
(25) “Here is a noble mixture of lively figures; the Prophet first addressing himself to the Lord, as if he were fast asleep, tired with fatigue and labor; then painting him in a martial posture, dressing himself in arms, and putting on his accoutrements; then raising his courage by a narration of his former valorous performances, Art not thou that Arm which cut off the Egyptian Rahab, when with all the strength of his kingdom he pursued the naked Israelites to the further banks of the Red Sea? Certainly thou art the same, not at all decayed in strength, but able to do as much for thy people now, as for their fathers then.” — White.
(26) “ Par Rahab, que nous avons traduit l’orgueilleuse.” “By Rahab, which we have translated The proud.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
A CALL TO MORAL HEROISM
Isa. 51:7-8. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, &c.
A beautiful description of Gods people. They know righteousness. His law is in their hand.
I. The people of God must expect to be assailed by reproaches and revilings. There is a perpetual antagonism between the Church and the world. Their spirit and aims are diametrically opposed. Light is not more opposed to darkness, truth to falsehood, love to hatred, the bitterness of gall to the sweetness of the honeycomb, than the spirit of the world is to the spirit engendered by real religion. Hence the violent hatred and opposition that have been maintained towards the righteous from age to age. You see it in individual cases. Cain hated Abel, and slew him. Haman hated Mordecai, and sought his destruction, &c. Thus it has been with communities. The heathen nationsEgypt, Philistia, Assyria, Babylonpersecuted the Jewish Church, and hated it in proportion as it was holy. The degenerate Jews abhorred the Christian Church. Not content with putting its Founder to death, they sought to destroy His servants. Live Christians are still objects of aversion to the world. For several reasons they are exposed to reproach and revilings:
1. Because of the doctrines they believe. These embrace all that is peculiar and fundamental in the Gospel. Infidels mock at those who hold them as the victims of a miserable deception.
2. Because of the profession they make as Christs followers. Their obedience to His command to confess them before men is reviled as pride and vain glory; their exclusive adherence to the truths He has taught them, as bigotry; their earnestness in propagating them, as fanaticism.
3. The influence they exert. It renders the men of the world uncomfortable; and so they rail at the Christians separation from the world as austerity; his attachment to Christian ordinances as superstition.
II. Of the reproaches and revilings by which Gods people are assailed they are not to be afraid. By our text they are summoned to the exercise of moral courage. They are to show that courage is an essential element of Christian character (H. E. I. 10421045).
1. Fear ye not, for yours is a just cause.
2. Fear ye not, for God will strengthen you. Whatever the nature or amount of opposition you are called to endure, God will uphold you (H. E. I. 3667, 3668).
3. Fear ye not, for in meeting undeserved reproach you will have an inward approbation of conscience.
4. Fear ye not, for the endurance of such reproach will assimilate you to the tried and good. Think of the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs. Think, above all, of your Saviour.
5. Fear ye not, for such endurance will be rewarded in the final day. Then it will be seen that the power of the revilers, like the revilers themselves, was evanescent, while the salvation, of which those who have the courage to endure reproach are made partakers, shall endure for ever.George Smith, D.D.
A PRAYER FOR THE FORTH-PUTTING OF DIVINE POWER
Isa. 51:9. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.
The simplest exercise in which man can engage is also the sublimist. It is the exercise of prayer. Human helplessness may cast itself on Divine Omnipotence. Nothing is too insignificant to interest the Heavenly Father (H. E. I. 3756). There is ample instruction in His Word as to things respecting which petitions may be addressed to Him. Whatever He has there promised to His Church, may be included in her prayers. This idea animates the text. The prophecy proclaims the deliverance of the captive people, and then the triumphs of the Gospel in the latter days. Under the influence of these cheering announcements, Gods people are represented as breaking forth in the earnest entreaty of the text. It is the Churchs continual cry. We ask that the power of Gods Spirit may be exerted for the accomplishment of the great things He has taught us to expect. And such prayer is justified by several considerations.
I. BY THE FACT THAT THE EXERCISE OF THE POWER OF GODS SPIRIT IS NECESSARY.
As the deliverance from Babylon could only be effected by Divine power, so can only the spiritual deliverance of the world from the dominion of sin. It requires the removal of impediments, the opening of fields of labour, and the provision of suitable instruments for the work. In the case of the individual, it requires a change of heart, because of the depravity that characterises all mankind. When you remember the resisting power of the human will, and that its natural inclinations are adverse to the Divine supremacy, you will not deem the metaphors of Scripture, such as the new birth and the quickening of the dead, too strong to represent the change that must occur within the heart. It is a change to which nothing less than Divine power is equal (H. E. I. 41064113).
II. BY THE FACT THAT THAT POWER HAS BEEN EXERCISED.
As in the ancient days, in the generations of old (Isa. 51:9-10). The wonders of Egypt and the Red Sea, which the Jews never wearied of reciting, could be pleaded when seeking new interpositions of the Divine hand. We can plead the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when asking for an enlarged manifestation of the Spirits work; because that which occurred then was not a transaction complete in itself, but rather the beginning of a work. The resources of the Gospel under the ministry of Paul and others can be pleaded, when it came to the people in power and the Holy Ghost. There are instances in the history of modern missions equally significant. Times of revival of religion may be pleaded similarly. Perhaps our own experience as Christian labourers supplies us with ground of encouragement to intercede for a repetition and continuance of the usefulness with which we have been favoured.
III. BY THE FACT THAT IT IS PROMISED.
1. Let us establish the fact. The prophecy connected with the text, which emboldened its petition, involves the exertion of whatever power is necessary to its fulfilment. In this light all prophecies may be read. Therefore the prophecies which foretell the glory of the Church, when the Gentiles and the Jews shall be converted, imply such exertion of Divine power, as well as the full provision of all other means and influences tributory to the results predicted. How long shall the spectacle of moral desolation presented by the present state of the world continue? The answer is given in chap. Isa. 32:15. Who is to accomplish that great work within the soul which is represented by an operation within the body which no surgery can ever perform? Answer: Eze. 36:26. Jesus promised to baptize His Church with the Holy Ghost and fire. The dispensation of the Gospel is the ministration of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is in the Church and with the Church, and under the requisite conditions may be so to a much larger extent than has hitherto been experienced. The first fruits have been gathered. They are the promise of the harvest.
2. Let us see how the fact bears on the offering of prayer for the Spirit. If every promise is a warrant and directory of prayer, then, even were there nothing directly on the subject in the Bible, this would fall under that principle; it would become the duty of the Church to pray for it. But there is a constant reiteration of the truth that the power of Gods Spirit must be sought in prayer (Isa. 62:6-7, &c.) After the great promise of the Spirit in Ezekiel, you have this statement: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The parable of the friend at midnight. The argument from the readiness of parents to give good things to their children. During the ten days of waiting for the power of the Holy Ghost, the disciples met daily for prayer. And then the Spirit came. Is not the history of the Church filled with illustrations of the truth that religion has flourished and extended largely as the Church has valued and sought the power of the Spirit?
Pray for the Spirit, therefore, to come on yourselves, on the Church, on the world. What will be the effect? More good accomplished. Personal influence deepened. Your own soul quickened.J. Rawlinson.
This language is both natural and figurative. What more natural than that the Church, in times of trial, suffering, and yet expectation, should look upwards, and seek deliverance from Him who is mighty to save? The way in which the petition is urged is in no sense artificial, the arm of the Lord is invoked as the symbol of a powerful interposition.
I. A FACT: The Lord has a mighty arm. The Scriptures lend no countenance to the childish notion that the Creator is indifferent to His own handiwork, that He withdraws from all interference with the creation, with His intelligent subjects. Often mentioning the right arm of Jehovah, they presume that He is not only almighty, but accustomed to assert His authority and exercise His power.
II. A MEMORY: The Lord has been wont to interpose on behalf of His people. It was characteristic of the religion of the Hebrews that it was indissolubly connected with their national history. Their songs of praise recorded the signal interventions of Omnipotence on behalf of their forefathers; their prayers pleaded memorable instances of compassionate and effective interferences for their safety. They based their pious hopes, not only upon their convictions as to Gods attributes, but upon their recollections, and their national records of Gods doings. We have heard with our ears what great things Thou didst, &c. It is well thus to recall the proofs of Gods power and pity which have in the past abounded towards mankind, and especially to base all our hopes and petitions upon His memorable redemption of mankind effected by Jesus Christ.
III. A PRAYER: Awake, awake! This does not suppose that God is indifferent to His peoples need and sore distress. But it presumes that the exercise of Divine mercy, and helpfulness, and protection, is, by His wisdom, made contingent upon our readiness to receive what the Lord is ever ready to bestow. He will be inquired of by His people. He is not like Baal, of whom the prophet Elijah tauntingly said, Peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. The sleepless eye of God is ever upon His peoples circumstances; the sleepless heart of God is ever conscious and sensitive with regard to His peoples needs. But He will answer those who honour Him. Call upon Him in the day of trouble and He will deliver. It is not faithlessness, but faith, that cries, Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord, put on strength!The Homilectical Library, vol. ii. p. 69.
I. The arm of God is almighty. II. Prayer can move it. III. It is our privilege in every emergency to cry, Awake, &c. IV. There have been given to us great encouragements to believe that this appeal will not be made in vain: Gods care of His Church in past times; His unchangeableness; the promises recorded.J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury, Part I. p. 70.
THE CRY OF THE CHURCH, AND ITS LORDS RESPONSE
Isa. 51:9. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
b.
TRUST IN JEHOVAH
TEXT: Isa. 51:9-16
9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?
10
Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
11
And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be made as grass;
13
and hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and feareth continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
14
The captive exile shall speedily be loosed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
15
For I am Jehovah thy God, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar: Jehovah of hosts is his name.
16
And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
QUERIES
a.
Does Jehovah have to be awakened?
b.
Who is the captive exile?
c.
Into whose mouth has Jehovah put his words?
PARAPHRASE
Help! Help! Come forth to help us girded with power as You did for our ancestors in olden times, O Lord. Did You not slay the Big Mouth dragon, Egypt? Did You not dry up a path through the great Red Sea for Your people to walk across and escape from Egyptian slavery? You have promised: Those whom the Lord purchases with a ransom-price will return to Him and to Zion rejoicing with songs about their redemption. Everlasting joy will crown their whole lives. They shall finally find the refreshment of their souls for which they have longed. All that would frustrate or hinder their travel will be made to disappear. Jehovah answers: Yes, I, the same God who delivered your ancestors, Am the God who is coming forth to deliver you. What kind of people are you that are so afraid of human beings? Mortal man is no more enduring than the grass of the field! Have you forgotten Jehovah, your Maker, who spread the stars through the skies and brought the earth into existence? Are you in constant dread of the oppressions of men? Are you paralyzed with terror at the anger of your enemies. Soon Zion shall be set free; dungeon, starvation and death are not going to put an end to Zion. Remember, I am Jehovah, your God, Lord of all creation. I control the sea and everything else. Zions deliverance will be revealed and accomplished through My Servant, for I have put my words in His mouth and I protect Him with My mighty hand. Through Him I will make a whole new creation, a new Zion, who shall truly be My people.
COMMENTS
Isa. 51:9-11 PLEA: The Hebrew words uriy uriy (Awake, awake) do not mean to convey that Isaiah thought God had fallen asleep. The word is also used in Dan. 4:10; Dan. 4:14; Dan. 4:20 and translated, watcher. The idea of the word is watchfulness, alertness or awareness, that motivates action. In view of the impending Babylonian captivity, the prophet is calling upon the Lord to act on behalf of the small minority of believers and save Zion. God has promised protection from Babylon, but God has not acted. Men, even prophets, often run ahead of the Lord. Isaiah is representing the remnant, of course, and they are expressing their terror at the threats of Babylon. It appears from their fearful perspective as if God is either unaware of their plight or is aware but is not intending to do anything about it. Their appeal for action is based on what they know of His previous deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Their ancient writings tell of Moses and Israels passage from slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea. Egypt is called Rahab (which means loud mouth in Hebrew; see Isa. 30:7) and thanniyn the monster; thanniyn is translated serpent in most uses (cf. Isa. 27:1). Jehovah delivered from the dragon Egypt, will He now allow Zion to be destroyed by the lion Babylon? The sea which was dried up must refer to the Red Sea crossing (Exo. 14:1 ff).
Isa. 51:11 forms an excellent conclusion to Isaiahs plea. It is a quotation, almost letter for letter, from Isa. 35:10 which likewise forms a conclusion to a messianic section. Isaiah quotes himself (and why not, since it was such a beautiful and emphatic promise of God the first time it was spoken) as part of his pleas as if to remind Jehovah of His recently promised redemption; see comments Isa. 35:8-10.
Isa. 51:12-16 PROMISE: Jehovah answers the plea of Isaiah and the remnant by affirming that He is indeed that same Jehovah who kept His covenant with Israel and delivered them from Egypt. The I, even I . . . appears to be a retort in irony to awake, awake. Jehovah is who He is and will always be the same. What the remnant needs is to find its own identity. And that is the interesting thing here; the remnants identity is to be found in who Jehovah is! In other words, if Jehovah is always the same, then who are those who believe and trust in Him? They are those who need not fear mortal men. The same truth is relevant for today. Men and women can only find their true identity in relationship to their commitment to God. If they trust Him and follow Him, they are invincible; He will save them from all that threatens. If they do not trust Him and do not follow Him they will be lost. The fundamental identification of man is his savedness or his lostness! That is who he is! When man forgets his Makerwhen man forgets that he is creature and Jehovah is Creatorhe is a slave to fear and falsehood. When man forgets his Creator his whole perspective is warped. Anyone who searches for self-identity without first knowing who God is (and all that such knowledge of Him implies) searches in vain! If the remnant of Isaiahs day remembers its Maker, it will be freed from fear of its enemies.
The Hebrew word tzoeh means to bend down; to stoop as though burdened down and is translated he who is bowed down in the RSV. It is predicting the circumstances of the Babylonian exiles being bowed down in chains or in prisons. Zion (the remnant of believers; disciples of Isaiah) may have to go into captivity but she shall speedily be released (70 years). Most assuredly, Jehovah does not intend Zions ultimate destiny to be imprisonment, starvation and death! She will suffer chastening but Jehovah will work through her to create a new Zion.
The final word of Jehovah (Isa. 51:16) is manifestly addressed to the Servant because it shall be particularly through the Servant that Jehovah creates the new, ultimate Zion (cf. Heb. 12:22). Jehovah reaffirms His promise (cf. Isa. 50:4-11) that the Servant will be sent with the incarnate word of the Lord (my words in thy mouth). The special, intimate, divine companionship to the Servant is also reiterated (covered thee in the shadow of my hand). Jehovah will plant and lay the foundations and say unto Zion. Thou art my people. Some commentators think this refers to the creation of a new heavens and earth, or a new cosmos, after the present one is destroyed by fire (as per 2 Peter 3, etc.). That may be the ultimate outcome of the new creation ushered in by the Messiah at His first coming, but we believe Isaiah is not really focusing on the end of the messianic age but on the beginning of it. The messianic age is often pictured as a new creation of Zion (cf. Isa. 66:22-24; 2Co. 5:16-21, etc.). The Zion of the N.T. was created after the removal of what is shaken (Heb. 12:25-29). The old creation (Judaism) was shaken down and the new creation (Christianity) remains and cannot be shaken. The abrogation of the old dispensation and the creation of a new dispensation (especially a dispensation which would include Gentiles in Gods covenant) would not be possible in Jewish thinking without a whole new creation (new heavens and earth)! The prophet figuratively accommodates his language to the Jewish thought-pattern. Of course, God did not intend to create a new physical heaven and earth when He sent the Servant on His first advent. And this is one of the major causes of Jewish rejection of the Messiah! They could not adjust their thought-patterns to the reality of the revelation that Jesus was the Christ and that He came to form a spiritual kingdom in this present earth and not to form a political kingdom in a rejuvenated physical earth! Certainly, God will one day destroy this present cosmos and create a new one. But mankind must be reborn and accept citizenship in a newly created Zion before he is ready for the new cosmos. The Jew, as well as the Gentile, must become a new creature first. Toward this first goal the prophets primarily pointed! Thou art my people is definitely a messianic term (cf. Hos. 1:10-11; Hos. 2:16-23; Rom. 9:23-33; 1Pe. 2:9-10).
In the light of so much contemporary emphasis on personal subjectivism and feeling as criteria for proper relationship to God, it is important to notice in this chapter thus far the criterion for proper relationship to God is the objective revelation of His nature. Mans relationship to God is properly built on who God isnot on how man feels. And God has objectively demonstratedin historical deedsthat He is absolutely powerful and absolutely faithful. Isaiahs contemporaries are exhorted to look back at what Jehovah has done; look now at what He is doing; and look forward to what He promises to do. They are never asked, what do you think He ought to do, or, What is He doing to your feelings!
QUIZ
1.
What does Isaiah mean when he cries to Jehovah, awake, awake?
2.
What event in Israels history is appealed to in reference to the sea?
3.
Why can man only find out who he is when he finds out who God is?
4.
Why will God not leave the exiles to starve and die?
5.
Why do we think God is addressing the Servant in Isa. 51:16?
6.
What are the heavens and . . . earth God is going to plant?
7.
Why did the Jews think the heavens and . . . earth would have to be physical?
8.
What criterion of man-to-God relationship is appealed to in this chapter?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(9) Awake, awake.Who is the speaker that thus bursts into this grand apostrophe? (1) The redeemed and ideal Israel, or (2) the Servant of the Lord, or (3) the prophet, or (4) Jehovah, as in self-communing, after the manner of men, like that of Deborah in Jdg. 5:12. On the whole the first seems the preferable view; but the loftiness of poetry, perhaps, transcends all such distinctions. The appeal is, in any case, to the great deeds of God in the past, as the pledge and earnest of yet greater in the future. Rahab, as in Isa. 30:7, Psa. 89:10, is Egypt; and the dragon, like leviathan in Psa. 74:13, stands for Pharaoh. (Comp. Eze. 29:3.) Cheyne quotes from Bunsens Egypt, vol. vi., an invocation to the god Ra, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Hail, thou who hast cut in pieces the scorner and strangled the Apophis (sc. the evil serpent), as a striking parallel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9-11. Awake, awake The fervour of the message in the preceding verses passes here to fervour of prayer (abrupt and strophical) to Jehovah, as if a slight sense of danger from delay seizes the people in exile. They pray intensely for Jehovah to put on strength; that is, to exercise strength immediately in their behalf; to transfer them at once from exile to the promised restoration.
Arm The symbol of strength, or, as Grotius has it, divinity, of Jehovah.
In the generations of old God’s almighty arm in energetic exercise at the Red Sea is referred to, and the deliverance from Egypt.
Cut Rahab Meaning Egypt, or the fierce one. See Psa 87:4; Psa 89:10.
The dragon That is, crocodile, or Pharaoh. Psa 74:10; Psa 74:14; Eze 29:3; Eze 32:2. Isa 51:10 here directly relates to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and it furnishes argument for deliverance from exile in this prayer; and, were not these verses expressed in poetic and strophical language, such a prayer would seem an indecent haste. Not so, however; for the answer to the prayer is opened in Isa 51:11 by the word therefore; that is, in case of this prayer there shall be no uncertainty. The remaining part of the verse is a copy of Isa 35:10.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The First Call to Awake – Spoken To The Arm Of Yahweh ( Isa 51:9-16 ).
Note that each call to awake is followed by Yahweh speaking to His people. It is a cry for Yahweh to awaken and act on behalf of His people.
Isa 51:9-11
‘Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yahweh.
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times.
Are you not it that cut Rahab in pieces, that pierced the monster?
Are you not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep,
Who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
And the ransomed of Yahweh will return and come with singing to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads,
They will obtain gladness and joy,
Sorrow and sighing will flee away.’
Isaiah )or the remnant of Israel) reply to Yahweh’s wakening call and in turn call on the arm of Yahweh to awake and put on its strength (compare Isa 40:10; Isa 52:10; Isa 62:8). It is a cry for God to reveal His power as He has done in the past. To once more act as He did of old. For it was then that His mighty arm cut Rahab in pieces and pierced the monster. Here Egypt is vividly described in terms of a mythical monster as defeated by Yahweh (compare Isa 30:7; Psa 89:10), but contained within it is the thought that no gods can stand before Yahweh. Then He dried up the sea, the mighty deep, and made a way for His redeemed people to pass through. (The excessive description of the Reed Sea comes from the myths which surrounded Rahab. He was seen as a monster of the deep). Now the cry is that He might do it again. He redeemed them then, so let Him now enable His redeemed people to return to Him and come with singing to Zion. This includes all His people who are redeemed, not just those in exile. All are to unite in returning to Him and coming to Zion (compare 35). The whole idea is of coming into His presence and becoming one with Him.
‘And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.’ These words are cited almost exactly from Isa 35:10. The same words are here repeated emphasising the fulfilment of his prophecy soon to come. This is more than the earthly Zion, for here they will find everlasting joy. All will be gladness and joy. There will be no more sorrow and sighing, it will simply take to its heels and flee. It is the Paradise of Isa 51:3, the place of everlasting deliverance (Isa 51:6).
Yahweh then responds to the plea, speaking to His faithful ones in their weakness and fear.
Isa 51:12-13
“I, even I, am he who comforts you (masculine plural).
Who are you (feminine singular) that you (feminine singular) are afraid of man who will die,
And of the son of man who will be appointed to be made as (‘is given as’) grass,
And have forgotten Yahweh your (masculine singular) Maker,
Who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth,
And you (masculine singular) fear continually all the day,
Because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the fury of the oppressor?”
Note the strength behind the reply. ‘I, I’ parallels the repetition in ‘awake, awake’. God wants them to recognise, that His reply is consonant with their concern.
The change from masculine to feminine and back again is puzzling under any explanation. It may arise from the fact that ‘who are you that you are afraid of man who will die’ was a well known saying and has been quoted verbatim without changing the ‘person’, with Isaiah knowing that it will be recognised, or it may be asking, ‘why are you behaving like a lot of women before frail man?’ Some see it as referring to Zion, Yahweh’s daughter, but why then is it followed by a masculine?
Whichever way it is the basic question is why they are terrified of frail mortal man (’enosh), the son of man who will wither and perish like the grass.
So Yahweh’s reply is that He is indeed there as the One Who will comfort them all, that is Who will act on their behalf with His strength, and will protect them. Why then is each one so afraid? They are not such as should fear man who keeps on dying and has been appointed to wither like grass. But they do fear because they have forgotten Yahweh Who made them, the same One Who by His mighty power stretched out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth.
‘Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth.’ The contrast is powerful; weak, frail man who is like grass and Yahweh, the great Creator Who made the world, the grass, man and all that is in it.
So how foolish they are to fear the oppressor continually all the day because of his fury and intention to destroy. For where is his fury? From now on it will be as nothing, because Yahweh is at work.
Isa 51:14
“The one who cowers will speedily be set free,
And he will not die and go down into the pit,
Nor will his bread fail.”
So those who fear should not fear, for as they cower in their fear they will be set free (and should not therefore be cowering). Not for them to go down into the grave. They are awaiting God’s great deliverance. Indeed even their bread will not fail. For God is with them. This may have in mind the faithful among the exiles around the world, or it may simply indicate His people’s position as being like prisoners cowering in their cells, afraid and under the authority of outsiders, fearful of death or of not receiving sufficient food. The assurance is not that no one will suffer in the near future, but that all may recognise that in the final outcome they will prosper. We must keep in mind here Isa 25:6; Isa 26:19; Isa 53:10-12.
Isa 51:15-16
“For I am Yahweh your God,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar.
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
And I have put my words in your mouth,
And have covered you in the shadow of my hand,
That I may plant the heavens,
And lay the foundations of the earth,
And say to Zion, ‘You are my people’.”
And the reason why they need not fear is because Yahweh is their God, and it is He Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. It was He Who stirred up the sea when they were redeemed from Egypt, and made the waves roar against their enemy. And He still has the same power, so that it is clear that they need fear no one. He is Master of the waves.
This continues the thought of Isa 51:9-10. He is the Master of the deep as revealed by His victory over Rahab/Egypt, but here the thought is not so much of His redeemed walking through the sea, but of Him as making the waves roar to defeat their enemies. For He is Yahweh of hosts, the God of battle.
‘And I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand.’ As His true and redeemed people they too will assist in the fulfilling of the Servant’s task. For God will put His words in their mouth (the tense indicating that it is already seen as certain and complete) and has brought them under His protection so that they might carry His words everywhere (Isa 2:2-4).
The shadow of His hand parallels the Servant’s protection in Isa 49:2. There it was connected with His sword. So here ‘my words in your mouth’ are probably to be seen as the equivalent of their receiving their sword with the protecting hand of Yahweh over them. It will be like the shadow of a tree protecting from the sun, although much more effective and substantial, protecting from all that can harm. They share the Servant’s weapons.
‘That I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are my people’.’ Thereby He will plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and be able to claim Zion finally as His true people. The new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem are already envisaged (Isa 65:17-18), brought in by the activity of His Servant. ‘Plant’ and ‘lay the foundations’ are both indications of beginning a new thing. Note how Zion is no longer Jerusalem but represents His people.
We saw in Isa 51:6 that the heavens were to disappear in a similar way in which smoke disperses, and that the earth would grow old and worn, and that all in it would die. But here we have the consequence for the true people of God. New heavens will be planted, a new earth will be founded. And then His people will have full recognition for what they are. All this is the literal truth.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Yahweh Is Called On To Awake and Reveal His Power and Israel Are To Awake To The Power And Holiness Of Their Redeeming God ( Isa 51:9 to Isa 52:12 ).
God having given to His faithful people the commands to ‘listen — attend — listen’ the prophet now calls on Yahweh also to awaken on behalf of His people, for Him too there is a plea that He listen to the call of His people. It is then followed by a call to all His people to awake. Thus there is a threefold call to ‘awake, awake’, in Isa 51:9; Isa 51:17 and Isa 52:1, firstly to Yahweh and then to His people. The tension is now mounting. Note the constant use of repetition. ‘Awake, awake’ (three times). ‘Depart, depart’ (Isa 52:11). There is a sense of urgency. This will then be followed by the depiction of the cost of the salvation that is being offered to them in Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12, as the Servant’s destiny is described in full. The culmination of their deliverance is near.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 51:9-11. Awake, &c. Rouse, rouse, &c. Rouse,art thou not that which hewed down Egypt, which mortally wounded the crocodile or dragon? Isa 51:11. And the redeemed, &c. upon their head: joy and gladness shall attend them: sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Thus far the Messiah had addressed his believing people; but here the Holy Spirit exhibited to the prophet, according to the series of times and things, a fearful struggle of the church with the Roman empire, to continue a long time before the people of God should be entirely delivered from it: the Holy Spirit shews him in figure this spiritual Egypt in all its strength and power, with the Red Sea like a fortification opposing the church; that is, with the sanguinary persecutions which the saints were to undergo. About to console the church against this evil, (which consolation begins at the 12th verse,) a chorus of believers is here introduced, entreating God, that, as formerly, for the deliverance of his people from Egyptian bondage, he had given specimens of his power and justice in the destruction of his enemies and the salvation of his people; so now, at this time, he would exert his omnipotence, in destroying the spiritual Egypt of the Roman empire, and its power, and in drying this Red Sea; that is, in stopping the violence of those sanguinary persecutions, by which this empire defended its religious errors: to this votive apostrophe, contained in the 9th and 10th verses, an answer is adapted, Isa 51:11 teaching that God consented to the wishes of his saints, and would take care by his providence that his church should at length be placed in such a state, as to be able to enjoy the communion of his faith with the utmost liberty, security, and gladness. There can be nothing more sublime and elegant than the apostrophe in these verses.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 959
THE CHURCH PLEADING WITH GOD
Isa 51:9-10. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the Lord! awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
GOD delights in encouraging his people, when reduced to the lowest ebb of despondency. Hence, under the bitterest oppression, he assures them that the period shall soon arrive for the administering of consolation to their souls, and for the enlargement of the Church by a vast accession of Gentiles to her. And, to impress his assurances more strongly on their minds, he again and again repeats that most condescending and affectionate entreaty; Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness: hearken unto me, my people: hearken unto me, ye in whose heart is my Law [Note: ver. 1, 4, 7.]. Of such addresses it becomes his people, under their heaviest distresses, to take advantage. As Benhadad, when captive to the king of Israel, and expecting nothing but death, charged his servants to observe with the utmost diligence whether any favourable expression dropped from the lips of Ahab, and to take immediate advantage of it [Note: 1Ki 20:33.]; so should we, when we hear the offended Majesty of Heaven addressing us in such terms of grace and mercy. But his ancient people, listening only to their own desponding fears, complained, as it were, of him, as if he had become regardless of their cries, and indifferent to their welfare. This was not well. Yet as, on the whole, their importunity was pleasing unto God, I shall consider the words before us,
I.
As expressing the desires of Gods ancient Church
The Jewish Church are here represented as in a most disconsolate state, under the pressure of severe trials, and under the apprehension of yet more grievous oppressions. And they call on God, in the most urgent manner, to interpose for their deliverance.
The terms they use are not in themselves improper
[Certainly, at first sight, it appears irreverent to speak of God as though he needed to be awaked from sleep. But this is a mere figure of speech; importing only a desire that he would, after the example of former times, exert his power in their behalf. David expresses the idea vet more fully, when he says, Awake; why steepest thou, O Lord? arise; cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face; and forgettest our affliction and oppression [Note: Psa 44:23-24.]? What David meant by these strong expressions, appears from the first verse of that very psalm: We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what thou didst in their days, in the times of old. Bearing in mind Gods wonders of old time, he was anxious to have them renewed at the period wherein he lived. Our soul (like that of our forefathers) is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth unto the earth: arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies sake [Note: Psa 44:1; Psa 44:25-26.].]
Nor was there any thing unbecoming in their pleas
[In the language of Scripture, Egypt is often called Rahab; and Pharaoh is characterized as a dragon [Note: Psa 87:4. Eze 29:3.]. Against these God has exerted his power to their utter destruction; whilst, for the effectual deliverance of his people, he had dried the waters of the great deep, and made the depths of the sea a way for his ransomed to pass over. A similar interposition they needed yet again in Babylon; as they do also at this very hour. Hence they, both in Babylon and in their present dispersion, are represented as reminding God of his former mercies, and as urgently imploring at his hands a renewal of thorn. And, no doubt, a repetition of these mercies, or of deliverances equivalent to them, shall yet take place in their behalf: for it is expressly said, The Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind will he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt [Note: Isa 11:15-16.].]
But the text is chiefly worthy of observation,
II.
As affording a pattern for Gods afflicted people in all ages
Two things it clearly teaches us:
1.
That we should bear in remembrance Gods past mercies
[The inspired writers are continually referring to the wonders wrought by Jehovah in behalf of his people in Egypt and in the wilderness: and God himself refers to them, as marking in a most extraordinary manner his power and grace, and as fitly illustrating his proper character: Thus saith the Lord, who maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. And should not we also bear those wonders in remembrance? Are they not shadows of that great redemption which God has wrought for us in the Son of his love, and which it is the privilege of every individual amongst us to experience in his own soul? Have not we been held under a bondage infinitely more oppressive than that of Egypt; a bondage to sin and Satan, death and hell? And have not we been delivered, not by power only, but by price, even the precious blood of Gods only dear Son? Are not the wonders of the wilderness also the very same as are wrought for us in Christ; who is the true bread of heaven given for the sustenance of our souls, and the true rock also, from whence the waters of life are ever flowing for our refreshment?
Nay, more; should we not bear in mind, also, the mercies vouchsafed individually to ourselvesour temporal blessings; our conversion to God; our preservation from sin; our restoration from falls and backslidings; our peace; our hope; our consolations in the midst of trials? Methinks every one of us has within his own bosom a counterpart of all that God has ever done for the salvation of the world: and if we did but call to mind the mercies with which we have been daily loaded from our youth up to this present moment, we never should want memorials of Gods love to us, or grounds for encouragement under the most afflictive dispensations.]
2.
That we should make them the grounds and measure of our future expectations
[I well know, that, strictly speaking, we have no ground of expectation, but from the promises of God. But, in a more lax sense, we may say, that his past mercies are earnests and pledges of future blessings. It is a legitimate inference which the Psalmist draws: Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living [Note: Psa 56:13.]? Yes; if we can say of God, Thou hast delivered; we may reasonably add, In whom I trust that he will yet deliver [Note: 2Co 1:10.].
But we may go further, and consider Gods past mercies as the measure of our future expectations. It is in this particular view that the Church reminds him of the wonders he had wrought for them in Egypt and at the sea: and, with a special view to this, may we also recapitulate all the wonders of redeeming love. In truth, we have in this respect a great advantage over the Jewish Church: for they might need, yes, and do need, mercies fully equal to those which were wrought for their forefathers in Egypt: but we never can need another Saviour to die for us, another Spirit to instruct us. God, if I may so say, has gone to the utmost possible extent of love and grace for us: and all that we can ever need to have done for us, in future, falls infinitely short of what he has already done: For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life [Note: Rom 5:10.]. The blessings vouchsafed to Israel fell infinitely short of those which have been vouchsafed to us, even as shadows do of the substance which they represent. Yet, if we needed the sea to open us a passage, and the clouds to supply our daily food, and water to issue from a rock, we should account them great things to ask: but, after what we have received, nothing is great; not even heaven with all its glory: for if God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things [Note: Rom 8:32.]?]
Address
1.
Those who are humbled under a sense of sin
[It may be, your sins have been very great; and you are ready to account yourselves so unworthy, that it is scarcely to be hoped that God should ever have mercy upon you. But bear in mind the sovereignty he exercised in the call of Abraham. Was he not an idolater, in the midst of an idolatrous people [Note: Jos 24:2-3.]? Yet did God choose him, and enter into covenant with him, and bless, in him and in his seed, all the nations of the earth. Why, then, may he not display his sovereignty in the exercise of love to you? Perhaps your sins have been, beyond measure, deep and multiplied. Still, did not Manasseh obtain mercy, after having set up idols in the very House of God, and made the streets of Jerusalem to run down with the blood of innocents [Note: 2Ki 21:1-7; 2Ki 21:16. with 2Ch 33:11-13.]? But your hearts, you will say, have raged with enmity against God and his Christ. So it was with Paul, who yet obtained mercy, whilst in the very act of persecuting the Lords people; and therefore obtained mercy, that in him Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting [Note: 1Ti 1:16.]. Perhaps you will say, that your state is the more hopeless, because you have backslidden from God, and so fallen as to make the very name of God to be blasphemed in the world. Well; supposing even this to be the case, you still may go unto God, and say, Art thou not He that shewed mercy to an adulterous, a murderous, a hardened and obdurate David [Note: 2Sa 12:13.]? Be your state as desperate as it may, yet see whether you cannot find in the divine records some interpositions of the Deity fully adequate to your wants, and commensurate with your necessities? Take these; spread them before God in prayer: plead them before him; and implore at his hands a similar effort in your own behalf. Mistake me not, however: imagine not, for a moment, that I say these things to encourage you in sin: God forbid! No: but I say them to keep you from despair; and what the Jewish Church are represented as doing under their extremities, that I recommend every sinner in the universe to do: Call to mind Gods wonders of old time; and let them be the ground of your hopes, and the measure of your expectations.]
2.
Those who are bowed down under affliction
[In your case, more especially, may the Jewish Church be proposed for an example. You well remember how the whole nation cried out at the sight of Pharaoh and his hosts, and how utterly they despaired of help. But their extremity was the very season when God interposed for their effectual deliverance, making the very depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over. To you, then, he is now saying, Come down into the very depths of the sea: it is there that you shall see my wonders in your behalf. Be not frightened, though the waves thereof roar: for when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and when through the foaming surge, it shall not overflow thee [Note: Isa 43:2.]: nay, they shall be thy very safeguard from the foe that pursues thee; and shall be the destruction of those that would destroy thy soul. Realize in your minds, Brethren, this consolatory truth, that tribulation is the way to the kingdom [Note: Act 14:22.]: and then, whatever you may suffer, you will give thanks to God, who, not in anger, but in faithfulness, has caused you to be afflicted [Note: Psa 119:75.].]
3.
Those who despond in relation to the Church.
[The Jews at this day appear to many to be in so desperate a state, as to render any efforts in their behalf vain and nugatory. But are they in a more hopeless condition than they were in Egypt or in Babylon? or is God less able to deliver now, than he was in the days of old! Surely not: His hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor his ear heavy, that it cannot hear [Note: Isa 59:1.]. If there were only amongst us an holy importunity, crying, Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord! verily, his arm should be revealed; and he would work, as in the days of old. Be it so; there are seas of difficulty in our way: but cannot He who cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon, and dried up the sea for his people, interpose now with equal effect, and glorify himself in our salvation? He can: he will: he has spoken it: and his word shall stand. Yes; the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away [Note: ver. 11. If this were a subject for the Conversion of the Jews, this thought should be amplified, and confirmed by other passages of Holy Writ.] ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
This precious portion seems to be as in answer to what had been said before. The Lord had been giving exceeding great and precious promises to his people, and now his people, as with one voice, makes the Lord a thankful answer, in prayer and praise, that God would do so. It is the language of strong faith, offered up in Christ Jesus. For the arm of the Lord is Christ, Deu 7:19 ; hence, when the Prophet complains of the little success of preaching of the gospel, he calls it the arm of the Lord, Isa 53:1 ; and hence the Reader will also perceive that the Prophet is celebrating Christ in that arm of the Lord, which cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon; and dried up the sea, and led his people through. For who is meant by Rahab, but Pharaoh, the dragon, the leviathan; and what sea was this but the Red Sea? This is he, saith Stephen, which was in the Church in the wilderness, Act 7:38 . Reader, how blessed is it to trace Christ, in all the redemption of his people! See those scriptures, Hab 3:8 , to the end; Psa 74:13-14 . And observe, in this latter scripture, how the sacred writer makes that triumph of God’s people over Pharaoh and his host, to be as meat to them in the wilderness; meaning, that in the experience of the Lord’s victory then, they found food to keep alive their faith, in all the after exercises they were called to. And what is the final song of triumph, but the same? Isa 35:10 ; Rev 15:3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. [Art] thou not it that hath cut Rahab, [and] wounded the dragon?
Ver. 9. Awake, awake, O arm of the Lord. ] God had promised what his holy arm should do for his people, Isa 51:5 now they beg of him to use it, and bestir himself for their relief and rescue; and this they do magno affectu atque animi impetu, heartily wishing the coming of Christ and the declaration of the gospel to their salvation.
Awake, as in the ancient days.
Art not thou it that hath cut Rahab?
And wounded the dragon.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
THE AWAKENING OF ZION
Isa 51:9
Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. His majestic figure, wrapped in a light veil of obscurity, fills the eye in all these later prophecies of Isaiah. It is sometimes clothed with divine power, sometimes girded with the towel of human weakness, sometimes appearing like the collective Israel, sometimes plainly a single person.
We have no difficulty in solving the riddle of the prophecy by the light of history. Our faith knows One who unites these diverse characteristics, being God and man, being the Saviour of the body, which is part of Himself and instinct with His life. If we may suppose that He speaks in both verses of the text, then, in the one, as priest and intercessor, He lifts the prayers of earth to heaven in His own holy hands-and in the other, as messenger and Word of God, He brings the answer and command of heaven to earth on His own authoritative lips-thus setting forth the deep mystery of His person and double office as mediator between man and God. But even if we put aside that thought, the correspondence and relation of the two passages remain the same. In any case they are intentionally parallel in form and connected in substance. The latter is the answer to the former. The cry of Zion is responded to by the call of God. The awaking of the arm of the Lord is followed by the awaking of the Church. He puts on strength in clothing us with His might, which becomes ours.
The mere juxtaposition of these verses suggests the point of view from which I wish to treat them on this occasion. I hope that the thoughts to which they lead may help to further that quickened earnestness and expectancy of blessing, without which Christian work is a toil and a failure.
We have here a common principle underlying both the clauses of our text, to which I must first briefly ask attention, namely-
I. The occurrence in the Church’s history of successive periods of energy and of languor.
We all know it only too well. In our own hearts we have known such times, when some cold clinging mist wrapped us round and hid all the heaven of God’s love and the starry lights of His truth; when the visible was the only real, and He seemed far away and shadowy; when there was neither confidence in our belief, nor heat in our love, nor enthusiasm in our service; when the shackles of conventionalism bound our souls, and the fetters of the frost imprisoned all their springs. And we have seen a like palsy smite whole regions and ages of the Church of God, so that even the sensation of impotence was dead like all the rest, and the very tradition of spiritual power had faded away. I need not point to the signal historical examples of such times in the past. Remember England a hundred years ago-but what need to travel so far? May I venture to draw my example from nearer home, and ask, have we not been living in such an epoch? I beseech you, think whether the power which the Gospel preached by us wields on ourselves, on our churches, on the world, is what Christ meant it and fitted to exercise. Why, if we hold our own in respect to the material growth of our population, it is as much as we do. Where is the joyful buoyancy and expansive power with which the Gospel burst into the world? It looks like some stream that leaps from the hills, and at first hurries from cliff to cliff full of light and music, but flows slower and more sluggish as it advances, and at last almost stagnates in its flat marshes. Here we are with all our machinery, our culture, money, organisations-and the net result of it all at the year’s end is but a poor handful of ears. ‘Ye sow much and bring home little.’ Well may we take up the wail of the old Psalm, ‘We see not our signs. There is no more any prophet; neither is there any among us that knoweth how long-arise, O Lord, plead Thine own cause.’
If, then, there are such recurring seasons of languor, they must either go on deepening till sleep becomes death, or they must be broken by a new outburst of vigorous life. It would be better if we did not need the latter. The uninterrupted growth would be best; but if that has not been attained, then the ending of winter by spring, and the suppling of the dry branches, and the resumption of the arrested growth, is the next best, and the only alternative to rotting away.
And it is by such times that the Kingdom of Christ always has grown. Its history has been one of successive impulses gradually exhausted, as by friction and gravity, and mercifully repeated just at the moment when it was ceasing to advance and had begun to slide backwards. And in such a manner of progress, the Church’s history has been in full analogy with that of all other forms of human association and activity. It is not in religion alone that there are ‘revivals,’ to use the word of which some people have such a dread. You see analogous phenomena in the field of literature, arts, social and political life. In them all, there come times of awakened interest in long-neglected principles. Truths which for many years had been left to burn unheeded, save by a faithful few watchers of the beacon, flame up all at once as the guiding pillars of a nation’s march, and a whole people strike their tents and follow where they lead. A mysterious quickening thrills through society. A contagion of enthusiasm spreads like fire, fusing all hearts in one. The air is electric with change. Some great advance is secured at a stride; and before and after that supreme effort are years of comparative quiescence; those before being times of preparation, those after being times of fruition and exhaustion-but slow and languid compared with the joyous energy of that moment. One day may be as a thousand years in the history of a people, and a nation may be born in a day.
So also is the history of the Church. And thank God it is so, for if it had not been for the dawning of these times of refreshing, the steady operation of the Church’s worldliness would have killed it long ago.
Surely, dear brethren, we ought to desire such a merciful interruption of the sad continuity of our languor and decay. The surest sign of its coming would be a widespread desire and expectation of its coming, joined with a penitent consciousness of our heavy and sinful slumber. For we believe in a God who never sends mouths but He sends meat to fill them, and in whose merciful providence every desire is a prophecy of its own fruition. This attitude of quickened anticipation, diffusing itself silently through many hearts, is like the light air that springs up before sunrise, or like the solemn hush that holds all nature listening before the voice of the Lord in the thunder.
And another sign of its approach is the extremity of the need. ‘If winter come, can spring be far behind?’ For He who is always with Zion strikes in with His help when the want is at its sorest. His ‘right early’ is often the latest moment before destruction. And though we are all apt to exaggerate the urgency of the hour and the severity of our conflict, it certainly does seem that, whether we regard the languor of the Church or the strength of our adversaries, succour delayed a little longer would be succour too late. ‘The tumult of those that rise up against Thee increaseth continually. It is time for Thee to work.’
The juxtaposition of these passages suggests for us-
II. The twofold explanation of these variations.
We may, then, see here implied the cause of these alternations, of which we have been speaking, on its divine side, and then, in the corresponding verse addressed to the Church, the cause on the human side.
As to the former, it is true that God’s arm sometimes slumbers, and is not clothed with power. There are, as a fact, apparent variations in the energy with which He works in the Church and in the world. And they are real variations, not merely apparent. But we have to distinguish between the power, and what Paul calls ‘the might of the power.’ The one is final, constant, unchangeable. It does not necessarily follow that the other is. The rate of operation, so to speak, and the amount of energy actually brought into play may vary, though the force remains the same.
It is clear from experience that there are these variations; and the only question with which we are concerned is, are they mere arbitrary jets and spurts of a divine power, sometimes gushing out in full flood, sometimes trickling in painful drops, at the unknown will of the unseen hand which controls the flow? Is the ‘law of the Spirit of life’ at all revealed to us; or are the reasons occult, if there be any reasons at all other than a mere will that it shall be so? Surely, whilst we never can know all the depths of His counsels and all the solemn concourse of reasons which, to speak in man’s language, determine the energy of His manifested power, He has left us in no doubt that this is the weightiest part of the law which it follows-the might with which God works on the world through His Church varies according to the Church’s receptiveness and faithfulness.
Our second text tells us that if God’s arm seems to slumber and really does so, it is because Zion sleeps. In itself that immortal energy knows no variableness. ‘He fainteth not, neither is weary.’ ‘The Lord’s arm is not shortened that He cannot save.’ ‘He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.’ But He works through us; and we have the solemn and awful power of checking the might which would flow through us; of restraining and limiting the Holy One of Israel. It avails nothing that the ocean stretches shoreless to the horizon; a jar can hold only a jarful. The receiver’s capacity determines the amount received, and the receiver’s desire determines his capacity. The law has ever been, ‘according to your faith be it unto you.’ God gives as much as we will, as much as we can hold, as much as we use, and far more than we deserve. As long as we will bring our vessels the golden oil will flow, and after the last is filled, there yet remains more that we might have had, if we could have held it, and might have held if we would. ‘Ye are not straitened in Me, ye are straitened in yourselves.’
So, dear brethren, if we have to lament times of torpor and small success, let us be honest with ourselves, and recognise that all the blame lies with us. If God’s arm seems to slumber, it is because we are asleep. His power is invariable, and the Gospel which is committed to our trust has lost none of its ancient power, whatsoever men may say. If there be variations, they cannot be traced to the divine element in the Church, which in itself is constant, but altogether to the human, which shifts and fluctuates, as we only too sadly know. The light in the beacon-tower is steady, and the same; but the beam it throws across the waters sometimes fades to a speck, and sometimes flames out clear and far across the heaving waves, according to the position of the glasses and shades around it. The sun pours out heat as profusely and as long at midwinter as on midsummer-day, and all the difference between the frost and darkness and glowing brightness and flowering life, is simply owing to the earth’s place in its orbit and the angle at which the unalterable rays fall upon it. The changes are in the terrestrial sphere; the heavenly is fixed for ever the same.
May I not venture to point an earnest and solemn appeal with these truths? Has there not been poured over us the spirit of slumber? Does it not seem as if an opium sky had been raining soporifics on our heads? We have had but little experience of the might of God amongst us of late years, and we need not wonder at it. There is no occasion to look far for the reason. We have only to regard the low ebb to which religious life has been reduced amongst us to have it all and more than all accounted for. I fully admit that there has been plenty of activity, perhaps more than the amount of real life warrants, not a little liberality, and many virtues. But how languid and torpid the true Christian life has been! how little enthusiasm! how little depth of communion with God! how little unworldly elevation of soul! how little glow of love! An improvement in social position and circumstances, a freer blending with the national life, a full share of civic and political honours, a higher culture in our pulpits, fine chapels, and applauding congregations-are but poor substitutes for what many of us have lost in racing after them. We have the departed prophets’ mantle, the outward resemblance to the fathers who have gone, but their fiery zeal has passed to heaven with them; and softer, weaker men, we stand timidly on the river’s brink, invoking the Lord God of Elijah, and too often the flood that obeyed them has no ear for our feebler voice.
I speak to many who are in some sort representatives of the churches throughout the land, and they can tell whether my words are on the whole true or overstrained. We who labour in our great cities, what say we? If one of the number may speak for the rest, we have to acknowledge that commercial prosperity and business cares, the eagerness after pleasure and the exigencies of political strife, diffused doubt and widespread artistic and literary culture, are eating the very life out of thousands in our churches, and lowering their fervour till, like molten iron cooling in the air, what was once all glowing with ruddy heat is crusted over with foul black scoriae ever encroaching on the tiny central warmth. You from rural churches, what say you? Have you not to speak of deepening torpor settling down on quiet corners, of the passing away of grey heads which leave no successors, of growing difficulties and lessened power to meet them, that make you sometimes all but despair?
I am not flinging indiscriminate censures. I know that there are lights as well as shades in the picture. I am not flinging censures at all. But I am giving voice to the confessions of many hearts, that our consciousness of our blame may be deepened, and we may hasten back to that dear Lord whom we have left to serve alone, as His first disciples left Him once to agonise alone under the gnarled olives in Gethsemane, while they lay sleeping in the moonlight. Listen to His gentle rebuke, full of pain and surprised love, ‘What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?’ Listen to His warning call, loving as the kiss with which a mother wakes her child, ‘Arise, let us be going’-and let us shake the spirit of slumber from our limbs, and serve Him as those unsleeping spirits do, who rest not day nor night from vision and work and praise.
III. The beginning of all awaking is the Church’s earnest cry to God.
For every such stirring of quickened religious life must needs have in it bitter penitence and pain at the discovery flashed upon us of the wretched deadness of our past-and, as we gaze like some wakened sleepwalker into the abyss where another step might have smashed us to atoms, a shuddering terror seizes us that must cry, ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.’ And every such stirring of quickened life will have in it, too, desire for more of His grace, and confidence in His sure bestowal of it, which cannot but breathe itself in prayer.
Nor is Zion’s cry to God only the beginning and sign of all true awaking: it is also the condition and indispensable precursor of all perfecting of recovery from spiritual languor.
I have already pointed out the relation between the waking of God and the waking of His Church, from which that necessarily follows. God’s power flows into our weakness in the measure and on condition of our desires. We are sometimes told that we err in praying for the outpouring of His Holy Spirit, because ever since Pentecost His Church has had the gift. The objection alleges an unquestioned fact, but the conclusion drawn from it rests on an altogether false conception of the manner of that abiding gift. The Spirit of God, and the power which comes from Him, are not given as a purse of money might be put into a man’s hand once and for all, but they are given in a continuous impartation and communication and are received and retained moment by moment, according to the energy of our desires and the faithfulness of our use. As well might we say, Why should I ask for natural life, I received it half a century ago? Yes, and at every moment of that half-century I have continued to live, not because of a past gift, but because at each moment God is breathing into my nostrils the breath of life. So is it with the life which comes from His Spirit. It is maintained by constant efflux from the fountain of Life, by constant impartation of His quickening breath. And as He must continually impart, so must we continually receive, else we perish. Therefore, brethren, the first step towards awaking, and the condition of all true revival in our own souls and in our churches, is this earnest cry, ‘Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord.
Thank God for the outpouring of a long unwonted spirit of prayer in many places. It is like the melting of the snows in the high Alps, at once the sign of spring and the cause of filling the stony river beds with flashing waters, that bring verdure and growth wherever they come. The winter has been long and hard. We have all to confess that we have been restraining prayer before God. Our work has been done with but little sense of our need of His blessing, with but little ardour of desire for His power. We have prayed lazily, scarcely believing that answers would come; we have not watched for the reply, but have been like some heartless marksman who draws his bow and does not care to look whether his arrow strikes the target. These mechanical words, these conventional petitions, these syllables winged by no real desire, inspired by no faith, these expressions of devotion, far too wide for their real contents, which rattle in them like a dried kernel in a nut, are these prayers? Is there any wonder that they have been dispersed in empty air, and that we have been put to shame before our enemies? Brethren in the ministry, do we need to be surprised at our fruitless work, when we think of our prayerless studies and of our faithless prayers? Let us remember that solemn word, ‘The pastors have become brutish, and have not sought the Lord, therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.’ And let us all, brethren, betake ourselves, with penitence and lowly consciousness of our sore need, to prayer, earnest and importunate, believing and persistent, like this heaven-piercing cry which captive Israel sent up from her weary bondage.
Look at the passionate earnestness of it-expressed in the short, sharp cry, thrice repeated, as from one in mortal need; and see to it that our drowsy prayers be like it. Look at the grand confidence with which it founds itself on the past, recounting the mighty deeds of ancient days, and looking back, not for despair but for joyful confidence, to the generations of old; and let our faint-hearted faith be quickened by the example, to expect great things of God. The age of miracles is not gone. The mightiest manifestations of God’s power in the spread of the Gospel in the past remain as patterns for His future. We have not to look back as from low-lying plains to the blue peaks on the horizon, across which the Church’s path once lay, and sigh over the changed conditions of the journey. The highest watermark that the river in flood has ever reached will be reached and overpassed again, though to-day the waters may seem to have hopelessly subsided. Greater triumphs and deliverances shall crown the future than have signalised the past. Let our faithful prayer base itself on the prophecies of history and on the unchangeableness of God.
Think, brethren, of the prayers of Christ. Even He, whose spirit needed not to be purged from stains or calmed from excitement, who was ever in His Father’s house whilst He was about His Father’s business, blending in one, action and contemplation, had need to pray. The moments of His life thus marked are very significant. When He began His ministry, the close of the first day of toil and wonders saw Him, far from gratitude and from want, in a desert place in prayer. When He would send forth His apostles, that great step in advance, in which lay the germ of so much, was preceded by solitary prayer. When the fickle crowd desired to make Him the centre of political revolution, He passed from their hands and beat back that earliest attempt to secularise His work, by prayer. When the seventy brought the first tidings of mighty works done in His name, He showed us how to repel the dangers of success, in that He thanked the Lord of heaven and earth who had revealed these things to babes. When He stood by the grave of Lazarus, the voice that waked the dead was preceded by the voice of prayer, as it ever must be. When He had said all that He could say to His disciples, He crowned all with His wonderful prayer for Himself, for them, and for us all. When the horror of great darkness fell upon His soul, the growing agony is marked by His more fervent prayer, so wondrously compact of shrinking fear and filial submission. When the cross was hid in the darkness of eclipse, the only words from the gloom were words of prayer. When, Godlike, He dismissed His spirit, manlike He commended it to His Father, and sent the prayer from His dying lips before Him to herald His coming into the unseen world. One instance remains, even more to our present purpose than all these-’It came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him.’ Mighty mystery! In Him, too, the Son’s desire is connected with the Father’s gift, and the unmeasured possession of the Spirit was an answer to His prayer.
Then, brethren, let us lift our voices and our hearts. That which ascends as prayer descends as blessing, like the vapour that is drawn up by the kiss of the sun to fall in freshening rain. ‘Call upon Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and hidden things which thou knowest not.’
IV. The answering call from God to Zion.
And in that reverberation, and giving back to us our petition transformed into a command, we are not to see a dismissal of it as if we had misapprehended our true want. It is not tantamount to, Do not ask me to put on my strength, but array yourselves in your own. The very opposite interpretation is the true one. The prayer of Zion is heard and answered. God awakes, and clothes Himself with might. Then, as some warrior king, himself roused from sleep and girded with flashing steel, bids the clarion sound through the grey twilight to summon the prostrate ranks that lie round his tent, so the sign of God’s awaking and the first act of His conquering might is this trumpet call-’The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us put off the works of darkness,’-the night gear that was fit for slumber-’and put on the armour of light,’ the mail of purity that gleams and glitters even in the dim dawn. God’s awaking is our awaking. He puts on strength by making us strong; for His arm works through us, clothing itself, as it were, with our arm of flesh, and perfecting itself even in our weakness.
Nor is it to be forgotten that this, like all God’s commands, carries in its heart a promise. That earliest word of God’s is the type of all His latter behests: ‘Let there be light,’ and the mighty syllables were creative and self-fulfilling. So ever, with Him, to enjoin and to bestow are one and the same, and His command is His conveyance of power. He rouses us by His summons, He clothes us with power in the very act of bidding us put it on. So He answers the Church’s cry by stimulating us to quickened zeal, and making us more conscious of, and confident in, the strength which, in answer to our cry, He pours into our limbs.
But the main point which I would insist on in what remains of this sermon, is the practical discipline which this divine summons requires from us.
And first, let us remember that the chief means of quickened life and strength is deepened communion with Christ.
As we have been saying, our strength is ours by continual derivation from Him. It has no independent existence, any more than a sunbeam could have, severed from the sun. It is ours only in the sense that it flows through us, as a river through the land which it enriches. It is His whilst it is ours, it is ours when we know it to be His. Then, clearly, the first thing to do must be to keep the channels free by which it flows into our souls, and to maintain the connection with the great Fountainhead unimpaired. Put a dam across the stream, and the effect will be like the drying up of Jordan before Israel: ‘the waters that were above rose up upon an heap, and the waters that were beneath failed and were cut off,’ and the foul oozy bed was disclosed to the light of day. It is only by constant contact with Christ that we have any strength to put on.
That communion with Him is no mere idle or passive attitude, but the active employment of our whole nature with His truth, and with Him whom the truth reveals. The understanding must be brought into contact with the principles of His word, the heart must touch and beat against His heart, the will meekly lay its hand in His, the conscience draw at once its anodyne and its stimulus from His sacrifice, the passions know His finger on the reins, and follow, led in the silken leash of love. Then, if I may so say, Elisha’s miracle will be repeated in nobler form, and from Himself, the Life thus touching all our being, life will flow into our deadness. ‘He put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm.’ So, dear brethren, all our practical duty is summed up in that one word, the measure of our obedience to which is the measure of all our strength-’Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.’
Again, this summons calls us to the faithful use of the power which, on condition of that communion, we have.
There is no doubt a temptation, in all times like the present, to look for some new and extraordinary forms of blessing, and to substitute such expectation for present work with our present strength. There is nothing new to look for. There is no need to wait for anything more than we possess. Remember the homely old proverb, ‘You never know what you can do till you try,’ and though we are conscious of much unfitness, and would sometimes gladly wait till our limbs are stronger, let us brace ourselves for the work, assured that in it strength will be given to us that equals our desire. There is a wonderful power in honest work to develop latent energies and reveal a man to himself. I suppose, in most cases, no one is half so much surprised at a great man’s greatest deeds as he is himself. They say that there is dormant electric energy enough in a few raindrops to make a thunderstorm, and there is dormant spiritual force enough in the weakest of us to flash into beneficent light, and peal notes of awaking into many a deaf ear. The effort to serve your Lord will reveal to you strength that you know not. And it will increase the strength which it brings into play, as the used muscles grow like whipcord, and the practised fingers become deft at their task, and every faculty employed is increased, and every gift wrapped in a napkin melts like ice folded in a cloth, according to that solemn law, ‘To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.’
Then be sure that to its last particle you are using the strength you have, ere you complain of not having enough for your tasks. Take heed of the vagrant expectations that wait for they know not what, and the apparent prayers that are really substitutes for possible service. ‘Why liest thou on thy face? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward.’
The Church’s resources are sufficient for the Church’s work, if the resources are used. We are tempted to doubt it, by reason of our experience of failure and our consciousness of weakness. We are more than ever tempted to doubt it to-day, when so many wise men are telling us that our Christ is a phantom, our God a stream of tendency, our Gospel a decaying error, our hope for the world a dream, and our work in the world done. We stand before our Master with doubtful hearts, and, as we look along the ranks sitting there on the green grass, and then at the poor provisions which make all our store, we are sometimes tempted almost to think that He errs when He says with that strange calmness of His, ‘They need not depart, give ye them to eat.’ But go out among the crowds and give confidently what you have, and you will find that you have enough and to spare. If ever our stores seem inadequate, it is because they are reckoned up by sense, which takes cognizance of the visible, instead of by faith which beholds the real. Certainly five loaves and two small fishes are not enough, but are not five loaves and two small fishes and a miracle-working hand behind them, enough? It is poor calculation that leaves out Christ from the estimate of our forces. The weakest man and Jesus to back him are more than all antagonism, more than sufficient for all duty. Be not seduced into doubt of your power, or of your success, by others’ sneers, or by your own faint-heartedness. The confidence of ability is ability. ‘Screw your courage to the sticking place,’ and you will not fail-and see to it that you use the resources you have, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ‘Put on thy strength, O Zion.’
So, dear brethren, to gather all up in a sentence, let us confidently look for times of blessing, penitently acknowledge that our own faithlessness has hindered the arm of the Lord, earnestly beseech Him to come in His rejoicing strength, and, drawing ever fresh power from constant communion with our dear Lord, use it to its last drop for Him. Then, like the mortal leader of Israel, as he pondered doubtingly with sunken eyes on the hard task before his untrained host, we shall look up and be aware of the presence of the sworded angel, the immortal Captain of the host of the Lord, standing ready to save, ‘putting on righteousness as a breastplate, an helmet of salvation on His head, and clad with zeal as a cloak.’ From His lips, which give what they command, comes the call, ‘Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ Hearkening to His voice, the city of the strong ones shall be made an heap before our wondering ranks, and the land shall lie open to our conquering march.
Wheresoever we lift up the cry, ‘Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord,’ there follows, swift as the thunderclap on the lightning flash, the rousing summons, ‘Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem!’ Wheresoever it is obeyed there will follow in due time the joyful chorus, as in this context, ‘Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; the Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 51:9-11
9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD;
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?
10Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?
11So the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isa 51:9 Awake, awake This triple IMPERATIVE (BDB 734, KB 802, Qal IMPERATIVE) calls for action: (1) action on God’s part, Isa 51:9 and (2) action on Israel’s part, Isa 51:17 (cf. Isa 52:1; Isa 52:11).
awake as in the days of old This is an allusion to YHWH’s activity in the Exodus (cf. Exo 6:6; Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15; Deu 26:8).
Rahab. . .dragon This word (KB 1193) has three usages.
1. mythical sea monster – Isa 51:9; Job 9:13; Job 26:12; Psa 74:13; Psa 89:10; Psa 148:7
2. metaphor for Egypt based on the twisting Nile River – Isa 30:7; Psa 87:4; Eze 29:3
3. the proud (NASB, BDB 923) or enemies of YHWH – Psa 40:4
Number 1 is also designated by the term dragon (BDB 49) in Job 7:12.
Isa 51:10 the depths This was also a mythological term used in the Sumerian and Babylonian creation accounts. In the Bible it is not a god (cf. Gen 1:2) but depth of water – tiamat (BDB 1062, Isa 63:13).
a pathway for the redeemed to cross This is an obvious allusion to the splitting of the Red Sea during the Exodus from Egypt (cf. Exodus 14, 15).
Isa 51:11 As God delivered His people from Egyptian bondage, so will He deliver His people from Assyrian and Babylonian exile! The descendants of Abraham will return to the Promised Land.
everlasting joy The term everlasting is ‘olam (BDB 761). See Special Topic: Forever (‘olam) . Isaiah uses it often to describe the new age.
1. everlasting covenant, Isa 24:5; Isa 55:3; Isa 61:8
2. YHWH an everlasting Rock, Isa 26:4
3. everlasting joy, Isa 35:10; Isa 51:11; Isa 61:7
4. the Everlasting God, Isa 40:28
5. an everlasting salvation, Isa 45:17
6. everlasting lovingkindness (Hesed), Isa 54:8
7. everlasting sign, Isa 55:13
8. an everlasting name, Isa 56:5; Isa 63:12; Isa 63:16
9. an everlasting light, Isa 60:19-20
A negative-oriented use related to the eternal punishment of the wicked is found in Isa 33:14, an everlasting burning. Isaiah often uses fire to describe God’s wrath (cf. Isa 9:18-19; Isa 10:16; Isa 47:14), but only in Isa 33:14 is it described as everlasting.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Awake. Same word as in Isa 52:1. Not the same as in Isa 51:17. Note the Figure of speech Epizeuxis (for emphasis).
arm. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
Bahab = Egypt. Compare Psa 87:4; Psa 89:10.
dragon = crocodile.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 51:9-11
Isa 51:9-11
“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of anclent times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster? Is it not thou that driest up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depth of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Kelley believed that here the prophet Isaiah himself is the speaker, and that he was pleading for God to intervene upon behalf of Israel as in the days of previous generations; but other speakers have been suggested, such as “Zion, angels, the prophet Isaiah, and the Son (the Ideal Servant) pleading with the Father, and that it is Jehovah addressing himself!” One may take his choice; we fail to see that it makes a lot of difference.
“That didst cut Rahab in pieces …” (Isa 51:9). The name Rahab is here a poetic name of Egypt, just as Gotham is the poetic name of New York City. The name’s connection with some ancient Babylonian myth is of no significance whatever and certainly does not signify any Biblical endorsement of ancient mythology. Rahab is used for Egypt in Psa 87:4, and also in Psa 89:10. Some versions render the Hebrew word as Dragon; but this also means Egypt (Psa 74:13).
God in this passage is referred to as the one who dried up the waters of the sea and made a way for the redeemed to cross over. This, of course, is a reference to the Exodus on dry land through the Red Sea (More properly, the End Sea). This indicates that in some way, the coming out of Babylon by the righteous remnant would be considered as “a new exodus.” There are overtones here also that reach far beyond the return of captives from Babylon. The quotation here in Isa 51:11 from Isa 35:10 is proof enough that a tremendous deliverance is promised.
As Jamieson noted:
“As surely as God redeemed Israel out of Egypt, He will redeem them from Babylon, both from the literal Babylon in the age following Isaiah, and from the mystical Babylon revealed in Rev 18:20-21, which is the last enemy of Israel and the Church, from which they have long suffered, but from which they are to be gloriously delivered.”
Isa 51:9-11 PLEA: The Hebrew words uriy uriy (Awake, awake) do not mean to convey that Isaiah thought God had fallen asleep. The word is also used in Dan 4:10; Dan 4:14; Dan 4:20 and translated, watcher. The idea of the word is watchfulness, alertness or awareness, that motivates action. In view of the impending Babylonian captivity, the prophet is calling upon the Lord to act on behalf of the small minority of believers and save Zion. God has promised protection from Babylon, but God has not acted. Men, even prophets, often run ahead of the Lord. Isaiah is representing the remnant, of course, and they are expressing their terror at the threats of Babylon. It appears from their fearful perspective as if God is either unaware of their plight or is aware but is not intending to do anything about it. Their appeal for action is based on what they know of His previous deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Their ancient writings tell of Moses and Israels passage from slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea. Egypt is called Rahab (which means loud mouth in Hebrew; see Isa 30:7) and thanniyn the monster; thanniyn is translated serpent in most uses (cf. Isa 27:1). Jehovah delivered from the dragon Egypt, will He now allow Zion to be destroyed by the lion Babylon? The sea which was dried up must refer to the Red Sea crossing (Exo 14:1 ff).
Isa 51:11 forms an excellent conclusion to Isaiahs plea. It is a quotation, almost letter for letter, from Isa 35:10 which likewise forms a conclusion to a messianic section. Isaiah quotes himself (and why not, since it was such a beautiful and emphatic promise of God the first time it was spoken) as part of his pleas as if to remind Jehovah of His recently promised redemption; see comments Isa 35:8-10.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Art thou not
The ref. is to Egypt Isa 30:7 at the Exodus:
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Awake: Isa 51:17, Isa 27:1, Psa 7:6, Psa 44:23, Psa 59:4, Psa 78:65, Hab 2:19
put: Isa 52:1, Isa 59:17, Psa 21:13, Psa 74:13, Psa 74:14, Psa 93:1, Rev 11:17
O arm: Isa 51:5, Isa 53:1, Isa 59:16, Isa 62:8, Luk 1:51, Joh 12:38
as in: Jdg 6:13, Neh 9:7-15, Psa 44:1
Art thou: Job 26:12, *marg. Psa 87:4, Psa 89:10
the dragon: Isa 27:1, Psa 74:13, Psa 74:14, Eze 29:3, Hab 3:13, Rev 12:9
Reciprocal: Exo 7:3 – multiply Exo 10:7 – that Egypt Exo 13:9 – strong hand Exo 15:6 – right hand Num 10:35 – Lord Deu 4:37 – with his Deu 7:18 – remember Jdg 5:12 – Deborah 1Ki 8:42 – thy strong hand 1Ki 18:27 – must be awaked Job 8:6 – he would Psa 3:7 – Arise Psa 9:19 – Arise Psa 17:13 – Arise Psa 35:23 – Stir Psa 65:6 – girded Psa 68:1 – God arise Psa 71:18 – strength Psa 77:5 – General Psa 77:14 – thou hast Psa 82:8 – Arise Psa 118:15 – the right Psa 126:3 – General Psa 135:9 – sent tokens Psa 136:12 – General Psa 148:7 – ye dragons Son 4:16 – Awake Isa 10:26 – his rod Isa 11:15 – utterly Isa 30:30 – the lighting Isa 52:10 – made Isa 62:1 – the righteousness Isa 63:5 – mine own Isa 63:11 – Where is he that brought Isa 63:15 – where Jer 14:9 – cannot Eze 32:2 – and thou art as Mic 2:13 – breaker Mic 7:15 – General Hab 3:2 – O Lord Hab 3:9 – bow Zec 2:13 – for Mat 8:25 – and awoke Mar 4:38 – and they Luk 8:23 – he fell Act 7:7 – the nation Heb 11:29 – General Rev 12:3 – a great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 51:9-11. Awake, awake, &c. The prophet, by an elegant figure, addresses himself to God, to stir up and exert his power in behalf of his oppressed people, as he did in former times, when he delivered them out of the Egyptian bondage. Awake, as in the ancient days That is, act for us now as thou didst for our fathers formerly: repeat the wonders they have told us of. Art thou not it that cut Rahab Egypt, so called, here and elsewhere, for its pride or strength. And wounded the dragon Pharaoh, the Leviathan, as he is called, Psa 74:13-14. Art thou not it that dried the sea Art thou not the same God, and as potent now as thou wast then? That made the depths a way for the ransomed, &c. For thy people, whom thou didst redeem and bring out of Egypt? Let thine arm be stretched out in our behalf; for it has done great things formerly in defence of the same cause, and we are sure it is neither shortened nor weakened. Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, &c. These words express the persuasion of the prophet, that as the Lord did these great things formerly, so he would certainly do the like again. See note on Isa 35:10.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 51:9-11. An Appeal to Yahweh to Display His Might as of Old.Let Yahwehs strong arm manifest its power as it did in slaying the dragon Rahab, the personification of the mighty deep regarded as the power of Chaos (Job 9:13*). This thought naturally suggests another work of Yahwehs arm, the drying up of the Red Sea, the more easily that Rahab was an emblem for Egypt (cf. Isa 30:7*).
Isa 51:10. great deep: this expression makes it clear that the reference to the Exodus begins only with the following words.
Isa 51:11. A scribes quotation from Isa 35:10.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
51:9 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, {h} in the generations of old. [Art] thou not that which hath cut {i} Rahab, [and] wounded the {k} dragon?
(h) He puts them in remembrance of his great benefit for their deliverance out of Egypt, that by it they might learn to trust in him constantly.
(i) Meaning, Egypt, Psa 87:4 .
(k) That is, Pharaoh, Eze 29:3 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord’s arm 51:9-16
The Israelites cried out for God to act for them. He had done so in their past history, but they needed His help now. Probably the believing remnant was requesting help.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Awakening to deliverance 51:9-52:12
The presence and repetition of the call to awake (Isa 51:9; Isa 51:17; Isa 52:1) identifies this unit of prophetic material as one. The Israelites were to wake up to the power of God that had not changed (Isa 51:9-16), and to the purpose of God, namely: His plan for their life (Isa 51:17-23). They should also wake up to the peace of God, since He would not abandon them (Isa 52:1-12). [Note: Dyer, in The Old . . ., p. 573.] The section begins with the question of whether God can and will save His people from their enemies (Isa 51:9-16). The answer is that He will cause Israel’s enemies to suffer (Isa 51:17-23), and that He will deliver Israel from her enemies (Isa 52:1-12).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Israel’s call for God to awake assumes that He had not been active in helping His people recently. Isaiah, speaking for the Israelites, described the Lord’s delivering power in action for His people as His "arm" (cf. Isa 51:5; Isa 53:1). His arm had defeated the Egyptians and Pharaoh in the Exodus in the past, here described respectively as Rahab (lit. proud one, cf. Isa 30:7; Psa 87:4) and the dragon (cf. Eze 29:3). Rahab and the dragon were also part of the mythological lore of the ancient Near East. By using these names, Isaiah was undoubtedly stressing Yahweh’s ability to overcome all the pagan gods and every other power opposing Israel’s salvation.