Isaiah 50-51

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Isaiah 50–51
• Sermon
• Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Suffering Servant and the Cup of Wrath

Scripture: Isaiah 50–51

I. Reminder of Israel's Sin — Isaiah 50:1–3

A. The certificate of divorce imagery drawn from Deuteronomy 24:1

1. No certificate can be produced, yet the reason for judgment is clear: Israel's iniquity and transgressions
2. Israel portrayed as an unfaithful wife — a theme seen most vividly in Hosea

B. The Lord's rhetorical question: has his hand been shortened that he cannot redeem?

1. A reminder that God's power to save has not diminished despite Israel's unfaithfulness

II. The Third Servant Song — Isaiah 50:4–9

A. The character of the Suffering Servant

1. A well-instructed tongue — the tongue of a disciple; teachable and open-eared
2. Obedient and not rebellious — contrasted with Adam and with Israel
3. Humble and non-retaliatory — gives his back to those who strike, his cheeks to those who pull out the beard
4. Courageous — sets his face like flint, knowing he will not be put to shame

B. The career of the Suffering Servant

1. A speaking ministry: his tongue is given to sustain the weary with a word — echoing Isaiah 40:1–2 and the first Servant Song's image of the bruised reed
2. A ministry of dependence on the Father — morning by morning his ear is awakened; the Lord God is his helper
3. A vindicating ministry: the Lord God helps him; none can declare him guilty

C. The servant as the contrast to Adam and Israel

1. Adam heard the Lord's instruction but rebelled; Israel received the word of the Lord but was rebellious
2. The servant succeeds where Adam and Israel failed: he does not rebel, and he knows where to place his trust

III. Invitation and Warning — Isaiah 50:10–11

A. The convicting question: who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?

B. The invitation: let those who walk in darkness trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God

C. The warning: those who kindle their own fire and walk by its light are trusting in themselves — and will lie down in torment

IV. Calls to Action in Chapter 51 — Isaiah 51

A. Call to the people to look to their roots and trust the Lord — Isaiah 51:1–8

1. Look to the Rock from which you were hewn — to Abraham and Sarah; God multiplied from one
2. The Lord will comfort Zion, making her wilderness like Eden
3. Repeated calls to listen and give attention (vv. 1, 4, 7) directed at a hard-hearted people
4. Do not fear man who is temporary — the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth wears out like a garment, but God's salvation is forever (Isaiah 51:6)

B. Call to the Lord himself to act — Isaiah 51:9–11

1. Awake, O arm of the Lord — language of the Lord's own mighty deeds on behalf of his people
2. References to cutting Rahab and piercing the dragon point back to the Exodus from Egypt
3. The dried-up sea and the way made for the redeemed echo the first Exodus
4. The promise is greater than the first Exodus: Everlasting Joy — an already/not-yet promise fulfilled ultimately in the new heavens and new earth (cf. Revelation 21:1–4)

C. Indictment of forgetfulness — Isaiah 51:12–16

1. Why fear man who dies and is made like grass, when you have forgotten the Lord your maker?
2. The people face the coming oppressor (Babylon) and are tempted to fear; the Lord calls them back to himself
3. The Lord stirs up the sea so its waves roar — a picture pointing forward to Christ calming the waves (cf. Matthew 8, Mark 4, Luke 8), confirming his deity and his deep roots in Old Testament promise

D. Final call to action: wake up, Jerusalem — Isaiah 51:17–23

1. The Cup of Wrath — God's wrath described as a bitter, staggering drink that the people have been made to drink
2. In grace and mercy, the Lord declares: I have taken the cup of staggering from your hand; you shall drink no more (Isaiah 51:22)
3. The cup will be placed into the hand of the tormentor — judgment will come on Assyria, Babylon, and Persia
4. The ultimate fulfillment: Christ in Gethsemane asks that the cup pass from him, then drinks the full cup of the Lord's wrath for his people (cf. Matthew 26:39)
5. The cup believers drink at the Lord's Supper is not a cup of wrath but of joy and grace — because Christ drank the cup of wrath to the full in their place