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Awake, awake!
    Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
you who have drained to its dregs
    the goblet that makes people stagger.
¹⁸ Among all the children she bore
    there was none to guide her;
among all the children she brought up
    there was none to take her by the hand.
¹⁹ These double calamities have come upon you –
    who can comfort you? –
ruin and destruction, famine and sword –
    who can console you?
²⁰ Your children have fainted;
    they lie at every street corner,
    like antelope caught in a net.
They are filled with the wrath of the Lord,
    with the rebuke of your God.

²¹ Therefore hear this, you afflicted one,
    made drunk, but not with wine.
²² This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
    your God, who defends his people:
‘See, I have taken out of your hand
    the cup that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
    you will never drink again.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
    who said to you,
    “Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.”
And you made your back like the ground,
    like a street to be walked on.’

I want to add a postscript to yesterday’s thought. I said in it that the worst was behind the people of God who are addressed here, and from heaven’s point of view it was. Their condemnation was behind them, but it was hard for them to feel forgiven. The worst was behind them, but there had not yet been a change of circumstances. Nevertheless, they were being called to stir themselves to believe and act out their true destiny in God.

The world says, ‘Seeing is believing.’ But to people of faith, ‘believing is seeing.’

‘They have been carried off into exile and are still there. Nothing has changed in their outward circumstances. There is terror on every side, and the oppressor is still bent on their destruction (13b). What they are being asked to respond to is not their circumstances (which will change later), but the word of God that has come to them.’ Barry Webb: ‘Isaiah’, p.206.

Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem!
    You have drunk the cup of the Lord’s fury.
You have drunk the cup of terror,
    tipping out its last drops.
¹⁸ Not one of your children is left alive
    to take your hand and guide you.
¹⁹ These two calamities have fallen on you:
    desolation and destruction, famine and war.
And who is left to sympathize with you?
    Who is left to comfort you?
²⁰ For your children have fainted and lie in the streets,
    helpless as antelopes caught in a net.
The Lord has poured out his fury;
    God has rebuked them.

²¹ But now listen to this, you afflicted ones
    who sit in a drunken stupor,
    though not from drinking wine.
²² This is what the Sovereign Lord,
    your God and Defender, says:
“See, I have taken the terrible cup from your hands.
    You will drink no more of my fury.
²³ Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors,
    those who said, ‘We will trample you into the dust
    and walk on your backs.’” (NLT).

The worst – prophesied in 39:5-7 – had happened, and was now behind them.

in chapter 51:9 the call has gone up for God’s arm to ”Awake”, but now the ball is hit firmly back into His people’s court (17a, 52:1).

Sometimes I feel I spend much of my life only half-awake spiritually (if that much, in fact! See Luke 9:32: ”…but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory…”). How do we wake up and stay awake? There are probably several answers, but I want to emphasise that the traditional spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, Scripture reading and meditation, fasting, silence, solitude etc really can help us to be attentive to the things of God.

‘But think how much of your waking life your eyes are open, but passive. You are seeing the world but hardly noticing anything. You are hearing all the time but hardly noticing any particular sounds…Most people read half asleep. We read the Bible pretty much like we watch television – passively. What I mean by passively is that we expect the TV programme to affect us. Entertain us, or inform us, or teach us. Our minds are almost entirely in the passive mode, as impulses come into our minds. The opposite is when our minds go on alert and watch carefully. We become aggressively observant.’ (John Piper: ‘Reading the Bible Supernaturally’, p.327.)

PRAYER: Lord, deliver me from a dopey, dozy existence, and cause me to be fully awake that I may see your glory. Help me to take all necessary to wake myself up, and stay alert.

“Listen to me, you who know right from wrong,
    you who cherish my law in your hearts.
Do not be afraid of people’s scorn,
    nor fear their insults.
⁸ For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing.
    The worm will eat at them as it eats wool.
But my righteousness will last forever.
    My salvation will continue from generation to generation.”

¹² “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you.
    So why are you afraid of mere humans,
    who wither like the grass and disappear?
¹³ Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator,
    the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy
    and laid the foundations of the earth.
Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors?
    Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies?
Where is their fury and anger now?
    It is gone!
¹⁴ Soon all you captives will be released!
    Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!
¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God,
    who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar.
    My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
¹⁶ And I have put my words in your mouth
    and hidden you safely in my hand.
I stretched out the sky like a canopy
    and laid the foundations of the earth.
I am the one who says to Israel,
    ‘You are my people!’” (NLT).

”The only known antidote to fear is faith.” Woodrow Kroll.

This passage gives a number of reasons why God’s people should not fear:

1. The command of God: ”Do not be afraid…” (7);
2. The comfort of God: His comfort is real (12a). The Holy Spirit, ”the comforter”, is real. (See also 2 Corinthians 3:1-11);
3. The vision of God (13);
4. The ability of God (14,15);
5. The Word of God (7,16);
6. The protection of God (16);
7. The feebleness of men (7b,8,12; see also v.6). In this majestic chapter, the permanence of God (His Person, Word and Work) is contrasted with the transience of men- in particular opponents and oppressors.

 ”Faith, which is trust, and fear are opposite poles. If a man has the one, he can scarcely have the other in vigorous operation. He that has his trust set upon God does not need to dread anything except the weakening or the paralyzing of that trust.” Alexander MacLaren

Awake, awake, arm of the Lord,
    clothe yourself with strength!
Awake, as in days gone by,
    as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
    who pierced that monster through?
¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
    so that the redeemed might cross over?
¹¹ Those the Lord has rescued will return.
    They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

As the prophet prays here, he is not for one moment imagining that a ‘part’ of God has gone to sleep. This is essentially a prayer, an urgent request, that God will do again what He has done before. He has shown His power mightily in the past. ‘Do it again, Lord’ is the heartfelt cry. Here is how it reads in ‘The New Living Translation’:

Wake up, wake up, O Lord! Clothe yourself with strength!
    Flex your mighty right arm!
Rouse yourself as in the days of old
    when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile.
¹⁰ Are you not the same today,
    the one who dried up the sea,
making a path of escape through the depths
    so that your people could cross over?
¹¹ Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
    They will enter Jerusalem singing,
    crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
    and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

Barry Webb writes regarding verse 11:

‘In the end there is only one people of God, the ransomed of the LORD, and when all God’s purposes for them have reached their goal they will all be together in one place – Zion, the city of God. They will enter it with singing, and joy will be their crown for ever (11).

As so often, Isaiah’s vision reaches far beyond the particulars of history to its end; beyond the return from Babylon to the consummation it foreshadowed. And he could hardly wait for the dawning of that final day. There were many obstacles in its way, but he was sure that the strong arm of the LORD had lost none of its ancient power (9).’ ‘Isaiah’, p.202.

The Lord will surely comfort Zion
    and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
    her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

⁴ ‘Listen to me, my people;
    hear me, my nation:
instruction will go out from me;
    my justice will become a light to the nations.
⁵ My righteousness draws near speedily,
    my salvation is on the way,
    and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
    and wait in hope for my arm.
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment
    and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last for ever,
    my righteousness will never fail.

We note in verse 3 God’s ability to wonderfully and beautifully and totally transform situations. But, not only will He do this for Israel (3); He will also do it for the world (4-6). ”These are the ‘other sheep’ Jesus spoke about who would one day hear the shepherd’s voice and be gathered into his fold. They have joined the pilgrimage because they are convinced that only the LORD, the God of Israel, can mend the world’s ills. And they are right! ‘Take one last look at the world you know,’ he says to them, ‘because it will soon pass away. A new age of righteousness – a new world – is about to dawn’ (6).” Barry Webb: Isaiah, p.202.

 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:16.

‘Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
    and who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were cut
    and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
² look to Abraham, your father,
    and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
    and I blessed him and made him many.

‘Recalling our origins should give us low thoughts of ourselves and high thoughts of God’s grace.’ Tom Hale.

Under God’s blessing, one person can become more than they ever thought they could be. God’s blessing multiplies the impact of a single life. The significant thing isn’t who/what Abraham is, but who God is, and what He does with Him. It was the Lord who ”called” him, ”blessed” him, and ”made” him into a great nation (Gen.12:1-3).

To the despised (7b) exiles in Babylon, few in number, God says in effect, ‘Your history is the key to your destiny. In looking back to the origins of your nation you will find the inspiration to move forward.