Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryIsaiah 50

Your mother’s divorcement. The mother is Judah, the children are the Jews, and the father is God. There was no certificate of divorce, for God had not divorced Judah (see Deut. 24:1–4)—she had forsaken Him. Compare the acted parable of Hosea, a contemporary of Isaiah (Hosea 1 to 3; cf. Eze. 16:8, 15). God had never relinquished His rights as Judah’s lawful spouse, and sought by every means possible to persuade her to return. Compare the experience of Hosea with Gomer as recorded in Hosea 2. My creditors. The figure changes. Judah, in the Babylonian captivity, would find herself a slave, and would conclude that her Master must have sold her to satisfy the demands of His creditors (see Lev. 25:39; Deut. 15:12). But God has no creditors. By their evil ways the Jews sold themselves and became the servants of sin (Isa. 52:3; cf. Rom. 6:16). This was the reason for their bondage to the heathen.

Ellen G. White

Is my hand shortened? Was Judah’s subjection to the heathen due to inability on God’s part to redeem her? No! He had redeemed Israel from Egypt, had saved them from Assyria, and would yet redeem them from Babylon. Their fish stinketh. An allusion to the first of the ten devastating plagues of Egypt (Ex. 7:17–21).

Blackness. An illusion to the ninth plague of Egypt (Ex. 10:21–23).

The learned. Literally,, “the learners,” or “the disciples.” This verse introduces a new section. Jesus, the “Servant” (see on ch. 41:8) of Jehovah, here declares His devotion to the task before Him—His earthly mission. He comes as a Teacher of men, yet He is, in turn, instructed by the Father (see John 3:2; John 5:19; John 8:28; DA 208, 417). That I should know how. Before Christ came to this earth the plan for His life “lay out before Him, perfect in all its details”; nevertheless, living as a man among men, He laid aside His foreknowledge of these things and was guided by the Father’s will as it was unfolded to Him day by day (DA 147; see on Luke 2:49). This fact makes even more meaningful the many occasions on which it is recorded that Jesus spent entire nights in prayer (see on Mark 3:13). To speak a word. The Messiah would come into the world as the living “Word” (John 1:1), or spokesman for God, and His constant mission was to comfort and instruct those

who were weary of sin (Matt. 11:28). See DA 208, 417; COL 139, 336. Apart from the salvation so graciously provided by Christ, the restless hearts of sinful men can never be at peace.

Opened mine ear. Christ’s “ear” was ever ready to hear His Father’s bidding (see on v. 4). He never sought to do His own will, but always the will of the Father,who had sent Him (Ps. 40:6, 8; John 5:30; see on Luke 2:49). Even in the bitter extremity of the Garden of Gethsemane He did not refuse the “cup” that was pressed to His trembling lips (Matt. 26:42; Phil. 2:8).

My back. The prediction of v. 6 was fulfilled in the scourging of Jesus (Mark 15:15). Plucked off the hair. The NT does not record this of Jesus at His trial. To pluck off the hair was considered by the Jews an extreme insult (see Ezra 9:3; Neh. 13:25). Instead of lemorṭim, “to them that plucked off the hair,” Dead Sea scroll 1QIs reads lemoṭlim, “to them that slap.” This is also the reading of the LXX. My face. See Mark 14:65; 15:19.

Like a flint. A figure denoting firm determination (Eze. 3:8, 9). For the fulfillment of this prediction in the life of Jesus see on Luke 9:51.

He is near. As Jesus hung on the cross the Father was near at hand, though Jesus knew it not (see DA 753, 754). Mine adversary. Satan, “the accuser” (Rev. 12:10; cf. Zech. 3:1), arraigned Christ, but had no valid charge to bring against Him (see John 14:30). Christ was innocent, and knew that His accuser knew it as well. The false charges brought against Jesus revealed the malice of those who brought them.

Will help me. It was confidence in His Father’s love and perfect submission to His will that sustained the Saviour during His last conflict with the powers of darkness. For the confidence we may have in times of stress see Ps. 37:3–20, 32–40. Wax old. Or, “wear out,” that is, perish (see Ps. 102:26). The moth. Compare Isa. 51:8; see on Matt. 6:19, 20.

Servant. See on ch. 41:8. Walketh in darkness. There are times of darkness and perplexity, even for those who set out to follow the voice of the Lord. The enemy presses in to confuse and to discourage. This was the experience of Job, and later of John the Baptist. It is the privilege of all who find themselves in similar circumstances to place unfaltering trust in God. In due time He will give them the light for which they seek.

Ellen G. White

Sparks. There is ever the danger that those who profess to serve the Lord may forsake the heavenly pathway for ways of their own devising. In place of light from heaven they turn to light of their own. Like Nadab and Abihu, they offer “strange fire” before the Lord (Lev. 10:1, 2). See on Matt. 6:22, 23.