God’s special servant
An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 49 to 57
This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.
Words in boxes are from the Bible.
A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
In the Book of Isaiah, the meaning of ‘my (that is, the *Lord’s) special Servant’ varies. Sometimes, ‘my special Servant’ identifies a person, such as Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20) or David (Isaiah 37:35) or Isaiah himself (Isaiah 20:3). Most of the verses that include ‘my special Servant’ appear in the second part of the Book of Isaiah (about 20 times). About half of these verses identify the ‘Servant’ as ‘Israel’. Several verses (42:1, 42:6, 52:13, 53:11) refer the name to *Messiah. The *New Testament identifies *Messiah as Jesus. (Take care; sometimes a verse may include more than one of these meanings at the same time!)
· Verses 1-7 provide the second of the ‘Servant Songs’ (see my notes at the beginning of Chapter 42 and the notes on 42:1).
Many *Israelites lived abroad. But here the reference is to foreign nations, rather than to *Israelites. Isaiah repeats the command to listen. This is to emphasise that the message is for foreigners.
· To ‘call’ does not mean to shout to gain attention. In the Bible, ‘call’ is a technical word. It means to appoint to a task. Isaiah’s ‘call’ came before he was even born. (See Jeremiah 1:4-5 for a similar thought).
‘Sword’ and ‘arrow’ are word pictures. The words show that Isaiah’s message from God will have a powerful effect on people’s lives. Like a sword or an arrow, Isaiah’s words will be sharp (clear, sudden and powerful). The *Lord has prepared Isaiah ahead of time to speak the sharp words of God’s judgement.
· The mere ‘shadow’ of a hand may seem strange ‘protection’. But with God, even his shadow is always sufficient (see Psalm 17:8). The shadow reminds God’s people that he is very close to each believer.
When God originally called Isaiah to speak for him, he had warned Isaiah about people’s reaction. People would not listen to Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:9-12). But Isaiah wisely realised that his own duty was to obey God. What happened as a result was not Isaiah’s responsibility (see Isaiah 40:4-8). It was God’s responsibility.
The first words are similar to those in Isaiah 43:1 and 49:1. But here Isaiah adds that the *Lord provides him with the necessary help.
The *Lord has an even greater task for Isaiah. He is to tell all nations that the *Lord can rescue every person from the result of an evil life.
· Similar words describe God’s double purpose for his special Servant and for Cyrus. God intends them to spread his ‘light’ to the whole world (see Isaiah 42:6). And to everybody in the world (see Isaiah 48:20).
· God’s ‘light’ is a word picture. It means a clear knowledge of God’s purposes.
Much of what appears here will appear again in the 4th Servant Song (see Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12).
· There is a double meaning of ‘Servant’ in this verse. The name refers to the experience of the nation called Israel. But it also refers to the experience of *Messiah. (See my note at the beginning of this chapter).
· When Israel failed to carry out the *Lord’s purpose, *Messiah did so instead of Israel.
To ‘answer’ means more than ‘use words’. ‘Answer’ includes action to provide practical help.
God’s people have a long journey to return to their own land. But all along the way, God will provide everything that they need (see Isaiah 41:17-20).
Syene is the area up the river Nile to the south (see Jeremiah 44:1). Today Syene is called Aswan.
The picture in words suggests that the people’s joy affects all that God has created (see my note on Isaiah 44:23).
*Babylonian forces attacked *Jerusalem in 587 *BC. They ruined the city. They completely destroyed the Temple (see Isaiah 32:14). The *Lord’s promise to protect the city seemed to be without worth.
A picture in words emphasises that the *Lord has certainly not put *Jerusalem out of his mind.
To build something, normally takes much more time than to knock it down. But the *Lord declares that these busy builders will repair *Jerusalem very quickly. They will build the city even more quickly than the *Babylonians were able to destroy it. That would be most unlikely, of course. It is just a description to say that the builders will work extremely quickly.
The whole situation is changing very fast. The evidence is all round the city for people to see for themselves. The *Lord has carried out the things that he promised to do.
· In the original language, ‘As I live, says the *Lord’ is a special form of words. It emphasises that the promise afterwards is definite. Even as certainly as God always lives, so as certainly his promise is always true. (See Numbers 14:21 and Zephaniah 2:9. Also see Ezekiel 14:16, among very many other examples in that *Old Testament Book.)
Judah’s enemies ate all the food that happened to be growing. But they did not bother about good agricultural practice. So they did not plough or sow. Soon the fields had no more value than a desert. The land would take several years to recover after the enemies left Judah.
In this verse, ‘children’ refers to *descendants of the original *exiles of the *tribe called Judah. The ‘time of despair’ means ‘when you were *exiles in the country called Babylon’.
The verse gives a picture in words to describe everybody’s happy surprise. Suddenly, a huge number of *refugees are coming back to *Jerusalem. It is so wonderful, after all that the people of God have suffered far away in a foreign land.
Foreign nations will now have a very different opinion about God’s people. And God’s people themselves will realise that the *Lord himself has brought it all about. Only he could have done it.
The *Lord will take practical action to bring back the people’s original situation.
These are more pictures in words. These cruel men caused so much trouble for other people. But in the end, they will cause their own deaths. And the *Lord will use the situation to rescue his people.
A husband in Israel could divorce his wife, if she did not remain true to him (see Deuteronomy 24:1-4). This was well-known. The Bible often refers to the *Lord’s relationship to Israel as that of husband and wife. And people could understand that picture in words. But the relationship had broken down, because Israel did not carry out its promise to obey the *Lord. However, there was no legal evidence that the *Lord had in fact divorced Israel.
· Nor had the *Lord sold Israel. This uses another picture in words. An extremely poor father, who was desperate to pay a debt, might sell his children to be slaves (see Exodus 21:7). The *Lord created the world and everything in it. He cannot owe anything to anyone!
· ‘Mother’ and ‘children’ form another picture in words, to refer to the entire nation of Israel. Israel had continued to refuse to obey the *Lord (see Isaiah 43:23-24). So he sent them all away to a foreign country where they were *exiles.
· The people could not blame God for their troubles. They themselves were responsible for their own evil deeds. Their troubles were the result of those evil deeds.
After many years as *exiles, nobody imagined that they would ever see their own country again. It was impossible. So, when the *Lord promised to bring the *exiles home, nobody believed him.
· But several times the *Lord told the people that they had a wonderful future (see Isaiah 12:3-6, 35:3-10, 49:22). And later, he will repeat this good news (see Isaiah 51:3, 60:10, 61:1-11).
· God reminds his people that he has done such ‘impossible’ actions in the past. For example, when he rescued his people from Egypt (see Exodus 10:21-22).
Verses 4-11 provide the third of the ‘Servant Songs’ (see my notes at the beginning of Chapter 42 and the notes on 42:1).
Here ‘tongue’ is a picture word, to refer to the Servant’s authority to speak God’s message. The Servant qualifies to be God’s *messenger, because God has taught him what to say (see Jeremiah 1:9. Ezekiel 3:27).
Moreover, God had comforted his special Servant. So the Servant can also speak from personal experience (see Isaiah 40:1-2).
The Servant must listen carefully. That is, not only to hear God’s words, but also to understand God’s meaning.
The Servant was willing to suffer.
· To pull out the hairs of a man’s beard was not only painful. It was the traditional way to bring shame upon a man (see Isaiah 7:20; Isaiah 15:2; Nehemiah 13:25).
The Servant concentrates his mind on the *Lord. That action gives the Servant the determination that he needs to carry on the *Lord’s work. That determination is the meaning of the word picture about stone.
The language of a court of law shows the Servant’s attitude. He has complete confidence in the *Lord’s judgement.
The attacks of those who oppose the Servant are too weak to succeed. Old clothes that insects have spoiled will fall to pieces. And the accuser’s arguments have no more substance than those old clothes.
The Servant stands firm. He has complete confidence in the *Lord. That encourages other people also to put their complete trust in the *Lord.
Some people refuse to listen to the *Lord’s servant. They want to live in whatever manner pleases him. They care only about themselves. These people would suffer a terrible punishment. The verse refers to their awful deaths.
· This verse may refer to the people whom the Roman army defeated in *AD 70. The Roman army completely destroyed the country called Judah. It was a terrible event. (The Roman army was the most powerful army in the world for many centuries.)
‘Rock’ is a picture word, to mean ‘strong foundation’. (‘Foundation’ means a strong base that provides security.) ‘Rock’ is one of God’s names (see Deuteronomy 32:4; 32:15; 32:18).
· The next words in this verse explain the meaning as a reference to Abraham. He was a man of strong faith (trust) in God (see Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:8-12). God was Abraham’s strong foundation (his security and the base for his life). All God’s people should aim to live in a similar manner.
God gave Abram a new name, ‘Abraham’ (the name means ‘father of a crowd’). Abraham was already very old and he had no children. But God promised Abraham that he would still have a very large family (see Genesis 17:5).
The intention of the *Lord’s ‘comfort’ is to convince the *exiles that their future will be happy and peaceful.
· The state of the people’s relationship with God affects the state of the rest of the world that God created (see Isaiah 44:21-23; see also Colossians 1:20).
In Hebrew, the language of the *Old Testament, the word ‘law’ is torah. The basic meaning of this Hebrew word is ‘to point’, as with a finger.
We are not to think of God’s law as merely a list of rules. God’s torah is his personal direction to each believer on how to live life.
· ‘Light’ is a picture word, to mean ‘a clear knowledge of God’s purposes’.
The heavens and the earth are not as permanent as they may seem.
· Here ‘smoke’ is a picture word, to mean something that has no substance. So it quickly blows away.
· Nothing in this life or in this world is permanent. But God makes an absolute promise to rescue people. A person’s continuous state of liberty and health of spirit are the results of God’s action.
· The phrase ‘free the prisoner’ does not merely mean someone who is in an actual prison. For example, ‘prison’ can be a word picture to mean the situation of a person with an evil habit. He or she is totally unable to escape from the practice.
For ‘law’, see my note on verse 4.
Isaiah uses the name ‘Rahab’ to refer to Egypt. That country was the enemy of the people of God in ancient times (see Exodus 14:30-31).
· Verse 9 seems to describe the *Lord as he awakes from sleep. Of course, this is picture language. The *Lord never sleeps (Psalm 121:4). In other words, he is never unaware of what is happening to his people. But he chooses the moment when he will act to save them. And then, to them, he seems to act as one who has just awoken (Psalm 78:65-66).
Here ‘forget’ is more than a temporary failure of memory. It means that the people from Israel could neglect to give honour to their *Lord. But they have a special place in God’s love. So he will take great care of them. The God who created the world and everything in it has complete power (see Isaiah 43:1-2).
· The *Lord frequently reminds the *Israelites that they belong to him. Therefore there is no reason for them to be afraid of anything or anybody. (See, among many examples, Isaiah 41:10, 44:2, 51:7, 54:4).
The Book of Isaiah emphasises this special name for the *Lord over 60 times (see my note on Isaiah 44:6).
The *Lord encourages his Servant. The *Lord will tell him exactly what to say. Jeremiah had a similar experience (see Jeremiah 1:9).
The rest of chapter 51 contains pictures in words that describe *Jerusalem and its people. Isaiah’s words are describing a period about two centuries after his own life. It is 65 years since Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city. The present inhabitants have only known rule by foreigners.
The ‘cup of anger’ is a picture in words. It refers to the *Lord’s punishment of his people, because they refused to obey him.
· The punishment was severe. So the people felt like men who had swallowed too much alcohol.
The city of *Jerusalem was like a mother with many sons. That is, the city had very many inhabitants. But they had no leader to take responsibility. So when these troubles happened, the people suffered greatly. And nobody helped them.
The *Lord had severely punished his people because they refused to obey him. But now he had completed their punishment.
The *Lord had used certain enemies as his agents to punish his people. But those agents took advantage of *Jerusalem’s weakness. In other words, they wanted to gain personal benefit when God’s people were weak. So they were very cruel to God’s people. And God’s people suffered much more than God intended. (See the Book of Obadiah). The *Lord will punish wicked behaviour wherever he finds it (see Isaiah 10:5-15).
The call to ‘awake’ means ‘realise your true value to God’. He is giving you a new opportunity to take your proper place of honour.
To sit in the dust is a picture in words. It means that God’s people suffer shame and a state of no value. But now God’s people must rise and sit on the seat of honour. They are free from the chains of slaves.
God’s people had suffered from the evil behaviour of their enemies, first Egypt (see Exodus 1:8-16), then Assyria (see 2 Kings 15:29), then Babylon (see 2 Kings 24:14).
In the Bible, a ‘name’ is not only a word to identify one person from another person. A name informs us about that person’s character and strengths.
So the *Lord’s name is important. It informs us about his honour, character, authority and strength. God’s people will know the power of his name because he is acting on their behalf.
The *messenger’s name does not appear. His name is not important. What matters is the message of good news (see Romans 10:15).
· Although God’s people are now prisoners in a foreign country, God controls the situation. The good news is that the *Lord is rescuing his people.
The *Lord is carrying out the things that he promised to do (see Isaiah 40:10-11).
The result of the enemy’s attack on *Jerusalem is a reality. But there is every reason to be happy, because the people can now rebuild their city in peace.
The *Lord’s ‘strong arm’ is a picture phrase for ‘his power to do things’.
Babylon’s ‘wicked connections’ refer to the *worship of *idols (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
God’s people will leave in a calm manner. This will show their complete confidence in the *Lord. All the nations will notice their quiet attitude.
Verses 52:13 to 53:12 provide the fourth (4th) of the ‘Servant Songs’ (see my notes at the beginning of Chapter 42 and the notes on 42:1). References to this Song appear in the *New Testament more often than references to any other passage in the *Old Testament. This Song is often called ‘the gospel (good news) in the *Old Testament’.
· The subject of this Song moves from God’s Servant as a group (that is, the nation called Israel; see Isaiah 49:6-7) to a person (that is, *Messiah). The *New Testament identifies *Messiah as Jesus Christ.
(Note: These 15 verses form one of the most important passages in the entire Bible, for both *Jews and Christians. For many years there has been an enormous amount of discussion in books and articles about the real meaning of the passage. But all this work has failed to bring universal agreement. By these notes, I hope to give some general explanation to show what the Song is about.)
· The Song has three parts.
In Verses 52:13-15, the *Lord is speaking.
In Verses 53:1-9, the people reply.
In Verses 53:10-12, the *Lord speaks again.
The shock that astonished people was to see the Servant’s terrible experience of pain. It was so very different from what they expected as a ‘great honour’.
The Servant suffered awful injuries and insults. It was the only way to obtain God’s good purpose for other people. But people had never even heard of such an event. They never supposed that someone would suffer so greatly for such a reason.
God’s ‘arm’ is a picture word, to mean ‘God’s great power’.
God chooses how he will work. And often, he works in a manner that people do not expect. His Servant was someone who was not impressive. People did not even realise that God had appointed the Servant for a special task.
· The early life of Jesus was in a village called Nazareth (see Luke 2:39, 2:51). Nazareth was not well-known (see John 1:46). The name ‘Nazareth’ does not appear in the *Old Testament or in any other early *Jewish records. There was nothing special about where Jesus was living. Isaiah writes about ‘poor soil’ as a picture in words of this fact.
· As a boy and then a youth, Jesus’ body grew naturally. But he grew ‘in front of him’ (that is, ‘in front of God’). So God was quietly taking special care of him.
· In those early days, there was nothing unusual about Jesus to attract public attention (see Matthew 13:55). Jesus was about 30 years old (see Luke 3:23), when he left Nazareth to begin his work for God (see Matthew 4:13, Luke 4:16-30).
There was a common belief about people who were suffering. Other people thought that those people were suffering because of their *sins. So God was punishing them.
The Servant’s work gave us wonderful benefits that we could never achieve by our own efforts (see Matthew 8:17, 1 Peter 2:24).
The reason for the Servant to suffer was because of *sins. But the *sins were not his own. The *sins were ours. The Servant did not deserve the punishment. We ought to have suffered that punishment. But his pain frees us from punishment.
The experiences of the Servant were similar to the experiences of Jesus. The Servant was silent (see Matthew 26:63). Men took him by force (see Matthew 26:50). Nobody supported him in court (see Matthew 26:56). He died with criminals (see Luke 23:33). His grave belonged to a rich man (see Luke 23:53). He had not *broken God’s laws (see Luke 23:47).
The idea of one death for the benefit of many was the essential principle in Israel’s system of *sacrifice (see Leviticus chapter 16). In that system, a priest *sacrificed an animal on the *altar to repair people’s relationships with God. Wicked behaviour breaks relationships with God (see Isaiah 59:2).
· *Sacrifices stopped in *AD 70, when the Romans destroyed the *Temple.
Many will come to belief in God because of the Servant’s *sacrifice (see Matthew 26:28, Colossians 1:19-22). After the Servant’s *sacrifice, his life ‘goes on’. Both the *Old Testament and the *New Testament teach that *Messiah will live always (see Isaiah 9:7, Hebrews 7:25). And God’s purpose will be complete (see Ephesians 3:9-11, Hebrews 2:9).
The *Lord will enjoy the success of his Servant’s work (see John 17:1-10, Revelation 7:9-17)).
The Song ends as it began. God will give great honour to his Servant, who has obeyed him totally.
· As the Servant who obeyed (see Matthew 26:42), Jesus will have his permanent reward (see Ephesians 1:20-23, Philippians 2:9-11). As he was dying, he prayed for his enemies (Luke 23:34). And in heaven he will continue to pray for those who have trusted him (Hebrews 7:25).
The subject of these two chapters is the *Lord’s promises to the city called *Jerusalem. God promises a great future for both the city and its inhabitants.
Isaiah uses the word picture of a ‘woman’ to refer to *Jerusalem and its inhabitants.
· In earlier chapters, Isaiah had referred to *Jerusalem as a ‘woman’ that was without the benefit of children. There were several possible reasons why a woman should feel very sad. Her family might be *exiles (see Isaiah 49:21). Or her husband had divorced her (see Isaiah 50:1). Or there was no family to provide for her (see Isaiah 51:18). Or that the woman herself could not have children (see Deuteronomy 7:14).
· But now the situation has completely changed. The ‘much larger family’ refers to a huge increase in the inhabitants of *Jerusalem.
The soft sides (walls) of the tent are called ‘curtains’. This refers to the manner that the walls of ancient tents hung down. They hung straight down from beams or ropes (strings) like curtains. Tents were usually square structures, and not like many modern tents.
· The people are to spread the curtains further apart, so that the tent becomes bigger. Here ‘curtains’ is a picture word for the walls of *Jerusalem. The city will need new outer walls to include the many new houses.
While the people from Israel were *exiles in Babylon, foreigners took their property. Now the *Israelites will get it back.
The Book of Isaiah emphasises the *Lord’s special name, ‘Commander of Heaven’s Armies’, over 60 times (see my note on Isaiah 44:6).
In this verse, ‘husband’ continues as a word picture for ‘*Lord’. Israel’s ‘shame’ (verse 4) was their failure to obey their *Lord in earlier days. That failure interrupted Israel’s communication with the *Lord. That is, in a word picture, Israel’s ‘husband’ (the *Lord) left her (Israel).
The *covenant relationship between the *Lord and his people was permanent (see Psalm 105:8-10). The temporary interruption did not mean that the relationship had ended. In fact, the *Lord himself had sent the people from Israel to Babylon as *exiles.
For the Noah incident, see Genesis 9:11-15 and Matthew 24:37-38.
These verses refer to the distant future (see my note on chapters 40 to 66, at the beginning of chapter 40).
The verses describe the repair of *Jerusalem after the *Babylonians had ruined it. The city will be more magnificent than ever before. But there is no reference to the *Temple.
The purpose of the precious stones is to reflect the beauty of the city (see Revelation 21:2 and 21:10-27).
The *Lord will personally provide peace and security for his people. This promise refers both to a military attack and to an attack in words.
The *Lord controls arms and armies.
The word pictures of familiar things to eat and to drink show God’s great care for his people. His free gifts truly satisfy what people need.
The *Lord will repeat the *covenant that he made with David long ago (see 2 Samuel 7:8-12 and Psalm 89:33-37). This time the *covenant will not be with David’s family (see 2 Samuel 7:16), but with the whole nation called Israel.
David’s extraordinary defeat of much greater armies was evidence to the nations of the power of David’s God (see Psalm 18:43-45).
God is not a distant God. People can easily reach him. He is close to them. He hears their prayers.
God tells evil people to repent, that is, to stop their wicked practices and plots. And to return to God and to live in his way. Then God will forgive them completely.
God’s plans are totally different in nature from human plans. There is no certainty that human plans will succeed. But there is no doubt that God will carry out his plans perfectly.
God uses ‘sky’ and ‘earth’ as picture words to show how different are God’s actions from human actions.
· The sky is far above the earth. And God’s plans are much more wonderful than any human plan.
God’s kind purposes are for the benefit of all people. That is why he carries out his purposes.
· See Isaiah 40:8 for another passage about the nature and effect of God’s word.
The state of the people of God’s relationship with the *Lord also affects all that he has created. The negative effect appeared as early as the events soon after God created the world (see Genesis 3:17-18).
It is not just the people themselves who sing on their journey home. Isaiah describes how mountains, hills and even trees join in. The people now have a right relationship with God. And this fact affects everything that surrounds them.
All will see that the *Lord *keeps his promise to rescue his people.
To be born as a *Jew is to be a member of the *Lord’s *covenant people. But the responsibilities of that membership include the need to obey the *Lord. That is much more important to God than someone’s birth as a *Jew.
The *Sabbath is a new subject in the Book of Isaiah (see Isaiah, chapter 56:2; 56:4; 56:6; also 58:13 and 66:23).
· After the *exile, ‘to keep *Sabbath’ was an important mark of membership in God’s people (see Ezekiel 20:12; 20:20; also Ezekiel 22:26).
In particular, God’s people were not to do any work on the *Sabbath. This copied God’s own decision not to work on the day after he had created the world (see Genesis 2:2 and Exodus 20:8-11).
· The first Christians replaced the *Sabbath (Saturday) by Sunday, the first day of the week. This was to mark the new situation that the *resurrection of Jesus had brought about (see Matthew 28:1, Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2).
Jesus used the word ‘*eunuch’ to describe one who does not marry, so as to be free to serve God (see Matthew 19:12).
· Isaiah 54:1-3 contains a similar promise for women without children. Men and women do not need to have families in order to receive a relationship with God. and that relationship with God will satisfy completely.
· This promise for *eunuchs was very special. Under the laws of Moses, a *eunuch could not join God’s people during public *worship (Deuteronomy 23:1). And a *eunuch could not enter the *Temple area. But now, God promises a new relationship with people. Because of that new relationship, foreigners may join the *Lord’s people. And, because of that relationship, a *eunuch too can know a complete relationship with God.
The *Jews considered that to have a large family was a sign of God’s pleasure (see Psalm 127:3-5).
· In the original language, the word ‘honour’ here translates the very common word for ‘open hand’. This meaning suggests that God gives generously and without limit as the reward for people’s trust.
· The word ‘name’ here means a great honour.
Jesus refers to the *Temple as the ‘House for Prayer for all nations’ (see Mark 11:17).
God has invited the foreigners to ‘eat’ Israel’s leaders. In the *Old Testament, ‘eat’ is often a picture word to mean ‘destroy’ or ‘kill’.
Israel’s leaders do not lead. They are unable to see what is happening in society. The leaders are like dogs that are too lazy to bark in order to warn their owners of trouble.
Rulers were often called ‘*shepherds’, because it was their duty to take care of their people (see 2 Samuel 24:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:2)
Josiah, king of Judah, is one example (see 2 Kings 22:19-20). See also 1 Kings 14:12-13 and 1 Corinthians 10:13.
*Canaanite religion often involved certain green trees as places to *worship the local gods (see Hosea 4:12-13). Because the trees were growing strongly, they must be full of life. So people began to think that to *worship a green tree was to share in its life. Such *worship provided an easy excuse for people to have plenty of sex among themselves. It was a part of their religion!
· The Bible often uses this behaviour as picture language for the *worship of false gods. Because of this sex, people were not loyal to their husbands and wives. Instead they gave themselves to other people. That behaviour was wicked. Their *worship of false gods was like that for several reasons. The people should have loved the *Lord God. But they were not loyal to him. Instead they gave themselves to false gods. This behaviour was also wicked. So the *Lord was like a husband whose wife left him to be with another man (Hosea 1:2).
· The *Canaanite god called Molech demanded child *sacrifice. Molech was among the many gods that Solomon collected (see 1 Kings 11:7; see also Acts 7:43). Josiah forbade such *worship (see 2 Kings 23:10).
· Long ago, the *Lord had forbidden the *worship of *idols (see Exodus 20:4). People must *worship only the *Lord (see Exodus 20:3).
Such stones seem special. So people began to *worship them as local gods. People could look at a stone god. They thought that such gods were attractive. They preferred these stone gods instead of the *Lord God. Nobody has ever been able to see him! (see John 1:18).
This is not an actual bed on the top of a mountain. The expression is a picture word for the wicked practice of sex with anybody that you choose.
Whether sex takes place in public or inside, it makes no difference. People cannot hide their evil activity from God.
People’s efforts to satisfy their desire for sex for the wrong reasons will always fail.
For Isaiah’s opinion about people who are foolish enough to love *idols, see Isaiah 44:9-20.
Here ‘way’ is a picture word, to mean ‘people’s way (manner) of life’. Rocks and stones may cause a person to trip and to fall on a journey. The *Lord orders their removal. These ‘rocks and stones’ mean anything that would spoil a person’s relationship with the *Lord. In particular, this means the complete removal of *idol *worship, because this turns people away from the *Lord (see Ezekiel 3:20 and 7:19-20).
· *Exiles who were returning home from Babylon would have seen a great deal of *idol *worship there.
There is no room in heaven for proud people. Courage and certain hope are God’s free gifts. People cannot earn them.
The people’s punishment was to become *exiles in Babylon, far away from their own land.
People must choose whether to put their complete trust in the *Lord, or to continue to follow their own desires. But people will never know real satisfaction if they do not put their complete trust in the *Lord.
AD ~ years after the birth of Christ.
altar ~ special stone on which priests burned animals as gifts to God (or, to a false god).
appearance ~ what other people see when they look at a person.
Assyrian ~ a person from the country called Assyria, or anything that has a relationship with the country called Assyria.
Babylonian ~ a person from the country called Babylon; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Babylon.
BC ~ ‘Before Christ’ (for dates before the birth of Jesus Christ).
bless ~ to do good things for a person.
borne ~ given birth to.
break ~ not to obey a law; not to perform a promise.
Canaan ~ original name of the land that God gave to his people.
Canaanite ~ anything that has a relationship with the land called *Canaan.
covenant ~ special personal agreement that the *Lord made with Israel (see Exodus chapter 24).
descendant ~ a later member of an earlier family.
Egyptian ~ a person of the country called Egypt, or anything that has a relationship with the country called Egypt.
eunuch ~ man who is unable to be a father.
exile ~ someone that an enemy takes away to a foreign country.
glory ~ the splendid beauty and wonderful light of God’s most holy character.
guilt ~ the fact that a person is responsible for evil deeds; the state of a person who deserves punishment for evil deeds.
idol ~ home-made image of a god.
Israelites ~ *Jews; people who belong to the 12 *tribes of Israel.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 *tribes of Israel.
Jewish ~ anything that has a relationship with the people called *Jews or *Israelites.
keep ~ to obey a law; to perform a promise.
look-out ~ someone whose job is to watch for danger; the place where that person waits whilst on duty.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible; in the original language, it means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
messenger ~ a person who carries a message on behalf of the sender.
Messiah ~ *Old Testament title for Christ.
New Testament ~ the final part of the Bible. It contains 27 books from the time of the first Christians.
Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible. It contains 39 books, all from before Jesus was born.
prophet ~ a person that God appoints to speak on his behalf.
refugees ~ people who have had to leave their homes, especially during a war.
resurrection ~ when a dead body becomes alive again.
rightful ~ a word that emphasises the rank or authority that someone ought to have.
Sabbath ~ the seventh day of the week, when people were to rest from work (see Exodus 20:8-11).
sackcloth ~ dress of rough material that people wore to show that they were very sad.
sacrifice ~ to offer a gift of value to God (or, to a false god).
seize ~ to take a person as a prisoner or a slave.
Sheol ~ the place where *Jews thought that dead people went.
shepherd ~ someone who looks after sheep.
sight ~ opinion.
sin ~ behaviour that *breaks God’s laws; not to obey God.
Temple ~ special building in *Jerusalem where *Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
thorn-bush ~ bush with sharp points.
tribe ~ group of the later family of one father.
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god) and to pray to him.
© 2007 Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).
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