ISAIAH LESSON 21

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SALVATION ASSURED
Isaiah 51:1–52:12
Each week, read the entire passage before you begin. Record the verses where you find your answers.

Discuss review questions from the previous lesson.

DAY 1: ISAIAH 51:1-3—THE LORD DIRECTS HIS PEOPLE

1. In this passage, we see that God spoke to the people who would one day be the believing remnant.
How did He describe them?

2. Put yourself in the shoes of the nation’s remnant of people, who were living among war-wracked
ruins and empty towns. How would they have been feeling about the future?

3. Why did God remind the future Israelite remnant about how their nation had started?

4. What future did God see for the people of Zion (51:3)?

DAY 2: ISAIAH 51:4-8—THE LORD ENCOURAGES HIS PEOPLE

5. According to in 51:4-7, whom was God talking to?

6. What did God say He would do for them?

7. From 51:6-8, which words or phrases fit under the category “what endures”?

8. From 51:6-8, which words or phrases fit under the category “what passes away”?

DAY 3: ISAIAH 51:9-11—ISRAEL ASKS FOR GOD’S HELP IN EXILE

Note: Here, “Rahab” is a poetic name for Egypt. In ancient literature, this name referred to a mythical
sea monster. (See also 30:7.)
9. What might the Israelites have been thinking and feeling as they prayed (51:9-10)?

10. In as few words as possible, state what the Israelites asked for in their prayer.

11. According to Isaiah 51:11, what promise could the exiles cling to?

Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV®. Copyright© 2001
by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 HOME STUDY QUESTIONS FOR LESSON 21 2 ISAIAH

DAY 4: ISAIAH 51:12–52:6—GOD ASSURES ISRAEL OF HELP

12. Of what was Israel afraid (51:12-13)?

13. On the basis of 51:12-16, how would you describe God’s antidote to this fear?

14. What is the message of hope, according to 51:21- 23?

15. What would God’s people know about Him (52:6)?

16. How do you think that their knowing more about God might change how the people would respond
to Him?

17. How do you think that your knowing more about the Lord’s name and voice could change how you
respond to God?

DAY 5: ISAIAH 52:7-12—ISRAEL REJOICES IN GOD’S SALVATION

18. What was the good news that would bring such rejoicing (52:7)?

19. From Isaiah 52:11, what instructions did God give to the exiles?

20. What threefold promise did God give the Israelites about how they would leave Babylon (52:12)?

DAY 6: PARTICIPATE IN CLASS

APPLY what you have learned. “All the ends of the earth” would see God’s salvation through the
Israelites’ release from Babylon. The exiles’ joy would be the evidence that God had acted on His
people’s behalf. Psalm 126:1-2 paints a specific picture of what the exiles’ return to Jerusalem
would be like: “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then
our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” Of all emotions, joy is most
characteristic of us who believe in the one true God. If our lives are securely rooted in the Lord,
our inner joy will be an overwhelming indication of God’s power. What might your neighbors see as
signs of joy in your life?

 ISAIAH 3 COMMENTARY FOR LESSON 21

DAY 7: SALVATION ASSURED

Isaiah 51:1–52:12
ASSURANCE OF HELP (ISAIAH 51:1-8) God wanted the believing remnant—those who would “pursue
righteousness” and “seek the LORD”—to remember that Abraham and Sarah’s descendants multi-
plied into a great nation through His blessing. If God could raise up a nation from an old, barren
couple, He could extend His compassion to Zion’s ruins. The Israelites would again express “joy and
gladness,” thanksgiving, and singing (51:3).
God’s justice would extend to all nations as promised (see 42:1-7). Inhabitants of the islands and
coastlands would look in expectation for God to release His power. As if to prove that He is power-
ful enough to keep His promises, God challenged the nation to look at the heavens and the earth,
which seem so solid and enduring. God created them. They had a beginning, but they will have an
end. In contrast, God’s salvation and righteousness will last forever!
Those “who know righteousness” (51:7) would have God’s law in their hearts and be motivated to
practice it daily. God told them not to fear mockers who would try to keep them from doing the right
things. Their detractors were finite mortals, but God’s righteousness is infinite and eternal.
THINK ABOUT the difference between consulting a scroll to find out what God’s law says and having
God’s law in your heart. Psalm 37:31 says of the righteous, “The law of his God is in his heart; his steps
do not slip.” Not all who followed God’s laws had hearts that were really His. Jesus called such people
“hypocrites” (Matthew 23:27- 28). But when we obey the Spirit, we are following God’s “law” from the
inside out: “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18).

ISRAEL’S PRAYER AND GOD’S ASSURANCE (ISAIAH 51:9–52:6) The suffering Israelites would ask God
to awaken to their plight and use His “arm.” God gave a three-part answer to His people’s prayer:
God’s First Reply (51:12-16). God confronted them concerning their behavior: “Who are you that
you are afraid of man who dies, ... and have forgotten the LORD your Maker, ... [and] fear continually
all the day?” The Israelites did not need to fear their human oppressors. Nor should they forget their
Maker, who had created them for a purpose.
God promised to deliver the Israelites from exile and provide for their needs. Then, reminding the
people about the provision of His Word, God said, “I have put my words in your mouth.” For the
Israelites of Isaiah’s time, God’s words consisted primarily of the law that came through Moses.
They were expected to teach God’s words to successive generations: “These words that I command
you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of
them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when
you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
God’s Second Reply (51:17-23). God addressed Jerusalem as a mother who had drunk from His cup
of wrath. Jerusalem needed to wake up! Its inhabitants would drain God’s cup of judgment to its
“dregs” and stagger under its effects as though drunk. Not one of its “sons” would be able to provide
guidance or comfort. However, though God would hand the Israelites over to the Babylonians (see
42:24; 47:6), the time would come when they would “drink no more” from the “bowl of my wrath”
(51:22).
God’s Third Reply (52:1-6). The people would have prayed for God’s strength to show in their
deliverance (see 51:9). God encouraged them to clothe themselves with that strength and also with
“beautiful garments” (52:1). True, Zion would be “disrobed” and humiliated as “uncircumcised” and
“unclean” foreigners would take over Jerusalem. But the “captive daughter of Zion” would rise up,
shake off the dust of her grief and shame, and take off her chains.
Verse 1’s assurance of deliverance looks to Israel’s return from Babylon, but it also seems
to speak of Zion as the heavenly Jerusalem. Many scholars agree about this far-

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distant look because the promise “there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the
unclean” has not yet been realized. But before that day, the Babylonians would take Jerusalem’s
inhabitants without acknowledging they belonged to God. Because of their sin (Isaiah 50:1), the
Israelites would be “sold for nothing” (52:3). However, God would then take back those who were
rightfully His, and they would be “redeemed without money.” They would realize the fulfillment of
His earlier promise to deliver them.
THINK ABOUT God’s promise to deliver His people from anxiety, wrath, and insignificance (see Isai-ah
51:12–52:6). To the Israelites, God’s deliverance most often looked like His mighty acts such as the Red
Sea parting and the Babylonian captives’ return. But God also acts mightily by delivering us from sin’s
control. Jesus said, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). So if you need God to
free you from anything in your life, ask Him for His help and power.

CHORUS OF JOY (ISAIAH 52:7-12) Isaiah 52:7-12 depicts messengers proclaiming God’s salvation and
Zion’s coming deliverance. The messengers’ feet are “beautiful” (52:7) because they bring good
news. The messengers would proclaim to all Judah’s cities that the Sovereign Lord would come with
power (see 40:9). “Behold your God!” is the heart of that message. Here in 52:7, Zion is informed,
“Your God reigns!” As the city’s watchmen hear the good news, they lift up their voices and shout
together for joy.
All nations would witness Zion’s restoration when the Lord would demonstrate “his holy arm.” In
this context of universal peace emanating from Zion ultimately restored, God told the exiles to depart
from Babylon. But this time, unlike the exodus from Egypt, the exiles would not take any plunder
but would leave behind everything pagan. Nor would the exiles leave Babylon like fugitives as they
had when they fled from Pharaoh’s armies. Instead, they would leave in stately procession, carrying
“the vessels of the LORD” that Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had taken away in 597–586 BC (see
2 Kings 25:13-17; 2 Chronicles 36:7, 18). Israel’s God would “go before” (Isaiah 52:12) this proces-
sion of returning exiles.
God enabled the Israelites to fulfill this prediction as He worked in history. After Persia conquered
Babylon, Persian king Cyrus decreed that the Israelite captives could return home. Then they did
indeed return to Jerusalem, taking the sacred vessels with them (see Ezra 1:1-11).
PERSONALIZE this lesson. God’s comfort is integrally tied to God’s actions. “The LORD has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem” (52:9). God’s comfort is not passive. He speaks comfort and acts to restore. He may
not resolve our circumstances according to our own wishes or timetables, but we can ask for His comfort for our
hearts and restoring actions on our behalf. Is there an area in your life where you have been longing for God’s
comfort? If so, in what ways, apart from “fixing” the situation, might God’s comfort come? Brainstorm as many as
you can, then ask God if He might want to comfort you in one of these ways or in some other way.

REVIEW: SALVATION ASSURED

21. From this lesson, what have you learned about God’s deliverance?