What is the meaning of Isaiah 50:1? This is what the LORD says Isaiah begins with the divine announcement, anchoring every word that follows in God’s own authority. • Throughout Scripture, phrases like “Thus says the LORD” (Isaiah 45:18-19; Jeremiah 33:2-3) remind God’s people that the message originates with Him, not with the prophet. • Because “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), the verse carries the full weight of the Creator’s voice, calling us to listen and respond. Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? The Lord raises a question: can anyone produce proof that He permanently severed His covenant with Israel? • Under the Law, a husband who divorced his wife had to issue a certificate (Deuteronomy 24:1). • God uses the image again in Jeremiah 3:8, where He “gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce.” Even there, however, His purpose was corrective, not final. • He later promises, “For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted” (Isaiah 54:6-7), showing His heart to restore. • By asking “Where is it?” He implies no such document exists—illustrating that His covenant love endures despite Israel’s failures. Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Ancient families sometimes sold members into slavery to settle debts (2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:5). God denies ever needing to do that. • Psalm 50:10 reminds us He owns “the cattle on a thousand hills,” so He has no creditors. • Acts 17:24-25 echoes that He is “not served by human hands, as though He needed anything.” • By dismissing the idea of owing anyone, the Lord shows that Israel’s suffering cannot be blamed on His supposed financial desperation but on something within the nation itself. Look, you were sold for your iniquities Here the Lord pinpoints the true cause of Israel’s predicament: sin. • Isaiah 59:2 declares, “Your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God.” • Isaiah 52:3 states, “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed,” confirming that sin, not silver, triggered the exile. • Jesus echoes the principle in John 8:34, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin,” underlining humanity’s bondage apart from divine intervention. For your transgressions your mother was sent away “Mother” represents the nation as a whole. Her expulsion illustrates corporate judgment for collective rebellion. • Hosea 2:2-4 portrays a similar picture: “Rebuke your mother… otherwise I will strip her naked,” yet even Hosea ends with promised restoration (Hosea 2:14-23). • 2 Kings 17:18 records that the Northern Kingdom was “banished from His presence” because of persistent transgressions. • Lamentations 1:8 laments, “Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn.” summary Isaiah 50:1 confronts Israel with penetrating questions that expose the real issue: their sin—not God’s unfaithfulness—brought exile and suffering. The absence of any “certificate of divorce” or “creditor” shows that the covenant Lord neither abandoned nor sold His people. Instead, He disciplines them for iniquity but keeps the door open for restoration, proving His steadfast love and urging repentance so fellowship can be fully renewed. |
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