#1013 Isaiah 50 Part 1 Writ of Divorce

 

Thus says the Lord:

“Where is your mother's certificate of divorce,

with which I sent her away?

Or which of my creditors is it

to whom I have sold you?

Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

2 Why, when I came, was there no man;

why, when I called, was there no one to answer?

Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

Or have I no power to deliver?

Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,

I make the rivers a desert;

their fish stink for lack of water

and die of thirst.

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness

and make sackcloth their covering.”

4 The Lord God has given me

the tongue of those who are taught,

that I may know how to sustain with a word

him who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

he awakens my ear

to hear as those who are taught.

5 The Lord God has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

6 I gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

7 But the Lord God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

8 He who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who is my adversary?

Let him come near to me.

9 Behold, the Lord God helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;

the moth will eat them up.

10 Who among you fears the Lord

and obeys the voice of his servant?

Let him who walks in darkness

and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Walk by the light of your fire,

and by the torches that you have kindled!

This you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment. Isaiah 50 ESV

Isaiah 50 Israel's Sin and the Servants Obedience

The first 3 verses seem to continue the answer of the question or complaint from the preceding chapter, Israel's concern in 49:14

1-3. Where is your mother's certificate of divorce - He, God, is using legal terminology that they would be well familiar with, and is asking them to produce the documents. Now, many commentators say this is rhetorical, in that they can produce no such document because it has not been given them. That is a possibility, but also, if they could produce such paper work, consider the Mosaic Covenant, the law wherein God said "do this and you shall live", everything that he read and wrote down for them from God in Exodus chapters 19-24. They responded with one voice and said "we will do", like the marriage ceremony at the end of the vows where the preacher says, "do you take so and so to be your lawfully wedded," and you say, "I do". 

When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”

8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus 24: 3-8

With which I sent her away - Whether the writ is rhetorical or actual, she is going to be sent into exile like her sister, the northern tribes, and not for God's breech of any covenant, but for her own. She left Him for other gods, culture and her own way. 

…7I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.9Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.… Jeremiah 3: 7-9

1If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house. 2If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife,3and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,…

…4then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 24: 1-4

Wow, this looked like such a short passage, but I will probably only make it through the first 3 verses this post. There is a lot of confusion in both the church and the culture regarding marriage, and much of the church has diverted from being people of the Book to being people of the culture (world). So, I think it is important to thoroughly pick through this, understanding the Biblical view of marriage will also help us shed more light on this text. Look at verse 4 in Deut. 24 above, "after she has been defiled", now this is very strong language, "may not remarry her...for that is an abomination." In the language of this chapter and elsewhere in the Word, God uses the institute of marriage to describe His relationship with His people. So if the wages of sin is death, the annulment of our relationship with God, and if all have sinned as the Scriptures state, then how can anyone be brought back in accordance with the law? This is no light matter, no simple accomplishment, impossible for men, yet the book of Isaiah is all about reconciliation and the Reconciler. How can God call any human back to Himself when all are defiled? How can He be married to us without Himself becoming an abomination? 

…17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.” 18“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.19If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.… Isaiah 1: 17-19

…20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. 21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

There is a beautiful old song that represents these doctrines so well - 

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Or which of my creditors is it - God owes no one anything but what He has promised in His word to His own integrity. Marriage is His own institution. regardless of human opinions, court rulings, or government mandates, God has not changed, so He will not judge according to man's laws but His own decree. "Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away."

…23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.” 24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.… Genesis 2: 23-25

…14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?… 1 Corinthians 7: 14-16

How different the faithful God is from fickle men for Hebrew men could (and would) give a certificate of divorce to the wife of their youth with whom there were in covenant for a number of missteps. The Talmud cites three opinions as to when one could get a divorce...

1.The School of Shammai rules: A man should not divorce his wife unless he discovers in her an immoral matter...

2.The School of Hillel holds: [He may divorce her] even if she burnt his meal.

3.Rabbi Akiva says: Even if he found another more beautiful than she. PA

…7“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning. 9Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”… Matthew 19: 7-9

27You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5: 27-28

Was there no one to answer - He has knocked often, called, through His word, the prophets and His Son, yet no one responds.

…19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. 21To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.… Revelation 3: 19-21

1On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.… Hebrews 1: 1-3

Or have I know power to deliver - They had sought other means of deliverance, fulfillment; no one was seeking Him. He did not appear as they would hope, and they had no understanding of how dire their need. Problems, they had many, but the root they could not find. They looked to Assyria, Egypt, to themselves and as we will see, their own "righteousness".