Isaiah 51:2
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
Look to Abraham your father
The phrase "Look to Abraham your father" invites the Israelites to reflect on their patriarch, Abraham, who is a central figure in the faith journey of Israel. The Hebrew word for "look" is "נבט" (nabat), which implies a deep, contemplative gaze. Abraham is not just a historical figure but a spiritual ancestor whose faith and obedience to God set a precedent for the nation. In Genesis, God called Abraham to leave his homeland and promised to make him a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3). This call required immense faith, as Abraham had no children at the time. The reference to Abraham as "your father" emphasizes the covenant relationship and the spiritual heritage that the Israelites inherit through him. It serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness and the importance of faith and obedience.

and to Sarah who gave you birth
Sarah, Abraham's wife, is highlighted as the matriarch who "gave you birth." The Hebrew word for "gave birth" is "חולל" (chulal), which can also mean to bring forth or to beget. Sarah's account is one of miraculous intervention, as she bore Isaac in her old age, fulfilling God's promise (Genesis 21:1-3). Her inclusion in this verse underscores the role of women in God's redemptive plan and the miraculous nature of God's promises. Sarah's faith, despite initial doubt, is celebrated in the New Testament (Hebrews 11:11), and her account encourages believers to trust in God's timing and power.

When I called him, he was but one
This phrase reflects on the humble beginnings of Abraham. The Hebrew word for "called" is "קרא" (qara), which signifies a divine summons or appointment. Abraham was "but one," highlighting his solitary status when God called him. This underscores the theme of God's ability to bring about great things from small beginnings. Abraham's journey from one man to the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5) is a testament to God's sovereign power and the fulfillment of His promises. It serves as an encouragement to believers that God can use anyone, regardless of their starting point, to accomplish His purposes.

and I blessed him and made him many
The blessing of Abraham is a central theme in the biblical narrative. The Hebrew word for "blessed" is "ברך" (barak), which conveys the idea of divine favor and empowerment. God's blessing on Abraham included the promise of numerous descendants, land, and a legacy that would bless all nations (Genesis 12:2-3). The phrase "made him many" refers to the fulfillment of God's promise to multiply Abraham's descendants as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17). This multiplication is not just physical but also spiritual, as Abraham is the father of all who believe (Romans 4:11). This part of the verse reassures believers of God's faithfulness to His promises and His ability to bring about His plans through His chosen people.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Abraham
Known as the father of faith, Abraham is a central figure in the Bible. God called him to leave his homeland and promised to make him a great nation, despite his old age and initial childlessness.

2. Sarah
The wife of Abraham, Sarah is significant for her role in the fulfillment of God's promise. She gave birth to Isaac in her old age, demonstrating God's power and faithfulness.

3. God's Call
The event of God calling Abraham is pivotal. It marks the beginning of the covenant relationship between God and Abraham's descendants, which is foundational to the account of the Israelites.
Teaching Points
Faith in God's Promises
Abraham and Sarah's account is a testament to the power of faith. Despite their circumstances, they trusted in God's promises, which encourages us to have faith even when situations seem impossible.

God's Sovereignty and Timing
God's timing is perfect, as seen in the birth of Isaac. We are reminded to trust in God's plan and timing, even when it doesn't align with our own expectations.

The Power of One
God can use a single individual to bring about great change. Abraham was one man, yet through him, God established a nation. This encourages us to be open to God's calling, knowing He can use us mightily.

Legacy of Faith
Abraham and Sarah's faith left a legacy that impacted generations. Our faith and actions today can have a lasting impact on future generations.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the account of Abraham and Sarah encourage you to trust in God's promises in your own life?

2. In what ways can you relate to the challenges Abraham and Sarah faced in waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled?

3. How does understanding God's sovereignty and timing help you navigate your current life circumstances?

4. Reflect on a time when God used a single person to make a significant impact in your life or community. How can you be open to being used by God in a similar way?

5. How can you ensure that your faith leaves a positive legacy for future generations, as Abraham and Sarah did?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 12:1-3
This passage details God's initial call to Abraham, promising to make him a great nation and a blessing to all families of the earth.

Romans 4:18-21
Paul reflects on Abraham's faith, emphasizing that he believed God's promise despite the impossibility from a human perspective.

Hebrews 11:11-12
This passage highlights Sarah's faith and the miraculous nature of Isaac's birth, underscoring the theme of faith in God's promises.
Ancient MemoriesW.M. Statham Isaiah 51:2
Hearken and Look; Or, Encouragement for BelieversCharles Haddon Spurgeon Isaiah 51:2
A Bright Light in Deep ShadesIsaiah 51:1-8
A Humble Origin: John BunyanJ. A. Froude.Isaiah 51:1-8
Characters: Unhewn and HewnW. J. Acomb.Isaiah 51:1-8
ComparisonsW. J. Acomb.Isaiah 51:1-8
Instructions to the Spiritual IsraelE. Johnson Isaiah 51:1-8
Looking to BeginningsJ. Parker, D.D.Isaiah 51:1-8
Nature and GraceIsaiah 51:1-8
Seeking Souls DirectedJ. Irons.Isaiah 51:1-8
Spiritual StatuaryW. J. Acomb.Isaiah 51:1-8
The Benefit of ReflectionE. Cooper.Isaiah 51:1-8
The Lord's PeopleW. Birch.Isaiah 51:1-8
The Thrice HearkenF. B. Meyer, B.A.Isaiah 51:1-8
Abraham, or the Christian's RockW.D. Johnston, M.A.Isaiah 51:2-3
Hearken and Look; Or, Encouragement for BelieversIsaiah 51:2-3
SarahJ.A. Alexander.Isaiah 51:2-3
People
Isaiah, Rahab, Sarah
Places
Jerusalem, Rahab, Tigris-Euphrates Region, Zion
Topics
Alone, Attentively, Bare, Birth, Bless, Blessed, Blessing, Bore, Bringeth, Forth, Increased, Multiplied, Multiply, Pain, Sarah, Thoughts, Voice
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 51:2

     1305   God, activity of
     1335   blessing
     6620   calling

Isaiah 51:1-2

     4354   rock

Isaiah 51:1-6

     9165   restoration

Library
August 25 Morning
Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.--ISA 51:1. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.--None eye pitied thee but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, Live. He brought me up . . . out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 26. "I Called Him Alone and Blessed Him" (Isa. Li. 2).
"I called him alone and blessed him" (Isa. li. 2). When we were in the East we noticed the beautiful process of raising rice. The rice is sown on a morass of mud and water, ploughed up by great buffaloes, and after a few weeks it springs up and appears above the water with its beautiful pale green shoots. The seed has been sown very thickly and the plants are clustered together in great numbers, so that you can pull up a score at a single handful. But now comes the process of transplanting. He first
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Awakening of Zion
'Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.'--ISAIAH li. 9. 'Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.'--ISAIAH lii. 1. Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. His majestic figure, wrapped in a light veil of obscurity, fills the eye in all these later prophecies of Isaiah. It is sometimes clothed with divine power, sometimes girded with the towel of human weakness, sometimes
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Hearken and Look; Or, Encouragement for Believers
THE second verse contains my actual text. It is the argument by which faith is led to look for the blessings promised in the third verse. It is habitual with some persons to spy out the dark side of every question or fact: they fix their eyes upon the "waste places," and they study them till they know every ruin, and are familiar with the dragons and the owls. They sigh most dolorously that the former times were better than these, and that we have fallen upon most degenerate days. They speak of "shooting
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881

A Prospect of Revival
THE pedigree of God's chosen nation Israel may be traced back to one man and one woman--to Abraham and Sarah. Both of them were well stricken in years when the Lord called them, yet, in the fulfilment of his promise, he built up of their seed a great nation, which, for number, was comparable to the stars of heaven. Take heart, brethren; these things are written for our example and for our encouragement. His Church can never sink to so low an ebb that he cannot soon build her up again, nor in our
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916

"Sing, O Heavens; and be Joyful, O Earth; for the Lord Hath Comforted his People. " -- Isaiah 49:13.
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." -- Isaiah 51:3. "Sing, O Heavens; and be joyful, O Earth; for the Lord hath comforted his people." -- Isaiah 49:13. A living, loving, lasting word, My listening ear believing heard, While bending down in prayer; Like a sweet breeze that none can stay, It passed
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Lii. Manna. Exodus xvi. 4.
I.--Manna like salvation, because undeserved. The people murmured at the very first difficulty. If they had been grateful they would have said, "The God who brought us out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea, will not allow us to die of hunger." But instead of this they accused Moses of being a murderer. And in answer to this God said, "I will rain bread from heaven." What an illustration of Romans v. 8. II.--Manna like salvation, because it saved the people from perishing. Nothing else would
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Early Battles
Six months of joyous service amongst the Welsh miners was cut short by a telegram announcing to the sisters the serious illness of Mrs. Lee. Taking the news to their Divisional Commander, they were instructed to Headquarters. It was found that the illness was due to shock. The income from investments of the little estate left by Mr. Lee had dwindled; it now had disappeared altogether. Captain Lucy faced the matter with her usual practical decision. 'Mother, darling, there are two ways out. Either
Minnie L. Carpenter—The Angel Adjutant of "Twice Born Men"

Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before,
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

An Appendix to the Beatitudes
His commandments are not grievous 1 John 5:3 You have seen what Christ calls for poverty of spirit, pureness of heart, meekness, mercifulness, cheerfulness in suffering persecution, etc. Now that none may hesitate or be troubled at these commands of Christ, I thought good (as a closure to the former discourse) to take off the surmises and prejudices in men's spirits by this sweet, mollifying Scripture, His commandments are not grievous.' The censuring world objects against religion that it is difficult
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Ci. Foretelling his Passion. Rebuking Ambition.
(Peræa, or Judæa, Near the Jordan.) ^A Matt. XX. 17-28; ^B Mark X. 32-45; ^C Luke XVIII. 31-34. ^b 32 And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem [Dean Mansel sees in these words an evidence that Jesus had just crossed the Jordan and was beginning the actual ascent up to Jerusalem. If so, he was in Judæa. But such a construction strains the language. Jesus had been going up to Jerusalem ever since he started in Galilee, and he may now have still be in Peræa. The parable
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished;
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Thirdly, for Thy Actions.
1. Do no evil, though thou mightest; for God will not suffer the least sin, without bitter repentance, to escape unpunished. Leave not undone any good that thou canst. But do nothing without a calling, nor anything in thy calling, till thou hast first taken counsel at God's word (1 Sam. xxx. 8) of its lawfulness, and pray for his blessings upon thy endeavour; and then do it in the name of God, with cheerfulness of heart, committing the success to him, in whose power it is to bless with his grace
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Death Swallowed up in victory
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory! D eath, simply considered, is no more than the cessation of life --that which was once living, lives no longer. But it has been the general, perhaps the universal custom of mankind, to personify it. Imagination gives death a formidable appearance, arms it with a dart, sting or scythe, and represents it as an active, inexorable and invincible reality. In this view death is a great devourer; with his iron tongue
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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