Isaiah 51:17-23 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury… The prophet, or chorus of prophets, is supposed to salute the holy city with a cheering cry. I. PICTURES OF DISTRESS. The draught from the cup of Divine wrath. "The cup of his fury" - "the goblet-cup of reeling." These are figures for the horror and bewilder-meat caused by a (great catastrophe. It is "to drink the wine of astonishment" (Psalm 60:3; Ezekiel 23:2). Then there is utter helplessness. No guide for Jerusalem to be found in all her sons; no strong and helping hand to grasp hers in the hour of her dire need. Desolation, death, famine, and sword - the latter without, the former within (Ezekiel 7:15) - such is the state of the city. The afflicted mother and her sons. It is a picture resembling that of Niobe and her doomed offspring. The sons of this mother-city swoon, and lie at the corners of the streets. "Israel the mountain people is likened to a gazelle, which all its swiftness and grace have not saved from the hunter's snare." All these things are signs of "the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of God." II. UNEXPECTED ENCOURAGEMENT. "The transition from threatening to promise is marked by "therefore "(Isaiah 10:24; Isaiah 27:9; Isaiah 30:18). The Lord Jehovah, the God who is the Advocate of his people, speaks. This cup, which makes men reel with the madness of bewilderment, shall be taken from them, and put into the hands of their tormentors - the proud conquerors who had placed their feet upon their necks (c.f. Joshua 10:24; Psalm 129:3). Such sudden transitions remind us of the fact of providence, and of the coincidence of human extremity with Divine opportunity. God will not leave himself at any age without a witness in the world - which shall see that the hand of Divine power is not shortened, nor the bowels of Divine goodness straitened; but that God is as able and ready to save his Church as ever. "The difficulty of affairs has baffled and laughed at all resistances of created power, and so made the omnipotent Author of the deliverance visible and conspicuous." - J. Parallel Verses KJV: Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. |
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