◄ Isaiah 51:19 ►
These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
Study Bible
These two things have happened to you
This phrase introduces the calamities that have befallen the people of Israel. In the Hebrew text, the word for "things" (דְּבָרִים, devarim) can also mean "words" or "events," indicating significant occurrences. Historically, this reflects the dual nature of the trials faced by Israel, often seen as both physical and spiritual. The duality may symbolize the comprehensive nature of their suffering, encompassing both external and internal struggles.

who will mourn for you?
The rhetorical question emphasizes the depth of Israel's isolation and the severity of their plight. The Hebrew root for "mourn" (נָחַם, nacham) implies a deep, compassionate sorrow. This reflects the cultural and religious importance of communal mourning in ancient Israel, where the absence of mourners signifies utter desolation and abandonment.

Devastation and destruction
These terms describe the physical and societal collapse experienced by Israel. "Devastation" (שֹׁד, shod) and "destruction" (שֶׁבֶר, shever) are often used in prophetic literature to denote the consequences of turning away from God. Archaeologically, this can be linked to the historical invasions and exiles that Israel faced, such as the Babylonian conquest, which left the land and its people in ruins.

famine and sword
These elements represent the dire conditions of scarcity and violence. "Famine" (רָעָב, ra'av) signifies not only a lack of food but also a spiritual hunger, a common theme in the prophetic books where physical deprivation mirrors spiritual desolation. "Sword" (חֶרֶב, cherev) symbolizes warfare and conflict, often seen as divine judgment in the Old Testament. Historically, these were real threats faced by Israel, underscoring the tangible and immediate nature of their suffering.

Who will console you?
This question reiterates the theme of abandonment and the need for divine intervention. The Hebrew root for "console" (נָחַם, nacham) is the same as for "mourn," suggesting that true comfort can only come from God. In the broader scriptural context, this points to the hope of redemption and restoration, a recurring promise in Isaiah's prophecies. The absence of human comforters highlights the necessity of turning to God for solace and deliverance.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which faced judgment and exile due to its disobedience to God. Isaiah's prophecies often addressed the people of Judah.

3. Devastation and Destruction
These terms refer to the calamities that have come upon Judah as a result of their rebellion against God. In Hebrew, "devastation" (shod) and "destruction" (sheber) emphasize the severity of their plight.

4. Famine and Sword
These are specific judgments that have befallen Judah. "Famine" (ra'av) indicates a lack of sustenance, while "sword" (cherev) symbolizes warfare and violence.

5. Consolation
The rhetorical question "Who will console you?" highlights the absence of comforters for Judah, pointing to their desperate need for divine intervention.
Teaching Points
The Consequences of Disobedience
Isaiah 51:19 serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of turning away from God. Just as Judah faced devastation and destruction, we too can experience spiritual desolation when we stray from God's path.

The Need for Divine Consolation
The rhetorical question about who will console Judah points to the ultimate need for God's comfort. In our own lives, we must seek God's presence and consolation in times of trouble.

Hope Amidst Judgment
While the verse highlights judgment, it also implicitly points to the hope of restoration. God's discipline is not without purpose; it is meant to bring us back to Him.

The Role of Community in Comfort
The absence of comforters for Judah underscores the importance of community. As believers, we are called to be sources of comfort and support for one another.

Trust in God's Sovereignty
Even in the face of devastation, we must trust in God's sovereignty and His ultimate plan for redemption and restoration.
Bible Study Questions
1. What are the "two things" mentioned in Isaiah 51:19, and how do they relate to the spiritual state of Judah?

2. How does the absence of comforters in Isaiah 51:19 challenge us to be more attentive to the needs of those around us?

3. In what ways can we seek God's consolation in our own lives when facing trials and hardships?

4. How do the themes of judgment and hope in Isaiah 51:19 connect to the broader account of redemption in the Bible?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced "famine and sword" in your life. How did you find comfort, and what role did your faith community play in that process?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Lamentations 1:12-16
This passage echoes the themes of devastation and the search for comfort, as Jerusalem laments its desolation and seeks consolation.

Jeremiah 14:12
Jeremiah speaks of famine and sword as judgments from God, reinforcing the idea that these calamities are consequences of disobedience.

Psalm 23:4
In contrast to the absence of comfort in Isaiah 51:19, Psalm 23:4 speaks of God's presence as a source of comfort even in the darkest times.
Sermons
Encouragement for JerusalemE. Johnson Isaiah 51:17-23
Spiritual StupefactionW. Clarkson Isaiah 51:17-23
People
Isaiah, Rahab, Sarah
Places
Jerusalem, Rahab, Tigris-Euphrates Region, Zion
Topics
Befallen, Bemoan, Calamities, Comfort, Comforted, Condole, Console, Death, Desolation, Destruction, Devastation, Famine, Meeting, Mourn, Moved, Ruin, Sorry, Spoiling, Sword, Wasting, Weeping
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 51:19

     5805   comfort

Isaiah 51:19-20

     4823   famine, physical

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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