Isaiah 51:17-23

Isaiah 51:17-23

[17] 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.  [18] There is none to guide  her among all the sons  whom she hath brought forth;  neither is there any that taketh  her by the hand  of all the sons  that she hath brought up.  [19] These two  things are come  unto thee; who shall be sorry  for thee? desolation,  and destruction,  and the famine,  and the sword:  by whom shall I comfort  thee? [20] Thy sons  have fainted,  they lie  at the head  of all the streets,  as a wild bull  in a net:  of the fury  of the LORD,  the rebuke  of thy God.  [21] Therefore hear  now this, thou afflicted,  and drunken,  but not with wine:  [22] Thus saith  the LORD,  and thy God  that pleadeth  the cause of his people,  Behold, I have taken out  of thine hand  the cup  of trembling,  even the dregs  of the cup  of my fury;  thou shalt no more  drink it again:  [23] But I will put  it into the hand  of them that afflict  thee; which have said  to thy soul,  Bow down,  that we may go over:  and thou hast laid  thy body  as the ground,  and as the street,  to them that went over. 

What does Isaiah 51:17-23 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

God now turned the tables on His people and called on them to awake (cf. Isaiah 51:1). They needed to wake up to the fact that He would comfort them and punish their oppressors (cf. Isaiah 40:2; Lamentations 1-2). The fact that the Babylonian Captivity continues to lie unmentioned specifically in the text, strengthens the impression that God had more than that historic deliverance in view in what He promised. A greater future redemption is also in view, namely, the one that the Servant would effect.