Read & explore together
Israel’s Sin
Isaiah 50:1–3 uses strong questions and pictures to explain Israel’s sin. The passage says the people’s separation and loss did not come from any weakness in Yahweh, but from their own iniquities and transgressions.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In these verses, Yahweh speaks directly and asks a series of questions. He mentions divorce, debt, selling, calling, redeeming, and delivering, then uses images from sea, rivers, fish, heavens, blackness, and sackcloth to show his power and to press the point of the passage.
Isaiah 50:1–3Main takeaway
This passage teaches that the people’s trouble is linked to their sin, not to any lack of power in Yahweh.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A challenge about blameYahweh begins with questions about a divorce certificate and a creditor. The questions push listeners to consider whether he cast them off for his own reasons or weakness.
Explanation
Yahweh begins with questions about a divorce certificate and a creditor. The questions push listeners to consider whether he cast them off for his own reasons or weakness. The answer given in the verse is different: they were sold because of their own iniquities, and their mother was put away because of transgressions.
02No answer to his callThe next questions ask why no one was there when Yahweh came and why no one answered when he called.
Explanation
The next questions ask why no one was there when Yahweh came and why no one answered when he called. The passage does not say he was absent or unable. Instead, it highlights the people’s lack of response when he called to them.
03Power to redeem and deliverYahweh then asks whether his hand is shortened so that he cannot redeem, or whether he lacks power to deliver.
Explanation
Yahweh then asks whether his hand is shortened so that he cannot redeem, or whether he lacks power to deliver. These questions expect the answer no. The point is that the problem is not any limit in Yahweh’s strength or ability to rescue.
04Pictures of overwhelming authorityThe passage ends with vivid images. At Yahweh’s rebuke, the sea dries up and rivers become wilderness, leaving fish without water.
Explanation
The passage ends with vivid images. At Yahweh’s rebuke, the sea dries up and rivers become wilderness, leaving fish without water. He also clothes the heavens with blackness and covers them with sackcloth. These word-pictures stress his authority over creation itself.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01According to verse 1, why were the people sold and put away?
Look for the direct reason stated in the verse, and notice that it points to their iniquities and transgressions rather than to a failure in Yahweh.
02What do the questions about coming and calling show about the people?
Notice that Yahweh says he came and called, yet there was no one and no answer, which draws attention to their response.
03Which images in verses 2–3 show Yahweh’s power?
List the changes he says he can bring to sea, rivers, fish, and heavens, and think about how these support his claim to redeem and deliver.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Isaiah 50:1–3
1Yahweh says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was put away for your transgressions.
2Why, when I came, was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness. Their fish stink because there is no water, and die of thirst.
3I clothe the heavens with blackness. I make sackcloth their covering.”