Interpretation Helps for Isaiah 49-50

• Isaiah 49:8-13 is about more than Isaiah sharing the message of freedom to the exiles; it is about Jesus calling people from the ends of the earth through the gospel to be part of his people, the Church. In verse 12 where it says, "See they will come from afar--some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan"--Aswan is located in the southern-most part of Egypt.
• In Isaiah 49:26 where God says, "I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine," that is apparently a reference to spiritual judgment by God.
• In Isaiah 50:1-2 when God asks his people, "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away?" the answer is "He didn't divorce his people. He continued to be there for them." And when he asks, "To which of my creditors did I sell you?" the answer is "God doesn't owe anything to anyone, so it's not like he owed something to the Babylonians." When God came to his people and called them (verse 2)--meaning through his prophets--they did not listen. Thus they brought the punishment of exile on themselves.
• Isaiah 50:11 says, "But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment." Here the "lighting fires" and "flaming torches" is a reference to doing evil in not obeying the Word of the Lord.