"Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O arm of Jehovah! Awake, as in the days of old, the ancient generations. Are You not the same that smote Rahab, that wounded the dragon? Are You not the same that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep? That made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass through? Thus shall the ransomed of Jehovah return, And come to Sion with loud acclamation: And everlasting gladness shall crown their heads; Joy and gladness shall they obtain, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. I, even I, am He that comforts you: Who are you, that you should fear wretched man, that dies; And the son of man, that shall become as the grass? And should forget Jehovah your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth; And should every day be in continued fear, Because of the fury of the oppressor, As if he were just ready to destroy? And where now is the fury of the oppressor? He marches on with speed, who comes to set free the captive;That he may not die in the dungeon, And that his bread may not fail. For I am Jehovah your God; He, who at once stills the sea, though the waves thereof roar; Jehovah God of Hosts is His name. I have put my words in your mouth; And with the shadow of my hand have I covered you: To stretch out the heavens, and to lay the foundations of the earth; And to say unto Sion, You are my people." (Isaiah 51:9-16)
Two words in this lesson, namely, "Rahab" and the "dragon," need a little explanation, in order that the student may read understandingly. But let everybody note that the explanation is given in the Bible itself, so that there is no room for the complaint that "we are not learned, and cannot expect to know all these things."
The book of God may be understood by everybody who will study it, no matter though he be not learned; he will become intelligent by the study. True, a previous knowledge of different languages may be a help to him, provided he uses his knowledge in the right way, although those who know the most of language are not the ones who know the most of the Bible; but when a knowledge of languages becomes necessary, then the man who knows the Bible has the advantage of everybody else. "The Lord gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:6)
What "Rahab" Means
"Are You not the same that smote Rahab, that wounded the dragon?" (Isaiah 51:9,Lowth)
Take your Revised Bible (for everybody who studies the Bible ought to have this as well as the so-called Authorized Version, and should read them both together) and read: "For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose, therefore have I called her Rahab that sits still." (Isaiah 30:7,RV)
This is sufficient, and will enable the reader to understand the following: "You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; You have scattered your enemies with your strong arm." (Psalm 89:10)
Now read Job 26:12 in both versions, comparing them. "He divides the sea with His power, and by His understanding He smites through the proud," (Job 26:12) or, as in the margin, "through pride." We turn to our Revised Version, and read, "by His understanding He smites through Rahab." (Job 26:12)
From this we can learn that the word "Rahab" means "pride." That "Rahab" is a pure Hebrew word, untranslated, we may know from the fact that it is a proper name, the name of one of the ancestors of Christ. When used in other connections, untranslated, it is simply the personification of pride, and is specially applied to Egypt. Egypt is the proud boaster, that does nothing. We are to learn that as God smote through Egypt, so will He bring down the pride of all that rise up against Him. "The day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low." (Isaiah 2:12)
The Dragon
And now for the dragon. Read: "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his rivers, which has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself." (Ezekiel 29:3)
The succeeding verses tell of the judgments to be brought upon Egypt, all of which have been fulfilled, as a token of the still greater fulfillment yet to come. That this judgment which was visited upon Egypt was but the beginning of the great day of judgment, we may learn from: "Come, my people, enter into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Isaiah 26:20-21) "In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the midst of the sea." (Isaiah 27:1)
Deliverance from "The Pride of Life"
We see, therefore, that both "Rahab" and "the dragon" are terms for Egypt. But that does not exhaust their meaning, since Egypt does not have a monopoly of the pride that is in the earth. The pride of Egypt is but "the pride of life," instilled by "the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:2)
So primarily the dragon is "that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan," (Revelation 20:2) "which deceives the whole world." (Revelation 12:9)
It is in heathenism that the characteristics of the devil are fully manifested in the flesh; therefore in prophecy the dragon is sometimes used as a name to indicate the nations that have been openly and completely heathen, opposed to the worship of the one, true God. So we see that the judgments that of old have been visited upon Egypt and Babylon, and other heathen nations that in their pride have boasted against God, are but assurances of the great judgment that is to come upon all pride, in the person of the devil himself.
These judgments, indicating the approaching downfall forever of Satan, the author of pride, are assurances to each individual that God will here and now save him from "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." (1 John 2:16)
These two words, therefore, furnish the key to the whole lesson. Verses 9 and 10 show us that we have a right to call upon the Lord to awake and come to our help with the power by which He in ancient times overcame Egypt, and delivered His people from bondage. He delivered them then, in order "that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws." (Psalm 105:45)
Therefore we may know that with the same mighty arm, and the same power He will now deliver us from the bondage of sin, "that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." (Luke 1:74-75)
The lesson that we are to learn from the scripture before us is a personal one; it means that everyone of us individually has at his disposal all the power by which Israel of old was delivered from Egypt. The same God still lives, and His arm has not lost any of its strength.
Sing the Promises of God
"Are You not it which has dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that has made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?" (Isaiah 51:10)
In ancient times the Lord made the depths of the sea a path for the redeemed to pass over, and thus, "The ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come to Sion." (Isaiah 35:10) "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." (Isaiah 51:11)
They shall come with loud acclamations, with singing and gladness. "But," you say, "there is to be long wandering in the wilderness of sin before that can take place."
Not a bit of it. That was not at all God's plan for Israel, but was the result of their unbelief. You see, they stopped singing, and began murmuring. That is the secret of their wandering in the wilderness. Keep on singing, not a forced song, but a song from the heart because God is your strength and your song and your salvation, (Exodus 15:2) and you will find that these "songs of deliverance [that] compass you about," (Psalm 32:7) will be a shield that will protect you from every assault of the enemy. This is not theory, but fact that has been demonstrated. "But I am the Lord your God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is His name." (Isaiah 51:15)
The power that divided the Red Sea is the power that is ours every day in our struggle to escape from the bondage of sin. He that believes shall not be confounded. The "exceeding great and precious promises [of God make us] partakers of the Divine nature;" (2 Peter 1:4) therefore sing them.
The Need of These Promises
"I, even I, am he that comforts you: who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forget the Lord your maker, that has stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and has feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hastens that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail." (Isaiah 51:12-14)
These verses have a peculiar significance in view of what the prophecy tells us will come in the very last days. Revelation 13 brings to view a power, a beast, which is the direct representative of the devil, since it is the devil--the dragon--that gives this beast "his power, and his seat, and his great authority." (Revelation 13:2)
Here we have, therefore, the personification of the arrogant pride of the devil in his fight against God; and this is carried out, as is seen by the reading of the entire chapter. Then later on still another power rises, seeking to enforce the worship of "the beast," that is, to compel men to refuse to worship God, and to substitute the commandments of men for His commandments. He makes an image to the beast, and will "cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." (Revelation 13:15)
The highest point of proud opposition to God is seen in the attempted changing of the commandments.
The Papacy, which under the name of Christianity, overpasses the deeds of the heathen, having gone farther in opposition to God, in blasphemy against Him, and in persecution of His true followers, than any heathen nation ever did, has presumed to set itself above the law of God, teaching men that, while the commandments teach that the seventh day, commonly called Saturday, is the Sabbath, they need not observe that day, but must instead observe the first day of the week, Sunday.
The substitution of this day for that appointed by God is claimed by the Roman Catholic Church as the badge of its authority, and the keeping of it by most of the professed Christians is the only thing by which they all, in spite of their protests against Papal assumptions, acknowledge her power.
Many of those who call themselves Protestants are with all their might seeking to enforce this mark of the Papacy, and so far will they yet go that they will issue a decree authorizing anybody to kill those who do not receive this mark. All the faithful commandment-keepers will be "placed under ban," even as Luther was after the Diet of Worms, and as so many others have been in the past.
That will be a time of sore trial for the people of God. It will be a time to try men's souls, and it will then be determined who has learned to trust in God for salvation. Happy will it then be for everybody who can hear God say to him,
"I, even I," (Isaiah 51:12) the one who divided the sea, and delivered Israel, and who made even the greatest obstacle in their way a path of escape, "am He that comforts you; who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass." (" (Isaiah 51:12))
Why should you be afraid of a puny man that shall die? The One who delivers you is marching on with speed, and will quickly come, so that you need not die in the pit, and your bread will not fail, even though it run low. It will be well to learn this lesson thoroughly. We shall, if faithful to the Lord, have occasion to remember it before many years have passed.
Present Deliverance
Yes, even now we need to remember it. If we have not learned and applied the lesson in our personal contest with "this present evil world," (Galatians 1:4) "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," (1 John 2:16) which are seeking to hold us captive, we shall not be able to use it in the coming time of trouble. The promise is, "Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." (Revelation 3:10)
We cannot afford to lose any time in making a literal, personal application of these lessons to ourselves.
A Wondrous Gift
"And I have put my words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, You are my people." (Isaiah 51:16)
In this verse we have a most wonderful statement. God says to us,--to everyone who follows after righteousness, and seeks the Lord: "To stretch out the heavens, and to lay the foundations of the earth, and to say unto Sion, You are my people." (Isaiah 51:16,Lowth)
That is to say, the word of the Gospel, which God has committed unto us, is the same word that in the beginning made the heavens and all their host, (Psalm 28:6) and which will yet make all things new. It is the Word that makes men new creatures, and which will make the earth new for them to dwell in. Here is the climax of all.
Not only does God by the power by which He rules the heaven and earth and sea, deliver us from evil, but He puts the power in us to deliver others who are in bondage. Who with this assurance need ever fear bonds or imprisonment?
Every child of God has given him a power greater than that of all the kings of earth. This power he is not to use against those who would do him physical injury, even as Christ did not, but he is to use it in the delivering even his enemies from the bondage of sin. With this word in our mouth, we may bid the devil depart from us, and he will flee. Do you value this gift of the Word of God, and do you use it?
How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word;
What more can He say than to you He has said,
To you, who to Jesus for refuge have fled?
--R. Keith or George Keen, Hymn: How Firm a Foundation, 1787.
--Present Truth, March 8, 1900--Isaiah 51:9-16.