What does “the bill of your mother’s divorcement” mean in this passage?

The picture of a “bill of your mother’s divorcement” uses the image of a husband sending away his wife with a written notice. God speaks to the people as children of a mother who has been put away. He asks them to show any proof that he cast her off to satisfy a creditor or for his own gain. The point is that the separation between God and his people did not begin with some need or debt on his side. Their own iniquities and transgressions led to this putting away, so they cannot charge God with acting unjustly.

Why does God say, “for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves”?

When God says, “for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves,” he is saying that they are not in distress because he owed anyone a debt or because he sold them for gain. Their own sins are pictured as a kind of self-sale. By choosing iniquity and transgression, they handed themselves over to trouble. Their hard situation is presented as the just outcome of their own choices, not as the result of God dealing with them harshly for his own benefit.

What does God mean by asking, “Is my hand shortened… that it cannot redeem?”

The question “Is my hand shortened… that it cannot redeem?” is God’s way of asking whether his power has somehow grown weak. The people were acting as if he could not or would not rescue them. He counters this by reminding them of his power over creation: at his rebuke he dries up the sea, turns rivers into a wilderness so there is no water, and the fish stink and die of thirst. These images show that his hand is still able to redeem and deliver. Their problem is not his lack of strength.

What is the meaning of God drying the sea and making rivers a wilderness?

When God speaks of drying the sea and making rivers a wilderness, he uses striking pictures of his control over the natural world. With a rebuke he can remove the waters, turn flowing rivers into a dry, empty place, and leave the fish to stink and die of thirst. These images are meant to silence any thought that he lacks power. The God who can change seas and rivers by his word is fully able to redeem and deliver his people.

Why does God say, “I clothe the heavens with blackness… sackcloth their covering”?

Clothing the heavens with blackness and making sackcloth their covering is a picture of heavy darkness and mourning spread across the sky. Sackcloth was a rough, dark cloth used in times of sorrow. By speaking this way, God shows that even the heavens respond to his command. He can turn light to gloom as a sign of judgment or grief. This again stresses that he rules over all things and is free to act in the world as he chooses.

What does this passage teach about God’s character and human responsibility?

This passage shows that God is faithful and powerful, while people bear responsibility for their own sin. God denies selling his people to satisfy a creditor or putting their “mother” away for his own advantage. Instead, he says they sold themselves by their iniquities, and their “mother” was put away because of her transgressions. At the same time, he insists that his hand is not shortened and he still has power to redeem, as seen in his rule over sea, rivers, and heavens. The distance between God and his people comes from their sin, not from any change in his heart or strength.

How can this passage speak to believers today about blaming God?

This passage challenges the habit of blaming God when life is painful or confusing. God’s people felt as though he had cast them off or sold them, but he calls them to look at their own iniquities and transgressions and at their failure to answer when he came and called. For believers today, it urges honest self-examination before charging God with neglect. It reminds us that he is able to redeem and that he has not lost his power, while our own sins and hardness of heart can create a sense of distance from him.

Isa.50.1

Isaiah 50:1

Q: Why does God ask, “When I came, was there no man? When I called, was there none to answer?”

These questions expose how unresponsive the people were when God approached them. He describes himself as coming and calling, yet finding no one ready to meet him and no one answering. The picture is that God took the initiative to draw near and speak, but they did not respond. This shows that their separation from him does not come from his unwillingness to act, but from their failure to answer when he called.

KJV GOD

Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Israel’s Sin

Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot 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 stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.