Isaiah 50:7: “For the Lord God shall help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed,”
Practically every translation I read this verse in will translate ‘azar as help or helper. There are no too many options here except that this is the same word used in Genesis 2:18 which is translated in the KJV as helpmeet. If you trace this word to its Semitic root you have the idea of one who helps you join or involve yourself with another person. Today we would call such a person an arbitrator or a mediator. It could be applied to a sales consultant, one who tries to join you with a product. It could also be applied to a priest or pastor, one who involves you with God. In this context, as in Genesis 2:18 it is one who helps you join yourself or involve yourself with God. A woman was created as a helpmeet, a priest or pastor for man. Note the KJV uses an interesting word that we do not see in today’s English, but does capture the essence of the word ‘azar, it is helpmeet, not helpmate. It is one who helps you meet God. For once the Oxford scholars really zeroed in on an ancient word with a really appropriate word that we, unfortunately do not use today. What ‘azar is telling us in Genesis 2:18, as any Jewish rabbi will tell you, is that a woman was created to be a gateway to helping a man understanding God.
Yet, here in Isaiah 50:7, Isaiah is saying that God Himself will also be a gateway, one who will bring us to an understanding of his relationship with God. In this capacity it sounds very Messianic to me. We can not reach God on our own and like Isaiah, we need and ’azar. That is the role of Jesus.
Once He has brought us into that relationship with God we will not be confounded. The word confound in Hebrew is kalam which means to blush, hence the idea of being embarrassed, humiliated, insulted or ashamed. Isaiah is describing the persecution he is going through for speaking the Word of the Lord. In verse 6 we see where Isaiah’s persecutors pulled his hair our, humiliated him, and yet the Lord came at that moment and was an ‘azar, to draw him into His presence. In His presence Isaiah was not ashamed, or humiliated.
For this reason he set his face like flint. We have a definite play on words here for the word for flint is chalam, which sounds the same as kalam. Flint is a shining rock. Rather than a face which is dejected it is a face that is shining. Something else is a little odd about this word chalam. It is the same word used for a dream. His face will be dreamlike? But that is an English idiom, not a Hebrew idiom. Dreams were considered healthy, hence the word is also used for an egg yolk, in those days the yolk of the egg was considered the nutritious part of an egg. The word is also used for strength and good health. In other words, despite what the people did to persecute him, he was still a shining example of strength and health.
He also knew he would not be ashamed. The Hebrew word used for ashamed here is bosh. Like kalam it too means to be ashamed, but this type of shame has more of the idea of disappointment. It is what you feel when you depend upon someone and they let you down. Someone important to you tells you they will meet you at a certain time, but they never show up. That is bosh. Isaiah is confident that God will not let him down.
You step out in faith, you know God’s Word and what He expects of you and ask of you but you do not see the expected results. People begin to ridicule you, suggest maybe you sort of missed God’s voice. Yet, if it is of God, He will be you ‘azar, He will draw you into His presence and when He does you are not ashamed or embarrassed. In fact you have a renewed confidence that He will not let you down.
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