Isaiah 51:17-23

Drunken Jerusalem 51:17-23

God now turned the tables on His people and called on them to awake (cf. Isaiah 51:1). They needed to wake up to the fact that He would comfort them and punish their oppressors (cf. Isaiah 40:2; Lamentations 1-2). The fact that the Babylonian Captivity continues to lie unmentioned specifically in the text, strengthens the impression that God had more than that historic deliverance in view in what He promised. A greater future redemption is also in view, namely, the one that the Servant would effect.