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 not too many options here except that this is the same word used in Genesis 2:18 which is usually translated as “helpmate.” In it’s prime state the word has the idea of helping one join or be involved with God. A woman was create as a helpmate for man in the sense that she was to be a gateway to helping a man understanding God.
Here, Isaiah is saying that God will be the gateway, the one who will bring him to an understanding of his relationship with God. In this capacity, this sounds very Messianic. We can not reach God on our own and like Isaiah, we need an ’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 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 he 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 his a face which is dejected it is a face that is shining. Some else 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, which was considered to be 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 knew he would not be ashamed. The for ashamed here is bosh. Like kalam it 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.
It’s so comforting to know that God will never let us down. It may seem like He did for awhile but in retrospect I always see that He didn’t. One thing I like about growing older is a increasing acceptance that He is always there for us. In earlier life, it was mostly an intellectual concept. Now it is getting deeper into my heart. Still, I could do without the physical problems. I’ve told Him that many times but the answer always seems to be that He will use that too in bringing me to the Holy of Holies. I eagerly await His blessings now, much more than when I was younger, when I was more into what I was doing than what He was doing. Praise the Lord Almighty!