Isaiah 54 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 54. Let’s go!
Isaiah 54:1-8 (NIV)
1 “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband– the LORD Almighty is his name– the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit– a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
On verses 1-8: Back in Isaiah’s time there were three situations that were specifically difficult and shame-inducing for Jewish women: being barren, being a widow and being a divorcee. Isaiah compares God’s people to a barren woman in verses 1-3, a widow in verses 4-5 and a divorcee in verses 6-8. But in each case His point is that the LORD is going to take away His people’s shame and restore them to a place of glory, joy and blessing. From a barren woman, God is going to supernaturally bless His people with far more descendants than she could ever have had naturally (v1). She will have so many children that she will need to find a bigger tent and her territory will expand into other nations (v2-3). We see much of this prophecy fulfilled already in our day. For through Jesus’ cross and resurrection, God is delivering His people from captivity to sin and is using His people to give birth spiritually to many more “children”, that is, believers from other nations. That is why Christ’s church of believers is the largest, most multicultural family that has ever existed or will exist.
To a weeping widow that is God’s people, God is going to become a husband. He is going to provide for her and give her security (v5) such that she will forget any reproach she had from having lost her husband (v4). Before we were married to God’s laws, but the law died to us and us to the law, and now we have a new husband, Jesus Christ.
Finally, picturing God’s people as a divorced woman, Isaiah says that God is going to restore His people and be her husband once again (v6-7). Because of what Jesus would do on the cross for us, God’s anger will be replaced by everlasting kindness and compassion (v8). It shows that God’s anger lasts only a moment but His favour lasts a lifetime.
That is the salvation that God brings: it’s not a shaming salvation but restoring salvation, one that restores our peace, joy and God-given glory.
Isaiah 54:9-10 (NIV)
9 “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
On verses 9-10: Just as God made a new covenant in the days of Noah, so God is announcing that He is making a new covenant with His people, such that His wrath and anger will somehow be permanently removed while His unfailing love and compassion will stay. Jesus would accomplish all of this at the cross, receiving God’s wrath in our place so that we can forever be acceptable in God’s eyes and at peace with Him.
Isaiah 54:11-12 (NIV)
11 “O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.
On verses 11-12: It is no coincidence that in Revelation 21 God’s people together are pictured as a city whose foundations and walls are made of precious jewels. It’s because God is taking His people, His bride, His city which has endured much affliction, and giving her a greater glory than anything she had before. That’s what God does with each one of us individually, and all of us together as His church, when we come to Him: He adorns us with His most precious assets.
Isaiah 54:13-17 (NIV)
13 All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s peace.
14 In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;
17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.
On verses 13-17: God is going to deliver His people from captivity to sin and bring them to a place where they will never have to fear anymore. They won’t have to fear what will happen to their children and whether those children will follow the LORD, for God will teach them and they will have peace (v13). Righteousness will replace tyranny (v14). Attackers, accusers and their weapons will have no chance of prevailing (v15-17). For God has vindicated His people through Jesus Christ.
Praise God that the picture Isaiah writes down here from God is a picture of what heaven will be like. Praise God also that we can experience a partial taste of this glory, victory, security and peace today when we trust in Jesus and even more when we get to heaven.
Thank You Father that what we read in Isaiah 54 is our reality both in part today and fully in the future. Thank You Jesus for being the Saviour who made our captivity to sin a thing of the past, and allows us to step into a new way of relating to God as a happy mother of children, a restored widow and a woman in love again with her husband. Thank You for Your salvation which comes without guilt, shame or condemnation, only grace and kindness. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
