seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 54:1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
I found Bible-studys.org. I'm persistent at least.
This chapter portrays the results of the atoning work of the Servant and its universal extent to all nations. The Gentiles are depicted as a “barren” and “desolate” woman who breaks forth into songs of praise. The imagery depicts the Israelites as the “married wife” and the Gentiles as estranged from God.
God is now pictured as both the “Maker” and “husband” of the Gentiles. He is the “Redeemer” of all men and yet the same One who is the “Holy One of Israel.” Thus He is called the “God of the whole earth.” The reference to the cessation of the “waters of Noah” (the Noachian flood), is used as an illustration of the cessation of God’s universal judgment on the Gentiles.
“Forsaken … grieved … refused”: Israel in exile and dispersion has been like a wife whose husband has rejected her. But this is only for a brief time compared to the everlasting kindness she will enjoy when the Messiah returns to gather the woeful wife.
“Fair colors … sapphires … agates … carbuncles … pleasant stone”: The elaborate ornamentation will outfit Jerusalem to be the center of the future, eternal messianic reign following the Millennium (Rev. 21:18-21). As magnificent as this is, it is not as important as the spiritual richness of the kingdom, when truth and peace , prevail along with righteousness.
“Whosoever shall gather against thee shall fall”: In the millennial kingdom this will occur, as prophesied by John (in Rev. 20:7-9). The Lord will burn up all Israel’s enemies.
I missed this chapter when I was reading through the Bible. I've been complaining about how women were treated in the Bible. The whole concept of the "church" being the Lord's wife, considering I was raised to be the "wife".... has had me confused for over 50 years.... [told ya I was old and retired].... but now I get it! It's not that women are the church or the wife..... The descendants of Jacob [Israel] are married to the other descendants of Noah. This chapter even goes back to Noah..... Noah.... who had three sons...... one of which was Shem [great great great whatever grandfather of Jesus, the Christ] and the other brothers were Ham and Japheth. Ham and Japheth are the great great great whatever grandfathers of the rest of the world. Since I've been so confused for so long about this "husband" and "wife" thing..... I went back to the easy English site.
Isaiah uses the word picture of a ‘woman’ to refer to Jerusalem and its inhabitants.
· In earlier chapters, Isaiah had referred to Jerusalem as a ‘woman’ that was without the benefit of children. There were several possible reasons why a woman should feel very sad. Her family might be exiles (see Isaiah 49:21). Or her husband had divorced her. Or there was no family to provide for her. Or that the woman herself could not have children (see Deuteronomy 7:14).
· But now the situation has completely changed. The ‘much larger family’ refers to a huge increase in the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
The soft sides (walls) of the tent are called ‘curtains’. This refers to the manner that the walls of ancient tents hung down. They hung straight down from beams or ropes (strings) like curtains. Tents were usually square structures, and not like many modern tents.
· The people are to spread the curtains further apart, so that the tent becomes bigger. Here ‘curtains’ is a picture word for the walls of Jerusalem. The city will need new outer walls to include the many new houses.
While the people from Israel were exiles in Babylon, foreigners took their property. Now the Israelites will get it back.
The Book of Isaiah emphasises the Lord’s special name, ‘Commander of Heaven’s Armies’, over 60 times.
In this verse, ‘husband’ continues as a word picture for ‘Lord’. Israel’s ‘shame’ was their failure to obey their Lord in earlier days. That failure interrupted Israel’s communication with the Lord. That is, in a word picture, Israel’s ‘husband’ (the Lord) left her (Israel).
The covenant relationship between the Lord and his people was permanent (see Psalm 105:8-10). The temporary interruption did not mean that the relationship had ended. In fact, the Lord himself had sent the people from Israel to Babylon as exiles.
For the Noah incident, see Genesis 9:11-15 and Matthew 24:37-38.
These verses refer to the distant future.
The verses describe the repair of Jerusalem after the Babylonians had ruined it. The city will be more magnificent than ever before. But there is no reference to the Temple.
The purpose of the precious stones is to reflect the beauty of the city (see Revelation 21:2 and 21:10-27).
The Lord will personally provide peace and security for his people. This promise refers both to a military attack and to an attack in words.
The Lord controls arms and armies.
When Noah's three sons got off the boat.... they had a lot of options. The whole world was theirs to occupy. They could have stayed together.... worshiping the One Living God of Jacob [Israel]..... but that sibling togetherness didn't last long after the ark. The three boys split up..... and became three nations that became more nations..... and soon enough.... there was ranker enough for them to become divorced from each other. As a matter of fact..... since Ham's family is said to have inhabited Canaan..... Shem's family threw Ham's family out of Canaan when they got to the "Promised Land". This site gives me the information I need to see the sons rebuilding the human population.Ham's sons
1. Mizraim (Egypt)
2. Cush (Sudan, Ethiopia)
3. Put (Lybia)
4. Canaan (Hivites, Jebusites, Arvadites, Girgashites, Amorites, Arkites, Sinites, Hittites,
Sidonians, Perizzites, Zemarites)
I've been trying to wrap my head around this chapter..... the place of women.... the place of marriage..... and the place of Jesus and the church. Jesus wanted everyone to have the antidote to "death". I think it was God who insisted that only those who "believe" receive it. All my life I have been taught..... marriage is between two people..... who will stay with each other until death..... unless one of them will cause the other to stop worshiping the one Living God..... at which time... they would be divorced.... and the woman would be left homeless.... penniless.... to become either a whore or a beggar. The children she had with her husband.... stay with the husband..... even if he's the bum who started the rift that tore them apart.
What this chapter is predicting.... a universal family with one goal.... the worship of the One Living God. That's not going to happen for humans until all the naysayers are gone. There's a place in the common wedding vows that says "if anyone knows why these two should not enter Holy Matrimony, let him speak now". After Isaiah gave details of Cyrus sending the descendants of Jacob [Israel] a couple of hundred years before it happened..... is proof enough for me.... the detail Isaiah laid out about the mission and the return of Christ..... I know that one day everyone on earth will be worshiping the One Living God.
I think that's what has been confusing me all along. When I think of marriage... I think of a human marriage... that's only as permanent a covenant as humans can offer.... which isn't much. There's apparently a different kind of marriage.... like what happens when a good dressing is left to marinate and the flavors all combine to become the best dressing that ever touch the lips.... naturally.... without a lawyer or a priest.
Working together.... to enjoy God and all that entails.... now that's a marriage.
