Isa 54:1 “Sing, 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.
Isa 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
Isa 54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
Isa 54:4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to 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.
Isa 54:5 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.
Isa 54:6 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.
Isa 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
Isa 54:8 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.
Isa 54:9 “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.
Isa 54:10 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.
Isa 54:11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli.
Isa 54:12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.
Isa 54:13 All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace.
Isa 54:14 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.
Isa 54:15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
Isa 54:16 “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 wreak havoc;
Isa 54:17 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.
1 The prophet, for the comfort of the Gentiles, prophesy the amplitude of their church, 4 their safety,6 their certain deliverance out of affliction,
11 their fair edification,
15 and their sure preservation.
Isa 54:1 “Sing, 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.
Isa 54:1 “Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not laboured with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.
A note of sublime joy characterizes chs. 54–62, which describe the glorious triumph of the gospel: throughout the earth. Israel, thus far “barren” of results was to succeed in her appointed task. Her own sons and daughters would be “taught of the Lord” (Isa. 54:13), the Gentiles would be converted (ch. 56:6), and the Temple in Jerusalem would become “an house of prayer for all people” (v. 7).
God’s plan to make her His instrument for the conversion of the world. She failed her privileges and responsibilities were transferred to the Christian church.
Do not spare. Or, “hold not back.” Israel was to go forward in faith and prepare for the great ingathering of souls here promised. Today, God’s people should expect great things of Him and attempt great things for Him. God is never pleased, and His work on earth can never be finished, until the church rises in faith to unite with divine agencies in proclaiming to the world the knowledge of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour.
Isa 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
Isa 54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
If Israel would but rise in faith to meet her destiny as a nation, success would exceed her fondest expectations. Thus it will be in our day when the people of God are ready to receive the power God waits to impart to them.
The desolate cities. The cities of Israel that had fallen into ruin when their inhabitants were slain by the sword or carried into captivity would be needed once more to absorb the increase in population.
Isa 54:4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to 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.
God brought Israel out of Egypt to become His bride, but she had played the harlot by serving other gods (Jer. 3:1–11; Eze. 16:8–16; Hosea 2:5–13). This was her disgrace and shame. Her ugly past would be forgiven and forgotten, and she would be restored to the privileges and honour originally promised her.
Isa 54:5 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.
Although Israel had forsaken her “husband,” He would bring her back to Himself and again be her husband (see Eze. 16:8; Hosea 2:14–20; 3:1–5).
God of the whole earth.
The time was to come when all the inhabitants of earth would submit to His wise and just rule and all the earth would again come under His jurisdiction. All who refused to yield allegiance to the God of heaven would perish (see Zech. 14:9–19).
God is not God of the Jews alone, but also of the Gentiles (Rom. 3:29). Isaiah beheld the whole earth “full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3). Habakkuk spoke of the time when “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).
Isa 54:6 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.
When Israel left the Lord, God still loved her and called her to return. Compare Hosea’s experience with his faithless wife, Gomer (Hosea 2:2–23; 3:1–5).
Isa 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
During the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity Israel seemed to be cast off and forgotten. However, that bitter experience was permitted by God to reveal to Israel the folly of her ways and to persuade her of the wisdom of being true to Him (see Hosea 2:6–23).
Often, amid the difficulties and disappointments of life, it is our privilege to hear the tender voice of God calling us back from our own willful ways to walk with Him.
Bring you back. The gathering of Israel is one of Isaiah’s favourite themes (see chs. 11:12; 27:12; 43:5, 6; 56:8; 60:4; 66:18). The literal return of the Jews to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity, here foretold, prefigured the greater gathering of all God’s people into the heavenly Canaan.
Isa 54:8 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.
Isa 54:9 “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.
Following the Deluge God promised that He would not again destroy the earth with a flood (Gen. 9:11, 15). A similar promise was now given the people of Judah, if they would only remain loyal to God once He had gathered them to their homeland.
Isa 54:10 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.
Through Isaiah, God affirms the reliability of His promises.
Covenant of my peace. That is, His covenant that results in peace (see Num. 25:12; Eze. 34:25; 37:26). When Messiah came to this world the angelic multitude proclaimed God’s message of “peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14), and when He returned to the Father He left a promise of peace (John 14:27).
Isa 54:11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli.
Isa 54:12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.
Isa 54:13 All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace.
Heretofore, in their waywardness, the Jews had refused to heed the instruction of the Lord (see on ch. 1:2). Henceforth, in the restoration, they would be willing to learn of Him. In John 6:45, Christ applies these words of Isaiah to Himself and to His own teaching.
Under the new covenant God would write the principles of His law within men’s hearts (see Jer. 31:33, 34; John 14:26, 27; 1 Thess. 4:9; Heb. 8:10, 11; 1 John 2:27). For the importance of heeding the revealed will of God, see on Matt. 7:21–27.
Peace. That is, complete well-being—of heart, mind, body, and environment.
Isa 54:14 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. In righteousness. Only that which is right is permanent. God’s revealed will is the only sure thing this world knows.
Not come near you. See Ps. 46:1–7; cf. on Ps. 91:7.
Isa 54:15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
The wicked have often united against the people of God, but such efforts are doomed to fail. Had the Jews proved faithful to God upon their return from captivity, they would have been the recipients of marvelous blessings.
Their enemies would have conspired to take these blessings from them by force, but in so doing they would “fall” (see Eze. 38:8–23; Zech. 12:2–9; 14:2, 3). In the last days also there will be, on the part of all the hosts of evil, a united, but unsuccessful, effort for the destruction of the saints (see Rev. 16:14–16; 19:11–21).
Isa 54:16 “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 wreak havoc;
God asserts His sovereign control over the powers of earth. No forces may operate except as He shall permit (see on Dan. 4:17). No enemy may pass the bounds God has set for him.
Isa 54:17 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.
God will care for His own and vindicate them before their enemies. Neither evil men nor demons can prevail against them (see Isa. 50:8, 9; Zech. 3:1, 2).
God will vindicate the cause of His servants. When the enemy accuses them and fights against them He will pronounce them innocent and deliver them.
When confronted with forbidding circumstances in which it appears that suffering and injury at the hands of scheming men are about to be experienced, it is the privilege of the faithful Christian to say with the psalmist, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” (Ps. 118:6).