Isaiah 54 vs 1-17
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verse 1
· In that culture to not have children is to not have purpose. It would essentially mean that after you, your life, that’s it and all that you’ve done no longer matters because there is no one to carry it forward. No name. No family. No wealth. It’s all lost. It was a big deal. And if you happened to be a wife that was childless, it was horrible!
· 1 Samuel Chapter 1 describes Hannah as afflicted, weeping in anguish and sorrowful in spirit. To the point that she wasn’t eating, wouldn’t go home and was just sitting in Shiloh, at the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord, crying out to God. Why? Because she hadn’t been able to have children…
· All that to say, this first verse in this chapter is an ask of God…, a request of hope, a request of trust…, the circumstance is…, horrible…, and, My son, My daughter, let a song enter your heart. Honestly…, this is so difficult! More are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman…
· The situation is not good. The good circumstances are outnumbered two to one by the bad circumstances…, but the Lord is essentially making an ask of me and of you and of them in their situation, remember that you have not lost Him!
· Mary did this. Maybe you recall. Betrothed to be married to her amazing fiancé. We know that because of how he handles everything. Joseph was a good man. And no doubt Mary was in love with him, was excited to marry him…, this was everything to a young woman then… But, she’s pregnant.
· There’s no way this won’t hurt joseph. There’s no way this won’t hurt her father, her mother, her siblings…, it would follow her the rest of her life and the rest of Jesus’ life. This fact that she became pregnant without being married to Joseph, AND, it wasn’t even his child! John 8:41 the pharisees insulted her and Jesus and Joseph by saying to Him, “We were not born of fornication!” And yet what do we find in Luke 1:46-55? Mary’s song…
· It’s a tall order, a tough ask, but God loves you, He is for you, He is with you, and He will see you through…, and that is true in everyday and every situation. So, the circumstance…, He sees it too, but break forth into signing and that takes huge faith!! It actually puts on display to the world something more powerful than the world… AND…look at this…
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verses 2 – 3
· BUT, I’m barren! Build onto the house? Make room for children!? Yes. Faith is acting like God is telling the truth. It is ACTIVE! Faith is believing what God has said even more than what this world has delivered! Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight!” Why would we ever do that unless faith, the Word of God, what God has said, God’s integrity is MORE trustworthy than what we can perceive with our senses alone!?
· And God would do this with Israel. He would bring them back from the Babylonian captivity and where are the Babylonians today!? The only Babylon physically left on earth is Babylon New York which is located on Long Island. In 2021 there were 12,194 living there. In 2021 there were 9.4 million people living in Israel!
· Hearing this, reading this prophecy of Isaiah in Babylonian captivity, as their numbers no doubt decreased, would encourage them to continue on and trust in what God has promised! It’s the same with us as we spend time in the Word each day!
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verse 4
· Ok not only did God do this with the nation of Israel, (actually several times over throughout history), I just want to point this out, this is a desire of the Lord and a benefit of ultimately surrendering your life to Him. God has a desire for me to let go, in a way, of my past failures. Learn from them for sure. Allow some humbling work for sure, but power over me unto discouragement and depression, absolutely not.
· 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” There is an element of disobedience and unfaithfulness in holding onto and revisiting your past failures if it takes from your joy. Why? Because in that moment or season or mindset, if it takes from your joy, you are less like the Lord. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and so not only is this permission to let go, this is a commandment.
· If it takes hard work and counseling, so be it. Work it out. Don’t leave it buried or hidden. It’s taking from your joy and will be a hindrance between you and the Lord until you increase your faith, (increase your ACTIVE), and deal with what you’ve done. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, my past has passed away…, so I don’t hang out with death. As Christians we are called to hang out with Life!
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verses 5 – 8
· This is all New Covenant talk and we even see that word used by God in just a moment in verse 10… Israel is referred to in the Bible as the wife of God and the church is referred to in the Bible as the Bride of Christ. This can be confusing and even sound a bit weird but it all comes down to covenant relationship.
· The Abrahamic Covenant, given to Abraham and signified in the rite of circumcision, was an unconditional covenant, one-sided, between God and the blessed descendant nation of Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3). In this covenant God joined Himself to this people for all time. He promised. And then the New Covenant, given through Jesus Christ and signified by the rite of circumcision of the heart, (Romans 2:29), is an unconditional covenant, one-sided, between God and the blessed descendant nation of Jesus Christ. And in this covenant God joined Himself to this people for all time. He promised…
· So, in that we see the relationship commitment of God to Israel and the relationship commitment of God to the church, the wife and the bride. Not the same but also not different. God is One. Three in One. And think of the church as the bride that Christ has won unto Himself while Israel is the wife that God the Father has taken unto Himself. And here’s where it gets a little weird…, because Jesus was a Jew… I mean, weird to us but in truth not weird at all…
· So, we read in these verses that there was a mere moment that they were forsaken by God…, interesting isn’t it that Jesus called out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” And we read here that with a little wrath God hid His face from you for a moment…, and in the moment of darkness upon all of creation, while Jesus took on the sin of the world, at that moment the terror of perhaps the Father turning His head from the Son…, His Jewish Son…, representing all people in that moment… All to do what? To usher in God’s everlasting kindness, God’s grace upon sinful man…
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verses 9 – 10
· That’s covenant talk. And the implication, its rather obvious, is New Covenant. Because in the previous verses we see kindness disrupted per se. Justice. And yet from here on out, just like the flood of Noah, can’t and won’t happen again… Why? Because it’s new and its secure in the perfect covenant sacrifice of Jesus.
· And now we have a glimpse of the ultimate promise as a result of what Jesus accomplished…
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verses 11 – 14
· We are given a vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation Chapter 21 (verses 9 – 21) which aligns perfectly to the promised description we just read. But, while we wait, here we have promises for now also because the shadow of the New Jerusalem lives in the hearts of the redeemed… How do we visit it? Vacation there? FAITH.
Isaiah Chapter 54 Verses 15 – 17
· Who is the spoiler but the Holy Spirit Himself. The same power of salvation in the Word of God and blood of Jesus, if rejected, is the single condemnation upon men… Weapons are welcome to form against you, but they cannot, won’t prosper…, and God will even use the circumstances of creation to show His faithfulness (the blacksmith illustration).
· This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. That is…, the faithful. Not the believers, the servants. This is a word of action. A word used in the Hebrew 800 times in the Old Testament. How many times is the word “boss” used? Zero times! Ha!
· The bride of Christ serves her Husband. It’s as simple as that. How do you know who is the bride of Christ? The one who respects and serves Jesus with their life! And this is the heritage of the servants of God because of the righteousness that is from God.
· There’s no trying to serve the Lord. No need to plan, strive, fight through not wanting to…, for the one who has passed from death to life, this is simply natural. Why? Because that’s love… The greatest commandment is also the greatest and only proof…, AND, it’s the greatest weapon, tool, whatever you want to call it in this world for overcoming the world!
· Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength… no problem. That’s the pleasure of my life for those that know Him and are known by Him!