FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 54: Jerusalem will be Restored
v.1-3
Get ready for blessing & enlargement
v.4-10
Your beaten past will be replaced by a new relationship with
the Lord
v.11-17
Beaten down Jerusalem will be restored & become secure again
[Preliminary
notes: This is a chapter of encouragement for Jerusalem,
seen as a woman who will reproduce [v.1-3], a wife who will be
restored [v.4-10], a city that will be beautifully rebuilt and
made secure again [v.11-17]. A distinct hope in the face of whatever
may happen in the future.]
v.1-3
Get ready for blessing & enlargement
v.1
Like Sarah, sing for what God
can do for you
v.1
‘Sing, barren
woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labour;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,'
says the Lord.
v.2
Enlarge you dwelling to prepare what God is coming to do
v.2
‘Enlarge
the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
v.3
For His blessing will mean you flourish and expand
v.3
For
you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
v.4-10
Your beaten past will be replaced by a new relationship with the
Lord
v.4
It's all right, your unproductive past will be taken away
v.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.
v.5
Because it's God who is your husband, your redeemer
v.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.
v.6
You will no longer appear rejected as He calls you back to Him
v.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.
v.7
Briefly you were put away, now to be brought back
v.7
‘For
a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring
you back.
v.8
Past anger, tempered by kindness and compassion, will be gone
v.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.
v.9
As with Noah be assured this will not happen again
v.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.
v.10
Whatever happens God's love is always there for you
v.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.
v.11-17
Beaten down Jerusalem will be restored & become secure again
v.11,12
A beaten city, Jerusalem, you will be rebuilt with much beauty
v.11
‘Afflicted
city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with lapis lazuli.
v.12
I
will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
v.13
The next generation will know the Lord and His blessing of peace
v.13
All
your children will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be their peace.
v.14
Righteousness will restore you, fear will be taken from you
v.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.
v.15
Attackers won't come from me, and will fall to you
v.15
If
anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to
you.
v.16
Yes, I bring war as judgment of discipline when needed…
v.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;
v.17
… but my children will always be triumphant
v.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.