A PROMISE TO ISRAEL OF GREAT INCREASE , AND OF GOD 'S PERSISTENT PROTECTION . There is no close connection between this chapter and the last, or even between this section and the preceding. Isaiah 54:1-5 take up the thought of Isaiah 49:19-21 , and expand it. Israel is assured of a great enlargement of her numbers, and bidden to rejoice thereat. She is then further comforted with a promise that she shall never be forsaken ( Isaiah 49:6-10 ). read more
The future of the Church. "The person addressed is the ideal Zion, who is practically identical with the ideal or spiritual Israel." I. HER FRUITFULNESS . Nothing to an Israelitish mind can suggest more forcibly the idea of desolation and sorrow in a nation or spiritual community than the childless woman. Historically , the restored exiles may be referred to; physically and to some extent spiritually Israelites, but, while on a foreign soil, and unbaptized with the Spirit,... read more
Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth ; rather, of thy maidenhood; i.e. of the time when thou wert a maiden, before by the covenant of Sinai Jehowth became thy Husband ( Isaiah 54:5 ). The "shame" of this period was 'the Egyptian bondage. Israel's later condition would be such that the very recollection of this bondage would fade away and cease. The reproach of thy widowhood. Israel became a "widow" when Jehovah withdrew his presence from her, when the Shechinah disappeared from... read more
For thy Maker is thine Husband ; rather, for thy Husband is thy Maker. The verse is exegetical of the terms, "married with" in Isaiah 54:1 , and "widowhood" in Isaiah 54:4 . "I," says the prophet, "have called thee married and widowed, thereby yoking thee to a husband, for thou hast a Husband, namely, thy Maker." (The Hebrew has both words in the plural, to accord with the following Elohim. ) This relationship of God to his Church is often asserted by the prophets ( Jeremiah... read more
The husband-figure for God. "For thy Maker is thine Husband" (comp. Hosea 2:16 ), "And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me, Ishi [my Husband], and shalt call me no more, Baali [my Lord]"). The figure Isaiah uses is that of the Goel , or next of kin, and this very suggestive and beautiful illustration may be taken from the story of Ruth and Boaz. Boaz was a "next of kin," and on him rested the formal duty of recovering Ruth's property, if the... read more
God-worshippers outside Judaism. "The God of the whole earth shall he be called." To our fathers the world seemed but small; to us it is great, and its bounds are ever enlarging. In olden times the few travellers came back with marvellous stories of griffins and dragons and mermaids, at which ignorant crowds gaped, but at which we can afford to smile. Now almost every part of the earth is searched again and again, and distant lands have become almost as familiar to us as our own. Men still... read more
For the Lord hath called thee ; i.e. recalled thee to himself—summoned thee to return, and once more resume the office of a wife . As a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit ; i.e. as one whom her husband has cast off, and whose spirit is grieved by the repudiation. No doubt a large number of the captives had the same spirit of penitence as Daniel ( Daniel 9:5-19 ). A wife of youth . One wooed and won in youth, therefore more dearly loved, more regretfully repudiated, more joyfully... read more
Superabounding goodness. The prevailing thought here is the prevalence of God's goodness over his severity. For a small moment he had forsaken, but with great mercies he would comfort his people. Against the "little wrath" in which his face was hidden there was to be set the " everlasting kindness" with which he would redeem them. The largely preponderant, completely outweighing, superabounding goodness of the Lord is manifest on every side. We see it— I. IN THE NATURAL ... read more
For a small moment have I forsaken thee . The sixty or seventy years of the Captivity were but as a moment of time compared with the long ages during which God had tenderly watched over and protected his Church, and, still more, compared with the eternity during which he was now about to show himself her constant Guardian and Protector. There had been a little wrath; or rather, one burst of wrath; and then Mercy had resumed her sway. The face hid for a moment had been allowed once more to... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 54:1-6
The relation of the Church to God that of a wife to her husband. The analogy set forth by the prophet in the first six verses of this chapter is one to which equal prominence is given in the Old Testament and the New. It forms the basis of one entire book of the Old Scriptures—the Canticles, or Song of Solomon. It pervades the whole teaching of the prophets, which declares apostasy from God to be "adultery" ( Isaiah 57:3-5 ; Jeremiah 3:9 ; Jeremiah 5:7 ; Jeremiah 13:27 ; Jeremiah... read more