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
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
This is as the waters of Noah unto me . The existing calamity—Israel submerged in the flood of Babylonian captivity-is as it were a repetition of the calamity of the Deluge in God's eyes. Its object is to purify his Church, as the object of the Flood was to purify the world. A righteous household survived in the one case; a righteous remnant would go forth in the other. And as God bound himself in Noah's time not to repeat the calamity of the Deluge, so now he binds himself not again to... read more
Lessons from Noah's times. In the ancient time God was wroth with mankind, when he "looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Then in Divine judgment he swept the earth clean with a flood of great waters. But in wrath he remembered mercy: a restoring-day came, and in that day God was pleased to enter into covenant with the race, and make solemn pledge and promise that never again should "all flesh be cut off by the waters of a... read more
The mountains shall depart … but my kindness shall not depart (comp. Matthew 24:35 , "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away"). Everything material may fail, depart, perish; but God ' s promises remain firm and secure for ever. The covenant of my peace; or, my covenant of peace— any promise which God makes to his creatures for their advantage (comp. Numbers 25:12 ; Ezekiel 34:25 ; Ezekiel 37:26 ; Malachi 2:5 ). Here there is a special allusion to... read more
Perennial kindness. "My kindness shall not depart from thee." Much kindness does. It is fervid, but fickle, and is too often conditioned by mood and temper and circumstance. Moreover, it may depart through lack of power and opportunity. I. THE SAVIOR 'S KINDNESS IS TRUE KINDNESS . He knows what kindness is. We too often mistake favour and indulgence for kindness. God is often kindest when he is most severe. II. THE SAVIOUR 'S KINDNESS IS MANIFESTED KINDNESS ... read more
The eternal constancy: a meditation on change. "My kindness shall not depart from thee." How much does depart in this world! There are departed sorrows, departed joys, departed friends; and in one sense, concerning life and joy and duty, the world is full of graves. But we have an unchanging Lord, Jesus Christ, "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "My kindness!" Is there not a comfort in the very emphasis? For much kindness does depart. Fervent, but evanescent, it has its little... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 54:11
Behold, I will lay thy stones "Behold, I lay thy stones" - These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: "For... read more