14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.
Be not afraid of sudden fear, Neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh: For Jehovah will be thy confidence, And will keep thy foot from being taken.
And I will encamp about my house against the army, that none pass through or return; and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein. For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not fear evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; O Zion, let not thy hands be slack.
Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as in the day of Midian.
and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, a faithful town.
So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. And I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion.
and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it.
neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith Jehovah.
Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
and hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 54
Commentary on Isaiah 54 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 54
Isa 54:1-17. The Fruit of Messiah's Sufferings, and of Israel's Final Penitence at Her Past Unbelief (Isa 53:6): Her Joyful Restoration and Enlargement by Jehovah, Whose Wrath Was Momentary, but His Kindness Everlasting.
Israel converted is compared to a wife (Isa 54:5; Isa 62:5) put away for unfaithfulness, but now forgiven and taken home again. The converted Gentiles are represented as a new progeny of the long-forsaken but now restored wife. The pre-eminence of the Hebrew Church as the mother Church of Christendom is the leading idea; the conversion of the Gentiles is mentioned only as part of her felicity [Horsley].
1. Sing—for joy (Zep 3:14).
barren—the Jewish Church once forsaken by God, and therefore during that time destitute of spiritual children (Isa 54:6).
didst not bear—during the Babylonian exile primarily. Secondarily, and chiefly, during Israel's present dispersion.
the children—the Gentiles adopted by special grace into the original Church (Isa 54:3; Isa 49:20, 21).
than … married wife—than were her spiritual children, when Israel was still a married wife (under the law, before the Babylonian exile), before God put her away [Maurer]. So Paul contrasts the universal Church of the New Testament with the Church of the Old Testament legal dispensation, quoting this very passage (Ga 4:27). But the full accomplishment of it is yet future.
2. (Isa 49:19, 20; Jer 31:31-36, 38, 39). Thy children shall be so many that thy borders must be extended to contain them.
curtains—the cloth forming the covering of the tent.
spare not—give abundantly the means for the enlargement of the Church (2Co 9:5-7).
cords … stakes—The more the tent is enlarged by lengthening the cords by which the cloth covering is fastened to the ground, the more the stakes supporting the tent need to be strengthened; the Church is not merely to seek new converts, but to strengthen those she has in the faith. The image is appropriate, as the tabernacle was the symbol of the old Israelitish Church (see on Isa 33:20).
3. break forth—rather, "burst forth" with increase; thy offspring shall grow, answering to "thy seed" in the parallel clause.
thy seed—Israel and her children, as distinguished from "the Gentiles."
desolate cities—of Israel (Isa 44:26).
4. (Isa 41:10, 14).
shame of thy youth—Israel's unfaithfulness as wife of Jehovah, almost from her earliest history.
reproach of widowhood—Israel's punishment in her consequent dismissal from God and barrenness of spiritual children in Babylon and her present dispersion (Isa 54:1; Isa 49:21; Jer 3:24, 25; 31:19; Ho 2:2-5).
5. (Isa 62:5; Jer 3:14). That God was Israel's "Maker," both as individuals and as the theocratic kingdom, is the pledge of assurance that He will be her Redeemer (Isa 43:1-3). Hebrew, "makers … husbands"; plural for singular, to denote excellency.
of Israel … whole earth—Not until He manifests Himself as God of Israel shall He appear as God of the whole earth (Ps 102:13, 15, 16; Zec 14:5, 9).
6. called—that is, recalled: the prophetic past for the future.
forsaken—that had been forsaken.
when thou—or, "when she was rejected"; one who had been a wife of youth (Eze 16:8, 22, 60; Jer 2:2) at the time when (thou, or) she was rejected for infidelity [Maurer]. "A wife of youth but afterwards rejected" [Lowth].
7. small moment—as compared with Israel's coming long prosperity (Isa 26:20; 60:10). So the spiritual Israel (Ps 30:5; 2Co 4:17).
gather thee—to Myself from thy dispersions.
8. In a little wrath—rather, "In the overflowing of wrath"; as Pr 27:4, Margin, [Gesenius]. The wrath, though but "for a moment," was overflowing while it lasted.
hid … face—(Isa 8:17; Ps 30:7).
everlasting—in contrast to "for a moment."
9. I am about to do the same in this instance as in Noah's flood. As I swore then that it should not return (Ge 8:21; 9:11), and I kept that promise, so I swear now to My people, and will perform My promise, that there shall be no return of the deluge of My wrath upon them. Lowth, on insufficient authority, reads (the same will I do now as), "in the days of Noah."
10. (Isa 51:6; Ps 89:33, 34; Ro 11:29).
covenant of my peace—(2Sa 23:5). The covenant whereby I have made thee at peace with Me.
11. not comforted—by anyone; none gave her help or comfort.
lay … with fair colours—rather, "lay … in cement of vermilion" [Lowth]. The Hebrew for "fair colors" means stibium, the paint with which Eastern women painted their eyelids and eyelashes (2Ki 9:30). The very cement shall be of the most beautiful color (Re 21:18-21).
12. windows—rather, "battlements"; literally, "suns"; applied to battlements from their radiated appearance.
agates—rather, "rubies."
carbuncles—literally, "sparkling gems"; the carbuncle when held to the sun becomes like a burning coal.
all thy borders—rather, "thy whole circuit," consisting of precious stones. The glory of the Church on earth, when the Hebrew Church, according to the original design, shall be the metropolis of Christendom.
13. Quoted by the Saviour (Joh 6:45), to prove that in order to come to Him, men must be "drawn" by the Father. So Jer 31:34; Mic 4:2; 1Co 2:10; Heb 8:10; 10:16; 1Jo 2:20.
great … peace—generally (Ps 119:165). Specially referring to the peaceful prosperity which shall prevail under Messiah in the latter days (Isa 2:4, 9:6).
14. righteousness—the characteristic of the reign of Messiah (Isa 11:4, 5; Ps 72:2, 4; Re 19:11).
far from oppression, &c.—far from suffering oppression; "for thou shall have nothing to fear."
15. gather together, &c.—that is, If it should happen that enemies "gather together" against thee (Ps 2:2), they will not have been sent by Me (compare Ho 8:4) as instruments of My wrath (nay, it will be with My disapproval); for "whosoever shall gather together," &c. (Ps 59:3).
fall for thy sake—rather, "shall come over to thy side" [Lowth]. Literally, "fall to thee" (Jer 21:9; 39:9). To be fully fulfilled to Jerusalem hereafter (Zec 14:16).
16. The workman that forms "weapons against thee" (Isa 54:17) is wholly in My power, therefore thou needest not fear, having Me on thy side.
for his work—rather, "by his labor [Horsley]. "According to the exigencies of his work" [Maurer].
waster to destroy—(Isa 10:5-7; 37:26, 27; 45:1-6). Desolating conquerors who use the "instruments" framed by "the smith." The repetition of the "I" implies, however, something in the latter half of the verse contrasted with the former understand it, therefore, thus: "I have in My power both him who frames arms and him who destroys them (arms)" [Rosenmuller].
17. tongue … condemn—image from a court of justice. Those who desire to "condemn" thee thou shalt "condemn" (Ex 11:7; Jos 10:21; Ps 64:8; Ro 8:1, 33).
righteousness … of me—(Isa 45:24; 46:13). Rather, "(this is) their justification from Me." Their enemies would "condemn" them, but I justify and vindicate them, and so they condemn their enemies.