THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

VI. THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH, Isaiah 49-57

1.The Servant’s Mission, Isa_49:1-26; Isa_50:1-11; Isa_51:1-23; Isa_52:1-12

    53. Where and how does the first division of the second part of Isaiah close? Where is this concluding phrase repeated?

    Isaiah 49:14-26

    THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

    [The LORD answered] “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

    “Indeed, I have inscribed [a picture of] you on the palms of My hands; Your city walls [Zion] are continually before Me.

    “Your builders hurry; Your destroyers and devastators Will go away from you.

    “Lift up your eyes and look around [at the returning exiles]; All these gather together and they come to you [to rebuild you]. As I live,” declares the LORD, “You [Zion] will indeed clothe yourself with all of them as jewels and tie them on as a bride.

    “For your ruins and desolate places and your land [once the scene] of destruction– Certainly now [in the coming years] will be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who once engulfed you will be far away.

    “The children of your bereavement [those born in captivity] will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me’; Make room for me that I may live here.

    “Then [Zion], you will say in your heart, ‘Who has borne me these children, Since I have been bereaved of my children And am barren, an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Indeed, I was left alone; From where then did these children come?'”

    This is what the Lord GOD says, “Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nations And set up My banner to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.

    “Kings will be your attendants, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the LORD; For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.

    “Can the spoils of war be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?”

    Indeed, this is what the LORD says, “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the tyrant’s spoils of war will be rescued; For I will contend with your opponent, And I will save your children.

    “I will make those who oppress you consume their own flesh [in mutually destructive wars] And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all mankind will know [with a knowledge grounded in personal experience] that I, the LORD, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    F.B.Meyer
    On  
    Isaiah 49:14-26

    54. What is the measure of God’s care for His people?

    These assurances were given to the chosen race on the eve of their return from Babylon. They were timid and reluctant to quit the familiar scenes of their captivity; they dreaded the dangers and privations of their way home, and questioned whether the great empire of their captors would ever let them go or allow their city to rise from its ruins. Therefore the Lord’s voice takes on a tone of unusual persuasiveness. Let us ponder His assurances of compassion and comfort, Isa_49:13; Isa_49:15-16.

    He will lead us with a shepherd’s care, Isa_49:10. He will make obstacles subserve His purpose, Isa_49:11. His love is more than motherhood, Isa_49:15. He treasures the remembrance of His own, Isa_49:16. Zion thinks herself cast away as a derelict, Isa_49:14, but such is not the case. Even her broken walls are ever before God, with a view to their rebuilding, Isa_49:19, etc. God’s love is stronger than our strongest enemies, Isa_49:25, etc. Let us hide in it, standing above the fears that compose the cloudland of our soul, in the upper peaks of a strong faith.

    By Philippus Schutte

    New Covenant Israelite! "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee."  Rom 11:17 -18