Isaiah 54 - YHWH's covenant of peace

One thing we can know for sure, regarding this chapter: it begins with a promise that IS fulfilled spiritually. The first verse is quoted by Paul in Gal 4:27 in his defense of the New Covenant, wherein he describes Jerusalem from above as freedom - freedom from the slavery of sin!

Isaiah 54:1 (HCSB) “Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the forsaken one will be more than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.

While the redeemed in national Israel were never more than a mere remnant, causing Hagar to be seen as more fruitful and Sarah to be seen as childless, the children from above are delivered without labor by man or woman but are born from above! This is God's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes!

Isaiah 54:2-3 (HCSB) “Enlarge the site of your tent, and let your tent curtains be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your ropes, and drive your pegs deep. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities."

This language of enlarge the tent site, moving the pegs, etc. is a word picture built on literal meaning. For as this Bedouin people would need to do these things to accommodate a larger community, God speaks here of that community born of the Spirit. In similar language James quotes from Amos 9 and Isaiah 45, saying that David's tent had been rebuilt and set up again to accept the Gentiles who are called by God (Acts 15:15-18). God's redemptive plan has always included those who were excluded from the covenant with national Israel. The redeemed Jews would enlarge and rebuild their tents to welcome these new brothers and sisters. The cities that were desolate would now be home children of the King!

Isaiah 54:4-8 (HCSB) “Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood. Indeed, your husband is your Maker— His name is Yahweh of Hosts— and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God. “I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with great compassion. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

All who have saving faith in the Son have no reason to live in fear - their sins have been forgiven and He will remember them no longer. Those foolish and shameful things we did in former times, when we walked according to the prince of the power of the air no longer stain our account. In the ancient near-east, widows were vulnerable, as they could not own property. It was risky to be without a husband, just as it is risky to be without YHWH. For the chosen ones, the Creator is our husband - YHWH of hosts - the Holy One of Israel - the God of all the earth! He has stooped low and gather up poor souls from desolate areas to be His prized possessions.

National Israel would feel like a deserted wife, wounded by rejection of her husband - for God deserted national Israel for a time; 70 years in this case. Israel would be in bondage a far shorter time than when in Egypt. But for those taken into bondage by Babylon, it was a far great distress. All their history as God's covenant people was under their belt. They had grown accustomed to being the apple of His eye. The length of their exile was pegged to the yearly Sabbath they had forsaken. Jeremiah prophesied this, as we read in Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10-14 This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation… “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

Yet He was yet Israel's redeemer, for her time had not yet come. History was unfolding precisely according to the plan laid out before time was spoken into existence. The time would come for the kingdom to be taken from national Israel and given to another nation bearing fruit - but that time was not during Isaiah's day.

Isaiah 54:9-10 (HCSB) “For this is like the days of Noah to Me: when I swore that the waters of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. Though the mountains move and the hills shake, My love will not be removed from you and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says your compassionate LORD.

This is the promise to all who are called, not a promise to the nation-state of Israel. Jesus, the Holy One of Israel, saves all who have been appointed unto eternal life, from every nation, tribe, and tongue. This redemption is as the waters of Noah to me, says the Lord of Hosts. Author Hal Brunson (The Rickety Bridge and the Broken Mirror, page 60) observed:

this points backwards, not merely to the language and theology of the slaughtered and speechless Lamb, but even to the very moment at which God would impute the transgressions of His people to their Savior and His righteousness to them. “This”, God says, “is as the waters of Noah to me” - “this” - His being “despised and rejected of men”; “this is as the waters of Noah – His identity as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”; His “bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows”; the Savior “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted … wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastised for our peace, and striped for our healing” - “This is as the waters of Noah to me” - His oppression, His affliction, His slaughtering, His substitutionary imprisonment within the iron bars of injustice, His burial with the wicked in the grave of hell's billows: “This”, says the Almighty, “is as the waters of Noah to me.

This is the testimony of God and cannot be erased. National Israel would be ransomed without money, but that would be to serve as a type of the redemption God has planned for His spiritual children. Though mountains be moved and hills shaken (reminds me of the ending of Rev 6) God's love will not be removed from His sheep - because they are in His covenant of peace, that promise to Abraham in Gen 12 which finds fulfillment in the New Covenant. This is the word of the living God Who has compassion on His own.

Isaiah 54:11-15 (HCSB) “Poor ⌊Jerusalem⌋, storm-tossed, and not comforted, I will set your stones in black mortar, and lay your foundations in sapphires. I will make your fortifications out of rubies, your gates out of sparkling stones, and all your walls out of precious stones. Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, their prosperity will be great, and you will be established on ⌊a foundation of⌋ righteousness. You will be far from oppression, you will certainly not be afraid; you will be far from terror, it will certainly not come near you. If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever attacks you will fall before you."

Poor storm-tossed, pagan assaulted temporal, earthly Jerusalem. Though many a Jew anticipated the return of earthly Jerusalem to earthly glory, such was never realized. Because the purpose all along was for that city to serve as a shadow or type of the heavenly Jerusalem, that city from above, which is and always was the goal of YHWH. The description of the foundation and gates and walls harkens to what we read in Revelation 21. All of the children of promise will be taught by God, they will all know Him and not need to be told, "Know the Lord." (Jer 31:34). All in this kingdom will be prosperous - but not in the way the Jewish men thought; in righteousness that is of God Himself. No poverty, no fear of man, for God will defend His own. Part of the promises made to the patriarchs is almighty God’s promise to protect and defend His people and take retribution out on those who attack them. This becomes all the more sweet to those of us who have been adopted into His family and are called His temple and His body. Let us see how this protection of God is portrayed for Israel – the Israel of God.

Abram. Genesis 12:2 & 3: I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Jacob. Genesis 27:29: Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!

Israel. Numbers 24:8 & 9: God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows. He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you.

True Israel. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 

Re-read verse 15 in our chapter: "If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever attacks you will fall before you." I pray we have more clarity about God's purpose and intent about protecting and caring for those who were not His people but now ARE His people.

Isaiah 54:16-17 (HCSB) Look, I have created the craftsman who blows on the charcoal fire and produces a weapon suitable for its task; and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc. No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness is from Me.” ⌊This is⌋ the LORD’s declaration.

These past two verses show us the futility of man thinking he can wage war against God. Like gods who cannot hear, think, or speak; these men are themselves not far different from the gods they serve. All these men who rage against God are His creatures, using material He created. They can kill one another but cannot prevail against the One Who rules all. How could a creature prevail against the Creator? Who can lay a charge against the elect - it is God Who justifies (Romans 8:33). It is Christ Jesus who intercedes as our advocate, our mediator. Further - He Who knew no sin became sin so we could have His righteousness! (2 Cor 5:21). This is the same message YHWH is telling His people in Isaiah's gospel. Same gospel - all is from God for His glory and our good.

Dear reader - are you His people, or are you those that are called NOT His people? There is no benefit to knowing about Him if you do not know Him, or rather be known by Him. Indeed, the more knowledge without salvation the greater the judgment. Jesus is the only way to peace with God. Spurn Him not, harden not your heart. There is a day coming whence there will be no room for repentance.