CHAPTER 54 Jun. 29
God's Promise of Everlasting Peace
Sing, barren, you who didn’t bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh. 2Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. 3For you shall spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.4Don’t be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more. 5For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is His name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. 6For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says your God. 7For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you. 8In overflowing wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness will I have mercy on you, says Yahweh your Redeemer. 9For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. 10For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but My loving kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh who has mercy on you. 11You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colours, and lay your foundations with sapphires. 12I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. 13All your children shall be taught of Yahweh; and great shall be the peace of your children. 14In righteousness you shall be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15Behold, they may gather together, but not by Me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you. 16Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of Me, says Yahweh.
Commentary
54:4 Your widowhood- The implication is that God as their husband (:5) had died- and somehow returned to life to remarry them. This doesn’t mean that Jesus is God, for God by nature cannot die; rather does it speak of the intensity to which God was manifest in Christ and went through the pain of death as it were because of what Israel’s unfaithfulness and rejection felt like to Him.
54:6 In this language God as it were takes false guilt over His divorce with Israel; such is His gushing love for His unfaithful people who now return to Him.
54:7 God clearly has emotions of a kind which are not unrelated to the emotions we experience, as beings made in His image. But those emotions involve a time factor in order to be emotions. We read of the anger of God "for a moment" (:7,8; Ps. 30:5), and of His wrath coming and going, leaving Him "calm" and no longer angry (Ez. 16:42). When we sin, we provoke God to anger- i.e. at a point in time, God sees our sin, and becomes angry. This is attested many times in Scripture. But it's meaningless if God is somehow outside of our time and emotions.
54:17 Their righteousness which is of Me- Again we meet the New Testament idea of imputed righteousness, for Isaiah makes clear enough elsewhere that Israel had no righteousness of their own. We too have God’s righteousness imputed to us by being in Christ.