i. . He has no physical hands, but this is poetic imagery that means he keeps us in his . He is a person that has revealed himself to us that we may know him and the power of his resurrection (Phil 3:10). Isaiah 49:2. What will the Messiah do for the Gentiles? [2.] And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? 8 The judgments upon Israel for their pride . In Isaiah 49:4 the prophet-Servant complains to Yahweh, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength ( koa) for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause ( mispa) is with the LORD, and my reward with my God." In contrast to this self-evaluation, Yahweh is much more positive in his assessment of his Servant. And My highways shall be elevated. But, Secondly, It is possible that she may forget. YHWH is described in terms of a nursing mother. God now shows that for him this is impossible (14-16). Isaiah 42:10-13; Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 52:8-9; Isaiah 55:12-13). After you have lost the others, And now the LORD says, And who has brought these up? That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. This probably has reference to the hidden years of Jesus, when He lived in obscurity, as a polished shaft waiting in the quiver of the LORD. Servant's call; the second, on his confidence. For the LORD has comforted His people: It is simply assumed that the people the LORD has comforted will praise Him; here, the LORD calls for creation itself to add their voices in praise for all the Messiah has done. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; Chapters 49 to 51 contain especially strong messages of encouragement and hope. You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, for the Lord hath comforted his people; with the discoveries of his love and grace; by his gracious presence among them; by the coming of Christ unto them in a spiritual way; by sending his Spirit, and renewing the face of things, and reviving his work in the midst of them; by the pure and powerful preaching of the Gospel, and comfortable administration of Gospel ordinances; and by large additions of converts made unto them: and will have mercy upon his afflicted, or "poor", or "meek" and "humble" ones, as the words (l) may be rendered: the Lord's people is a poor and afflicted people, poor in a temporal and spiritual sense; the church and interest of Christ is in a poor and low condition: the Lord's people are afflicted outwardly and inwardly, and so become meek, and are kept humble; these the Lord, in the latter day, will raise from a low and distressed condition to a more exalted and comfortable one; which will be an instance of his mercy and compassion, and be matter of joy unto them. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me ( Isaiah 49:22-23 ). God's compassion is too immense to be limited to . i. Kings shall be your foster fathers: Calvin and most expositors believe that the text teaches that one day the greatest in the nation will love and care for the children of the Church. There is a loving, wise purpose for every mountain, and God wants to make each of My mountains a road. 1-2, Servant to the Nations: His Call 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far;--As often in Isaiah, "people" is plural, referring to the world's many ethnic . Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But he still loves them and has the power to save them. The one thing that tells us beyond a doubt that Isaiah, the prophet, wrote all of it, is his use of the title "Holy One of Israel". He reminds the doubting exiles that he is the all-powerful God and Israels covenant redeemer. 'The Almighty'(verse 6) translates aday - the only time this title for God appears in Isaiah. They are contending with the eternal God of heaven. Jesus set the righteous dead captive in Hades free from their place (Ephesians 4:8). 2 The message that he gave me to speak. You can also change some of your preferences. Isaiah 49:1-7 Commentary; Isaiah 49:8-16a Commentary; Isaiah 50 Commentary. The servant stands disbelieving in the face of God's call, blinded by self-condemnation to God's purposes. However, it is possible that we should read "my servant, Israel" not as vocative, but as a predicative. iv. Then you will know that I am the LORD, He calls upon the distant islands and the Gentile nations to listen to himhis divine calling is of universal significance, it does not just relate to the nation of Israel, it has bearing upon all the nations of the world (verse 1a). The idea in this verse is, that it was an occasion on which the heavens and the earth would have cause to exult together. The LORDs love and faithfulness for Zion are also shown by His promise for their future. 10 They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. This is a great way to read Andrew's notes on a mobile device or computer. When the Servant completes His work of salvation, the whole creation, not just humankind, will experience liberation from the effects of the Fall (cf. The 5 Servant Songs of Isaiah are wonderful prophecies of the Messiah and His First Coming to mankind as a Servant. And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. And if you look at it, it is a very small area. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy" ( Psalms 137:4-6 ). Lesson Text: Isaiah 49:1-13; Time of Action: between 700 and 695 B.C. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. To restore the earth, 49:16-17 This is another powerful metaphor of God's constant remembrance of His covenant with Abraham's descendants. (2.) a. And my work with my God., a. Yet He triumphed over such temptation by declaring, my just reward is with the LORD. for the Lord hath comforted his people; with the discoveries of his love and grace; by his gracious presence among them; by the coming of Christ unto them in a spiritual way; by sending his Spirit, and renewing the face of things, and reviving his work in the midst of them; by the pure and powerful preaching of the Gospel, and comfortable administration of Gospel ordinances; and by large additions of converts made unto them: and will have mercy upon his afflicted, or "poor", or "meek" and "humble" ones, as the words l may be rendered: the Lord's people is a poor and afflicted people, poor in a temporal and spiritual sense; the church and interest of Christ is in a poor and low condition: the Lord's people are afflicted outwardly and inwardly, and so become meek, and are kept humble; these the Lord, in the latter day, will raise from a low and distressed condition to a more exalted and comfortable one; which will be an instance of his mercy and compassion, and be matter of joy unto them. With his own hand he protected me. His words are like a sharpened sword - truth that defends the righteous and destroys the rebellious. But now, the LORD speaks against the nations, beginning with . Can a nursing mother forget her nursing child? 3 He said to me, "Israel, you are my servant; I've heard some Bible scholars suggest the possibility and some analysts, and I've talked to some Israelis who have suggested also the possibility, that the next outbreak of warfare over there in the Middle East, that Israel plans for it to be the last outbreak by so thoroughly defeating all of those who have risen against them that they will not be able to rise against them again. well, they may forget, but I will not forget thee ( Isaiah 49:15 ). And who in the world would object? See how deplorable the case of God's people may be sometimes, such that they may seem to be forsaken and forgotten of their God; and at such a time their temptations may be alarmingly violent. The Messiah declares His mission. I. This one "despised and abhorred by a nation" (v. 7) is thus the same person as the servant in Isaiah 53, who is likewise described as "despised" and rejected (53:3). This was true for Zion when freed from the Babylonian captivity; it is even more true for those set free from captivity to Satan. If the tokens of his wonderful power are to be seen everywhere, he intends that there shall be an eminent and remarkable example of it in the salvation of the Church. More Isaiah commentaries. Isaiah 51:12-23 . So that Israel is gathered to Him The triumphs of the church, after her troubles, will in due time put the matter out of question. Though he exhorts and encourages all the godly to thanksgiving, yet he likewise aims at confirming the promise which might have been regarded as doubtful; for afflictions trouble our consciences, and cause them to waver in such a manner that it is not so easy to rest firmly on the promises of God. It is beautiful to imagine Jesus comforting and strengthening His soul with these promises as He anticipated and endured the ordeal of the cross. Lick up the dust of thy feet refers to the great honor which the great ones of the world will give Israel. And rejoice, O earth! Yet the LORD says, Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. The land previously uninhabited and in ruins will become well populated and prosperous again (19-21). The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Can a woman forget her nursing child: Though bizarre accounts of unspeakable cruelty surface from time to time, everyone knows that a woman will never forget her nursing child. The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me. It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant First, It is not likely that she should. The Lord has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. i. Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 Commentary; Isaiah 58 Commentary. Princes also shall worship, iii. A nursing mother, most of all, cannot but be tender of her sucking child; her own breasts will soon put her in mind of it if she should forget it. "You think that I have forgotten you. "Commentary on Isaiah 49:13". And that is the equivalent here to, "Thou hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hast thou made mention of my name. God's people are the blessings and ornaments of the world, and therefore let there be universal joy, for God has comforted his people that were in sorrow and he will have mercy upon the afflicted because of his compassion, upon his afflicted because of his covenant. In answer to Zion's fears, God speaks as one concerned for his own glory (he takes himself to be reflected upon if Zion say, The Lord has forsaken me, and he will clear himself), as one concerned also for his people's comfort; he would not have them droop, and be discouraged, and give way to any uneasy thoughts. The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 28:13 The word of the Lord was to them ; rather, shall be to them . They shall neither hunger nor thirst, All these gather together and come to you. To raise up the tribes of Jacob, God has forsaken us." - The Burden against Babylon. He was a "Jewish prophet who lived during the eighth century BC." Isaiah's words were written more than 700 years before the birth of Christ. 5. . The reality is that those who oppose the Lord and his people experience the self destructiveness of sin a recurring feature of the wars of the Lord. (Motyer), (c) 2021 The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik ewm@enduringword.com. But even they shall be taken away. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me ( Isaiah 49:1-2 ); You go back to Psalms 22:1-31 , that glorious prophetic Messianic psalm of David, and we read there in Psalms 22:1-31 verse Isaiah 49:8 , or no, verse Isaiah 49:9 : "But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.