| This chapter deals with the future glory of Zion. (Future from Isaiah’s day but fulfilled when the exiles returned.) The prophet speaks of enlarging their tent and that there would be a population explosion. New towns would spring up and devastated places re-inhabited. He encourages them and tells them that they will never be ashamed. In this chapter God likens Israel to an embittered woman cast off by her husband and now recalled to the marriage bond. God tells Israel that the chance of him casting her off was as likely as day and night ceasing. Hills and mountains may disappear but his love for Israel would never cease. When they return he will have judges and shepherds who will teach their children. Righteousness will be the norm in this new society─their motto will be, “The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.” God says that her enemies will fall for her sake. No weapon turned against them shall succeed─this is God’s decree and Israel’s heritage. God’s vindication will bring Israel triumph. |
1Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
Israel would be restored both physically and spiritually. This verse is applied by Paul in Gal. 3:27 to Sarah. God wanted them to know that the children of Sarah would return and multiply and be more than the children of Hagar.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT DEMONSTRATE THE TEXT:
Isa 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Read: Isa 55:12-13; Heb 11:11-12
2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
Enlarge the place of thy tent was like saying “buy a larger house with more bed rooms.”
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT AUTHENTICATE THE TEXT:
Isa 33:20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
Jer 10:20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. Read: Isa 49:19-20
3For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
Waste towns would soon be boom towns─soon there would be a shortage of farm land.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES THAT
ESTABLISH THE CERTAINTY OF THE TEXT:
Isa 60:3-6 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
Eze 36:35-36 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
4Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
He tells them that they need not fear and that they will never be put to shame.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES THAT PRESENT OVERWHELMING PROOF OF THE TEXT:
Eze 16:22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
Hos 3:1-5 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
5For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
With God as Israel’s husband─the God of the whole earth─they will no longer live in constant fear.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT ARE CONCLUSIVE AND FINAL:
Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Rom 3:29-30 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
6For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
God likens Israel to an embittered woman who had been cast off by her husband but was once again recalled.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT RATIFY THE TEXT:
Isa 49:14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Mal 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
7For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
God says he only left her for a moment and now is recalling her with tender mercies.
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THAT BEAR OUT THE TEXT:
Psa 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
8In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
In his anger God had forsaken Israel─but it was only momentarily─but now reassures them that he will recall them with mercy and everlasting kindness.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT SPEAK VOLUMES ABOUT THE TEXT:
Isa 8:17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
9For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
God assures them that he would not cast away Israel’s seed or have a ruler from the house of David was as sure as day and night.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT SHED LIGHT ON THE TEXT:
Isa 12:1 And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Jer 33:20-22 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
10For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
Hills and mountains may disappear but my love for Israel will never depart.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT VERIFY THE TEXT:
Psa 46:2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
2Sa 23:5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
11O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
God assures the exiles who had been afflicted and troubled that he will build them again with stones of turquoise and foundations of sapphires.
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THAT GIVE COUNTEREVIDENCE TO THE TEXT:
Isa 51:17-19 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
12And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
A figurative description of their windows, gates and borders is that everything will be high dollar and best quality.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT CONFIRM THE TEXT:
Isa 32:15-18 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
13And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
A new group of judges and councilors, shepherds and instructors will arise and her children will be taught and nurtured by them.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT CARRY WEIGHT REGARDING THE TEXT:
Isa 1:26 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, the faithful city.
14In 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.
Righteousness will be the foundation of the new community of exiles when they return and fear and terror shall be absent from them. Their motto shall be: “The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.”
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT MAKE THE CASE:
Jer 23:3-4 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
15Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
God says, “Whosoever shall gather against thee shall fall for thy sake.”
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT MAKE THE CASE:
Psa 37:12-13 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
Zec 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
16Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
God created the factory (blacksmith shop) that makes the weapons for his work and the smith who forges the weapon─ but no weapons that is formed against thee shall prosper.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT INDORSE THE TEXT:
Isa 10:5-6 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Isa 37:26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Isa 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Exo 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
17No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
No weapon turned against thee shall succeed─no tongue shall rise against thee─God’s decree is that this is their heritage. When God vindicates he brings triumph.
CROSS REFERENCE SCRIPTURES
THAT LEND EVIDENCE TO THE TEXT:
Psa 2:1-6 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
