The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 54
Chapter LIV · Vol. III, pp. 1213–1214
1 The prophet, for the comfort of the Gentiles, prophesieth the amplitude of their church, 4 their safety, 6 their certain deliverance out of affliction, 11 their fair edification, 15 and their sure preservation.
1 Sing,a 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.
2 Enlargeb the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes:
b Re.21.3. ch.49.19,20; 33.20.
3 For cthou 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.
c ch.43.5,6; 49.12. Ge.49.10; 28.14. Ps.2.8; 22.27-31; 47.2,3; 72.8-11,17,19. ch.2.2-4; 11.9-12; 24.14-16; 35.1,2; 42.1-12; 55.5; 45.22; 49.8-12; 60.2-12; 61.9. Ac.1.8. Ro.10.18,19. Col.1.6,23. Re.7.9; 11.15.
4 Feard 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.
d ch.28.16; 60.15; 61.7; 62.4, with Je.3.24,25. Ho.2.4.
5 For ethy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; gthe God of the whole earth shall he be called.
A.M. cir. 3302. B.C. cir. 702.
e ch.43.1,21. Ho.2.19,20. Je.3.14. Ep.5.25,32. Zec.14.9. Re.21.9. Jn.3.29. Mat.9.15.
g ch.6.3. Ps.8.1; 48.10. Ob.21. Da.2.44. Ro.3.29,30.
6 For hthe LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
h Ho.11.1. Je.2.2; 3.1,14. Eze.16.8. Ac.17.30; 26.17,18. ch.65.1,2. 1 Co.6.9-11. Tit.3.3-7. Mat.22.9,10. 1 Co.1.9. 1 Pe.2.9. 2 Ti.1.9. ch.62.3,4. Eze.16.4-14.
8 In ka little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but lwith everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
k Ps.6.1; 38.1. ch.8.17; 27.8; 57.17; 47.6. Zec.1.15. Hab.3.2. De.32.20; 31.17,18.
l Jn.13.1. Je.31.3; 32.39,40. Ho.2.19,20. Lu.1.71-79. Ps.103.17. 2 Th.2.16. ch.12.1-3. Ro.8.28-39. 1 Co.11.32. ch.60.19,20.
9 For nthis 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.1
n Ge.9.11; 8.21. Je.31.3,35,36; 50.20. Mat.16.18. He.6.16-18. Ps.105.10; 132.11; 89.3,4. Mal.3.6. Ho.2.19,20; 11.8. ch.49.15; 55.11; 45.23. 2 Sa.23.5, with ch.43.2. Ps.32.6; 46.3,4; 124.1,4,5. Re.3.10.
1 This is a glorious promise. It is given to the true church, and history shows that it has hitherto been graciously fulfilled. The substance of the promise is, that no persecution or suffering would ever be permitted to overwhelm or desolate the church, as the flood overwhelmed the earth, or as the Babylonians and Romans desolated Jerusalem. The Lord in the greatness of his mercy has confirmed this with an oath.—P.
10 For othe mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, pneither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that qhath mercy on thee.
o Ps.46.2. Mat.5.18. ch.51.6,8; 59.21; ver.8,9. Je.31.3. Ps.103.17. Ho.2.19,20. Je.32.40,41. Ge.17.7. Ro.11.29. Mat.28.20. Jn.16.33. Ps.65.6,7; 125.1. Eze.37.26,27. He.6.18.
p 2 Sa.23.5.
q Ep.2.4,5. Tit.3.5. 1 Ti.1.13,16.
11 Or thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, sI will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
r Ex.2.23. De.31.17. Ju.2.15; 10.17. Ps.106.40,43. Jn.16.33. Ac.14.22. 2 Ti.3.12. Re.vi.xii.xiii.; ver.7,8.
s Ezr.iii.-vi. Ne.iii. Eze.xl.-xlii. ch.49.16; 60.10. Ps.51.18; 69.35; 102.16. Ex.24.10. Eze.1.26. Col.2.19; 3.1,2. 2 Pe.1.5-8. Ga.5.22,23. ch.52.1. Ep.5.27. 1 Pe.2.5. Ep.2.20-22. Re.21.14,18-21; 7.9-17.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And tall thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and ugreat shall be the peace of thy children.
14 Inv righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for xthou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
v ch.1.27; 45.24. Mat.16.18. 1 Pe.3.13. ch.52.1; 60.18; 9.7; 11.5; 32.1. Ps.97.2; 89.14. 1 Co.10.31.
x Pr.3.25,26. ch.41.10; 43.2. Lu.12.32; 21.9.
15 Behold,y they shall surely gather together, but not by me:2 whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.3
y Zec.1.18,19. Re.16.14; 20.8,9. Eze. xxxviii. xxxix. Ps.37.12; 118.12; 59.3; 56.6; 20.8; 27.2. Pr.24.17. Ps.129.3-5.
2 Not by my sentence, but by Satan's instigation.—C.
3 'Shall fall before thee.'—Poole.
16 Behold,z I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work;4 and I have created the waster to destroy.
4 I who have created the workman must have power over his work.—C.
z Zec.1.20,21. Da.4.34,35. Jn.19.11. Pr.16.4. ch.10.5,6; 8.7,8; 46.11; 45.7; 37?.26,27.
17 Noa weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and bevery tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD; and ctheir righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
a Ps.2.1-6. ch.17.12-14. Je.xlvi.-li. Re.6.13-17; xi.-xx. Eze.xxv.-xxxii. xxxv.? xxxviii. xxxix. Mat.21.44. Zec.12.2. ch.49.26. 1 Pe.4.17.
b ch.50.8,9. Ps.94.16. Re.12.10. Ac.6.10. Ro.8.1,33,37. 2 Co.2.14.
A.M. cir. 3302. B.C. cir. 702.
c Ps.71.16,19. ch.45.24,25; 61.10. Je.23.6; 33.16. 1 Co.1.30. 2 Co.5.21. Phi.3.9. Ro.3.22,24; 5.19; 10.4.
Notes
Ver. 1-5. Rejoice greatly, ye Gentiles, who have hitherto produced few converts to Christ; for now greater multitudes of you shall be born again than ever were in the Jewish church: greater multitudes shall be converted to Christ after his departure to heaven, than while his church enjoyed his bodily presence. The gospel church, that tabernacle of God, shall be greatly enlarged by the conversion of Gentile nations on every side. No more shall they be reproached, as rejected by and strangers to God: for now shall the divine Jesus and his Father call to himself a peculiar people in all places of the world. 6-10. And however destitute and wretched in themselves, despicable in their first appearances, or distressed and persecuted in after-ages, as the Jewish church was during the captivity in Babylon and the Syro-Grecian persecution, yet if they are faithful I will withdraw my affectionate regard, but, after occasional frowns, still manifest new tokens of my favour. 11-17. Notwithstanding her terrible distress, persecution, and inward perplexities, I will render her glorious in oracles, ordinances, gifts and graces, officers and members, and in spiritual knowledge, peace, and holiness; and in due time will grant full deliverence, and overthrow the wicked, spiritual and temporal, heathen, Popish, or Mahometan; and that graciously, through my own sacrifice made in behalf of the world.
Ver. 1. O barren. The church under the emblem of the childless and disconsolate Sarah (see Ga. 4. 22-27) is here exhorted to a song of joy at the birth of a numerous family of regenerate souls born 'again of water and of the Spirit.'—More are the children of the desolate. Hitherto the unconverted have been most numerous in the world, but here is a blessed promise of a time yet to come, and it will be realized when the children of grace shall outnumber the unconverted, when the knowledge of the Lord shall yet cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. C.
Ver. 3. Thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles. Our Lord was of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh; and, as head over his church, and heir of all things, inherits the Gentiles. C.
Ver. 4. Youth. The murmurings and idolatries of the wilderness.—Widowhood. Periods of captivity; but especially the exile and scattering that speedily succeeded their national rejection of Christ. C.
Ver. 5. 'Thy Makers, thy Husbands.' These words set forth the glorious doctrine of the Trinity, all things being 'made' by the Word in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. C.
Ver. 6. A wife of youth, when thou wast refused. As Ruth was refused by the next of kin, according to the law, De. 24. 5-10; Ru. 4. 1-8, even so the world, to which the backslider has turned for comfort and protection, refuses it; and when, through grace, the backslider 'comes to himself,' he is accepted of God. See Ho. 2. 7; Lu. 15. 17. C.
Ver. 10. The mighty empires which I have granted for a time to Babylon, Greece, and Rome, shall depart, yea, 'the earth itself shall be burned up,' but my covenant of peace in Jesus shall abide for ever, 1 Pe. 3. 10. C.
Ver. 11. Though tossed as a vessel on a tempestuous sea, Mat. 8. 23-27, I will bring you safely to land, and build for you a glorious dwelling on a sure foundation, 1 Co. 3. 11; Ep. 2. 20; Re. 21. 19. C.
Ver. 14. The 'righteousness' in which the church is established, is no other than 'the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all, them that do believe,' Ro. 3. 22. C.
Ver. 17. This promise of deliverance, instruction, and protection, is the heritage of the Lord's servants, Ps. 119. 111. C.
Reflections.—Wretched was the state of religion in the world for many ages before Christianity was established. And great power in God, and care in men, are necessary for spreading the gospel and enlarging the church. But surely it is much to be lamented that some who have most of the means have least of the power of grace. It is great matter of joy to the long-rejected Gentiles that Jesus, our Maker, is now our God and our Husband, able to save us to the uttermost. May we ever walk as his bride, loving, cleaving to, and trusting in him! He condescends to our wretchedness in dealing with our souls. And wisely he mingles his favours and frowns, that we may neither be proud under the one nor despair under the other. But there is great matter of joy, and sure ground of faith, in the absolute unchangeableness of his love and promise of peace. Graciously he remarks his people's distresses, and balances them with his mercies unnumbered. His instructions graciously render us pious and peaceful. And safe are those, amidst millions of enemies, who trust implicity with all their hearts in Christ, and Jehovah, the manager of the world, in him their protector, and the gracious Lord of all mankind.