CHAPTER 49

(712 B.C.)

MESSIAHS CALL AND COMMISSION

¹Listen, O isles, unto Me; and hearken, you people, from far; The LORD has called Me from the womb; from the bowels of My mother has He made mention of My Name. (The Speaker in Verses 1 through 6 is the Messiah; He invites the inhabitants of the Isles and the people, that is, the whole Gentile world, to listen to Him.

The phrase, The LORD has called Me from the womb, speaks of the Incarnation. In order to save the human family, God would have to become Man. He would be called Immanuel, which means God with us [Isa. 7:14].)

²And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His Hand has He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver has He hid Me (no one knew the Word like Christ; in fact, He was, and is, the the Living Word [Jn. 1:1].

The imagery recurs in the Book of Revelation, when John said, And out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword [Rev. 1:16].

The phrase, In the shadow of His hand has He hid Me, means that He was reserved until the time that He would be revealed to the world, and even then would be guided and protected by the Hand of God);

³And said unto me, You are My Servant, O Israel, in Whom I will be glorified. (The word Servant is used concerning the Messiah. He Alone portrayed the true Servant spirit. The Prophecy is that now Christ, addressed as Israel, would stand as a new federal head to the Nation, which would be summed up in Him. Moreover, Christ would be, in a truer sense than any other, the Israel or Prince with God. In fact, Jesus is the True Man, the True Israel, and the True Church.)

⁴Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely My judgment is with the LORD, and My work with My God. (From the Exodus to Pentecost, He labored and spent Himself for Israel, but in vain; yet His judgment, i.e., vindication, was with Jehovah, and His work, i.e., His reward, with His God.)

⁵And now, says the LORD Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall be My strength. (This Verse predicts that Christ will gather Israel to God; that the ability enabling Him to do so will be Gods; and that He Himself shall always be glorious in the Eyes of Jehovah.

The words, Though Israel be not gathered, in the Hebrew, actually mean though Israel be not yet gathered, and point to temporary disappointments owing to Israels unbelief, but that the Messiah will ultimately not only bring back all the Tribes of Jacob to Jehovah, but, in addition and in union with them, will bring back to God the whole of rebellious humanity, at least those who will believe Him.)

⁶And He said, It is a light thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give You for a light to the Gentiles, that You may be My Salvation unto the end of the Earth. (The phrase, It is a light thing, refers to the fact that God considers the raising up of the Tribes of Jacob and the Restoration of the preserved of Israel as a small thing in comparison to what else the Messiah will do.

As well, He will also be a light to the Gentiles, i.e., the whole world!)

MESSIAHS HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION

⁷Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to Him Whom man despises, to Him Whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD Who is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose You. (This Passage gives our Lords humiliation and exaltation. The Speaker in Verses 7 through 12 is Jehovah, and the One spoken to [His Holy One] is Immanuel despised by man and abhorred by Israel. Such was He in His First Advent. But, in His Second Advent, kings, when they see Him, shall stand in awe because of Him, and princes shall fall and worship Him.

This is the first place in the Prophecies of Isaiah where this note of the Messiah being despised is brought forward. It is found earlier in the Psalms [Ps. 22:6].)

HIS MINISTRY

⁸Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard You, and in a day of Salvation have I helped You: and I will preserve You, and give You for a Covenant of the people, to establish the Earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages (the Father helped the Son throughout His Earthly Ministry; however, the acceptable time and day of Salvation refer to Calvary and the Resurrection, where at Calvary every foe was defeated [Col. 2:14-15].

The phrase, To establish the Earth, is powerful indeed! Through what Jesus did at the Cross, the Earth will be brought back to its original place as before the Fall. This will cause the desolate heritage to once again become fruitful!);

⁹That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them who are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. (Due to what Christ did at the Cross, the prisoners can be released from the prison house of darkness. Coming out to the Light, they shall feed in the ways and have great pastures.)

¹⁰They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He Who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them. (Verses 9 through 13 picture the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, leading His sheep to Zion. In particular, Verses 9 and 10 speak of Israel; in general, they speak of all who accept Christ.)

¹¹And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted. (Satan endeavors to make the Christian think that even though he might make it, still, its going to be so difficult that the journey will not be worth the effort! Conversely, the Holy Spirit tells us that Christ, despite the mountains of difficulties, will make it a happy, joyous, and glorious way, and an exalted highway.)

¹²Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. (The four points of the compass appear in this Verse, with the word far representing the south, and the word Sinim representing, as many Scholars believe, China and, therefore, the east.

In any case, this reference is not to the dispersed Jews, but to the remote Gentiles, who will pass from all quarters of the Earth into the Kingdom of the Redeemer.)

RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

¹³Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O Earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted His People, and will have mercy upon His afflicted. (The exclamations of both the heavens and the Earth are given here at the Restoration of Israel and the fulfillment of these great Promises! This is happening because Israel, who has been so long afflicted because of their sins, has now come back to the Lord and is comforted.)

¹⁴But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. (At her most terrible time, with Jerusalem falling and the Antichrist pressing for total destruction, Israel will realize that the Messiah is her only hope; and yet it seems from events the LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. But the following Passages address this cry of Israel!)

¹⁵Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? ye s, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. (The Lord speaks of Israel as His child. The analogy is drawn of a woman who loves her child, the son of her womb. She loves it, no matter how it looks, or what it has done!

The Holy Spirit then says that Gods Love is far greater than that; even though some mothers may forget, yet He says, I will not forget you.)

¹⁶Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of My Hands; your walls are continually before Me. (It is said that there was a custom among pilgrims to Jerusalem to have representations of the city or Temple tattooed on their hands and arms to remind them of the sacred places. They were called ensigns of Jerusalem.

The Lord uses this analogy, which would have been easily understood by the Jews.

The Lord uses the walls as the symbol that is to be graven or portrayed. Such speaks of Divine protection. In other words, the walls, which have long since fallen down, spiritually speaking, will be rebuilt. David mentioned this in his prayer of Repentance [Ps. 51:18].)

¹⁷Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and they who made you waste shall go forth of you. (This speaks of the Second Coming of Christ, with the defeat of the Antichrist and Israel finally accepting the Lord as their Saviour. When this happens, Jews from all over the world will make haste to come to Israel.)

¹⁸Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to You. As I live, says the LORD, You shall surely clothe You with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on You, as a bride does. (The phrase, All these, continues to refer to Your children of Verse 17. There will be an astonishment in Israel, as well as in the entirety of the world, at the number of Jews who will come from all over the world to Israel; all will be welcome.)

¹⁹For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they who swallowed you up shall be far away. (The land of your destruction refers to Israel, which has become a graveyard for the entirety of the Jewish people. Now it will be the opposite! All those who threatened to swallow you up surely shall be far away, even in Hell itself, at least as far as the Antichrist is concerned!

At the beginning of the Kingdom Age, so many Jews will come to Israel that even the waste and desolate places will be fully used; still, room will be at a premium.)

²⁰The children which you shall have, after you have lost the other, shall say again in your ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. (As stated, the Holy Spirit continues to speak of the millions of Jews who will come to Israel from all parts of the world at the beginning of the Kingdom Age.)

²¹Then shall you say in your heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? (At the very conclusion of the Battle of Armageddon, and at the return of Christ, after losing so many millions in this terrible conflict, the leaders of Israel will wonder if they have enough people to once again be a viable nation. But then millions will begin to come from all over the world, with Israel then asking the question, Where have they been?)

ISRAELS ENEMIES DESTROYED

²²Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up My Hand to the Gentiles, and set up My Standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. (The Standard that the Lord will set up is Jesus Christ. Not only will the Jews be rallying to My Standard, but the Gentiles, as well!

The Gentile world, realizing that Israel is Gods Chosen People, and that they have finally accepted Christ as their Messiah, and knowing that God will bless all who favor His People, will do everything they can to provide aid, comfort, money, and help regarding their relocation to the Land of Israel.)

²³And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the Earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me. (The phrase, Lick up the dust, is an expression of complete submission. Kings and queens, i.e., world leaders, will bow down to you. This will be done, not so much because of the Jew himself, but rather because of the LORD of Glory, and Israels relationship with Him.)

²⁴Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? (The mighty and terrible one of Verses 24 and 25 is the Antichrist. His prey and lawful captives will be the sons of Israel. They will have accepted him as the messiah, as predicted in John 5:43 and will, consequently, be his lawful captives. Concerning this, the next Verse tells us what Christ will do.)

²⁵But thus sa ys the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children. (The Deliverance that will come to Israel, even at the last minute, will be the Second Coming of Christ. At that time, the prey, i.e., Israel, shall be delivered.

Even though the Antichrist will be terrible, still, Christ will be far more terrible.

The phrase, I will contend with him who contends with you, should be well noted! That holds true for all time, not only for Israel, but also for every Believer.)

²⁶And I will feed them who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (This Passage proclaims the destruction of the Antichrist and all who oppose Israel in that coming day of the Battle of Armageddon. At that time, and we continue to speak of the Second Coming, the entirety of the world will know that the LORD is Israels Saviour and her Redeemer. He is the Mighty One of Jacob.)