54:1 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
and your offspring will possess the nations
and will people the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
7 For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “This is like the days of Noah [1] to me:
as I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
and will not rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of agate,
your gates of carbuncles,
and all your wall of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
and great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 If anyone stirs up strife,
it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
shall fall because of you.
16 Behold, I have created the smith
who blows the fire of coals
and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
17 no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”
Isaiah 54 is a very comforting and rejoicing passage... But there's no point in knowing without 53 because how can you rejoice when you don't know WHY you're rejoicing... Isaiah 53 was about a Servant who was wounded and marred beyond human semblance due to people who are like sheeps that have gone astray and yet God took the punishment on God Himself through the vivid details of the pain that this Servant went through... It is through this understanding of the undeservingness of us to be reconciled with the God whom we hated that we can rejoice... This is how we should rejoice in Isaiah 54 after looking at what this Servant a.k.a. Jesus has done for us...
And the bigness of this good news is seen in verse 1, saying that a barren woman which is a woman who can't bear children can SING out loud because of this good news!!! The greatest GOOD NEWS is in verse 4-7... It starts with God telling his people to be bold and not be ashamed of how we have mistreated God... And the reason for it is because God is OUR CREATOR, He knows us inside out and in knowing how filthy we are, He still called us to be His people and now He is with us... Because of this very reason we can now have the heritage of being a servant of the LORD... The picture of the heritage is painted nicely in 54... As we look forward to this HERITAGE, how should we respond to this good news?
