Isa 49:14-21 | KingComments | STEP | It seems as if the people can’t believe all this. They complain that the LORD forsook them in the time of tribulation that precedes the return described above. The lengthy period of suffering has given the people that feeling ( ). The tribulation is just, their complaint is not. To comfort them the complaint is followed by an exposition and assurance of God’s love. That love is not only as great as a mother’s love for her child, but goes far beyond that ( ). That a mother forgets her nursing child is hard to imagine; that the LORD forgets His people is totally unimaginable. Far from forgetting Zion – i.e. her inhabitants – He has them inseparably attached to Himself and stands as guarantor for them with His actions ( ). The Jews had a habit of putting the mark of the city and the temple in their hands or anywhere else as a sign of their dedication and as a constant reminder. God takes over this picture in His grace to give them security. He engraved them in the palms of His hands. With one hand He founded the earth ( ), but He surrounded His beloved people with both His hands (cf. ). It speaks both of absolute assurance, safety and security and of the fact that He is constantly at work for them. Those hands were once pierced for us when He was crucified. It speaks of perfect love. We may think of that every time He shows us His hands ( ). In ancient times it was customary to engrave the name of the master in the hand of his slaves. The slave was thereby inseparable connected to his master. Here it is the other way around. God inextricably connected Himself to them. He thinks of them incessantly and is always busy for them. They should not think that things are getting out of hand with Him, because they are always in His hands. The walls of Zion, no matter how destroyed they are by the enemy, He always sees before Him in their perfect, future state. Being engraved in the palms of the hands presupposes the closest union with Him Himself. It indicates His unchanging love and His constant thinking of us in everything He feels and does. Engraving in the palm of the hand is also an extremely painful thing. He endured the pain on the cross to unite us with Himself in this way. In all His actions He thinks of each and every one of His own. In our unbelief and forgetfulness, we often lose sight of how precious we are to Him in Christ. God’s love finds its fullness in the love of Christ. We hear that love when He opens His heart about this to His disciples. He says to them: “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love” ( ).

‏ Isaiah 49:14-21

The LORD Does Not Forget His People

It seems as if the people can’t believe all this. They complain that the LORD forsook them in the time of tribulation that precedes the return described above. The lengthy period of suffering has given the people that feeling (Isa 49:14). The tribulation is just, their complaint is not. To comfort them the complaint is followed by an exposition and assurance of God’s love. That love is not only as great as a mother’s love for her child, but goes far beyond that (Isa 49:15). That a mother forgets her nursing child is hard to imagine; that the LORD forgets His people is totally unimaginable.

Far from forgetting Zion – i.e. her inhabitants – He has them inseparably attached to Himself and stands as guarantor for them with His actions (Isa 49:16). The Jews had a habit of putting the mark of the city and the temple in their hands or anywhere else as a sign of their dedication and as a constant reminder. God takes over this picture in His grace to give them security. He engraved them in the palms of His hands.

With one hand He founded the earth (Isa 48:13), but He surrounded His beloved people with both His hands (cf. Jn 10:28-29). It speaks both of absolute assurance, safety and security and of the fact that He is constantly at work for them. Those hands were once pierced for us when He was crucified. It speaks of perfect love. We may think of that every time He shows us His hands (Jn 20:19-29).

In ancient times it was customary to engrave the name of the master in the hand of his slaves. The slave was thereby inseparable connected to his master. Here it is the other way around. God inextricably connected Himself to them. He thinks of them incessantly and is always busy for them. They should not think that things are getting out of hand with Him, because they are always in His hands. The walls of Zion, no matter how destroyed they are by the enemy, He always sees before Him in their perfect, future state.

Being engraved in the palms of the hands presupposes the closest union with Him Himself. It indicates His unchanging love and His constant thinking of us in everything He feels and does. Engraving in the palm of the hand is also an extremely painful thing. He endured the pain on the cross to unite us with Himself in this way.

In all His actions He thinks of each and every one of His own. In our unbelief and forgetfulness, we often lose sight of how precious we are to Him in Christ. God’s love finds its fullness in the love of Christ. We hear that love when He opens His heart about this to His disciples. He says to them: “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love” (Jn 15:9).

Amazement

These verses reaffirm the promise of the final gathering together of the scattered rejected ones of the people back in their land. A change of population takes place. The original population enters the land with hurry, and those who have conquered and destroyed the land depart (Isa 49:17). The children of whom Zion thought they were lost come back in crowds (Isa 49:18). They will be like a decoration for the land, in the same way as a bride is decorated for her husband.

The reason, indicated by “for” (Isa 49:19), that the devourers are driven far away is that there will not be enough room for all its inhabitants. There will be so many people that room must be made for them (Isa 49:20). The people of Zion have gone into exile, the city has been deserted and left alone (Isa 49:21). Now she is surrounded by a crowd of her children. With the “exiled” children the two tribes are meant, and with the “wandering” children the ten tribes. Amazed, she wonders where they have been and where they come from. The answer is given in the following verses.

Sometimes the Lord does not reveal the purpose of His actions. He tests our faith in this and makes us wait until the time determined by Him has come to make His actions and their meaning known. The joy is much greater when the unfolding comes, than when there would not have been dark circumstances. The glory of His grace will also be much greater.