Isa 49:14-26 | 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 49:14-26

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.

Those Who Hopefully Wait for the LORD

From Isa 49:22 to the end of the chapter the LORD answers the astonished questions of Zion which arose in the preceding verse. He shows how the crowds of scattered Israelites will be delivered from their exile and from those who oppressed them, and how He will bring them into their land. This cannot be about the return of a small remnant from the Babylonian exile. Also, it is not only about an outward return to the land, but also about an inward turning to the LORD through faith in the Redeemer. What is described here will take place in the end time.

The LORD will use the nations to participate in carrying out this gathering of His people. For this purpose He will lift up His hand (Isa 49:22). The lifting up of His hand presupposes a certain sign through which the nations know what to do. The lifting up of a banner is more common in Isaiah (Isa 5:26 ; Isa 11:10 ; 12 ; Isa 18:3 ; Isa 62:10). It has to do with battle. When He lifts up His banner, it is about a battle with which He has to deal and at the same time the outcome is certain.

The nations will bring back the sons and daughters in their arms and on their shoulders. Kings and princesses will devote themselves to the care of God’s people (Isa 49:23). Those who are themselves objects of honor will pay homage to these people. They will not act as generous benefactors, but will subject themselves to this people to the dust, which will be a total reversal of the situation. They will be forced into this service of cleansing the feet. For us, we follow the example of the washing of the feet by the Lord Jesus and wash each other’s feet as He did with His disciples (Jn 13:1-17). It means that we will serve each other in humility.

The rulers of the world used to humiliate these people to the dust, but now they are humiliated to the dust (Mic 7:17). So deep the enemies will bow down before the Messiah (Psa 72:9), revealing again how closely the people are connected to their Messiah. Israel should have been a blessing for the nations. When they eventually will be, the nations will be used by the LORD to bless Israel.

In all this Zion will acknowledge the LORD and His ways. They will discover the great comfort that those who hopefully wait for the LORD will not be ashamed. This is more negative, while Isaiah 40 is more positive, where ‘strength’ is connected to waiting (Isa 40:31). This is the exercise of patience, perseverance in the midst of difficulties and opposition, until the time of the LORD to deliver has come.

For now we expect it from Him in prayer. We wait for Him for the future. In doing so, we may be confident that the present circumstances of trial and sorrow will change into joy and will be characterized by peace. This change can only take place through the direct and public intervention of the Lord Himself.

The LORD: Their Savior and Redeemer

These verses are about the tyrants with all their power and evil intentions. The rhetorical question in Isa 49:24 has two parts. The first part, taking the prey from the mighty man is not only about Babylon, but also applies in the future to the Assyrian, the king of the North, and to the two beasts of Revelation 13 (Rev 13:1-10 ; 11-18).

The second part, the rescue of the captives, is not about lawful prisoners, but about those who belong to the LORD and will in the future be torn out of the hand of the antichrist, who, under the influence of satan, is out to kill the faithful. They are also those who are the remnant of the lost ten tribes and who will then be given back by the nations.

The assurance is given that the LORD Himself will take care of this (Isa 49:25). This will happen when the Lord Jesus appears for the second time. Then the entire world will discover and acknowledge that the LORD is the “Savior” and “Redeemer” of Israel, “the Mighty One of Jacob” (Isa 49:26).

All attempts of the United Nations to establish peace and security on earth, no matter how good the intentions, are doomed to fail. The last great battle in the world, in which the Jewish question will be the central issue, will make the fulfillment of the Scriptures clear. That fulfillment is that righteousness can only be established on earth through the personal coming of Christ in judgment on God’s enemies and in the deliverance of His people.