Isaiah 49:14-21

c. DEJECTED ZION

TEXT: Isaiah 49:14-21

14

But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.

15

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee.

16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

17

Thy children make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth from thee.

18

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thy self with them like a bride.

19

For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places, and thy land that hath been destroyed, surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

20

The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.

21

Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?

QUERIES

a.

Why would Zion think Jehovah had forsaken her?

b.

How would Zion clothe herself with those coming to her?

c.

Why does she ask, Who hath begotten me these?

PARAPHRASE

But those in Zion who have been listening to these predictions of their glorious future say, How can all this come to pass if we are to go into captivity? Surely Jehovah is showing that He has forsaken us and forgotten us if we must go away to Babylonian exile! So Jehovah answers, As incredible as it may seem, occasionally a mother may disown her own baby, but I will never disown My true Zion. Look! I have cut your name deeply into the flesh of the palms of My hands. Your walls may be broken down from time to time but I see them ultimately and eternally built up. When the time of the Servant comes I want you to observe that many of those who have previously been your destroyers will cease opposing you and will come to you and become a part of Zion. Your beauty will be enhanced by their joining you. You will look as lovely as a bride dressed for her wedding. You think your population will be decimated by the captivity, and your nationhood destroyed. I tell you you will become so populous you will think there is no room for all the people joining themselves to you and your destroyers will be made powerless. The descendants of those who shall go into exile will one day shout to you, Zion is not large enough for all these people; it must be enlarged. Then you will say in amazement; Where did all these children of Zion come from, seeing I have suffered so much destruction and death of my own children? I have spent most of my existence wandering to and fro, so how could I have produced all these children? Look, I was left all alone in captivity and no one seemed to come forth to help me, so where have all these children been hidden all this time?

COMMENTS

Isaiah 49:14-18 MELANCHOLIA: The people of Zion are represented as being in a state of deep despondency. This is anticipating the nation of Judah in exile in Babylon. The Psalmist of the exile wrote: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. (see Psalms 137:1 f). The promises of the prophets were glorious but only the most thoroughly committed believer put much hope in them. All recent history taught the Jews was that nations taken captive into Mesopotamia disappeared or lost their national identity. The great empires had never allowed a conquered nation to return to its own homeland. Judah was certain Jehovah had forsaken her (cf. Lamentations 5:1 f).

The Lord left His people in Babylon for 70 years (two generations would have been born and reared in a foreign land). Some of those who were taken down to Babylon as captives of war undoubtedly died there without ever seeing their homeland again (perhaps Daniel and his three friends). It was a great temptation for many Jews to despair and to spread their discouragement among others. The Lord works slowly, as men are prone to count time, but He is absolutely faithful to keep His promises. One of the most beautiful promises of the Old Testament is pictorialized in Isaiah 49:15-16. The Hebrew word -ulah is translated sucking child but means more literally an infant (newly born). On rare occasions one learns of a mother deserting her new-born child, but it is very unusual. The Lord's love for Zion is indestructible! He cannot forget herit is not in His nature at all to forget His promises. He is preparing to sacrifice His only Son for her. True Zion is precious to Him. He has khakak, graven, them on the palms of His hands (not tattooed, but carved, etched deeply). He is constantly reminded of Zion! Her walls may be torn down by her enemies but in God's sovereign vision, they are constantly before Him as built up forever. Whatever God dreams or envisions comes to pass. God's dreams are not sand-castles. He has proven this through dreams and visions He manifested to the world by the instrumentality of His prophets. They all came to pass! So when God envisions the wells of Zion built forever, they shall be built forever! Maybe not in the lifetime of Isaiah, or the returned exiles, but when the Messiah arrives, He shall build the eternal walls of Zion (cf. Hebrews 12:25-28, a kingdom that cannot be shaken is already being received by the recipients of the Hebrew epistle)!

Those contemporaries of Isaiah who read his prophecy should look and see that what God has promised about Zion is already beginning to happen, and believe. Already the true Zion is beginning to take shape. Already the sifting process is taking place. True believers in the long-range program of God are starting to separate themselves from those who are destroyers of Zion (unbelievers). Already Isaiah's teaching had begun to form a small band of disciples (Isaiah 8:16-18), a remnant, which would eventually include all those who walked in darkness even the Gentiles (Isaiah 9:1-7). Jehovah swears by His own life (which is, of course, never ending and absolute) that Zion shall one day wear these few, faithful believers (of Isaiah's day) as a bride would her wedding finery (cf. Ephesians 5:26-27; Revelation 12:1; Revelation 19:7-8; Revelation 21:2).

Isaiah 49:19-21 MARVEL: Zion's melancholia would eventually turn to marvel. These verses indicate Isaiah is predicting a spiritual land of Zion. Zion's literal land has never been too small for her. She has never thought she had too many literal, physical children. There were times, however, after the establishment of the New Testament church that some of the Jewish Christians (even Peter) wondered about the amazing and rapid growth of the new Zion (the church). Many were wondering how God could make room in Zion for Gentiles from all over the world! There has never been a time (especially after the return from exile) that the enemies (those who swallowed up) the Jews were literally far away. Enemies of the Jews have always been near and have continually oppressed them and swallowed them up (e.g., Sanballat, Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV, Pompey, the Mohammedans; in our lifetime, the Germans, Russians and Arabs). But spiritually, the Messiah defeated the arch-enemy of Zion, the devil, and bound him for a thousand years so that Zion's enemy is far away. It is a constant source of wonder and amazement that Jehovah could take the small minority of believers exiled in Babylon and preserve them through centuries of indignation and eventually make of them a world-wide Zion (cf. Acts 11:1-8; Acts 15:1-21, etc.).

We quote from Edward J. Young, Even during the exile the tide was turning. God was raising up Cyrus, who would make it possible for the exiles to return to their home. In this return there is seen the first fulfillment of this promise, but in the deeper sense the fulfillment takes place in the distant future when the Gentiles are brought into the Church of Christ. Zion is bereaved, but she has children, so many that there is no room for them.
The remainder of this chapter confirms the messianic intent of the prophet.

QUIZ

1.

What are other scriptures to indicate the despondency of the exiles?

2.

Why is God unable to forget Zion?

3.

When did they remember Zion?

4.

How could the land be too strait for Zion?

5.

Why can-'t this be literal Zion?