Isaiah 49:22-26

d. DELIVERED SOCIETY

TEXT: Isaiah 49:22-26

22

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for. me shall not be put to shame.

24

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?

25

But thus saith Jehovah, 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 that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

QUERIES

a.

Why put up a signal for the nations?

b.

How does God contend with those who contend with Zion?

c.

When did Jehovah take the prey away from the mighty?

PARAPHRASE

Now this is what the Lord Jehovah says, Look! I will give directions to the Gentiles and point out to them the sign I have set among the covenant people of My presence among men and they shall bring Zion's sons and daughters to her in gentle safety. Gentile kings and queens will be like foster-fathers and foster-mothers to you. They will humiliate themselves to Zion and serve her like slaves. Then you will acknowledge that I am Jehovah and realize that trusting in Me with faith and patience will result in victory. Now you are despondent, saying, It is utterly impossible for us to be rescued from mighty Babylonthe righteous usually do not escape from the unrighteous. But Jehovah replies, Quite to the contrary, and as incredible as it may seem, I will do as I have promised and rescue my people from the giant. They shall be the prey of the tyrant no longer. I, Jehovah, will make war against those who make war upon you. I will make your enemies feed upon one anotherthey will make war upon one another, until they stagger and reel with defeat like drunken men. When all this comes to pass then all mankind will have evidence to know that I am the One Sovereign Lord who saved His people and sets them free. This will be the revelation to all the world that I am the Mighty One of Jacob.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 49:22-23 SIGNAL: Two different Hebrew words are used to denominate the recipients of Jehovah's ensigngoim (Gentiles, or nations) and -ammim (peoples). Girdlestone says, ... the word goim primarily signifies those nations which lived in the immediate neighborhood of the Jewish people; they were regarded as enemies, as ignorant of the truth, and sometimes as tyrants. If goi denotes a nation regarded from without, -am signified a people as viewed by one of themselves. Sometimes it (-am) is used in the familiar and domestic way in which we speak of -folk-'. It is often brought into direct. contrast with goi. Thus Moses, speaking to God concerning Israel, says, -This nation (goi) is thy people (-am),-' Exodus 33:13. -Am is used by Isaiah (and other prophets) to distinguish Israel as God's people, and to mark them off from the heathen goim. Often Isaiah predicts that the goim who had not been -ammim should become the people of God through the messianic redemption. Psalms 18:43; for example, reads, Thou hast made me the head of the heathen (goim); a people (-am) whom I have not known shall serve me. This will come to pass when Jehovah shall be acknowledged as holding rule as King of the goim (Jeremiah 10:7; Hosea 1:9-10; Hosea 2:23).

This by-play upon the words goim and -ammim in Isaiah 49:22 seems to indicate the delivered society referred to, although it may begin with deliverance from exile by Cyrus, has its ultimate goal as the messianic society (the church). The setting up of an ensign (a battle standard upon a pole; a rallying flag) is one of Isaiah's favorite pictures of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 18:3; Isaiah 62:10). When God sends His Messiah to the world, the pagan nations are going to deliver up (by the preaching of the gospel) all whom God in His omniscience knows are His (both Jew and Gentile). The Lord once told Paul I have many people in this city. That city was Corinth (Acts 18:9-11). Nursing fathers is from the Hebrew word -omenayik (root word is -man) which means foster-father and its root meaning is to stay, to support. The Hebrew word yanak (nursing mothers) means literally to suckle and therefore may be translated foster-mother. The whole idea is that kings and queens of the goim (heads of state of heathen nations) will one day become, as it were, parents or supporters of Zion! And the once haughty, domineering goim will come to Zion in all humility to serve as slaves of Zion and her King. This is the only way anyone can join Zionhumility and service. When Jehovah begins the great work He is predicting here then many will begin to acknowledge Him as Sovereign and look forward in faith to the completion of it all in the messianic kingdom (just when the completion is to come they will not know, cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12). Those who thus wait in patient faith upon Jehovah's promises, even though they do not live to see them accomplished, (Hebrews 11:13-16), will not be put to shame but will stand at their allotted place at the end of the days. (Daniel 12:13).

Isaiah 49:24-26 SPECTACLE: Zion is not yet convinced. If Zion is taken captive by the mighty (gibbor) one (Babylon) how is it possible that she shall ever see kings and queens coming to her in humble service? The lawful captives are, in Hebrew, the tsadiyk or righteous captives. They are righteous compared to Babylon. The righteous are Jews essentially non-warlike as compared to unrighteous Babylon. It was historically unheard of that a nation taken from its homeland into exile by such self-serving empires as Babylon should ever reappear again in its own homeland. Jehovah predicts that Zion shall not only be returned to her homeland but her enemies shall serve her. Incredible as it may seem, Zion is going to be delivered from her mighty and terrible enemy. These verses apply to the return of the Jews from Babylonian exile at the decree of Cyrus the Persian. This is a prelude to the signal to the goim of Isaiah 49:22-23 and their becoming foster-parents to Zion (the church). Zion needs first to believe that Jehovah will deliver her from Babylonian captivity. This is the first obstacle in the way to the formation of a remnant which will in turn perpetuate the true Zion through the centuries until the King of Zion appears. So God says, I will make war upon those who contend with Zion. This is one of the fundamental warnings of the Bible; Leave God's people alonedo not harm themfor He is jealous for them. Whoever would attack the people of God attacks God! God even holds the world responsible for standing aloof when His people are being set upon (cf. our comments, Obadiah, Isaiah 49:10-14, Minor Prophets, Butler, College Press). All God has to do is give pagan empires up to their own paganism and they turn on one another and bite and devour one another (cf. Romans 1:24-32). The history of the unbelieving world of human governments is one long tale of war, tyranny, destruction and politico-socio cannibalism. Man, in his perverse rebellion against God, goes on devouring himself! It is a matter of history that when Cyrus took up the conquest of Babylon some of the satrapies of the Babylonian empire revolted and fought with the Persians against their former rulers. Isaiah's prediction came to pass specifically and generally.

QUIZ

1.

Who are the nations and peoples?

2.

Who is the ensign?

3.

How will kings and queens become nurses?

4.

How will those who wait upon Jehovah not be put to shame?

5.

Why does Zion still think they may not be delivered from captivity?

6.

How does Jehovah feed oppressors with their own flesh?