Isaiah 54:9-17

2. REGALED

TEXT: Isaiah 54:9-17

9

For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

10

For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee.

11

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

12

And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones.

13

And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

14

In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.

15

Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.

16

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

17

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah.

QUERIES

a.

What do the waters of Noah have to do with this text?

b.

Why mention her stones?

c.

How shall their righteousness be from Jehovah?

PARAPHRASE

Your redemption from captivity and salvation through the coming Servant is certain. The covenant relationship through the Servant is as sure as the covenant I made in the days of Noah when I swore that the waters would no more destroy the earth. So I have now sworn to turn away My anger from you through the atoning work of the Servant. In fact, My covenant through the Servant is even more certain than that! Even if the mountains and hills and the earth pass away, My covenant of reconciliation in the Servant shall never pass away. O you helpless and oppressed Zion, I am going to make you beautiful. I will lay your foundations with sapphires, your towers with rubies, your gates will be built of stones that shine and glow like fire and I will build your walls with precious stones of all kinds. All of your children shall have the privilege of being taught by God Himself. He will come directly from heaven to earth in the flesh. He will bring great peace and prosperity to all your children. You shall be vindicated and declared righteous, O Zion, and you shall be delivered from spiritual oppression and fear; the terror of guilt and judgment shall never come to you again. You will survive all your enemies even though they may conspire to destroy you; they do so against My will and I will destroy them. I create and control those who build weapons; I also create and control those who use weapons against My people. I will not let any weapon or any army completely destroy My Zion. There will be no accusation permitted to stand against you then, because your righteousness shall be imputed to you from Me. This is what I am going to give you, Zion, says the Lord.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 54:9-10 PERMANENCE: The future reconciliation promised in Isaiah 54:1-8 is, of course, predicted on the condition that Zion will enter into covenant relationship with Jehovah through the Suffering Servant who is to come. This covenant relationship will be as intimate and precious as a marriage; for that, in fact, is what it will bethe Lord married to His bride (the church) Zion. In the verse before us now, the permanence or certainty of that relationship is declared. When the Lord predicts that He will enter into a covenant of reconciliation with Zion, it is as certain to come to pass as His promise not to destroy the world by a flood again.

God's covenant sign to Noah was the rainbow. God's covenant sign of reconciliation was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Jews of Jesus-' day were not satisfied by the evidence of His miracles that He came to fulfill the covenant promises made through the prophets. Jesus told them that one great sign would be given them (the sign of Jonah; Matthew 12:38-42; Luke 11:29-32) confirming that He was the Messenger of the Covenant (cf. Malachi 3:1-4). The writer of Hebrews said that when God desired to demonstrate the immutability of His promise of covenant reconciliation, He interposed (emesiteusen, Gr., Hebrews 6:17) with an oath. What God actually did was interpose Himself as that oath, incarnate in Jesus Christ. All the promises of God find their verification, validation, confirmation and authentication (Yes or Amen) in Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:18-20). The new covenant is one of a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 3:3-5). The surety of God's new covenant does not originate subjectively within man. It does not have its basis in man's ability to earn surety through self-righteousness. The surety of God's reconciliation is in God's objective, historical interposition in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We appropriate it by faith and may experience it subjectively, but its certainty is in its objectivity and historicity! The confirmation of God's new covenant is even more certain than the confirmation of the covenant made to Noah. Mountains and hills, heaven and earth, rainbows and clouds may pass away (and most certainly will), but Christ conquered death and lives forever. The Word of God, confirmed by the resurrection of Christ, abides forever (Matthew 5:17-20; Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:22-25). God through Isaiah, is promising Zion that she shall be cast off for a little while but she will be reconciled to Him later (through the Servant) in an eternal marriage. He has sworn it will come to pass. God does not lie. His word is sure!

Isaiah 54:11-12 PRECIOUSNESS: When this marriage takes place between God and His new Zion, the bride (the church) will be regaled in beauty. The old Zion, having degraded itself with idolatry and paganism (Jeremiah 18:12-17, etc.), is about to be taken captive and made a byword among the nations. The old Zion will suffer shame, humiliation and mocking. The old Zion will be loathed as a harlot (cf. Ezekiel 16:1-52), but Jehovah will restore her fortunes and make her the beautiful, new Zion (Ezekiel 16:53-63).

The Hebrew word puk in Isaiah 54:11 is translated fair colors but might be more accurately translated antimony because the Hebrew word apparently refers to a mineral powder used as an eye pigment (cf. 2 Kings 9:30) which was also mixed with a liquid to make a cement or paste in which stones or jewels might be set. This puk would make a setting that would enhance the beauty of the jewels. That is the point of the passage. Peniyniym is the Hebrew word for rubies (they are red); sappiyriym are sapphires (they are blue-green); aekeddakh is Hebrew for carbuncles (they are also brilliant red) and the word more literally means simply, sparkling. The new Zion will be beautiful and precious. Peter must have had this in mind when he wrote 1 Peter 2:4-10! Christ's church is precious and pure (Ephesians 5:25-27) The best human words available to John to describe the extravagant beauty of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-21) were words describing jewels and precious stones. Of course, the precious stones will be purified, sanctified Christians who are living stones in whom the Spirit of the living God abides (cf. Ephesians 2:19-22).

Isaiah 54:13-17 PROTECTION: The phrase, ... taught of Jehovah is quoted by Jesus (John 6:45) in His sermon on The Bread of Life. It is therefore a prediction of the Messiah. Isaiah was predicting the Incarnation! Jesus Christ was the bread come down out of heaven. The new Zion would be established and continually sustained by eating the incarnated Bread from Heaven. The new Zion would have the privilege of being taught directly by God in the flesh. The old Zion had only divers portions and divers manners of God's revelation through the prophets (Hebrews 1:1), but in the messianic age the new Zion would be spoken to by God Incarnate in the Son. Anyone taught by Jesus is taught by God Himself.

The protection God is promising Zion here is essentially spiritual. It should be clearly understood by any student of the New Testament that Christians are never promised complete deliverance from wars, sicknesses, trials and tribulations. All who live godly in this world will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). The prophets never promised the Jewish people a time when they would be free of physical tribulation on this earth. The promise that Zion shall be far from oppression is a promise of freedom from spiritual oppression (guilt, fear of judgment). The new Zion will be founded in righteousness (cf. Isaiah 2:1-4; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1-16, etc.). The imputed righteousness of God because of the atoning death of Christ will free the new Zion from guilt and fear of judgment. The Lord will protect His church and the gates of eternal death shall never prevail against it because Christ will partake of flesh and blood and destroy the power of the devil which is the fear of death (cf. Hebrews 2:14-18; Isaiah 25:6-9). In Isaiah 54:15-17 the prophet clearly predicts that Zion will suffer physical attacks as well as judgmental accusations (probably referring to the chief slanderer himself, the devil), but none of it shall prevail against God's new Zion. God is the Creator of everything and everyone. He is able to control all His creation and use it to fulfill His ultimate purpose which is the redemption of those who come into covenant relationship to Him through the Servant. And He will do so! Zion's future righteousness cannot be gainsaid. The accuser of all mankind cannot hurt God's new Zion with his accusations. The heritage of new Zion shall be the perfect righteousness of God Himself, which God has given her by His grace through His Servant. The Hebrew word tsedek is able to be translated righteousness or justness. The meaning in this text apparently has more of the flavor of justification, vindication or exoneration. God's new Zion will be cleared of all guilt and be given God's righteousness through her covenant marriage in the Servant.

QUIZ

1.

Upon what is the future reconciliation of Zion to the Lord predicated?

2.

How certain is the Lord's promise of reconciliation toward Zion?

3.

What is the sign of that reconciliation?

4.

How did God swear an oath of that reconciliation in the New Testament?

5.

How does Isaiah speak of the future beauty of new Zion?

6.

How will God vindicate and justify and protect the new Zion?