saying to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pasture shall be on all bare hills.
This verse is one line in a longer message God speaks to His Servant, and it is a command of release. Two questions decide how we read it — who are these prisoners, and when does the word go out?
The command is not the prophet's own. God gives it to His Servant, and the setting is a scene of total ruin. (The writers quote older translations, which read "Go forth" and "Show yourselves" where the ESV has "Come out" and "Appear".)
"I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people (that is, of Israel) … saying to the prisoners, Go forth" (vv. 8-9). This assumes everything is in ruin, but that the Lord Jesus is the appointed repairer of the breaches.
Some read this release of prisoners as a rescue of the dead from hell. One writer rejects that, and points to the verse's own setting: the earth and its ruined lands.
This is Jehovah's prophetic word to the Messiah, and it applies expressly to the earth and not to hell at all: "I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, … to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that you may say to the prisoners, Go forth." Familiar passages use similar language, and nobody would dream of carrying it further. Anyone who applies this to hell must assume it. Will they say why?
If the prisoners are Israel, no human effort can arrange their freedom. The One who speaks sets the time.
Men may try to restore the land to the Jew, and bring the Jews back to the land. But their efforts, even if they seem successful for a time, will only bring the Jew back for the judgment of the great tribulation. To come back for blessing they must wait until Christ gives the word. In His time He will say to the prisoners, "Go forth". And to those in darkness, "Show yourselves". Today the Jew may be a captive, often hiding from the pitiless persecution of ruthless enemies. But when Christ says "Go forth" and "Show yourselves" no power will withstand His words.
This verse names prison and darkness. The next verse adds hunger and thirst. Each meets its exact opposite.
Prisons, and darkness, and hunger, and thirst, will yield up their captives and their victims at the gracious command of our Lord Jesus Christ; so that they may enjoy liberty, and light, and plenty. He will Himself guide them (vv. 9-10).
The second half of the verse turns from prison to pasture. It also settles where the freed come from.
"They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be on all bare heights… Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim" (vv. 9-12). This predicts the return of Israel from all parts of the earth. But it is a return after they were scattered there. So they come not only from the north and south, but even from the land of Sinim — that is, from China. From there they emerge at last and gather in Palestine.
These captives have a name elsewhere in Scripture, and a scene in heaven matches their relief.
In verses 8-10 God gives Him as a covenant to the people, that is, Israel. He comes to bring in the blessing on earth, to set free captive Israel — "Prisoners of hope," Zechariah 9:11-12 — and to open the prison doors to those who are bound. So the true Shepherd of Israel feeds His now gathered flock, which would hunger and thirst no more. How similar is the language of Revelation 7:16-17, which the elder in heaven uses about those who had come out of the great tribulation.
- Ruin — the verse assumes everything lies in ruin: wasted lands, prisoners, people in the dark.
- Repairer — God gives His Servant as a covenant, and He is the appointed repairer of the breaches.
- Release — these prisoners are captives on the earth, not souls after death. His word ends both prison and darkness.
- Reach — release runs from every direction, from the north, the west, and lands as far off as China.
- Rest — the freed become a flock, fed along the ways and on bare heights, never hungry or thirsty again.
They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them will lead them, and by the springs of water will he guide them.
Isaiah 49 describes the work of God's Servant. His own nation rejects Him, yet God gives Him to bring a scattered people home. Verse 10 pictures that homecoming, and it raises three questions: who are these people, when does this happen, and what makes it certain?
Verse 10 sits in a chapter about Christ. Israel's refusal of Him looks like failure. Instead God widens the promise to the nations, and then returns to Israel:
The original thought was to gather Israel, but Israel would not be gathered. Then, says God, That is too small a thing; I will save the nations also. But Christ is first given as a light to the Gentiles… "This is what Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to Him whom the soul despises, to Him whom the nation hates." Clearly Christ is now seen as a rejected person, and the cross is the great expression of that rejection. "I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people (that is, of Israel), to establish the land." All this supposes that everything is in ruin, but that the Lord Jesus is the destined repairer of the breaches.
The freedom from hunger, thirst and heat belongs to a journey home. One writer separates that homecoming from every human plan to resettle a people:
Men may seek to restore the land to the Jew, and bring the Jews back to the land. Their efforts may seem to succeed for a time. But they will only bring the Jew back for the judgment of the great tribulation. To come back for blessing they must wait until Christ gives the word… No longer will they hunger and thirst nor suffer the heat of a pitiless world. For the One who has mercy on them will Himself go before them. He will restore His wandering sheep, lead them by springs of water, and guide them over mountains and along His highways. They will be led back from every part of the earth.
The verse gives the reason for this care: the One leading them has mercy on them. One writer underlines that word:
At last the comfort announced in the opening verse of Isaiah 40 will have reached "His people." Those who for so long had been "His afflicted" will find mercy. MERCY, notice; not merit, as the end of Romans 11 shows so clearly.
The picture sounds like paradise, so many readers take it for heaven. One writer points to what the rest of the chapter says:
This passage is not a prophecy about heaven, but about restored Israel; for it goes on to declare, "I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh," and concludes by saying that "all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, am your Saviour, and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob." (v. 26.)
The promise is spoken to Israel. Yet one writer notes that the same prophecy reaches further:
And though these blessings are promised to Israel, the same prophecy shows us also a Gentile remnant, who share, at least in part, the same portion.
Revelation uses the same words of a crowd drawn out of every nation, and another writer takes both companies to be in view:
In the first part of Revelation 7 we have seen that in the time of these judgments God will have a saved remnant from Israel and the Gentiles. In the closing verses one of the elders in heaven answers the question of who this company is and where they come from. It would seem that these verses apply to both classes, for in Isaiah 49:10 exactly similar language is used to describe the blessing of restored Israel.
One writer gives the passage two applications, one future and one present:
This beautiful passage… will come literally true during the millennium, for all who are faithful to "the King of glory." (Compare Isa. 49 with Rev. 7.) But it is also true now, in a spiritual sense, of every sheep and lamb in the highly favoured flock of Christ. But do you know this truth, O my soul, for yourself — is it your own experience? Only the word of God can make it known, and only faith can enjoy it in the heart.
- Mercy begins it. The One who leads them leads in mercy. The blessing comes to those who "find mercy… not merit."
- Mercy is carried by a Servant. His own nation rejected Him, yet God gives Him as a covenant, and He becomes "the destined repairer of the breaches."
- Mercy sets the timing. No human effort brings the people home for blessing; they "must wait until Christ gives the word."
- Mercy reaches wide. Revelation uses the same words of a saved company from every nation, so both Israel and the Gentiles seem to be in view.
- Mercy lands on earth. This is "not a prophecy about heaven, but about restored Israel" — yet its comfort is true now, by faith, for every sheep of Christ.
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up.
Isaiah 49 answers the Servant's apparent failure. Here God promises a road home for a scattered people. The mountains that would block their return become the route. So who builds this road, who walks it, and when?
This promise sits inside a larger commission. God hands the rejected Messiah the ruined land and its scattered people to restore.
"I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people (that is, of Israel), to establish the land (or, earth), to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, Go forth, to those in darkness, Show yourselves" (vv. 7-9). Clearly this supposes everything is in ruin, but also that the Lord Jesus is the destined repairer of the breaches.
The chapter names God's servant as Israel, yet the Servant speaks as a Person distinct from the nation. One writer explains it:
If we may dare to say it, Christ takes the place of Israel as the true servant of God. As He said, "I am the true vine." This creates an apparent difficulty, but it gives the true sense of chapter 49.
The next verse names where the travellers come from. That shows how far these highways reach.
"And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim" (vv. 9-12). This predicts the return of Israel from all parts of the earth. It is a return after they have been scattered there. So they come out not only from the north and south, but even from the land of Sinim — that is, China — and gather at last in Palestine.
(This is an older rendering; the ESV reads "I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up.")
People can try to bring the Jews back to their land by their own effort. One writer warns that such efforts run ahead of God's timing.
Men may seek to restore the land to the Jew, and bring the Jews back to the land. But their efforts, even if they seem to succeed for a time, will only bring the Jew back for the judgment of the great tribulation. To come back for blessing they must wait until Christ gives the word... The One who has mercy on them will Himself go before them. He will restore His wandering sheep, lead them by springs of water, and guide them over mountains and along His highways.
The verses around this one describe the travellers as prisoners and as people hiding in dark places. Their condition settles what they can claim when they arrive.
Some will be prisoners, some hiding in dark places; coming over the mountains from distant spots in north and west, and even from "the land of Sinim," which some identify with China. At last the comfort announced in the opening verse of Isaiah 40 will have reached "His people." Those who for so long had been "His afflicted" will find mercy. MERCY, notice; not merit — as the end of Romans 11 shows so clearly.
One writer sets the same care beside the Lamb's care for His flock in Revelation. He finds in it both a promise for the millennium and a truth for today.
"They will hunger no more, nor thirst any more; the sun will not strike them, nor any heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will feed them and lead them to living fountains of water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes." This beautiful passage ... will be literally true during the millennium of all who are faithful to "the King of glory." But it is also true now, in a spiritual sense, of every sheep and lamb in the highly favoured flock of Christ.
(An older rendering of Revelation 7.)
The next verse calls creation to sing. One writer ties that shout to God's old pledge to Israel about land and liberty.
But what when the great Jubilee surpasses this generous pledge beyond all comparison! Then... "Shout, you heavens; and be joyful, you earth; and break forth, you mountains, into singing; for Jehovah comforts his people, and will have mercy on his afflicted ones" (Isa. 49:12-13). No loss of liberty or land any more.
- Builder. The road is not a human project — the rejected Servant is the appointed repairer of the ruin, and He makes the way.
- Word. The road opens when Christ says "Go forth." Efforts that run ahead of Him bring tribulation, not blessing.
- Reach. Its highways stretch to the far ends of the earth — north, west, and Sinim — so God can gather every exile, however distant.
- Basis. Those who travel it are prisoners and afflicted ones met by mercy, not by merit.
- End. It leads to a Jubilee greater than the old one, where liberty and land are never lost again.
Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
This verse ends a picture of Israel coming home from every corner of the earth. It names one place so remote that readers still argue over where it was, and it raises a bigger question: who brings them back?
Two kinds of return are possible, one writer says, and only one of them ends in blessing.
Men may seek to restore the land to the Jew, and bring the Jews back to the land. Their efforts may seem to succeed for a time. But they will only bring the Jew back for the judgment of the great tribulation. To come back for blessing they must wait until Christ gives the word. In His time He will say to the prisoners, "Go forth". And to those in darkness, "Show yourselves". Today the Jew may be a captive, often hiding from the pitiless persecution of ruthless enemies. But when Christ says "Go forth" and "Show yourselves" no power will withstand His words. From every quarter of the earth they will be led back.
Older translations read "the land of Sinim" where the ESV has "the land of Syene." Most writers here read it as China. One traces the name through the scholars who studied it.
This predicts the return of Israel from all parts of the earth. But it is a return after they have been scattered there. So in the end they come out and gather in Palestine not only from the north and south, but even from the land of Sinim — that is, from China… Gesenius had too much sense to miss that a distant people at the south or east edge of the world was meant. Even Knobel and Hitzig point to China, whose Rabbinical name is Tsin.
The writers do not all agree. One reference work lists the options and shows why China fits the verse.
A remote place from which some will be brought when in a future day God is blessing Israel. The Septuagint, an early Greek translation, has "the land of the Persians." The land of the Sinae, who settled in Western China, has been suggested: this would not clash with "north" and "west," which are also mentioned in the same passage.
A few verses earlier the Lord tells His Servant that He answered Him at an accepted time. One writer says the homecoming here hangs on that answer. The same promise held something no Old Testament reader could see.
Jesus is preserved, treasured up in the heavens now, awaiting the moment of the ingathering of Israel… Old Testament saints read that the Messiah Himself was heard in an accepted time and helped in a day of salvation. They dimly saw that Israel's coming out from the north and west, and from the land of Sinim, depended on it. But which of them could have known that there would be a people accepted in His acceptance? A people saved in His own salvation out of death and judgment? A people able to say that by His resurrection they were risen with Him?
Isaiah 40 opens with a promise of comfort. One writer says these travellers are where that promise lands.
Some will be prisoners, some hiding in dark places; coming over the mountains from distant spots in north and west, and even from "the land of Sinim," which some identify with China. At last the comfort, announced in the opening verse of Isaiah 40, will have reached "His people," and those who for so long had been "His afflicted," will find mercy. MERCY, notice — not merit, as the end of Romans 11 shows so clearly.
One writer reads this verse against Israel's jubilee law.
Israel alone had God's guarantee every fifty years. But what happens when that generous promise is far surpassed in the great Jubilee!… No loss of liberty or land any more; "for as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain."
The next verse calls on heaven and earth to sing. One writer lists what has to happen first.
At last the Servant will finish the will of the Lord. The nation will be restored, the Gentiles will come into blessing, and kings and princes will bow and worship at His feet. Then the heavens and the earth will join to sing His praise. The wide creation will break out in singing, and all will own that the Lord has done it all.
- Cause. Everything rests on the Servant, heard "in an accepted time" — on what He accomplished, not on political effort.
- Command. The journey starts when Christ says "Go forth" and "Show yourselves." No power will withstand His words.
- Compass. North, west, far away, and Sinim — most read it as China, some as Persia. No distance is too far for His word.
- Character. Those who arrive come as prisoners and afflicted ones, and what meets them is mercy, not merit.
- Chorus. The homecoming ends in a jubilee: no more loss of land or liberty. Heaven and earth sing that the Lord has done it all.
Shout, ye heavens; and be joyful, thou earth; and break forth into singing, ye mountains for Jehovah hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted ones.
Isaiah 49 has just described the Servant of the Lord. His own nation rejected Him, and His work looked wasted. Yet God gave Him as a light to the nations and as the one who brings scattered Israel home. Verse 13 is the song that answers all of that. Why does it call heaven, earth and mountains to join in, when the comfort is for one afflicted people?
Israel had been God's servant, and Israel had failed. The chapter puts a true Servant in that place. The song comes only when His work is finished.
Israel failed as God's servant, so God set Israel aside and put Christ forward as the true servant. Yet Christ says, "I have laboured in vain," because Israel rejected Him. God's answer comes in verse 5 and the verses after it. It was too small a thing for Him only to raise up the tribes of Israel; God would lift Him high and give Him as a light to the nations. In verse 8, God gives Him as a covenant to the people, to deliver them at the end.
Hamilton Smith reads verse 13 as the last step in a sequence running through the chapter. He also names who gets the credit.
Seventh, the Servant will finish the will of Jehovah at last. God will restore the nation. He will bring the nations into blessing. Kings and princes will bow and worship at His feet. Then at last the heavens and the earth will join to sing His praise. The whole creation will burst into song, and all will admit that the Lord has done it all.
The people comforted here are the ones named just before: prisoners and people in dark places, coming home from far away. How God treats them matters as much as who they are.
Verse 13, though, seems to point mainly, perhaps only, to an afflicted remnant of Israel. Some will be prisoners. Some will be hiding in dark places. They come over the mountains from far-off places in the north and the west, and even from "the land of Sinim," which some take to be China. At last the comfort announced in the opening verse of Isaiah 40 will have reached "His people." Those who had been "His afflicted" for so long will find mercy. Mercy, notice — not merit.
The very next verse has Zion saying she has been forsaken and forgotten. So this comfort is not general encouragement. It answers one despair, and it answers with a love stronger than the closest human bond.
No wonder the call goes out for the heavens to shout and the mountains to sing. Comfort has come to God's people through Israel's Restorer. Zion thought she had been abandoned for good. A woman may forget her own baby, against all nature; but Jehovah does not forget His own people. He comforts Zion. He consoles her, and He quickly increases the number of her children.
Earlier in the chapter the call went out to the distant coastlands. Here the audience widens past anything human.
No wonder the call to rejoice goes out not only to the islands, but to heaven and earth… These are the last days. Jehovah is looking back over His goodness and calling the whole universe to be joyful.
This song fits a wider pattern. Writers tie creation's joy to one coming event, and the prophets and the apostle name that event in different ways.
The apostle hangs all this joy of creation on "the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom. 8). The prophets hang it on the redemption of Israel (Isa. 44:23; Isa. 49:13; Isa. 55:12). The testimonies differ because apostles and prophets had different ministries. In one place the Psalmist joins the two in a few words, touching the note where their harmonies meet — "when the Lord builds up Zion, He appears in His glory." (Ps. 102:16)
That is why the call reaches the mountains. Creation has been waiting, and its release comes at the same moment.
There has already been a creation song. The earth came fresh from the hands of God, and "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). Then sin spoiled that beautiful creation. Singing gave way to weeping, and songs to groans. In the thousand-year day to come, God will make the earth new. Creation's groan will fall silent, and heaven and earth will join in a new song.
- Cause. The song rests on the Servant. Israel rejected Him, and He said He had laboured in vain. God then gave Him as a light to the nations and a covenant to the people.
- Gift. The afflicted receive mercy, not merit. The comfort promised in Isaiah 40 reaches prisoners and exiles gathered from as far away as the land of Sinim.
- Answer. Zion said she was forsaken and forgotten. A mother may forget her child; God does not forget His people.
- Reach. The call widens from the far-off coastlands to heaven, earth and mountains. The whole universe joins in one nation's relief.
- Result. Creation's groan falls silent. The prophets tie that release to the redemption of Israel; the apostle ties it to the revealing of God's sons. One day, one song.
But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.
Isaiah 49 has just announced mercy reaching out to distant nations, and at that very moment the city at the centre of God's promises says God has dropped her. Her words are a complaint, not a fact, and the rest of the chapter is God's reply.
One writer reads the chapter as a scene with two speakers, and names it after both.
In this beautiful passage of the prophet, we hear Messiah telling His own history, from the womb of the Virgin to the throne of the kingdom. But Zion, as though she had been listening, complains as one forgotten. She cannot find her own place in this history. Messiah answers this fear and this complaint with good words and comforting words. So I may call this "Jesus and Jerusalem."
One writer measures Zion's bond with God against the strongest human tie he can name.
And it will be unexpected mercy, as the following verses show. Zion stands for the godly seed who will receive the mercy. Pushed to the limit, they will be tempted to think their God has forsaken and forgotten them. But He has not. Among human beings there is no stronger tie than a mother's love. Yet under extreme pressure even that tie may break. The godly in Israel have a tie with the LORD that will never break.
Centuries have passed, and Zion still waits. One writer traces the delay to a greater sin than any before it — the crucifixion of the Messiah.
Many scriptures show the intensity of the LORD's feelings for this beloved city. That same unchanging affection for Zion speaks again through Zechariah and — if we may put it this way — stirs up the LORD to step in for her deliverance and restoration. She may still have to wait. Centuries may roll by, because of her yet greater sin in the crucifixion of the Messiah. But the eyes and heart of the LORD will rest on her continually.
God does not deny how things look to Zion. He answers with something stronger than appearances.
And although Israel now seems to be cast off and rejected, the Word of God tells us it will not always be so… And listen to these words spoken to Israel in reply to her complaint. It looks like that just now, but is it truly so? Listen: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me."
Part of Zion's fear is that blessing for distant peoples has replaced her. One writer answers it from the way Christ treated those closest to Him.
His grace towards the Gentile does not blunt His heart in the least to the claims of natural relationship… This is the very pattern by which He was to deal, and will deal, with Israel. Zion may say of the Lord who laboured in vain, whom the nation abhorred, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." Not so.
God spoke Isaiah's promise to Israel first. One writer says believers may take its comfort too, and that the New Testament makes it firmer still.
Cast down we may be, and often are, and it is good for us too, for "God comforts the downcast" (2 Cor. 7:6) — but cast off, never. God cannot deny Himself… These words are meant in the first place for Israel, but we may take them for ourselves. But the New Testament makes the assurance more assured, for there we are in our own sphere, and we read, "He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you."
- Complaint. Zion hears the Messiah's story and decides she has no place in it. The verse records her fear, not God's verdict.
- Pressure. The words belong to people pushed to the limit, who read their situation as proof that God has left them.
- Delay. Centuries of silence follow the rejection of the Messiah. His eyes and heart still rest on her.
- Answer. God does not argue with how it looks. He points to a love stronger than a mother's, and to Zion engraved on His own hands.
- Reach. Mercy going out to the nations never displaced Zion, and the same faithfulness holds for anyone who feels forgotten.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even these forget, but I will not forget thee.
Zion — God's chosen city — has just cried out that the LORD has forsaken and forgotten her. This verse is His reply, and it points to the closest bond people know: a mother and her nursing baby.
The verse answers a specific complaint. One commentator puts it beside the cry that provoked it, and follows the answer to its end.
"But Zion said, Jehovah has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me." But Jehovah answers Zion's reproach. He says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child…? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." The enemies of Israel disappear. Israel comes forward, long forgotten in appearance, but now to be established for ever.
God compares Himself to a mother with her baby. The comparison carries an admission inside it: even that tie can break.
Zion stands for the godly seed who will receive the mercy. In their worst hour they will be tempted to think their God has forsaken and forgotten them. But He has not. Among mankind there is no stronger tie than a mother's love. Yet under extreme pressure even that tie may break. The godly in Israel have a tie with Jehovah that will never break.
Another writer follows the promise on to what God then does for Zion:
Zion thought she was forsaken altogether. A woman may, unnaturally, forget the child of her womb; but Jehovah does not forget His own people. He comforts Zion; He consoles her, and rapidly increases her children.
This promise has waited a long time. One writer gives the reason for the delay, and what stays fixed through it:
Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me"… "Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you"… This same unchanging love for Zion speaks again through Zechariah. If the words may be used with reverence, it stirs Jehovah up to step in and deliver and restore her. She may still have to wait. Centuries may pass, because of her even greater sin in crucifying the Messiah. But the eyes and heart of Jehovah will rest on her without a break.
God says this to people who forget Him. One writer sets Peter's collapse beside the promise:
Peter was full of self-confidence, yet he truly loved his Master. He vowed that he would face prison and death for his beloved Lord. Yet at the voice of a servant girl he denied his Master with oaths and cursing! Peter sinned, but his faith did not fail… "My people have forgotten Me days without number." Jer. 2:32. "Yet I will not forget you." Isa. 49:15.
The promise rests on something fixed: God has engraved Zion on His hands. One writer applies those hands to Christians now.
Only the nail-pierced hands can carry us through the wilderness to the rest of God that lies ahead of us. Those hands were pierced for everlasting service… He said to Israel, "Can a woman forget her nursing child…? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." Yes, beloved Christians, and we too are engraved on the palms of His hands. Those hands hold us in everlasting safety. They are lifted up in intercession for us and in blessing over us — the nail-pierced hands.
Commentators differ on how far the promise stretches. Some hold it to Zion and her future restoration. Others, like Mawson, take the same assurance for believers today.
- Complaint. Zion says she is forsaken and forgotten. The verse is God's answer to her, not a general saying about love.
- Comparison. God sets His faithfulness beside the strongest human tie there is. Even a mother's love can break under pressure. His cannot.
- Contrast. A mother forgetting her child would be unnatural, and God never forgets His own. His people forgot Him "days without number," and He still says He will not forget them.
- Continuation. The waiting is long, and the crucifixion of the Messiah made it longer. Yet His eyes and heart rest on Zion, and she will be established for ever.
- Certainty. The proof is not a feeling but an engraving on His hands. Writers see those hands now as the nail-pierced hands, lifted in intercession.
Lo, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Zion has just said out loud what suffering people always say: God has walked away and lost track of me. God's reply is not an argument. He points to an engraved hand and to ruined walls He still keeps in view.
God is answering a city that looked abandoned for centuries:
The rest of the chapter speaks of the Lord's faithfulness and love for His earthly people. That love is seen in the restoration of Zion, the city of God's sovereign choice. For long centuries she seemed "forsaken" and "forgotten," yet the Lord loves her with a compassion greater than a mother's love for a child. Her walls are continually before the Lord. The day is coming when her children will hurry back and every destroyer will leave the city.
The verse just before compares God's love to a mother's love for her child.
Zion here stands for the godly people who will receive the mercy. In their extreme trouble they will be tempted to think their God has forsaken and forgotten them — but He has not. Among mankind there is no stronger tie than a mother's love. Yet under extreme pressure even that tie may break. The godly in Israel have a tie with the Lord that will never break. While they are set aside as a nation, God has wider purposes of blessing that reach the most distant peoples. Yet He keeps perfect faithfulness to all His promises.
Engraving is stonework. The same craft cut the names of Israel's tribes into the jewels the high priest wore on his chest and shoulders.
The precious stones were engraved too, both on the shoulder plates and on the breastplate. God said of Zion, "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." Engraving means something no one can erase or rub out — it lasts. These engraved stones are a moving picture. They show the deep and lasting place believers have in the heart of Christ.
The second half of the verse turns to Zion's walls. One writer asks what a wall stands for:
The first thought of a wall is separation from the evil outside, but there may be another thought, and that thought is ownership. The thought of ownership is also seen in Isaiah 49:16… God's people belong to the Lord. He owns what is His, and the words "your walls are continually before Me" stress it.
Writers link the palms in this verse to the hands nailed to the cross. Those hands still serve.
God has committed us to His hands. Because we are His children, He could not have committed us into any other hands. It would not have been enough to put us into the hands of Gabriel or Michael. Only the nail-pierced hands, bored for everlasting service, can carry us through the wilderness to the rest of God that lies ahead… In the same way we too are engraved on the palms of His hands. Those hands hold us in everlasting safety. He lifts them up in intercession for us and in blessing over us — the nail-pierced hands.
The engraved hand leads to a change on the ground:
The enemies of Israel disappear, and Israel comes forward. She seemed forgotten for a long time. Now God will establish her forever.
One writer applies these words to any believer who fears God has written them off:
Cast down we may be, and often are, and it is good for us too, for "God… comforts the downcast" (2 Corinthians 7:6) — but cast off, never. God cannot deny Himself. He cannot be false to His word. There are wonderful words in the Old Testament that assure us of this. They were meant in the first place for Israel, but we may take them for ourselves: "Can a woman forget her nursing child?… Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." But the New Testament makes the assurance even surer. There we are in our own sphere, and we read, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
- Complaint. Zion says she is forsaken and forgotten; this verse is God's direct reply to that feeling, not a rebuke of it.
- Compared. A mother's love is the strongest human tie, yet it can break under pressure — the tie God has with His people never will.
- Carved. "Engraved" is stonecutter's language, like the tribal names cut into the high priest's jewels. Nothing can rub it out.
- Claimed. The walls kept continually before Him mark ownership — the city, and the people it stands for, belong to God.
- Carried. Writers see the palms as the nail-pierced hands. Those hands hold believers safe and rise in intercession and blessing.
Thy sons shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that laid thee waste shall go forth from thee.
Zion has just cried out that God has dropped her and forgotten her, and this verse is His reply: the wreckers leave the city while her children stream back in. Who are these returning ones, and when does a ruined city ever see such a reversal?
A note on wording: where the ESV says "your builders," the writers quoted below follow an older reading, "your children."
This promise sits at a turning point. Isaiah 49 opens a new dispute between God and His people, and the subject has changed.
Isaiah 49 begins the second charge — the rejection of Christ, not idolatry — and it runs to the end of chapter 57. (Compare the end of Isaiah 48.) Israel, having rejected the Messiah, this is said to be of little value. God sets Him as a light to the Gentiles, and Zion is to be re-established.
So God promises this restoration to a people at their worst point, not their best.
Verse 17 is the second half of an answer. Zion complains; God replies first with a mother's love, then with this picture of traffic reversing at the city gates.
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." Jehovah answers her reproach. He says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me. Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go out from you" (vv. 14-17). The enemies of Israel disappear, and Israel comes forward — long forgotten in appearance, but now to be established forever.
Two crowds move in opposite directions in a single sentence.
The verse is not a prediction about Zion's strength. It rests on an affection that centuries of ruin have not cooled, and it is still waiting to be filled out.
The rest of the chapter speaks of Jehovah's faithfulness and love for His earthly people. That love shows itself in the restoration of Zion, the city of God's sovereign choice (Ps. 78:68). For long centuries she seemed "forsaken" and "forgotten," yet the city is loved with a compassion greater than a mother's love for her child. Her walls are continually before the Lord, and the day is coming when her children will hurry back and all her destroyers go out from the city.
The chapter's earlier verses explain why God can speak this way at all. One writer also warns against reading the promise as a picture of the Church.
Turn now to Isaiah 49. Israel failed as God's servant and is set aside. God presents Christ as the true Servant. Yet He says, "I have labored in vain," for we know that Israel rejected Him... In verse 8 God gives Him as a covenant to the people, to deliver them in the end... The idea of applying this to the Church is almost too far-fetched to be worth a comment. When does the Church ever say, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me" — and that at the very time when the blessing is complete?
Jerusalem has been rebuilt before, and each time few people lived in it. Those past recoveries fall short of what this verse promises.
How different it will be in the coming day of Jerusalem's glory. Then the city will still be "large and great," but the people will no longer be few. In that day the land will be too narrow for the number of people living in it, and of the city they will say, "The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in" (Isaiah 49:14-21). This reminds us that reformation, restoration and revival, however bright and blessed, fall far short of the glory that is to come. There had been reformation in the days of the kings. There had been restoration in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and those restored people had enjoyed their revivals. But whether reformation, restoration or revival, it was always a time of outward weakness.
- Charge — Isaiah 49 opens God's second dispute with His people. The issue is now the rejected Messiah, not idolatry.
- Complaint — Zion cries that God has forsaken and forgotten her. He answers with love stronger than a mother's.
- Exchange — One sentence moves two crowds: the destroyers walk out, the children hurry in. Israel's enemies disappear and Israel comes forward.
- Ground — The comfort rests on the true Servant. His labour looked wasted, yet God gives Him as a covenant to deliver the people in the end.
- Reach — Every past rebuilding was small and weak. The promise here is a city too full to hold its own people, and it is still ahead.
Lift up thine eyes round about and behold they all gather themselves together, they come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt indeed clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and bind them on as a bride doth.
Isaiah 49 turns from the charge of idolatry to the rejection of the Messiah, and then to a city that says God has forgotten her. Verse 18 is His reply: lift your eyes and look at the crowd coming home.
The section this verse belongs to opens a new accusation against the nation, and a new answer from God.
Isaiah 49 begins the second charge, the rejection of Christ, not idolatry, and it goes on to the end of chapter 57. (Compare the end of Isaiah 48.) Israel has rejected the Messiah, and so Israel is said to be of little value. God sets Him as a light to the Gentiles, and Zion is to be re-established.
Zion has just said that God has forgotten her. He answers with something she can see.
Zion thought she was forsaken altogether. A woman may forget the child of her womb, unnatural as that is; but Jehovah does not forget His own people. He comforts Zion and consoles her. He quickly increases her children, saying to her, "Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you" (v. 18).
Writers see this crowd as the scattered tribes coming home to those already in the land.
What a home-coming it will be after long centuries of wandering and desolation! What joy to God, and what blessing for the people of His choice! And what a meeting of the tribes after dreary ages of separation and estrangement! Isaiah 49:18-23 describes their meeting in vivid detail. To those already in the land — the two tribes — the Lord says: "Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you." Those already there will wear the returning tribes like a garment, and the land will be too narrow because of the number of people in it.
Her beauty is a gift. The One who gives it makes her His bride and His queen.
And she shall be the bride of the Lord of the earth, and the queen in the day of His power. He will clothe her with ornaments fitting a bride and queen, rejoice over her, and give His name to her. He will have her so honoured and cherished by the whole world that He treats contempt for her as an insult to Himself.
God swears by His own life: "As I live." So when is a promise like that kept?
Such is the future that Jehovah guarantees to Israel after the rejection of the Messiah. So the return from captivity in Babylon cannot exhaust this chapter. It clearly speaks of the far more complete gathering at the end of this age. This opens the new subject: Christ rejected by His people, and His people gathered in after God has made Him a light to the end of the earth.
Kelly also notes what happens to those who ruined her.
The enemies of Israel disappear. Israel comes forward — forgotten for a long time, so it seemed — but now to be established for ever. So their God calls upon them to see a wondrous sight.
The verses that follow say the land will be too small for its people. Smith sets that fullness against every partial recovery God's people have known.
How different will it be in the coming day of Jerusalem's glory. Then indeed the city will still be "large and great," but no longer will the people be few... This reminds us, as another writer has said, that reformation, restoration and revival, however bright and blessed, fall far short of the glory that is to come. There was reformation in the days of the kings. There was restoration in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and those restored people enjoyed their revivals. But reformation, restoration or revival always came in circumstances of outward weakness.
- Rejection. The chapter charges the nation with rejecting the Messiah. God's answer is that Zion will be re-established.
- Sight. To a city saying she is forgotten, God does not argue — He tells her to lift her eyes and watch her children arrive.
- Reunion. Writers read "all these" as the scattered tribes coming home to those already in the land, after long ages apart.
- Ornament. Her returning children are her jewels. The Lord puts that honour on her, and makes the whole world respect it.
- Fullness. God seals the promise with His own oath. It reaches past any earlier homecoming to a crowded land — not the "few" of every reformation and revival until then.
For [in] thy waste and thy desolate places, and thy destroyed land, thou shalt even now be too straitened by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
The verse looks at ruined ground and promises a crowd too big for it. That raises two questions: where will such a crowd come from, and when has anything like this ever happened?
Zion is Jerusalem, spoken of here as a mother who has lost her children. She had long seemed forgotten. This verse marks the turn.
The enemies of Israel disappear, and Israel comes forward, long forgotten apparently, but now to be established for ever. So their God calls upon them to see a wondrous sight.
Notice which ground fills up. Not new territory, but the ruined places themselves.
Zion will be exalted as the nation of Israel gathers to the city. The long waste and desolate places will prove too narrow because of the crowd of inhabitants. Astonishment will follow, as the long hidden ones of Israel come to light.
Where do all these people come from? Commentators point to the ten tribes of Israel, scattered so long ago that no one can now tell who they are.
It is the harvest of joy for the chosen but guilty people, after the long sowing in tears. And now there seems to be no room to house all the children… It is the joining together of the dispersed of all Israel, those who had been forgotten. At the present time the Jews are the only ones clearly known to be of Israel; but those so long hidden are the ten tribes. The Jews will have the certainty that they are Israel and yet not known to them. They had been in the dark for ages.
So the land fills up, and the nations take notice. The honour they pay has a stated reason.
In the days of her sinful desolation all her children were lost. Now they appear in such numbers that the land cannot hold them. The nations — even their kings and queens — will honour them, and that because of the glory and power of their God.
Did the return from Babylon fulfil this? Writers set beside it Zechariah's vision of Jerusalem: a city measured out to grow, with no walls, and the spoilers themselves spoiled. The history since, they say, does not match.
Jerusalem will be measured out with a view to growing and filling with people, like towns without walls — without limits. The Lord will be a wall of fire around it, and will be the glory in its midst; compare Isaiah 49:19-20. After the glory of the Lord has been shown on the earth, He will send to the nations and make a spoil of those who have spoiled Israel, whom He values as the apple of His eye… It is clear that nothing answering to this has taken place since the captivity.
In Nehemiah's day the rebuilt city was wide and large, but the people in it were few. This verse promises the opposite.
How different it will be in the coming day of Jerusalem's glory. Then the city will still be "wide and large," but the people will no longer be few… This reminds us that reformation, restoration and revivals, however bright and blessed, fall far short of the glory that is to come. There had been reformation in the days of the kings. There had been restoration in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and these restored saints had enjoyed their revivals. But whether reformation, restoration or revival, it was always in a setting of outward weakness. It is no different today.
- Forgotten — Zion had long seemed forgotten. God answers with a picture of a land too crowded to hold her children.
- Reversed — the destroyers leave and Israel comes forward. The ruined ground itself grows too small for the crowd.
- Hidden — the crowd includes Israel's long-lost tribes. Even their own people no longer know them, after ages in the dark.
- Honoured — kings and queens will honour them. The reason is the glory and power of their God.
- Ahead — nothing since the captivity matches this. Every reformation, restoration and revival has come in weakness, and points on to a glory still ahead.
The children of thy bereavement shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too narrow for me make room for me, that I may dwell.
Zion has said that the Lord forgot her. Isaiah 49 is God's answer, and this verse is that answer at its sharpest: her lost children come back in such numbers that she runs out of room. Who are these children? When does this happen? Has any return in history matched it yet?
God does not answer her complaint with an argument. He answers with a mother's love for her baby, and with walls He keeps in front of Him.
"But Zion said, Jehovah has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me." But Jehovah answers her reproach. He says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands: your walls are continually before Me. Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and those who made you waste shall go out from you" (vv. 14–17). The enemies of Israel disappear. Israel comes forward — forgotten for so long, it seemed — but now to be established forever.
The children who speak here belong to a mother who had lost her family. Kelly reads their arrival as a homecoming of Israelites long out of sight.
It is the harvest of joy for the chosen but guilty people, after the long sowing in tears. And now there seems to be no room to put all the children… This is the gathering together of the scattered of all Israel, the ones who had been forgotten. At the present time the Jews are the only ones clearly known to be of Israel; but those so long hidden are the ten tribes.
The crowding shows up in the land itself. Even the ruined places will not hold the crowd that comes home.
(Vv. 18–21). Zion will be exalted as the nation of Israel gathers to the city. The long waste and desolate places will prove too narrow because of the crowd of people living there. There will be astonishment when the long hidden ones of Israel are brought to light.
Zechariah saw the same picture: a city with no walls and no limits. One writer sets the two passages side by side.
Jerusalem is to be measured so that it may be enlarged and lived in like towns without walls — without limits. Jehovah will be a wall of fire around it, and will be the glory in the middle of it. Compare Isa. 49:19-20… Jehovah will dwell among His people, and many nations will be joined to the Lord: Jerusalem will be His earthly centre… It is perfectly clear that nothing matching this has taken place since the captivity.
The same truth appears from the other side. A city can be large and great and still hold only a few people.
How different it will be in the coming day of Jerusalem's glory. Then indeed the city will still be "large and great," but the people will no longer be few. In that day the Land will be too narrow because of the number of people in it. Of the city they will say, "The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in" (Isa. 49:14-21). This reminds us… that reformation, restoration and revivals, however bright and blessed, fall far short of the glory that is to come.
Commentators differ over whether the verse describes something already happening. Kelly quotes Calvin on this verse, and then answers him.
Calvin says that Zion here, as in other passages, means captives and exiles… He adds that Paul rightly concludes from Isa. 49:20 (the passage cited in Rom. 11), "that it is impossible that there shall not be some remnant that come to Christ." This is quite a misconception. The apostle had already shown that a remnant comes to Christ now, but he contrasts that present remnant with the day when "a nation" shall be brought in at once, and all Israel shall be saved.
- Room lost. Zion speaks as a mother who has lost her children. She says God has forsaken and forgotten her. This verse is His reply.
- Room remembered. Her walls are engraved on God's hands. A mother may forget her nursing child; He will not.
- Room refilled. The children who come back are the scattered of all Israel. They include the ten tribes, hidden from view for so long, and they come until there is nowhere left to put them.
- Room outgrown. Even the waste and desolate places prove too narrow. The city spreads out like a town with no walls and no limits.
- Room still to come. Nothing since the captivity has matched this. Reformation, restoration and revival all fall short of the day when the cry is for more space.
And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who hath borne me these, seeing I had lost my children and was desolate, an exile, and driven about? and who hath brought up these? behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?
Zion had said that the Lord forgot her. God answers by pointing to a crowd of children she cannot account for, and this verse is her stunned reply.
Zion's losses run back over centuries. One writer pictures the home-coming that ends them.
What a home-coming it will be after long centuries of wandering and desolation! What joy to God, and what blessing for the people of His choice! And what a meeting of the tribes after dreary ages of separation and estrangement! … No wonder they ask. For centuries Zion has been bereaved of her children. The land has long kept her Sabbaths. But when Jehovah's time comes, how marvellous and glorious the change!
The words "who has brought up these?" point to a family raised somewhere out of her sight. Commentators connect this with the tribes carried away long before and never traced since.
It is the harvest of joy for the chosen but guilty people, after the long sowing in tears. And now there seems to be no room to put all the children. … It is the joining together of the scattered of all Israel, those who had been forgotten. At the present time the Jews are the only ones clearly known to be of Israel; but those so long hidden are the ten tribes. The Jews will be sure that these are Israel, even though they had not known them. They had been in the dark for ages.
The same writer answers those who ask where the lost tribes could be now.
No one knows clearly or certainly where the ten tribes are; neither does it seem anyone's business to search beforehand. We may leave them in the obscurity that God has put them in. We know, if we believe His word, that as surely as He has preserved the scattered remnant of the two tribes, so will He bring out of their hiding-place the descendants of the ten. … God will fulfil every letter of the promises. Scripture cannot be broken.
One account ties the question to a reunion of the two parts of the nation.
From Isaiah 49:18-23 we learn that the Jews (that is, the two tribes) will again recognise Israel (the ten tribes), saying, "Who has borne me these … from where have these come?" In that day God will put it into the heart of the nations to bring these lost ones back to their land. There they will be made ready to receive their Messiah — at least the godly ones among them. … Sceptics may say, How can this be, since they have disappeared among the other nations? But we know that God has His eye upon them.
She asks "in your heart" because the mercy takes her by surprise.
And it will be unexpected mercy, as the following verses show. Zion stands for the godly seed who will receive the mercy. In their distress they will be tempted to think that their God has forsaken and forgotten them. But He has not. Among mankind there is no stronger tie than a mother's love. Yet under extreme pressure even that tie may break. The godly in Israel have a tie with Jehovah that will never break.
One writer hears another voice in these words besides Zion's.
No doubt the words used in verses 20 and 21 will have their fulfilment when Israel is back in the land. But we can also see a contrast here. The Lord was lonely when all His followers deserted Him. In the coming day of glory He will say: "Who has borne Me these? … Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?" As we read at the end of Isaiah 53: "Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied."
Nothing in history has yet matched this scene.
This reminds us that reformation, and restoration, and revivals, however bright and blessed, fall far short of the glory that is to come. There had been reformation in the days of the kings. There had been restoration in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and these restored saints had enjoyed their revivals. But whether reformation, restoration or revival, it was always in circumstances of outward weakness. Nor is it otherwise today.
- Loss. Zion speaks as a woman left alone. Centuries of emptiness stand behind her question.
- Hidden. The children she cannot place include tribes no one has traced for ages. God has kept His eye on them.
- Unexpected. The mercy arrives without warning, resting on a tie that, unlike even a mother's love, never breaks.
- Carried. She does not gather them; God moves the nations to bring her sons and daughters home to her.
- Satisfied. One writer hears the same question on the lips of the Lord, once left alone and at last satisfied. Every past revival still falls short of that day.