For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving-kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah, that hath mercy on thee.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
[Thou] afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted! Behold, I will set thy stones in antimony, and lay thy foundations with sapphires;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and I will make thy battlements of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of precious stones.
This promise is spoken to a city that is battered and without comfort. God answers her not with pity but with jewels, which raises three questions: what the stones mean, who the city is, and whose beauty this is.
One writer describes the state Jerusalem is in when this promise comes.
Isaiah 54 gives the result of these events for Jerusalem in those days. Jerusalem is seen as barren and desolate, after rejecting Him who came to be her husband. But now, through the grace that has made the LORD her righteousness, she is told to enlarge the place of her tent and spread out the curtains of her home... For a little while God has treated her as a rejected wife, but has now comforted her with everlasting mercies.
The jewels of this verse are part of that comfort. They are how the mercy shows itself.
So the prophecy is not only of everlasting mercy restoring the ancient people. Along with it come images of beauty and glory with which the LORD will adorn them. Truth will be theirs, for they will all be taught by the LORD. They will enjoy peace too, great peace. Established in righteousness, they will be far from oppression and fear.
Translators have questioned the older English "windows of agates."
The passage in Isa. 54:12, "I will make your windows of agates" is better translated, "I will make your battlements, or pinnacles, of rubies."
The Hebrew word itself points to a stone that sparkles, and windows in that world were not glazed.
The Hebrew word comes from a root meaning "to strike fire," so it means a sparkling gem, a ruby — "a shining, sparkling precious stone, probably a carbuncle, so called from its red sparkling colour." Some have thought this meant the agate was transparent, and that the windows were glazed with agates. But windows were not glazed then. Others translate the word "minarets, pinnacles, battlements," and instead of "agates" many prefer rubies.
The gates too are fiery. A carbuncle is "a stone of a fiery sparkling nature" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
Notice the repeated "I will make." The city produces none of this.
They are a glory that can be put on. The high priest carried the names engraved on the stones. But there was nothing inherent in them, no bond of union between God and them... It is glory, not a sharing in the divine nature.
The heavenly city of Revelation also has jewelled gates. One writer compares the two:
When the Lord sets up the earthly capital city in the magnificence of the millennium, He says to her: I will make your gates of carbuncles (Isa. 54:12). The fiery-red splendour of these gates on earth is quite unlike the soft, shimmering beauty and purity of the pearl gates of the heavenly city... This keeps the heavenly character of the church, a people not of this world, clearly before us.
Another writer reads these stones as a clue to the jewelled wall of the city in Revelation:
Perhaps in Isaiah 54 we have a pointer to the meaning of the stones... Israel in the millennium is going to be marked by this beauty. So the wall in Revelation 21 seems to have more of a Jewish character than to be a picture of the church.
This promise has been used to defend lavish church buildings. Kelly quotes one writer's reply:
Dr. Newman quotes this passage from Isaiah 54 as a prophecy and authorisation of the lavish splendour of the Church of Rome. This is clearly to use the passage in the way of application. Protestants will say that it is a wrong use of it... But what disagreement can there be about the primary sense of the passage? Who can deny that the prophet's words apply first of all to the restored Zion, however we may apply them afterwards?
Vine takes the same promise and turns it toward God's people:
This promise of jewels is the beauty and perfection of Christ, which is put upon us.
- Storm — God treated this city as a rejected wife for a little while. Now He comforts her with everlasting mercies.
- Stones — "Windows of agates" is better read as battlements or pinnacles of rubies. The carbuncle gates are a stone of fiery, sparkling colour.
- Given — Every part begins with "I will make." Precious stones picture a glory put on, not a nature owned.
- Earthly — The fiery gates here are not the pearl gates of the heavenly city. Scripture keeps the two apart.
- Applied — The words apply first to restored Zion. Used rightly, they picture the beauty of Christ put on His people.
And all thy children [shall be] taught of Jehovah, and great shall be the peace of thy children.
Isaiah 54 speaks to Jerusalem as a wife once set aside and now taken back. Verse 13 names two gifts for her restored family: teaching from God, and great peace.
Commentators read the chapter as Jerusalem's reversal, after she had rejected the One who came to her:
Isaiah 54 gives the result of these events to Jerusalem in those days. Jerusalem is seen as barren and desolate, after rejecting Him who came to be her husband. But now grace has made Jehovah her righteousness. So she is called to enlarge the place of her tent and to spread out the curtains of her home. That grace counts all those gathered during her desolation as her children… For a little while God has treated her as a rejected wife, but has now comforted her with everlasting mercies.
Verse 13 stands out from the promises just before it:
The closing verses of this chapter show some of the blessings that will belong to Israel when the covenant is established. Verses 11 and 12 may speak of material favours, but verse 13 shows spiritual blessing. All the true children of Israel will be taught by God, and His teaching truly works. Their peace will be great, because it rests on righteousness, as the next verse shows.
How far does "all" reach? Writers tie the promise to the new covenant:
There is much ground for believing that all who survive of Israel at the start of the Millennium will be saved, and that the whole nation will be saved throughout the thousand years… The new covenant is to be made with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. In that covenant God undertakes to put His law inside them and to write it on their hearts: "And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
One writer draws out who guarantees a result that wide:
So it will be when the new covenant is established with both the houses of Israel… There will then be no question of teaching, each his fellow-citizen, and each his brother… That the result covers everyone shows that God is the One who ensures it. Under human teaching, however good, we see every level of ability, and at best knowledge far from perfect.
Jesus took up this line in John 6, in connection with the Father drawing people to Him. How does the Father draw?
The way the Father draws is by divine teaching, according to the word, "They will all be taught by God". The Father enlightens the soul. He convicts it of its need of Christ on the one hand, and reveals the glory of Christ on the other. So the soul is driven by need and drawn by grace to Christ.
He treated a promise about Israel's future as already at work:
The Lord found in Isaiah 54:13 a forecast of this inward work of the Father. Israel's children will be redeemed and restored when the age to come dawns. He knew that what He is going to do in them, He was doing then, and He is still doing today.
Commentators differ on how far "all" reaches today. One writes that "the word 'all' cannot be applied today as in the millennium" (L. M. Grant).
The New Testament applies this teaching in two directions:
In the New Testament the Holy Spirit takes these truths, which belong first to Jerusalem and her children in the coming day, and applies them to us now. In 1 Thessalonians 4:9 we read, "you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another." John 6:45 quotes the promise too. In John, the teaching of God turns the soul to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Thessalonians it instructs those who have come to Him to love one another.
One word in the verse can be read two ways:
The Hebrew language was originally written without vowel points… It is questioned whether in Isaiah 54:13 it should be read 'your children' or 'your builders' — a question the vowel points would have decided.
- Wife. The verse speaks to a city treated as a rejected wife, then comforted with everlasting mercies. The children are grace's gift to the desolate.
- Taught. God's teaching works, and it reaches every one of them. No one will need to say to his neighbour, "Know the LORD."
- Drawn. Jesus applied the line to the Father's drawing. The Father shows the soul its need and Christ's glory, so need drives and grace draws.
- Now. What God will do for Israel's children in the age to come, He was doing then and does still. He also teaches believers to love one another.
- Peace. The peace is great because it rests on righteousness, as the next verse shows.