Figure of mother and children in Isaiah: Isa 8:3,4; 11:8;
26:17,18; 28:9; 45:10,11; 46:3,4; 49:15,20-23; 54:1; 60:16; 66:11-13.
Perhaps, Hezekiah's 2 wives: 1st, a concubine, with children,
carried captive to Nineveh (as implied in the Taylor Prism; cp Mic 4:8-11); 2nd,
Hephzibah, remained in Jerusalem, but no children, treated as a widow due to
Hezekiah's leprosy (cp Isa 26:17,18). Or poss, both women are
Hephzibah!
Cp Isa 51:2,3: "Look to Abraham... and Sarah." Sarah and
Hagar, an allegory: Gal 4:21-31: 2 women, 2 sons, 2 mountains, 2
cities.
Zion, as the "mother" of God's family: Isa 49:14,15; 51:3;
60:7,10; 62:4,6; 66:7-14; Gen 2:22; Eph 2:21 with 5:27; Rev 21:9,10.
A great miracle: a "eunuch" (cp Isa 53:8) and a barren "woman"
(Jerusalem) conceive a "seed" (Isa 53:10). This amazed the Ethiopian eunuch (Act
8:33,34; cp Isa 56:3-8). Many more "children" were born to Israel in her
"desolate" state (ie AD 70 and after) than at any other time.
Isa 54:2
PLACE: Maqom = a sanctuary!
CURTAINS... CORDS... STAKES: The impermanence of the
figure (ie, tent rather than temple) suggests earthly Jerusalem, which 1st-cent
Christians were to abandon.
Isa 54:3
NATIONS: Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, gathered into
Hezekiah's kingdom (Taylor Prism; Isa 63:1-4; 11:14). Gentile inheritance: Isa
55:5; 61:9; 65:1.
THEIR DESOLATE CITIES: Cities in Judah ravaged by
Sennacherib (Isa 44:26).
Isa 54:5
YOUR MAKER IS YOUR HUSBAND: Intensive plurals: "Your
mighty maker shall be your glorious husband." Cp Isa 62:5.
HE IS CALLED THE GOD OF ALL THE EARTH: "The whole earth
is his glory" (Isa 6:3 mg).
Isa 54:8
SURGE: Heb "shetseph", only here. According to BDB, a
variant of a word for "flood" (cp v 9).
Isa 54:9
LIKE THE DAYS OF NOAH: The reference to the days of
Noah suggests the Assyrian invasion was like the Flood! (Isa 8:7,8; 17:12). Then
Jerusalem was the only "ark" of safety (Isa 1:7,8). There, at Passover, Judah
was saved (cp Isa 26:20,21), whilst all about there was death.
For the future: Eze 37:11.
Isa 54:10
// Psa 46:2,5-11.
NOR MY COVENANT OF PEACE BE REMOVED: Peter's stmt: "Be
it far from thee, Lord" (Mat 16:22) is lit (Mercy to thyself, O Lord" -- an
allusion to Isa 54:10 (LXX). Peter's response to Christ's warnings re his
sufferings (Isa 53).
Isa 54:11
LASHED BY STORMS: And then, in one of those
breath-taking figurative leaps which the prophet Isaiah seems to enjoy, the ship
of salvation, tossed by the tempest, is all at once transformed into a beautiful
temple! // Isa 33:23,31.
"It is no wonder, when we consider the part gems play in the
glory of man and the pleasure they give to him when he feasts his eye upon their
glory and the riot of colour, that the Creator of this earth with all its
treasures takes hold of that which constitutes its radiance and glory and
teaches by it a lesson. A perfected gemstone in its relation to light is a
fitting symbol, of that relationship that will obtain when the living gemstones,
gathered from among the peoples of the earth, shall ornament the earth with the
charm of colour and beauty that they are to reflect from the Sun of
Righteousness, whom God has formed to be His light bearer to the sons of men. To
them, during the painful time of their cutting and polishing, the symbol when
understood, will bring a message of hope, and patience and comfort, the
requisites required to sustain them during the trial" (Wright).
NOT COMFORTED: A play of word "Noah"!
Isa 54:13
Moses was shown the tabernacle pattern in mount (Exo 25:40).
Bezaleel and Aholiab were endowed with wisdom (Exo 31:3). Cp David in 1Ch
28:19.
ALL YOUR SONS WILL BE TAUGHT BY THE LORD: "No one could
learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth" (Rev
14:3).
GREAT WILL BE YOUR CHILDREN'S PEACE: Or, "Great will be
the Salem of your builders."