Jesus, the Husband of the Redeemed

I. Introduction

Isa 54 is our text.

We are climbing back out of the chiasm of Isa 40-66, and are revisiting several ideas as we reach the conclusion of the book. This is a chiastic answer to Isa 49 and covers many of the same themes.

The structure of this passage is easily broken into three passages:

Vs 1-4, The blessing of children and the response of the metaphorical wife/mother.

Vs 5-10, The blessing of a God as husband and His response to His bride.

Vs 11-17, The blessing of the land in the eschatone.

II. Body

Isa 54:1-4 ““Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.”

In Gen 12:1-3, God promised offspring and a “seed.”

In one sense, all of Jewish people.

In another sense, Messiah as the specific seed, Gal 3:16.

In another sense, all of those who will believe in faith, Gal 3:7.

In all three senses, Israel in captivity was deprived of children.

They had lost their unique land and identity as Jews while in bondage.

They had not yet received Messiah.

They had failed to share the message of God’s mercy and grace to the nations, as they had been commanded to do.

In Isa 53:10, God had promised that the suffering servant would see his offspring. This section fleshes that out.

Israel will again be in their land, having sons of promise there.

Messiah will come and save them from their sins (ch 53).

Gentiles will come in huge numbers to be grafted into the people of God, as Romans 11:25-27 makes plain.

It is this last sense that is most clearly in focus in this passage.

Five staccato commands are given to Israel in light of this sudden increase in the numbers of believers in Yahweh.

Vs 1:

Sing

Break forth into singing

Cry aloud

An eruption of praise that comes all of a sudden.

Words used here have the idea of sounding a battle cry or calling out to wake someone from their sleep.

Praise comes suddenly and evokes a quickening of others to worship.

The sudden increase of children of God drives this explosion of praise.

Second response of faithful Israel is to make room for the gentile converts.

This was a process for the early church.

Acts 6: Greek Jewish widows were being treated as second-class members.

Acts 8: Philip evangelizes an Ethiopian convert to Judaism.

Acts 10: Peter evangelizes a Roman centurion

Acts 15: Jerusalem council explicitly outlines the way gentiles can come to belong to the church of Jesus Christ.

Paul continues to battle Judaizers (Galatians, Phil 3:1-8, 2 Cor 2:1-2, Romans 1-11).

Faithful Israel was told to open their arms, but it took a while for the gentile church to become fully accepted.

Third command is not to give in to fear.

The apostacy of Israel will not define their future.

The idolatry of gentile nations will not keep them from the kingdom.

Don’t listen to the accusation of the enemy or dwell on your shame.

The forgiveness wrought in Ch. 53 covers all sins. Live in confidence and faith.

This will continue to be a theme for the balance of the book (Isa 62:4).

Isa 54:5-10 “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

Passages about God being the husband of Israel are almost exclusively derisive of the purity of his bride. (Jer 2:2, 3:20; Ezek 16:8-16 Ho 2:2-4)

Here, the focus is not on the Bride, but on the husband, God.

A name cluster! Remember that these usually are meant to draw our attention to the activity of God’s redemptive plan, point to Jesus.

Maker: God’s ultimate claim to authority over the cosmos is that He is its maker. Therefore all lies within his moral landscape to act with regard to His creation.

“Lord of Hosts” in Isaiah almost always indicates a passage point toward Christ.

Redeemer, explicitly looks at the role of Jesus.

“Holy One of Israel” parallels “God of the Whole Earth,” in a magnifying sense. He is not the God of Jews only!

Romans 3:29.

Jer 3:11-13.

Husband. This is the main emphasis of this passage. God is the bridegroom of his people.

God’s judgement is explained in the light of his putting away, for a time, his faithless bride for her adultery of idolatry.

But God’s steadfast love wins out over his wrath toward his covenant people.

Psalm 30:5.

Isa 60:10.

God’s Hesed love cannot fail.

Vs 9: He will never again remove the covenant people of God into captivity. He draws a parallel to His oath to Noah, as commemorated in the rainbow.

Makes us ask the question: To whom is this most clearly realized?

Destruction under Titus?

Crusades?

Nazi regime?

Constant hostility with Arab neighbors?

Anti-Semitism to diaspora?

Is this yet a future promise?

“Covenant of Peace,” New covenant language.

Jer 31:31-34.

Ezek 37:26.

Has been seen by some as a “remarriage” after Israel abandoned their husband.

Notice that the covenant of peace is wrapped in the love of God for His people, not necessarily the love of His people for Him. He is the author and the instigator:

Isaiah 54:11-17 ““O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you. Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.””

The restoration now moves to the physical land itself.

The walls were ruined, but God will rebuild them with precious gems.

Same imagery as the new Jerusalem. Rev 21:19-21.

Children will not only be born to the faithful people of God, but they will be trained in the faith by the Lord himself.

The instruction that comes from the Lord is also an echo of the new covenant (Jer 31:34).

Jesus uses this very passage in a salvific sense, that the teaching of children involves opening their eyes to the gospel and drawing them to himself. John 6:45.

However, general spiritual knowledge is also in view: John 14:26, 1 John 2:20, 27.

An absence of fear and the presence of peace are both indicators of a knowledge of the presence of the Lord.

Vs 14-17a

There is no promise that there won’t be weapons formed, accusations brought, or strife stirred up.

These don’t come from the Lord.

They will not succeed, ultimately, in an eschatological sense.

There might still be strife and struggle, but God is with His people and will not fail to have his will accomplished.

He claims originator’s power over weapons and destroyers, so he can overthrow them (similar to vs 5, “Maker”).

Vs 17b: The heritage of the SERVANTS of the Lord:

In every instance of the use of “servant” in Isa 40-54, the word is in the singular. It has either represented Israel as a collective entity or Messiah as the unique suffering and ruling servant of God. Here, for the first time, there are “servants.”

This corresponds to the explosion of children at the top of the chapter. We are all now, by virtue of being the children of the servant, servants ourselves in his legacy. We are a servant people.