Isaiah 49:13-25 - Can a Woman Forget Her Nursing Child?

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. 14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “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. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. 17 Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. 18 Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does. 19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land— surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. 20 The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’ 21 Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?’ ” 22 Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. 23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.” 24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? 25 For thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. - Isaiah 49:13–25

Sermon Text:

Let’s read together this morning Isaiah 49:13-25. We read the full chapter last week, so we will look specifically at the verses we will concentrate on today.

[READ ISAIAH 49:13-25]

In his commentary on this passage, Dr. Edward J. Young said this:

This is one of the strongest, if not the strongest expression of God’s love in the Old Testament, and is often compared with Jeremiah 31:20.

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 31:20

I can’t say I disagree with him.

And in agreeing with him, I would remind you of two things as we begin:

1. This passage is poetry. It is a poetic expression of love.

And I suppose, for myself, I will always have to try extra hard not to read poetry like I did as a seventh grade boy – monotone, and reading only the words themselves.

It took me a long time to learn that those pictures in words were meant to make us FEEL something, to evoke some emotion.

But to get to the emotion, I sometimes have to work through the words line-by-line to make sure I follow the thought.

2. Our passage this morning comes at the beginning of the great section of Isaiah devoted to the prophecies about the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

We must not forget that.

The Holy Spirit could have put this passage anywhere else in the book of Isaiah, but if it were not here, in this place, it would be diminished in its meaning.

Because this passage is about the Messiah, and so it is about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

To give you a reference – this is “For God so loved the world”

The beginning of the gospel – God’s love.

If it were not right here, we would read about God’s love but say “So what?”

And if it were not in this great section of Isaiah, we wouldn’t have the answer to the question, “Why would God send His Son to suffer and die for us?”

But right here – it shows us WHY God saves us;

Why the Messiah came.

Why He had to suffer and die.

Why He rose again.

Because God so loved the world.

That’s where we begin in v. 13 – Rejoice! God is saving His people!

His unworthy, undeserving, sinful people – God is saving them.

Now I want to make sure we are all on the same page here:

When we read “His people” in Isaiah, or really anywhere else in the Old Testament,

We can substitute “the Church” – meaning the totality of those who believe in and follow Jesus Christ alone for our salvation.

Because the church IS His people.

So REJOICE – God is saving His church!

But then in v. 14, we get the reply from His people – “But I don’t FEEL saved.”

We can understand that, can’t we?

For some of us, it is the weight of sin we still carry.

Sins that still entangle us and trip us up when we’re not careful.

For some of us, we think if we were really saved, the world should be easier for us to deal with, easier for us to conquer.

There are people who believe that Christians should be the wealthiest and the most powerful around.

For some of us, we can’t see our salvation through our fears.

What will happen tomorrow, or the day after?

What will happen after I die?

For some of us, we might feel more saved if we felt more secure.

How can God let me be sick, or be in need?

Doesn’t He see or care?

In v. 15, God replies to His church: I see you – it is impossible for Me to forget you or ignore you.

He begins with the question: Can a mother forget her nursing child?

He asks this question, to show the impossibility of Him forgetting us.

But we, His people, are an obtuse bunch.

So to that question, we might reply: “Well, some mothers don’t care for their children.”

So He makes sure we understand: Even these may forget, but I won’t forget you.

The love of a mother for her newborn, her tender care.

Moms – did any of you ever care for your child when you were at the point of exhaustion?

Did you ever deprive yourself for the sake of your child?

Of course you did – you are moms.

And what you did, being as sinful as you are, God will do even more in perfect love.

He tells us in v. 16 – I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.

I think we would all be richer if we spent just an hour this week pondering what that means.

Of course, it is a picture of the scars on the hands of the Savior that, when Jesus was raised from the dead, God chose not to erase.

The violation of the Son, His murder by the Jewish mob and by the Roman government, God left those marks, all of them, on the body of the risen Christ.

He didn’t wipe them out – to show His power over death.

To show His power to heal those scars.

He left them, eternally marring the unblemished Lamb of God,

Eternally pleading for forgiveness for my sin and yours if you are in Christ.

The marks of death on the Messiah, now made marks of glory for Him and for us.

Those marks are certainly in view, but think beyond that.

It’s not just our NAME engraved on His hand, but US.

We are not just remembered, we are contained and held by His love.

No one snatches us out of the Father’s hand – we are ENGRAVED there.

I am certain if you will spend some time thinking on this verse this week, you will find much more treasure, but we need to move on.

In verses 17 and 18, God is still answering the fearful question, “But I don’t FEEL saved.”

His reply in these verses: “You are being built up; the enemy is losing his hold on you. Every day you are more lovely.”

Now, having read that, you might have a question: is He telling the church their enemies are falling, or is this a message to the individual believer?

And this is where we have to wade into just a little Hebrew to help us understand.

There at the beginning of v.17, we have a word: “Your builders”.

If you have a King James version, it reads “Your children”.

Why?

Because the word for children and the word for builder in Hebrew has only one vowel different, and the Hebrew Old Testament was written without vowels.

They are effectively the same word, a son being the “builder” of a household.

But you can see how the shade of meaning here can give us 2 different applications:

1. If the word is “builder”, poetically we can see each individual believer being built up.

It’s a process we call “sanctification” – where we are being made more holy, more sanctified, as time goes on.

And reading the passage that way agrees with the rest of Scripture:

You are being built up quickly.

The enemy and the sin he brings is being removed from you.

Look at the work I am doing in you, and see you are becoming lovelier every day with the good works I have prepared for you.

2. So what if we translate it “children”? Poetically, we see the church of Jesus Christ being built up.

My children are being added to the church regularly.

But this is where we see even more:

Your destroyers go out from you.

This can mean that they are turned back, leaving you alone,

Or it can mean that they who once were against you are now part of you, going out “of” you, as one of you (KJV).

Hear the promise of God in the next verse:

They all gather, they come to you. You shall put them on as an ornament…

There is a picture here I really want you to get:

You have a great wave of enemies, ferocious and violent, who have come and surrounded you on every side.

But God didn’t bring them there so YOU would be conquered, but so you would “conquer” them with the gospel.

So you would show them the love of Jesus Christ.

So they could see what it means to be the church, God’s people.

So they could MEET Him, and bow to Him, and become one of His people.

Now some of you may be thinking: option 1 is easier for me to understand.

But in the great commentators of the church: Henry, Poole, Young, Calvin, and most others – they think BOTH interpretations of the word are meant, so both meanings of the passage are intended.

Believer, if you have doubts about your salvation, we see from the Scriptures to guard your sanctification.

For no one in open, unrepentant sin will have true assurance of salvation.

And if you are living in unrepentant sin and feel like you are sure of your salvation, that assurance is not true assurance.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. - 1 John 2:28–29

But consider also the great promises for the church as we encounter various trials, even opposition.

We don’t consider opposition the way many of our brothers and sisters do around the world, but look and see those who might oppose you for your faith.

And consider that God has brought them to you as opponents to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order that you could show them the glory of God’s gospel and bring them in.

Every one of us, at some time, was an enemy of the gospel.

Some may have been more vocal, more atheistic, more aggressive.

And some of us may have been more quietly living a life of selfishness and striking out only when our selfish world was touched.

So is it so surprising that God, who is sovereign over all things, would use that very opposition to bring us into debate or under the influence of someone who showed us the truth?

I could talk about how Saul of Tarsus got arrest warrants for the believers who fled for Damascus.

Or about the testimonies of those who set out to disprove the Scriptures only to be converted by them to Jesus Christ.

Even when God brings ENEMIES to our door, He does so to bring THEM near His gospel, His good news.

So we must be exceedingly careful how we talk with them and act toward them.

God has brought them to US so WE can demonstrate His love and His gospel to them.

He has brought them to us so WE can love them.

He had brought them to us so WE can tell them about the Savior who died to set them free from the hatred and sin they have.

If we meet their hatred with our own, we have blown the opportunity, the good work, God had prepared for us.

To wrap up our passage, please let me summarize each verse:

V. 19 – God is saying, “You have no idea what I have in store for you in My love.”

V. 20 – He says, “Your blessings will dwarf your losses.”

Jesus said of His kingdom in the new world: And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. - Matthew 19:29

V. 21 – God promises us: “You will not earn these blessings, but you will discover My blessings everywhere.”

V. 22 – God assures us: “I will call ALL my people into My church, from everywhere.”

V. 23 – God tells us: “Trust Me. I am with you.”

We read it in Romans this morning:

If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31

But then, we see the church doubting again in v. 24, asking one more time:

“Our opponents are so strong, and we are so small. Is anyone capable to really save us from the enemies?”

And verse 25, God says: “Yes. I am.”

I will enter the fight.

I will take on flesh.

I will pay your penalty.

I will change your heart.

I will give you the righteousness you need.

I will clothe you in goodness.

I will bring you into My glory forever.

And there is NOTHING that will stop Me, nothing that will slow Me down.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:35–39

Target Date: Sunday, 11 May 2025

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

13 – comforted - nâcham, naw-kham’; a prim. root; prop. to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by impl. to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (refl.) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself):— comfort (self), ease [one’s self], repent (-er,-ing, self).

There is an element of pity, even identification, in this word.

13 – compassion - râcham, raw-kham’; a prim. root; to fondle; by impl. to love, espec. to compassionate:— have compassion (on, upon), love, (find, have, obtain, shew) mercy (-iful, on, upon), (have) pity, Ruhamah, × surely.

This word is used in v.15 of a newly-delivered mother of her child. Indeed, the root seems to be “womb”, translated thus in Gen. 20:18, Ex. 13:2, etc.

17 – builders - bên, bane; from 1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of lit. and fig. relationship, incl. grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., [like 1, 251, etc.]):— + afflicted, age, [Ahoh-] [Ammon-] [Hachmon-] [Lev-]ite, [anoint-] ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, [Assyr-] [Babylon-] [Egypt-] [Grec-]ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, × came up in, child, colt, × common, × corn, daughter, × of first , + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, × in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, × servant born, × soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, × surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant [-est], whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

The only difference between “sons” and “builders” is the first vowel, which was not written in the Hebrew. This is likely a purposeful ambiguity (and is taken by most commentators to be so).

Thoughts on the Passage:

Flow of the conversation:

13 – Isaiah: Rejoice! God is saving his people!

14 – People: But I don’t FEEL saved.

15-16 – God: Impossible I wouldn’t! Even moms may forget their beloved children, but I couldn’t forget you.

17 – God: I am building you up; sin is losing its hold on you.

18 – God: Every day you are more lovely.

19 – God: You have no idea what awaits you in My love.

20 – God: My blessings will dwarf your losses.

21 – God: You will not earn it; you will discover My blessings as I reveal them.

22 – God: I will call ALL My people to you, My church.

23 – God: Trust Me – I am with you.

24 – People: Is anyone strong enough for the toughest on earth?

25 – God: Yes. Me.

15 - This is one of the strongest, if not the strongest expression of God’s love in the Old Testament, and is often compared with Jeremiah 31:20.

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 31:20

15 - he will not, because of his promise, which never fails; he may seem to his people to have forgotten them, and he may be thought to have done so by others; he forgets their sins, but not their persons; he can’t forget his love, nor his covenant with them, nor his promises made to them; nor does he forget their love to him, nor their works, words, and thoughts; the righteous are had by him in everlasting remembrance.

18 – They all come to you – even when God’s people are surrounded or assaulted, it is an instrument He uses to bring them to the face of the gospel.

If we all come to God from being prior enemies, does it not make sense He would use that very animus to bring some to Himself?

They think they have come to conquer God and His people, when God has gathered them to BECOME part of His people.

Saul of Tarsus, called from his persecutions.

Nebuchadnezzar, conqueror who came to see the sovereignty of God.

At the very least, they, like the Assyrians, will see the glory and power of God, even if it is in the faithfulness of His people.

Or in the integrity before the furnace.

Or in the testimony and forgiveness at the time of our death.

This IS the church militant – not the church conquering, not the church losing, but the church lifting up Jesus Christ so HE can draw all men to Him.

Your eschatology doesn’t matter when you see this: it is the mission of the Christ to separate, to divide, His people from those who are not His people.

Matthew 10:34

Thus, it is the mission of the church, even when everyone in the world would declare our doom, it is our mission to continue to stand, to hold up Christ to them, so He may continue to draw His lost sheep from among them.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. - Zechariah 12:10