I SHALL ABANDON YOU NO MORE - GOD’S LOVING PROMISE

Isaiah 54:1-10 NIV

1 “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

5 For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

6 The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God.

7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.

9 “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.

10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

What a beautiful promise and the way it is conveyed by the Prophet Isaiha in relationship to that of a Husband and Wife, illustrating the intimacy of the relationship our Heavenly Father chooses to have with us.

In verses 1-10 of Chapter 54, God vows not to abandon the Israelites again as he addresses the people by referring to them in Verse 1 as...

the barren one,

the one who did not bear,

those who have not been in labor

the children of desolate

And then following verse 10 in verse 11as...

the afflicted one

the one tossed by the storm

the one not comforted

In whole, the chapter is written to a female second personal pronoun, "you." Who is this woman figuratively representing first comes to mind?

The first audience of this passage was Israel in captivity, Zion in 54:3. Zion in the Hebrew is in singular female gender. The "the desolate one" without children verse 54:1 is the "desolate cities" in ruin verse 54:3. So, Israel was the barren one, the afflicted woman tossed by the storm without anyone to comfort her.

Now he doesn’t stop there as all Scripture is connected though the second audience who is us, the Gentiles were not even mentioned until the New Testament when Paul quoted Isaiah 54 using the same language to describe the Gentile church. We were the barren one, living in shame and afflictions. Now God has comforted us in Jesus Christ. Isaiah indeed has hinted at the second audience but not made this obvious without much study. The transgressors would be saved and comforted because of the Suffering Servant of God (Isa 53:11-12; 52:14-15).

Lastly, this passage is also written to all of us who are abandoned, living alone, cared for by no one, and going through the storms of life as if God has left us. This beautiful passage is written to you which in itself is pure beauty as God almighty was thinking of us all the way back then.

Now moving along we see in verse 6, that Isaiha has used a somewhat outrageous and almost immoral expression to describe the feeling of Israel in captivity.

He says… "For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off."

The wife of youth is the one who goes through hard times and good times with you. Now you have abandoned her for a younger woman. While the prophet Malachi says that it is a sin to do so, we now find Isaiah using the same expression towards God.

WOW, so Israel felt like the wife God had married in youth. They went back a long way. God has made covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David that He was to Israel like a husband to his wife. For nearly one thousand years, Israel was "married" to God since the time of youth. But now God has abandoned them. Israel felt like a deserted wife and grieved when she was cast off.

God has done nothing wrong. But nonetheless, it was the feeling of Israel in captivity--the deserted wife of youth. However, when you dive in and look back at God's promise to Israel in Chapter 54 verse 1 which speaks of the deserted wife. He comforted her. "For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married."

God promised Israel, His suffering people, that her shame will be no more. Her future is going to bebright. She will have more children than those who are married with husbands. God will not desert them forever. Israel will return from exile. They will rebuild Jerusalem. That is God's promise to His people in exile.

Therefore Israel is to sing, to shout for joy, and to enlarge the place of their tents. They are to be prepared for God's blessings because he has promised that Zion will not be desolate again.

To us the New Testament community of faith, we are "at one time Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands--remember that we were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

However, now in Christ Jesus we who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Eph 2:11-13) Therefore we are to sing as well, to shout for joy and never look back. Spread abroad to the right and to the left. Enlarge the place of our tent to receive the blessing from God.

Of course “Enlarging the Place of our Tents” is figurative and from what I can see simply means to make room for the many blessings of God’s promise.

To those of us who are going through hard times and suffering, feeling abandoned by God because of our sins, this promise is for yus. God says to us, "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." (Isa 54:7-8).

God has not done anything wrong to His people. It was the people who had sinned and suffered from the consequence. As a lover, God uses an apologetic tone to comfort His suffering people. "I had hidden my face from you, for a brief moment I deserted you, but I promise that it would not happen again. I will have compassion on you with EVERLASTING love." The heart of God is filled with compassion for His suffering people and he expresses it intimately in this Chapter.

And as Isaiah closes with verse 10 which is one of the many heartfelt and touching Scriptures in the bible he says... "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My loving kindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken," Says the LORD who has compassion on you."

Mountains and hills are immovable objects. They are huge. But God has promised us that though the mountains may be removed from here to there, the hills may shake back and forth, my love for you will not be removed from you. And my covenant of peace will not be shaken. It is God's love song to us. Like a lover, God has promised us that He will not desert us nor leave us. What a spectacular promise written in the beautiful Hebrew poetry.