From Barrenness to Bearing Fruit

Is 54:1-5 ““Shout for joy, infertile one, you who have not given birth to any child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them; Lengthen your ropes And strengthen your pegs. “For you will spread out to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities. “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood. “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of armies; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.”

Introduction: Scriptures in Context

The book of the prophet Isaiah is fascinating in many ways.

It is historical; Isaiah records much of Israels journey to God, backsliding into sin & broken, then brought back to God & restored. Their HISstory is OURstory as well.

It is prophetic; the Lord speaks to future generations. The Expectation of Messiah is so strong in Isaiah, that one writer calls his book the gospel saying, “He is not so much a prophet as an evangelist.”

[e.g. Jerome To Paulinus, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown].

It is illustrative; the Lord uses literal circumstances concerning His natural covenant people to teach His spiritual covenant people. God uses symbols & metaphors as well. Even Isaiah’s name issustrates God’s purpose: it means, “The Lord will save”

It is poetic; the language, especially in the original translation, has a poetic beauty & flair.

It canonical. Isaiah has been called a “mini Bible”, having 66 chapters that have been shown to have correlations to the 66 books of the scriptural canon.

Today, it is my intention to tap into most of the aforementioned facets of Isaiah.

Beginning his ministry in the last 5 years of King Uzziah’s reign, and more forcefully upon the king’s death, Isaiah is charged to speak both hope & correction through the reigns of multiple kings, and through the various captivities the Lord uses to chastise and correct His people. In each season & cycle, he stress both the need for and hope of the coming messiah, Jesus Christ. I intend to revisit Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 9:6 on Christmas day, God willing. But for the sake of time, let us consider the context of chapter 54 & what the Lord is saying to us today through these verses.

Israel is compared to a wife (Is 54:5; Is 62:5) put away for unfaithfulness, but now forgiven and taken home again.

The “Jewish Church” was destitute of spiritual children (Is 54:6) as a result. Their exile during the Babylonian captivity would definitely have come to the mind of the reader as a season of barrenness.

The converted Gentiles are represented as a new children of the now restored wife.

Now that we’ve laid out the basic context, let’s draw out some important principles from the text.

Disobedience disrupts fruitfulness. The Lord wants His people to be productive parts of any society we are in. We don’t get to choose the time, place or circumstance of our birth; but irregadless, God’s requirment is the same: obey me and live life abundantly. The less time with spend in intimacy with the Lord, the less fruitful we will be.

Here’s the problem: no matter what we do, or how hard we try, we will struggle to be obedient to God consistently. We will fail. So how do we break the cycle…once we recognize that we have moved away from God’s will, how do we course correct? I have one suggestion, inspired by Isaiah:

Renew Your Vows- the Lord alone rescued us from our sin, and the Lord alone can restore us after unfaithfulness. Never take His grace & mercy for granted. Instead come boldly to the throne of grace, recognizing the only source for help in your troubles. Repent…truly repent! The word literaly means to turn, by implication, away from sin and back towards God.

How do we avoid repeating this cycle. Again, I have only one suggestion, ispired by Isaiah, but I want you to hear the words of Paul, who quotes this passage in Gal 4:26-31

“But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written:

‘Rejoice, infertile one, you who do not give birth; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For the children of the desolate one ARE more numerous Than THOSE of the one who has a husband.’

And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now. But what does the Scripture say?

‘Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.’

So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman.”

From this comes my humble suggestion:

Remember who you are. You were adopted & married into a royal family- you are no longer the sons and daughters of slaves- you are no longer slaves to sin, unless you choose to be.

But there is another important leasson that we are meant to draw from this text. God knos His bride; He knows our weaknesses, our faulures, and what it will take to tranform us into His faithful bride. And as much as He does this because He loves us more than any mere words can describe, He also has another purpose in mind: He wants MORE CHILDREN. There are more lost souls to win…more lost children to be adopted into the family. And He cannot “produce” with a barren bride!

It’s time to for us to get ready for new additions to the family. Please note that Israel is told to prepare beforehand. Enlarge the tent! use all the materials you have…spare nothing! Souls are coming! Prepare spare for them to dwell.

Don’t wait for the fruit of any program, of personal and corporate evangelisim, which we must do. Prepare the resources that our new brothers & sisters will need! Don’t wait for more youth- prpeare for a vibrant youth ministry! Get ready fro married couples fellowships…for new members classes, and so on.