# Isaiah 54



## Steve Owen (Sep 16, 2005)

Isaiah 54:1-3.
*"Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not laboured with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman," says the LORD.
"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited."*

I shall be interested in answers to three questions concerning this whole chapter (not just the verses I've written out):-

1. Who is the woman addressed by the prophet, or rather, by the Lord?
2. What is the nature of the promises made to her?
3. To what time did the Spirit of Christ point (1Peter 1:11 )?

Grace & Peace,

Martin

[Edited on 9-16-2005 by Martin Marprelate]


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## Steve Owen (Sep 20, 2005)

Anybody........?


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## Contra_Mundum (Sep 20, 2005)

> 1. Who is the woman addressed by the prophet, or rather, by the Lord?
> 2. What is the nature of the promises made to her?
> 3. To what time did the Spirit of Christ point (1Peter 1:11 )


1. The woman I would denominate the church, addressed under her Old Covenant dress, Israel, but with respect to her New Covenant blessings. This seems to be the import of those first three verses.

2. The nature of these promises are an enlargement, a turning of failure (i.e first being constricted, reduced in size, power, and glory; then being sent into captivity, having earned the ignominious desert of being sent back to the place wherefrom Abram was "called out"; basically a "divorce", to carry through the metaphor of the passage), turning that hopeless failure into a glorious end. Isaiah sees beyond a remnant return (which in and of itself does not "live-up" to the splendid vision of the prophet), to an eschatological glory, one that makes the first conquest of the Land pale in comparison. Those borders are too small. Those cities are insufficient for the seed of the woman.

3. The reality Isaiah sees is the glory of the New Covenant Age, a spiritual glory. In that respect, the verse you cite is quite relevant.


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## Steve Owen (Sep 21, 2005)

Thanks for your contribution, Bruce 

Some will know that Isaiah 54 was the text for the so-called _Deathless Sermon_ given by William Carey to the Northamptonshire Baptist Association in May, 1792. It was the sermon that launched the modern missionary movement. Carey applied the text to the Church in his own day- a barren woman, bereft of husband and with no offspring to give hope or cheer. Yet Isaiah calls for rejoicing, not sorrow; for celebration, not lamentation. God is about to do a great work and calls on His people to expand their tent-ropes and lengthen their stakes. There is to be an enlargement of God's people- a bringing in of others on the right and on the left, a winning of those elect Gentiles who are yet to be included among the people of God.

But who is the barren or desolate woman? Well, the most famous barren woman in Scripture is Sarah, Abraham's wife. She had a miraculous child, according to promise, when it seemed utterly impossible that she should bear. Abraham, of course had another son, Ishmael, who was born _'according to the flesh'_, that is by normal procreation.

Turn now to Gal 4:21ff. Paul tells us that there are two Jerusalems, the Jerusalem that now is, which is in bondage with her children; and the Jerusalem that is above, which is free, and is mother of all the children of promise. Then Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1 and continues (v28 ); *'Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise............So then brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.'* Therefore we may conclude that the desolate wife is in fact the Church of Christ, whose children are those of a miraculous birth (John 3:3; 1Peter 1:3 etc), born of the Spirit of God, to whom *'Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation'* (Gal 6:15 ). It is they who are heirs to the New Jerusalem which comes down from above (Rev 21:2 etc. Compare 21:18ff with Isaiah 54:11-12 ).

So what is the nature of the promises made to the barren woman? The nature of the promises is the same as the nature of the city. They are heavenly promises; promises of blessings which, in Isaiah's day were *'Good things to come'* (Heb 10:1 ). It is promised that, *'All your children shall be taught of God'* (v13 ). The Lord Jesus Christ used this prophecy when He said, *"It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me'* (John 6:45 ). Those who are the children of promise and citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 11:16 ) are they who have learned of the Father, and therefore fly to the Son for salvation. The promises made are therefore the promises of the Gospel (Gal 3:28-29 ).

To What time did the Spirit of Christ point? To the time of the New Covenant. As Peter said (Acts 3:24 ), *'Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many who have spoken, have also foretold these days.'* It is in the time of the New Covenant that the word of God shall go forth and *'Expand to the right and to the left.'* It is Abraham's spiritual children (Gal 3:7 ) who shall *'inherit the nations'* (Isaiah 54:3 cf. Matt 5:5 ) and in the cities that are *'desolate'* without the Good News of the Gospel, churches shall spring up and the children of the New Covenant shall dwell there. 

To the barren woman, labouring, at the time, under the legal demands of the Old Covenant (cf. Acts 15:10 ), God speaks of another, much older covenant (Isiah 54:9 ), a covenant of promise, that spoke of the Everlasting Covenant of peace (v10 ) which *'Was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light in the Gospel'* (2Tim 1:9-10 ).

Grace & Peace,

Martin

[Edited on 9-22-2005 by Martin Marprelate]


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## Steve Owen (Oct 10, 2005)

I'm a bit surprised that no one has come back on this.
Does everyone agree that my interpretation of v13, *'All your children shall be taught by God'* is the correct one? If so, what bearing does that have for other O.T. prophecies about children?

Grace & Peace,

Martin


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## Steve Owen (Mar 14, 2006)

*Bump*
(In the light of recent posts, it may be relevant)

Martin

[Edited on 3-15-2006 by Martin Marprelate]


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