Isaiah 54

Isaiah 54:1

Isaiah: God controls the nations God’s special servant An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 49 to 57 www.easyenglish.info Norman Hillyer This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 54 The number of God’s people will increase vastly v1 (The *Lord speaks) ‘Sing for joy, you women who never had a husband! Shout for joy, you wives that never gave birth to a child! Any wife whose husband has left her is very lonely. But even she will have a much larger family than a wife whose loyal husband still lives with her.

v2 Make your tent larger. Spread its curtains wider. Put no limit on space. Make the ropes (strings) of the tent longer. And fix them firmly to the ground with pegs (small pieces of wood). v3 You will extend your boundaries on all sides. And your descendants (later relatives) will get back the land and the towns that foreigners occupied.’

Verse 1

Isaiah uses the word picture of a ‘woman’ to refer to *Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

 In earlier chapters, Isaiah had referred to *Jerusalem as a ‘woman’ that was without the benefit of children. There were several possible reasons why a woman should feel very sad. Her family might be *exiles (see Isaiah 49:21). Or her husband had divorced her (see Isaiah 50:1). Or there was no family to provide for her (see Isaiah 51:18). Or that the woman herself could not have children (see Deuteronomy 7:14).

 But now the situation has completely changed. The ‘much larger family’ refers to a huge increase in the inhabitants of *Jerusalem.

Verse 2

The soft sides (walls) of the tent are called ‘curtains’. This refers to the manner that the walls of ancient tents hung down. They hung straight down from beams or ropes (strings) like curtains. Tents were usually square structures, and not like many modern tents.

 The people are to spread the curtains further apart, so that the tent becomes bigger. Here ‘curtains’ is a picture word for the walls of *Jerusalem. The city will need new outer walls to include the many new houses.

Verse 3

While the people from Israel were *exiles in Babylon, foreigners took their property. Now the *Israelites will get it back. The *Lord’s love for Israel v4 ‘Do not be afraid. You will not know shame again. Do not worry. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth. Nor will you continue to feel miserable because you have lost your husband. v5 I am your maker. And I am your husband.

My special name is ‘Commander of Heaven’s Armies’. I am the Holy God of Israel. I will defend you. I am the God of all the earth. v6 The people from Israel were like a wife whose husband had left her. Your heart was so sad. Now I have called you back to myself.’ Your God says, ‘I rejected (turned against) you when you were like a young bride. v7 For a brief moment, I left you.

But I pity you with great love. So now I will take you back to myself. v8 In a moment of anger, I hid my face from you. But I pity you. Therefore with love without end I will take you back.’ So declares the *Lord your rescuer.

v9 ‘I will act as I did in the days of Noah. At that time I made a serious promise that I would never again flood the earth. So now, I promise that I will never again be angry with you. Nor will I cause you to feel terror. v10 The mountains may shake. The hills may tremble. But my great love for you will never end. My agreement of unity with you will always continue.’ This is what the *Lord declares, because he pities you.

Verse 5

The Book of Isaiah emphasises the *Lord’s special name, ‘Commander of Heaven’s Armies’, over 60 times (see my note on Isaiah 44:6).

Verse 6

In this verse, ‘husband’ continues as a word picture for ‘*Lord’. Israel’s ‘shame’ (verse 4) was their failure to obey their *Lord in earlier days. That failure interrupted Israel’s communication with the *Lord. That is, in a word picture, Israel’s ‘husband’ (the *Lord) left her (Israel).

Verses 7-8

The *covenant relationship between the *Lord and his people was permanent (see Psalms 105:8-10). The temporary interruption did not mean that the relationship had ended. In fact, the *Lord himself had sent the people from Israel to Babylon as *exiles.

Verse 9

For the Noah incident, see Genesis 9:11-15 and Matthew 24:37-38. The future *Jerusalem v11-12 ‘Inhabitants of *Jerusalem, you have suffered so much. And nobody came to help you. Look, I will use a variety of precious stones to build again the foundations (firm base) of your city. And I will use many other precious stones to build your *look-outs and gates and walls. v13 I myself will teach your children. And they will greatly benefit in their lives because of my help. v14 Government in the city will be fair. And the authorities will deal equally with all the inhabitants. Your enemies will remain at a distance. You will live without fear of attack. v15 If any enemy does come to attack you, I have not sent that enemy. The attack will completely fail, because I am defending you.

v16 I create the skilled man who manufactures weapons (military arms) for soldiers to use. And I also create armies that use those weapons to kill and to destroy. v17 But on the special day that is coming, no weapon will succeed against you. And you will receive fair judgements in court against every lie. These are my special gifts to the servants of the *Lord.’ The *Lord himself has spoken.

Verses 11-17

These verses refer to the distant future (see my note on chapters 40 to 66, at the beginning of chapter 40).

The verses describe the repair of *Jerusalem after the *Babylonians had ruined it. The city will be more magnificent than ever before. But there is no reference to the *Temple.

Verses 11-12

The purpose of the precious stones is to reflect the beauty of the city (see Revelation 21:2 and 21:10-27).

Verses 13-17

The *Lord will personally provide peace and security for his people. This promise refers both to a military attack and to an attack in words.

Verses 16-17

The *Lord controls arms and armies.

© 2007 Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

July 2007

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var w11 = new Array;w11[0]=’<b%3ELord</b%3E ~ God’s name in the Bible; in the original language, it means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.’;w11[1]=’<b%3EJerusalem</b%3E ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.’;w11[2]=’<b%3Eexile</b%3E ~ someone that an enemy takes away to a foreign country.’;w11[3]=’<b%3EIsraelites</b%3E ~ Jews; people who belong to the 12 tribes of Israel.