ISAHAH 54

Isa 54:1-3 NASB “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD. (2) “Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords And strengthen your pegs. (3) “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.

• Galatians 4:19-27 – how does Paul use this verse to describe the new relationship we have with God?
• Who do you think are the sons of the desolate versus the sons of the married woman? How can a desolate woman (without husband) grow more than the sons of a married woman? How can those descendants possess nations if they are not of a married woman or natural descendants (Verse 3)?
• What does this teach us about God’s ability to carry out His plans?

Isa 54:4-6NASB “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 the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. (5) “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. (6) “For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife ofone’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God.

• (Verse 4) How can this people forget the shame of their youth and the reproach of widowhood?
• What is God changing in these verses?

Isa 54:7-10 NASB “For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. (8) “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the LORD your Redeemer. (9) “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you. (10) “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.

• The exile lasted 59 years (597-538BC) or approximately 2 generations.
• How does this relate to God’s “brief moment”? Do you think of your troubles as a brief moment while they are happening? What does this reveal about God’s nature and our perspective on Him?
• How long does the compassion and lovingkindness last? What does this reveal about God’s nature? (Heb 6:16-18)

Isa 54:11-17 NASB “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires. (12) “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones. (13) “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. (14) “In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you. (15) “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. (16) “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals And brings out a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to ruin. (17) “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

• See Rev 21:18-21 for a similar description of a city. What do you think this means?
• Verse 13 NASB translates “All your sons will be taught of the LORD..” Amplified translates “All your children shall be disciples (taught by the LORD and obedient to His will)…” Is there a difference? Could both be true? How are we be taught by the LORD and of the LORD today? What is the outcome of being taught of and by the LORD? How have you experienced this in your life?
• Verse 13 – how many of their sons will be taught of and by the LORD? When do you think this has/is/will happen(ed,ing)?
• Verse 15 – What role is God playing from this point forward in troubles? What is God’s role from this point onward? What is the promise from God? To whom is He making this promise?

ISAHAH 55

Isa 55:1-13 NASB “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. (2) “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. (3) “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. (4) “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. (5) “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” (6) Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. (7) Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. (8) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. (9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. (10) “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; (11) So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. (12) “For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (13) “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, And it will be a memorial to the LORD, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

• What is God\’s economy? (Verses 1-2)
• What is the premise to God’s promise in verse 3? What are the faithful mercies shown to David? (2 Sam 7:8-17)
• Who is the nation that God’s people don’t know? Why is the nation coming to God\’s people? (Verse 5)
• Verse 6) See also John 12:34-36. What do you think that God meant here and what Jesus meant in John reference? Does this mean that God is only with us briefly or sometimes?
• Verse 7 – what premise and promise are found here?
• Why did God put verses 8-9 right after his promise to forgive?
• What can stop God’s word from achieving its end? (Verses 10-11) Do you believe that He can forgive anything of anyone who forsakes his wicked ways and returns to the LORD? Why?
• What lays ahead for God’s people – those who return to the LORD and forsake their wicked ways? (Verses 12-13)? What is the purpose of such blessing?
• Applications:
  • How can this kind of forgiveness change your life?
  • How can this kind of forgiveness change the way you view others?
  • Is there someone in your life who Jesus has forgiven, but you may have not?

THEME

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

APPLICATIONS

Gal 4:19-27 NASB My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you– (20) but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. (21) Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? (22) For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. (23) But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. (24) This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. (25) Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. (26) But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. (27) For it is written, “REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”

Heb 6:16-18 NASB For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. (17) In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, (18) so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

Rev 21:18-21 NASB The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. (19) The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; (20) the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. (21) And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Joh 12:34 The crowd then answered Him, \”We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, \’The Son of Man must be lifted up\’? Who is this Son of Man?\” Joh 12:35 So Jesus said to them, \”For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. Joh 12:36 \”While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.\” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.

2Sa 7:8-17 “Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. (9) “I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. (10) “I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, (11) even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you. (12) “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. (13) “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (14) “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, (15) but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. (16) “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”‘” (17) In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.