Isaiah 49:14-26

Isa 49:14

But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

Then those in Judah began to believe that the LORD had forsaken them and forgotten about them.  This is what happens when God’s people turn from following him and then take to following the false gods.  They begin to believe that God is the one who has forsaken them when in essence it was they who forsook God.  In reality they were making a very serious false accusation against the LORD.

Isa 49:15

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

A mother would normally show great care and compassion for their baby knowing how helpless they are and unable to provide for themselves.  As a human being it is possible for some mothers to actually forget about their child and not care for them as happens frequently when some mothers abandon their children.  Some mothers don’t abandon their children but allow the cares of this world to come before the care for their child and it would almost be like they have abandoned them.  God assures them that he is not like a human mother who may forget their responsibilities to their family but he will keep every promise that he made and will care for his people.

Isa 49:16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Here God is stating that he will never forget his people because they are in a figure graven upon the palms of his hands which means every time he acts he sees the picture of them upon his hands as they are under his watchful eye and his protection.  He beholds the walls of the city of Jerusalem as they were still standing in the time of Isaiah.  He just doesn’t give them a casual glance but they are perpetually in his sight.

Isa 49:17

Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Then the children of Judah who are the inhabitants of Judah will come to Zion with all haste and will build but those who were the cause of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians will be driven out of Judah and no more the false gospels will be taught.  The children will return from Babylon and will restore Jerusalem along with the temple and there will be no more enemies to come against them as they rebuild the temple.

Isa 49:18

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

Then the church in Jerusalem, those saved within the returning captives, will come back to Jerusalem and as we saw in 49:12, they will come from all over and from all directions and shall join themselves to the church.  There will be a great return from captivity back to Jerusalem.  Then the LORD speaks in terms of an oath “As I live, saith the LORD” that there will be great multitudes which will come into the church as children which are young coverts to the true gospel and will grow up knowing the truth from the false.  Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. (Proverbs 17:6)  The great ornaments which will be set upon them will be the ornament of the true gospel as the bride of Christ.

Isa 49:19

For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

The land which was once made desolate by the invading Babylonians will now once again be populated but there will be such an overabundance of people that the land will seem too narrow to hold them.  This is just an expression of the fact that multitudes will return to Jerusalem just as millions will come into the church of Christ yet there will be abundant room to receive them.  The Babylonians who took them captive will no longer be near them as they have been conquered by the Medes and Persians.  It also applies to the unbelievers who will be taken out of the way on the last day after they are judged and will never again bring any more trouble to the body of Christ.

Isa 49:20

The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

Then in Jerusalem there shall be a new generation which will rise after the old one which suffered much human loss by means of famine, persecution, and the judgments of God will grow up.  When they return from Babylon, the number will be large just as in the time of Egypt as Jacob came in with 70 and they left with about two million.  There will be an increase of population in Babylon and that population will return and seek to find places to dwell with ample room.  These are the increase spoken of in verse 18.  The word “strait” means narrow like a passage or corridor.

Isa 49:21

Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Then when the flocks begin to start pouring into Judah, the people will look at them as issue which they brought forth as their own children even though some of the children were lost in Babylon and other reasons.  The people will begin to nurture these new returnees from Babylon as if they were their own children.  It is like the church of Christ who receives in new converts and the older Christians begin to nurture them as if they were their own children yet they are children of God.  Remember when Jesus raised Lazarus.  He raised him but gave orders for the people to remove the grave clothes which is a picture of training the new believer by helping to remove the old belief which was represented by the grave clothes.  Then they reason among themselves that they were left alone as if husbandless and childless and from where do these people come from?  These have come from Babylon as they came in droves after the time of Zerubbabel who was there already and laid the foundation of the temple.  Many came back with Nehemiah and Ezra.

Isa 49:22

Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

Then the LORD looks froward to the time when Christ will come on the scene.  The LORD here is prophesying that the Gentiles will partake of the body of Christ.  The standard he is raising will be the Lord Jesus Christ as was prophesied back in Isaiah 11.  And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10)  Then the children of the kingdom will be carried into it.  The methods described are how children were carried, one method was by the arms and the other was straddling the shoulders.  In other words, what is in view here is the fact that many different ages and people will be coming into the church of Christ through grace.  Whether they be carried or are the ones doing the carrying.

Isa 49:23

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Then once the true church is established even the governments will show kindness to it so it may prosper and grow without interference.  Since the true church is of divine origin, even the secular kings and queens who oppose the church will be made to come and bow down with their face to the earth, to lie prostrate, as if they were licking the dust off the feet of the true believer.  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (Revelation 3:9)  This will happen because when a person becomes saved, they become a king and a priest.  A king in Heaven has more authority than a king who rules on earth.  Waiting upon the LORD for his timing in these matters is not a waste of time but an investment.  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31) 

Isa 49:24

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

Then a rhetorical question is asked by God as if the captives asked it.  Since they were taken and placed in Babylon the most powerful empire at that time.  Since they were taken in captivity, they called themselves prey and can prey be taken away from the mighty like can prey be taken away from a hungry lion?  Those who are taken in a war as prisoners, can they be delivered from the hands of the mighty kingdom?  God asks these kind of questions to get the captives to ponder the answer which comes in the next verse.

Isa 49:25

But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Then the LORD answers the question that he had asked.  The captives which are held by mighty Babylon will be released and there is nothing that they can do to stop the release of their prisoners.   The prey shall be delivered as an animal caught in the jaws of a ferocious lion is freed by the help of another animal.  Then the LORD promises that he will contend or oppose those who contended with Judah and took them captive and treated them badly.  He promises to save the children of the captives so they can return as they will be the next generation in Jerusalem but the children of the enemy will not be saved as they are in opposition to God’s people.  In Revelation 2, God speaks about killing the children of Jezebel because they were the enemies of the church just as Babylon was the enemy of the people of God in Israel.

Isa 49:26

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.