A NEW division of Isaiah opens here. It is no longer Babylon and idolatry and a destruction viewed as the overthrow of image worship in the earth. Here it is the far deeper question of Christ Himself and His rejection by the Jews. We shall find that this portion, from chapter 49, runs down to the end of chapter 67. Where, as the former said, “There is no peace, saith Jehovah, unto the wicked,” so the latter ends with “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked;” “Jehovah” being in contrast with idols, and “my God” connected with the still deeper badness of the people in refusing the true God and eternal life, even the Lord Jesus their anointed King. They were wicked in both respects; wicked in going after false gods of the Gentiles; wicked yet more in rejecting their divine Messiah.
The chapter opens with a call to the isles to listen. “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people from far;” because the Lord had called Israel from the womb, and made mention of his name from the bowels of his mother. There was a great providential preparation. “He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me” (there was thus protection also), “and said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” Such was the purpose of God about Israel.
“Then I said (says Christ) I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught.” Christ substitutes Himself for Israel. They had been the servant nominally and responsibly; Christ becomes the true Israel and servant of God, when the other proved false. Nevertheless, even in Christ all comes to nothing at first. “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.” The failure, apparently, of the purposes of God in the first instance from man's wickedness only leads into a better establishment of them and to a more glorious form and display in result. “And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb, to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.” This is the comfort of Christ, that although the work was not done, and Israel would not be gathered (how often would He have gathered her!) yet would He be glorious. “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
The original thought was to gather Israel, but Israel would not be gathered. Then, says God, That is a light thing, I will gather the Gentiles also. But He is first given as a light to the Gentiles. It is rather going out than gathering in: at any rate that is the turn given to the passage now, under Christianity. While Israel is not yet gathered, Christ becomes a light to the Gentiles. But God's purpose never fails, and so we find, “Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth” (it is clear that Christ is now viewed as a rejected person, the cross being the great expression of that rejection) “to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant of the people (that is, of Israel) to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.” It is evident that this supposes that all is in ruin, but that the Lord Jesus is the destined repairer of all the breaches. “They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” (Ver. 10, 11, 12.) It is the return of Israel that is here predicted from all parts of the earth, but a return after they have been dispersed there; so that not only from the north and south, but even from the land of Sinim—that is, from China—they finally emerge and gather in Palestine.
Then we find a call to not merely the isles, but heaven and earth. “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains.” This is in view of the Lord's comforting His people and showing energy to His afflicted. It is the last days and the Lord reviewing His goodness and calling upon all the universe to be joyful. “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” But the Lord pleads with Zion's reproach and says, “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. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.” (Ver. 15-17.) The enemies of Israel disappear, and Israel comes forward, long forgotten apparently, but now to be established forever. And so God calls upon them to lift up their eyes, “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. 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 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.” (Ver. 18-20.) It is the harvest of joy after the long sowing in tears. And now there seems no room to stow away the children. “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?” (Ver. 21.) It is the joining together of the dispersed of all Israel, those who had been forgotten. At the present time the Jews are the only ones known of Israel, but those will be the ten tribes. The Jews will have the certainty that they are Jews and yet will not know them. They have been hidden away. But now the Lord has lifted up His hand to the Gentiles, and He says, speaking of the Gentiles, “They shall bring thy sons in their arms.” The very kings and queens would be their nursing fathers and mothers, and would bow down before them. “And thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” Such will be the moral state of Israel in that day. They shall wait upon the Lord and shall not be ashamed.
But further; they will have no reason to fear their enemies. The last verse shows that the same God who shows such incomparable mercy to Israel, shall bent down all those who had plundered them. “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. 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 Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” (Ver. 25, 26.) It is the condign vengeance of God upon the enemies of Israel. Such is the future that Jehovah guarantees to Israel after the rejection of the Messiah. It is impossible, therefore, to apply this chapter to the return from the Babylonish captivity; it speaks of the far more complete ingathering at the end of this age. It is the new subject of Christ's rejection by His people, and of their gathering in after He has been made a light to the end of the earth. But when Zion might have thought herself entirely forgotten, the Lord turns His hand upon these little ones and puts down the nations of the earth, and either their kings and queens become the servants of Israel, or He makes an example of them in divine judgment.