The death of Christ becomes the life of the church and all that truly belong to it. Death becomes life. Christianity is all about opposites. The servant is the leader. Give up your life to gain it. The last shall be first etc. And so very fittingly after the prophet had foretold the sufferings of Christ (See Isaiah 53) in this chapter he fortel's the flourishing of the church which is a part of his glory. Here we see the lifting of him up, in rank, power and character, as if thats even possible, which was the reward of his humiliation. It was promised him that he would see his victory grow through the establishment of his church and in this chapter we can, through the process of analyzing a work in order to reveal its meaning, see that promise fulfilled.
It's easy to read this chapter and see that it has a primary reference to the welfare and prosperity of the Jewish church after their return of out exile from Babylon. But by Christ we are brought into it, so it can not be denied that this chapter has a further and principal reference to the gospel church, the one that the Gentiles were to be admitted. Prophecies often just don't cover what they seem to cover on the surface. Revisit Ezekiel 37 and the valley of dry bones and see about multiple applications of the same prophecy. So while this prophecy is seen as the growth of the Jewish church coming out of captivity and the growth of the church to include gentiles being admitted, it is also a prophecy about the growth and the strengthening of the true church during the end times, a period of God's last chance to humanity, not just punishment for punishment sake as some would like to see it, but a time when many will come seeking repentance and forgiveness. Joel 2: 28-29 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." But which days is the prophet referring to? In the days when: Joel 2: 30-31 "I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And who will be saved? Joel 2:32: And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls."
The first words understood by the apostle Paul
of the New-Testament Jerusalem
Galatians 4:26
"But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother."
may very well serve as a key to the whole chapter and that which follows.
Because here it is promised concerning the Christian church four things:
One:
That though the beginnings of it were small, it would be greatly enlarged by the addition of many to it among the gentiles (non-jews), who to that point had been entirely without church privileges. And has already been pointed out, this prophecy doesn't just deal with the enlargement of the church by the addition of the gentiles but also through the multitudes that will come to her doors during the end times.
This is covered in Verses 1-5
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
Two:
That though sometimes God might seem to withdraw from her,
and suspend the tokens of his favor,
he would return in mercy and would not return to contend with them anymore.
This is covered in Verses 6-10
The Lord will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord your Redeemer.
9 “To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.
10 Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Three:
That though for a while she was in sorrow and under oppression,
she should at length be advanced to greater honor and splendour than ever.
This is covered in Verses 11-12
“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with lapis lazuli.
12 I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
Four:
That knowledge, righteousness, and peace, should flourish and prevail.
This is covered in Verses 13-14
All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be their peace.
14 In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
it will not come near you.
Five:
That all attempts against the church should be baffled,
and she should be secured from the intention or desire to do her evil by her enemies.
This is covered in Verses 14-17
In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
it will not come near you.
15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
17 no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.
Im not going to get into specifics about it
but over and over the church is referred to as Christ bride.
Revelation 19:7
"Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready."
Lucy is about to be a bride.
I've said multiple times were being used
to give birth a new church.
The old one is dead.
It's filled with to much apostasy,
(the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.)
too much cultism,
too much heresy
and too much worldliness.
This won't happen overnight.
Were seed sowers.
It will probably be long after we're gone.
But people will look back on us,
in our moments,
and they will know we were who we say we are
and that we've come to do what's been laid on us by the almighty.
And they will know you couldn't have picked out two more unlikely people
to ever have such a calling if you tried :-).
Trust me on that one lol.
The parallels between Lucy's story
and the church in this prophecy?
Downright ...
Uncanny?
Supernatural?
Otherworldly?
You pick a word.
All I know is it's true.
So does she and a whole host of other people as well.
Also?
This is the last in this series of commentaries
on four chapters of Old testament prophecies.
How fitting is it then,
that the last commentary (Isaiah 54)
references the first (Joel 2)
to prove it's point?
(See the Joel 2 references in the second paragraph of this post.)
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”
says the Lord God,
“who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
or
Matthew 20:16
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
anybody?
I love you Lucy.
Miss you girl.
Bad.
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