Isaiah 54:10-17
Isa 54:10
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed;
but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my
peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
When the flood of Noah happened, many
new mountains and hills were formed and we see them today such as Mt. Rainier or
Mt. Fuji in Japan. As strong
as the mountains and hills are, they are still able to be moved whether by
earthquakes or other natural phenomenon.
Here God is stating that even though the mountains and hills can be
removed, his kindness shall not depart from the true believer.
But after that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, (Titus 3:4)
Then he states that absolutely no natural disasters will ever remove the
covenant of peace which is the covenant of grace because grace binds us to God
as our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
God then states that he is the one who has mercy upon us and if you read
Psalm 136, you will read that the mercy of God endures forever.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for
he is good: for his mercy
endureth for ever. (Psalm
136:1) All 24 verses reveal
that the mercy of God endures forever.
Isa 54:11
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires.
Then God speaks of national Israel when they are in
Babylon but especially to the true believers among them.
For seventy years they will be subject to the Babylonians who have no
spiritual principles and will basically terrorize them with their false gods.
It is like the church under communist countries who were afflicted and
persecuted with the fury of a violent storm without any comforts.
The LORD promises them that the stones will be of a fair color which
carries with it the meaning of “glistening stones.”
Now I have prepared with all my
might for the house of my God the gold for
things to be made of gold, and
the silver for things of
silver, and the brass for things
of brass, the iron for things
of iron, and wood for things of
wood; onyx stones, and stones
to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious
stones, and marble stones in abundance. (1 Chronicles 29:2)
David had prepared beautiful stones for the house of God which Solomon
was going to build. No longer would
the true believers be looked upon as bland, uncolored stones but they would be
like the eyes of a woman who paints her face to augment her beauty.
The picture here is not of a physical temple because the temple of
Zerubbabel did not compare with the glory of Solomon’s temple.
It is speaking of the building of the body of believers as precious
stones like sapphires are used to describe the true believers.
19 And the foundations
of the wall of the city were
garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation
was jasper; the second,
sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The
fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl;
the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the
twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates
were twelve pearls; every
several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city
was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass. (Revelation 21:19-21)
The foundation will also point to the Lord Jesus Christ.
For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)
Isa 54:12
And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
This verse also speaks of the new Jerusalem in physical
terms that the people could understand.
The agate was a type of stone which could either be opaque thus
disallowing anything detrimental from coming into the city.
It can also be a type of rock which allows light to come in, so the true
light of the gospel can enter but what is bad cannot.
The carbuncles was a fiery type of stone and the only way a person can
come into the city is through the sacrifice of Christ who went through the fires
of judgment for his people. All the
borders, four square, will be made of the pleasant or precious stones.
Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)
Isa 54:13
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD;
and great shall be the peace of thy children.
In the New Jerusalem there shall be no marriage and no
children born but what is in view here is that the children of the New Jerusalem
which in Ephesians 4:26 is called the “mother of us all.”
All the true believers will be taught of the LORD through the indwelling
Holy Spirit. Then great peace shall
be guaranteed to all the true believers which will be peace with God and peace
by never being persecuted by the false religions again.
Holiness will pervade the body of believers.
Isa 54:14
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be
far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not
come near thee.
Then all the true believers will have imputed to them the
righteousness of Christ.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah
61:3) Further in his book
Isaiah refers to the true believers as trees of righteousness.
There will be no more oppression.
When living on earth before the last day, the enemy may come against the
true believer and even destroy their body like the Roman Catholics did to the
true believers during the Inquisition but they can never touch the redeemed soul
of the true believers. After the
last day, oppression will be in Hell and will never again approach the true
believer. The true believers will
maintain great confidence in the LORD and will never have to fear because God is
the one who fights for the true believer.
The believers live in total peace because they will never face the terror
of those who chose to persecute them.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the
terror by night; nor for the
arrow that flieth by day;
(Psalm 91:5) If we need not
fear the terror before the last day, we need never fear it after the New Heavens
and New Earth are created and populated with true believers.
Isa 54:15
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not
by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
Then the promise is given that many shall come against
the church and will even form groups and crowds but the LORD assures the church
that it is not of him even for a testing program.
God then assures the true believer that even though many will come
against them, their efforts will fail and they will fall in utter defeat because
of the body of believers which has been blood bought by the Lord Jesus Christ
and no attempt of Satan to destroy it will ever succeed.
Just as God protected Jerusalem from the
Assyrians in 701 B.C. in the physical realm, he will protect his church in the
spiritual realm.
Isa 54:16
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals
in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have
created the waster to destroy.
Here the LORD takes two different occupations.
The first is the smith who has the ability to work with metals that can
fashion an instrument which can be used in farming as well as an instrument
which can be used in war such as swords, shields, or spears.
Then the second occupation is the waster which could also be the warriors
or armies who use the weapons that the smith makes to conquer lands and destroy
them such as the Romans, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes and Persians, etc.
Wherever they go, they turn into wastelands those that they conquer.
Isa 54:17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and
every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness
is of me, saith the LORD.