The Book Of Isaiah. Day 146, The Future Glory Of The Nation, Part Three

The Lord has been promising Isaiah's people that although they will be conquered and taken captive to foreign lands, they will return. He has been likening His relationship with the nation to the relationship between a faithful husband and an unfaithful wife. The people have been unfaithful to Him by worshiping other gods and He will be "separated" from them in a sense by allowing them to be separated from their land. This discipline will cause the people to repent and turn back to Him. In return He will forgive them and take them back like a loving husband reconciling with a wife who recommits her heart to him.

Today's passage begins with the Lord comparing His promise to never destroy these people to His promise to never flood the earth again. "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 never to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. 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." (Isaiah 54:9-10)

The Lord made a promise---a covenant---in Genesis 9 never to flood the earth again. He has kept that covenant and will continue to keep it. The Lord also made a covenant with Abraham in the book of Genesis, promising to make a great nation of his descendants, vowing that his family line would never be cut off. He has kept that covenant and will continue to keep it. In today's passage He is assuring the people that His covenant with Abraham is just as binding upon Him as the covenant with Noah. His word can always be trusted. 

Now He speaks to the city and the people of Jerusalem, the capitol city, and by extension He is speaking to the whole nation and to all of the descendants of Abraham. "Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. 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. If anyone does attack you, it will not be My doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you." (Isaiah 54:11-15) 

The splendor of the nation and the bounty poured out on it are both metaphorical and literal. Metaphorically speaking, the precious gems mentioned above stand for the national prosperity that will be the blessing for spiritual prosperity. Literally speaking, in the eternal kingdom we find the "new Jerusalem" of Revelation actually built with precious gems. This glorious capitol city of the earth is described (as well as the Apostle John could describe it in human words) in Revelation 21:9-27)

Until the time of the eternal kingdom, Israel will have some earthly enemies who hate her, but it won't be because the Lord told people to hate them. It won't be because the Lord has turned His back on Israel, has disowned Israel, has taken His protective hand off of Israel, or is going to break His promise to Israel. In verse 15 above He clearly states that no enemy will ever be able to destroy that nation. Israel will never be wiped from the earth. The family line of Abraham will never come to an end. There always have been and still are people who would love to see every descendant of Abraham destroyed. They long to have the name of Israel wiped from the map. But this will never happen because the Lord won't allow it to happen.

The Lord is always in control. There are times when this world looks like it's out of control. There are times when the descendants of Abraham feel as if they are hated on every side. But no one can lift a finger against them unless the Lord allows it. And anytime the Lord allows a finger to be lifted against one of His children, it is for a divine purpose, not to destroy them. Just as the Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian captivity were intended to correct the people's waywardness, the Lord can use any hardship to prosper them spiritually. "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; 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." (Isaiah 54:16-17)

Weapons are forged by mere human beings. They can't do anything the Lord doesn't allow them to do. Many times the Lord has turned weapons away from us, more times than we realize. Other times He has allowed hardship to come into our lives but not for the purpose of destroying us. We have an enemy in Satan and we sometimes have enemies in our fellow man, but none of them can lift a finger against us unless the Lord allows it. If a weapon strikes us, it will not prosper in the manner in which our enemy intended. Instead it has another purpose, perhaps for correction or to draw us closer to the Lord or to strengthen us for a future battle or to prepare us for a great blessing. When a weapon comes our way, as long as we submit ourselves to the Lord, the weapon doesn't prosper---we do.