In my last post, we learned about The Restoration of Isra’el ~ Part 1 in Yesha’yahu 49:8-14. In this post, we continue to learn about The Restoration of Isra’el ~ Part 2 in Yesha’yahu 49:15-26.

¹⁵ Can a woman forget her child at the breast, not show pity on the child from her womb? Even if these were to forget, I would not forget you.

Adonai responded by reflecting on the persistent memory of a mother. Indeed, verse 18 may imply that Adonai addressed Tziyon as a husband treats a wife. He understood what she was going through and would soon address her complaints.

¹⁶ I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are always before Me.”

To inscribe something on one’s hands (tattooing perhaps) placed the writing on a bodily location that would be readily seen. The defensive walls of Yerushalayim were a concern of the Lord.

Jon Courson writes: “Whenever I am tempted to think Adonai has forgotten me, I need only to go to the Cross of Calvary, for there I’m reminded that He engraved me on the palm of His hands when in them He absorbed nails and paid the price for my sin.” [1]

¹⁷ Your children are coming quickly, your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going. ¹⁸ Raise your eyes and look around: they are all gathering and coming to you. Adonai swears: “As surely as I am alive, you will wear them all like jewels, adorn yourself with them like a bride.”

Tziyon‘s children, the people of Adonai, will soon gather as they return to Yerushalayim. The picture of Tziyon wearing her children like wedding jewelry suggests that the passage understood Adonai to be her husband. The returned children were a wedding gift.

An Israeli bride sometimes wore embroidered garments, jewels, a special girdle, and a veil. There are scores of texts from Mesopotamia that describe the exchange of gifts between two families for marriage, but little is said of the attire of the bride or of the ceremony itself.

¹⁹ For your desolate places and ruins and your devastated land will be too cramped for those living in it; your devourers will be far away. ²⁰ The day will come when the children born when you were mourning will say to you, “This place is too cramped for me! Give me room, so I can live!”

The passage envisions a return so significant that Yerushalayim will not be big enough to hold all its inhabitants.

²¹ Then you will ask yourself, “Who fathered these for me? I’ve been mourning my children, alone, as an exile, wandering to and fro; so, who has raised these? I was left alone, so where have these come from?”

Tziyon will be amazed and will wonder who has fathered all these children. The implied answer is none other than Adonai Himself.

²² Adonai Elohim answers: “I am beckoning to the nations, raising My banner for the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. ²³ Kings will be your foster-fathers, their princesses your nurses. They will bow to you, face toward the earth, and lick the dust on your feet. Then you will know that I am Adonai – those who wait for me will not be sorry.”

The deportation that began the exile saw the people of Adonai dragged off in chains by foreign armies. The picture of the return views the nations carrying them back to their land and showing subservience.

Far from forgetting His people, the Lord seems to be saying, “I’m going to bring you back into the Promised Land. Kings and queens of other nations will fall at your feet. Even Gentiles will assist you in your return. You don’t see the whole picture. All you see are the immediate obstacles, but I see down the road. I’m going to bring you back into your land. In fact, there will be so many of you and so prosperous will you be that it will be too small for you.”

Yet, another great promise of restoration. When your down and out, remember this promise for your own life.

²⁴ But can booty be wrested from a warrior? Can a victor’s captives be freed? ²⁵ Here is Adonai’s answer: “Even a warrior’s captives will be snatched away, and the booty of the fearful will be freed. I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. ²⁶ I will feed those oppressing you with their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood as with wine. Then everyone will know that I, Adonai, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.” ~ Isaiah 49:8-26 (CJB)

To be released from Bavel would have seemed an impossibility to the Jews. They will doubt that they can be delivered from their bondage and oppression, but Adonai will make it clear that He is able not only to rescue them but also to subject their captors to the punishment they deserved.

As we know from history, Adonai did indeed rescue them and restore them to their land. He has been doing it repeatedly for centuries, and in our lifetime, He has restored the State of Isra’el in preparation for His Second Coming.

In my next post, we learn about Isra’el’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience in Yesha’yahu 50:1-11.

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[1] Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Old Testament Volume 2.