Reflections on Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49 (Contemporary English Version)
1. Everyone, listen, even you foreign nations across the sea. The LORD chose me and gave me a name before I was born.
   
2. He made my words pierce like a sharp sword or a pointed arrow; he kept me safely hidden in the palm of his hand.
   
3. The LORD said to me, "Israel, you are my servant; and because of you I will be highly honored."
   
4. I said to myself, "I'm completely worn out; my time has been wasted. But I did it for the LORD God, and he will reward me."
   
5. Even before I was born, the LORD God chose me to serve him and to lead back the people of Israel. So the LORD has honored me and made me strong.
   
6. Now the LORD says to me, "It isn't enough for you to be merely my servant. You must do more than lead back survivors from the tribes of Israel. I have placed you here as a light for other nations; you must take my saving power to everyone on earth."
   
7. Israel, I am the holy LORD God, the one who rescues you. You are slaves of rulers and of a nation who despises you. Now this is what I promise: Kings and rulers will honor you by kneeling at your feet. You can trust me! I am your LORD, the holy God of Israel, and you are my chosen ones.
   
8. This is what the LORD says: I will answer your prayers because I have set a time when I will help by coming to save you. I have chosen you to take my promise of hope to other nations. You will rebuild the country from its ruins, then people will come and settle there.
   
9. You will set prisoners free from dark dungeons to see the light of day. On their way home, they will find plenty to eat, even on barren hills.
   
10. They won't go hungry or get thirsty; they won't be bothered by the scorching sun or hot desert winds. I will be merciful while leading them along to streams of water.
    
11. I will level the mountains and make roads.
    
12. Then my people will return from distant lands in the north and the west and from the city of Syene.
    
13. Tell the heavens and the earth to celebrate and sing; command every mountain to join in the song. The LORD's people have suffered, but he has shown mercy and given them comfort.
    
14. The people of Zion said, "The LORD has turned away and forgotten us."
    
15. The LORD answered, "Could a mother forget a child who nurses at her breast? Could she fail to love an infant who came from her own body? Even if a mother could forget, I will never forget you.
    
16. A picture of your city is drawn on my hand. You are always in my thoughts!
    
17. "Your city will be built faster than it was destroyed -- those who attacked it will retreat and leave.
    
18. Look around! You will see your people coming home. As surely as I live, I, the LORD, promise that your city with its people will be as lovely as a bride wearing her jewelry."
    
19. Jerusalem is now in ruins! Nothing is left of the city. But it will be rebuilt and soon overcrowded; its cruel enemies will be gone far away.
    
20. Jerusalem is a woman whose children were born while she was in deep sorrow over the loss of her husband. Now those children will come and seek room in the crowded city,
    
21. and Jerusalem will ask, "Am I really their mother? How could I have given birth when I was still mourning in a foreign land? Who raised these children? Where have they come from?"
    
22. The LORD God says: "I will soon give a signal for the nations to return your sons and your daughters to the arms of Jerusalem.
    
23. The kings and queens of those nations where they were raised will come and bow down. They will take care of you just like a slave taking care of a child. Then you will know that I am the LORD. You won't be disappointed if you trust me."
    
24. Is it possible to rescue victims from someone strong and cruel?
    
25. But the LORD has promised to fight on our side and to rescue our children from those strong and violent enemies.
    
26. He will make those cruel people dine on their own flesh and get drunk from drinking their own blood. Then everyone will know that the LORD is our Savior; the powerful God of Israel has rescued his people.

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This chapter takes us into a new section of Isaiah. The previous nine chapters dealt with the role of Cyrus, king of Persia, in delivering Israel from Babylonian captivity. This nine-chapter section is about the role of the Messiah in restoring Israel to the land leading up to His Millennial reign. The restoration through Cyrus was not as complete as will be the one through the Messiah. His deliverance will also extend beyond Israel to include Gentiles.

In the Messiah's first coming His labor with Israel seemed in vain. He felt He had "spent my strength for nothing and futility." And yet, His vindication and reward "is with my God." (49:4) This must be the mindset of any who have given themselves to serve the Lord. Whatever mission He gives is His, and whether or not this mission succeeds, the outcome is the Lord's. He rewards us, not for the success or failure of what He gives us to do, but for our service.

The Messiah's mission with His second coming will expand beyond Israel, though. "It is not enough," says the Lord, "for you to be My servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth." (49:6) Though the Messiah was rejected at His first coming, when He comes again,  "Kings will see and stand up, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel." (49:7)

During the interim, between the two advents of the Messiah, Israel will think the Lord has abandoned her, but the Lord assures her that He hasn't. Even though a mother might forget her nursing child, which is not likely, the Lord will not forget Israel. (49:15) When Israel returned to Jerusalem (Zion) following her Babylonian exile, only a meager remnant made the return. But leading up to the Millennium, her return to the land will be so great that it will seem the land is too small. Even the Gentile nations will assist Israel in her return. Presently many nations want to be rid of Israel and to dispossess her of her homeland, but it will be very different at the Millennium. Then, those who contend with Israel will find that the Lord contends with them.