ISAIAH - CHAPTER 49 - THE PRINCE OF PEACE
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 49 – THE PRINCE OF PEACE
Tuesday Morning Bible Study – November 11, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
In chapters 40-48 we saw the purpose of Peace and heard the great gospel of comfort. In chapters 49-57, we see the Prince of Peace. It has just now occurred to me that the Sunday series on “Contentment” is an overflow from the study of the eight chapters on the “purpose of Peace”. The Prince of Peace is sustained through suffering in chapters 49-53, and he sings in triumph in chapters 54-57. His Name is Jesus! He is our Peace.
Sunday evening I ministered on the Mystery of Contentment:
“Philippians 4:7; 9: ‘The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus… Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you.’
The peace of God shall keep you!
The God of peace shall be with you!
The peace of God is only part of the blessing unless we have the God of that peace resident in us.
A carnal heart could be satisfied if he might have outward peace, (drama and pressure free life). Peace can be a place like living alone in a cabin on a mountain surrounded by snow with no one but solitude with God. For the godly heart, outward peace is not enough. I must have the peace of God. Will that not quiet my soul? No, I must have the God of peace.
In order to be fulfilled, I must enjoy God who gives me the peace. I must have the cause as well as the effect. I must see from whence my peace comes and enjoy the Fountain of my peace, as well as the stream of my peace.”
The Holy Spirit fills our heart with Christ Jesus and therein dwells the fullness of peace. Isaiah prophesied of the glorious treasures of the Kingdom through the coming Messiah, the Son of Righteousness.
The glorious gospel message is no longer to a handful of weeping exiles “hanging their harps on the willows”, but to the children of universal humanity.
In this chapter, vision succeeds vision in rapid succession, all filled with the splendors of Messiah’s reign, the glories of the Church militant on earth, and of the Church triumphant in heaven, which the prophet proclaims, Jesus is to purchase with His precious blood.
Isa. 49: 1-2: “Listen to me, O isles and coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar, the Lord has called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He has named my name. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand has He hid me, and made me a polished arrow; in His quiver has He kept me close and concealed me.”
Isles and coastlands include North America and all the continents of the earth. In verse 2, He announces His divine character, and calling, as receiving His commission from the Father. “He has made my mouth like a sharp sword”. Rev. 1:16: “Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.”
“In the shadow of His hand He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver, he hid me.” The Eternal Father throws the shield of His protecting love and care over His Beloved Son; keeping Him safe in the hollow of His hand, “concealed in the quiver of His loving counsel.”
Sunday evening I shared a remarkable scripture concerning David, of who it is said that he served his generation. Acts 13:36: “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep…” The word translated for the “will” of God means the counsel/purpose of God. “For David, after he had served God’s will and purpose and counsel in his own generation fell asleep” (Amp.).
Rev. 6:2: “I looked and saw a white horse whose rider carried a bow. A crown was given him. He rode forth conquering and to conquer.”
Psalm 45:5: “Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies”
His angels, faithful ministers and servants are such arrows emitted from the bow of this Mighty One. Jesus is here spoken of as “The Arrow of God ---waiting the appointed hour when He will be launched on his great mission to mankind, “sent forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.”
49:3: “And said unto me, ‘You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified’.”
There is no doubt this name, “O Israel”, refers to Christ. Israel was the “new name” or “transformed name” of the patriarch Jacob. “Your name shall be no more Jacob, but Israel (the Prince of God). The Patriarch was a type of Him who is, “The prince of the kings of the earth,” and the Captain of His people’s salvation. When Jacob lay down on the cold earth, with a stone for his pillow, far from his father’s house, this foreshadows Him, who, though “the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests,” had no where to lay His head.
In Jacob’s wrestling with the angel at the brook Jabbok all night until morning dawn, foreshadows the conflict Jesus underwent in Gethsemane when “there appeared unto Him an angel from Heaven strengthening Him.”
The night at Jabbok procured Jacob his new name and blessing. The night at Gethsemane was the means of securing for Christ’s people “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,” and conferring on us the new name, “Son and Daughters of God”.
The prophetic commission to glorify the Father had its fulfillment in the triumphs in Gethsemane. “Now is the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.”
49: 4-5: “Then I said, 'I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and work with my God. And now, says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my work with God.”
At the cross, it seemed the Lord’s life and ministry was a failure to all Israel and on-lookers. He is described as the Restorer of Israel, who is to bring Jacob again to Him. But Jesus knew that “If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and He will glorify Him at once and not delay.
49:6: “He said, it is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
There is a new and grander destiny that you will be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
49:7: “Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One, to him whom man rejects and despises, to him whom the nations abhor, to the servant of rulers; Kings shall see you and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, Who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”
Kings and princes are represented as rising in reverence from their thrones to do Jesus homage. The waste-places of the earth will be filled with people and reclaimed.
48: 8-9: “Thus says the Lord, in an acceptable and favorable time I have heard and answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. I will preserve you and give you for a covenant to the people to raise up and establish the land and to apportion and cause them to inherit the desolate heritages. Saying to those who are bound, Come forth, and to those who are in darkness, show yourselves. They shall feed in all the ways and their pastures shall be on all the high places.”
The believing remnant will come from the remotest parts of the earth under the sovereign care of Jehovah and despite all obstacles. The tender Shepherd-love of God leads His chosen like a flock, leveling mountains and removing obstructions to make a highway for His ransomed giving them undreamt-of tokens of covenant mercy.
49: 10-11: “They will not hunger or thirst, neither will mirage or scorching wind or sun smite them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, and by springs of water, will he guide them. I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far; and low, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land if Sinim.”
Luxuriant vegetation on the sides of desolate hills and streams appear in the midst of the desert. Mirages will not mock them. The sun’s rays will not blind them. The Lord will be their sun and shield. There will be guidance, protection, refreshment, all that the pilgrim to eternity requires. The whole earth is astir with the throngs hastening to the gates of Zion to worship their King. They will come from every far-off region, ---the north, west and even the land of Sinim (China).
These are visions of the Church’s coming glory. In Israel, people are literally coming from the farthest regions of the earth to worship Jesus Christ. All nations gather there day after day.
As the prophet sees these sheep, long without a shepherd, he breaks forth into a jubilant song---once more invoking the heavens and the earth and the mountains to lead the worship.
49:13: “Sing for joy, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion upon His afflicted.”
In looking back on our wilderness path, we can trace time after time evidences of His loving guidance, disarming fear, removing difficulty, mitigating the heat of the sun of trial, dissipating the deceitful mirage of the world, and guiding us onto the path to Heaven.
Let us trust Jesus’ shepherd-leadings now and in the future, seeking to be guided by none but Him. Because we live in this world, there will still be sorrowful experiences and hills of difficulty. Let us always look beyond the barren desert or the cloud and tempest to the living streams, pure fountains and luxurious pastures of the true land of Beulah---the region of the blessed.
“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Rev. 7: 16-17)
49:14-16-17: “But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. Behold I have graven you upon the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste. Your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go forth of you.”
God comforts Israel and assures them that they have not been forgotten and that God will judge her oppressors in a manner that will cause the nations to acknowledge Israel’s God.
Whether this is the plight of literal Israel or the wail of the Church universal prompted in times of rebuke, blasphemy, defection and apostasy---the vessel is in danger, and the cry is, “Lord do you not care that we perish?”
The cry may be from an individual soul amid baffling circumstances feeling deserted and forsaken. “God where are you?”
In all three cases Jehovah’s reply is the same---the assurance of His unchanging, everlasting love.
The Lord proclaims, “Yet will I not forget you”. This will be the unending lullaby of heaven as our heavenly father stoops over each ransomed child.
The vivid imagery of the prophecy picturing Zion as a bereaved and barren woman about to become a bride and acquire a large family heightens the contrast between the present and the future. First the foreign garrisons will leave and the city will be rebuilt. Then its population will multiply.
49: 18-20: “Lift up your eyes round about and behold: all these gather themselves together, and return to rebuild Jerusalem. As I live, says the Lord, you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and bind them on to yourself as a bride does. For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away.”
In this day, the inhabitants of Israel are expanding their construction into the West Bank and beyond the present borders of Jerusalem. Isaiah is prophesying the multiplication of the population and that population will be swollen by returning exiles brought home by humbled foreign rulers.
49: 21-22: “Then shall you say in your heart, ‘who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children; and am desolate, a captive, and moving to and fro? And who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone, where had these been’? Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.”
God will out of stones raise up children unto Abraham. This shall be done with the help of the Gentiles. They shall assist the sons of Zion, which are found among them. God will raise up friends for returning Israelites even among Gentiles. Even if they were brought up among the Gentiles, they are now brought into the family of Abraham.
49:23: “Kings shall be your nursing fathers and your queens their nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. You shall know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.”
The word for Lord here is Jehovah which also indicates the Messiah because the chapter is a revelation of Jesus Christ as the Prince of Peace; and the Restorer and Redeemer of His people.
This was partially fulfilled after their return out of captivity. Several of the kings of Persia helped them including Cyrus, Dairius, and Artaxerxes. Esther the queen was a nursing mother to the Jews that remained in their captivity, putting her life in her hands.
The Christian church, after a long captivity, was carefully watched over by kings and queens as Constantine and his mother Helena. Those who stand out against the church’s interests will be forced to yield. They shall bow down to you and lick the dust. The promise to the church of Philadelphia seems to confirm this passage. Rev. 3:9: “I will make those of the synagogue of Satan to come and worship before your feet.”
49: 24-26: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus says the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children. I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am the Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. and Amp; I entered into the labors of John Ross MacDuff, Comfort, Comfort Ye My People. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of Rev. MacDuff.