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Zion's Despondency. Jehovah's Promise
(49: 14 - 26).
A | 14. Objection. Zion forsaken and forgotten.
B | 15, 16. Encouragement, "Can a woman forget . . . yet will I not".
C | 17-23. | a1 | 17. Thy sons.
b1 | 18, 19. Behold . . . as a bride.
a2 | 20, 21-. My sons.
b2 | -21. Behold . . . where had they been.
b2 | 22-. Behold . . . Gentiles . . . People.
a2 | -22. Thy sons . . . brought . . . carried.
D | 23. . . . They shall bow down . . . lick up the dust of thy feet,
and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
A | 24. Objection. Shall prey be taken from the mighty?
B | 25. Encouragement, Even captives of mighty taken away.
C | 25. |
b1 | 25-. I will contend.
a1 | -25. Thy sons . . . I will save.
D | 26. They shall be drunken with their own blood.
. . . All flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour
and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
At the call to the heavens to sing and to the earth to be joyful, Zion interposes saying:
"The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me" (Isa. 49: 14).
"Forsaken!" "Forgotten!!" Two of the saddest words in human language. Israel
however `forgot' that they as a nation had `forsaken' the Lord, and that the desolation
that had overtaken them was a direct consequence of their sin. Of this the Lord could
most justly have reminded them, but He is of tender mercy, and not only refrained from
censure, but graciously gave wondrous assurance.
There is no love on earth so selfless as the love of a mother for her babe. The Lord
appeals to this acknowledged example in order to show the intensity of His love for
Israel:
"Can a woman forget her sucking child . . . . . yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee" (Isa. 49: 15).
From the figure of a mother's love, the Lord turns to a human practice that belongs to
all ages:
"Behold I have graven thee upon the palm of My hands; thy walls are continually
before Me" (Isa. 49: 16).
There is an element of incongruity in the association of "graving" on the palms of
one's hands, but if we remember that the same Hebrew word chaqaq is translated
`portray', `note' and `print' this sense of apparent incongruity will give place to
appreciation.
"Take thee a tile . . . . . and portray upon it the city" (Ezek. 4: 1).]
"The images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermillion" (Ezek. 23: 14).
"Note it in a book" (Isa. 30: 8); "Oh that they were printed in a book" (Job 19: 23).