Future Glory Series

ISAIAH 54: 11-17

FUTURE GLORY

[Revelations 21: 10, 18-21]

In the midst of adversity, God speaks through Isaiah to foretell of renewal, revival and a flourishing time to come. However bad the people of God’s present situation, the future before them is incredibly bright and secure. For the reunion of Zion with the ways of God brings material and spiritual blessings.

God establishes the disciples of His people in His righteousness. God is in the recovery and reproduction business and He wants us to live in the light of His resurrection promises. We can because He promises to guard us in His righteousness and keep us secure (CIT).

I. A PRECIOUS REBUILDING, 11-12.

II. ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, 13-14.

III. THE HERITAGE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, 15-17.

Verse 11 begins to present the coming change in the situation of Zion. “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

Zion, the afflicted city, had been through many troubles and instabilities, here called storms, and no one had comforted her (Lam. 1:2, 9, 15-17, 21). The Lord is intimately aware of the concerns of His people and has compassion for them. The Lord will build up the city with stones made of precious gems, symbolic of His care and esteem for the value of the city. The contrast is between a devastate city and a most glorious one. It is intended to represent the contrast between who we are and who we will become, between what we have experienced and what we will experience.

Standing on the hilltops of heaven, God sees the storms of affliction that have threaten and tossed you. Every wave, every pitch, every buffeting is discerned and felt by Him. He too has sailed through many stormy seas, and is acquainted with suffering. Though not comforted by man, you will be consoled by the divine Comforter.

He promises to lay a foundation and rebuild your life. He will spare no setting however costly, no stone however precious when He rebuilds you for life eternal.

The imagery of unearthly transformation continues in verse12. “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones.

Sapphires, rubies, and crystal are very resplendent and beautiful, but they are all the children of fire. You will not have them unless prepared to pay the cost in blood, sweat, and tears. These jewels are produced of very ordinary elements, which have been subjected to tremendous pressure and terrific heat. When you have misgiving amid your fiery trials, remember that God is at work making the sapphires, rubies, and crystal of your eternal character. You will be incomparably compensated. [F.B. Meyer, Great Verses, 289] Remember to hope in the God who will see you through the storms and comfort you (2 Cor. 4:16-18).

II. ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, 13-14.

Verse 13 contains the promise and peace of discipleship. “All your sons will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your sons will be great.

Peace or well being comes from a right relationship with God. There is no way to have a right relationship with God with out being taught of God. God would have us learn His ways that we might be transformed into His precious character by His Spirit. As a result Zion’s sons will possess an abundance of well-being or peace (Phil. 4:7; Col. 3:15). Such peace only comes to those who know the Lord and are His disciples. [Young, Isaiah, Vol III, 370]

[In the Millennium, the children will be taught by the Lord Himself and will enjoy His peace. Bible Knowledge Commentary, OT, ]

Verse 14 teaches that real security is established in righteousness. “In righteousness you will be established. You will be far from oppression- for you will not fear-and from terror, for it will not come near you.

Righteousness is the practice of right thinking and behavior because of a right relationship with God. God promises that righteousness will bring about security (33:5; 46:13; 58:8; 62:1-2).

The promises of security speaks to three communities of faith. First it spoke to the exiled community. How precious all these promises must have been to them in the years when their very existence as a people seemed to be threatened from one day to the next. Second it speaks to us. It is the righteous who are secure in the love and the good purposes of God. This security holds them fast, even when the world is falling down around them (Lam. 3:21-26).

This changing world has no security. All things pass and fade; all the old and comfortable is replaced with the new and strange. If we look for security here, we shall never find it. But those who have submitted themselves to become disciples of the Lord, in whom peace and righteousness have come to dwell, can rest in the eternal purposes of God that is profound and undisturbed. That is security.