Bible Gateway passage: Isaiah 49 - New King James Version (2024)

FAQs

What is the message of Isaiah 49? ›

He has a message not for Israel alone, but for the whole world, even “you peoples far away” (verse 1). And this message is from God: God has raised up a servant, one hidden and unknown, a nobody. God has made this servant the instrument of God's glory (verse 3).

“Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.

God's hands never get dirty and He never has to wash them. That means that He writes our name on his hand it is there forever. God never forgets us and He always loves us. A mother may be true, her affection may be as pure and as strong as earth can furnish but she may forget.

This text has two very beautiful and intimate images of God's love. In Isaiah 49:15 the image is very feminine - God is compared to a mother breastfeeding her baby or a pregnant woman carrying her unborn child. The image in Isaiah 49: 16 is more masculine as God is remembering and protecting where we live.

God is both the judge and the savior. This means that God has a plan to make all things right in the end, and that a necessary part of that process is declaring what is not yet right. This is the message of Isaiah the prophet. The judgment of God declares what is broken; the promise of God is to heal.

The book of Isaiah is filled with sobering accounts of Israel's sin and rebellion and warnings of their coming judgement. But along with warnings, Isaiah also offers a message of hope—a suffering servant, a coming Messiah, who would come to establish God's Kingdom on Earth and create a new Jerusalem.

Together with Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 50:4-9, and Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Isaiah 49:1-7 speaks of the Servant of God who is called to be a light to the nations; a source of salvation (Isaiah 49:6) to bring justice to those who are entrapped in situations of oppression: the poor, the needy, the imprisoned (Isaiah 42:6-7).

Isaiah 49:3 reveals who Yahweh is speaking to: “My Servant, Israel.” Although several biblical excerpts identify God's servant as the nation Israel (Isa 41:8–9 ; 44:1–2 , 21 ; 45:4 ; Luke 1:54 ; etc.), the servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 49 must be an individual (Jesus) for four reasons.

Isaiah 49:16 In-Context

15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

In verse 16, God says, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” The “walls” are a reference to the broken-down walls of Jerusalem while the Jews were in exile in Babylon. God is saying: “I see your life; I know exactly what is going on in your life.

What does Isaiah 49:2 mean? ›

In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me - This passage has been very variously interpreted. Many have understood it as meaning that the shadow of the hand of God would cover or defend him - as a shade or shadow protects from heat. The word 'shadow' is used for protection in Isaiah 25:4; Psalms 17:8; Psalms 36:8.

Send me.” He was thus commissioned to give voice to the divine word. It was no light undertaking; he was to condemn his own people and watch the nation crumble and perish.

This chapter paints the clear picture that once you have been adopted as a child of God, He will never forget about you. Sometimes, it may feel that He has left you, but you are always before Him.

And so God says about His people, “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,” and He uses those words after that, “Your walls are continually before me,” so that basically, He's saying to His people, “I don't forget you. I'm committed to you. Everything that I'm doing, I'm thinking about you. I'm caring for you.

In the prophetic vision of Isaiah, a powerful metaphor is used to relay God's promise and faithfulness to His people. This verse serves as a promise of restoration and reflects a deeper reality where the representatives of Jerusalem, symbolized as her sons, are described as jewels surrounding a bride.

YHWH'S ORACLE OF REASSURANCE TO ZlON in Isa 49:14-18 is one of the biblical passages in. which God's steadfast love is most clearly compared to maternal love. Zion, the city of God, is identified and addressed as a mother, one who is distraught with grief and feelings of helplessness and loss.

From these prophecies, students learned the following truths: Trusting in our own strength instead of trusting in God can lead us to commit sin and ultimately result in our own destruction. Jesus Christ holds the key of the house of David and the keys of salvation for all mankind.

Isaiah 44:5 describes the children of Jacob committing themselves to God: “One shall say, 'I am the LORD's'… Another shall mark his arm 'of the LORD. '” Here a tattoo appears to be allowable as a sign of submission, not to a human master but to God.

The message of the book of Isaiah to the world is that there is indeed a Savior, the Messiah, who has humbly, painfully, and gloriously won salvation for sinners and for all who would trust in him (Isa.