Motherhood Metaphors: Nation and Servant, a Contrast (Isaiah 49:14-21)

Keep in mind Isaiah as he is prophesying these truths. He is speaking to the nation centuries in the future for him, and centuries in the past for us. They are in exile in Babylon, a power that is not yet a world power in Isaiah’s day. They have been sent there for the sins Isaiah has been warning them about. The same warnings that apply to us today and to humanity throughout time. Trust God, not men!

Israel feels forgotten. However, YHWH assures them through Isaiah, that He has not. Can a mother who has nursed her baby forget the child? Yes, even they can for they are human, but He cannot forget them. He has born them and He is God everlasting. He has engraved them on His palms. The picture here is not tattooing, as painful and memorable as that would be. It is as though God has chiseled the name of Zion on His palms as one chiseles a granite stone. They are not forgotten!

Isaiah goes on. The destroyers of the nation will be replaced with builders. Jerusalem will rise again. And not only will the nation return to Zion, the NATIONS will come. There will not be room in the land for all the people of God. They will ask themselves, “Where did all these children come from?” “Who bore them?”