Isaiah 54:11-12

"O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones" (Isaiah 54:11-12 RSV).

 

Comment:

Chapter 54 of the Book of Isaiah was written during the final years of Babylonian exile; it is part of a section (chapters 40-55) known as Second Isaiah because the writer is different from the author of the earlier chapters, written before the exile began. The general purpose of Second Isaiah is to encourage the people to accept the freedom offered them by Cyrus the Great, whose Persian Empire had just conquered Babylon. The writer wants them to return to their homeland, and especially to rebuild the sacred city of Jerusalem.

The Jews had grown comfortable in exile, and many were reluctant to leave Babylon and undertake the arduous journey back to a country they could barely remember. Again and again, the prophet urges them forward, reassuring them that the journey will be easy and the rewards abundant because it is God calling them home. In Chapter 54, the Hebrew nation is first depicted as a barren woman, abandoned by her husband. But that husband (God) has returned. "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you" (Isaiah 54:7 NRSV). Out of this new affirmation of love and unity comes the promise of these verses. The prophet is describing New Jerusalem with images of ease and abundance intended to encourage the "afflicted one," the people of Israel, to continue their journey home. The description is not meant literally, of course. It is like a vision of paradise.

Metaphysically, we are always seeking a way home—a path to realizing our spiritual Oneness. It can be a discouraging journey, as Isaiah has recognized and described in previous chapters. But the promise remains before us and within us: We will achieve that goal, and it will be glorious—well worth the challenge of the journey.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed