Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, they may forget… 1. As. Jehovah,, had just been announcing His" purposes of world-wide mercy — salvation "to the ends of the earth" — we may take these words, in the first instance, as the plaint of literal Israel: "The Lord has chosen the Gentile, and in doing so, He has forgotten me. The wild olive has been grafted in; will not the natural olive be rejected?" 2. Or it may be taken as the wail of the Church universal, prompted in times of rebuke and blasphemy, defection and apostasy, cruelty and persecution, when blood is flowing and martyr-fires are lighted; or worse, when faith is weak, and love is waxing cold, and knees are bowing to Baal. 3. Or again, the utterance may be regarded as the exclamation of the individual soul, amid frowning providences and baffling dispensations. In all the three cases Jehovah's reply is the same — the assurance of His inviolable, unchanging, everlasting love. This He enforces by two arguments. I. THE MOTHER'S INSTINCTIVE FONDNESS FOR HER BABE. II. THE GRAVER'S ART (ver. 16). (J. R. Macduff, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. |
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