For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song. For the LORD will comfort ZionThe word "comfort" in Hebrew is "נחם" (nacham), which conveys a deep sense of consolation and compassion. In the context of Zion, which represents Jerusalem and, by extension, the people of Israel, this comfort is not merely emotional but also restorative. Historically, Zion had experienced devastation and exile, and this promise of comfort signifies God's intention to restore and renew His covenant people. Theologically, it reflects God's unwavering faithfulness and His role as a divine comforter who brings hope and healing. He will comfort all her waste places
The "waste places" refer to areas that have been desolated or ruined, often due to war or neglect. In Hebrew, "waste places" is "חרבות" (charavot), indicating a state of barrenness. This promise of comfort extends to every aspect of desolation, suggesting a comprehensive restoration. It is a powerful image of transformation, where God turns desolation into beauty, reflecting His power to redeem and renew even the most hopeless situations. and He will make her wilderness like Eden
The "wilderness" in Hebrew is "מדבר" (midbar), often associated with uninhabitable and barren lands. The transformation of the wilderness "like Eden" is a profound promise. Eden, the garden of God, symbolizes perfection, abundance, and divine presence. This imagery evokes a return to an ideal state of harmony and prosperity, reminiscent of the original creation. It underscores God's ability to bring life and fertility to barren places, both physically and spiritually. and her desert like the garden of the LORD
The "desert" (Hebrew: "ערבה" - aravah) is another symbol of lifelessness and desolation. The transformation into "the garden of the LORD" suggests a divine intervention that brings about a paradisiacal state. This phrase emphasizes the idea of divine cultivation and care, where God Himself tends to His creation, ensuring its flourishing. It is a promise of divine presence and blessing, where the barren becomes fruitful under God's hand. Joy and gladness will be found in her
"Joy" (Hebrew: "ששון" - sason) and "gladness" (Hebrew: "שמחה" - simchah) are expressions of deep, abiding happiness and contentment. These emotions are not fleeting but are rooted in the transformative work of God. The presence of joy and gladness signifies a community living in the fullness of God's promises, experiencing His peace and prosperity. It is a vision of a restored community, thriving under God's care. thanksgiving and the sound of melody
"Thanksgiving" (Hebrew: "תודה" - todah) is an expression of gratitude, often associated with worship and acknowledgment of God's goodness. The "sound of melody" (Hebrew: "קול זמרה" - kol zimrah) suggests a vibrant, celebratory atmosphere. Together, they paint a picture of a community that not only experiences God's blessings but also responds with worship and praise. It is a reminder of the importance of gratitude and worship in the life of God's people, acknowledging His role as the source of all blessings. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant-keeping God of Israel, who promises restoration and comfort to His people. 2. ZionA term often used to refer to Jerusalem or the people of Israel, symbolizing God's chosen place and people. 3. EdenThe garden created by God, representing perfection, abundance, and divine fellowship. 4. Waste PlacesAreas of desolation and ruin, symbolizing the current state of Israel due to sin and exile. 5. The Garden of the LORDA reference to a place of divine presence and blessing, akin to Eden. Teaching Points God's Comfort and RestorationGod is a God of comfort, who seeks to restore His people from desolation to a state of blessing and abundance. Transformation from Desolation to AbundanceJust as God promises to transform Zion's waste places into Eden, He can transform the desolate areas of our lives into places of joy and fruitfulness. Joy and Thanksgiving as Marks of RestorationThe presence of joy, gladness, and thanksgiving are indicators of God's restorative work in our lives. We should cultivate these attitudes as we experience His blessings. The Promise of Divine FellowshipThe reference to Eden and the garden of the LORD points to the ultimate restoration of fellowship with God, which is our hope in Christ. Hope in God's FaithfulnessDespite current circumstances, we can have hope in God's faithfulness to fulfill His promises of restoration and blessing. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the promise of comfort in Isaiah 51:3 encourage you in your current circumstances? 2. In what ways can you identify "waste places" in your life that need God's restoration? 3. How does the transformation of Zion's wilderness into Eden reflect God's work in the life of a believer? 4. What practical steps can you take to cultivate joy and thanksgiving in your daily life, as described in this verse? 5. How do the themes of restoration and divine fellowship in Isaiah 51:3 connect with the hope of the new creation in Revelation 21-22? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 2-3The original creation of Eden, highlighting the perfection and fellowship with God that was lost due to sin. Revelation 21-22The vision of the new heaven and new earth, where God restores all things, echoing the transformation of desolation into a paradise. Isaiah 40:1-2The theme of comfort for God's people, emphasizing His desire to restore and redeem. Psalm 126:1-3The joy and gladness of God's people when He restores their fortunes, similar to the joy described in Isaiah 51:3. Hosea 2:14-15God's promise to transform the Valley of Trouble into a door of hope, paralleling the transformation of waste places into Eden. People Isaiah, Rahab, SarahPlaces Jerusalem, Rahab, Tigris-Euphrates Region, ZionTopics Broken, Changing, Comfort, Comforted, Compassion, Confession, Delight, Desert, Deserts, Dry, Eden, Garden, Glad, Gladness, Indeed, Joy, Making, Melody, Places, Praise, Ruins, Setteth, Singing, Song, Thanksgiving, Therein, Voice, Walls, Waste, Wastelands, Wastes, Wilderness, Yea, ZionDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 51:3 4209 land, spiritual aspects
4241 Garden of Eden
4468 horticulture
5508 ruins
5805 comfort
7269 Zion
8288 joy, of Israel
8676 thanksgiving Isaiah 51:1-6 9165 restoration Library August 25 Morning
Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.--ISA 51:1. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.--None eye pitied thee but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, Live. He brought me up . . . out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathJanuary 26. "I Called Him Alone and Blessed Him" (Isa. Li. 2).
"I called him alone and blessed him" (Isa. li. 2). When we were in the East we noticed the beautiful process of raising rice. The rice is sown on a morass of mud and water, ploughed up by great buffaloes, and after a few weeks it springs up and appears above the water with its beautiful pale green shoots. The seed has been sown very thickly and the plants are clustered together in great numbers, so that you can pull up a score at a single handful. But now comes the process of transplanting. He first …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth The Awakening of Zion
'Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.'--ISAIAH li. 9. 'Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.'--ISAIAH lii. 1. Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. His majestic figure, wrapped in a light veil of obscurity, fills the eye in all these later prophecies of Isaiah. It is sometimes clothed with divine power, sometimes girded with the towel of human weakness, sometimes …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Hearken and Look; Or, Encouragement for Believers
THE second verse contains my actual text. It is the argument by which faith is led to look for the blessings promised in the third verse. It is habitual with some persons to spy out the dark side of every question or fact: they fix their eyes upon the "waste places," and they study them till they know every ruin, and are familiar with the dragons and the owls. They sigh most dolorously that the former times were better than these, and that we have fallen upon most degenerate days. They speak of "shooting …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 27: 1881 A Prospect of Revival
THE pedigree of God's chosen nation Israel may be traced back to one man and one woman--to Abraham and Sarah. Both of them were well stricken in years when the Lord called them, yet, in the fulfilment of his promise, he built up of their seed a great nation, which, for number, was comparable to the stars of heaven. Take heart, brethren; these things are written for our example and for our encouragement. His Church can never sink to so low an ebb that he cannot soon build her up again, nor in our …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916 "Sing, O Heavens; and be Joyful, O Earth; for the Lord Hath Comforted his People. " -- Isaiah 49:13.
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." -- Isaiah 51:3. "Sing, O Heavens; and be joyful, O Earth; for the Lord hath comforted his people." -- Isaiah 49:13. A living, loving, lasting word, My listening ear believing heard, While bending down in prayer; Like a sweet breeze that none can stay, It passed …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations Of Inward Silence
Of Inward Silence "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before him" (Hab. ii. 20). Inward silence is absolutely indispensable, because the Word is essential and eternal, and necessarily requires dispositions in the soul in some degree correspondent to His nature, as a capacity for the reception of Himself. Hearing is a sense formed to receive sounds, and is rather passive than active, admitting, but not communicating sensation; and if we would hear, we must lend the ear …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Of Rest in the Presence of God --Its Fruits --Inward Silence --God Commands it --Outward Silence.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual. The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer. It is astonished …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents Lii. Manna. Exodus xvi. 4.
I.--Manna like salvation, because undeserved. The people murmured at the very first difficulty. If they had been grateful they would have said, "The God who brought us out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea, will not allow us to die of hunger." But instead of this they accused Moses of being a murderer. And in answer to this God said, "I will rain bread from heaven." What an illustration of Romans v. 8. II.--Manna like salvation, because it saved the people from perishing. Nothing else would …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread Early Battles
Six months of joyous service amongst the Welsh miners was cut short by a telegram announcing to the sisters the serious illness of Mrs. Lee. Taking the news to their Divisional Commander, they were instructed to Headquarters. It was found that the illness was due to shock. The income from investments of the little estate left by Mr. Lee had dwindled; it now had disappeared altogether. Captain Lucy faced the matter with her usual practical decision. 'Mother, darling, there are two ways out. Either …
Minnie L. Carpenter—The Angel Adjutant of "Twice Born Men" Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII An Appendix to the Beatitudes
His commandments are not grievous 1 John 5:3 You have seen what Christ calls for poverty of spirit, pureness of heart, meekness, mercifulness, cheerfulness in suffering persecution, etc. Now that none may hesitate or be troubled at these commands of Christ, I thought good (as a closure to the former discourse) to take off the surmises and prejudices in men's spirits by this sweet, mollifying Scripture, His commandments are not grievous.' The censuring world objects against religion that it is difficult …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Ci. Foretelling his Passion. Rebuking Ambition.
(Peræa, or Judæa, Near the Jordan.) ^A Matt. XX. 17-28; ^B Mark X. 32-45; ^C Luke XVIII. 31-34. ^b 32 And they were on the way, going up to Jerusalem [Dean Mansel sees in these words an evidence that Jesus had just crossed the Jordan and was beginning the actual ascent up to Jerusalem. If so, he was in Judæa. But such a construction strains the language. Jesus had been going up to Jerusalem ever since he started in Galilee, and he may now have still be in Peræa. The parable …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate,
CLEARLY EXPLAINED, AND LARGELY IMPROVED, FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BELIEVERS. 1 John 2:1--"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." By JOHN BUNYAN, Author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1689. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This is one of the most interesting of Bunyan's treatises, to edit which required the Bible at my right hand, and a law dictionary on my left. It was very frequently republished; …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Thirdly, for Thy Actions.
1. Do no evil, though thou mightest; for God will not suffer the least sin, without bitter repentance, to escape unpunished. Leave not undone any good that thou canst. But do nothing without a calling, nor anything in thy calling, till thou hast first taken counsel at God's word (1 Sam. xxx. 8) of its lawfulness, and pray for his blessings upon thy endeavour; and then do it in the name of God, with cheerfulness of heart, committing the success to him, in whose power it is to bless with his grace …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Death Swallowed up in victory
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory! D eath, simply considered, is no more than the cessation of life --that which was once living, lives no longer. But it has been the general, perhaps the universal custom of mankind, to personify it. Imagination gives death a formidable appearance, arms it with a dart, sting or scythe, and represents it as an active, inexorable and invincible reality. In this view death is a great devourer; with his iron tongue …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 51:3 NIVIsaiah 51:3 NLTIsaiah 51:3 ESVIsaiah 51:3 NASBIsaiah 51:3 KJV
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