Isaiah 26:15 says, Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. Isaiah reminded the people that God was the one responsible for them becoming a great nation when they obeyed Him. If we are to be a great nation today, we can only do so by being obedient to God and living by His laws and guidance. God increased the numbers of the people of Israel and Judah because of His covenant with them, and when they disobeyed that covenant, He allowed them to be taken over by other nations and their numbers to decrease. As Christians, our numbers should be increasing, but too often we fail to obey God’s commandments, and our numbers decrease. If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, though, the number of those who are saved will never decrease in our home to come.
Verse sixteen adds, Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Isaiah said that when the people of Judah found themselves in trouble in the world that they would then called out to God, even if they were being chastised by Him. We should never just call out to God when we are in trouble but should call out to Him daily so that He will keep us in His will, then we won’t find ourselves in trouble spiritually.
Verse seventeen continues, Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. Isaiah said that in God’s sight the people of Judah had been like a woman in labor, who cried out in her pain. God did not cause their suffering, nor does He cause ours, but He is aware of it. Even if we are not in physical pain because of our disobedience to God, and we may even be flourishing, God sees our spiritual condition. Any time we are disobedient to God, He is going to see our spiritual suffering.
Verse eighteen states, We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Isaiah said Judah had been like a woman in labor, but they hadn’t brought forth a child. There would be a great disappointment at this time. Isaiah also said that they had not brought forth the deliverance of the earth, which it was their duty to reach with God’s word and which they were to show His grace. If we are not reaching out to the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ today, we are laboring in vain spiritually.
Verse nineteen adds, Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah said that even those alive who were rebelling against God would find no deliverance until they repented and returned to Him, and those who had died faithful to Him would live again. Even if we die a physical death because of our faith in God, we will live forever with Him spiritually. The dead in Christ shall rise again, and those who are living refusing to accept His gift of salvation will suffer an everlasting spiritual death one day.
Verse twenty says, Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. Isaiah told his fellow Jews to go into their chambers and shut the doors behind them until this indignation was past. Matthew Henry says this verse and the next were not a part of the previous song but an introduction to the next chapter more than a conclusion to this one. Of course, we must remember that chapters and verses were set at a much later time, so we shouldn’t take them to be any more than man-made divisions. Isaiah said that the trouble that was coming to Judah would only last for a while, and the times we suffer because of our faith will only last for a little while from an eternal perspective. We are told to go into the world and proclaim the gospel, even if this at times may cause us to be in danger. They were also told to separate themselves from the non-believers and return to purity before God.
Verse twenty-one adds, For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Isaiah said that one day God was coming in judgment of the earth. There will be no hiding place for those who are lost, but we as Christians need to hide securely in our faith in Jesus Christ. He is the only everlasting hiding place.
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