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NOTES for Isa 49:15

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15 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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In the context of the prophecy about the salvation God will accomplish in Christ, Deutero-Isaiah, the unknown author of the second half of the book of the prophet Isaiah, records these stunning words. They are addressed to everyone and to each person, regardless of anything. How often we fall into despair and complaint, take offense at God, because it appears to us that He has abandoned us to fate. And the issue is not only that we fail to notice His blessings, fail to notice all His priceless gifts: light and air, food and work, the powers of life and life itself. They are, of course, given to us, and we are, of course, not grateful enough to God for them.

But we need something far greater: His compassion, His protection, and His deliverance from the grim prospect of death. That is precisely why it is so important for us that the Lord will never forget us, and that His memory and His compassion surpass even a mother's love; in other words, they surpass everything we know in this world as love and memory. It is simply astonishing how secure life becomes if we rely on the truth of this promise of God. Even in the most terrible things, in suffering and death, hope appears if we believe these words. This hope is especially strong on the day of Resurrection.

Other notes

 
For Isa 49:14-15
14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 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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In what condition does a person usually say that God has forgotten him? Of course, it is usually the condition of grave sin. It seems that if I have forgotten the Lord, then He has no reason to remember me. In today's Old Testament reading...  Read more

In what condition does a person usually say that God has forgotten him? Of course, it is usually the condition of grave sin. It seems that if I have forgotten the Lord, then He has no reason to remember me. In today's Old Testament reading the Lord says that it is impossible for Him to forget His people. He remembers us simply because He loves, without conditions and without explanations.

Each of us chooses life or death, freedom in God or the false freedom of sin. But we know that in reality every sin makes a person a slave. Those who in today's reading are called prisoners and those sitting in darkness made their own choice. But today the Lord does not remind them of this. He simply says: "Come out! Show yourselves! The day of salvation has come!" He hears the voice of those who cry to Him for salvation, and He has mercy and saves, because He is the God who has mercy. This passage is the song of the Lord Himself, who rejoices as He delivers and comforts His people.

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For Isa 49:1-26
1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.
8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
15 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.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
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Before us is one of the central passages of Isaiah’s prophecy. The interpretations of the Fathers of the Church reveal its meaning to us as...  Read more

Before us is one of the central passages of Isaiah’s prophecy. The interpretations of the Fathers of the Church reveal its meaning to us as a prophecy about the coming Savior, who is called here the Holy One of Israel. Yet the form of the narrative may suggest that it concerns only Israel’s earthly triumph, and such a reading must have made it considerably harder for part of the people to recognize the Messiah when He came among them. And yet, when the Messiah came to earth, He not only revealed the Heavenly Father in Himself, but also embodied in His human form the traits of those sons of the people of Israel who were closest to God, concentrating in Himself the essence of their spiritual paths.

But the paths shown to Israel are not paths for one people alone. By following them, Israel provided landmarks for all nations. Now all humanity can become God’s numerous and diverse people by receiving the One who would appear in Israel several centuries later.

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