PROMISES FOR THE STERILE, ABANDONE WIDOW
“In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, or you shall not fear”
(Isaiah 54:14).
The metaphor of the woman is also seen in this verse. Judah is represented by different experiences of women. God is described as the Husband who abandons His wife for justified reasons, but who restores her to her original condition because His wrath is of momentary but His kindness is eternal. The wife who is abandoned because of her infidelity is forgiven and brought back home; this represents Judah’s infidelity and God’s promise to bring them back from their exile if they return to God. The sterile woman who would have many sons represents the return of God’s children from the Babylonian exile. The widow, the sterile, the unmarried, and the abandoned receive the same promise: God would be their Husband and Redeemer. God wants to make a pact of peace and prosperity with all of them.
The sterile woman carried an enormous burden of shame. The Lord compares captive Israel with a sterile woman, who can sing, ‘More are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married woman” (Isaiah 34:1). The Babylonian exile and captivity meant more than just oppression; they represented shame, dishonor, and humiliation. But God promised glorious freedom. The curse and shame of sterility would be broken, and Israel would be so fruitful that it would have to enlarge its territory. Israel’s dis- grace is compared to the shame of a sterile woman, and its humiliation to that of the widow who the Lord promises to be a husband to. Showing us that God provides and satisfies our emotional needs, and He rescues as from every form of shame.
Verses 11—17 of Isaiah 54 are promises of prosperity, peace, and protection. God offers consolation and spiritual abundance to the afflicted. He offers peace and safety to mothers who are weary or grieving because of their children’s failures. Our almighty God has power to destroy, protect, banish oppressors, and even instill fear in those who wish us evil. God protects His people from criticism; in fact, every tongue that rises against you will condemn itself. God knows that it is easier to withstand a blow than an insult, and that we will recover from a physical wound easier than from being lied about.
The promise ends with the words: “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me” (Isaiah 54:17).
“God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach.»— Counsels to Parents, Teacher, and Students, sec. 10, p. 365.
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Taken from: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2023
“DAUGHTER OF MINE” Do Not Be Afraid
From: Arsenia Fernandez-Uckele
Collaborators: Angelica Cuate & Esteban Cortes