Isaiah 49 | The Wolfe Notes

Welcome, Family! We're spending 2024 with the prophet Isaiah. While we claim no expertise, we're excited to sit with you as we both learn at the feet of Jesus. Each month, we offer a calendar that outlines daily exercises (adapted from Jenn Wilkin's Women of the Word Bible study process) to progress through Isaiah. Download September's calendar to begin with us and witness what we uncovered in our weekly "Wolfe Notes" postings.

Contents:

1. Different Versions Noting and clarifying differences between KJV & GW.
2. Annotation My thoughts, connections, clarifications, and questions.
3. Research on Jacob and Israel.
4. Summary An approximately twenty-word overview of the chapter.
5. Memorize Why I chose to memorize Isaiah 49:16.
6. Cross References Of Isaiah 49:16.
7. Respond Based on reflections on God's character and my own.

Different Versions

I read Chapter 49 in the King James Version (KJV) and God's Word Translation (GW). The KJV is a word-for-word translation while the GW is a thought-for-thought translation.

Major differences I noticed (*My thoughts alone are in italics and designated with an asterisk.):

• Isaiah 49:6
• Comparisons:
• KJV: And he said, (1) 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.
• GW: Now, the Lord says, "You are (1) not just my servant who restores the tribes of Jacob and brings back those in Israel whom I have preserved. I have also made you a light for the nations so that you would save people all over the world."
• Discrepancies: KJV says "It is a light thing", which sounds reassuring: God's servant will bring light, or hope, or it will be an easy task (i.e. Matthew 11:30). The GW interprets it as just the beginning.
• Clarifications: 
• Hebrew is qalel meaning slight, swift, or trifling.
• Other versions say: "It is too small a thing..." (NIV); "You will do more than..." (NLT); and "It is too light a thing..." (ESV).
• Pulpit notes that restoring just the tribe of Jacobs would indeed be "too light" a task for Jesus.
• *Wolfe Stew Version: You thought bringing back the tribes of Jacob was quite the accomplishment? Just wait. Next, you'll bring salvation to the ends of the earth. 
• *So, they are saying essentially the same thing. Restoring the tribes of Jacob was easy, compared to what comes next. It is poetic for the KJV to include light in both the first and last clause, but the GW's wording clarifies the meaning.

Annotation

Notes on my process. *Denotes my thoughts alone. ! Denotes a connection. Researched quick answers are in italics. *R Indicates a topic with more extensive notes under the research heading.

1. I am God's Chosen (Isaiah 49:1-5)
1. Listen, everyone, God called and named me from before I was born.
1. ! "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 GW
2. ? What do the "isles" reference in Isaiah 49:1 KJV "Listen, O isles, unto me;..."
3. ? Who is the subject of this verse - Jesus, Isaiah, Cyrus, Israel, the Church? If it is Israel or the church, how can just one person be speaking? *It seems to be Israel personified; the next part is Zion personified.
2. He prepared me in secret to use my words as a powerful weapon.
1. Sword
1. "...like a sharp sword..." Isaiah 49:2 GW. 
2. ! "God's word is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and cuts as deep as the place where soul and spirit meet, the place where joints and marrow meet. God's word judges a person's thoughts and intentions." Hebrews 4:12 GW 
2. Quiver of Arrows
1. "...He made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me." Isaiah 49:2 KJV.
2. ! "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth." Psalm 127:4 KJV
3. And through me, His glory will shine.
4. Though my work and efforts have been focused on worthless ends; I am safe because God judges me and works on my behalf.
1. ? How could it be Jesus if His efforts were vain? Unless by means of human stubbornness.
5. Though I did  not successfully complete my mission, I am still glorious in the eyes of God, my strength.
1. *It was never going to be a successful mission: And [God] said [to Isaiah], "Go and tell these people, 'No matter how closely you listen, you'll never understand. No matter how closely you look, you'll never see.' Make these people close-minded. Plug their ears. Shut their eyes. Otherwise, they may see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, and return and be healed." Isaiah 6:9-10 GW
2. For a Purpose (Isaiah 49:6-7)
1. God says, be joyful that you are to raise and restore my people. You'll bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
1. ? How do Isaiah or Israel bring salvation to the ends of the earth? Prophecy and ancestry?
2. ? What does "light thing" mean in the context of Isaiah 49:6 KJV: "And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant..."? Easy? God's light? Hopeful?
2. A servant is coming whom man and nation will hate, yet kings and princes will worship because God is faithful and chose you.
1. *A picture of the trinity: "the Lord that is faithful", "the Holy One of Israel, "the Redeemer of Israel...and he shall choose thee", accepting that Jesus is the one chosen. Isaiah 49:7 KJV
2. ? Jesus was despised by man (Isaiah 53:3-12 and Acts 8:32-35) and a servant (Matthew 12:18; Philippians 2:5-8; John 13:12-17) , but what about kings and princes worshiping?
3. Fulfilled in His Time (Isaiah 49:8)
1. In My time, I will help you, guard you, and give you as a promise to the people to redeem all of the earth.
1. ? What is an acceptable time? 
2. ? What is the meaning of day of salvation? When you were rescued? Born again?
3. ! Isaiah 42:6 KJV: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep the, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; (See cross references of this verse.)
4. ! Isaiah 35:3-4 KJV: Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. (See cross references of these verses.)
5. ! Isaiah 8:17 KJV: And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. (See cross references to this verse.)
6. ? Why would desolate heritages be inherited? To lead to restoration? Is it a reference to the desolation described in Isaiah 34:9-15?  (*Excerpts from GW): streams turned to tar, soil to burning sulfur, unextinguished, always smoking, wild animals possess it, no nobles to rule, palaces covered with thorns
4. Gathering the Israelites (Isaiah 49:9-13)
1. You will free the captives and make bold the fearful. They will be nourished in Your ways as they eat the bread of life.
1. ! That thou mayest say...to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves... Isaiah 49:9 KJV
1. Isaiah 9:2 GW: The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. The light will shine on those who live in the land of death's shadow.
2. Matthew 4:16 KJV: The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
2. ! ...they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. Isaiah 49:9 KJV
1. Psalm 23:2 GW: He makes me lie down in green pastures...
2. Proverbs 31:14 KJV: She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. (See our notes for this verse.)
3. Matthew 4:4 GW: Jesus answered, "Scripture says, 'A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.'"
4. Deuteronomy 8:3 KJV: And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
2. Their journey will be one of comfort and joy because they are led by One who is full of mercy.
1. ! "They shall not hunger or thirst...", in Isaiah 49:10 KJV, reminds me of, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God's approval. They will be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 GW
2. ! "...nor will the sun or the burning, hot wind strike them..." in Isaiah 49:10 GW, reminds me of 
1. God journeying with the Israelites in a cloud by day and a fire by night - protecting them from the elements. Exodus 13:21-23
2. "For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." Isaiah 18:4 KJV (See cross references.)
3. ! "...for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them", in Isaiah 49:10 KJV, reminds me of, "He leads me beside peaceful waters." Psalm 23:2 GW
3. Their path will be clear because God clears it for them.
1. ! In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6 KJV
2. ! Every valley will be raised. Every mountain and hill will be lowered. Steep places will be made level. Rough places will be made smooth. Isaiah 40:4 GW
3. ! And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. Isaiah 35:8 KJV
4. They will come from all over!
1. ? Where is Sinim? China. (Chuck Missler ~ 1:06:09)
5. Rejoice, all the earth, for God's people are comforted; His afflicted know mercy.
1. ! You will go out with JOY and be led out in peace. The mountains and the hills will break into songs of JOY in your presence, and all the trees will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12 GW
5. Zion's Cry (Isaiah 49:14)
1. "What about me?!" cries Zion. I'm abandoned and forgotten by You.
6. God's Plan for Zion (Isaiah 49:15-24)
1. How could I forget you, my precious child? A mother might forget her child, but I could never forget you.
2. Look at My hands, you are etched there permanently. I am always looking at the plans I have for you.
1. ! Zechariah 13:6 KJV: And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
2. ! Luke 24:39 GW: Look at my hands and feet, and see that it's really me. Touch me, and see for yourselves. Ghosts don't have flesh and bones, but you can see that I do.
3. 🎶See my hands and look at my feet / It's okay if it's hard to believe / I have faith that you will do greater things🎵("The Commission" performed by Cain)
4. 🎵The only scars in heaven are on the hands that hold you now🎶 ("Scars in Heaven" performed by Casting Crowns)
5. ! Jeremiah 29:11 KJV: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
3. Your children will hurry; your destroyers will leave.
4. Look! They are coming to you. You will be richly adorned by them, eternally.
1. ! Isaiah 2:2 GW: In the last days the mountain of the Lord's house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills. All the nations will stream to it.
2. ! Revelation 21:19-20: KJV: And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. *The rest of the passage lists the stones.
1. Like the precious stones the priests wore to represent the twelve tribes of Judah on their ephods. See Exodus 28:17-21.
2. And the stones that covered "the king of Tyrus" in Eden. See Ezekiel 28:11-13.
5. For the children who come are numerous. You are not prepared for them in your current state. But your destroyers are gone (*so you can rebuild).
6. Your new children will seek a place to dwell.
1. ! Matthew 7:13-14 GW "Enter through the narrow gate because the gate and road that lead to destruction are wide. Many enter through the wide gate. But the narrow gate and the road that lead to life are full of trouble. Only a few people find the narrow gate.
7. You'll wonder, where did these children come from? Who begat them, raised them, and sheltered them? I lost my own children. I've been abandoned, imprisoned, and wandering.
1. ? How is Zion moving to and fro? 
8. Look! I'll show the Gentiles my nail-scarred hands and lift myself up on a cross. Then, they will carry your sons and daughters back to you.
1. ! Isaiah 11:12 KJV: And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
2. ! Standard = snake staff of Numbers 21:9 GW: So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. People looked at the bronze snake after they were bitten, and they lived. (Chuck Missler ~ 47:13)
3. ! John 3:14 KJV: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
4. ? Why are sons in arms and daughters on shoulders. It is interesting that daughters are mentioned.
5. ! This is our great commission, to make disciples by leading them to the way: Matthew 28:19-20 GW: So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. "And remember that I am always with you until the end of time."
6. 🎶My help comes from You / You are my rest, my rescue / I don't have to see to believe that You're lifting me up on Your shoulders🎵 ("Shoulders" performed by for King & Country)
9. The Gentile kings and queens will care for your children, respect you, and be thankful for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord and you will not regret having waited on Me.
1. ! We are the kings and queens who are to care for the young in faith (I Peter 2:9).
2. ? Why lick up the dust? So happy to be there? Kiss the ground? Or the Jewish saying, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi." (Lois Tverberg)
3. ! Romans 1:16: KJV For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
4. ! Isaiah 28:16 GW: This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am going to lay a rock in Zion, a rock that has been tested, a precious cornerstone, a solid foundation. Whoever believes in him will not worry. (See cross references.)
7. The End is Justice (Isaiah 49:25-26)
1. You probably wonder, is it possible for your children to return? Is it possible for the weak to be saved from the strong? For a rightfully taken prisoner to be released?
2. Yet it can happen. It will happen. It is the I am who fights for you. I will save your children.
1. ! Isaiah 31:4 KJV: For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
2. ! Matthew 18:4-5 GW: Whoever becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.
3. And those who have oppressed you will learn their lesson. I am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
1. ? Does Israel = Jews and Jacob = Gentiles? Why is it sometimes Jacob and sometimes Israel? Is it the difference between sinful and holy? *R

Research

*Thoughts that are mine alone are marked with an asterisk and italicized.

Why are the names Jacob and Israel used interchangeably?

To Showcase the Transformative Process 

• Jacob, a name that meant supplanter or deceiver, fits Jacob's true nature (Genesis 25:26) .
• After he wrestled with God and prevailed, he was given the name Israel (Genesis 32:28).
• Eventually, he will be given the name Jeshurun, the righteous one, when the transformation process is complete (Isaiah 44:1-2; Bible Hub).

This is the same process we all go through. We start as Jacobs, in our natural, human nature. At some point, we encounter God and choose to follow Him. That is when we become Israels. Yet, throughout our lives our true nature wars with the nature God intends for us; we vacillate between our Jacobean and Israelite identities. (Ephesians 4:22-24) In the end, through trials, fellowship, service, and faith, we become joint-heirs with Jesus. We become who He is: righteous.

Sources: 

1. Got Questions article: "Why is Jacob called Jacob and Israel alternately in the book of Genesis?" 
2. MacClareon's commentary on Isaiah 44:1-2: "JACOB-ISRAEL-JESHURUN" at Blue Letter Bible

Summary

Israel will be gathered, and Zion restored for the chosen, the redeemed, are always on God's mind.

Memorize

I chose to memorize Isaiah 49:16.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

I am not forgotten. I am constantly on His mind. Reach for the One who reaches for you. Long for nothing else. 🎵You are not hidden / There's never been a moment / You were forgotten🎶("Rescue" performed by Lauren Daigle)

Cross References

*Thoughts that are mine alone are marked with an asterisk and italicized.

Of  Isaiah 49:16.

Behold, I have graven thee...

• Jeremiah 17:1 KJV: The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
• Colossians 2:14 GW: He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God has established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross.
• Daniel 5:5 KJV: In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
• Exodus 31:18 GW: The LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then he gave him the two tablets with his words on them, stone tablets inscribed by God himself.
• 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 KJV: Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

...upon the palms of my hands;... 

• John 20:25 GW: The other disciples told him, "We've seen the Lord." Thomas told them, "I refuse to believe this unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my fingers into them, and put my hand into his side."
• Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV: Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
• Song of Solomon 5:4 GW: My beloved put his hand through the keyhole. My heart throbbed for him.
• Job 12:10 KJV: In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
• Psalm 104:28 GW: You give it to them, and they gather it up. You open your hand, and they are filled with blessings.

...thy walls are continually before me.

• Jeremiah 29:11 KJV: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
• Psalm 139:13-16 GW: You alone created my inner being. You knitted me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this. My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop. Your eyes saw me when I was still an unborn child. Every day of my life was recorded in your book before one of them had taken place.
• Isaiah 27:3 KJV: I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. (See cross references.)
• Isaiah 62:6 GW: I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day or night. Whoever calls on the LORD, do not give yourselves any rest.
• Revelation 21:10-21 KJV (*excerpts): And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel...And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb...

*Conclusion: From the beginning, God gave us a Word to live by but in our own power we were not able. We needed a savior. In Jesus, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). When His hands were pierced for our transgressions, our record of wrong was wiped clean (Colossians 2:14) and the Word became written in our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). Keep that image of His scars at the forefront of your mind. Let them remind you: "These are the scars He bore for me to set me free. I am claimed, forgiven, remembered. He is always thinking of me. His plans for His chosen are all He thinks about. He formed me, created me, redeemed me, and His lavish plans for our eternal adornment will stand. He is my strength, my defender, my shelter." Rest in Him; you are safe.

Respond

God is faithful.

While I might think I am faithful, it fails in comparison to His faithfulness. He never forgets me, is always thinking of my future, and wears the scars of my redemption price on His hands.

I must look to Him for the model of faithfulness. 

1. I can grow in faithfulness to God.
• I will train myself to turn to Him first, in all things. I can let transitions and shifts in mood serve as a signal.
• I will think of what He would want in every situation, and keep studying His word so that I KNOW His character.
• I will use my hands as a reminder to think of His hands, how they redeemed me and now hold me.
2. I can use my faithfulness to God to model faithfulness to others.
• I will make a list of and daily intercede for the people God's placed in my flock.
• I will treat others the way I believe He would treat me - always leading them toward His best.
• I will hold their hand in mine as we together walk with Jesus.

Father God, Your tender care for me shows me how to treat others. As You constantly work for my good, teach me to constantly work for the good of others. Train me in faithful righteousness with others so the heart of Your people can join in Your unending song of loving devotion. Gather us, Lord. Make us one.

Learning with You,

Sample these related posts:

September Study Guide

Suggested daily activities to guide you through Isaiah 44-50.

October Study Guide

Suggested daily activities to guide you through Isaiah 51-54.

Review Notes on Isaiah 48

Research on refinement. Thoughts on God's glory, faithfulness, and devotion.

Biblical Decision-Making

Discover how knowing and trusting Jesus more leads to better decision-making.

Love People Day

Challenge yourself to love people better.

 

Interested in more faith-related blogs? Then you're looking for Faith Food. At Faith Food, you'll find links to all our faith-related blogs and a short description of each.

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