Isaiah 54:1

“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, &c.] The Targum interprets this of Jerusalem, paraphrasing the words thus, “sing praise, O Jerusalem, which was as a barren woman that bears not;” and so the apostle applies the words of the text to the Jerusalem above, the mother of us all, the then present Gospel church, (<480426>Galatians 4:26,27), which, at the first setting of it up, in the times of Christ, during his life and at the time of his death, and before the day of Pentecost, was like a barren woman; the number of converts were very small; few believed the report of the Gospel, professed Christ, and submitted to his ordinances; the names of the disciples were but a hundred and twenty.…”

“THE FRUIT OF MESSIAH'S SUFFERINGS, AND OF ISRAEL'S FINAL PENITENCE AT HER PAST UNBELIEF (Isa 53:6): HER JOYFUL RESTORATION AND ENLARGEMENT BY JEHOVAH, WHOSE WRATH WAS MOMENTARY, BUT HIS KINDNESS EVERLASTING. (Isa. 54:1-17) Sing--for joy (Zep 3:14). barren--the Jewish Church once forsaken by God, and therefore during that time destitute of spiritual children (Isa 54:6). didst not bear--during the Babylonian exile primarily. Secondarily, and chiefly, during Israel's present dispersion. the children--the Gentiles adopted by special grace into the original Church (Isa 54:3; Isa 49:20-21). than . . . married wife--than were her spiritual children, when Israel was still a married wife (under the…”

“Sing, O barren - That is, shout for joy, lift up the voice of exultation and praise. The ‘barren’ here denotes the church of God under the Old Testament, confined within the narrow limits of the Jewish nation, and still more so in respect to the very small number of true believers, and which seemed sometimes to be deserted of God, her husband (Lowth). It is here represented under the image of a female who had been destitute of children, and who now has occasion to rejoice on the reconciliation of her husband (Isaiah 54:6; Lowth), and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The Chaldee renders it, ‘Rejoice, O Jerusalem, who hast been as a sterile woman that did not bear.’ The church…”

“Sing - The prophet having largely discoursed of the sufferings of Christ, and of the blessed fruits thereof, and here foreseeing that glorious state of the church, he breaks forth into this song of triumph. And as the foregoing chapter literally speaks of Christ, so doth this of the church of Christ. This church, consisting at first of the Jews, and afterwards of the Gentiles, had been barren, 'till the coming of Christ. The desolate - The church of the Gentiles, which in the times of the Old Testament was desolate, does now bring forth to God a more numerous posterity than that of the Jews. Isaiah 54:2”

“54:1–55:13 This is an invitation to participate in the restoration to God’s favor made possible through the ministry of the promised servant. 54:1-17 Salvation flows from the vindication of the suffering servant. The promises mentioned here go beyond the return from Babylonian exile and apply to the coming of Jesus Christ, the extension of the kingdom to the church, the benefits of the second coming of Jesus Christ as the bridegroom of the church, and the new Jerusalem. 54:1-3 The prophet encourages Jerusalem, likened to a barren woman, to rejoice because its fate was rapidly changing. She would have so many children that she would outgrow her home (see Gal 4:27). 54:1 In the ancient world,…”

“O barren: Isa 62:4; Sol 8:8; Gal 4:27 break: Isa 42:10, Isa 42:11, Isa 44:23, Isa 49:13, Isa 55:12, Isa 55:13; Psa 67:3-5, Psa 98:3-9; Zep 3:14; Zac 9:9; Rev 7:9, Rev 7:10 for more: Sa1 2:5; Psa 113:9; Heb 11:11, Heb 11:12 Isaiah 54:2”

“After the "Servant of God" has expiated the sin of His people by the sacrifice of Himself, and Israel has acknowledged its fault in connection with the rejected One, and entered into the possession and enjoyment of the salvation procured by Him, the glory of the church, which has thus become a partaker of salvation through repentance and faith, is quite ready to burst forth. Hence the prophet can now exclaim, Isa 54:1 : "Exult, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into exulting, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for there are more children of the solitary one than children of the married wife, saith Jehovah." The words are addressed to Jerusalem, which was…”