Isaiah 54: The Widow’s Children: Chapter 1: The Barren One Blessed

Isaiah 53:10 says that the result of the Messiah’s intercession would be that “He will see His offspring.” Few in his day would have guessed that this referred to spiritual children—that is, the sons of God. This great truth of Sonship is explained further in Isaiah 54.

Isaiah 54:1 says,

¹ “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Here the prophet refers to the story of Sarah and Hagar, the two wives of Abraham. Sarah was barren until she was past the age of child-bearing, but Hagar was young and gave birth to Ishmael by means of natural childbirth.

Paul’s Understanding

The Apostle Paul understood Isaiah’s prophecy to refer to Sarah and Hagar, though Isaiah does not name them specifically. Galatians 4:25-29 says,

²⁵ Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written [in Isaiah 54:1], “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the desolate than the one who has a husband.” ²⁸ And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit; so it is now also.

Paul quoted Isaiah 54:1 in support of his teaching about the difference between “children of promise” and those who are “born according to the flesh.” We who are born from the heavenly Jerusalem (i.e., the New Covenant) are the result of the promise of God. The promise of God to Abraham was to have many children, beginning with Isaac, the son of promise (Gal. 4:28).

Isaac himself was a type of Christ who was offered as a sacrifice to God on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:2). We are Abraham’s extended family, the children of promise who were to be as numerous as the stars of heaven. Hence, the promise of God to Abraham was not really to have mere physical children but to beget the sons of God by faith.

Paul’s assertion was that the story of Sarah and Hagar was an “allegory” (Gal. 4:24) of the two covenants. The offspring of each covenant, Ishmael and Isaac, were the children born through different mothers, or covenants. We, as Isaac, are born supernaturally by the will of God as the children of God’s promise; those who remain under the Old Covenant are as Ishmael, “born according to the flesh.”

The biblical pattern shows that at first the fleshly children are more numerous, but in the end, the spiritual children will outnumber the fleshly children. As with Sarah, the New Covenant was “barren” for many years, while the Old Covenant produced an abundance of fleshly children. So also, Paul writes of the first and last Adam in 1 Cor. 15:46,

⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

During Paul’s time, the fleshly children of Jerusalem persecuted the spiritual children (the church), even as Ishmael persecuted Isaac. After Paul’s conversion, he regretted his actions as an Ishmaelite, having led that persecution of the church (Gal. 1:13).

Paul persecuted the Church while he was yet known as Saul. Saul was his fleshly name, but after his conversion, he was given a new name, Paul, which was what he named his New Creation Man. Men were often renamed to reflect a new nature and a new identity, even as Abram was renamed Abraham and Sarai was renamed Sarah. So also, Saul, son of Hagar, was reborn as Paul, son of Sarah.

Old Covenant minded men today often reject the name of Paul, preferring to call him by his fleshly name, Saul. Why then do they not call Abraham by his original name, Abram? Why do they not call Sarah by her original name, Sarai? Paul would have objected if, in his day, men had continued to call him Saul. So let us not make this mistake. Let us honor Paul by identifying him as a son of God, rather than as a child of the flesh.

Competing for the Inheritance

The Old Covenant is the chief competitor of the New Covenant. Each presents its own path of salvation, one by the will of man, the other by the will of God (John 1:12, 13). Each covenant has its own child who lays claim to the birthright—the right of Sonship. The earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem compete as the true “mother” of the rightful inheritors. Each city claims to be the capital of the Kingdom both now and in the Age to come. (See my book, The Two Covenants.)

Those who are Old Covenant minded, thinking that fleshly or “natural” sons of Abraham are “chosen” to inherit the Kingdom will quickly persecute those who are New Covenant minded, for this is the established pattern of Ishmael and Isaac. This persecution takes place on various levels, of course, but since 1948 this has increased greatly, because many in the Church have misunderstood God’s purpose for the Israeli state. (See my book, The Struggle for the Birthright.)

The issue is important, because most Christians today have again resorted to Old Covenant patterns which, in the end, must be “cast out” rather than embraced (Gal. 4:30). Those who consider Hagar-Jerusalem to be their “mother” ignorantly claim to be Ishmaelites, children of the flesh, the offspring of the Old Covenant. By their own admission, they lack the authority to be called the sons of God, regardless of their claims.

The Inheritors

Isaiah 54:2, 3 continues,

² “Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. ³ For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities.

The prophet uses the metaphor that was well known in those days when many lived in tents. As the family grew, tents often had to be widened to accommodate the children. The prophet foresees the multitude of children coming from the formerly barren wife (Sarah) and says, “Enlarge the place of your tent.” As the size of the tent grew, the cords holding it up also had to be lengthened, and stronger pegs had to replace the smaller pegs.

His point was that the sons of God would “spread abroad,” and “possess nations.” To possess is to rule. On a natural level, this was a word of comfort to the exiled Israelites, although they would have to become New Covenant believers in order to “return” and to receive authority to become the sons of God. Others, too, were to “return” with them (Isaiah 56:8), because all have opportunity to have faith in Christ equally and to be birthed by Sarah, the New Covenant.

The Apostle Paul himself sets an example showing how one may change his mother. As Saul, he was a son of Hagar, sent from the earthly Jerusalem to persecute the Church. His experience on the road to Damascus changed everything, for when Jesus revealed Himself to Saul, he was able to make the transition. No longer was he a son of Hagar but of Sarah.

This was not a matter of biology and genealogy but of law in the courts of heaven. In essence, Saul appealed to the Judge in the heavenly court, petitioning for a change of identity. He was granted this and so he became a son of Sarah, the heavenly Jerusalem. Hence, he later wrote in Gal. 4:26, “she is our mother,” including himself.

Whereas Saul had been his Ishmael name, Paul was his Isaac name. Saul was the name of his fleshly identity which could not inherit the Kingdom, because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). His spiritual, new man, Paul, was the inheritor of the Kingdom, for that New Creation Man was begotten by the Spirit and born of Sarah.

The Restoration of All Things

We should note that Abraham’s spiritual children will outnumber his fleshly children. This is more than just Christians outnumbering Jews. Every religion is based on the flesh, self-discipline, and the promises of men, except for those that have faith in the promises of God. In other words, the whole world of flesh is part of the Hagar company. Ultimately, it goes back to Adam himself.

When we consider this, we see that the children of Hagar are not merely Arabs, nor are they merely Jews. All flesh is included, for because we all have earthly parents, we were all born of flesh. We had no choice in this matter. Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:49,

⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

In other words, we are all born naturally from earthly mothers and start out in life bearing “the image of the earthy.” This traces back to Adam, whose name means “earthy, of the earth.” By faith, however, we are able also to “bear the image of the heavenly,” that is, “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). For us, it is a two-step process, for none of us can avoid starting out as a son of Hagar.

Only Jesus Himself was different, having been begotten by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18) from the beginning. Jesus was the Son of God from conception, whereas the rest of us must become sons of God in two steps—first the natural, then the spiritual.

If this is so, then consider the implications of Isaiah’s prophecy that the spiritual children of Sarah will ultimately outnumber the fleshly children of Hagar. How many people have been born of flesh since the beginning of time? Name your figure. Sarah’s children will outnumber them in the end.

This can happen only as fleshly children learn to change mothers in the way that Paul himself changed his mother from Hagar to Sarah. No one can change the genealogy of his flesh, but everyone can change his or her identity and lawful status in the courts of heaven.

Isaiah prophesied that this will happen. Recall that he said in Isaiah 40:5,

⁵ Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Greek Septuagint renders this:

⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God; for the Lord has spoken it.

Luke quotes the Septuagint in Luke 3:6,

⁶ And all flesh will see the salvation of God.

Isaiah, the Prophet of Salvation, tells us that the spiritual children will outnumber the fleshly children. That is simply another way of saying that “all flesh will see the salvation of God.” He agrees with the word of God through another prophet, saying, “I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind” (Joel 2:28). The word “mankind” is actually from the Hebrew word basar, which, as we have shown previously, has a double meaning: “flesh” and “gospel.”

God fights flesh with flesh. Hence, Christ said we must eat His flesh (John 6:53), by which He meant that we were to believe (consume) His New Covenant gospel. By consuming His flesh, we overcome the flesh. Up to now, the children of flesh have outnumbered the spiritual children, but that will change in the future. Isaiah prophesies that all flesh will see the Salvation (Yeshua) of God, implying that they will all consume His flesh, believe His gospel, and be saved.

This is quite different from the popular view among Christians today that sees only a tiny fraction of people saved while the rest—the children of the flesh—are lost forever. Isaiah says that the reverse is true, and Paul confirms this in Rom. 5:18, saying,

¹⁸ So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

In this way the promise of God will be fulfilled, for it is not based on the will of man but of God (John 1:13). When the glory of God is manifested to all at the great White Throne, every knee will bow. No one will dare to argue, because then God’s righteous works will be manifested clearly to all.