To This Man Will I Look
1 Yahweh says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest? 2 For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but I will look to this man, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. 3 He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig’s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations. 4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them, because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn’t listen, but they did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.” 5 Hear Yahweh’s word, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name’s sake, have said, ‘Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy;’ but it is those who shall be disappointed. 6 A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that repays his enemies what they deserve. 7 “Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a son. 8 Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?” says Yahweh. “Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn over her; 11 that you may nurse and be satisfied at the comforting breasts; that you may drink deeply, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” 12 For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream, and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.” 14 You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. Yahweh’s hand will be known among his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.
A God who cannot be housed says whom he looks at, and comforts his people the way a mother does.
Yahweh says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
Stephen quotes this at the end of his defense, to a council that had accused him of speaking against the temple Acts 7:49. The question is not hostile to the building; it is about proportion.
For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says Yahweh: “but I will look to this man, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
The answer to where will I rest, and it is a person rather than a place. Three marks: poor, crushed in spirit, and shaking at what God says. It is the fifty-seventh chapter's second address Isaiah 57:15 stated as a preference.
He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig’s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.
Four comparisons, each pairing a legitimate offering with something abhorrent. The sacrifices are not being abolished; they are being equated with atrocities because of who is bringing them — they have chosen their own ways.
Hear Yahweh’s word, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name’s sake, have said, ‘Let Yahweh be glorified, that we may see your joy;’ but it is those who shall be disappointed.
The persecution described is from inside the community, and the taunt is pious. They are quoting Scripture at the people they have expelled.
7 “Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a son. 8 Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she gave birth to her children.
A birth with no labor. The book has used the image of futile labor twice Isaiah 26:18 Isaiah 37:3 for a nation in agony producing nothing; here the agony is skipped and the child arrives.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?” says Yahweh. “Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?” says your God.
The argument is that God does not abandon a process at the last stage.
As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
The last of this book's maternal images, and the most direct. The word comfort opened the second half of the book Isaiah 40:1 and it is defined here at the end, by the one comparison every reader has either experienced or missed.
You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. Yahweh’s hand will be known among his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.
Bones flourishing like new grass — the driest thing in a body compared to the greenest thing in a field.
settled What this mark means