November 09, 2023 – Thursday
Isaiah 49:8 AKJV
8 Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
Comments
Only yesterday we looked at verses 6 and 8-9, so why are we again looking at verse 8 especially when so much time was spent on verse 8. However, nothing was noted or written about the end of verse 8 where it says To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages. An astute reader, thank you Paul, wrote in and asked, “desolate heritages” and “to make them inherit” This is unclear to me. Does it mean something more?
Great question. What is Isaiah talking about here? To answer his question, I first went here where I could see the verse in over 50 translations. Before looking at commentary on that specific verse here is what I found in the Amplified translation (AMP) and then the classical Amplified translation (AMPC).
AMP, This is what the Lord says, “In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,
AMPC, Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable and favorable time I have heard and answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; and I will preserve you and give you for a covenant to the people, to raise up and establish the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and cause them to inherit the desolate [moral wastes of heathenism, their] heritages,
After reading the two amplified versions above, the ending of the verse begins to make much more sense, especially when coupled with verse 9, 8 Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; 9 That You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ “They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
The desolate heritages are twofold, both physical and spiritual. Consider the desolate state of Judea at the time in Babylon in captivity. There is the physical. Then there is the Gentile world, a moral wasteland that shall come to know the Lord through Jesus and become a garden of the Lord. Consider Psalm 2:8, 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
I will close with this from the Pulpit Commentary (I really like it), To cause to inherit the desolate heritages; i.e. to cause the desolate heritages of the earth – the places devoid of trite religion – to be possessed, and as it were “inherited,” by those who would introduce into them the true knowledge of God. As Israel inherited Canaan (Deuteronomy 3:28; Joshua 1:6), so would Christian nations inherit many “desolate heritages,” where ignorance and sin prevailed, with the result that light would penetrate into the dark regions, and, ultimately, all flesh see the salvation of God. Really appreciate the tie to how Israel inherited Canaan.
Bottom Line: A day will come when all of those who Follow God and His salvation, Jesus, shall inherit the earth.
Prayer: Almighty God, Your will, will be done and I am so grateful I got to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for such a wonderful blessing. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Still writing and working for the Glory of God