Do you see why Zion must wear her children at Isaiah 49:18 rather than her children wearing Messiah? God forbid we exegete further into Isaiah chapter 49 in order to fulfill our profound wonder at why this chapter, rather than say Psalms 132, or Isaiah 62, be seen as the worst of the three so far as normative Judaism's slippery slope concerning the revelation of Messiah is concerned.
Isaiah chapter 61 moves from Zion's children wearing the personification of Zion, which sprouts (asexually, see essay
Isaiah 53:2) from the earth,
adamah, immediately to this strange ornament's relationship to the light of the world:
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, salvation like a blazing torch.
This "blazing torch" was found out in a similarly thorough exegesis of Isaiah 49:16 (see careful exegesis
here) to be the very personification of Zion (in the cross hairs of this current study) being lifted up (a few verses beyond Isaiah 49:18) as God's "banner" נס. In Isaiah 49:22, God says he will lift up this sprouting branch, this "banner," even as Moses lifted up Nehushtan in the desert (John 3:14):
Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, And set up my banner for the people [of Israel].
The verse above has a direct parallel in Isaiah 11:10:
As is often the case when the true Author of the scripture wants to peak our interest in peeking below the surface narrative, the asymmetry of two parallel verses are reversed. In the first statement (Isaiah 49:22) God mentions lifting his hand to the Gentiles, and then setting up his banner for the peoples of Israel עמים. But in the earlier statement in Isaiah, 11:10, the banner for Israel is mentioned first, and the fact that the Gentiles will rally to "him" is second.
More importantly, for the serious exegete, is the fact that in Isaiah 49:22, God says he will lift his hand יד for the Gentiles, while he will "set up a banner" for Israel. For Israel, the sprouting personification of Zion is a "banner," or ornament, representing salvation, while for the Gentiles this banner is the very flesh and blood of God, his very hand יד; spoken of by means of a personal pronoun in Isaiah 11:10 הוא. In Isaiah 52:10 we read:
The Lord will lay bare his holy arm/hand in the sight of all the Gentiles, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
The juxtaposition of the Gentiles and Israel, Zion and Jerusalem, in the verses above, and in our examination, is found, and clarified, in Isaiah 11:10-11. Isaiah 11:10 is quoted above, while verse 11 lends itself to the current study:
In that day, the Lord will reach out his hand יד a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people [Israel] . . . .
In Isaiah 49:22, the "hand" of God, his very flesh and blood, his Presence, is lifted, revealed first, to the Gentiles, while only his "banner," a representation of salvation (John 3:14), is given to his people Israel. But in Isaiah chapter 11, we read that God will reach out his "hand" יד, get this, "a second time," to reclaim the remnant of his people Israel.
The first time the flesh of God, his hand, is raised, and even lain bare, before the Gentiles, it's the case that for Israel that Presence is related to an ornament, banner, or priestly accourtrement, such that the flesh is unrecognized by Israel the first time. But Isaiah claims he will raise up his flesh, his hand, "a second time," for Israel specifically, such that at that time what was first symbolized by a carefully
chosen חשן ornament, or priestly form of religious jewelry, will only then be recognized as having been a profane representation of the divine become flesh and blood.
John