13        Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

                        break forth, O mountains, into singing!

            For the LORD has comforted his people,

                        and will have compassion on his suffering ones. (Isa. 49:13)

God is praised for the promises of return and restoration of Israel (Isa. 49:7-26)

14        But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,

                        my Lord has forgotten me."

15        Can a woman forget her nursing child,

                        or show no compassion for the child of her womb?

            Even these may forget,

                        yet I will not forget you.

16        See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;

                        your walls are continually before me.

17        Your builders outdo your destroyers,

                        and those who laid you waste go away from you.

18        Lift up your eyes all around and see;

                        they all gather, they come to you.

            As I live, says the LORD,

                        you shall put all of them on like an ornament,

                        and like a bride you shall bind them on. (Isa. 49:14-18 NRSV)

Reassurance is given to Israel that God has not forgotten her. Even though a woman "may forget" her nursing child, "yet I will not forget you" (v. 15). God has inscribed Israel "on the palm of my hands" (v. 16). The (re)building (v. 17) will provide Israel with ornaments "like a bride" (v. 18).

19        Surely your waste and your desolate places

                        and your devastated land-

            surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,

                        and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

20        The children born in the time of your bereavement

                        will yet say in your hearing:

            "The place is too crowded for me;

                        make room for me to settle."

21        Then you will say in your heart,

                        "Who has borne me these?

            I was bereaved and barren,

                        exiled and put away-

                        so who has reared these?

            I was left all alone--

                        where then have these come from?" (Isa. 49:19-21 NRSV)

Israel, depopulated first by the Assyrians, and then (in Judah) by the Babylonians, will again have children who say, "The place is too crowded for me,/make room for me to settle" (v. 20). It's a tragic irony to contemplate the loss of children behind this assurance to Israel on a day when a headline proclaims "An entire generation of children--swept away" ( Houston Chronicle for Dec. 28, 2004, in reference to the effects of the tsunami in ten nations of southeast Asia). At the moment of this writing it is reported that death toll estimates have exceeded 52,000 persons (Yahoo News), some ten times the initial estimates for the 9/11 disaster in the U.S., and many more times the final numbers. The latter, of course, was an unnatural disaster, perpetrated by evil human beings, and hopefully of a kind that will be prevented in the future. The death and destruction of the tsunami was not perpetrated by choice and action of evil human beings. We call such things natural disasters--some, including some insurers, call them "Acts of God." For people whose religion teaches that God is almighty and also infinitely good, those in the Judeo-Christian tradition, for example, such surd evils as this tsunami and its devastation pose severe problems, like the perplexity of Job. There often is no immediate comfortable answer. We are left to hold on and continue to believe in the God who "makes all things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28 NRSV footnote n). In the meantime, the tremendous human need is a call for compassionate action.

22        Thus says the Lord GOD:

            I will soon lift up my hand to the nations,

                        and raise my signal to the peoples;

            and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,

                        and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

23        Kings shall be your foster fathers,

                        and their queens your nursing mothers.

            With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

                        and lick the dust of your feet.

            Then you will know that I am the LORD;

                        those who wait for me shall not be put to shame. (Isa. 49:22-23 NRSV)

The assurance of restoration continues, especially the restoration of the children. And it will be "soon" (v. 22). "Those who wait for me [the LORD] shall not be put to shame" (v. 23).

18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. (Mt. 18:1-5 NRSV)

Jesus teaches about true greatness by presenting a child as a model. One should become "humble like this child" and welcome "one such child" (v. 5).

6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!

8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire. (Mt. 18:6-9; cf. Mk 9.42-48; Lk 17.1-2 NRSV)

Jesus teaches us about how to deal with temptations to sin, and warns especially about putting temptation (the "stumbling block") before children (vv. 6-7).

10 "Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. (Mt. 18:10-14; cf. Lk. 15:1-7 NRSV)

Here and above, the children ("little ones," v. 10) are perhaps "disciples of Jesus, whom he calls 'children'" (Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger, NOAB), but all of this teaching--the humility of children, the value of children, the warning against putting temptation in the way of children, and God's love for his children (the shepherd's concern for the lost sheep)--can apply equally well to our children, and to Christian believers, who must come as children in faith to God through Jesus Christ.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com