The Restoration of Jacob
Isa 14:1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
will have mercy... Three acts of God for Israel:
1. He will have mercy on Jacob.
2. He will yet choose Israel.
3. He will set them in their own land.
רָחַם
rāḥam, רֻחָמָה
ruḥāmāh
A verb meaning to have compassion, to have mercy, to find mercy. The word pictures a deep, kindly sympathy and sorrow felt for another who has been struck with affliction or misfortune, accompanied with a desire to relieve the suffering. The word occurs forty-seven times in the Old Testament, with God being by far the most common subject and His afflicted people the object (Deut. 13:17,18; 2Kgs. 13:23; Isa. 14:1; 30:18; 60:10; Jer. 12:15; 31:20; Lam. 3:32). Though the Lord showed compassion, it was not because of any meritorious work the recipient had done; it was solely due to God's sovereign freedom to bestow it on whom He chose (Exo. 33:19; cf. Rom. 9:14-16). Two types of people God has sovereignly chosen to have mercy on include those who fear Him (Psm. 103:13); and those who confess and forsake their sin (Prov. 28:13).
strangers shall be... Many Gentiles will be converted to the God of Israel and will cleave to Israel and serve them.
and the strangers...
גֵּיר
gēyr, גֵּר
gēr
A masculine noun meaning sojourner, alien, stranger. The word indicates in general anyone who is not native to a given land or among a given people (Exo. 12:19). The word is used most often to describe strangers or sojourners in Israel who were not native-born Israelites and were temporary dwellers or newcomers. A person, family, or group might leave their homeland and people to go elsewhere because of war or immediate danger as Moses had done (Exo. 2:22; cf. 2Sam. 4:3); Naomi and her family were forced to travel to Moab to sojourn because of a famine in Israel (Ruth 1:1). God's call to Abraham to leave his own land of Ur of the Chaldees and made him a sojourner and an alien in the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1). Israel's divinely orchestrated descent into Egypt resulted in their becoming an alien people in a foreign land for four hundred years (Gen. 15:13). Abraham considered himself an alien, although he was in the land of Canaan, the land of promise, because he was living among the Hittites at Hebron (Gen. 23:4).
This evidence indicates that strangers or aliens were those living in a strange land among strange people. Their stay was temporary, or they did not identify with the group among whom they were living, no matter how long they stayed. The transitory nature of aliens' status is indicated in passages that describe them as seeking overnight lodging or accommodations (Job 31:32; Jer. 14:8).
Sojourners or strangers in Israel were not to be oppressed but were to receive special consideration for several reasons: Israel knew about being aliens, for they had been aliens in Egypt (Exo. 23:9); aliens had a right to rest and cessation from labor just as the native Israelites did (Exo. 20:10); aliens were to be loved, for God loved them (Deut. 10:18) just as He loved widows and orphans; aliens had a right to food to satisfy their needs just as orphans and widows did (Deut. 14:29). In Ezekiel's vision of a new temple and temple area, the children of aliens and sojourners were given an allotment of land (Eze. 47:22), for they were to be considered as native children of Israel. However, this shows that sojourners had to receive special concessions because they did not have all the rights of native Israelites. Aliens could eat at the Lord's Passover only if they and their entire household submitted to circumcision (Exo. 12:48-49). They were then not allowed to eat anything with yeast in it during the celebration of the Passover, just like native Israelites (Exo. 12:19-20). However, major distinctions did exist between sojourners or aliens and native Israelites. Unclean food could be given to aliens to eat, but the Israelites were prohibited from eating the same food. To have done so would violate their holiness and consecration to the Lord God. Unfortunately, David himself laid forced labor on the shoulders of aliens in Israel to prepare to build the temple (1Chr. 22:2; cf. 2Chr. 8:7-9).
and they shall cleave...
סָפַח
sāp̱aḥ, שָׂפַח
śāp̱aḥ
A verb meaning to join, to be gathered together, to be joined, to cleave, to join oneself, to abide in. The word refers to putting a priest into office, that is, joining him to the office (1Sam. 2:36). It refers to David remaining in Israel's inheritance in spite of death threats from Saul (1Sam. 26:19); similarly, it refers to the Gentiles being joined to Israel (Isa. 14:1). In Job 30:7, it refers to the gathering of foolish poor people for protection under a plant. It appears to refer to the joining of heat (that is, poison) to a drink meant to make someone drunk; but the word here may be a copyist's error for sap̱ (H5592), meaning goblet (Hab. 2:15). In Isa. 3:17, the word means to smite with a scab, but here it is spelled śippaḥ. and may belong to another root of similar spelling.
the house...
ַּיִת
bayiṯ
A noun meaning house, dwelling, family, temple, palace. It is used basically to denote a building in which a family lives (Deut. 20:5) but can also refer to the family or household itself (Gen. 15:2; Jos. 7:14; 24:15). It often is used of a clan such as house of Aaron (Psm. 115:10, 115:12; 118:3). Sometimes it means palace or dynasty when employed in the Hebrew phrase house of the king (Gen. 12:15; 1Kgs. 4:6; Jer. 39:8). When the Old Testament speaks of the house of the Lord, it obviously refers to the Temple or Tabernacle (Exo. 23:19; Dan. 1:2). The word is also found in place names: Bethel, meaning house of God (Gen. 12:8); Beth-shemesh, meaning house of the sun (Jos. 15:10); and Bethlehem, meaning house of bread (Gen. 35:19).
of Jacob...
יַעֲקֹב
ya‛aqōḇ
A proper noun designating Jacob
A. Son of Isaac. He had an older twin brother, Esau (Edom). Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs from whom the nation of Israel was formed. He moved with his sons to Egypt because of divine providence (Gen. 41; Exo. 1:1-7), probably sometime in the eighteenth century. He lived with his sons in Egypt until his death in Egypt (Gen. 49-50). He was embalmed in Egypt, carried out of Egypt at the Exodus, and buried in Canaan (Gen. 50:1-14) in the cave located in the area of Machpelah. Abraham had purchased this burial property from the Hittites living in the land (Gen. 50:12-14). Jacob produced seventy descendants (seventy-five according to the LXX) who went down to Egypt (Exo. 1:5).
Much of Genesis is occupied with tracing the birth, growth, and development of this father of the patriarchs. His name probably means something like he seized, or he seizes. Jacob took advantage of Esau and obtained the firstborn's birthright from him, thus supplanting him (Gen. 25:29-34). Later, he deceived Isaac into giving him the firstborn's blessing (Gen. 27:1-33).
The Lord confirmed the promises and covenants to Jacob previously made to Abraham (Gen. 28:1-22) and showed His special love for him and his progeny (Mal. 1:2). Jacob himself was deceived by Laban but eventually married Leah and Rachel through whom, with their handmaids, he fathered the ancestors of the twelve tribes (Gen. 29; 30; 35; 46). He was reconciled with Esau on his return to Canaan (Gen. 33:1-20). Israel's God, the Lord, became known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exo. 2:24; 3:15-16), and Canaan became the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deut. 34:4).
Jacob purchased the land in Shechem as a burial place for Joseph's bones (Jos. 24:32). His name was used sometimes to refer to all of Israel (see B below; 1Sam. 12:8). His name was changed to Israel, he has striven wrestled with God, after he encountered the angel of the Lord (Gen. 32:22-30) at the Jabbok River.
B. The name Jacob often stands for all his descendants (Lam. 1:17; 2:3; Eze. 20:5), in fact, for all of Israel in some cases. In other contexts, it refers to northern Israel or Judah (Amos 3:13; 6:8; Mic. 1:5; Mal. 2:12; 3:6). His name, in fact, was changed to Israel (see A above) and his descendants bore that designation and name. The seventy descendants from Jacob's loins became the Israelite nation in Egypt over a period of 400 years (Exo. 1:1-7). In poetry Jacob/Israel are used as parallel pairs (Psm. 14:7; 20:23,24).
God’s compassion on Israel
The fall of Babylon (and of other nations, 14:24-21:17; Isa. 23:1-18) would assure God’s people that He would work on their behalf. In spite of the destruction to come on the nation Israel, God will again have compassion. This contrasts with Isa. 9:17, where Isaiah said God in punishing His nation would not have compassion pity translates the same word as compassion in Isa. 14:1). Once again, He will choose the nation to be His people, as He had done at Mount Sinai. Jacob and Israel here probably refer to all 12 tribes, as they do in Exo. 19:3. God’s choosing of Israel and of Judah, Jerusalem, David, and Solomon is an important Old Testament theme (cf. Deut. 7:6), especially in 1 and 2 Chronicles and the Psalms (1Chr. 16:13; 28:4-5, 28:10; 29:1; 2Chr. 6:6, 6:34, 6:38; 7:12; 12:13; 33:7; Psm. 33:12; 47:4; 78:68, 78:70; 89:3; 105:6, 105:43; 106:5; 132:13; 135:4). The fact that non-Israelites aliens will join Israel is also a recurring theme in Scripture (Isa. 56:6; 60:10; 61:5).
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