The Lord's Promise of Perfect Security for the Church
v. 11. O thou afflicted, one full of misery and sorrow, tossed with tempest, like the chaff from the threshing-floor, and not comforted, still lying in desolation, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, building up the city walls and houses in such a way as to lay the stones in colored mortar to enhance the beautiful effect, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, as a plinth for the whole city.
v. 12. And I will make thy windows of agates, the parapets of houses and walls of jewels, and thy gates of carbuncles, stones which are both beautiful and terrifying, and all thy borders, the walls proper, of pleasant stones, of such whose beauty makes them desirable. It is a fine description of the manner in which the Lord builds His Church on earth. Cf Eph_2:19-22.
v. 13. And all thy children, the inhabitants of the Lord's city, shall be taught of the Lord, His disciples knowing Him by faith; and great shall be the peace of thy children, namely, the peace which passes all understanding, which comes to the believers by virtue of the fact that the enmity between God and man has been removed by the atoning work of the Messiah.
v. 14. In righteousness shalt thou be established, clothed with salvation, firmly grounded in the righteousness imputed by faith; thou shalt be far from oppression, fearing no danger and misfortune, for thou shalt not fear, literally, "Far be it from thee to fear"; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee, nothing would be able to bring further desolation.
v. 15. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me, that is, if some of the enemies, in spite of all, should attempt to harm Zion, it would be against the Lord's counsel and will; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake, being overcome and induced to join the party of the Lord.
v. 16. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, drawing it out of the fire as his labor requires; and I have created the waster to destroy. The physical strength for the making of weapons of war comes from the Lord, but at the same time He has reserved to Himself the power to destroy these same weapons.
v. 17. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, none being able to attack the Church with lasting success; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn, the Church remaining victorious also against the efforts of all science falsely so called to disprove the truth of the Gospel. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, namely, that they can conquer all the enemies, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord, He alone being the Source of their salvation. This promise is Jehovah's powerful Amen at the end of this chapter, a source of comfort to the believers of all times.