What does it mean to rejoice with Jerusalem in this passage?

Here Jerusalem pictures God’s people, especially when God restores and blesses them. To “rejoice with Jerusalem” means to share in the joy God gives His church. Earlier there were reasons to mourn for her because of sin, judgment, and weakness. Now God calls everyone who loves her and has grieved over her troubles to celebrate her comfort and growth. The language of nursing and being satisfied points to sharing in all the spiritual blessings, encouragement, and peace God pours out on His people when He lifts them up again.

What does the image of God comforting like a mother teach about Him?

When God says, “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you,” He is using a picture everyone understands. A mother holds, feeds, protects, and soothes her child. In the same way, God deals gently and personally with those who belong to Him. He does not offer cold help from a distance. He draws near, carries His people, and gives them what they need to grow. This shows His tenderness, faithfulness, and close care, especially for those who have suffered for His sake or mourn over the state of His church.

What is meant by peace like a river and the glory of the Gentiles like a stream?

Peace like a river points to steady, abundant peace that keeps on flowing, not a brief calm that soon ends. God promises to spread this kind of peace over His people. The “glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream” means that people and riches from many nations will come into God’s church. Their best gifts, their strength, and their honour will serve God’s work. Together these pictures show a future where God’s people enjoy deep inner peace, outward rest, and the help of many who once were far off, but are now drawn in.

Who are the people God judges by fire and sword in this passage?

The passage speaks of “the slain of the Lord” and points especially to those who pretend to be holy but live in open rebellion. It mentions people who “sanctify themselves” in gardens, hiding behind a tree while eating what God had clearly forbidden, even things that nature itself shrinks from. These are hypocrites who claim to serve God but choose their own worship and their own uncleanness. God says He knows their works and thoughts. His coming with fire and with the sword shows that no false holiness will stand when He rises to judge.

What does it mean that God will gather all nations and tongues to see His glory?

Here God promises that people from every kind of language and nation will be brought to see His glory. This is not just about one small group in one land. Some who escape His judgments will be sent out to far countries, places that had never even heard of God’s fame. There they will speak about Him. As they go, God uses them to bring others in. The result is that many from across the earth are joined to His people, and His glory is known well beyond Israel’s borders.

Why does God say He will take some from the nations as priests and Levites?

In Israel, priests and Levites had special roles in temple service. Here God says He will take some from among those gathered out of the nations for these honoured roles. This shows that in His future work He will not limit close service to those born into one family or tribe. Gentiles who are brought in by faith will share fully in the worship and service of God’s house. The old barriers fall away. God is showing that in His renewed people, those from every nation can be set apart to serve Him in holy things.

What are the new heavens and new earth that will remain before God?

The promise of new heavens and a new earth points to God’s work of renewal under His kingdom. Just as the present sky and land seem stable and lasting, so God says this new order will remain before Him. In this renewed state, His church is made new, His people are secure, and their name and offspring are not cut off. It looks ahead to unbroken fellowship with God, steady worship, and a creation where His will is done. It is meant to comfort believers that God’s final work will not pass away.

Why does the passage end with talk of carcasses, the worm not dying, and fire not quenched?

The end of the chapter paints a very serious picture. After speaking of joy and worship, God also shows what becomes of those who have rebelled against Him. Their dead bodies are seen as a warning. The worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched point to ongoing, conscious misery and shame, not a quick end. This is meant to show how terrible it is to live and die against God. It also shows that in the end there is a clear and lasting difference between those who serve Him and those who refuse Him.

How does this passage show both comfort for believers and warning for God’s enemies?

The passage holds both sides together. For those who love Zion and tremble at God’s word, there is rich comfort: peace like a river, mother-like care, growth like fresh herbs, and joy when they see God’s promises kept. They are gathered, nourished, and honoured. At the same time, God makes plain that His hand is also against His enemies. Hypocrites and idol-lovers are exposed and consumed. Fire, sword, and the sight of the punished show that God will not forget sin. The same God who gently carries His children also firmly judges stubborn rebellion.

How can believers today apply the picture of nursing from the breasts of Jerusalem’s consolations?

The nursing picture shows believers drawing steady help and life from what God provides in His church. Today this means not staying distant from God’s people, but sharing in worship, prayer, and Scripture where God pours out comfort. It also means receiving care from older and stronger believers, especially when faith feels small or weak. Just as a child cannot grow without feeding, believers are not meant to try to stand alone. God intends His consolations to reach us through the gathered people, where His peace and promises are held out again and again.

Isa.66.10

Isaiah 66:10

KJV GOD

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

Rejoice with Jerusalem

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.

For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.

And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.

And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Cross References

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