The Heart of A Woman Bible StudyThe Heart of A Woman Bible study, based off of the promises found in Isaiah 54, is for every woman who has a place of barrenness, emptiness, lack of faith, or fear keeping her from experiencing fruitfulness in her life. If this is you, won’t you join us as we journey to a deeper more abundant life of faith together? The Heart of a Woman is all about finding the heart of the Father towards the daughters He lovingly calls His own.

©dawnboyer 2014 Journeys In Grace  www.journeysingrace.com

Originally published on Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood www.solideogloriasisterhood.com.

 

 

 

 

 

God Redeems us through Relationship

This week as we move into the 2nd section of Isaiah 54 we will be looking at the redemption of  God in the heart of a woman, starting with the idea of  covenant.  Covenantal relationship amplifies that He is not only our rescuer but our husband redeemer.  Take a walk with me to Ephesians 1:16-19 before we begin, as this is my prayer for you this week, taken from the Amplified Bible.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.  [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him, By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His  mighty strength. – Ephesians 1:16-19

Sweet sisters, this is the hope we need to cling to, daily. First, believe that you are loved so deeply by your Heavenly Father that he looks at you with longing and joy, like a  new groom waiting for his bride. Second, believe that there are intercessors praying for you and seeking to lift you up before the throne of grace so you can know mercy.

Remember we are being rescued by  God as we Sing, Enlarge, Spread Out, and Fear Not so we can reveal His beauty in our brokenness to others.

In Isaiah 54:1-4 you have been working and reading, studying and praying, through the areas of barrenness in your lives. I have loved reading your comments, and even blog posts, that are testifying of God’s abundant mercy.  We are encouraged to sing for joy, enlarge our tents, spread out our resources and fear not when we hear and see the testimonies of others, so keep praising!!  Let me remind you that this is a continual act of faith. Don’t stop singing! Don’t stop enlarging and spreading out those things God is giving you to work with. Don’t let fear come in and steal your joy.

Let’s review the summary of these  1st 4 verses:

  • We can sing because God is saving us from our distress ( vs. 1)
  • We can step out in faith by meeting God in our wilderness moments and believing that He will bring us out of bondage and into hope. ( vs. 2-3)
  • We can trust God even when we are afraid by believing in the power of His amazing love. ( vs. 4)

 

Isaiah speaks to all generations and God’s Word is transcendent.

Even though Isaiah is writing to the 8th Century church, as a prophet he was speaking towards the future about the returning small remnant of Israel from Babylon, and subsequently the inclusion of the Gentiles into the church.  We have seen this multiplication of the church through the death and resurrection of Christ and the dispersion of the disciples as they took the gospel to the nations.

These verses in Isaiah are not just speaking historically and prophetically to the literal church.  The glorious beauty of Scripture lies in the fullness and power it brings to every situation. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the Word of God is living and powerful and we can apply it liberally to all the circumstances and situations that occur in our lives.

Every circumstance that we may be dealing with today is not new to God and it is not too big for our God to take care of. He is not surprised by your circumstances, even if you are.  He has not missed the mark, nor has he failed to supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.    God’s Word is abundant for every situation we encounter.

Continue to go back and review the 1st 4 verses of this chapter to be reminded of His ability and power to rescue us from the pit which we can easily fall into when we fail to sing, enlarge, spread out and look fear in the face boldly.   The Heavenly Father, who reaches in and pulls us up out of the barren places, ministers to our brokenness with grace and mercy.  His gentle touch not only cleans off the mud that sticks to those tender places, but begins the healing process we need in order to be strengthened and prepared for the seeds He is longing to sow in our hearts.

  • This first stage in journey to a woman’s heart is one of cultivation. When we are actively turning up those areas in our heart that have not been fruitful we are preparing our heart for what is coming in the promises (seeds).  

 

Cultivation prepares our hearts for the planting and the tending every garden must endure.

Isaiah 54:5-10 is an overflow of the 1st 4 verses.  I love how the paradigms of scripture reveal the nature of our amazing God … OVERVFLOWING.  The verses actually substantiate, (which means they establish credibility giving proof by example), the call to respond and act in faith that Isaiah is leading us towards.

Take time as you study God’s Word to look at those patterns that replicate promise and hope.  Isaiah 54 reveals a multiplicative pattern for redemption, not just with the enlarging of the actual church body, but within the context of every believer who comes to Christ.

There is an element of explosion when the living God makes His home in our heart that cannot be contained or limited by our finite understanding.

Look at the patterns scripture reveals to give us hope.

Isaiah 54:5-10 actually echo verses 1-4 by revealing the future promises which come with obedience by removing that label of barrenness and drawing our eyes to the redeeming nature of our Awesome God.  We can see the nature and the character of God as we look at the visible patterns scripture paints for us.

For your Maker is your Husband – the Lord of hosts is His name – and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.  -Isaiah 54:5

 

Isaiah refers to God as the Lord of hosts, in verse 5 which implies the sole authority and power that is inherent in our masterfully creative God. The prophet also uses parallelism to connect  symbolic images of God and his relationship to each of us.

  • Husband = Redeemer
  • Maker = Holy One of Israel
  • Lord of hosts = God of all the Earth.

This week as we study Isaiah 54:5, I want you to see the concept that God is your Husband-Redeemer.   Can you really imagine this? We are called to consider this relationship we have with our maker as a marriage covenant.  The image of God as our husband is another form of parallelism which Isaiah uses to teach us the concept of what true covenant means.  Using marriage as a picture of covenant, also reveals the depth of intimacy which our Holy God longs to have with each of us, connecting our heart to His own.

The intimate relationship of Christ to the church is likened to the relationship of a bride and her bridegroom.  Think of this with me, for a moment, because  it is easy to miss this truth.  We cannot view  marriage through the lens of our culture.  And if I can be bold, we need to take the religious views of marriage and set them aside, as well,  getting close to God in His Word.

Marriage is an intimate relationship.   It is has the capability to be the most beautiful and productive relationship in our lives.  It can bring about a fruitful harvest beyond the scope of child-bearing into the realm of soul-leading.  One doesn’t have to actually give birth to be a mother, in the aspect of mothering.  In fact, we have already read in the 1st verse that “more are the spiritual children than those of the womb.”

In reality, marriage, in God’s eyes is an eternal decision.  The vows we take include the words, ‘till death do us part’, indicating that a union is formed and an understanding is indicated. This marriage deal, it is for our whole lives. It is a contract, which is binding; it is meant to last till the end of our lives here on earth.  If we want to get out of it, we have to actually go to court to break the contract.  There is something profound here, so don’t miss it.  We can’t look at our marriage covenant here on earth to our husband to define our relationship with our Husband-Redeemer, God.

Unlike the natural world who can break contractual agreements, the covenant between Christ and His  bride is eternal and gives exceeding credibility to the fruitfulness that we can expect to receive through this union.  The intimacy implied shows us that there is a delight in the heart of the Father for the beloved whom he calls His own. Christ actively cherishes the bride He comes willingly to redeem.

Redemption is the attractive force that causes us to seek the Father’s mercy.

Redemption is a favorite topic of the prophets.  If you scan through the books you can see their fascination with this hope of being restored to wholeness and the favor of God.  It is why we seek Him, right? We are those who long to be redeemed.

 

{What do you think it means to be redeemed?}

To Be Redeemed is to be Delivered, Avenged, and Protected.

 

Redemption is a precious gift to those who call on Christ as their Lord.  He promises to redeem us in the fullness of His love as He shed His blood for all.  The story of Hosea reveals the love God has for us, those he chooses to betroth in faith even when we are faithless.  The word for betroth here means to espouse or marry. In Hebrew, betroth, is the word, aras, meaning to engage towards matrimony.

In the book of Hosea, the prophet is told to marry a woman whose past keeps coming back to claim her heart, yet Hosea is faithful and God fills him with a  love that transcends our human  ability to fully understand.  He shows us the type of marriage he seeks with us, through Hosea’s faithfulness.  He is literally longing for a relationship of intimacy where He acts as our husband. This word, husband, is translated, ba’al, in Hebrew,  which means having dominion  over another with the express purpose to exhibit righteousness, justice  and mercy in that relationship.

God shows us how He is pursuing our own hearts, through the example of Hosea’s pursuit of Gomer.

I want to show you one more thing here. This power to have dominion isn’t to control the spouse, because ba’al can also be translated as wife. It is reflective of the influential nature of marriage.  A husband, and consequently, a wife as well, has the unique ability to influence their spouse just by the nature of the unity which comes with marriage. (Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:31) This concept of domain relates to the deep personal relationship of the couple, especially regarding the proximity of its influence.  If we look closely at what it really means we can see that the influence is based in righteous judgment founded in mercy.   It is the very model of what marriage should be.

And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.  –Hosea 2:19 [amplified version]

The marriage covenant is one of the strongest bonds of unity. This verse in Isaiah 54:5 and even in Hosea 2:19 show us the mercy of God’s redemptive power individually towards each woman of His heart.

He is the husband to:

  • The wife that needs reassurance
  • To widow that needs encouragement
  • The single woman who needs hope
  • The child who needs protection

God knows the heart of a woman and he longs for an intimate relationship with each of us.  He looks past our shame directly to the beating heart within. He sees the beauty of who we are because He sees clearly who we are meant to be, and because of that, He meets us where we are full of hope for where we are going.

 

{Do you need Him to redeem an area of your life today?}

Our belief in His ability to redeem the shame, loss, hopelessness, or whatever it is that is holding you back starts with faith in God.

Our faith speaks of His capability to do exactly what He says He will do.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. – Hebrews 11:1

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Those who come to God must believe that he is, (exactly who He says He is), and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. – Hebrews 11:6

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. – Romans 10:17

 

We are given a new name when we are betrothed.

Finally, we are renamed when we are betrothed. We are given the name of our husband when we sign that contract  and say, “I Do.”  What a glorious thought that we can hold on to! This verse names God in multiple ways: Maker, Husband, Lord of Hosts, Holy One of Israel, Redeemer, and God of the whole Earth.

As we step into the covenant of redeeming grace, like Gomer who was received with love by Hosea and changed from broken to beloved, we are also given the gift and power that  the marriage rights provide… the use of His Name.  This thought is so deep we can’t adequately delve into it with this lesson, but take time to let it soak in to your thoughts this week.  As He claims us as His own, we are sealed with His name inscribed upon our hearts. He plants truth into that cultivated place, which He alone is rescuing, so that He can sow seeds of promise, hope, and abundance into the garden of your heart.

This week as you spend time studying God’s Word, I want to challenge you to reorganize your own idea of what it means be pursued in intimate relationship with Your Maker, the Lord of hosts,  and redeemed by the Holy One of Israel, who is the God of the whole earth.  As you do this, keep on singing, enlarging and spreading out fearlessly, and boldly reminding yourself that you bear His eternal name.

 

 

 

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Dawn bio photo

Author, writer and speaker, Dawn is passionate about many things:  God, Family, Prayer, Food, and the Word. You can find her writing about those hard questions, reasoning and rejoicing in God’s grace and mercy for those who are walking this journey to grace on her website, Journeys In Grace.(www.journeysingrace.com)

 

 

 

 

Download this week’s worksheet here:

Week 5 God Redeems us through Relationship Worksheet

Section 1 Questions Isaiah 54 1-4 The Heart of a Woman Bible Study

 

 

Originally published on Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood