[Picture on page 220]

After his baptism, Jesus was anointed with holy spirit, and Isaiah 54:1 began to have its most important fulfillment

The “Woman” Identified

3. Why will the barren “woman” have reason to rejoice?

³ Chapter 54 opens on a happy note: “‘Cry out joyfully, you barren woman that did not give birth! Become cheerful with a joyful outcry and cry shrilly, you that had no childbirth pains, for the sons of the desolated one are more numerous than the sons of the woman with a husbandly owner,’ Jehovah has said.” (Isaiah 54:1) How thrilled Isaiah must be to speak these words! And what comfort their fulfillment will bring to the Jews exiled in Babylon! At that time Jerusalem will still be lying desolate. From a human standpoint, there will seem to be no hope that she will ever again be populated, just as a barren woman could not normally hope to bear children in her old age. But this “woman” has a great blessing in her future​—she will become fertile. Jerusalem will be beside herself with joy. She will again teem with “sons,” or inhabitants.

4. (a) How does the apostle Paul help us see that Isaiah chapter 54 must have a fulfillment greater than that in 537 B.C.E.? (b) What is “Jerusalem above”?

⁴ Isaiah may not know it, but his prophecy will have more than one fulfillment. The apostle Paul quotes from Isaiah chapter 54 and explains that the “woman” signifies something far more important than the earthly city of Jerusalem. He writes: “The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” (Galatians 4:26) What is this “Jerusalem above”? Clearly not the city of Jerusalem in the Promised Land. That city is earthly, not “above” in the heavenly realm. “Jerusalem above” is God’s heavenly “woman,” his organization of mighty spirit creatures.

5. In the symbolic drama outlined at Galatians 4:22-31, who is pictured by (a) Abraham? (b) Sarah? (c) Isaac? (d) Hagar? (e) Ishmael?

⁵ How, though, can Jehovah have two symbolic women​—one heavenly and the other earthly? Is there some inconsistency here? Not at all. The apostle Paul shows that the answer lies in the prophetic picture provided by Abraham’s family. (Galatians 4:22-31; see “The Family of Abraham​—A Prophetic Picture,” on page 218.) Sarah, “the free woman” and Abraham’s wife, pictures Jehovah’s wifelike organization of spirit creatures. Hagar, a slave girl and Abraham’s secondary wife, or concubine, pictures earthly Jerusalem.

6. In what sense did God’s heavenly organization undergo a long period of barrenness?

⁶ With that background, we begin to see the profound significance of Isaiah 54:1. After decades of barrenness, Sarah bore Isaac when she was 90 years old. Similarly, Jehovah’s heavenly organization went through a long period of barrenness. Way back in Eden, Jehovah promised that his “woman” would produce the “seed.” (Genesis 3:15) Over 2,000 years later, Jehovah made his covenant with Abraham regarding the Seed of promise. But God’s heavenly “woman” had to wait many, many more centuries before producing that Seed. Still, the time came when the children of this once “barren woman” were more numerous than those of fleshly Israel. The illustration of the barren woman helps us to see why the angels were so eager to witness the arrival of the foretold Seed. (1 Peter 1:12) When did that finally happen?

7. When did “Jerusalem above” have occasion to rejoice, as foretold at Isaiah 54:1, and why do you so answer?

⁷ Jesus’ birth as a human child was certainly an occasion for rejoicing among the angels. (Luke 2:9-14) But that was not the event foretold at Isaiah 54:1. Only when Jesus was begotten with holy spirit in 29 C.E. did he become a spiritual son of “Jerusalem above,” publicly acknowledged by God himself as his “Son, the beloved.” (Mark 1:10, 11; Hebrews 1:5; 5:4, 5) It was then that God’s heavenly “woman” had cause for rejoicing, in fulfillment of Isaiah 54:1. At last she had produced the promised Seed, the Messiah! Her centuries of barrenness were over. That, however, was not the end of her rejoicing.

Numerous Sons for the Barren Woman

8. Why did God’s heavenly “woman” have reason to rejoice after producing the promised Seed?

⁸ After Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection, God’s heavenly “woman” rejoiced to receive this favored Son back as “the firstborn from the dead.” (Colossians 1:18) Then she began to produce more spiritual sons. At Pentecost 33 C.E., about 120 of Jesus’ followers were anointed with holy spirit, thereby being adopted as Christ’s joint heirs. Later that day a further 3,000 were added. (John 1:12; Acts 1:13-15; 2:1-4, 41; Romans 8:14-16) This body of sons continued to grow. During the early centuries of Christendom’s apostasy, the growth slowed to a trickle. However, that was to change in the 20th century.

9, 10. What would the instruction to ‘make the place of the tent more spacious’ mean to a tent-dwelling woman in ancient times, and why is this a time of joy for such a woman?

⁹ Isaiah goes on to prophesy about a period of remarkable growth: “Make the place of your tent more spacious. And let them stretch out the tent cloths of your grand tabernacle. Do not hold back. Lengthen out your tent cords, and make those tent pins of yours strong. For to the right and to the left you will break forth, and your own offspring will take possession even of nations, and they will inhabit even the desolated cities. Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget even the shame of your time of youth, and the reproach of your continuous widowhood you will remember no more.”​—Isaiah 54:2-4.

¹⁰ Here Jerusalem is addressed as if she were a wife and mother dwelling in tents, just like Sarah. When blessed with a growing family, it is time for such a mother to see to the expansion of her home. She needs to put up longer tent cloths and cords and secure the tent pins in their new positions. This is happy work for her, and at such a busy time, she may easily forget the years she spent wondering anxiously whether she would ever bear children to carry on the family line.

11. (a) How was God’s heavenly “woman” blessed in 1914? (See footnote.) (b) From 1919 onward, what blessing have the anointed on earth experienced?

¹¹ Earthly Jerusalem was blessed with such a time of renewal after the Babylonian exile. “Jerusalem above” has been even more blessed.a Particularly since 1919, her anointed “offspring” have flourished in their newly restored spiritual condition. (Isaiah 61:4; 66:8) They ‘took possession of nations’ in that they spread abroad into many lands to seek out all those who would join their spiritual family. As a result, explosive growth occurred in the gathering of the anointed sons. Their final number of 144,000 appeared to be filled sometime in the mid-1930’s. (Revelation 14:3) At that time the focus of the preaching work ceased to be the gathering of the anointed. Still, expansion did not stop with the anointed.

12. In addition to the anointed, who have been gathered into the Christian congregation since the 1930’s?

¹² Jesus himself foretold that besides his “little flock” of anointed brothers, he would have “other sheep” that must be brought into the sheepfold of true Christians. (Luke 12:32; John 10:16) Though not among the anointed sons of “Jerusalem above,” these faithful companions of the anointed fill an important and long-prophesied role. (Zechariah 8:23) From the 1930’s until today, a “great crowd” of them have been gathered, resulting in unprecedented expansion of the Christian congregation. (Revelation 7:9, 10) Today that great crowd numbers well into the millions. All this expansion has created an urgent need for more Kingdom Halls, Assembly Halls, and branch complexes. Isaiah’s words seem ever more apt. What a privilege to be part of that foretold expansion!