Isaiah 66:7-14--Rejoice with Jerusalem

Isaiah 66:7-14
English Standard Version

Rejoice with Jerusalem
7 “Before she was in labor
    she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
    she delivered a son.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
    Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
    Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor
    she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
    says the LORD;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
    says your God.

10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her;
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious abundance.”

12 For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
    and bounced upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
    so I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
    your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants,
    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

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This is one of the most amazing prophecies that we have seen come true in recent history.  Israel would (once again, because it already happened in the book of Exodus) become a nation in a day.  The text says that's as crazy as saying that a woman would give birth before labor and labor pains started (that would be miraculous--no one has ever heard of such a thing).  That is exactly what the LORD did on May 14, 1948 when the "Jewish state" of Israel was given back to the Jewish people after World War 2.  However, the Arab nations around them would launch a massive attack to try to destroy them and keep this prophecy from being fulfilled.  It was obvious to those attacking Israel that the LORD was fighting for them.  There was no way they should have won against such odds, and it would not be the only time that they would face such attacks aimed at trying to exterminate them--the most recent comes on October 7th, 2023 when Hamas terrorists along with terrorists of Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels invaded Israel and massacred and kidnapped many of its citizens.  

The birth of their nation is something that the Jewish people in Israel celebrate each and every year as they remember the miraculous provision of the LORD.  Yet, the LORD promised peace, and we saw that there was immediate war, so there is something better being promised for them.  Maybe this is a glimpse of an ever better fulfillment in the book of Revelation when the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and God's people will be gathered together with Him in His holy city and there will be perfect peace when sin and death are cast into the Lake of Fire along with all those who lived and died in rebellion to the LORD.  Only the LORD's covenant people will experience His perfect peace.  We can point to this passage and say that God has done this in the past (the Exodus), God has done this again in our lifetime (post-Holocaust), and God will do it again at the end of time.  We await the better fulfillment of this promise when God's people will finally have the Land and have the Sabbath rest they were promised.