Sudden Birth, Sovereign Power Text: Isaiah 66:7-9
Introduction: The Shock of the New
We live in an age that has lost its capacity for astonishment. We are jaded cynics, accustomed to gradual, grinding processes. We think of progress, when we think of it at all, as something slow, evolutionary, and achieved by committee. Our eschatologies are often no different. Many Christians view the kingdom of God as something that limps along, barely surviving, until a last minute, dramatic rescue. The Church is seen as a perpetual underdog, always on the back foot, waiting for the cavalry to arrive from over the hill.
But this is not the vision of the prophet Isaiah. As he brings his magnificent prophecy to a close, the vision is not one of gradualism or decay, but of explosive, sudden, and miraculous birth. The kingdom does not arrive with a whimper, but with a bang. It is a reality that bursts onto the world stage so unexpectedly and with such velocity that the only appropriate response is stunned amazement. Who has ever heard of such a thing?
This passage in Isaiah 66 is a direct assault on all our low expectations for the work of God. It is a rebuke to our timid faith and our anemic view of the gospel's power. Isaiah is describing the birth of the new covenant people, the Church of Jesus Christ. And he describes it as a supernatural event, a birth without the ordinary pangs, a nation born in a single day. This is not business as usual. This is a divine interruption of history.
To understand this, we have to place ourselves in the context of the original audience. They were accustomed to the slow, painful process of national life, often characterized by disobedience, judgment, exile, and a long, slow return. They knew what labor pains were. They knew that nations were not built overnight. But God promises something entirely new, something that would defy all historical precedent. He is promising Pentecost. He is promising the explosion of the gospel out of Jerusalem into the entire world. He is promising the birth of a new nation, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, drawn from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
The Text
"Before she was in labor pains, she gave birth; Before her pangs came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be brought forth through labor pains in one day? Can a nation be born all at once? As soon as Zion was in labor pains, she also gave birth to her sons. Shall I bring to the point of breaking forth and not cause birth?” says Yahweh. “Or shall I who causes birth shut the womb?” says your God.
(Isaiah 66:7-9 LSB)
A Birth Without Precedent (v. 7)
The prophecy begins with a startling image that reverses the natural order of things.
"Before she was in labor pains, she gave birth; Before her pangs came, she delivered a male child." (Isaiah 66:7)
In the natural world, birth is preceded by travail, by labor, by pain. This is a consequence of the fall; God told the woman, "In pain you shall bring forth children" (Gen. 3:16). But here, the prophet sees a birth that precedes the pain. The delivery comes first, and it is the delivery of a male child. This is a sign, a miracle. It points to something outside the realm of ordinary human experience.
Who is the "she"? This is Zion, the mother city, the people of God. And who is the "male child"? In the ultimate sense, this must be the Messiah, Jesus Christ. His birth into the world was the pre-condition for the birth of the new nation. He is the firstborn from the dead, the head of the new creation. His resurrection was the moment of delivery. But there is a curious thing here. While the pains of the cross were very real for Him, the nation He founded was born with a kind of supernatural ease. The Church did not have to go through centuries of painful gestation. It was born mature.
This points us directly to the events of Acts chapter 2. The Holy Spirit descends, Peter preaches one sermon, and three thousand souls are added to the Church. The nation is born, right there. There was no long, drawn-out process. It was sudden, powerful, and miraculous. The delivery of this new people came without the expected historical travail. It was a gift of pure grace, a sovereign act of God.
The Rhetoric of Astonishment (v. 8)
The prophet then turns to the reader, demanding that we share in his sense of shock and awe at what God is doing.
"Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be brought forth through labor pains in one day? Can a nation be born all at once? As soon as Zion was in labor pains, she also gave birth to her sons." (Isaiah 66:8)
These are rhetorical questions designed to emphasize the unprecedented nature of this event. The answer to all of them is, "No one!" No one has ever seen a nation born in a day. Nations are forged over centuries of war, diplomacy, and cultural development. But God is not bound by the processes of secular history. He is the Lord of history, and He can accelerate it, compress it, and do in one day what men think would take a thousand years.
This is a glorious picture of the Great Commission's success. This is a postmillennial verse. It speaks of a rapid, global, and triumphant advance of the kingdom. The "sons" of Zion are the converts, the disciples being made of all nations. The image is one of explosive growth. As soon as Zion went into labor, her children were born. What was this labor? It was the labor of the apostles, the prayers of the saints, the preaching of the gospel in the face of persecution. But the results were immediate and overwhelming. The gospel went out, and the nations began to stream in.
This is not just about Pentecost. It is the pattern for revival throughout history. When God decides to move, He does not ask for our permission or our timetable. He acts, and the results are astonishing. We should pray for God to do such things again in our day, to birth nations for Himself all at once. Our God is not a God of small things.
The Unstoppable God (v. 9)
Finally, God Himself speaks, underwriting the entire promise with His own sovereign character. The guarantee of this incredible birth is the nature of the God who is bringing it about.
"Shall I bring to the point of breaking forth and not cause birth?” says Yahweh. “Or shall I who causes birth shut the womb?” says your God." (Isaiah 66:9)
Here is the bedrock of our confidence. God is not a cosmic bungler. He does not start what He cannot finish. He is not a God who brings His people to the brink of a great deliverance only to fail at the last moment. The image is that of a midwife. God asks, rhetorically, "Do I bring the baby to the point of delivery and then prove unable to bring it out? Do I, the very one who opens wombs and gives life, suddenly decide to shut the womb?" The implied answer is a resounding, "Of course not!"
This is a promise of the efficacy of God's saving purposes. When God sets out to save His people and build His church, nothing in heaven or on earth can stop Him. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it. The purposes of God in history are as certain as His own character. He who initiated the plan of redemption in eternity past will bring it to its glorious consummation in history, before the final judgment.
This is a direct challenge to all our fears and doubts. We look at the state of the world, we see the opposition, and we are tempted to think that God's plans have been thwarted. We are tempted to believe that God has brought the Church to the point of birth, but that the powers of darkness are somehow strong enough to "shut the womb." This verse is God's answer to that faithless thought. He is the one who causes birth. He will complete His work. The gospel will triumph. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Conclusion: A Nation Born at Once
So what does this mean for us? It means we must recalibrate our expectations. We serve the God of the sudden birth. We are citizens of a nation that was born in a day. Our history is not one of timid retreat, but of explosive, supernatural advance.
This passage is a prophecy of the birth of the Church, which happened in a day at Pentecost and which continues to happen as the gospel conquers new lands and peoples. The male child is Christ, the head, and the sons of Zion are all those who are united to Him by faith. This new nation, the Church, was born supernaturally, and it grows supernaturally.
And the promise of verse 9 is our great comfort and our great motivation. The God who brought the Church to birth will not abandon His work. He who opened the womb of Zion will not now shut it. Therefore, we should labor with great confidence. We should preach the gospel with boldness. We should pray for revival with expectant faith. We should work to disciple the nations, knowing that the God who can cause a nation to be born in a day is our God. He has not started this great work only to let it fizzle out. He will bring it to completion, and the world will be filled with the sons of Zion, to the praise of His glorious grace.