Women in the Scriptures--our theme for the week.
Speaking of the honors and comforts to be received by God’s ancient people, the Jews, from those Gentiles who have persecuted them in the past, when they are brought back to their own land, the Prophet cries —
I will lift up my hand to the nations. . . . And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. Isaiah 49:22
This is the same as to say that Israel, the new-born children of God, shall enjoy lowly offices of service, and even parental nurture at the hands of those nations from whom, during eighteen centuries of wandering, they have suffered so much. And, therefore, in the next verse we read-
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, And their princesses thy nursing mothers; They shall bow down to thee with their faces towards the earth.
[note: Nursing fathers and mothers were the equivalent of governesses in British thought at this time]
It should be borne in mind that girls in the East do not receive anything like the consideration shown to boys. In this, the order which the teaching of Christ has introduced amongst us is entirely reversed.
The despised position occupied by women in Palestine [note: This was written in 1913] is pointedly expressed in the daily prayer of every adult Jewish male, “Thank God, who has not made me a woman!” and in many other painful ways. There is, therefore, a touch of intense meaning given to the picture of the honour which God has in store for His ancient people, when He declares — (even) Thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders!
(Neil, Revd James., Peeps Into Palestine, Stanley Martin & Co. Ltd, UK, ~1913)
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