After giving birth when the intensity of the pain is gone she continues to live with him and love him. A woman willingly endures her labor pains because: she knows that in the end she will give birth to a child. So, too, Israel willingly endures its exile because it knows that it will end in the ultimate redemption. They realized that someday there will be a Messianic Kingdom which will be an absolute blessing to the earth and them as well. The comparison continues as Israel is compared to a woman who experiences labor pains and thinks that her suffering will end soon but the birthing process lasts longer then she expects. Finally, in the end with the birth of her child, the majority of the intense pain is over. So, too, Israel in exile has suffered many persecutions, hoping that each would be the last one, only to realize that the ordeal was not over. The prophet describes the seemingly fruitless labor as having borne wind, as if she were giving birth to air. The suffering in exile with the Gentile nations the similar because it did not yet bring salvation. The wicked enemy descendants of Ishmael and Esau who abundantly inhabit the world are still here indicating that the time of Israel’s nation salvation has not yet arrived. Jesus described the steps leading up to the birth of the Messianic kingdom and birth pangs.
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