Isaiah 49:21

Then shalt thou say in thine heart ,.... In, a way of admiration, secretly within herself, astonished at the numerous crowds flocking in;

who hath begotten me these ? not their natural parents, nor they themselves;

for they are not born of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh ; nor ministers of the Gospel, though they are instruments, yet not the cause; but God only, Father, Son, and Spirit, to whom regeneration is only ascribed: regeneration is a wonderful work of God; it is unaccountable to the natural man; it is amazing to the saints themselves; and it is matter of astonishment to the church of God; especially when on a sudden, and without means, and in great numbers, men are born again; and particularly when these come from among the Gentiles, which seems to be the case here:

seeing I have lost my children ; by captivity and the sword, by the tyranny and cruelty of the man of sin:

and am desolate ; or alone, as if without a husband, or any to take care of her: this represents the church in the wilderness, during the reign of antichrist, Revelation 12:14 , while she seems to be forsaken of the Lord her husband, though she is not:

and a captive ; to the Romish antichrist; see Revelation 13:10 ,

and removing to and fro ; being forced to flee from place to place, by reason of persecution: there is, no doubt, an allusion in all this to the case of the Jews in the Babylonish captivity:

and who hath brought up these ? the same that begot them, even the Lord himself; who nourishes and brings up his children with the milk of the Gospel, and the breasts of Gospel ordinances; so that they are brought up from children to young men, from young men to fathers, till they become perfect men; even the church in the wilderness, with her children, are nourished by him, for a time, and times, and half a time, Revelation 12:14 which is wonderful:

behold, I was left alone ; seemingly without husband or children, in a desolate and wilderness state:

these, where had they been ? in the ruins of Adam's fall; in a state of darkness; in the graves of sin; in a pit wherein is no water; in the hands of Satan, and among wicked men; even in Babylon itself, but now called out; see Revelation 18:4 .