INTRODUCTION TO
Isaiah
CIRCUMSTANCES OF WRITING
The book presents itself as the writing of one man, Isaiah son of Amoz. The superscription to the book dates his prophetic activity as spanning the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah (783–742 BC, Isaiah’s call is dated to this king’s last year, 6:1); Jotham (742–735 BC); Ahaz (735–716 BC); and Hezekiah (716–686 BC). On Uzziah (Azariah) see 2Kg 15:1-7; 2Ch 26:1-23. On Jotham see 2Kg 15:32-38; 2Ch 27:1-9. On Ahaz see 2Kg 16:1-20; 2Ch 28:1-27. On Hezekiah see 2Kg 18:1–20:21; 2Ch 29:1–32:33. Not much is known about Isaiah apart from his prophecy.
Isaiah’s authorship of the whole book has been vehemently contested in the modern period. Many scholars have argued that the historical Isaiah could not have written chapters 40–66. For those who believe that God knows the future and can reveal it to his servants, it is not problematic that God through Isaiah predicted the rise of Babylon, its victory against Judah, the exile, and the return.
Isaiah 6:1 records that Isaiah received his prophetic call in the last year of Uzziah’s reign over Judah (ca 742 BC. Uzziah’s reign was a particularly prosperous time in the history of Judah, but storm clouds were on the horizon. Assyria was on the rise again in the person of Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 BC). The Assyrian king threatened to engulf Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel. After the death of Tiglath-pileser, his successors, Shalmaneser and Sargon, defeated the northern kingdom in 722 BC and deported its citizens. This event brought Judah even more under the shadow of that great empire. Isaiah 37:38 suggests that the prophet lived until the death of Sennacherib in 681 BC.
Isaiah’s vision extended beyond the eighth century, through the rest of the OT period and beyond. The NT authors cited Isaiah as finding fulfillment in the great events surrounding Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Suffering Servant.
STRUCTURE
The book of Isaiah is a combination of both prose and poetry. The prose is found primarily in chapters 36–39, a section that forms a bridge between the two sections of the book. Isaiah’s poetry is rich and varied. He wrote hymns, wisdom poetry, and even poetry that resembles a love song (5:1-7). The richness is seen in Isaiah’s vocabulary. He used over 2,200 different Hebrews words, far more variety than found in any other OT book.
SPURGEON ON ISAIAH
This is a case of when God visits a nation with terrible judgments. When the Jews were led away captive into Babylon, the great men of the land were bound in chains and treated as common slaves. And as they marched across the weary wilderness, the iron entered into their souls. Then was the loftiness of their spirit bowed down; and the pride of the king, who laughed at the prophet, was laid low. God has wondrous ways of making people feel they are but dust, but when nothing else can serve his turn, he will sweep away whole dynasties, as one removes an anthill when it has become a nuisance. One of the greatest works of grace in the heart is to humble our pride.
1The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns A,B of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.
JUDAH ON TRIAL
2Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth,
for the LORD has spoken:
“I have raised children C and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,
but Israel does not know;
my people do not understand.”
4Oh sinful nation,
people weighed down with iniquity,
brood of evildoers,
depraved children!
They have abandoned the LORD;
they have despised the Holy One of Israel;
they have turned their backs on him.
5Why do you want more beatings?
Why do you keep on rebelling?
The whole head is hurt,
and the whole heart is sick.
6From the sole of the foot even to the head,
no spot is uninjured —
wounds, welts, and festering sores
not cleansed, bandaged,
or soothed with oil.
7Your land is desolate,
your cities burned down;
foreigners devour your fields
right in front of you —
a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.
8Daughter Zion is abandoned
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9If the LORD of Armies
had not left us a few survivors,
we would be like Sodom,
we would resemble Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11“What are all your sacrifices to me? ”
asks the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams
and the fat of well-fed cattle;
I have no desire for the blood of bulls,
lambs, or male goats.
12When you come to appear before me,
who requires this from you —
this trampling of my courts?
13Stop bringing useless offerings.
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons and Sabbaths,
and the calling of solemn assemblies —
I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.
14I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.
They have become a burden to me;
I am tired of putting up with them.
15When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.
PURIFICATION OF JERUSALEM
16“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.
Remove your evil deeds from my sight.
Stop doing evil.
17Learn to do what is good.
Pursue justice.
Correct the oppressor. D
Defend the rights of the fatherless.
Plead the widow’s cause.
18“Come, let us settle this,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;
though they are crimson red,
they will be like wool.
QUOTE 1:18
Most people seem to want a form of religion that does not require them to think.
QUOTE 1:18
The Lord meets the difficulty of sin not by denying the sinner’s guilt but by removing it.
19If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land.
20But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured
by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
21The faithful town —
what an adulteress A
she has become!
She was once full of justice.
Righteousness once dwelt in her,
but now, murderers!
22Your silver has become dross to be discarded,
your beer B is diluted with water.
23Your rulers are rebels,
friends of thieves.
They all love graft
and chase after bribes.
They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,
and the widow’s case never comes before them.
24Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies,
the Mighty One of Israel, declares:
“Ah, I will get even with my foes;
I will take revenge against my enemies.
25I will turn my hand against you
and will burn away your dross completely; A
I will remove all your impurities.
26I will restore your judges to what they were at first, B
and your advisers to what they were at the start. C
Afterward you will be called the Righteous City,
a Faithful Town.”
27Zion will be redeemed by justice,
those who repent, by righteousness.
28At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken,
and those who abandon the LORD will perish.
29Indeed, they D will be ashamed of the sacred trees
you desired,
and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines
you have chosen.
30For you will become like an oak
whose leaves are withered,
and like a garden without water.
31The strong one will become tinder,
and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
with no one to extinguish the flames.
1:18 “‘Come, let us settle this,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.’” The persons to whom this gracious invitation was addressed were in a terrible condition; they could not well have been in a worse plight. They had provoked God above measure by their many sins. He had severely chastened them, yet they had not repented of their iniquities, which would not be either drawn from them or driven from them. Now the Lord says that something else must be done—such a state of things must not be allowed to last any longer. So in this passage there is an invitation to a conference with God. Most people seem to want a form of religion that does not require them to think. The people described in this chapter were willing to bring their rams, their bulls, their incense, and their oblations—things that could be done without any effect being produced in their hearts and lives. Of all things in the world, true religion demands most serious thought. It has to do with our mind, heart, and spirit. Even under the old law, the command to Israel was, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Dt 6:5). It was a matter for the heart and soul even under that old, dim, preparatory dispensation, so how much more is it so under the dispensation of the gospel whose first commandment is “believe”—which does not mean a blind shutting of the eyes but the exercise of the most serious thought of which the human mind is capable. It is most gracious on the Lord’s part to invite us to a conference with him. How condescending it is for the Most High to be willing for us to have a discussion with him. He seems to say to us, “Come, my friend, you and I are not agreed. Something in your mind keeps you from yielding to my love. I mean you no hurt. Come and keep nothing back from me. Come and tell me all about the matter.” How graciously the Lord stoops down to us in saying, “Come, let us discuss this.” His voice shakes the earth with storms, the voice of the mighty God, the Creator and Judge of all. He is the one who speaks to us, worms of the dust, utterly insignificant compared with him, and says to us, “‘Come.” What a great proof this is of God’s love and grace that he invites us to have a discussion with him. This grace means the Lord will remove the offense perfectly; “scarlet” and “crimson” are to become “snow” and “wool.” The Lord meets the difficulty of sin not by denying the sinner’s guilt but by removing it. The Lord did this by imputing our sins to Christ. God the Father proceeded to deal with Christ on account of those sins as though he had been the actual sinner. So, if Christ was punished for my sins, I can never be punished for them.
THE CITY OF PEACE
2The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2In the last days
the mountain of the LORD’s house will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
All nations will stream to it,
3and many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us about his ways
so that we may walk in his paths.”
For instruction will go out of Zion
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4He will settle disputes among the nations
and provide arbitration for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.
THE DAY OF THE LORD
5House of Jacob,
come and let us walk in the LORD’s light.
6For you have abandoned your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of divination from the East
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines.
They are in league E with foreigners.
7Their F,G land is full of silver and gold,
and there is no limit to their treasures;
their land is full of horses,
and there is no limit to their chariots.
8Their land is full of idols;
they worship the work of their hands,
what their fingers have made.
9So humanity is brought low,
and each person is humbled.
Do not forgive them!
10Go into the rocks
and hide in the dust
from the terror of the LORD
and from his majestic splendor.
11The pride of mankind H will be humbled,
and human loftiness will be brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.
12For a day belonging to the LORD of Armies is coming
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up — it will be humbled —
13against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up,
against all the oaks of Bashan,
14against all the high mountains,
against all the lofty hills,
15against every high tower,
against every fortified wall,
16against every ship of Tarshish,
and against every splendid sea vessel.
17The pride of mankind will be brought low,
and human loftiness will be humbled;
the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.
QUOTE 2:17
One of the greatest works of grace in the heart is to humble our pride.
18The idols will vanish completely.
19People will go into caves in the rocks
and holes in the ground,
away from the terror of the LORD
and from his majestic splendor,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20On that day people will throw
their silver and gold idols,
which they made to worship,
to the moles and the bats.
21They will go into the caves of the rocks
and the crevices in the cliffs,
away from the terror of the LORD
and from his majestic splendor,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
22Put no more trust in a mere human,
who has only the breath in his nostrils.
What is he really worth?
2:17 “The pride of mankind will be brought low, and human loftiness will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.” This is a case of when God visits a nation with terrible judgments. When the Jews were led away captive into Babylon, the great men of the land were bound in chains and treated as common slaves. And as they marched across the weary wilderness, the iron entered into their souls. Then was the loftiness of their spirit bowed down; and the pride of the king, who laughed at the prophet, was laid low. God has wondrous ways of making people feel they are but dust, but when nothing else can serve his turn, he will sweep away whole dynasties, as one removes an anthill when it has become a nuisance. One of the greatest works of grace in the heart is to humble our pride.
JUDAH’S LEADERS JUDGED
3Note this: The Lord GOD of Armies
is about to remove from Jerusalem and from Judah
every kind of security:
the entire supply of bread and water,
2heroes and warriors,
judges and prophets,
fortune-tellers and elders,
3commanders of fifty and dignitaries,
counselors, cunning magicians, A and necromancers. B
4“I will make youths their leaders,
and unstable rulers C will govern them.”
5The people will oppress one another,
man against man, neighbor against neighbor;
the young will act arrogantly toward the old,
and the worthless toward the honorable.
6A man will even seize his brother
in his father’s house, saying:
“You have a cloak — you be our leader!
This heap of rubble will be under your control.”
7On that day he will cry out, saying:
“I’m not a healer.
I don’t even have food or clothing in my house.
Don’t make me the leader of the people! ”
8For Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen
because they have spoken and acted against the LORD,
defying his glorious presence.
9The look on their faces testifies against them,
and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin;
they do not conceal it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought disaster on themselves.
10Tell the righteous that it will go well for them,
for they will eat the fruit of their labor.
11Woe to the wicked — it will go badly for them,
for what they have done will be done to them.
12Youths oppress my people,
and women rule over them.
My people, your leaders
mislead you;
they confuse the direction of your paths.
13The LORD rises to argue the case
and stands to judge the people.
14The LORD brings this charge
against the elders and leaders of his people:
“You have devastated the vineyard.
The plunder from the poor is in your houses.
15Why do you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor? ”
This is the declaration
of the Lord GOD of Armies.
JERUSALEM’S WOMEN JUDGED
16 The LORD also says:
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
walking with heads held high
and seductive eyes,
prancing along,
jingling their ankle bracelets,
17the Lord will put scabs on the heads
of the daughters of Zion,
and the LORD will shave their foreheads bare.
18 On that day the Lord will strip their finery: ankle bracelets, headbands, crescents, 19 pendants, bracelets, veils, 20 headdresses, ankle jewelry, sashes, perfume bottles, amulets, 21 signet rings, nose rings, 22 festive robes, capes, cloaks, purses, 23 garments, linen clothes, turbans, and shawls.
24Instead of perfume there will be a stench;
instead of a belt, a rope;
instead of beautifully styled hair, baldness;
instead of fine clothes, sackcloth;
instead of beauty, branding. A
25Your men will fall by the sword,
your warriors in battle.
26Then her gates will lament and mourn;
deserted, she will sit on the ground.
3:10-11 “Tell the righteous that it will go well for them, for they will eat the fruit of their labor. Woe to the wicked—it will go badly for them, for what they have done will be done to them.” Two classes are mentioned here, the righteous and the wicked. Into these two orders the Scriptures are accustomed to divide the whole population of the globe. It speaks but little of upper and lower classes; it says but little concerning the various ranks into which civil and political institutions have divided the human race; but from its first page to its last, it is taken up with this grand division: the righteous and the wicked. Early in human history we find the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. We also meet with Cain, who was of that wicked one and killed his brother because his own works were evil and his brother’s were righteous. While the deluge destroys the ungodly, Noah floats in the ark in security as the representative of the righteous; and when the destroying angel kills the rebellious Egyptians, Israel feasts in safety on the Passover. The two divisions of the human race have always been in existence and at enmity. Israel was oppressed in Egypt, attacked by Amalekites in the wilderness, set back by foes in Canaan, and carried away captive into Assyria or Babylon. In the nation of Israel itself the heart of the people was depraved by an idolatrous seed and at length eaten out by the hypocrisy of a generation of vipers who were of Israel but were not the Lord’s chosen. In our own age, when the church of God is found among the Gentiles, we see still the broad mark of distinction between those who fear the Lord and those who do not. The line of nature and the line of divine grace run on the same as ever; the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent still contend with each other.
And it is not the intent of God in his providence that the line of demarcation should be withdrawn. He would not have his people enter into alliance with the camp of evil but to come out from among them and be separate. Nonconformity, in its spiritual sense, is the duty of every Christian. “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rm 12:2). The flood came on the world when the sons of God were united with the daughters of men, and unholy alliances between the church and the world provoked God to the highest possible degree. He will have the distinction maintained between the precious and the vile till time will be no more. God of old divided light from darkness; the light he called day, and the darkness he called night; and he will not have us call light darkness or darkness light.
A crimson line runs between the righteous and the wicked, the line of the atoning sacrifice. Faith crosses that line, but nothing else can. Faith in the precious blood is the great distinction at the root, and all those divine graces that spring out of faith go to make the righteous more and more separate from the ungodly world, who, not having the root, do not have the fruit.
4On that day seven women
will seize one man, saying,
“We will eat our own bread
and provide our own clothing.
Just let us bear your name.
Take away our disgrace.”
ZION’S FUTURE GLORY
2 On that day the Branch B of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors. 3 Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy — all in Jerusalem written in the book of life C — 4 when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. 5 Then the LORD will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night over the entire site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies. For there will be a canopy over all the glory, D 6 and there will be a shelter for shade from heat by day, and a refuge and shelter from storm and rain.
SONG OF THE VINEYARD
5I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one’s vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
ILLUSTRATION 5:1
The delightful relationship of our Lord to us is accompanied by words that remind us of our relationship to him: “my loved one’s vineyard,” and what vineyard is that but our heart, our nature, our life? We are his, and we are his for the same reason that any other vineyard belongs to its owner: he made us to be his vineyard. Thorns and briars were by nature all our growth, but he bought us with a price and hedged us about and set us apart for him, and then he planted and cultivated us. All within us that can produce good fruit is because of his creating, his tending, and his preserving, so that if we are vineyards at all, we must be his vineyards. We gladly agree that it will be so. I pray that I may not have a hair on my head that does not belong to Christ, and all believers should pray that their every pulse and breath may be the Lord’s.
2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out
a winepress there.
He expected it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.
3So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between me
and my vineyard.
4What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I did?
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6I will make it a wasteland.
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7For the vineyard of the LORD of Armies
is the house of Israel,
and the men A of Judah,
the plant he delighted in.
He expected justice
but saw injustice;
he expected righteousness,
but heard cries of despair.
JUDAH’S SINS DENOUNCED
8Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9 I heard the LORD of Armies say:
Indeed, many houses will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10For a ten-acre B vineyard will yield
only six gallons of wine, C
and ten bushels D of seed will yield
only one bushel of grain. E
11Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the LORD’s actions,
and they do not see the work of his hands.
13Therefore my people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;
her F dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,
and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who celebrate in her!
15Humanity is brought low, each person is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.
16But the LORD of Armies is exalted by his justice,
and the holy God shows that he is holy through his righteousness.
17Lambs will graze
as if in G their own pastures,
and resident aliens H will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who drag iniquity
with cords of deceit
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19to those who say:
“Let him hurry up and do his work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place
so that we can know it! ”
20Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21Woe to those who consider themselves wise
and judge themselves clever. A
22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are champions at pouring beer,
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected
the instruction of the LORD of Armies,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against his people.
He raised his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
26He raises a signal flag for the distant nations
and whistles for them from the ends of the earth.
Look — how quickly and swiftly they come!
27None of them grows weary or stumbles;
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like a lion’s;
they roar like young lions;
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds. B
5:1 “I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.” We recognize at once that Jesus is here. Who but he can be meant by “my loved one”? Here is a word of possession and a word of affection—he is mine, and my loved one. He is loveliness itself, the most loving and lovable of beings; and we personally love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. He is ours, our loved one. We can say no less.
ISAIAH’S CALL AND MISSION
6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim C were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another:
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.
4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 Then I said:
Woe is me for I am ruined D
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of Armies.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said:
Now that this has touched your lips,
your iniquity is removed
and your sin is atoned for.
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking:
Who should I send?
Who will go for us?
I said:
Here I am. Send me.
9 And he replied:
Go! Say to these people:
Keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.
10Make the minds A of these people dull;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
turn back, and be healed.
11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord? ” And he replied:
Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants,
houses are without people,
the land is ruined and desolate,
12and the LORD drives the people far away,
leaving great emptiness in the land.
13Though a tenth will remain in the land,
it will be burned again.
Like the terebinth or the oak
that leaves a stump when felled,
the holy seed is the stump.
6:1 “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.” Isaiah was awestruck by this vision of the glory of the Lord. It was a sight such as few eyes have ever seen. Isaiah was never actually in the holy place, for he was no priest and could not stand there. In a vision he saw all this glory, and it was a vision that must have remained in his memory the rest of his life. The holiness and the glory of God struck him at once.
6:5 “Then I said: ‘Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Armies.’” There was certainly enough to make him say, “Woe is me.” Isaiah was a sinful preacher, an imperfect preacher, among a sinful and imperfect people, so he felt as if the society in which be moved was the reverse of the society in which God dwells. Pure seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies,” but as for us, our talk is unholy—“a people of unclean lips.”
6:6-7 “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.’” The glowing coal from off the altar does not represent the holy flame that burns in the prophet’s heart. It represents purgation, cleansing, participation in the sacrifice, and the putting away of sin. With a blister on his lips, Isaiah stood silent before God.
6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: ‘Who should I send? Who will go for us?’ I said: ‘Here I am. Send me.’” Here we have the divine Trinity in unity. “Who should I send?” There is unity. “Who will go for us?” There is the Trinity. God is seeking a messenger to deliver his message to people. Isaiah did not know the errand; perhaps if he had known it he would not have been so ready to go. Who can tell? But God’s servants are ready for anything, ready for everything, when once the glowing coal has touched their lips. I thank God I was never called to such a work as Isaiah had to undertake.
6:9-10 “And he replied: ‘Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Make the minds of these people dull; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.’” This was no ministry of gospel proclamation. It was a ministry of condemnation. The people of Israel had rejected the prophets and their God, and in the fullness of time, they would reject God’s own dear Son. When Isaiah in the vision looked forward to all this, he saw he was not sent to soften but to harden; his word was to be a savor of death to death and not of life to life.
THE MESSAGE TO AHAZ
7This took place during the reign of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah: Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah son of Remaliah went to fight against Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it.
2 When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz B and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.
3 The LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub C to meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering sticks, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5 For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, 6 ‘Let us go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’ ”
7 This is what the Lord GOD says:
It will not happen; it will not occur.
8The A chief city of Aram is Damascus,
the chief of Damascus is Rezin
(within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people),
9the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
then you will not stand at all.
THE IMMANUEL PROPHECY
10 Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz: 11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God — it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”
12 But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask. I will not test the LORD.”
13 Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you B a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, C have a son, and name him Immanuel. D 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating curds E and honey. 16 For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 The LORD will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.”
18On that day
the LORD will whistle to flies
at the farthest streams of the Nile
and to bees in the land of Assyria.
19All of them will come and settle
in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks,
in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes.
20 On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River — the king of Assyria — to shave the hair on your heads, the hair on your legs, and even your beards.
21On that day
a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
22and from the abundant milk they give
he will eat curds,
for every survivor in the land will eat curds and honey.
23And on that day
every place where there were a thousand vines,
worth a thousand pieces of silver,
will become thorns and briers.
24A man will go there with bow and arrows
because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
25You will not go to all the hills
that were once tilled with a hoe,
for fear of the thorns and briers.
Those hills will be places for oxen to graze
and for sheep to trample.
7:14 “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” This is a sweet name: “Immanuel.” Others in ancient times called their children by names that had meaning in them. They did not give them the names of eminent persons whom they would likely grow up to hate and wish they had never heard of. They had names full of meaning that recorded some circumstance of their birth. There are many similar instances in those days, and perhaps this custom was a good one among the Hebrews—though the peculiar formation of our language might not allow us to do the same except in a limited way. We see, therefore, that Jesus bore the name “Immanuel” because that name means “God with us.” This is the name of him who is born today. This is his name, “God with us”—that is, God with us by his incarnation, for the hallowed Creator of the world did walk on this globe. He who made ten thousand orbs, each of them more mighty and more vast than this earth, became the inhabitant of this tiny planet. He who was from everlasting to everlasting came to this world of time and stood on the narrow neck of land between two massive seas. “God with us.” He has not lost that name—Jesus had that name on earth, and he has it now in heaven. He is now “God with us.”
B 7:2 Lit Aram has rested upon Ephraim, his heart
B 7:14 In Hb, the word you is pl
THE COMING ASSYRIAN INVASION
8Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large piece of parchment A and write on it with an ordinary pen: B Maher-shalal-hash-baz. C 2 I have appointed D trustworthy witnesses — the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”
3 I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 for before the boy knows how to call ‘Father,’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”
5 The LORD spoke to me again:
6Because these people rejected
the slowly flowing water of Shiloah
and rejoiced with E Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
7the Lord will certainly bring against them
the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River —
the king of Assyria and all his glory.
It will overflow its channels
and spill over all its banks.
8It will pour into Judah,
flood over it, and sweep through,
reaching up to the neck;
and its flooded banks F
will fill your entire land, Immanuel!
9Band together, G peoples, and be broken;
pay attention, all you distant lands;
prepare for war, and be broken;
prepare for war, and be broken.
10Devise a plan; it will fail.
Make a prediction; it will not happen.
For God is with us. H
THE LORD OF ARMIES, THE ONLY REFUGE
11 For this is what the LORD said to me with great power, to keep I me from going the way of this people:
12Do not call everything a conspiracy
these people say is a conspiracy.
Do not fear what they fear;
do not be terrified.
13You are to regard only the LORD of Armies as holy.
Only he should be feared;
only he should be held in awe.
14He will be a sanctuary;
but for the two houses of Israel,
he will be a stone to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,
and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
QUOTE 8:14
If you ever leave a worship service feeling that in all the worship there has been no sense of Christ’’s presence, no thoughts of his precious blood, then that worship has been worthless, and the time has been wasted.
15Many will stumble over these;
they will fall and be broken;
they will be snared and captured.
Seal up the instruction among my disciples.
17I will wait for the LORD,
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.
I will wait for him.
18 Here I am with the children the LORD has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? A Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
21 They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
8:14 “He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, he will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” People often speak of holy places. They sometimes call some building, whether a church or a private chapel, a sanctuary. I take it that this is a mistaken use of the word. No one place is a bit more sacred than another. It is nothing but superstition to suppose that there are especially holy places constructed of bricks and mortar or consecrated stones. Your bedroom, where you bow the knee, may be as near the gate of heaven as the grand cathedral along whose vaulted roofs the music of song has resounded for centuries. Jesus Christ, however, is a sanctuary. He is the holy place of his people’s worship. Treasure that up. You may worship God anywhere if you get with Christ; but if you forget Christ, you can worship God nowhere (see Jn 14:6). You can never have an acceptable worship of the Most High except through Jesus Christ. Too often we try to worship God without Christ. It will never do; it cannot succeed. If you ever leave a worship service feeling that in all the worship there has been no sense of Christ’s presence, no thoughts of his precious blood, then that worship has been worthless, and the time has been wasted. Without the incense of his merit, without the mercy seat of his substitutionary sacrifice, there is no sanctuary, no worship, no drawing near to God.
B 8:1 Lit with the pen of a man
C 8:1 = Speeding to the Plunder, Hurrying to the Spoil
D 8:2 Vg; MT, one DSS ms read I will appoint ; one DSS ms, LXX, Syr, Tg read Appoint
BIRTH OF THE PRINCE OF PEACE
9Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future he will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.
2The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
3You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy. B
The people have rejoiced before you
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
4For you have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as you did on the day of Midian.
5For every trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
QUOTE 9:6
As a gnat might seek to drink in the ocean, so a finite creature might seek to comprehend the eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him, he could not be infinite; if we could understand him, then he would not be divine.
7The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.
THE HAND RAISED AGAINST ISRAEL
8The Lord sent a message against Jacob;
it came against Israel.
9All the people —
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria — will know it.
They will say with pride and arrogance:
10“The bricks have fallen,
but we will rebuild with cut stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
11The LORD has raised up Rezin’s adversaries against him
and stirred up his enemies.
12Aram from the east and Philistia from the west
have consumed Israel with open mouths.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
13The people did not turn to him who struck them;
they did not seek the LORD of Armies.
14So the LORD cut off Israel’s head and tail,
palm branch and reed in a single day.
15The head is the elder, the honored one;
the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.
16The leaders of the people mislead them,
and those they mislead are swallowed up. A
17Therefore the Lord does not rejoice
over B Israel’s young men
and has no compassion
on its fatherless and widows,
for everyone is a godless evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
18For wickedness burns like a fire
that consumes thorns and briers
and kindles the forest thickets
so that they go up in a column of smoke.
19The land is scorched
by the wrath of the LORD of Armies,
and the people are like fuel for the fire.
No one has compassion on his brother.
20They carve meat on the right,
but they are still hungry;
they have eaten on the left,
but they are still not satisfied.
Each one eats the flesh of his own arm.
21Manasseh is with Ephraim,
and Ephraim with Manasseh;
together, both are against Judah.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
9:6 “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us.” The sentence is a double one, but it has in it no repetitiveness. It is not a distinction without a difference. Jesus Christ was a child in his human nature, and he was conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He was as truly born, as certainly a child, as any other human being that ever lived on the face of the earth. He is, in his humanity, a child born. But Jesus Christ is also God’s Son; he was and is of the same substance with the Father. The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion. But we cannot explain it, for it remains among the deep things of God—truly one of those solemn mysteries into that the angels dare not look. Nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery that we must not attempt to fathom—for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being. As a gnat might seek to drink in the ocean, so a finite creature might seek to comprehend the eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp him, he could not be infinite; if we could understand him, then he would not be divine. Jesus Christ, then, as a Son, was not born to us but given. He is a blessing bestowed on us (see Jn 3:16). He was already God’s Son when he was born into this world, and he was sent or given so that we could clearly perceive that the distinction is a suggestive one and conveys much good truth about God to us.
10Woe to those enacting crooked statutes
and writing oppressive laws
2to keep the poor from getting a fair trial
and to deprive the needy among my people of justice,
so that widows can be their spoil
and they can plunder the fatherless.
3What will you do on the day of punishment
when devastation comes from far away?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
4There will be nothing to do
except crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.
ASSYRIA, THE INSTRUMENT OF WRATH
5Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger —
the staff in their hands is my wrath.
6I will send him against a godless nation;
I will command him to go
against a people destined for my rage,
to take spoils, to plunder,
and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
7But this is not what he intends;
this is not what he plans.
It is his intent to destroy
and to cut off many nations.
8For he says,
“Aren’t all my commanders kings?
9Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus? A
10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms,
whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11and as I did to Samaria and its worthless images
will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols? ”
JUDGMENT ON ASSYRIA
12 But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I B will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.” 13 For he said:
I have done this
by my own strength
and wisdom, for I am clever.
I abolished the borders of nations
and plundered their treasures;
like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants. C
14My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered the whole earth.
No wing fluttered;
no beak opened or chirped.
15Does an ax exalt itself
above the one who chops with it?
Does a saw magnify itself
above the one who saws with it?
It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts A it!
It would be like a staff lifting the one who isn’t wood!
16Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies
will inflict an emaciating disease
on the well-fed of Assyria,
and he will kindle a burning fire
under its glory.
17Israel’s Light will become a fire,
and its Holy One, a flame.
In one day it will burn and consume Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
18He will completely destroy
the glory of its forests and orchards
as a sickness consumes a person.
19The remaining trees of its forest
will be so few in number
that a child could count them.
THE REMNANT WILL RETURN
20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
21The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
to the Mighty God.
22Israel, even if your people were as numerous
as the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return.
Destruction has been decreed;
justice overflows.
23For throughout the land
the Lord GOD of Armies
is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.
24 Therefore, the Lord GOD of Armies says this: “My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though they strike you with a rod and raise their staff over you as the Egyptians did. 25 In just a little while my wrath will be spent and my anger will turn to their destruction.” 26 And the LORD of Armies will brandish a whip against him as he did when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.
GOD WILL JUDGE ASSYRIA
27On that day
his burden will fall from your shoulders,
and his yoke from your neck.
The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large. B
28Assyria has come to Aiath
and has gone through Migron,
storing their equipment at Michmash.
29They crossed over at the ford, saying,
“We will spend the night at Geba.”
The people of Ramah are trembling;
those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.
30Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim!
Listen, Laishah!
Anathoth is miserable.
31Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32Today the Assyrians will stand at Nob,
shaking their fists at the mountain of Daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33Look, the Lord GOD of Armies
will chop off the branches with terrifying power,
and the tall trees will be cut down,
the high trees felled.
34He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.
A 10:9 Cities conquered by Assyria
B 10:12 LXX reads Jerusalem, he
C 10:13 Or I brought down their kings
REIGN OF THE DAVIDIC KING
11Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him —
a Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a Spirit of counsel and strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
3His delight will be in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge
by what he sees with his eyes,
he will not execute justice
by what he hears with his ears,
4but he will judge the poor righteously
and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.
He will strike the land
with a scepter A from his mouth,
and he will kill the wicked
with a command B from his lips.
5Righteousness will be a belt around his hips;
faithfulness will be a belt around his waist.
6The wolf will dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat.
The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf will be together,
and a child will lead them.
7The cow and the bear will graze,
their young ones will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like cattle.
8An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit,
and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den.
9They will not harm or destroy each other
on my entire holy mountain,
for the land will be as full
of the knowledge of the LORD
as the sea is filled with water.
ISRAEL REGATHERED
10On that day the root of Jesse
will stand as a banner for the peoples.
The nations will look to him for guidance,
and his resting place will be glorious.
11 On that day the Lord will extend his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people who survive — from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coasts and islands of the west.
12He will lift up a banner for the nations
and gather the dispersed of Israel;
he will collect the scattered of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13Ephraim’s envy will cease;
Judah’s harassing will end.
Ephraim will no longer be envious of Judah,
and Judah will not harass Ephraim.
14But they will swoop down
on the Philistine flank to the west.
Together they will plunder the people of the east.
They will extend their power over Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
15The LORD will divide A,B the Gulf of Suez. C
He will wave his hand over the Euphrates
with his mighty wind
and will split it into seven streams,
letting people walk through on foot.
16There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
who will survive from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.
11:10 “On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will look to him for guidance, and his resting place will be glorious.” The Lord Jesus Christ, who is “the root of Jesse”—“the shoot from the stock of Jesse,” as 11:1 might be rendered—is the center of all Israel. And he is also the rallying point of the Gentiles, for he has made both Jew and Gentile to be one. And now, around the one banner of his glorious name, all the believing hosts gather with glad accord. He is the King of the Jews, but he is also our King. We must always look to Christ as the great standard bearer of all the hosts of God, pitch our tents as near his banner as we can, and constantly follow where his banner leads the way. The glory of his rest is in harmony with the glory of all he has ever done. Rest is most enjoyable to the one who has toiled the hardest; the labor that has gone before has prepared him for the sweetness of the rest. And the glory of Christ’s rest lies in what he has passed through in order to obtain it. He himself is glorious. His service and his suffering were both glorious. His death was in the truest sense glorious, and now all the rest that has followed his finished work is glorious in the highest degree.
A SONG OF PRAISE
12On that day you will say:
“I will give thanks to you, LORD,
although you were angry with me.
Your anger has turned away,
and you have comforted me.
2Indeed, God is my salvation;
I will trust him and not be afraid,
for the LORD, the LORD himself,
is my strength and my song.
He has become my salvation.”
3You will joyfully draw water
from the springs of salvation,
4and on that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the LORD; proclaim his name!
Make his works known among the peoples.
Declare that his name is exalted.
5Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things.
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6Cry out and sing, citizen of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel is among you
in his greatness.”
12:1 “On that day you will say: ‘I will give thanks to you, LORD, although you were angry with me. Your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.’” This prophecy is said by some to relate to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib. That calamity threatened to be a terrible display of divine anger. It seemed inevitable that the Assyrian power would make an utter desolation of all Judea as it had Israel in the north, but God promised that he would interpose for the deliverance of his people and punish the stout heart of the king of Assyria. In that day his people should say, “We will praise you though you were angry with us, and therefore you sent the Assyrian monarch to chastise us. Your anger is turned away, and now you comfort us.” If this is the meaning of it, it is an instance of sanctified affliction; and it is a lesson to us that whenever we feel the pain of the rod of discipline we may look forward to the time when the rod will be withdrawn. And it is also an admonition to us that when we escape from trial we should take care to celebrate the event with grateful praise.
Some people think this text mainly relates to the latter days, and I think it would be impossible to read the chapter without feeling that such a reference is clear. There will be a time when the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the lion will eat straw like the ox, and the weaned child will put his hand in the snake’s den (11:6-8). Then the Lord will set his hand once again to recover the remnant of his people; then he will repeat his wondrous works of Egypt and at the Red Sea. In that day the Jewish people on whose head the blood of Christ has come, who these many centuries have been a people scattered, persecuted, and sifted as in a sieve throughout all nations; even these will be restored to their own land and the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. They will participate in all the glories of the millennial reign, and with joy they will draw water out of the wells of salvation. In those days, when all Israel will be saved and Judah will dwell safely, the jubilant thanksgiving in this verse will be heard. The whole people will sing with such unanimity and with such undivided heart that they will speak as though they were but one redeemed person. They will use the singular where their numbers might require the plural. “I will give thanks to the Lord,” will be the exclamation of the once divided but then united people.
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST BABYLON
13A pronouncement concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2Lift up a banner on a barren mountain.
Call out to them.
Signal with your hand, and they will go
through the gates of the nobles.
3I have commanded my consecrated ones;
yes, I have called my warriors,
who celebrate my triumph,
to execute my wrath.
4Listen, a commotion on the mountains,
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations being
gathered together!
The LORD of Armies is mobilizing an army for war.
5They are coming from a distant land,
from the farthest horizon —
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath —
to destroy the whole country. A
6Wail! For the day of the LORD is near.
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
7Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak,
and every man will lose heart. B
8They will be horrified;
pain and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look at each other,
their faces flushed with fear.
9Look, the day of the LORD is coming —
cruel, with rage and burning anger —
to make the earth a desolation
and to destroy its sinners.
10Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations C
will not give their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not shine.
11I will punish the world for its evil,
and wicked people for their iniquities.
I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant
and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.
12I will make a human more scarce than fine gold,
and mankind more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will shake from its foundations
at the wrath of the LORD of Armies,
on the day of his burning anger.
14Like wandering gazelles
and like sheep without a shepherd,
each one will turn to his own people,
each one will flee to his own land.
15Whoever is found will be stabbed,
and whoever is caught will die by the sword.
16Their children will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
their houses will be looted,
and their wives raped.
17Look! I am stirring up the Medes against them,
who cannot be bought off with D silver
and who have no desire for gold.
18Their bows will cut young men to pieces.
They will have no compassion on offspring;
they will not look with pity on children.
19And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,
the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.
20It will never be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation;
a nomad will not pitch his tent there,
and shepherds will not let their flocks rest there.
21But desert creatures will lie down there,
and owls will fill the houses.
Ostriches will dwell there,
and wild goats will leap about.
22Hyenas will howl in the fortresses,
and jackals,
in the luxurious palaces.
Babylon’s time is almost up;
her days are almost over.
ISRAEL’S RETURN
14For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again. He will settle them on their own land. The resident alien will join them and be united with the house of Jacob. 2 The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.
DOWNFALL OF THE KING OF BABYLON
3 When the LORD gives you rest from your pain, torment, and the hard labor you were forced to do, 4 you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon and say:
How the oppressor has quieted down,
and how the raging A has become quiet!
5The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers.
6It struck the peoples in anger
with unceasing blows.
It subdued the nations in rage
with relentless persecution.
7The whole earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
8Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:
“Since you have been laid low,
no lumberjack has come against us.”
9Sheol below is eager to greet your coming,
stirring up the spirits of the departed for you —
all the rulers B of the earth —
making all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10They all respond to you, saying,
“You too have become as weak as we are;
you have become like us!
11Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out under you,
and worms cover you.”
12Shining morning star, C
how you have fallen from the heavens!
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13You said to yourself,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts
of the North. D
14I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit.
16Those who see you will stare at you;
they will look closely at you:
“Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17who turned the world into a wilderness,
who destroyed its cities
and would not release the prisoners to return home? ”
18All the kings of the nations
lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.
19But you are thrown out without a grave,
like a worthless branch,
covered by those slain with the sword
and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.
20You will not join them in burial,
because you destroyed your land
and slaughtered your own people.
The offspring of evildoers
will never be mentioned again.
21Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons,
because of the iniquity of their fathers.
They will never rise up to possess a land
or fill the surface of the earth with cities.
22 “I will rise up against them” — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — “and I will cut off from Babylon her reputation, remnant, offspring, and posterity” — this is the LORD’s declaration. 23 “I will make her a swampland and a region for herons, A and I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”
This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.
ASSYRIA WILL BE DESTROYED
24 The LORD of Armies has sworn:
As I have purposed, so it will be;
as I have planned it, so it will happen.
25I will break Assyria in my land;
I will tread him down on my mountain.
Then his yoke will be taken from them,
and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
26This is the plan prepared
for the whole earth,
and this is the hand stretched out
against all the nations.
27The LORD of Armies himself has planned it;
therefore, who can stand
in its way?
It is his hand that is outstretched,
so who can turn it back?
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST PHILISTIA
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, this pronouncement came:
29Don’t rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you is broken.
For a viper will come from the root B of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.
30Then the firstborn of the poor will be well fed,
and the impoverished will lie down in safety,
but I will kill your root
with hunger,
and your remnant will be slain.
31Wail, you gates! Cry out, city!
Tremble with fear, all Philistia!
For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,
and there is no one missing from the invader’s ranks.
32What answer will be given to the messengers from that nation?
The LORD has founded Zion,
and his oppressed people find refuge in her.
14:13-15 “You said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will set up my throne above the stars of God. . . . I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you will be brought down to Sheol into the deepest regions of the Pit.” God hates pride with a perfect hatred. He drives his sword through the heart of it and cuts it in pieces. None can be great and mighty and boast of what they are able to do without provoking the King of kings to put forth against them some of his great power. Let none of us talk about climbing to heaven by our good works, or getting there by our merits, lest it should happen to us also that we should fall into Sheol.
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST MOAB
15A pronouncement concerning Moab:
Ar in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
Kir in Moab is devastated,
destroyed in a night.
2Dibon went up to its temple
to weep at its high places.
Moab wails on Nebo
and at A Medeba.
Every head is shaved;
every beard is chopped short.
3In its streets they wear sackcloth;
on its rooftops and in its public squares everyone wails,
falling down and weeping.
4Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz.
Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out,
and they tremble. B
5My heart cries out over Moab,
whose fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
to Eglath-shelishiyah;
they go up the Ascent of Luhith weeping;
they raise a cry of destruction
on the road to Horonaim.
6The Waters of Nimrim
are desolate;
the grass is withered, the foliage is gone,
and the vegetation has vanished.
7So they carry their wealth and belongings
over the Wadi of the Willows.
8For their cry echoes
throughout the territory of Moab.
Their wailing reaches Eglaim;
their wailing reaches Beer-elim.
9The Waters of Dibon C are full of blood,
but I will bring on Dibon C even more than this —
a lion for those who escape from Moab,
and for the survivors in the land.
16Send lambs to the ruler of the land,
from Sela in the desert
to the mountain of Daughter Zion.
2Like a bird fleeing,
forced from the nest,
the daughters of Moab
will be at the fords of the Arnon.
3Give us counsel and make a decision.
Shelter us at noonday
with shade that is as dark as night.
Hide the refugees;
do not betray the one who flees.
4Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab D from the aggressor.
When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land,
5a throne will be established in love,
and one will sit on it faithfully E
in the tent of David,
judging and pursuing what is right,
quick to execute justice.
6We have heard of Moab’s pride —
how very proud he is —
his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance,
and his empty boasting.
7Therefore let Moab wail;
let every one of them wail for Moab.
You who are completely devastated, mourn
for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
8For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards
and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled its choice vines
that reached as far as Jazer
Their shoots spread out
and reached the sea.
9So I join with Jazer
to weep for the vines of Sibmah;
I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears.
Triumphant shouts
have fallen silent A
over your summer fruit and your harvest.
10Joy and rejoicing have been removed from the orchard;
no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards.
No one tramples grapes B in the winepresses.
I have put an end to the shouting.
11Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab,
as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.
12When Moab appears
and tires himself out on the high place
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.
13 This is the message that the LORD previously announced about Moab. 14 And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.”
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST DAMASCUS
17A pronouncement concerning Damascus:
Look, Damascus is no longer
a city.
It has become a ruined heap.
2The cities of Aroer are abandoned;
they will be places for flocks.
They will lie down without fear.
3The fortress disappears from Ephraim,
and a kingdom from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the splendor of the Israelites.
This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.
JUDGMENT AGAINST ISRAEL
4On that day
the splendor of Jacob will fade,
and his healthy body C will become emaciated.
5It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain —
his arm harvesting the heads of grain —
and as if one had gleaned heads of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6Only gleanings will be left in Israel,
as if an olive tree had been beaten —
two or three olives at the very top of the tree,
four or five on its fruitful branches.
This is the declaration of the LORD,
the God of Israel.
7 On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not look to the altars they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and shrines D they made with their fingers.
9On that day their strong cities will be
like the abandoned woods and mountaintops
that were abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and you have failed to remember
the rock of your strength;
therefore you will plant beautiful plants
and set out cuttings from exotic vines.
you will help them to grow,
and in the morning
you will help your seed to sprout,
but the harvest will vanish
on the day of disease and incurable pain.
JUDGMENT AGAINST THE NATIONS
12Ah! The roar of many peoples —
they roar like the roaring of the seas.
The raging of the nations —
they rage like the rumble of rushing water.
13The nations rage like the rumble of a huge torrent.
He rebukes them, and they flee far away,
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills
and like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14In the evening — sudden terror!
Before morning — it is gone!
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who ravage us.
THE LORD’S MESSAGE TO CUSH
18Woe to the land of buzzing insect wings A
beyond the rivers of Cush,
2which sends envoys by sea,
in reed vessels over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a nation tall and smooth-skinned,
to a people feared far and near,
a powerful nation with a strange language, B
whose land is divided by rivers.
3All you inhabitants of the world
and you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!
When a trumpet sounds, listen!
4 For the LORD said to me:
I will quietly look out from my place,
like shimmering heat in sunshine,
like a rain cloud in harvest heat.
5For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over
and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,
and tear away and remove the branches.
6They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills
and for the wild animals of the land.
The birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
and all the wild animals the winter.
7 At that time a gift will be brought to the LORD of Armies from C a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers — to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of Armies.
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST EGYPT
19A pronouncement concerning Egypt:
Look, the LORD rides on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols will tremble before him,
and Egypt will lose heart. D
2I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;
each will fight against his brother
and each against his friend,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3Egypt’s spirit will be disturbed within it,
and I will frustrate its plans.
Then they will inquire of idols, ghosts,
and spiritists.
4I will hand over Egypt to harsh masters,
and a strong king will rule it.
This is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Armies.
5The water of the sea will dry up,
and the river will be parched and dry.
6The channels will stink;
they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched.
Reed and rush will wilt.
7The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river,
and all the cultivated areas of the Nile
will wither, blow away, and vanish.
8Then the fishermen will mourn.
All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament,
and those who spread nets on the water will give up.
9Those who work with flax will be dismayed;
those combing it and weaving linen will turn pale. A
10Egypt’s weavers B will be dejected;
all her wage earners will be demoralized.
11The princes of Zoan are complete fools;
Pharaoh’s wisest advisers give stupid advice!
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one C of the wise,
a student of eastern D kings”?
12Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you and reveal
what the LORD of Armies has planned against Egypt.
13The princes of Zoan have been fools;
the princes of Memphis are deceived.
Her tribal chieftains have led Egypt astray.
14The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of confusion.
The leaders have made Egypt stagger in all she does,
as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
15No head or tail, palm or reed,
will be able to do anything for Egypt.
EGYPT WILL KNOW THE LORD
16 On that day Egypt will be like women and will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the LORD of Armies when he raises it against them. 17 The land of Judah will terrify Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble because of what the LORD of Armies has planned against it.
18 On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the LORD of Armies. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun. E,F
19 On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the LORD near her border. 20 It will be a sign and witness to the LORD of Armies in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and leader, and he will rescue them. 21 The LORD will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know the LORD on that day. They will offer sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and fulfill them. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing. Then they will turn to the LORD and he will be receptive to their prayers and heal them.
23 On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will go to Egypt, Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria.
24 On that day Israel will form a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyria — a blessing within the land. 25 The LORD of Armies will bless them, saying, “Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance are blessed.”
19:24-25 “On that day Israel will form a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyia—a blessing within the land. The LORD of Armies will bless them, saying, ‘Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance are blessed.’” This is a remarkable prophecy. Attempts have been made to explain it as if it were already fulfilled. I believe all such attempts to be utter failures. This promise stands on record to be fulfilled at some future day. In those bright days for which some of us are looking—when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea—then this word to Egypt will be verified. And God will be glorified by both Egypt and Assyria, as well as in the land of Israel. It is most encouraging to find Egypt mentioned. Now this I believe to be the literal meaning of the passage. I understand the prophecy to be, in brief, just this: in the latter day Egypt will be converted, and Assyria too, and wonders of grace will be performed in that land. And the people of the land will, with delight, worship the Most High.
D 19:1 Lit Egypt’s heart will melt within it
A 19:9 DSS, Tg; MT reads weavers of white cloth
E 19:18 Some Hb mss, DSS, Sym, Tg, Vg, Arabic; other Hb mss read of Destruction ; LXX reads of Righteousness
NO HELP FROM CUSH OR EGYPT
20In the year that the chief commander, sent by King Sargon of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it — 2 during that time the LORD had spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, take off your sackcloth A and remove the sandals from your feet,” and he did that, going stripped and barefoot — 3 the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, 4 so the king of Assyria will lead the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, stripped and barefoot, with bared buttocks — to Egypt’s shame. 5 Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. 6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Look, this is what has happened to those we relied on and fled to for help to rescue us from the king of Assyria! Now, how will we escape? ’ ”
A JUDGMENT ON BABYLON
21A pronouncement concerning the desert by the sea:
Like storms that pass over the Negev,
it comes from the desert, from the land of terror.
2A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning.”
3Therefore I am B filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
4My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope C
into sheer terror.
5Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet!
Eat and drink!
Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields!
6For the Lord has said to me,
“Go, post a lookout;
let him report what he sees.
7When he sees riders —
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels —
he must pay close attention.”
8Then the lookout D reported,
“Lord, I stand on the watchtower all day,
and I stay at my post all night.
9Look, riders come —
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered, saying,
“Babylon has fallen, has fallen.
All the images of her gods
have been shattered on the ground.”
10My people who have been crushed
on the threshing floor,
I have declared to you
what I have heard from the LORD of Armies,
the God of Israel.
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST DUMAH
11 A pronouncement concerning Dumah: A
One calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night? ”
12The watchman said,
“Morning has come, and also night.
If you want to ask, ask!
Come back again.”
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST ARABIA
13 A pronouncement concerning Arabia:
In the desert B brush
you will camp for the night,
you caravans of Dedanites.
14Bring water for the thirsty.
The inhabitants of the land of Tema
meet C the refugees with food.
15For they have fled from swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bow that is strung,
and from the stress of battle.
16 For the Lord said this to me: “Within one year, as a hired worker counts years, all the glory of Kedar will be gone. 17 The remaining Kedarite archers will be few in number.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.
B 21:3 Lit my waist is, or my insides are
D 21:8 DSS, Syr; MT reads Then a lion
A 21:11 Some Hb mss, LXX read Edom
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST JERUSALEM
22A pronouncement concerning the Valley of Vision:
What’s the matter with you?
Why have all of you gone up to the rooftops?
2The noisy city, the jubilant town,
is filled with celebration.
Your dead did not die by the sword;
they were not killed in battle.
3All your rulers have fled together,
captured without a bow.
All your fugitives were captured together;
they had fled far away.
4Therefore I said,
“Look away from me! Let me weep bitterly!
Do not try to comfort me
about the destruction of my dear D people.”
5For the Lord GOD of Armies
had a day of tumult, trampling, and confusion
in the Valley of Vision —
people shouting E and crying to the mountains;
6Elam took up a quiver
with chariots and horsemen, F
and Kir uncovered the shield.
7Your best valleys were full of chariots,
and horsemen were positioned at the city gates.
8He removed the defenses of Judah.
On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest. 9 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the city of David. You collected water from the lower pool. 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem so that you could tear them down to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the walls for the water of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the one who made it, or consider the one who created it long ago.
12On that day the Lord GOD of Armies
called for weeping, for wailing, for shaven heads,
and for the wearing of sackcloth.
13But look: joy and gladness,
butchering of cattle, slaughtering of sheep and goats,
eating of meat, and drinking of wine —
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! ”
14The LORD of Armies has directly revealed to me:
“This iniquity will not be wiped out for you people as long as you live.” A
The Lord GOD of Armies has spoken.
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST SHEBNA
15 The Lord GOD of Armies said: “Go to Shebna, that steward who is in charge of the palace, and say to him: 16 What are you doing here? Who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, carving your tomb on the height and cutting a resting place for yourself out of rock? 17 Look, you strong man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, 18 wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. B There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be — a disgrace to the house of your lord. 19 I will remove you from your office; you will be ousted from your position.
20 “On that day I will call for my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. 23 I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s family. 24 They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s family: the descendants and the offshoots — all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. 25 On that day” — the declaration of the LORD of Armies — “the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.
22:23-25 “’I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s family. They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s family: the descendants and the offshoots—all the small vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar. On that day’—the declaration of the LORD of Armies—‘the peg that was driven into a firm place will give way, be cut off, and fall, and the load on it will be destroyed.’ Indeed, the LORD has spoken.” Shebna the scribe, having become proud and vain, was to be removed and his place to be occupied by a better man on whom God promised to establish his favor. When Shebna the scribe was removed, it was like the drawing out of a nail that had apparently been well fastened, and all that had been hanging on it came down with its fall. Thus did Shebna’s family suffer for his sins. It is just so in the world today. It would be well if some men who have gone into evil ways had considered this. It is not they alone who suffer. Such is the order and constitution of the commonwealth of manhood, that when the husband sins, the household must feel much of the pain. Often for wife and children, there has been wrung out a cup of bitterness, of which they have been made to drink, not through their own fault but through the fault of the head of the family. But my primary point is that when Shebna was removed, there was room for Eliakim. This is the key to a great spiritual lesson. It has been generally understood that Eliakim is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. While this passage literally refers to Eliakim himself, it may, with great insight, be applied to the Lord Jesus. In order to make room for Eliakim, Shebna—who seemed to be like a nail fastened in a sure place—must be pulled out, and there must be a downfall of his glory. In order to make room for Jesus Christ, there must be an overthrow of someone else first, either self or someone else who is worshiped.
D 22:4 Lit of the daughter of my
E 22:5 Or Vision — a tearing down of a wall, or Vision — Kir raged ; Hb obscure
A PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST TYRE
23A pronouncement concerning Tyre:
Wail, ships of Tarshish,
for your haven has been destroyed.
Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus. C
2Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland,
you merchants of Sidon;
your agents have crossed the sea D
3over deep water.
Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor —
the harvest of the Nile.
She was the merchant among the nations.
4Be ashamed, Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,
for the sea has spoken:
“I have not been in labor or given birth.
I have not raised young men
or brought up young women.”
5When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.
wail, inhabitants of the coastland!
7Is this your jubilant city,
whose origin was in ancient times,
whose feet have taken her
to reside far away?
8Who planned this against Tyre,
the bestower of crowns,
whose traders are princes,
whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?
9The LORD of Armies planned it,
to desecrate all its glorious beauty,
to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.
10Overflow A your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish;
there is no longer anything to restrain you. B
11He stretched out his hand over the sea;
he made kingdoms tremble.
The LORD has commanded
that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.
12He said,
“You will not celebrate anymore,
ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon.
Get up and cross over to Cyprus —
even there you will have no rest! ”
13Look at the land of the Chaldeans —
a people who no longer exist.
Assyria destined it for desert creatures.
They set up their siege towers
and stripped its palaces.
They made it a ruin.
14Wail, ships of Tarshish,
because your fortress is destroyed!
15 On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years — the life span of one king. At the end of seventy years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:
16Pick up your lyre,
stroll through the city,
you forgotten prostitute.
Play skillfully,
sing many a song
so that you will be remembered.
17 And at the end of the seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth. 18 But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the LORD. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the LORD’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.
THE EARTH JUDGED
24Look, the LORD is stripping the earth bare
and making it desolate.
He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants:
2people and priest alike,
servant and master,
female servant and mistress,
buyer and seller,
lender and borrower,
creditor and debtor.
3The earth will be stripped completely bare
and will be totally plundered,
for the LORD has spoken this message.
4The earth mourns and withers;
the world wastes away and withers;
the exalted people of the earth waste away.
5The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,
for they have transgressed teachings,
overstepped decrees,
and broken the permanent covenant.
6Therefore a curse has consumed the earth,
and its inhabitants have become guilty;
the earth’s inhabitants have been burned,
and only a few survive.
7The new wine mourns;
the vine withers.
All the carousers now groan.
8The joyful tambourines have ceased.
The noise of the jubilant has stopped.
The joyful lyre has ceased.
9They no longer sing and drink wine;
beer is bitter to those who drink it.
10The city of chaos is shattered;
every house is closed to entry.
11In the streets they cry A for wine.
All joy grows dark;
earth’s rejoicing goes into exile.
12Only desolation remains in the city;
its gate has collapsed in ruins.
13For this is how it will be on earth
among the nations:
like a harvested olive tree,
like a gleaning after a grape harvest.
14They raise their voices, they sing out;
they proclaim in the west
the majesty of the LORD.
15Therefore, in the east honor the LORD!
In the coasts and islands of the west
honor the name of the LORD,
the God of Israel.
16From the ends of the earth we hear songs:
The Splendor of the Righteous One.
But I said, “I waste away! I waste away! B
Woe is me.”
The treacherous act treacherously;
the treacherous deal very treacherously.
17Panic, pit, and trap await you
who dwell on the earth.
18Whoever flees at the sound of panic
will fall into a pit,
and whoever escapes from the pit
will be caught in a trap.
For the windows on high are opened,
and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
19The earth is completely devastated;
the earth is split open;
the earth is violently shaken.
20The earth staggers like a drunkard
and sways like a hut.
Earth’s rebellion weighs it down,
and it falls, never to rise again.
21On that day the LORD will punish
the army of the heights in the heights
and the kings of the ground on the ground.
22They will be gathered together
like prisoners in a pit.
They will be confined to a dungeon;
after many days they will be punished.
23The moon will be put to shame
and the sun disgraced,
because the LORD of Armies will reign as king
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
and he will display his glory
in the presence of his elders.
SALVATION AND JUDGMENT ON THAT DAY
25LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you. I will praise your name,
for you have accomplished wonders,
plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2For you have turned the city into a pile of rocks,
a fortified city, into ruins;
the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city;
it will never be rebuilt.
3Therefore, a strong people will honor you.
The cities of violent nations will fear you.
4For you have been a stronghold for the poor person,
a stronghold for the needy in his distress,
a refuge from storms and a shade from heat.
When the breath of the violent
is like a storm against a wall,
5like heat in a dry land,
you will subdue the uproar of barbarians.
As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day,
so he will silence the song of the violent.
6On this mountain, A
the LORD of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat,
a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, B fine vintage wine.
7On this mountain
he will destroy the burial shroud,
the shroud over all the peoples,
the sheet covering all the nations;
8he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears
from every face
and remove his people’s disgrace
from the whole earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
9On that day it will be said,
“Look, this is our God;
we have waited for him, and he has saved us.
This is the LORD; we have waited for him.
Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
10For the LORD’s power will rest on this mountain.
But Moab will be trampled in his place C
as straw is trampled in a dung pile.
11He will spread out his arms in the middle of it,
as a swimmer spreads out his arms to swim.
His pride will be brought low,
along with the trickery of his hands.
12The high-walled fortress will be brought down,
thrown to the ground, to the dust.
25:6 “On this mountain, the LORD of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine.” This verse describes the provisions of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although many other interpretations have been suggested for this verse, they are all stale and utterly unworthy of such expressions as those before us. When we behold the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed—when we see him offered up on the chosen mountain—we then discover a fullness of meaning in these gracious words of sacred hospitality. As a festival on earth is looked forward to and looked back on as an oasis and a desert of time, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is to the soul its sweet release from bondage and distress and becomes its abundance and joy.
THE SONG OF JUDAH
26On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city.
Salvation is established as walls and ramparts.
2Open the gates
so a righteous nation can come in —
one that remains faithful.
3You will keep the mind that is dependent on you
in perfect peace,
for it is trusting in you.
4Trust in the LORD forever,
because in the LORD, the LORD himself, is an everlasting rock!
5For he has humbled those who live in lofty places —
an inaccessible city.
He brings it down; he brings it down to the ground;
6Feet trample it,
the feet of the humble,
the steps of the poor.
GOD’S PEOPLE VINDICATED
7The path of the righteous is level;
you clear a straight path for the righteous.
8Yes, LORD, we wait for you
in the path of your judgments.
Our desire is for your name and renown.
9I long for you in the night;
yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks you,
for when your judgments are in the land,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10But if the wicked man is shown favor,
he does not learn righteousness.
In a righteous land he acts unjustly
and does not see the majesty of the LORD.
11LORD, your hand is lifted up to take action,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people
and be put to shame.
Let fire consume your adversaries.
12LORD, you will establish peace
for us,
for you have also done all our work for us.
13LORD our God, lords other than you have owned A us,
but we remember your name alone.
14The dead do not live;
departed spirits do not rise up.
Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them;
you have wiped out all memory of them.
15You have added to the nation, LORD.
You have added to the nation; you are honored.
You have expanded all the borders of the land.
16LORD, they went to you in their distress;
they poured out whispered prayers
because your discipline fell
on them. B
17As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so we were before you, LORD.
18We became pregnant, we writhed in pain;
we gave birth to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.
19Your dead will live; their bodies C will rise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!
For you will be covered with the morning dew, A
and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.
20Go, my people, enter your rooms
and close your doors behind you.
Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.
21For look, the LORD is coming from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth will reveal the blood shed on it
and will no longer conceal her slain.
26:9 “When your judgments are in the land, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Many people shield themselves behind their doubts about the existence of God and permit themselves to indulge in iniquities of which they might be ashamed if they did not make a cloak of their atheism. People should not doubt the existence of God. Such a doubt cannot help them live better, and it likely will cause them to live much worse. It is a great deal more, however, when people think of God as to fear him. There is a fear of God that works well for the common good. There are people, doubtless, who are restrained from excess wickedness by their belief that God has judgments by which he can overthrow them and that at the end they will have to appear before his judgment seat. It will be a sad day for this world when that fear ceases to operate on humanity. But it is something infinitely higher and pertaining to a different sphere when we come truly to know God—when we have not merely a belief in his existence but a distinct consciousness and realization of it and when we can speak of God not as of some personage far away but as of one with whom we are intimately acquainted, one who has been a friend to us, one who has even communed with us as we would talk to a friend. God gives us spiritual vision through Christ, which makes a serious distinction between those who know God and those who do not know him. And it is produced by a wondrous change called regeneration, in which darkness passes away and the true light of God dawns on one’s heart and soul.
LEVIATHAN SLAIN
27On that day the LORD with his relentless, large, strong sword will bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent — Leviathan, the twisting serpent. He will slay the monster that is in the sea.
THE LORD’S VINEYARD
2On that day
sing about a desirable vineyard:
3I am the LORD, who watches over it
to water it regularly.
So that no one disturbs it,
I watch over it night and day.
QUOTE 27:3
God is both a wall and a well to his people—a wall to guard them from their adversaries and a well to supply all their needs out of his ever-living, overflowing fullness.
4I am not angry.
If only there were thorns and briers for me to battle,
I would trample them
and burn them to the ground.
5Or let it take hold of my strength;
let it make peace with me —
make peace with me.
6In days to come, Jacob will take root.
Israel will blossom and bloom
and fill the whole world with fruit.
7Did the LORD strike Israel
as he struck the one who struck Israel?
Was Israel killed like those killed by the LORD?
8You disputed with Israel
by banishing and driving her away. B
He removed her with his severe storm
on the day of the east wind.
9Therefore Jacob’s iniquity will be atoned for in this way,
and the result of the removal of his sin will be this:
when he makes all the altar stones
like crushed bits of chalk,
no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
10For the fortified city will be desolate,
pastures deserted and abandoned like a wilderness.
Calves will graze there,
and there they will spread out and strip its branches.
11When its branches dry out, they will be broken off.
Women will come and make fires with them,
for they are not a people with understanding.
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them,
and their Creator will not be gracious to them.
12On that day
the LORD will thresh grain from the Euphrates River
as far as the Wadi of Egypt,
and you Israelites will be gathered one by one.
13On that day
a great trumpet will be blown,
and those lost in the land of Assyria will come,
as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt;
and they will worship the LORD
at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.
27:3 “I am the LORD, who watches over it to water it regularly. So that no one disturbs it, I watch over it night and day.” This verse follows a terrible threat (v. 1) in which the Lord’s enemies are threatened with “his relentless, large, strong sword.” But even when God has the most anger against his adversaries, he is still full of love for his people. The church of God is here compared to a vineyard. The vine is a tender plant that needs continual care, and if the vineyard is not well fenced and guarded, the enemies of the vine are sure to get in and destroy it. The church is called “a desirable vineyard” (v. 2) because the Lord sets his affections on his people and they are his delight. But what is true of the whole church is also true of every member: the same God who keeps the vineyard also protects every vine, and not only this but his care extends to every little branch, to every spreading leaf, and to every clinging stem of that vine that he undertakes to keep night and day. Our text mentions two much-needed mercies: first, we find continual keeping; second, continual watering. In these gracious words from the Lord, we have a promise that we will be kept from enemies outside and from enemies inside. God is both a wall and a well to his people—a wall to guard them from their adversaries and a well to supply all their needs out of his ever-living, overflowing fullness.
WOE TO SAMARIA
28Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards,
and to the fading flower of its beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley.
Woe to those overcome with wine.
2Look, the Lord has a strong and mighty one —
like a devastating hail storm,
like a storm with strong flooding water.
He will bring it across the land with his hand.
3The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
4The fading flower of his beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley,
will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest.
Whoever sees it will swallow it
while it is still in his hand.
5On that day
the LORD of Armies will become a crown of beauty
and a diadem of splendor
to the remnant of his people,
6a spirit of justice
to the one who sits in judgment,
and strength
to those who repel attacks at the city gate.
7Even these stagger
because of wine
and stumble under the influence of beer:
priest and prophet stagger because of beer,
they are confused by wine.
They stumble because of beer,
they are muddled
in their visions,
they stumble in their judgments.
8Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit;
there is no place without a stench.
9Who is he trying to teach?
Who is he trying to instruct?
Infants A just weaned from milk?
Babies A removed from the breast?
10“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.” B
11For he will speak to this people
with stammering speech
and in a foreign language.
“This is the place of rest;
let the weary rest;
this is the place of repose.”
But they would not listen.
13The word of the LORD will come to them:
“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there,”
so they go stumbling backward,
to be broken, trapped, and captured.
A DEAL WITH DEATH
14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming catastrophe A passes through,
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
16Therefore the Lord GOD said:
“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
the one who believes will be unshakable. B
17And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18Your covenant with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
you will be trampled.
19Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning —
every day and every night.
Only terror will cause you
to understand the message. C
20Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small
to wrap up in.
21For the LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim.
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,
to do his work, his unexpected work,
and to perform his task, his unfamiliar task.
22So now, do not scoff,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Armies
a decree of destruction for the whole land.
GOD’S WONDERFUL ADVICE
23Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention and hear what I say.
24Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed?
Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?
25When he has leveled its surface,
does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin?
He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,
with spelt as their border.
26His God teaches him order;
he instructs him.
27Certainly black cumin is not threshed
with a threshing board,
and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28Bread grain is crushed,
but is not threshed endlessly.
Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
his horses do not crush it.
29This also comes from the LORD of Armies.
He gives wondrous advice;
he gives great wisdom.
28:12 “He had said to them: ‘This is the place of rest; let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.’ But they would not listen.” Isaiah was undoubtedly one of the most eloquent of preachers, and yet he could not win the ears and hearts of those to whom he spoke. It was not the fault of the preacher that Israel rejected his warnings; all the fault lay with that disobedient and stubborn nation. The people of Isaiah’s day were both drunk with wine and drunk with pride. I rejoice greatly when a man gives up his drinking, but I am far happier when he renounces his self-confidence. For if he does not, he may still remain so intoxicated in mind as to refuse the gospel and perish by his own willful rejection of mercy. May the Holy Spirit deliver us all from such a sad condition.
B 28:10 Hb obscure, also in v. 13
A 28:15 Or whip ; Hb obscure, also in v. 18
C 28:19 Or The understanding of the message will cause sheer terror
WOE TO JERUSALEM
29Woe to Ariel, A Ariel,
the city where David camped!
Continue year after year;
let the festivals recur.
2I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to me like an Ariel.
3I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with earth ramps,
and I will set up my siege towers against you.
4You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;
your speech will whisper from the dust.
5Your many foes B will be like fine dust,
and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6you will be punished by the LORD of Armies
with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,
storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.
7All the many nations
going out to battle against Ariel —
all the attackers, the siege works against her,
and those who oppress her —
will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.
8It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk, C but not with wine;
they stagger, D but not with beer.
10For the LORD has poured out on you
an overwhelming urge to E sleep;
he has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document. If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it, F he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” 12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it, G he will say, “I can’t read.”
13 The Lord said:
These people approach me with their speeches
to honor me with lip-service A —
yet their hearts are far from me,
and human rules direct their worship of me. B
14Therefore, I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.
The wisdom of their wise will vanish,
and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.
15Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the LORD.
They do their works in the dark,
and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us? ”
16You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?
17Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?
18On that day the deaf will hear
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19The humble will have joy
after joy in the LORD,
and the poor people will rejoice
in the Holy One of Israel.
20For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed —
21those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap for the one mediating at the city gate
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.
22 Therefore, the LORD who redeemed Abraham says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed,
and his face will no longer be pale.
23For when he sees his children,
the work of my hands within his nation,
they will honor my name,
they will honor the Holy One
of Jacob
and stand in awe of the God
of Israel.
24Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
A 29:1 Or Altar Hearth, or Lion of God ; Hb obscure, also in v. 2
C 29:9 LXX, Tg, Vg read Be drunk
D 29:9 Tg, Vg read wine; stagger
F 29:11 Lit If one gives it to one who knows the document, saying, “Read this, please”
G 29:12 Lit who does not know the document, saying, “Read this, please”
CONDEMNATION OF THE EGYPTIAN ALLIANCE
30Woe to the rebellious children!
This is the LORD’s declaration.
They carry out a plan, but not mine;
they make an alliance,
but against my will,
piling sin on top of sin.
2Without asking my advice
they set out to go down to Egypt
in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.
3But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your humiliation.
4For though his C princes are at Zoan
and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,
5everyone will be ashamed
because of a people who can’t help.
They are of no benefit, they are no help;
they are good for nothing but shame and disgrace.
6 A pronouncement concerning the animals of the Negev: A
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
7Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits.
8Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
9They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,
children who do not want to listen to the LORD’s instruction.
10They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.
Prophesy illusions.
11Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”
12Therefore the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message
and have trusted in oppression and deceit,
and have depended on them,
13this iniquity of yours will be
like a crumbling gap,
a bulge in a high wall
whose collapse will come in an instant — suddenly!
14Its collapse will be like the shattering
of a potter’s jar, crushed to pieces,
so that not even a fragment of pottery
will be found among its shattered remains —
no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth
or scoop water from a cistern.”
15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.”
16You say, “No!
We will escape on horses” —
therefore you will escape! —
and, “We will ride on fast horses” —
but those who pursue you will be faster.
17One thousand will flee at the threat of one,
at the threat of five you will flee,
until you remain
like a solitary pole on a mountaintop
or a banner on a hill.
THE LORD’S MERCY TO ISRAEL
18Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy,
and is rising up to show you compassion,
for the LORD is a just God.
All who wait patiently for him are happy.
19 For people will live on Zion in Jerusalem. You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression, but your Teacher A will not hide any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, 21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22 Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.
23 Then he will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder scattered with winnowing shovel and fork. 25 Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall. 26 The moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter — like the light of seven days — on the day that the LORD bandages his people’s injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted.
ANNIHILATION OF THE ASSYRIANS
27Look there! The LORD B is coming from far away,
his anger burning and heavy with smoke. C
His lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a consuming fire.
28His breath is like an overflowing torrent
that rises to the neck.
He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction
and to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoples
to lead them astray.
29Your singing will be like that
on the night of a holy festival,
and your heart will rejoice
like one who walks to the music of a flute,
going up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the Rock of Israel.
30And the LORD will make the splendor of his voice heard
and reveal his arm striking in angry wrath
and a flame of consuming fire,
in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones.
31Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the LORD.
He will strike with a rod.
32And every stroke of the appointed D staff
that the LORD brings down on him
will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres;
he will fight against him with brandished weapons.
33Indeed! Topheth has been ready
for the king for a long time.
Its funeral pyre is deep and wide,
with plenty of fire and wood.
The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur,
kindles it.
30:19 “You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you.” People constantly struggle to get away from God, but the Lord is willing enough to receive them, to forgive them, to bless them, and to enrich them with every joy. Nor is he merely willing, but he is able, fully able, to assist the troubled heart in every difficulty and to comfort under every distress. Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious and be exalted when he shows mercy. If God were unwilling on his part to receive people to himself, we might readily understand and in a measure justify the unwillingness of people to turn to God. But when the Lord bids them to return, invites them, reasons with them, entreats them, and makes every preparation for his reception, why do people refuse? The Lord has given rich promises to give the help people need, and it is inexcusable ingratitude and wicked obstinacy on the part of those who refuse to come to him so that they still persist in keeping aloof from the Creator. Many choose to perish forever rather than trust in God.
THE LORD, THE ONLY HELP
31Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and who depend on horses!
They trust in the abundance of chariots
and in the large number of horsemen.
They do not look to the Holy One of Israel
and they do not seek the LORD.
2But he also is wise and brings disaster.
He does not go back on what he says;
he will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against the allies of evildoers.
3Egyptians are men, not God;
their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the LORD raises his hand to strike,
the helper will stumble
and the one who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.
4 For this is what the LORD said to me:
As a lion or young lion growls over its prey
when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
and is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their noise,
so the LORD of Armies will come down
to fight on Mount Zion
and on its hill.
5Like hovering birds,
so the LORD of Armies will protect Jerusalem —
by protecting it, he will rescue it,
by sparing it, he will deliver it.
6 Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against. 7 For on that day, every one of you will reject the silver and gold idols that your own hands have sinfully made.
8Then Assyria will fall,
but not by human sword;
a sword will devour him,
but not one made by man.
He will flee from the sword;
his young men will be put to forced labor.
9His rock A will pass away because of fear,
and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag.
This is the LORD’s declaration — whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
THE RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM ANNOUNCED
32Indeed, a king will reign righteously,
and rulers will rule justly.
QUOTE 32:1-2
Christ will be dearer to you in the proportion that you have less and less esteem of yourself.
2Each will be like a shelter from the wind,
a refuge from the rain,
like flowing streams in a dry land
and the shade of a massive rock in an arid land.
3Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4The reckless mind will gain knowledge,
and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
5A fool will no longer be called a noble,
nor a scoundrel said
to be important.
6For a fool speaks foolishness
and his mind plots iniquity.
He lives in a godless way
and speaks falsely about the LORD.
He leaves the hungry empty
and deprives the thirsty of drink.
7The scoundrel’s weapons are destructive;
he hatches plots to destroy the needy with lies,
even when the poor person says what is right.
8But a noble person plans noble things;
he stands up for noble causes.
9Stand up, you complacent women;
listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say,
you overconfident daughters.
10In a little more than a year
you overconfident ones will shudder,
for the grapes will fail
and the harvest will not come.
11Shudder, you complacent ones;
tremble, you overconfident ones!
Strip yourselves bare
and put sackcloth around your waists.
12Beat your breasts in mourning
for the delightful fields and the fruitful vines,
13for the ground of my people
growing thorns and briers,
indeed, for every joyous house in the jubilant city.
14For the palace will be deserted,
the busy city abandoned.
The hill and the watchtower will become
barren places forever,
the joy of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for flocks,
15until the Spirit A from on high is poured out on us.
Then the desert will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest.
16Then justice will inhabit the wilderness,
and righteousness will dwell in the orchard.
17The result of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness
will be quiet confidence forever.
18Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place,
in safe and secure dwellings.
19But hail will level the forest, B
and the city will sink into the depths.
20You will be happy as you sow seed
beside abundant water,
and as you let oxen and donkeys range freely.
32:1-2 “Indeed, a king will reign righteously, and rulers will rule justly. Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the rain, like flowing streams in a dry land and the shade of a massive rock in an arid land.” The historical context of this passage refers to Hezekiah and to other good kings who were the means of great blessings to the declining kingdom of Judah. We can scarcely be thankful enough for a righteous government. If for a few years we could feel the yoke of despotism, we would better appreciate the joys of freedom. This passage praises a king who will reign in righteousness and rulers who will reign in judgment. Such rulers are the protectors of the nation, enriching it by commerce and blessing it with peace. They deserve honor, and the Word of God renders it to them.
But these expressions have a higher reference. They appear to me to be far too full of meaning to be primarily or solely intended for Hezekiah or any other mere man. These words can scarcely be limited only to Hezekiah and his princes. Surely the words are also applicable to Jesus Christ; they can never be fully understood until they are applied to his ever blessed and adorable person. At any rate, if a king who rules in righteousness brings so much blessing on his people, then Jesus, who is peculiarly the King of righteousness, must bring these blessings in the highest conceivable degree. Therefore, these expressions are, beyond all possibility of exaggeration, applicable in their widest sense to him, to the one this day we delight to hail as Lord of all. When we apply the language of the whole verse to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are struck with a number of the metaphors, especially that Jesus Christ is a flowing stream of abounding grace. But he is more so to those who are the most dry. The poor seek alms, the sick seek the physician, and the one who is drowning seeks a lifeboat. Similarly, Christ will be dearer to you in the proportion that you have less and less esteem of yourself.
THE LORD RISES UP
33Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for you.
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.
3The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;
the nations scatter when you rise in your majesty.
4Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered;
people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.
5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6There will be times of security for you —
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
7Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets;
the messengers of peace weep bitterly.
8The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
An agreement has been broken,
cities A despised,
and human life disregarded.
9The land mourns and withers;
Lebanon is ashamed and wilted.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10“Now I will rise up,” says the LORD.
“Now I will lift myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
11You will conceive chaff;
you will give birth to stubble.
Your breath is fire that will consume you.
12The peoples will be burned to ashes,
like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.
13You who are far off, hear what I have done;
you who are near, know my strength.”
14The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling seizes the ungodly:
“Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames? ”
15The one who lives righteously
and speaks rightly,
who refuses profit from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots
and shuts his eyes against evil schemes —
16he will dwell on the heights;
his refuge will be the rocky fortresses,
his food provided, his water assured.
17Your eyes will see the King in his beauty;
you will see a vast land.
18Your mind will meditate on the past terror:
“Where is the accountant? A
Where is the tribute collector? B
Where is the one who spied out our defenses? ” C
19You will no longer see the barbarians,
a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend —
who stammer in a language that is not understood.
20Look at Zion, the city of our festival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up
nor will any of its cords be loosened.
21For the majestic one, our LORD, will be there,
a place of rivers and broad streams
where ships that are rowed will not go,
and majestic vessels will not pass.
22For the LORD is our Judge,
the LORD is our Lawgiver,
the LORD is our King.
He will save us.
23Your ropes are slack;
they cannot hold the base of the mast
or spread out the flag.
Then abundant spoil will be divided,
the lame will plunder it,
24and none there will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven their iniquity.
33:17 “Your eyes will see the King in his beauty.” These words originally had a timely and strictly literal meaning for the people of Jerusalem. When Sennacherib besieged the city of Jerusalem, the inhabitants saw King Hezekiah in garb of mourning. He tore his clothes in sorrow. But the day would come, according to the word of the Lord through Isaiah, when Sennacherib must fall. Those who counted the resources and estimated the strength or the weakness of the city would be far away, and then there would be times of liberty. The people would be able to travel to the utmost ends of the promised land, so they would see the land that is far off. King Hezekiah himself would come out in his robes of excellence and majesty on a joyful occasion to praise the Lord, and thus the eyes of the people would see the king in his beauty. The passage, however, has been frequently used with another import, and that properly enough if it is thoroughly understood that it is by way of accommodation we take it. Have we not by faith seen our King in his robes of mourning? Have we not seen Jesus in the sorrowful weeds of affliction and humiliation while here below? Our faith has gazed on him in the torn garments of his passion. We have beheld him in his agony and bloody sweat, in his crucifixion and his death. But now another and a brighter view awaits us. Our eyes will one day see the King in a more glorious array. We will behold him as John saw him on Patmos. We will behold the King in his beauty, and then we will enter and enjoy the land that is at present far off.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
34You nations, come here and listen;
you peoples, pay attention!
Let the earth and all that fills it hear,
the world and all that comes from it.
2The LORD is angry with all the nations,
furious with all their armies.
He will set them apart for destruction,
giving them over to slaughter.
3Their slain will be thrown out,
and the stench of their corpses will rise;
the mountains will flow D with their blood.
4All E the stars in the sky will dissolve.
The sky will roll up like a scroll,
and its stars will all wither
as leaves wither on the vine,
and foliage on the fig tree.
THE JUDGMENT OF EDOM
5When my sword has drunk its fill F in the heavens,
it will then come down on Edom
and on the people I have set apart for destruction.
6The LORD’s sword is covered with blood.
It drips with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7The wild oxen will be struck G down with them,
and young bulls with the mighty bulls.
Their land will be soaked with H blood,
and their soil will be saturated with fat.
8For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
a time of paying back Edom
for its hostility against Zion.
9Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her soil into sulfur;
her land will become burning pitch.
10It will never go out — day or night.
Its smoke will go up forever.
It will be desolate, from generation to generation;
no one will pass through it forever and ever.
11Eagle owls A and herons B will possess it,
and long-eared owls and ravens will dwell there.
The LORD will stretch out a measuring line
and a plumb line over her
for her destruction and chaos.
12No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,
and all her princes will come to nothing.
13Her palaces will be overgrown with thorns;
her fortified cities, with thistles and briers.
She will become a dwelling for jackals,
an abode C for ostriches.
14The desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
Indeed, the night birds will stay there
and will find a resting place.
15Sand partridges D will make their nests there;
they will lay and hatch their eggs
and will gather their broods under their shadows.
Indeed, the birds of prey will gather there,
each with its mate.
16Search and read the scroll of the LORD:
Not one of them will be missing,
none will be lacking its mate,
because he has ordered it by my E mouth,
and he will gather them by his Spirit.
17He has cast the lot for them;
his hand allotted their portion with a measuring line.
They will possess it forever;
they will dwell in it from generation to generation.
E 34:4 DSS read And the valleys will be split, and all
F 34:5 DSS read sword will appear
H 34:7 Or will drink its fill of
C 34:13 DSS, LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads jackals, grass
THE RANSOMED RETURN TO ZION
35The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;
the desert will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower. F
2It will blossom abundantly
and will also rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
3Strengthen the weak hands,
steady the shaking knees!
4Say to the cowardly:
“Be strong; do not fear!
Here is your God; vengeance is coming.
God’s retribution is coming; he will save you.”
5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6Then the lame will leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,
for water will gush in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7the parched ground will become a pool,
and the thirsty land springs.
In the haunt of jackals, in their lairs,
there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.
8A road will be there and a way;
it will be called the Holy Way.
The unclean will not travel on it,
but it will be for the one who walks the path.
ILLUSTRATION 35:8
This way, being made by divine power, is appointed by divine authority to be the King’s highway for all. Whoever travels by this road is under the protection of the King of kings. Be sure it leads to the right end and runs in the best direction, for the Lord never made an error and never failed in what he attempted. This is no roundabout way, or broken route, or blind alley. Let your faith abide in it, and it will receive its reward. To quit this road for another is to despise the wisdom and grace of God in Christ Jesus, and to prefer the idle inventions of man; this cannot lead to any good, either in this life or the next.
9There will be no lion there,
and no vicious beast will go up on it;
they will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk on it,
10and the redeemed of the LORD will return
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
35:8 “A road will be there and a way; it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks the path.” Israel has come back from captivity on two occasions: first, when the tribes came out of Egypt and the Lord led them through the wilderness; second, when they returned from captivity in Babylon and the Lord restored them to their land. Some of us believe a third return still awaits the chosen people. In the day when the grace of God will change the heart of Israel, the seed of Abraham will again return into the land that God gave to their fathers by a covenant. I think our text looks forward to a future age when the reproach will be rolled away from the promised land and her deserts will be made to blossom as the rose. This prophecy is sufficiently clear to make us expect the Lord will make a way for the return of his ancient people and will restore to them the joy of his salvation. But this is not just for the Jewish people. This way, being made by divine power, is appointed by divine authority to be the King’s highway for all.
SENNACHERIB’S INVASION
36In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field. 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to him.
4 The royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on? A 5 You B think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me? 6 Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. 7 Suppose you say to me, ‘We rely on the LORD our God.’ Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You are to worship at this altar’?
8 “Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them! 9 How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master’s servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the LORD’s approval? The LORD said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’ ”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew A within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”
12 But the royal spokesman replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine? ”
13 Then the royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew:
Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: “Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot rescue you. 15 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will certainly rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ ”
16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace B with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land — a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my power? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands ever rescued his land from my power? So will the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power? ”
21 But they kept silent; they didn’t say anything, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman.
36:5 “Who are you now relying on . . .?” We as Christians can say, by way of commending our God to others, that we feel we can rest on him for the future. We have been in strange places and in peculiar conditions in the past, but we never were thrown where we could not find all we needed in God. Therefore, we are encouraged to believe that when death’s dark night comes with all its gathering of terror, we will fear no evil, for the same God will be with us to be our supporter and our protector. Even if the believer is thrown one way or another, he finds something to stand on: throw him into death, or into life, into the lion’s den, or into the whale’s belly—cast him into fire, or into water—the Christian still trusts in his God and finds him a very present help in time of trouble. In whom do we trust? We can answer boldly, “We trust in him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never cease, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never be sullied, whose wisdom will never be perplexed, and whose perfect goodness never can know a reduction.” If we are trusting in God, let us love him who thus gives himself so we will trust him. No one can truly trust God who does not love him. Whenever there is faith, there love also dwells. We must show our love for God. If it is as a spark hidden in the midst of a heap of refuse, clear out the evil matter, fan the spark into a flame, and add fuel to it till you are all ablaze with love for God. Nothing short of this satisfies God. Everything else is wrong and should not, for one moment, be tolerated by us.
A 36:4 Lit What is this trust that you trust
B 36:5 Many Hb mss, DSS, 2Kg 18:20; MT reads I
HEZEKIAH SEEKS ISAIAH’S COUNSEL
37When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the LORD’s temple. 2 He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace. It is as if children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’ ”
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6 who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says this: Don’t be afraid because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants have blasphemed me. 7 I am about to put a spirit in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’ ”
SENNACHERIB’S LETTER
8 When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish, he left and found him fighting against Libnah. 9 The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “He has set out to fight against you.” So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you by promising that Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: they completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors destroyed rescue them — Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of A Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ’ ”
HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the LORD’s temple and spread it out before the LORD. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 LORD of Armies, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God — you alone — of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 17 Listen closely, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see. Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God. 18 LORD, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made from wood and stone by human hands. So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, LORD our God, save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are God B — you alone.
GOD’S ANSWER THROUGH ISAIAH
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:
Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head
behind your back.
23Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24You have mocked the LORD through C your servants.
You have said, “With my many chariots
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its distant heights,
its densest forest.
25I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands. D
I dried up all the streams of Egypt
with the soles of my feet.”
26Have you not heard?
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass,
and you have crushed fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
27Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind. E
28But I know your sitting down,
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against me.
29Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.
30 “ ‘This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.’
33 “Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow here,
come before it with a shield,
or build up a siege ramp against it.
34He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the LORD’s declaration.
35I will defend this city and rescue it
for my sake
and for the sake of my servant David.”
DEFEAT AND DEATH OF SENNACHERIB
36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning — there were all the dead bodies! 37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then his son Esar-haddon became king in his place.
HEZEKIAH’S ILLNESS AND RECOVERY
38In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ” A
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD. 3 He said, “Please, LORD, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly, and have done what pleases you.” B And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life. C 6 And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city. 7 This is the sign to you from the LORD that he will do what D he has promised: E 8 I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’ ” So the sun’s shadow F went back the ten steps it had descended.
9 A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10I said: In the prime G of my life
I must go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11I said: I will never see the LORD,
the LORD in the land of the living;
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away. H
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;
he cuts me off from the loom.
By nightfall A you make an end of me.
13I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
14I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.
15What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16Lord, by such things people live,
and in every one of them my spirit finds life;
you have restored me to health
and let me live.
17Indeed, it was for my own well-being
that I had such intense bitterness;
but your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.
18For Sheol cannot thank you;
Death cannot praise you.
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19The living, only the living can thank you,
as I do today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.
20The LORD is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the LORD.
21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the LORD’s temple? ”
38:17 “Your love has delivered me from the Pit of destruction, for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.” Here we have the Lord’s promise of absolute pardon. King Hezekiah mentioned this as the cause of his restored peace and health. He could not be healed and cheered till the cause of disease was gone, and that was sin. Sin was the foreign element in his spiritual constitution, and as long as it was there, it caused fret and worry and spiritual disease. But when the sin was gone, health and peace came back. Sin is a heavy load and a weighty curse. Observe also the owner of this burden: King Hezekiah said not sins only but “my sins.” We all must feel the weight and heaviness of our own sins. The next important word, which is a word of great number, refers to the comprehensiveness of that burden: “all.” He says, “All my sins.” What a row of figures it would take to number them all! As to the record of them, surely it would reach around the sky—all my sins. In what balance will they be weighed? What must the wrath be that is due to me on account of them? Think long and humbly of those words—all my sins. Now see how the Lord deals with them. He takes them all, and what does he do? He casts them away. What a deed of omnipotence! None but the Lord Jesus himself could ever have lifted all my sins, but he did lift them and took the whole mass of my sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west. Even more, he cast them behind Jehovah’s back. God has cast all our sins away and effectively made an end of them. He treats us as though our sins had never existed as far as his justice is concerned. Through the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, the Lord looks at us as if we had never sinned at all.
B 38:3 Lit what is good in your eyes
C 38:5 Lit days, also in v. 10
HEZEKIAH’S FOLLY
39At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil — and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and where did they come to you from? ”
Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”
4 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace? ”
Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of Armies: 6 ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the LORD. 7 ‘Some of your descendants — who come from you, whom you father — will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.
GOD’S PEOPLE COMFORTED
40“Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to A Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of forced labor is over,
her iniquity has been pardoned,
and she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.”
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness;
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
4Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.
5And the glory of the LORD will appear,
and all humanity B together will see it,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
6A voice was saying, “Cry out! ”
Another said, C “What should I cry out? ”
“All humanity is grass,
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath D of the LORD blows on them; E
indeed, the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flowers fade,
but the word of our God remains forever.”
9Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.
Jerusalem, herald of good news,
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God! ”
10See, the Lord GOD comes with strength,
and his power establishes his rule.
His wages are with him,
and his reward accompanies him.
11He protects his flock like a shepherd;
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
13Who has directed A the Spirit of the LORD,
or who gave him counsel?
14Who did he consult?
Who gave him understanding
and taught him the paths of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
15Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are considered by him
as empty nothingness.
18With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?
19An idol? — something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?
20A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot. B
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.
21Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?
22God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23He reduces princes to nothing
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
24They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
25“To whom will you compare me,
or who is my equal? ” asks the Holy One.
26Look up C and see!
Who created these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27Jacob, why do you say,
and, Israel, why do you assert:
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?
28Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.
29He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31but those who trust in the LORD
will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
40:1-2 “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.’” God desires his people to be happy. He knows we are not in a strong, vigorous state, and we do not honor his name when we are lacking in holy joy. Let the sinners be uncomfortable. But as for God’s people, it is his great joy that they should be happy. The Lord bids his prophets and preachers again and again to comfort his people. We are often in a condition of warfare or under the chastising rod, but now the Lord appears graciously to his servants and says, “Your warfare is over and your chastisement is ended.” Now the Lord returns in mercy and grants forgiveness of sins.
40:3 “A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.” This voice was John the Baptist’s who came to proclaim the coming Savior. That was the best comfort God’s people could have—the coming of the Lord. So it is now. The joy of the church is the coming of the Lord, and to each one of us the greatest source of joy is the drawing near to us of our Lord.
40:11 “He protects his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those that are nursing.” Jesus our Savior is here described as Jehovah God. Here is divinity: not Jehovah the man of war but Jehovah the shepherd of Israel. Here is the fire of deity, but its gentle, warming influence is felt, and the consuming force is veiled. Greatness connected to gentleness and power linked with affection now stand before us. Love and mercy are joined with omnipotence and wisdom. Such is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the conquering captain of salvation, but he is gentle and lowly of heart as well.
A 40:2 Lit Speak to the heart of
C 40:6 DSS, LXX, Vg read I said
A 40:13 Or measured, or comprehended
B 40:20 Or who is too poor for such an offering, or who chooses mulberry wood as a votive gift ; Hb obscure
THE LORD VERSUS THE NATIONS’ GODS
41“Be silent before me, coasts and islands!
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach; let them testify;
let’s come together for the trial.
2Who has stirred up someone from the east?
In righteousness he calls him to serve. A,B
The LORD hands nations over to him,
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I am the LORD, the first
and with the last — I am he.”
5The coasts and islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.
They approach and arrive.
6Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage! ”
7The craftsman encourages the metalworker;
the one who flattens with the hammer
encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.
8But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
descendant of Abraham, my friend —
9I brought C you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are my servant;
I have chosen you; I haven’t rejected you.
10Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.
11Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13For I am the LORD your God,
who holds your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Do not fear,
I will help you.
14Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you men D of Israel.
I will help you’ —
this is the LORD’s declaration.
Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.
16You will winnow them
and a wind will carry them away,
a whirlwind will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the LORD;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I will answer them.
I am the LORD, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.
18I will open rivers on the barren heights,
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool
and dry land into springs.
19I will plant cedars,
acacias, myrtles, and olive trees in the wilderness.
I will put juniper trees,
elms, and cypress trees together in the desert,
20so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
21“Submit your case,” says the LORD.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
22“Let them come and tell us
what will happen.
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
23Tell us the coming events,
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe A
when we see it.
24Look, you are nothing
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25“I have stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
one from the east who invokes my B name.
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
26Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say, ‘He is right’?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
27I was the first to say to Zion, C
‘Look! Here they are! ’
And I gave Jerusalem a herald with good news.
28When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say.
29Look, all of them are a delusion; A
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.
41:18 “I will open rivers on the barren heights, and springs in the middle of the plains. I will turn the desert into a pool and dry land into springs.” God’s people may be hungry and thirsty, and their anxiety may be great. Their cupboards may be bare. The flocks may be cut off from the fold, and there may not be any cattle in the stalls. But God can feed his people. We may seek water and find none, but he can open rivers in the hills and fountains in the valleys. We must not distrust the God of providence. Many of his children have been brought to their last loaf, and yet they have not starved. But we must understand this verse primarily in the spiritual sense. God’s people often have times when spiritual things are at a low ebb—when we cannot find any joy and scarcely any hope, when we look into our own heart, when all seems as dry as the earth after a long autumn drought. We have no power, no strength, scarcely any desire for spiritual things. But then God in his grace lifts us to great heights of joy. We leap and laugh and rejoice. The Lord turned our captivity into freedom, and he filled our mouths with laughter and our tongues with singing. And he did it all quickly too. God can do things for his people, even wonderful things, that they did not look for. This text is about God’s promises for your physical needs and for your spiritual ones.
THE SERVANT’S MISSION
42“This is my servant; I strengthen him,
this is my chosen one; I delight in him.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice B to the nations.
QUOTE 42:1-3
The delight of the Father is in Christ, and he delights in us because we are in him. If indeed we are members of Christ, he is well pleased with us for Christ’s sake.
2He will not cry out or shout
or make his voice heard in the streets.
3He will not break a bruised reed,
and he will not put out a smoldering wick;
he will faithfully bring justice.
4He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until he has established justice on earth.
The coasts and islands will wait for his instruction.”
5This is what God, the LORD, says —
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it —
6“I am the LORD. I have called you
for a righteous purpose, C
and I will hold you by your hand.
I will watch over you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
7in order to open blind eyes,
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,
and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8I am the LORD. That is my name,
and I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9The past events have indeed happened.
Now I declare new events;
I announce them to you before they occur.”
A SONG OF PRAISE
10Sing a new song to the LORD;
sing his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea with all that fills it,
you coasts and islands with your A inhabitants.
11Let the desert and its cities shout,
the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12Let them give glory to the LORD
and declare his praise in the coasts and islands.
13The LORD advances like a warrior;
he stirs up his zeal like a soldier.
He shouts, he roars aloud,
he prevails over his enemies.
14“I have kept silent from ages past;
I have been quiet and restrained myself.
But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,
gasping breathlessly.
15I will lay waste mountains
and hills
and dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up marshes.
16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;
I will guide them on paths they have not known.
I will turn darkness to light in front of them
and rough places
into level ground.
This is what I will do for them,
and I will not abandon them.
17They will be turned back and utterly ashamed —
those who trust in an idol
and say to a cast image,
‘You are our gods! ’
ISRAEL’S BLINDNESS AND DEAFNESS
18“Listen, you deaf!
Look, you blind, so that
you may see.
19Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf like my messenger I am sending?
Who is blind
like my dedicated one, B
or blind like the servant
of the LORD?
20Though seeing many things, C you pay no attention.
Though his ears are open, he does not listen.”
21Because of his righteousness, the LORD was pleased
to magnify his instruction and make it glorious.
22But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back! ”
23Who among you will hear this?
Let him listen and obey
in the future.
24Who gave Jacob to the robber, D
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the LORD?
Have we not sinned against him?
They were not willing to walk in his ways,
and they would not listen to his instruction.
25So he poured out his furious anger
and the power of war on Jacob.
It surrounded him with fire, but he did not know it;
it burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.
42:1-3 “This is my servant; I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in him. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or shout or make his voice heard in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick; he will faithfully bring justice.” This prophecy is clearly about the Lord Jesus Christ. The title he holds is “servant,” the servant of God the Father. Above all others, Christ was the servant of the highest condescension when he became the servant of servants, though he was and is the King of kings. Christ is also the Father’s “chosen one.” He is first. There is none so choice as Christ. The Father delights in his Son, and this delight is infinite. The Father delights in his person, and he also delights in the work Christ has accomplished. The delight of the Father is in Christ, and he delights in us because we are in him. If indeed we are members of Christ, he is well pleased with us for Christ’s sake. “I have put my Spirit on him.” That was publicly done when Christ was baptized in the Jordan. The Spirit without measure rests and abides on him, our covenant head. Christ’s justice will come to the nations, and we should rejoice that it is so. We Gentiles are no longer excluded. At first the word of God came to the Jews only, but God has given the man Christ Jesus to all of us, and he has brought forth justice to all. Jesus was gentle, retiring, meek, and quiet. His testimony was a powerful one but not a noisy one. He sought no honor from people. He frequently forbade the healed ones to tell of his miracles. He often slipped away rather than come into public notice. He was not contentious. He did not seek to put out the Pharisees, who were like smoking flax. He was never hard toward the tender ones but always gentle as a nurse among her children. Now it is often found that where there is quietness and meekness, there is still great firmness of purpose. Noise and weakness go together, but quietness and strength are frequently combined as well (see v. 4).
C 42:6 Or you by my righteousness ; lit you in righteousness
RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
43Now this is what the LORD says —
the one who created you, Jacob,
and the one who formed you, Israel —
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; you are mine.
2I will be with you
when you pass through the waters,
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not overwhelm you.
You will not be scorched
when you walk through the fire,
and the flame will not burn you.
3For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior.
I have given Egypt as a ransom for you,
Cush and Seba in your place.
4Because you are precious in my sight
and honored, and I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you
and nations instead of your life.
5Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and gather you from the west.
6I will say to the north, ‘Give them up! ’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back! ’
Bring my sons from far away,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth —
7everyone who bears my name
and is created for my glory.
I have formed them; indeed, I have made them.”
8Bring out a people who are blind, yet have eyes,
and are deaf, yet have ears.
9All the nations
are gathered together,
and the peoples are assembled.
Who among them can declare this,
and tell us the former things?
Let them present their witnesses
to vindicate themselves,
so that people may hear and say, “It is true.”
10“You are my witnesses” —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and there will be none after me.
11I — I am the LORD.
Besides me, there is no Savior.
12I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed —
and not some foreign god A among you.
So you are my witnesses” —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“and B I am God.
13Also, from today on I am he alone,
and none can rescue from my power.
I act, and who can reverse it? ”
GOD’S DELIVERANCE OF REBELLIOUS ISRAEL
14 This is what the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says:
Because of you, I will send an army C to Babylon
and bring all of them as fugitives, D
even the Chaldeans in the ships in which they rejoice. E
15I am the LORD, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16This is what the LORD says —
who makes a way in the sea,
and a path through raging water,
17who brings out the chariot and horse,
the army and the mighty one together
(they lie down, they do not rise again;
they are extinguished, put out like a wick) —
18“Do not remember the past events,
pay no attention to things of old.
19Look, I am about to do something new;
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,
rivers F in the desert.
20Wild animals —
jackals and ostriches — will honor me,
because I provide water in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people.
21The people I formed for myself
will declare my praise.
22“But, Jacob, you have not called on me,
because, Israel, you have become weary of me.
23You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with incense. G
24You have not bought me aromatic cane with silver,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25“I — I sweep away your transgressions
for my own sake
and remember your sins no more.
26Remind me. Let’s argue the case together.
Recount the facts, so that you may be vindicated.
27Your first father sinned,
and your mediators have rebelled against me.
28So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary,
and set Jacob apart for destruction
and Israel for scorn.
43:10 “‘You are my witnesses’—this is the LORD’s declaration—‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me.’” In this passage we have before us a great assembly. All the nations of the earth are summoned to produce their rival gods, and the question to be decided is this: Which one of them is the living and true God? The test to answer this question is a most admirable one: Which of these gods has foretold the future? Among all these followers of various idols, which of them can claim that their deity possesses the gift of foresight? Let all the venerated blocks of wood and stone bring forward their witnesses. They could speak of sibylline oracles or of strange, mysterious mutterings that contained doubtful declarations hidden under ambiguous terms. The Lord demanded that there should be presented before this court plain prophecies, distinct declarations of events that could not have been foreseen by human ability. In this respect the gods of the heathen failed, but then Jehovah summoned his people Israel and put them into the witness box and said to them, “You are my witnesses.” And they were able clearly to prove that their God had foretold all the great events of their national history and that each had occurred precisely as he had foretold they would. Not one of Jehovah’s prophecies had failed, and not one word had dropped to the ground. This is the scene presented before us in the text: the whole assembly of nations and all the Jews were brought together to prove that in the sacred books of the Hebrew people they had distinct notification of future events, proving that Jehovah, the God of Israel, is God, since no heathen idols have been able to accurately predict events in the future. It is proper for the church to depart from the precise meaning of the text and to take it in another truthful sense, though not in the one originally intended. Believers in Christ Jesus take the place of Israel of old, and all of us are God’s witnesses this day. A great controversy is going on between God and the world. The world puts its witnesses forward to speak in its name; and we followers of Christ, the chosen ones of the Most High, are ordained to be testifiers and witnesses for our God and for his truth.
SPIRITUAL BLESSING
44“And now listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen.
2This is the word of the LORD
your Maker, the one who formed you from the womb:
Do not fear, Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun A whom I have chosen.
3For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants
and my blessing on your offspring.
4They will sprout among B the grass
like poplars by flowing streams.
5This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’;
another will use the name of Jacob;
still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’
and take on the name of Israel.”
NO GOD OTHER THAN THE LORD
6 This is what the LORD, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the LORD of Armies, says:
I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God but me.
7Who, like me, can announce the future?
Let him say so and make a case before me,
since I have established an ancient people.
Let these gods declare C the coming things,
and what will take place.
8Do not be startled or afraid.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
You are my witnesses!
Is there any God but me?
There is no other Rock; I do not know any.
9All who make idols are nothing,
and what they treasure benefits no one.
Their witnesses do not see or know anything,
so they will be put to shame.
10Who makes a god or casts a metal image
that benefits no one?
11Look, all its worshipers will be put to shame,
and the craftsmen are humans.
They all will assemble and stand;
they all will be startled and put to shame.
12The ironworker labors over the coals,
shapes the idol with hammers,
and works it with his strong arm.
Also he grows hungry and his strength fails;
he doesn’t drink water and is faint.
13The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,
he outlines it with a stylus;
he shapes it with chisels
and outlines it with a compass.
He makes it according to a human form,
like a beautiful person,
to dwell in a temple.
14He cuts down D cedars for his use,
or he takes a cypress or an oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
15A person can use it for fuel.
He takes some of it and warms himself;
also he kindles a fire and bakes bread;
he even makes it into a god and worships it;
he makes an idol from it and bows down to it.
16He burns half of it in a fire,
and he roasts meat on that half.
He eats the roast and is satisfied.
He warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm, I see the blaze.”
17He makes a god or his idol with the rest of it.
He bows down to it and worships;
he prays to it, “Save me, for you are my god.”
18Such people A do not comprehend
and cannot understand,
for he has shut their eyes B so they cannot see,
and their minds so they cannot understand.
19No one comes to his senses; C
no one has the perception or insight to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
I also baked bread on its coals,
I roasted meat and ate.
Should I make something detestable with the rest of it?
Should I bow down to a block of wood? ”
20He feeds on D ashes.
His deceived mind has led him astray,
and he cannot rescue himself,
or say, “Isn’t there a lie in my right hand? ”
21Remember these things, Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you, you are my servant;
Israel, you will never be forgotten by me. E
22I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,
and your sins like a mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.
23Rejoice, heavens, for the LORD has acted;
shout, depths of the earth.
Break out into singing, mountains,
forest, and every tree in it.
For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
and glorifies himself through Israel.
RESTORATION OF ISRAEL THROUGH CYRUS
24 This is what the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says:
I am the LORD,
who made everything;
who stretched out the heavens by myself;
who alone spread out the earth;
25who destroys the omens of the false prophets
and makes fools of diviners;
who confounds the wise
and makes their knowledge foolishness;
26who confirms the message of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers;
who says to Jerusalem, “She will be inhabited,”
and to the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,”
and I will restore her ruins;
27who says to the depths of the sea, “Be dry,”
and I will dry up your rivers;
28who says to Cyrus, “My shepherd,
he will fulfill all my pleasure”
and says to Jerusalem, “She will be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Its foundation will be laid.”
44:22 “I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” The Lord’s declaration here was not made to a pious and praying people who kept near their God but was spoken to idolatrous Israel. After drinking from the fountain of living waters, they turned aside to drink the drops that were to be found in broken and dirty cisterns. It was spoken to a people who, after they had tasted the good things of God and known the high privileges of true religion, still turned aside with the nations of the world, abandoned the God of Jacob, made for themselves graven images that were not gods, provoked the Lord to jealousy, and moved him to wrath against them on account of their sins. These words of wondrous mercy were not spoken to the nation of Israel while living near God—who would even then have had sins to mourn over and to be forgiven—but they were addressed to a brutish and foolish nation, to a harlot people who had committed wickedness with all the idols of the heathen. They had offered incense on their hills to false gods, made their children pass through the fire of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom, were filled with abominable and loathsome sins, had committed the crimes of Sodom, and had bowed down to Baal and Ashtaroth. This promise was made to those who had wandered far from God not because they repented or because they believed but simply and entirely from the sovereign grace of God. The Lord did this because he had set his affection on them. He would not turn away from them because, having sworn to their father Abraham that he would bless his seed forever, he still remembered them. He did not forget them, even though they had forgotten him days without number, and even though he promised to provide them a Savior and also sent them, by the mouth of his prophet, this comfortable assurance that he had blotted out their sins and redeemed them.
B 44:4 Some Hb mss, DSS, LXX read as among
D 44:14 Lit To cut down for himself
B 44:18 Or for their eyes are shut
45The LORD says this to Cyrus, his anointed,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and disarm A kings,
to open doors before him,
and even city gates will not
be shut:
2“I will go before you
and level the uneven places; B
I will shatter the bronze doors
and cut the iron bars in two.
3I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches from secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD.
I am the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
4I call you by your name,
for the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen one.
I give a name to you,
though you do not know me.
5I am the LORD, and there is no other;
there is no God but me.
I will strengthen C you,
though you do not know me,
6so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
that there is no one but me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7I form light and create darkness,
I make success and create disaster;
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
8“Heavens, sprinkle from above,
and let the skies shower righteousness.
Let the earth open up
so that salvation will sprout
and righteousness will spring up with it.
I, the LORD, have created it.
9“Woe to the one who argues with his Maker —
one clay pot among many. D
Does clay say to the one forming it,
‘What are you making? ’
Or does your work say,
‘He has no hands’? E
10Woe to the one who says to his father,
‘What are you fathering? ’
or to his mother, F
‘What are you giving birth to? ’ ”
11This is what the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker, says:
“Ask me what is to happen to G my sons,
and instruct me about the work of my hands.
12I made the earth,
and created humans on it.
It was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded everything in them.
13I have stirred him up in righteousness,
and will level all roads for him.
He will rebuild my city,
and set my exiles free,
not for a price or a bribe,”
says the LORD of Armies.
GOD ALONE IS THE SAVIOR
14 This is what the LORD says:
“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
will come over to you
and will be yours;
they will follow you,
they will come over in chains
and bow down to you.
They will confess A to you,
‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other;
there is no other God.’ ”
15Yes, you are a God who hides,
God of Israel, Savior.
16All of them are put to shame, even humiliated;
the makers of idols go in humiliation together.
17Israel will be saved by the LORD
with an everlasting salvation;
you will not be put to shame or humiliated
for all eternity.
18For this is what the LORD says —
the Creator of the heavens,
the God who formed the earth and made it,
the one who established it
(he did not create it to be
a wasteland,
but formed it to be inhabited) —
he says, “I am the LORD,
and there is no other.
19I have not spoken in secret,
somewhere in a land of darkness.
I did not say to the descendants of Jacob:
Seek me in a wasteland.
I am the LORD, who speaks righteously,
who declares what is right.
20“Come, gather together,
and approach, you fugitives of the nations.
Those who carry their wooden idols
and pray to a god who cannot save
have no knowledge.
21Speak up and present your case B —
yes, let them consult each other.
Who predicted this long ago?
Who announced it from ancient times?
Was it not I, the LORD?
There is no other God but me,
a righteous God and Savior;
there is no one except me.
22Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth.
For I am God,
and there is no other.
23By myself I have sworn;
truth has gone from my mouth,
a word that will not be revoked:
Every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will swear allegiance.
24It will be said about me, ‘Righteousness and strength
are found only in the LORD.’ ”
All who are enraged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.
25All the descendants of Israel
will be justified and find glory through the LORD.
45:24-25 “It will be said about me, ‘Righteousness and strength are found only in the LORD.’ All who are enraged against him will come to him and be put to shame. All the descendants of Israel will be justified and find glory through the LORD.” There are two ways men will be made to bow the knee before God. Some of them will bow unwillingly when they feel the weight of his iron rod. Others will bow joyfully before him when they feel the power of his grace. I believe this text should be understood in that sweet and merciful manner. Here we see how God’s power over humanity is exerted in a way of grace, although it is also true that his power is demonstrated in a way of judgment toward those who reject his mercy. The expressions of this text should be seen as the decrees, determinations, promises, and declarations of the God of grace. There is no doubt about this great truth of God—Christ did not die in vain, and the gospel has not been sent into the world for nothing. There will be a people who are saved in the Lord Jesus Christ and who will enjoy eternal life. There will be a multitude that no man can number who will bow before Jesus as Lord and Savior. There will be an adequate reward for the pain he endured on the cross that will satisfy even the infinite heart of the great Son of God himself. I want to share five truths regarding this passage. First, there will be a people who will acknowledge the truth about God. Second, these people will not only acknowledge the truth about God, but they will act on it. Third, they will also come to be ashamed of their former opposition to the truth about God. Fourth, those who are the Lord’s people will be justified; that is, he will declare them to be righteous. Fifth, those who come to Christ by faith and are justified will glorify God.
A 45:1 Lit unloosen the waist of
B 45:2 DSS, LXX read the mountains
D 45:9 Lit a clay pot with clay pots of the ground
E 45:9 Or making? Your work has no hands.
THERE IS NO ONE LIKE GOD
46Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.
Idols depicting them are consigned to beasts and cattle.
The images you carry are loaded,
as a burden for the weary animal.
2The gods cower; they crouch together;
they are not able to rescue the burden,
but they themselves go into captivity.
3“Listen to me, house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house
of Israel,
who have been sustained from the womb,
carried along since birth.
QUOTE 46:3-4
Nothing in the past has shaken the foundation of our faith. Nothing in the present can move it. Nothing in the future will undermine it. Whatever may occur in the ages to come, there will always be good reason for believing in Jehovah and his faithful Word. The great truths he has revealed will never be disproved. The great promises he has made will never be retracted. The great purposes he has devised will never be abandoned.
4I will be the same until your old age,
and I will bear you up when you turn gray.
I have made you, and I will carry you;
I will bear and rescue you.
5“Who will you compare me or make me equal to?
Who will you measure me with,
so that we should be like each other?
6Those who pour out their bags of gold
and weigh out silver on scales —
they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god.
Then they kneel and bow down to it.
7They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;
they set it in its place, and there it stands;
it does not budge from its place.
They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer;
it saves no one from his trouble.
8“Remember this and be brave; A
take it to heart, you transgressors!
9Remember what happened long ago,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and no one is like me.
10I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: my plan will take place,
and I will do all my will.
11I call a bird of prey B from the east,
a man for my purpose from a far country.
Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.
I have planned it; I will also do it.
12Listen to me, you hardhearted,
far removed from justice:
13I am bringing my justice near;
it is not far away,
and my salvation will not delay.
I will put salvation in Zion,
my splendor in Israel.
46:3-4 “Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same until your old age, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you.” The confidence of Babylon is buried among her heaps of rubbish, for her gods have fallen from their thrones. “Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.” As for us, our trust is in the living God who lives to bear and carry his chosen, even in Jehovah, the only true Lord. We begin our spiritual life by faith in him, for until faith comes, we have no power to become the sons of God. Our spiritual life will have to be continued in the same way of trust in the Lord. We live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. We rejoice that we will never have to change our confidence, for our God will never be carried into captivity or torn from his throne. Our faith is built on a rock that can never be moved. Nothing in the past has shaken the foundation of our faith. Nothing in the present can move it. Nothing in the future will undermine it. Whatever may occur in the ages to come, there will always be good reason for believing in Jehovah and his faithful Word. The great truths he has revealed will never be disproved. The great promises he has made will never be retracted. The great purposes he has devised will never be abandoned. So long as we live, we will always have a refuge, a hope, a confidence, that can never be removed. “I will bear you up when you turn gray” is not just a promise for those in old age. But it is also a promise to the people of God at any and every period between their birth and their death. While the Lord does not say he guarantees all his people will reach old age, he does say he has carried us from the womb and will carry us still. The Lord is good to us in all tenses and in all ways. We will not consider the mercy of God to be only for those who are near the end of their pilgrimage but also for his people throughout their wilderness journey—from the day when they first ate of the paschal lamb and left Egypt even to that hour when the Jordan was dried up and they took possession of the land that flows with milk and honey. Our experimental dealings with God make us know that he is our gracious helper from the first to the last. Bel and Nebo disappoint their votaries, but Jehovah is our God forever and ever, and he will be our guide even to death.
THE FALL OF BABYLON
47“Go down and sit in the dust,
Virgin Daughter Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
2Take millstones and grind flour;
remove your veil,
strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,
wade through the streams.
3Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your disgrace will be exposed.
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one.” A
4The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer;
The LORD of Armies is his name.
5“Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
6I was angry with my people;
I profaned my possession,
and I handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
7You said, ‘I will be
the queen forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.
8“So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,
who says to herself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’
9These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the potency of your spells.
10You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.’
11But disaster will happen to you;
you will not know how to avert it.
And it will fall on you,
but you will be unable to ward it off. C
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.
12So take your stand
with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.
Perhaps you will be able
to succeed;
perhaps you will inspire terror!
13You are worn out with your many consultations.
So let the astrologers stand and save you —
those who observe the stars,
those who predict monthly
what will happen to you.
14Look, they are like stubble;
fire burns them.
They cannot rescue themselves
from the power A of the flame.
This is not a coal for warming themselves,
or a fire to sit beside!
15This is what they are to you —
those who have wearied you
and have traded with you from your youth —
each wanders on his own way;
no one can save you.
47:14 “Look, they are like stubble; fire burns them. They cannot rescue themselves from the power of the flame. This is not a coal for warming themselves, or a fire to sit beside!” This verse is part of a terrible description of God’s judgment on Babylon. The prophet had clearly written out the indictment of the Lord against that tyrannical people, and having proved their guilt, he pronounced their sentence. He accused them of showing no mercy to the Lord’s people whom he had given into their hands because of his judgment on them. He charged them with pride and boastfulness. He testified against their boldness and presumption; for they were given to pleasures and lived carelessly, expecting no difficulties. On account of these iniquities, the destruction of Babylon was to be sudden, terrible, and complete. They were to be so utterly destroyed that there would not be one single comfortable memory connected with their state. There would be a fire to consume them but none to keep them warm. The burning should not be as when wood crackles in the flame, when glowing ashes or a charred log may be left, but they should be as stubble, utterly consumed, without vestige or remembrance. We have great evidence of the truthfulness and divinity of Scripture furnished by such prophecies that have been fulfilled. In the good providence of God, there have been dug out from mounds of rubbish and heaps of decayed matter and slabs and stones, bearing in their carvings and inscriptions, the most amazing proofs of what the Lord has spoken through his prophets. It is a truth beyond dispute that God’s justice is not partial and that the description of the destruction he awards to one class of sinners is a most fair picture of what he will do with others. For God has two or three ways of dealing with men in his justice. He judges through his righteousness, and he awards vengeance to impenitent people by an established and invariable rule. For us today the ruin of Babylon is a representation and a metaphorical description of the destruction that will surely come on impenitent sinners—in that day when the Lord Jesus returns from heaven to judge his enemies and to rid himself of his adversaries.
ISRAEL MUST LEAVE BABYLON
48“Listen to this, house of Jacob —
those who are called by the name Israel
and have descended from B Judah,
who swear by the name of the LORD
and declare the God of Israel,
but not in truth or righteousness.
2For they are named after the Holy City,
and lean on the God of Israel;
his name is the LORD of Armies.
3I declared the past events long ago;
they came out of my mouth; I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they occurred.
4Because I know that you are stubborn,
and your neck is iron C
and your forehead bronze,
5therefore I declared to you
long ago.
I announced it to you before it occurred,
so you could not claim, ‘My idol caused them;
my carved image and cast idol control them.’
6You have heard it. Observe it all.
Will you not acknowledge it?
From now on I will announce new things to you,
hidden things that you have not known.
7They have been created now, and not long ago;
you have not heard of them before today,
so you could not claim, ‘I already knew them! ’
8You have never heard; you have never known;
for a long time your ears have not been open.
For I knew that you were very treacherous,
and were known as a rebel from birth.
9I will delay my anger for the sake of my name,
and I will restrain myself for your benefit
and for my praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.
10Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested A you in the furnace of affliction.
11I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own,
for how can I B be defiled?
I will not give my glory to another.
12“Listen to me, Jacob,
and Israel, the one called by me:
I am he; I am the first,
I am also the last.
13My own hand founded
the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summoned them,
they stood up together.
14All of you, assemble and listen!
Who among the idols C has declared these things?
The LORD loves him; D
he will accomplish his will against Babylon,
and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
15I — I have spoken;
yes, I have called him;
I have brought him,
and he will succeed
in his mission.
16Approach me and listen to this.
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;
from the time anything existed, I was there.”
And now the Lord GOD
has sent me and his Spirit.
17 This is what the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says:
I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18If only you had paid attention to my commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off
or eliminated from my presence.
20Leave Babylon,
flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with a shout of joy,
proclaim this,
let it go out to the end of the earth;
announce,
“The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob! ”
21They did not thirst
when he led them through the deserts;
he made water flow from the rock for them;
he split the rock, and water gushed out.
22“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the LORD.
48:9-11 “I will delay my anger for the sake of my name, and I will restrain myself for your benefit and for my praise, so that you will not be destroyed. Look, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the surface of affliction. I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own, for how can I be defiled? I will not give my glory to another.” This passage illustrates divine love. First, it illustrates the conversion of the sinner; second, the reclaiming of the backslider. God’s mercy was extended to both sinners and backsliders in Old Testament times just as it has been in the church age. The record of the Old Testament indicates that the people of Israel in all their generations were full of evil. Finally, the Lord appeared to grow weary of keeping his house among such ungracious children and unfaithful servants, and so he broke up the house altogether. He gave up his temple to be destroyed, the whole land to be ravaged, and the inhabitants to be carried away captive into Babylon. The Lord was angry with his heritage, and therefore he gave his holy and beautiful house to the fire, and the carved works for it were broken down with hammers, while the whole Jewish state was utterly shattered so that the whole kingdom disappeared. Yet such is the immutability of God in his affection that he had not long sent his people into captivity before his heart yearned toward them again. The Lord looked for a reason in their past conduct for him to show mercy but found none. He looked at their present character for a plea and found none, for even while they were under the rod they exhibited hardness of heart, so that even the eyes of mercy could see no reason for favor in them. What should the Lord do? He would not act without a reason: there must be something to justify his mercy and show the wisdom of his way. Since there is none in the offender, where would mercy find her plea? Behold the inventiveness of eternal love. The Lord falls back on himself, and within himself finds a reason for his grace. He would do it for his name’s sake, and he would not give his glory to another. Finding a motive in his own glory that was bound up in the existence of Israel, and would have been compromised by their destruction, he turned to them in love and kindness. Cyrus wrote the decree of emancipation, the Israelites came back to the land, and once again they enjoyed the fruits of the promised land.
THE SERVANT BRINGS SALVATION
49Coasts and islands, A listen to me;
distant peoples, pay attention.
The LORD called me before I was born.
He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.
2He made my words like a sharp sword;
he hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me like a sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
3He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4But I myself said: I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and futility;
yet my vindication is with the LORD,
and my reward is with my God.
5And now, says the LORD,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is my strength —
6he says,
“It is not enough for you to be my servant
raising up the tribes of Jacob
and restoring the protected ones of Israel.
I will also make you a light for the nations,
to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
7This is what the LORD,
the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says
to one who is despised,
to one abhorred by people, B
to a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see, princes will stand up,
and they C will all bow down
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel — and he has chosen you.”
8 This is what the LORD says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9saying to the prisoners: Come out,
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
10They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate one will guide them,
and lead them to springs.
11I will make all my mountains into a road,
and my highways will be
raised up.
12See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west, A
and from the land of Sinim. B,C
13Shout for joy, you heavens!
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the LORD has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
QUOTE 49:13
It is a theme for wonder, worthy of the consideration of heaven and earth that the infinite God should stoop so low as to comfort finite and fallible creatures such as we are.
ZION REMEMBERED
14Zion says, “The LORD has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me! ”
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17Your builders D hurry;
those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.
18Look up, and look around.
They all gather together; they come to you.
As I live” —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“you will wear all your children E as jewelry,
and put them on as a bride does.
19For your waste and desolate places
and your land marked by ruins —
will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20Yet as you listen, the children
that you have been deprived of will say,
‘This place is too small for me;
make room for me so that I may settle.’
21Then you will say within yourself,
‘Who fathered these for me?
I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,
exiled and wandering —
but who brought them up?
See, I was left by myself —
but these, where did they come from? ’ ” A
22 This is what the Lord GOD says:
Look, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and raise my banner
to the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
23Kings will be your guardians
and their queens B your nursing mothers.
They will bow down to you
with their faces to the ground
and lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who put their hope in me
will not be put to shame.
24Can the prey be taken from a mighty man,
or the captives of a tyrant C be delivered?
25For this is what the LORD says:
“Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken,
and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered;
I will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I will save your children.
26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they will be drunk with their own blood
as with sweet wine.
Then all people will know
that I, the LORD, am your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
49:13 “Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice. Mountains break into joyful shouts. For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” Isaiah’s joy was too great for him to give adequate expression to it with his own solitary tongue, so he called on the great mountainous masses of inanimate nature to express the greatness of God’s love and tender mercy in comforting his people. And, when we come to think of it rightly, we see at once that it is a theme for wonder, worthy of the consideration of heaven and earth that the infinite God should stoop so low as to comfort finite and fallible creatures such as we are. Were there no more worlds to be created? Were there no other deeds of power and glory to be performed so that he must come to this poor earth to comfort the sick, the sad, and the sorrowing? The Lord is great in the majesty of his power, but he is equally great in the condescending character of his love and compassion. After Jehovah’s great creative works were done, the creation must not be slack in its music when his condescending works are done also—when from the highest heavens he stoops to those in deepest woe to lift them up from their sins and sorrows by the power of his eternal compassion. In looking simply at these six words, “The LORD has comforted his people,” we see, first, that the Lord has a special people. The children of God are his people in this sense that they enjoy his special love. Second, they are a people who need to be comforted. You never find God giving any blessings that are not really necessary, and his people have great need of his comfort at many times in their lives. And third, the Lord gives them the comfort they need.
B 49:12 DSS read of the Syenites
C 49:12 Perhaps modern Aswan in southern Egypt
50This is what the LORD says:
Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
that I used to send her away?
Or to which of my creditors did I sell you?
Look, you were sold for your iniquities,
and your mother was sent away
because of your transgressions.
2Why was no one there when I came?
Why was there no one to answer when I called?
Is my arm too weak to redeem?
Or do I have no power to rescue?
Look, I dry up the sea by my rebuke;
I turn the rivers into a wilderness;
their fish rot because of lack of water
and die of thirst.
3I dress the heavens in black
and make sackcloth their clothing.
THE OBEDIENT SERVANT
4The Lord GOD has given me
the tongue of those who are instructed
to know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He awakens me each morning;
he awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed.
5The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
I did not turn back.
6I gave my back to those who beat me,
and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard.
I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.
QUOTE 50:6
One might ask, “Did God really die?” No, for God cannot die; yet he who died was God.
7The Lord GOD will help me;
therefore I have not been humiliated;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
8The one who vindicates me is near;
who will contend with me?
Let us confront each other. A
Who has a case against me? B
Let him come near me!
9In truth, the Lord GOD will help me;
who will condemn me?
Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment;
a moth will devour them.
10Who among you fears the LORD
and listens to his servant?
Who among you walks in darkness,
and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the LORD;
let him lean on his God.
11Look, all you who kindle a fire,
who encircle yourselves with C torches;
walk in the light of your fire
and of the torches you have lit!
This is what you’ll get from my hand:
you will lie down in a place of torment.
50:6 “I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard. I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.” This is Jesus the Messiah, the peerless sufferer. And this one who suffered, on whom men spat, was the eternal God. One might ask, “Did God really die?” No, for God cannot die; yet he who died was God. He who was a prisoner in Pilate’s hall, accused of sedition, was the King of kings. He who was taken from that hall and covered with an old red cloak and knelt before in mockery, he who had a reed put into his right hand, was none other than the almighty Lord. And he on whose sacred shoulders fell the cruel flagellation of the Roman scourge until the whip made deep scarlet furrows down his blessed back, he was the God who created and who still sustains the heavens and the earth and all things that exist or ever have existed. He was a suffering man, but at the same time he was the Son of God—and he is the Son of God today—and God the Son too. As you think of his pain, couple with it the thought that he bore all that agony voluntarily that we might be saved. No man could have scarred that blessed back of his unless Christ had been willing, out of mighty love, to suffer in this way for his people. None could have plucked Jesus’s hair unless he had put himself into the position to have it plucked, in order that he might redeem us from all our iniquities. God’s people often suffer for the cause of Christ because they cannot avoid it. But Jesus was spit on, and he could have withered into nothingness all who stood about him had he so chosen. Blessed be the majesty of that omnipotence that controlled omnipotence so that mighty love could prevail and not rescue the suffering Savior from the cross so he could redeem wicked sinners.
SALVATION FOR ZION
51Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.
3For the LORD will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and he will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
4Pay attention to me, my people,
and listen to me, my nation;
for instruction will come from me,
and my justice for a light to the nations.
I will bring it about quickly.
5My righteousness is near,
my salvation appears,
and my arms will bring justice to the nations.
The coasts and islands will put their hope in me,
and they will look
to my strength. A
6Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats. B
But my salvation will last forever,
and my righteousness will never be shattered.
7Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my instruction:
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
8For moths will devour them like a garment,
and worms will eat them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
and my salvation for all generations.
9Wake up, wake up!
Arm of the LORD, clothe yourself with strength.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations long ago.
Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahab to pieces,
who pierced the sea monster?
10Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?
11And the redeemed of the LORD will return
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12I — I am the one
who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear humans who die,
or a son of man who is given up like grass?
13But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?
14The prisoner A is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
15For I am the LORD your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar —
his name is the LORD of Armies.
16I have put my words in your mouth,
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
in order to plant B the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”
17Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of his fury
from the LORD’s hand;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs —
the cup that causes people to stagger.
18There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
19These two things have happened to you:
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I C comfort you?
20Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the LORD’s fury,
the rebuke of your God.
21So listen to this, suffering
and drunken one — but not with wine.
22This is what your Lord says —
the LORD, even your God,
who defends his people —
“Look, I have removed from your hand
the cup that causes staggering;
that goblet, the cup of my fury.
You will never drink it again.
23I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you:
Lie down, so we can walk over you.
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.
51:12-13 “I—I am the one who comforts you. Who are you that you should fear humans who die, or a son of man who is given up like grass? But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You are in constant dread all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, who has set himself to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor?” Objects often influence us out of proportion to their value because of their nearness. For instance, the moon is a small, insignificant body compared with the sun, yet it has far more influence over the tides and many other matters in the world than the sun has simply because it is so much nearer to the earth than the sun is. The life that is to come is infinitely more important than the life that now is, and I hope that in our inmost hearts we consider that the things that are seen and temporal are mere trifles compared with the things that are not seen and eternal. Yet it often happens that the less important matters have a greater influence over us than those that are far more important, simply because the things of earth are so much nearer to us. Heaven is infinitely more to be desired than any joy of earth, yet it seems far off; and, therefore, these fleeting joys may give us greater present comfort. The wrath of God is far more to be dreaded than the anger of man, yet sometimes a frown or a rebuke from a fellow creature will have more effect on our minds than the thought of the anger of God. This is because the one appears to be remote, and while we are still in this body, we are so near to the other. It sometimes happens that a matter scarcely worthy of the thought of an immortal spirit will fret and worry us from day to day. There is some oppressor, as the text puts it, whom we dread and fear continually, yet we forget the Almighty God who is on our side, who is stronger than all the oppressors who have ever lived and who has all people and all things under his control. The reason we act this way is because we think of God as if he were far off, while we can see the oppressor with our eyes, and we can hear with our ears his threatening words. We must turn our thoughts away from the distress of the present to the joy and comfort that, though more remote, ought still to be more powerful over the mind and heart because of real intrinsic greatness of the remote. Further, we often find that many fears entertained by good men and women are really groundless, and some fears would die at once if we dared simply to question them.
52“Wake up, wake up;
put on your strength, Zion!
Put on your beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, the Holy City!
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.
2Stand up, shake the dust
off yourself!
Take your seat, Jerusalem.
Remove the bonds A from your neck,
captive Daughter Zion.”
3For this is what the LORD says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without silver.”
4For this is what the Lord GOD says:
“At first my people went down to Egypt to reside there,
then Assyria oppressed them without cause. B
5So now what have I here” —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“that my people are taken away for nothing?
Its rulers wail” —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“and my name is continually blasphemed all day long.
6Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore they will know on that day
that I am he who says:
Here I am.”
7How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the herald,
who proclaims peace,
who brings news of good things,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns! ”
8The voices of your watchmen —
they lift up their voices,
shouting for joy together;
for every eye will see
when the LORD returns to Zion.
9Be joyful, rejoice together,
you ruins of Jerusalem!
For the LORD has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10The LORD has displayed his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11Leave, leave, go out from there!
Do not touch anything unclean;
go out from her, purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
12For you will not leave in a hurry,
and you will not have to take flight;
because the LORD is going before you,
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
THE SERVANT’S SUFFERING AND EXALTATION
13See, my servant C will be successful; D
he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted.
14Just as many were appalled at you E —
his appearance was so disfigured
that he did not look like a man,
and his form did not resemble a human being —
15so he will sprinkle many nations. F
Kings will shut their mouths because of him,
for they will see what had not been told them,
and they will understand what they had not heard.
52:2 “Stand up, shake the dust off yourself! Take your seat, Jerusalem. Remove the bonds from your neck, captive Daughter Zion.” At the time of their difficulty, these words to the Hebrew people were filled with counsel and bright with hope. But from the connection in which it stands, this verse supplies a pointed practical address of sterling value not to be limited by any private interpretation. Such a charge was well fitted for Israel of old. Such counsel would be suitable to any church in a low condition. Such advice is equally adapted to any Christian who has fallen into a low state, who is groveling in the dust or among the ashes of Sodom. He is told to rise from the ground and sit down on a throne, for Christ has made him a king and a priest. He is admonished to unbind all the cords that are on him, that he may be free and happy in the Lord.
A 52:2 Alt Hb tradition reads The bonds are removed
B 52:4 Or them at last, or them for nothing
53Who has believed what we have heard? G
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2He grew up before him like a young plant
and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form
or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from; A
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
4Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn
regarded him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
6We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the LORD has punished him
for B the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
and who considered his fate? C
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
9He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
but he was with a rich man at his death,
because he had done no violence
and had not spoken deceitfully.
10Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely. A
When B you make him
a guilt offering,
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished.
11After his anguish,
he will see light C and be satisfied.
By his knowledge,
my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will carry their iniquities.
12Therefore I will give him D the many as a portion,
and he will receive E the mighty as spoil,
because he willingly submitted to death,
and was counted among the rebels;
yet he bore the sin of many
and interceded for the rebels.
53:1 “Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” No one ever believes prophets or preachers except through the work of God’s Spirit and grace. The Lord’s arm must be revealed, or else his truth that is proclaimed by his servants will never be accepted. Every prophet and preacher can speak these words of Isaiah, as if they all stood together and shared this lament about how few respond to their message.
53:2 “He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him.” Isaiah described our Lord Jesus as growing up like “a young plant,” a weak branch, a suckling, a sapling, a plant that could easily be destroyed. Jesus Christ in his humiliation appeared in great feebleness. He was born a helpless babe. He was, in his infancy, in great danger from the hand of Herod, and though preserved, it was not by a powerful army but by flight into another land. His early days were not spent amid the martial music of camps or in the grandeur of courts but in the retirement of a carpenter’s shop. His life was gentleness; he was harmless as a lamb. At any time it seemed easy to destroy both him and his teaching. Nothing about Jesus would attract the attention of those who look for pomp and splendor. His religion was (and is) all simplicity. It is the plain truth of God. Nothing about it attracts those who look after ritualistic vanities. To most people there was no external beauty in him that they should desire to follow him.
53:3 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.” Jesus was not only a suffering man but preeminent among the suffering. All people have a burden to bear, but his was heaviest of all. Our Savior had a peculiar relationship to sin. He was not merely afflicted with the sight of it and saddened by perceiving its effects on others. Sin was actually laid on him. Therefore, he was called to bear the terrible blows of divine justice, and he suffered unknown and immeasurable agonies on the cross for us.
53:5 “But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.” God in his mercy treats sin as a disease. Through the sufferings of our Lord, sin is pardoned, and we are delivered from the power of evil. This is regarded as the healing of a deadly malady. Sin is abnormal, a sort of cancerous growth which ought not to be within the soul. Sin is disturbing to humanness; sin dehumanizes a person. Here God declares the remedy for this deadly disease: healing comes through Christ’s wounds. The whole of Christ was made a sacrifice for us; his whole manhood suffered. As to his body, it shared with his mind in a grief that never can be described. In his passion, when he suffered instead of us, he was in agony.
53:6-7 “We all went astray like sheep; . . . Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.” It is suggestive of the way our Lord Jesus took the sinner’s place that we are here, in the context, compared to sheep—“we all went astray like sheep.” And then he who comes to take our place is also compared to a sheep—“like a sheep silent before her shearers.” It is wonderful how complete was the interchange of positions between Christ and his people so that what they were he became in order that what he is they may become. This is how closely he became like his brethren. To liken the Son of God to a sheep would have been an unpardonable presumption had not God employed this same figure in the Passover.
53:10 “Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely. . . . by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished.” It may be that the devil thought the death of Christ was the defeat of Christ. If so, how greatly was he mistaken, for when Christ died, he won an eternal victory. He is no longer dead. Jesus left the realm of the dead, never to die again. He died but could not long be held a prisoner in the grave. Losing his grave clothes, he came forth in life and immortality. Centuries have passed since he rose from the dead to his new life, and he still lives. And his days, we know, will be continued while this earth will stand. Yes, and at the end, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, he will still prolong his days. This verse also indicates that Christ’s death was the work of bringing God’s people out of darkness into light, from nature to grace and from grace to glory. It is called the Father’s pleasure because his pleasure is the source of all saving work.
53:11 “After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many.” God the Father speaks here concerning his Son and declares that since the Son had endured such great anguish on the cross, the Father would guarantee to him a satisfactory reward. The Father chose a people for himself. These people he has given to the Son. To these people he has also given the Son to be their Savior. Through the abounding grace of the Father, salvation comes to the chosen, but it comes only through Jesus Christ, for he is the only Savior. Christ redeemed us through his precious blood.
53:12 “I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death.” The verse is the Father’s promise placed in connection with what the Son has accomplished. We are told that Christ will divide the spoil with the strong, but that promise is set side by side with the declaration that Christ is a sheep to be slaughtered. Just as surely as that part of the prophecy was fulfilled about Christ’s suffering, so surely will that be fulfilled in which he triumphs. There is no doubt whatever about Christ’s death for us, and this same chapter of Isaiah declares his ultimate victory.
A 53:3 Lit And like a hiding of faces from him
B 53:6 Or has placed on him ; lit with
C 53:8 Or and as for his generation, who considered him?
A 53:10 Or him; he made him sick.
FUTURE GLORY FOR ISRAEL
54“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”
says the LORD.
2“Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let your tent curtains be stretched out;
do not hold back;
lengthen your ropes,
and drive your pegs deep.
3For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will dispossess nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
4“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;
don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.
5Indeed, your husband is your Maker —
his name is the LORD of Armies —
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of the whole earth.
6For the LORD has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,
a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
says your God.
7“I deserted you for a brief moment,
but I will take you back with abundant compassion.
8In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”
says the LORD your Redeemer.
9“For this is like the days A of Noah to me:
when I swore that the water of Noah
would never flood the earth again,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.
10Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
my love will not be removed from you
and my covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate LORD.
11“Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar, B
and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli.
12I will make your fortifications C out of rubies,
your gates out of sparkling stones,
and all your walls out of precious stones.
13Then all your children will be taught by the LORD,
their prosperity will be great,
14and you will be established
on a foundation of righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
you will certainly not be afraid;
you will be far from terror,
it will certainly not come near you.
15If anyone attacks you,
it is not from me;
whoever attacks you
will fall before you.
16Look, I have created the craftsman
who blows on the charcoal fire
and produces a weapon suitable for its task;
and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.
17No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation D
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants,
and their vindication is from me.”
This is the LORD’s declaration.
COME TO THE LORD
55“Come, everyone who is thirsty,
come to the water;
and you without silver,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without silver and without cost!
2Why do you spend silver on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. E
3Pay attention and come to me;
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto
the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah, the evangelical prophet, herein exhort[s] men to repent. Repentance is sorrow for sin and hatred of it. It is also a turning from sin, leaving even wrong thoughts. It is a returning to God and seeking forgiveness.
I.BUT REPENTANCE DOES NOT DESERVE SALVATION, FOR
1.This is always ascribed to the mercy of God.
2.It does not agree with divine justice to treat the guilty as innocent.
3.Human governments do not do so.
4.God’s providential dealings do not act thus.
5.Repentance is imperfect.
6.Such a doctrine would open the floodgates of sin
II.BUT YET, SIN CANNOT BE PARDONED WITHOUT IT.
1.God never has done so. Pardon and holiness go together.
2.The threat[e]nings imply this. God says he will punish sin.
III. GOD WILL FORGIVE THOSE WHO TURN, FOR
1.Many Scriptures affirm it.
2.This was the purpose of Jesus[’s] death.
3.The innumerable multitudes of instances.
A call to repentance on this account. Abundant pardon for abundant sin.
1.The necessity of atonement.
2.The folly of impenitence.
3.The great mercy of God.
71
listen, so that you will live.
I will make a permanent covenant with you
on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David. A
4Since I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples,
5so you will summon a nation you do not know,
and nations who do not know you will run to you.
For the LORD your God,
even the Holy One of Israel,
has glorified you.”
6Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call to him while he is near.
7Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
so he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will freely forgive.
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the LORD’s declaration.
9“For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,
11so my word that comes from my mouth
will not return to me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
12You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;
this will stand as a monument for the LORD,
an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
55:1 “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat!” People must not worry because they do not have great possessions. Having nothing, people may yet possess all things. People are at no disadvantage in God’s market because their pockets are empty. They may come penniless and bankrupt and receive the exceeding riches of his grace. But the main reference in this verse is a spiritual one, and so the portrait here is that of people who have no spiritual money, no gold of goodness, no silver of sanctity. They are still invited to come and buy the wine and milk of heaven from a gracious God.
A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL
56This is what the LORD says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,
for my salvation is coming soon,
and my righteousness will be revealed.
2Happy is the person who does this,
the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
3No foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD
should say,
“The LORD will exclude me from his people,”
and the eunuch should not say,
“Look, I am a dried-up tree.”
4For the LORD says this:
“For the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases me,
and hold firmly to my covenant,
5I will give them, in my house and within my walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.
6As for the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to become his servants —
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to my covenant —
7I will bring them to my holy mountain
and let them rejoice in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.”
8This is the declaration
of the Lord GOD,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.”
UNRIGHTEOUS LEADERS CONDEMNED
9All you animals of the field and forest,
come and eat!
10Israel’s A watchmen are blind, all of them,
they know nothing;
all of them are mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they dream, lie down,
and love to sleep.
11These dogs have fierce appetites;
they never have enough.
And they are shepherds
who have no discernment;
all of them turn to their own way,
every last one for his own profit.
12“Come, let me get some wine,
let’s guzzle some beer;
and tomorrow will be like today,
only far better! ”
56:4,6 “Hold firmly to my covenant.” It was generally supposed by the Jews that no one except the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could be in covenant relationship with God. But Scripture denies this, as does this verse in Isaiah. Certain poor mutilated people were despised by some because of their disabilities, yet they were to be encouraged to keep the Lord’s Sabbaths, to choose the things that pleased him, and to take hold of his covenant. Then there were the foreigners, and the Lord said he would accept them into his covenant. It was thus clearly revealed that persons who appeared to be shut out from the covenant because they were not of the seed of Abraham were to be encouraged to obey the commands of God and especially to obey his ordinance concerning the keeping of the Sabbath—which separated his people from the rest of humanity—and to take hold of his covenant.
57The righteous person perishes,
and no one takes it to heart;
the faithful are taken away,
with no one realizing
that the righteous person is taken away
because of B evil.
2He will enter into peace —
they will rest on their beds C —
everyone who lives uprightly.
PAGAN RELIGION DENOUNCED
3But come here,
you witch’s sons,
offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute! D
4Who are you mocking?
Who are you opening your mouth
and sticking out your tongue at?
Isn’t it you, you rebellious children,
you offspring of liars,
5who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every green tree,
who slaughter children in the wadis
below the clefts of the rocks?
6Your portion is among the smooth stones of the wadi;
indeed, they are your lot.
You have even poured out a drink offering to them;
you have offered a grain offering;
should I be satisfied with these?
7You have placed your bed
on a high and lofty mountain;
you also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8You have set up your memorial
behind the door and doorpost.
For away from me, you stripped,
went up, and made your bed wide,
and you have made a bargain A for yourself with them.
You have loved their bed;
you have gazed on their genitals. B,C
9You went to the king with oil
and multiplied your perfumes;
you sent your envoys far away
and sent them down even to Sheol.
10You became weary on your many journeys,
but you did not say, “It’s hopeless! ”
You found a renewal of your strength; D
therefore you did not grow weak.
11Who was it you dreaded and feared,
so that you lied and didn’t remember me
or take it to heart?
I have kept silent for a long time, haven’t I? E
So you do not fear me.
12I will announce your righteousness,
and your works — they will not profit you.
13When you cry out,
let your collection of idols rescue you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
a breath will take them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me
will inherit the land
and possess my holy mountain.
HEALING AND PEACE
14He said,
“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,
remove every obstacle from my people’s way.”
15For the High and Exalted One,
who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this:
“I live in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the oppressed.
16For I will not accuse you forever,
and I will not always be angry;
for then the spirit would grow weak before me,
even the breath, which I have made.
17Because of his sinful greed I was angry,
so I struck him; I was angry and hid;
but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and restore comfort
to him and his mourners,
19creating words of praise.” F
The LORD says,
“Peace, peace to the one who is far or near,
and I will heal him.
20But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,
for it cannot be still,
and its water churns up mire and muck.
21There is no peace for the wicked,”
says my God.
57:20-21 “But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck. There is no peace for the wicked.” Among the greatest privileges for believers in Christ are those choice blessings of rest and peace. Those who believe in Christ Jesus receive eternal life, and they know that their sins are pardoned, that they are children of God, that omnipotence will preserve them even to the end, and that in the future they will be with Christ where he is forever—not only to behold but also to share his glory. Consequently, their hearts are at rest, for they leave all that concerns them—whether in the present or the future—in the hands of their heavenly Father, casting all their cares on him who cares for them. Therefore, they have peace, perfect peace, in their souls. This peace and rest believers enjoy here and now will deepen and increase until, in eternity, they will reach their perfection as the children of God. They will forever be without even the slightest disturbance of heart and will rest in the presence of God as full of joy as can possibly be. These choice privileges of rest and peace belong, however, exclusively to believers. “The wicked” have no claim on them. They are, according to Scripture, like the restless sea that is never really quiet, even in its greatest calm—and it is never to be trusted for a resting place. Such is the condition of the unregenerate heart of the unrepentant sinner.
B 57:1 Or taken away from the presence of
C 57:2 Either their deathbeds or their graves
D 57:3 Lit and she acted as a prostitute
C 57:8 In Hb, the word “hand” is probably a euphemism for genitals.
D 57:10 Lit found life of your hand
TRUE FASTING
58“Cry out loudly, A don’t hold back!
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Tell my people their transgression
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2They seek me day after day
and delight to know my ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not abandon the justice of their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God.”
3“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed! ” B
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.
4You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today,
hoping to make your voice heard on high.
5Will the fast I choose be like this:
A day for a person to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the LORD?
6Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? C
8Then your light will appear like the dawn,
and your recovery will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the LORD’s glory will be your rear guard.
QUOTE 58:8
Christians can never count on a moment’s peace. If we were of the world, the world would love us as its own, but because we as true saints are not of the world, the world hates us.
ILLUSTRATION 58:8
Just as the Amalekites suddenly fell on the children of Israel, unprovoked and without giving any warning of their hostile intention, so it is not only in times of persecution but in apparently softer days when the world does not use the stake and the sword, that the world is ready to pounce on the church of God and to call in its grand ally the devil to overthrow and destroy, as far as possible, the people of God. Every Christian, then, must be a soldier and take his share in the battles of the cross. We must not look on our life as being a pleasant journey through a friendly land but as a military march, a march through the midst of foes who will dispute every foot of our way. Now, if we thus view the church of God as an army, it is comforting to know we have a rear guard. We take our Lord Jesus Christ to be our rear guard. He is also our forerunner who has gone before us, even through death and up to the skies, so that he may prepare a place for all those who have enlisted under his standard. He is also our rear guard. There is always danger where God’s people travel, and it is comforting to them to behold so glorious a shield borne in their rear by so mighty an arm.
9At that time, when you call, the LORD will answer;
when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you get rid of the yoke
among you,
the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
10and if you offer yourself A to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.
11The LORD will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose water never runs dry.
12Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live.
13“If you keep from desecrating B the Sabbath,
from doing whatever you want on my holy day;
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
seeking your own pleasure, or talking business; C,D
14then you will delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride over the heights of the land,
and let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
58:8 “The Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.” The church of God is an army marching through enemy territory. Christians can never count on a moment’s peace. If we were of the world, the world would love us as its own, but because we as true saints are not of the world, the world hates us.
B 58:3 These are Israel’s words to God.
C 58:7 Lit not hide yourself from your flesh
A 58:10 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr read offer your bread
SIN AND REDEMPTION
59Indeed, the LORD’s arm is not too weak to save,
and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
2But your iniquities are separating you
from your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not listen.
3For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers, with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongues mutter injustice.
4No one makes claims justly;
no one pleads honestly.
They trust in empty and worthless words;
they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.
5They hatch viper’s eggs
and weave spider’s webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6Their webs cannot become clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
and violent acts are in their hands.
7Their feet run after evil,
and they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.
8They have not known the path of peace,
and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made their roads crooked;
no one who walks on them will know peace.
9Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night.
QUOTE 59:9
Sin is evermore a bitter thing, and they who follow it while expecting to arrive at the light of joy are duped and deceived. Such people will be plunged into denser and denser darkness until they arrive at an unending midnight unbroken by a solitary star.
10We grope along a wall like the blind;
we grope like those without eyes.
We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;
we are like the dead among those who are healthy.
11We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.
We hope for justice,
but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12For our transgressions have multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us.
For our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13transgression and deception against the LORD,
turning away from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The LORD saw that there was no justice,
and he was offended.
16He saw that there was no man —
he was amazed that there was no one interceding;
so his own arm brought salvation,
and his own righteousness supported him.
17He put on righteousness as body armor,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18So he will repay according to their deeds:
fury to his enemies,
retribution to his foes,
and he will repay the coasts and islands.
19They will fear the name of the LORD in the west
and his glory in the east; A
for he will come like a rushing stream
driven by the wind of the LORD.
20“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.”
This is the LORD’s declaration.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the LORD.
59:9 “We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.” Israel had greatly revolted against her God, and in consequence she had brought on herself great sorrow. Still, instead of repenting of their faults and returning their allegiance to Jehovah, the nation continued to be duped by false prophets and presumptuous pride in expectation of better days. The better days did not come; they looked for the sunshine, but they wandered in the mists; they waited for brightness, but they walked in gloom. Unhappy Israel. The Israelites turned aside from Jehovah to worship Baal; they went after the gods of the heathen that were not gods, and from that hour their land was afflicted with pestilence and famine. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against them; he stopped her wells, cut down her vines, and stripped her fig trees; and in the end he carried the Israelites away captive, made the sons and daughters of Zion to sit down by the waters of Babylon and weep at the remembrance of the beloved city. Sin is evermore a bitter thing, and they who follow it while expecting to arrive at the light of joy are duped and deceived. Such people will be plunged into denser and denser darkness until they arrive at an unending midnight unbroken by a solitary star. This historical example might be used by way of warning to any seekers after happiness who foolishly expect to find it in the pleasures of sin and the neglect of God. Sinners must enter into a covenant of peace with God. They must move toward holiness and God, or in vain will they expect the dawning. To sinners there is reserved the blackness of darkness forever and even now his way is hard, and his path is darkened with fear and disquietude. There are people who sincerely seek better things; they desire to obtain the true and heavenly light of God. They have waited, hoping to receive it, but instead of obtaining it, they are in a worse or at least sadder state than they were. Today they are almost driven into dark thoughts that no light will ever shine on them. The only hope for them is to run to the God of mercy, who promised, “The Redeemer will come to Zion” (v. 20).
THE LORD’S GLORY IN ZION
60Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD shines over you. B
2For look, darkness will cover the earth,
and total darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will shine over you,
and his glory will appear over you.
3Nations will come to your light,
and kings to your shining brightness.
4Raise your eyes and look around:
they all gather and come to you;
your sons will come from far away,
and your daughters on the hips of nannies.
5Then you will see and be radiant,
and your heart will tremble and rejoice, C
because the riches of the sea will become yours
and the wealth of the nations will come to you.
6Caravans of camels will cover your land D —
young camels of Midian and Ephah —
all of them will come from Sheba.
They will carry gold and frankincense
and proclaim the praises of the LORD.
7All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth will serve you
and go up on my altar as an acceptable sacrifice.
I will glorify my beautiful house.
8Who are these who fly like a cloud,
like doves to their shelters?
9Yes, the coasts and islands will wait for me
with the ships of Tarshish in the lead,
to bring your children from far away,
their silver and gold with them,
for the honor of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
who has glorified you.
10Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings will serve you.
Although I struck you in my wrath,
yet I will show mercy to you with my favor.
11Your city gates will always be open;
they will never be shut day or night
so that the wealth of the nations
may be brought into you,
with their kings being led in procession.
12For the nation and the kingdom
that will not serve you will perish;
those nations will be annihilated.
13The glory of Lebanon will come to you —
its pine, elm, and cypress together —
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will glorify my dwelling place. A
14The sons of your oppressors
will come and bow down to you;
all who reviled you
will fall facedown at your feet.
They will call you the City of the LORD,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15Instead of your being deserted and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you an object of eternal pride,
a joy from age to age.
16You will nurse on the milk of nations,
and nurse at the breast of kings;
you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior
and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
17I will bring gold instead of bronze;
I will bring silver instead of iron,
bronze instead of wood,
and iron instead of stones.
I will appoint peace as your government
and righteousness as your overseers.
18Violence will never again be heard of in your land;
devastation and destruction
will be gone from your borders.
You will call your walls Salvation
and your city gates Praise.
19The sun will no longer be your light by day,
and the brightness of the moon will not shine on you.
The LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your splendor.
20Your sun will no longer set,
and your moon will not fade;
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and the days of your sorrow will be over.
21All your people will be righteous;
they will possess the land forever;
they are the branch I planted,
the work of my A hands,
so that I may be glorified.
22The least will become a thousand,
the smallest a mighty nation.
I am the LORD;
I will accomplish it quickly in its time.
60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you.” It is wonderful that God would not only give us light, but that that light should be his own glory. Creation is a part of God’s glory, but it is only a moonlight glory compared with that of redemption. God, in the gift of Jesus Christ, displayed the whole of his nature. Creation is not a canvas large enough for the whole image of God to be stamped on it. Some speak of God’s face being mirrored in the sea, but there is not space enough for the face of deity to be fully reflected in the broad Atlantic or in all the oceans put together. The image of God is to be fully seen in Jesus Christ—and nowhere else—for there you behold attributes that creation cannot display. Creation can manifest love, power, wisdom, and much else, but creation cannot manifest justice—justice lying side by side with mercy, like the lion and the lamb. Only in Christ can you see this wondrous sight—God hating sin with perfect hatred yet loving sinners with much more than the tenderness of a mother toward her child.
60:20 “Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not fade; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will be over.” Israel of old had the light of God while all the rest of the world sat in darkness; in consequence of receiving moral and spiritual light from God, the nation prospered, and under the smile of heaven, it was greatly enriched and multiplied. But, alas, the sun went down, and the moon withdrew itself, for Israel turned aside and followed after idols, and the land was struck by the hostile sword. On her repentance her sun arose again, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced, but again they went astray and provoked the Lord so that the light of his countenance was withdrawn. Another dispensation came. Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem, and he became a light to the Gentiles as well as to Jews. The sun shone from the Son on the earth as it had never done before. A visible church was called out to walk in the light of God, and this church still exists on the earth. From the day of Pentecost until now, its sun has never altogether gone down, neither has its moon withdrawn herself. That, however, was only a prelude, a commencement to the full heavenly triumph. This passage also refers to the promise of the church in its fullness—in its triumphant condition, whether on earth in the millennial period or in the new heavens and new earth, world without end.
MESSIAH’S JUBILEE
61The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to heal B the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners;
2to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of our God’s vengeance;
to comfort all who mourn,
3to provide for those who mourn in Zion;
to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
festive oil instead of mourning,
and splendid clothes instead of despair. C
And they will be called righteous trees,
planted by the LORD
to glorify him.
4They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore the former devastations;
they will renew the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
6But you will be called the LORD’s priests;
they will speak of you as ministers of our God;
you will eat the wealth of the nations,
and you will boast in their riches.
7In place of your shame, you will have a double portion;
in place of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share.
So they will possess double in their land,
and eternal joy will be theirs.
8For I the LORD love justice;
I hate robbery and injustice; D
I will faithfully reward my people
and make a permanent covenant with them.
9Their descendants will be known among the nations,
and their posterity among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
that they are a people the LORD has blessed.
10I rejoice greatly in the LORD,
I exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
as a groom wears a turban
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the earth produces its growth,
and as a garden enables what is sown to spring up,
so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Our Lord’s anointing (see Lk 4:16-21) was with a special view to his preaching of the gospel. Such honor does the Lord of heaven and earth put on the ministry of the word that, as one of the old Puritans said, “God had only one Son, and he made a preacher of him.” It should greatly encourage the weakest among us, who are preachers of the gospel also, to think that the Son of God, the blessed and eternal Word, came into this world so that he might preach the same good news that we are called to proclaim.
61:10 “I rejoice greatly in the LORD, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness.” When God looks at his people, he does not see them—he sees his Son. He looks through that heavenly medium and sees them in his Son. The Lord has covered them with the robe of righteousness. The children of God who weep because of their sins can be joyful in the Lord. We are righteous in the righteousness of Christ that God has imputed to us by faith in his Son.
ZION’S RESTORATION
62I will not keep silent because of Zion,
and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem,
until her righteousness shines like a bright light
and her salvation, like a flaming torch.
2Nations will see your righteousness
and all kings, your glory.
You will be given a new name
that the LORD’s mouth will announce.
3You will be a glorious crown in the LORD’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the palm of your God’s hand.
4You will no longer be called Deserted,
and your land will not be called Desolate;
instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her, A
and your land Married; B
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land will be married.
5For as a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you;
and as a groom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
6Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen on your walls;
they will never be silent, day or night.
There is no rest for you,
who remind the LORD.
7Do not give him rest
until he establishes and makes Jerusalem
the praise of the earth.
8The LORD has sworn with his right hand
and his strong arm:
I will no longer give your grain
to your enemies for food,
and foreigners will not drink the new wine
for which you have labored.
9For those who gather grain will eat it
and praise the LORD,
and those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine
in my holy courts.
10Go out, go out through the city gates;
prepare a way for the people!
Build it up, build up the highway;
clear away the stones!
Raise a banner for the peoples.
11Look, the LORD has proclaimed
to the ends of the earth,
“Say to Daughter Zion:
Look, your salvation is coming,
his wages are with him,
and his reward accompanies him.”
12And they will be called A the Holy People,
the LORD’s Redeemed;
and you will be called Cared For,
A City Not Deserted.
62:10,12 “Go out, go out through the city gates; prepare a way for the people! . . . And they will be called the Holy People, the LORD’s Redeemed.” All Christians need to clear the road to make room for coming sinners. We must take away all stumbling blocks. We must make the gospel plain and simple and come to the help of those who find hindrances and impediments in their progress to the Savior. Such stones are there, and Satan tries to increase their number. The Lord’s servants must gather them and take them out of the way. This is one of our primary objectives. We must try, with great simplicity of thought and speech, to deal with those things that prevent sinners from getting to Christ, for perhaps while we are trying to do this the eternal Spirit may bring them to Jesus so they may find salvation on the spot. To that end let all who are already saved cry mightily to the Lord for his saving health and consoling grace. When poor souls are coming to Jesus, they are generally their own worst enemies. They have a singular ingenuity in finding out reasons they should not be saved. A strange infatuation seems to possess them so that they ransack heaven, earth, and hell to find discouragements. They become inventive of difficulties where difficulties do not exist. It is therefore a holy and necessary work to endeavor to remove some of the stumbling blocks out of the poor sinner’s way. When we attempt this good work, we will point the coming sinner to him who in his own person has effectively removed every real stumbling block, so now nothing can keep a sinner from God if that sinner is but ready to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
THE LORD’S DAY OF VENGEANCE
63Who is this coming from Edom
in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah —
this one who is splendid in his apparel,
striding in his formidable B might?
It is I, proclaiming vindication, C
powerful to save.
2Why are your clothes red,
and your garments like one who treads a winepress?
3I trampled the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and ground them underfoot in my fury;
their blood spattered my garments,
and all my clothes were stained.
4For I planned the day of vengeance,
and the year of my redemption D came.
5I looked, but there was no one to help,
and I was amazed that no one assisted;
so my arm accomplished victory for me,
and my wrath assisted me.
6I crushed nations in my anger;
I made them drunk with my wrath
and poured out their blood on the ground.
REMEMBRANCE OF GRACE
7I will make known the LORD’s faithful love
and the LORD’s praiseworthy acts,
because of all the LORD has done for us —
he has done for the house of Israel,
which he did for them based on his compassion
and the abundance of his faithful love.
8He said, “They are indeed my people,
children who will not be disloyal,”
and he became their Savior.
9In all their suffering, he suffered, A
and the angel of his presence saved them.
He redeemed them
because of his love and compassion;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of the past.
10But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he became their enemy
and fought against them.
11Then he B remembered the days of the past,
the days of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them out of the sea
with the shepherds C of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among the flock?
12He made his glorious strength
available at the right hand of Moses,
divided the water before them
to make an eternal name for himself,
13and led them through the depths
like a horse in the wilderness,
so that they did not stumble.
14Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the LORD gave them D rest.
You led your people this way
to make a glorious name for yourself.
ISRAEL’S PRAYER
15Look down from heaven and see
from your lofty home — holy and beautiful.
Where is your zeal and your might?
Your yearning E and your compassion
are withheld from me.
16Yet you are our Father,
even though Abraham does not know us
and Israel doesn’t recognize us.
You, LORD, are our Father;
your name is Our Redeemer
from Ancient Times.
17Why, LORD, do you make us stray from your ways?
You harden our hearts so we do not fear F you.
Return, because of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18Your holy people had a possession G
for a little while,
but our enemies
have trampled down
your sanctuary.
19We have become like those you never ruled,
like those who did not bear your name.
63:7 “I will make known the LORD’s faithful love and the LORD’s praiseworthy acts, because of all the LORD has done for us—even the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, which he did for them based on his compassion and the abundance of his faithful love.” This chapter opens with a declaration of our glorious Lord concerning his ultimate overthrow of his foes. He declared that he would tread down all the enemies of his people, as grapes are stomped in the winepress. Verse 1 asks, “Who is this coming from Edom in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah?” The prophet, having seen the glorious vision and heard the proclamation of the victorious hero, felt his soul stirred within him. It is usual for saints’ hearts to burn within them when Christ is near. The glowing flames of Isaiah’s heart unloosed the bonds of his tongue. He had to speak, and the theme that suggested itself to him was the “faithful love” of the Lord. He was overwhelmed with what he saw coming in the future, with the future triumphs of Immanuel and the overthrow of Israel’s foes.
But he felt he must not forget the glorious victories of ages past or the triumphs of that present time either. There were some in the prophet’s time whose business it was to mention the Lord. He told them they must not be silent day or night (62:6). They were people who spoke to him, who kept the Lord in remembrance and mentioned his mercies to them. It was in both senses that Isaiah resolved to mention the faithful love of Jehovah—to the people that they might love God and to God that he might not forget his people but continue to smile on them in the days to come, just as he had done in years past. God’s acts of faithful love in the past help us in three ways in the present: first, they aid us in prayer to know what God has done for his people in the past; second, they support our faith because we know God can accomplish anything he wishes; and third, they provide happiness for his people in the present when we rest in what he has already done for us.
B 63:1 Syr, Vg read apparel, striding forward in
A 63:9 Alt Hb tradition reads did not suffer
C 63:11 LXX, Tg, Syr read shepherd
E 63:15 Lit The agitation of your inward parts
64If only you would tear the heavens open
and come down,
so that mountains would quake at your presence —
2just as fire kindles brushwood,
and fire boils water —
to make your name known to your enemies,
so that nations will tremble at your presence!
3When you did awesome works
that we did not expect,
you came down,
and the mountains quaked at your presence.
4From ancient times no one has heard,
no one has listened to,
no eye has seen any God except you
who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.
5You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;
they remember you in your ways.
But we have sinned, and you were angry.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? A
6All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted B garment;
all of us wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
7No one calls on your name,
striving to take hold of you.
For you have hidden your face from us
and made us melt because of C,D our iniquity.
QUOTE 64:7
The essence and soul of prayer is a stirring up of one’s self to take hold of God.
QUOTE 64:7
The soul of devotion lies in realizing the divine presence, in dealing with God as a real person, in firm confidence in his faithfulness—that is, to “take hold” of him.
8Yet LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we all are the work of your hands.
9LORD, do not be terribly angry
or remember our iniquity forever.
Please look — all of us are your people!
10Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11Our holy and beautiful E temple,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned down,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
12LORD, after all this, will you restrain yourself?
Will you keep silent and afflict us severely?
64:7 “No one calls on your name, striving to take hold of you. For you have hidden your face from us and made us melt because of our iniquity.” The prophet revealed that the essence and soul of prayer is a stirring up of one’s self to take hold of God. If in prayer we do not take hold of God, we have prayed but feebly, if at all. The soul of devotion lies in realizing the divine presence, in dealing with God as a real person, in firm confidence in his faithfulness—that is, to “take hold” of him. People do not take hold of a shadow. They cannot grasp the unsubstantial fabric of a dream. Taking hold implies something real that we grasp, and it is necessary to have the grip and grasp of a tenacious faith that believes God is and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Heb 11:6). Taking hold implies a reverent familiarity with the Lord by which we use a holy force to win a blessing from his hands. Because there was so little of this in Israel, the nation had fallen into a sad state. And if you trace the evils of the church of the present day to their source, it will come to this—that few people stir up themselves to take hold of the living God, few who grapple with spiritual matters in downright earnestness and bring them before the Lord with resolute faith. There are many whose religion is nothing but a mere outward performance. It consists in attendance at a place of worship a certain number of times, the reading of prayers with the family, the repetition of a form of devotion both morning and night, and perhaps the mechanical reading of a chapter in the Bible. But there is no consciousness that God is near, no conversation with him, no taking hold of him. They believe there is a God, but they act as if there is none.
A 64:5 Lit angry; in them continually and we will be saved ; Hb obscure
C 64:7 LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg read and delivered us into the hand of
THE LORD’S RESPONSE
65“I was sought by those who did not ask;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
to a nation that did not call on A my name.
2I spread out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people
who walk in the path that is not good,
following their own thoughts.
3These people continually anger me
to my face,
sacrificing in gardens,
burning incense on bricks,
4sitting among the graves,
spending nights in secret places,
eating the meat of pigs,
and putting polluted broth in their bowls. B
5They say, ‘Keep to yourself,
don’t come near me, for I am too holy for you! ’
These practices are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all day long.
6Look, it is written in front of me:
I will not keep silent,
but I will repay;
I will repay them fully C
7for your iniquities and the iniquities
of your D fathers together,”
says the LORD.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and reproached me on the hills,
I will reward them fully E
for their former deeds.”
8 The LORD says this:
“As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,
and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,
for there’s some good F in it,’
so I will act because of my servants
and not destroy them all.
9I will produce descendants from Jacob,
and heirs to my mountains from Judah;
my chosen ones will possess it,
and my servants will dwell there.
10Sharon will be a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people who have sought me.
11But you who abandon the LORD,
who forget my holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune
and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, G
12I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,
because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not hear;
you did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says:
“My servants will eat,
but you will be hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart,
but you will cry out from an anguished heart,
and you will lament out of a broken spirit.
15You will leave your name behind
as a curse for my chosen ones,
and the Lord GOD will kill you;
but he will give his servants another name.
16Whoever asks for a blessing in the land
will ask for a blessing by the God of truth,
and whoever swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my sight.
A NEW CREATION
17“For I will create a new heaven and a new earth;
the past events will not be remembered or come to mind.
QUOTE 65:17-19
People will never rejoice in God’s new work of creation while they are rejoicing in their own works and trusting in themselves and boasting their own merits. It is a sign of grace when a person is sick of self and is in harmony with God.
18Then be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight.
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people.
The sound of weeping and crying
will no longer be heard in her.
20In her, a nursing infant will no longer live
only a few days, A
or an old man not live out his days.
Indeed, the one who dies at a hundred years old
will be mourned as a young man, B
and the one who misses a hundred years
will be considered cursed.
21People will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22They will not build and others live in them;
they will not plant and others eat.
For my people’s lives will be
like the lifetime of a tree.
My chosen ones will fully enjoy
the work of their hands.
23They will not labor without success
or bear children destined
for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD
along with their descendants.
24Even before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, C
and the lion will eat straw like cattle,
but the serpent’s food will be dust!
They will not do what is evil or destroy
on my entire holy mountain,”
says the LORD.
65:17-19 “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind. Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people. The sound of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.” This passage, like the rest of Isaiah’s closing chapters, will have complete fulfillment in the latter days when Christ will come—when the whole company of his elect ones will have been gathered from throughout the world; when the whole creation will have been renewed; when new heavens and a new earth will be the product of the Savior’s power; when, forever and forever, perfected saints of God will behold his face and rejoice in him. I believe these verses actually describe the condition of the redeemed during the reign of Christ on the earth. But the work spoken of in the text has already begun among us. There is to be a literal new creation, but that new creation has already commenced. So I think that even now we ought to manifest a part of the joy. If we are called on to be glad and rejoice in the completion of the work, let us rejoice in the commencement of it as well. The Lord himself will rejoice. We who are in sympathy with him are exhorted and even commanded to be glad, so let us not be slack in this heavenly duty. People will never rejoice in God’s new work of creation while they are rejoicing in their own works and trusting in themselves and boasting their own merits. It is a sign of grace when a person is sick of self and is in harmony with God. People must stop rejoicing in what they can do and come to rejoice in what God has done and is doing. This shows that true change has occurred in someone’s life.
A 65:1 Or that was not called by
B 65:3-4 These vv. describe pagan worship.
C 65:6 Lit repay into their lap
D 65:7 LXX, Syr read for their iniquities and the iniquities of their
E 65:7 Lit reward into their lap
A 65:20 Lit her, no longer infant of days
FINAL JUDGMENT AND JOYOUS RESTORATION
66This is what the LORD says:
Heaven is my throne,
and earth is my footstool.
Where could you possibly build a house for me?
And where would my resting place be?
2My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the LORD’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble, submissive A in spirit,
and trembles at my word.
3One person slaughters an ox, another kills a person;
one person sacrifices a lamb, another breaks a dog’s neck;
one person offers a grain offering, another offers pig’s blood;
one person offers incense, another praises an idol —
all these have chosen their ways
and delight in their abhorrent practices.
4So I will choose their punishment,
and I will bring on them what they dread
because I called and no one answered;
I spoke and they did not listen;
they did what was evil in my sight
and chose what I did not delight in.
5You who tremble at his word,
hear the word of the LORD:
“Your brothers who hate and exclude you
for my name’s sake have said,
‘Let the LORD be glorified
so that we can see your joy! ’
But they will be put to shame.”
6A sound of uproar from the city!
A voice from the temple —
the voice of the LORD,
paying back his enemies what they deserve!
7Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;
before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
8Who has heard of such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Can a land be born in one day
or a nation be delivered in an instant?
Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,
she gave birth to her sons.
9“Will I bring a baby to the point of birth
and not deliver it? ”
says the LORD;
“or will I who deliver, close the womb? ”
says your God.
10Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,
all who love her.
Rejoice greatly with her,
all who mourn over her —
11so that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breast
and drink deeply and delight yourselves
from her glorious breasts.
12 For this is what the LORD says:
I will make peace flow to her like a river,
and the wealth B of nations like a flood;
you will nurse and be carried on her hip
and bounced on her lap.
13As a mother comforts her son,
so I will comfort you,
and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14You will see, you will rejoice,
and you A will flourish like grass;
then the LORD’s power will be revealed to his servants,
but he will show his wrath against his enemies.
15Look, the LORD will come with fire —
his chariots are like the whirlwind —
to execute his anger with fury
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16For the LORD will execute judgment
on all people with his fiery sword,
and many will be slain by the LORD.
17 “Those who dedicate and purify themselves to enter the groves following their leader, B eating meat from pigs, vermin, C and rats, will perish together.”
This is the LORD’s declaration.
18 “Knowing D their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see my glory. 19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations — to Tarshish, Put, E Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the coasts and islands far away — who have not heard about me or seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.
22“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,
which I will make,
will remain before me” —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
“so your offspring and your name will remain.
23All mankind will come to worship me
from one New Moon to another
and from one Sabbath to another,”
says the LORD.
24 “As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
66:13 “As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.” The specific context of this verse and its relationship to the Jewish people are clear. We have never hesitated to assert our conviction that there are great blessings in store for God’s ancient Israel and that the day will come when Israel’s comfort will abound, when the glory of the Gentiles will flow to Israel like a flowing stream and that chosen nation will be comforted by God as one whom his mother comforts. But we believe that these passages are applicable to all the servants of God—that the comforting passages of Scriptures are theirs, that whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, barbarian or Greek, we are all one in Christ Jesus (Gl 3:28). So I believe this passage belongs to every child of God. It is well that there is such a promise as this on record, for believers need comfort. The work of comforting his saints is not too low for God to be engaged in. He sometimes uses instruments, but all real comfort to a broken heart must come directly from God himself. He does not say, “I will send an angel to comfort you,” but, “I will comfort you.” It must be God’s work. He must do it, for when a soul is truly humbled, heavily laden, and broken in pieces by God’s hand, there is only one hand—the pierced hand of the Savior—that can heal the wound. The comfort God gives will be a comfort to suit your present place and position.