You Will Call Your Walls Salvation
and Your Gates Praise
60: 15-22

You will call your walls salvation and your gates praise DIG: How long does the Lord say that the Jews will possess the land of Isra’el? Why is that so? How does this relate to world events today? How does this song (60:1-22) parallel the whole movement of the believer’s experience from conversion, to spiritual growth, to eternity with Yeshua Messiah?

REFLECT: What is the relationship between peace and righteousness? What would be different if those qualities were seen in your family today? Your neighborhood? Your world? The world? How can these verses encourage you at a time when it seems that peace and righteousness are absent from your life? How has the LORD kept His promises to you?

Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations (60:15). Here Isaiah contrasts the former condition of the nation as exemplified by the city of Jerusalem, with its latter condition. The emphasis is on the changed condition. Once the City was forsaken and hated. Now it will be the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. We can learn a valuable lesson from this. If we abandon all attempts to pay tribute to ourselves and allow God to be God, then He will delight in lifting us up with Him (57:15). To some degree or another, the entire book of Isaiah from Chapter 2 on has been about this truth. The same can be said of joy. The only true joy comes from ADONAI, and any attempt to produce it on our own terms can only be doomed to failure. There is only one place of true joy, submission to Jesus Christ.

You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Much as a nursing child gets sustenance from its mother, so Isra’el will be sustained by the wealth of the nations (60:5, 11 16 and 61:6). Kings will bestow their wealth upon Isra’el and they will know He is their God, their Savior, their Redeemer because He has been willing to act as Next-of-Kin and shoulder the needs of His people. Then you will know that I, the LORD, the Mighty One of Jacob, am your Savior and your Redeemer (60:16). This is the point that God has been trying to drive home to Isra’el and to the world at least since Chapter 40. Throughout Isra’el’s history, God’s purpose was that they should know Him. Why? Because only through the knowledge of Him is there any hope of our reaching the possibilities for which we were created. Thus, God says the exodus was all in order that they may know Him. And so it was also in the establishment of Isra’el in the Promised Land, in the return from exile in Babylon, in the coming of the Messiah, and now, here, in the culmination of all things.²⁴²

In language reminiscent of First Kings 10:21 and 17, Isaiah speaks of the glory that God will give to the City as He replaces the good with the best. As a result, Jerusalem will be exalted and precious metals will become commonplace. Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones (60:17a). These are simply poetic ways of talking about the wonder of living under the blessing of God as opposed to every other way of life. Spiritually speaking, it is to know the best, to know a permanence that cannot fade away, to know a security that no enemy can break through.

The social transformation will match the material well-being. I will make shalom, peace, your governor and righteousness your ruler (60:17). In Hebrew, peace and governor are in apposition, meaning each is the same definition of the other. To say peace is to say governor and to say governor is to say peace. The word ruler is the exact word used in Exodus 3:7 for slave drivers. The very worst of their past exemplified by the oppressive rule of Pharaoh, will become the very best that ADONAI has to offer. During this time of blessing, righteousness will be evident throughout the Land.

Jerusalem during the Messianic Kingdom will be a place of permanency and security. No longer will violence be heard in your Land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise (60:18). These two words balance each other. Salvation is what God offers; praise is how we respond. Peace (26:1-3), righteousness, and joy will permeate the Kingdom. There will no longer be violence, nor ruin or destruction within the borders of Isra’el because every knee will have bowed to Him (Philippians 2:10-11). The salvation of the LORD will be the walls, protecting all from the greatest enemy of all: sin.

Why will Jerusalem be a place of permanency and security during the Messianic Kingdom? Because Yeshua Messiah, the light of the world (John 8:12), will be there (to see link click Db – The Nine Missing Articles in the Messiah’s Coming Temple). These verses climax the references to the light of God in Chapter 60. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your Sh’khinah glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more for ADONAI will be your everlasting light (60:19-20a). In the old order of creation, life was rigidly controlled by day and night, by the ever-changing orbit of the sun and the moon. But in the new order of salvation the guiding principle will be the unchanging presence of His Sh’khinah glory. Consequently, there will be no need for the sun by day, or the moon at night.

And then Isaiah adds: Your days of sorrow will end (60:20b). Earlier in 40:2 God had instructed Isaiah to speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her warfare had been completed, that her sin had been pardoned, and that she had received from the Lord double for all her sin. The Psalmist wrote that weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Although different words are used, the same thought also appears in 40:2. It often seemed to Isra’el that the night of mourning for its sins and its broken Covenant would never end. Calamity and despair seemed to follow without end (3:26, 24:4, 33:9). But more troubling was her inability to learn from her mistakes and change her behavior (59:10-11). Nonetheless, Isaiah prophesied that daylight would indeed come. The night of mourning would come to an end; more than that – it had been completed. Why? Because Messiah will come in His grace and power (63:1-6). He is the Sun that does not set, and the Moon that will not disappear. Truly, rejoicing comes in the morning.

The last two verses turn from the description of the City to the discussion about the condition of the people in it. Four things are said about them. They are all righteous; they are promised eternal life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer); they are established by ADONAI for His splendor; and they will be great in number. The prophet writes that at that time, all of your people will be tzaddikim, or righteous, and because they will be righteous they will possess the Land forever (60:21a). Her people will be righteous, displaying God’s splendor. The rabbis of the Mishnah teach from this verse that all Isra’el will have a share in the world to come. However, what the rabbis ignored was that when the prophet said all of your people will be righteous (see 61:3d), he was referring to all of the Jews living at the end of the Messianic Kingdom. He was not referring to every Jew who ever lived, as the sages teach, because the context will not allow it. In addition to that, the Bible teaches that Jesus was no respecter of persons (Matthew 22:16).

In 60:21b the LORD tells us that the Israelites are the shoot I have planted (see 61:3d), the work of My hands, for the display of My splendor (see 61:3d). The phrase the shoot I have planted refers to Isra’el and not the Messiah because of the context. Earlier in 57:13 Isaiah said that those who take refuge in God would possess the Land. That promise is confirmed here. ADONAI will nurture His people like a tender shoot in a vineyard (5:1-7, 27:2-6). They are the work of His hands, and He will weed around them and prune them carefully. Why? So their essential splendor might be known to the world. This is why the character of His people is so important: if the LORD’s true splendor is to be seen through His people, they must reflect His righteousness.

This is why we can depend on Him until the end of time. He is the one constant in the universe. We are in Christ and He is in us (Ephesians 1:1-14). The Ruach Ha’Kodesh takes this imagery even further by making Yeshua the vine and His people the branches. To belong to Him is not only to be planted and tended by Him, but to have His very life flowing through us: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). This is exactly what Isaiah is speaking of when he promises that by the grace of God we can share in the righteousness of Christ.

Lastly, the nation will also be great in number. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation (60:22a). This is precisely opposite of 30:17, which states that one of the enemy was able to chase a thousand of Isra’el because she trusted in her military might instead of ADONAI. Now Isaiah sees a day in which that situation is reversed, when out of the tattered remnants of the nation of Isra’el will come a King who would rule the world from a throne made from two crossed pieces of wood, where a handful of His frightened apostles, empowered by the Spirit of God, could shake the world. This is the climax of a theme that runs through the TaNaKh, and the B’rit Chadashah picks up on (First Corinthians 1:26-31). That is the power of the weak, the triumph of the unlikely and the fruitfulness of the barren. The kingdom of God is not built with human strength; it is built by human weakness. It is only through our weakness that the LORD can move. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be Ruler over Isra’el, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times (Micah 5:2).

I Am the LORD; in this time I will do this swiftly (60:22b). In addition, the Lord says that in its time I will do this swiftly. But the Jews would ask, “Why has the Messiah been so long in coming when Isaiah says the LORD will do this swiftly? The rabbis teach that if all Isra’el was righteous, God would swiftly usher in the Messianic Kingdom. But if Isra’el were not righteous, it would come in its destined time. However, 60:21 indicates that when the messianic Kingdom is ushered in, then all of the Jews will be righteous and possess the land forever. So the rabbinical interpretation of 60:22 seems to contradict their interpretation of 60:21 but somehow the rabbis do not see the inconsistency of it all. But as believers, we know that when the appointed time arrived, God sent forth His Son. He was born from a woman, born into a culture in which legalistic perversion of the Torah was the norm, so that He might redeem those in subjection to this legalism and thus enable us to become the children of God (Galatians 4:4; John 1:12b CJB).

As we come to the end of Chapter 60, we can confirm once again that ADONAI is the Promise Keeper. The Good News for us is that because the LORD has kept, and will keep, His promises to Isra’el, He will also keep His promises to you.

Foreigners Will Rebuild Your Walls,
and Their Kings Will Serve You
60: 10-14

Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you DIG: What is the difference between the sheep Gentiles and the goat Gentiles? What will the Gentiles bring to Jerusalem? Why? Since a city’s gates were normally closed at night as a defense against enemies, why are Yerushalayim’s gates always open? What will Messiah’s reign be like during the Millennium?

REFLECT: Are you merely going through the motions of faith in Jesus Christ today, or is He your Lord and Savior? Have you ever sought honor for yourself, only to get dishonor? How did you react? When was the last time you sought the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, only to find out that later you had been honored? Did you give God the glory? Why or why not? What did it teach you?

This section shows the relationship between Isra’el, the sheep Gentiles, and the goat Gentiles (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fc – The Sheep and the Goats). The sheep Gentiles will come to Isra’el to worship the LORD, but the goat Gentiles will come to bring the wealth of the world to her feet. Israel, who had grown accustomed to being abused or trampled underfoot by the Gentile nations, will find the situation reversed. As we have seen earlier, there is no doubt for the reason why this will take place. The Gentiles will come to worship the LORD their God, the Holy One of Isra’el either voluntarily or involuntarily.

It is interesting that the Gentile nations still have a choice of sorts. The sheep Gentiles of Matthew 25:31-46 who survive the judgment for their favorable treatment of Isra’el will enter and populate the nations during the Messianic Kingdom. In addition, millions of goat Gentiles who managed to survive the Great Tribulation will go directly into the Millennium in their earthly bodies after the Second Coming. These two groups will reproduce and repopulate the earth. After Christ’s Second Coming when He comes to annihilate His enemies and then sets up his Millennial Kingdom, there will be millions of children from these believing sheep Gentiles whose children do not choose to believe.

In the Millennium, every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). Many will want to bow and confess Yeshua as their Lord and Savior. But in their hearts there will be those who do not want to bow the knee or confess. They will merely go through the motions. Those who do not accept Christ by the age of one hundred will die (65:20). Therefore, sin and death will be present in the Messianic Kingdom, and it will be Jesus and His righteous ones that keep sin in check. At the Second Coming, we know that out of the mouth of Christ comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations (Revelation 19:15a). This stern swift judgment that marks the onset of Christ’s Kingdom will be the pattern of His rule throughout the Millennium, where He will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev 12:5 and 19:15b). And Jesus promised that believers would rule under Him. To him who overcomes and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations; he will rule them with a rod of iron (Rev 2:26-27; Psalm 2:8-9). Jesus will swiftly judge all sin and instantly put down any rebellion. All people will be required to conform to His commands or face immediate judgment. It’s like the Dennis the Menace cartoon where his mom has sat him down on a stool in the corner. And he thinks to himself, “I may be sitting down, but on the inside, I’m standing up!” That’s how it will be. Some will want to sin outwardly, but they will not be able to act on it.²⁴¹

Those living at the end of the thousand years, however, will rebel (Revelation 20:1-6). When Satan is released, those with rebellious hearts will naturally gravitate toward him, which will lead to one final rebellion that will be crushed (Revelation 20:7-10). This will set off a chain reaction of final events: the second resurrection of the wicked (Revelation 20:13), the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-12), the eternal punishment of the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14-15), then the Eternal State will be introduced (see the commentary on Revelation Fq – The Eternal State).

But getting back to the Messianic Kingdom, how will the wealth of the nations be used? Jerusalem, as symbolized by its walls, will be rebuilt in the Kingdom by the means of Gentile assistance. Foreigners, literally sons of your opposition (see 60:14a) will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you (60:10a). The Gentiles will aid in the rebuilding of the ruined city represented by its walls. Those who helped to destroy them would now build them back up again. Everything will once again be restored to balance. The reason that God will do this is clear, speaking to Isra’el, He says: Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion (60:10b). Since it was God’s rule of history that brought the walls down, it will be in His rule of history that they will be rebuilt again. They are two sides of the same coin.

Then, Isaiah’s attention shifts from the walls of Jerusalem to the gates within. Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that the people may bring you the wealth of the Gentile nations – their kings will lead (see the commentary on Revelation Fi – The Government of the Messianic Kingdom) as Zion’s willing subjects in triumphal procession (60:11). Later, in 61:6b, we are told that Isra’el will feed on the wealth of the Gentile nations, and in their riches you will boast. Foreign nations and their kings will be Isra’el’s servants and the wealth of the nations will flow through those walls. So the Gentile nations will make pilgrimages to the City to give their offerings. Isra’el will finally be the head of the world, instead of its tail.

For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined (60:12). The opening word for, shows that the Ruach Ha’Kodesh intends a connection between this verse and the proceeding one. Why will the wealth of the Gentile nations come to Zion with their kings leading the way? Will this be a result of Israelite chauvinism, which looks forward to the day when downtrodden Jews can put their feet on the necks of their oppressors? No, it will not. These Gentiles will be obeying the Lord Jesus Christ; gladly on the part of some, forcibly on the part of others, especially during the yearly celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be mandatory for all Gentile nations and any that refuse to do so will be severely punished. In Zechariah 14:16-19 we learn that punishment also includes the withholding of rain or a plague.

The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of My sanctuary. ADONAI will call the Temple His sanctuary and the place of His feet (60:13). As a result of the Temple being rebuilt, the Lord Himself will rule and reign from it (see Db – The Nine Missing Articles in Messiah’s Coming Temple). The Gentiles nations will not only aid in the regathering, but also in the rebuilding of the Temple. It will be rebuilt with Gentile wealth. Like the first and second Temple, the fourth Temple, the millennial Temple, will be built with cedars of Lebanon. The trees that made Lebanon famous shall be brought to beautify the Temple, by being used either as building materials for its structure or as ornamental groves in its surrounding courts. The phrase the glory of Lebanon is an idiomatic expression for the Jewish Temple (Isaiah 35:2; Zechariah 11:1-3).

People from the Gentile nations that formerly despised Isra’el will recognize that Jerusalem, or Zion, is the LORD’s chosen city, the place where He will dwell. The sons of your oppressors will come bowing down before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet (60:14a). Isaiah had told Hezekiah that some of his sons would be carried off to Babylon to serve them (39:6-7), but now Isaiah says that some of their distant relatives, or sons, will come in a worshipful attitude to Jerusalem. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I Am the LORD; those who hope in Me will not be disappointed (49:23). Only a triumph of grace could achieve this, for it will not be Zion that produces this submissiveness, but the recognition that Yeshua Messiah is in His City as the Holy One of Isra’el.

This is the grace and trustworthiness of our God. When we have brought destruction on ourselves through our own foolishness, He is not content to leave us there. If we are willing, He can turn the situation completely around and make our enemies come to us in repentance. This is the spiritual principle: if we seek honor for ourselves, we will get dishonor; but if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), then God can see to it that even our enemies will honor us. But notice the nature of the honor: it is reflected. And your oppressors will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Isra’el (60:14b). The honor is God’s alone and the wonder is that He delights in sharing it with us.

The Attraction of the Gentiles
60: 4-9

The attraction of the Gentiles DIG: What is the context, the time period in view here? What will be the reaction of the Jews to the call to bring them home? Who are the sheep Gentiles and what will they do? From what directions will the people come to Jerusalem? How will they come? Why will they do so? What is missing from the gifts the magi brought the baby Jesus? How are the sheep and rams used as offerings?

REFLECT: Is this something to look forward to, or to dread in your eyes? Is your giving as joyful as these Gentiles? Why do you think their giving is so great? What was the reason for their giving? How do you honor the LORD with your giving?

Throughout her long history, the nations, or the Gentiles of the world have continually attacked the Jews of Isra’el. But during the Messianic Kingdom, the Jews will find that they are an attraction to the Gentiles. But this will not be to gain favor with them, or repay them for their suffering. Nor will it be to recognize them as a superior race. It will be to share with them in the worship of the LORD. And when the Gentiles come, they will bring two things with them, Isra’el’s sons and daughters and the wealth of the world (60:11, 61:6; Haggai 2:7-8; Zechariah 14:14). Lift up your eyes and look about you is the same phrase as in 49:18, and with the same meaning. All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters carried on the arm (60:4). The gathered nation of Isra’el will be literally coming home to ADONAI.

Then God said: You will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come (60:5). Isra’el will also rejoice because the sheep Gentiles (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fc – The Sheep and the Goats) will also desire to worship the LORD in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:16-19). The riches that they will bring are an expression of thanks to God, proclaiming the praise of ADONAI. The Gentiles will not bring the riches of the world so that the Jews can finally enjoy that which is their due. If they expect it, however, they will lose their covenant blessings (Malachi 2:1-9). No, the Gentiles will bring the riches of the world out of a grateful heart, and because the Jews will receive them as a gift from God, they may enjoy them forever.

There are six examples of the nations that will bring the wealth of the world to Isra’el. Herds of camels will cover your Land, young camels of Midian and Ephah (60:6a). First, Isaiah mentions Midian, south of the Dead Sea, which has its origin in Genesis 25:2. In fact, Midian was one of the other sons of Abraham from Keturah, his third wife after the death of Sarah. He also mentions Ephah who was the son of Midian and the grandson of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:3-4; First Chronicles 1:33).

And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of ADONAI (60:6b). When the magi came to worship the child King in Bethlehem, they brought gifts with them (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Av – The Visit of the Magi). What gift is left out at Messiah’s Second Coming we see in this passage? Myrrh! They do not bring myrrh because it speaks of death. When He comes again, nothing will speak of death. Gold speaks of His Kingship and incense points to His deity. But there will be no myrrh because He will not come to die upon a cross for the sins of the world again. He will come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS to rule and reign forever (Revelation 5:5 and 19:16).

Here two sons of Ishmael, Kedar and Nebaioth, are mentioned (Midian is also linked to the Ishmaelites in Genesis 37:28 and Judges 8:24). The prophet’s eye moves to another source of wealth to be brought to the Israelites during the messianic Kingdom: All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you (60:7a). The next one he talks about is Kedar in northern Arabia. He was the second son of Ishmael. This is one of the Arab tribes mentioned in Genesis 25:13. The Nebaioth (Neb-bi-OATH) are today called the Nabeteons. Nabaioth was the first of twelve sons of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13, 28:9; First Chronicles 1:29). They were a branch of the Edomites. It was the Nabeteons who settled and built the city of Bozrah, which will play a significant role when we get to Chapter 63. So not only were there twelve sons and twelve tribes of the sons of Isaac, but there were twelve sons and twelve tribes of the sons of Ishmael (see the commentary on Genesis Gi – The Twelve Sons of Ishmael).

The LORD says that those sheep and rams will be accepted as offerings on His altar. The flocks will minister to ADONAI. This is the verb (srt) used to describe the honored and voluntary ministry of the priests in the Temple. Here, the sheep and the rams are pictured as ministering to Messiah, who declares that He will adorn His glorious Millennial Temple as sacrifices (60:7). Ezeki’el 40-48 describes Messiah’s Temple where offerings will be made on the bronze altar there (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gs – God Shows a Vision of the Millennial Temple). These will not be offered for sins, but as a memorial. During the dispensation of Grace believers are instructed to participate in a physical observance, or communion, in remembrance of the death of Messiah. But for Isra’el in the Kingdom there will be a different memorial: the sacrificial system in the Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom will serve the same purpose as communion in the Dispensation of Grace. It will be the, do this in remembrance of Me, for Jewish believers.

There will be an abundance of wealth brought to worship Jesus Christ from the descendants of Ishmael. Whether the gifts from Sheba will be gold, silver or incense, we do not know. But what we do know, is that descendants of Ishmael will bring their wealth to the millennial Temple in Jerusalem to honor the LORD, the Holy One of Isra’el (see the commentary on Revelation Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom).

Who are these that fly along like clouds on the horizon, like doves to their nests (60:8). The clouds are a picture of speed and the nests represent safety (Psalm 84:3). Next the prophet’s eyes turn to the west, where he sees a fleet of ships whose sails seem like clouds on the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea. The speed of the ships is compared with the swiftness of doves when returning to their nests. They fly more swiftly when they return with food to their young than when they depart in search of it (Hosea 11:11).

This is the God for whom the Gentile nations have been waiting (24:14-16, 51:5), and as soon as they receive word of His triumph (see the commentary on Revelation Ex – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon) they are off, with the great seagoing ships of Tarshish (23:1). Evidently the way Tarshish is used here refers to all seagoing nations whose ships will be used to return Isra’el to the Land of Promise. Now Isaiah sums up what he has said before. The cargo of these ships will be twofold: Zion’s children and the offerings of the Gentile nations. They will come because God has shown His beauty through His people (also see 55:5).²⁴⁰ Surely the islands look to Me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish (60:9a). Tarshish was a name given to colonies of the Phoenicians. There was more than one Tarshish, but they all originate with the Phoenicians.

Consciously or unconsciously, the world’s longings can only find their fulfillment in the Holy One of Isra’el. So the colonies of Phoenicia, which include North Africa, Spain, England and the coast of Africa, will all be involved in this world-wide regathering. Isaiah says that they will bring no insights, but will carry Isra’el’s sons and daughters from afar, with their silver and gold. Instead of the Gentiles demanding payment, they will send the Jews off with gifts just as the Egyptians did (Exodus 12:35-36). They do this to honor YHVH, the Holy One of Isra’el. They will recognize that He has endowed Isra’el with splendor (60:9b).

The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You
60: 1-3

The glory of the LORD rises upon you DIG: What does the glory of the LORD refer to? Do you know another place in the Bible where the glory of the LORD is mentioned? How many of the manifestations of God’s presence will be seen in the messianic Kingdom? When will all Isra’el be saved? What has to happen first?

REFLECT: Is the Sh’khinah glory a future hope, a present reality, or both? Why do you think so? What would it be like if Jesus returned today and set up His throne in Zion? What would life be like? Would you like to see Jesus in person? Why? Why not?

Any time you see the phrase, the glory of the LORD, the Bible is referring to what is known as the Sh’khinah glory, or the visible manifestation of God’s presence. The light, of which Malachi had spoken, will have come: But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings . . . (Malachi 4:2). The Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12), that was one of His claims when He came as the Lamb of God (John 1:29); when He comes back to the earth as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), He will be that Light. Chapters 60-62 form the centerpiece of Chapters 56-66. They show Isra’el’s final destiny as the restored people of the LORD in whom the reality of ADONAI’s salvation is displayed to all the earth. In the last chapter the Redeemer was coming; in this chapter He is here.

The Sh’khinah glory of the LORD is seen in both the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah. His glory settled on Mount Sinai for six days before Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain and stayed for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:15-18). God’s glory was seen as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night when crossing the Rea Sea (Exodus 13:21-22). Because of the sin of the nation, the glory of the LORD is seen departing from the Temple in Ezeki’el Chapters 10 and 11. In the New Covenant the glory of the LORD was seen announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night (Luke 2:8-10), and at the transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). But most importantly for our study of Isaiah, earlier in 40:5 Isaiah prophesied that the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. When will all mankind be able to see His Sh’khinah glory simultaneously? It will be during the Messianic Kingdom.

The greatest manifestation of the Sh’khinah glory is to come in the Millennial Kingdom. There will be five visual manifestations of God’s presence. First, Ezeki’el tells us that the Sh’khinah glory will be in the Most Holy Place in the millennial Temple as it was in Solomon’s Temple (Ezeki’el 43:2-5). Secondly, the Sh’khinah glory will be a wall around Yerushalayim. Jerusalem will be a city without walls . . . and I Myself will be a wall of fire around it (Zechariah 2:4). A third manifestation is that it will be over the millennial Mount Zion (4:5-6). A fourth manifestation is that the Sh’khinah glory will be over all the land of Isra’el (60:1-3). And fifthly, because the Messiah Himself will be visible, He will be the visible manifestation of God’s presence as well. So the Sh’khinah glory will also be evident in the Messiah Himself (Isaiah 66:18-19; Ezeki’el 43:7). Even though these manifestations will center on the land of Isra’el, all mankind will see it, just as all mankind will see the Lord when He returns (Revelation 1:7).

ADONAI announces through His prophet: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you (60:1). This announcement is in the prophetic perfect, meaning the prophecy being made is so assured, that it is viewed as already taken place. This is an answer to promises He made earlier. Then your light will break forth like dawn . . . and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard (Isaiah 58:8). The promise was that if Isra’el truly repented, the Sh’khinah glory would return. So in Chapter 58, Isra’el was told of the problem, in Chapter 59 they admitted the problem, their national confession and regeneration solved the problem, and here in 60:1-3 the promise is fulfilled with the return of the Sh’khinah glory. The light will come when darkness has reached its greatest point of blackness.

The coming of the light will be necessary because of the spiritual darkness that will cover the earth – and still covers the earth today (Isaiah 29:18; John 12:35; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:19; Colossians1:13; First Peter 2:9). In spite of the preaching of the Gospel, there is more darkness today than ever before in history. Things are not getting better and better as the covenant theologians would have us believe. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but ADONAI rises upon you and His glory appears to you (60:2). These are words used by prophets like in Matthew 24:29-31, and in Joel 2:10 and 31, to describe the Great Tribulation. At the time when this thick darkness covers the entire earth there will be a total of five blackouts during the end times (Joel 2:31, Revelation 6:12, 9:2, 16:10-11; Matthew 24:29-30). Yeshua Messiah will come back and His Sh’khinah glory will appear in such a way that the entire earth will see Him when He returns: Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him (Revelation 1:7). At that time Isra’el will become the center of Gentile attention.

The Gentile nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (60:3). The greatest revival in the history of the world will take place during the millennial Kingdom. All the Jews entering the Messianic Kingdom will be saved; none of the Gentiles entering the Millennial Kingdom will be saved. However over the period of a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6), millions and millions of Gentiles will be saved. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery (Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3:5-7), brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Isra’el has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25).

The partial hardening of Isra’el will continue until the full number of the Gentiles have come to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 6:9-11). The hardening began when Isra’el rejected Yeshua as her Messiah on the grounds of demon possession (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ek – It is only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, That This Fellow Drives Out Demons), and will end when the complete number of Gentiles have come in. When Christ returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, all Isra’el still alive at that time will be saved (Romans 11:26a). Then, His Sh’khinah glory will be seen by all mankind.

Isra’el in the Messianic Kingdom
60: 1-22

It is not unusual for Isaiah to alternate between different time periods. Normally he alternates between near historical and far eschatological prophecies. But here, Isaiah begins to alternate between far eschatological prophecies and prophecies about the Suffering Servant. The context determines which one is in view. Chapters 58 and 59 dealt with Israel’s sin, confession, and regeneration. That will bring about the Second Coming. And we noted in 59:20-21 that Paul used that text to prove that all Isra’el will be saved (see the commentary on Romans, to see link click Da – The Redemption of Isra’el). Following the regeneration of Isra’el and the Second Coming there will be the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. Here and in subsequent chapters Isaiah will have a number of things to say about the Sh’khinah glory.

A far eschatological prophecy of the end of the Great Tribulation, the Second Coming and the Messianic Kingdom. In the section: Rebuke for the Wicked and Promises for the Faithful (58:1 to 60:1-22).

A summary of the Suffering Servant’s First Coming, Second Coming and the restoration of Isra’el (61:1-11).

Far Eschatological Prophecy (62:1 to 66:24).

Today Islam teaches that Muhammad is pictured in the Bible. And more specifically, they claim that Chapter 60:1-11 describes Muhammad and not Isra’el in the Messianic Kingdom. The following is taken from a pamphlet entitled Christian and Muslim Dialogue, by Muhammad Nubee. It is commonly used to aid Muslims when they witness to Christians and try to convert them. The current teachings of Islam distort the teaching of the Sh’khinah glory in these passages from Isaiah.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you (60:1). Compare with Surah 74:1-3: “O, you [Muhammad], wrapped up in garments! Arise and warn! And your Lord magnify!”

See, darkness cover the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you (60:2). The advent of the Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] was at a time of darkness when the world forgot the Oneness of God as taught by Abraham and all other Prophets including Jesus.

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (60:3).

Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm (60:4). Within less than twenty-three years the whole of Arabia was united.

Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come (60:5). Within less than a century Islam spread out of Arabia to other countries.

Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD (60:6).

All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on My altar, and I will glorify the house of My glory (60:7). The tribes of Kedar (Arabia) who were divided were then united. The house of my glory referred to the house of Allah in Mecca and not the Church of Christ as thought by Christian commentators. It is a fact that the villages of Kedar (now all of Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that remains impenetrable to any influence of the Church).

Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations – their kings lead in triumphal procession (60:11). It is a fact that the mosque surrounding the Holy Ka’bah in Mecca has remained open day and night since it was cleared by the Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] from the idols of fourteen hundred years ago. Rulers as well as subjects came for Pilgrimage.

Therefore, in light of this false teaching it is important for us to remember the words of John: I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book (Revelation 22:18-19).

According to What They Had Done,
He Will Repay Wrath to His Enemies
59: 15b-21

According to what they had done, He will repay wrath to His enemies DIG: How do you reconcile the picture of God as a warrior in 59:15b-19 with that of Redeemer in 59:20? What will be the effects of ADONAI’s action on those who have opposed Him? On those who repent? On the nations of the world? What is the covenant Isaiah speaks of in verse 21? What is required of the people?

REFLECT: How do you feel about Jesus’ role as the Redeemer and the judge in Isaiah’s prophecy (See John 3:16-21 and Romans 11:22-27)? What determines which way he will relate to you? Paul exhorts believers to wear the armor that God wears. How might this help you to face evil and injustice?

When Isra’el confesses her sins at the end of the Great Tribulation, God intervenes. The reason for God’s intervention is His displeasure, which is then described. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice for His people (59:15b). ADONAI is neither blind nor insensitive to their plight. His destiny and hers are inseparable. He has promises to keep. He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene on her behalf (59:16a). Isaiah was not saying that the LORD did not want to get involved, but that Isra’el was totally incapable of helping herself. Only God could help her. This is true of salvation in any era. People are not capable of saving themselves. Only God can forgive sin.

These words are going to be elaborated on by Isaiah in 63:1-6 (to see link click Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ at Bozrah). Here ADONAI looks over the condition of the Remnant that is confessing their sins, and sees that there is no one else to rescue them because having turned away from evil, they have become a prey themselves. So God’s own arm will bring salvation and righteousness (59:16b). Who is God’s arm? The Messiah, the Servant of ADONAI, Jesus Christ. Here in 59:1 and 19, is the seventh of nine chapters which reference the arm of the LORD (30:30 and 32, 40:10, 50:2, 51:5 and 9, 52:10, 53:1, 62:8, 63:5).

He put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak (59:17). This pictures Jesus getting ready to intervene. Paul would later take this verse and use it when describing the full armor of God. Because many people are more familiar with the B’rit Chadashah than the TaNaKh they believe that Paul was describing a Roman soldier. But Isaiah had written this long before there were any Roman soldiers. The full armor of God in Ephesians 6 is either direct quotes or paraphrases from the TaNaKh. His point is that we should resist Satan as Christ did in the wilderness, with Scripture (Mt 4:1-11; Mk 1:12-13, and Lk 4:1-13). It is the knowledge of Scripture that is the full armor of God, and the means of resisting Satan. Thus, Isaiah says that Jesus will put on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation as He prepares for war.

In the course of this campaign (see Kh – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon), Yeshua Messiah will punish the wicked. According to what they have done, so He will repay wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes; He will repay the islands their due (59:18). The word repay is from the verb salam (the same root as shalom or peace) with the sense of settling an account. It is hard not to escape the irony in the choice of words here. ADONAI will give shalom, peace, to those who love Him (57:19), but He will settle all accounts with those who oppose Him. It will not matter if they are close at hand or in the islands (at the far reaches of the earth). All the damage that sin, the LORD’s enemy, has done to creation since the Garden of Eden (see the commentary on Genesis Ba – The Woman Saw the Fruit of the Tree and Ate It), will be repaid in full. The Hebrew word for what they have done, gemulot, and gemul, meaning retribution, are from the same root, gml, or to give retribution.

From the west, men will fear the name of ADONAI, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere His Sh’khinah glory. For He will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along (59:19). All these words have references surrounding the Second Coming of Christ and will be repeated with more detail in 63:1-6. In the previous verse God comes as a warrior, as a soldier, and in these two verses He inflicts wrath to His enemies and retribution to His foes. He will destroy the invading army of the antichrist that will come like a pent-up flood. Whenever the word flood is used symbolically it is always a symbol of a military invasion. While it is true that the Bible uses many symbols, it uses them consistently. For example, whenever the word stone is used symbolically, it is a symbol of God the Son. Whenever the word mountain is used symbolically, it is a symbol of a king, kingdom, or throne. Whenever the word star is used symbolically, it is always the symbol of an angel. And whenever the word flood is used symbolically, it is always a symbol of a military invasion. This invasion will lead to Isra’el’s national regeneration.

But Isra’el’s regeneration is preceded by her national confession (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). We have seen this movement in the last couple of chapters. In Chapters 58 and 59 we see Isra’el’s sinfulness, then Isra’el’s national confession, which brings about God’s preparation for war. Finally, when the invading army of the antichrist reaches its final solution against the Jews, the Ruach ha-Kodesh will lift up a standard against him by Isra’el’s national regeneration. A standard was a sign that identified a group of tribes of Isra’el (Numbers 1:52). What will be the Spirit of God’s sign of the antichrist’s defeat in this final battle? The sign will be Isra’el, but not her death, as he desired, but her national regeneration!

And when Isra’el’s national regeneration comes, then, and only then, comes the Redeemer. The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins, declares the LORD (59:20). This pictures the Second Coming. The Redeemer is the warrior back in 59:16-17. He will come to Zion and fulfill His New Covenant with the nation of Isra’el that He spoke of to the prophet Jeremiah (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – The Days are Coming, declares the LORD, When I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el).

As for Me, this is My New Covenant with them, says the LORD (59:21a). This New Covenant will be marked by the activity of the Spirit of God. Both Joel 2:28 and Zechariah 12:10 emphasize a great outpouring of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh on all the Jews still living at the end of the Great Tribulation (Zechariah 13:8). Why? Because all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26). ADONAI continued to speak through His prophet, saying: 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 their descendants from this time on and forever (59:21b). Jeremiah emphasized this when he wrote no longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest (Jeremiah 31:34). So while there will be Gentile unbelievers in the Messianic Kingdom, there will not be any Jewish unbelievers in the Kingdom. We are going to see the same connection between Isra’el’s national confession of her sin, Isra’el’s national regeneration, the Second Coming, and the destruction of the invading army in Chapters 58 and 59 continuing in Chapters 62, 63 and 64.

Our Offenses are Ever with Us, and
We Acknowledge Turning Our Backs on God
59: 1-15a

Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge turning our backs on God DIG: Isra’el had been blind to her own sins. Of what sins does God accuse them? What would life in this community be like? What does the image of the snake eggs and spider’s web say about the effect of all their sin? What are the signs that Isra’el will see to convince her that she is in ruin? What characterizes her? Who was her sin against? What has to happen before the LORD returns?

REFLECT: How did you feel as you read the description of sin in these verses? Do your feelings change after reading Romans 3:9-17? Why? What does it mean to you that this is the situation within the heart of all people, including you? Think over this past month. Is what Isaiah and the apostle Paul writes true in your life? Have you ever experienced spiritual blindness like that described in 59:10? What aided you as you groped through life’s darkness? Did God break through to you in that time? How?

Here, we have Isra’el confessing her sins at the end of the Great Tribulation. The actual words of this prayer are found in four key passages of Scripture, first, in Psalm 79, secondly in Psalm 80, thirdly in 53:1-9, and lastly in 63:7 to 64:12. The Jews will have been hunted down and slaughtered by the antichrist and his armies by that time. Only a third of them that entered the Great Tribulation will remain (Zechariah 13:8). As Jerusalem is defeated (Zechariah 14:1-2) and Bozrah is surrounded (34:6), the spiritual scales fall from their eyes and as a nation, they confess their sins.

Repentance does not come easily to any of us, and it is hardest of all for people who have become accustomed to using religion as a cover for their sin. When their prayers go unanswered, they find it easier to blame God than to take a long, hard look at themselves (chances are you know somebody like that). But Isaiah will have none of it. It was as if he was saying to his fellow countrymen, “It is not God who has the problem, but you.”²³⁸

The flagrant sins of the nation had formed a barrier between God and them, and consequently they were plunged into misery. When, however, their plight is at its worst and their position seems hopeless, ADONAI will intervene and deliver them. Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear (59:1). Here, and in verse 19, is the seventh of nine references to the arm of the LORD (30:30 and 32, 40:10, 50:2, 51:5 and 9, 52:10, 53:1, 62:8, 63:5). Remember that the arm was a symbol of power, so shortness of arm signifies diminished power. It was not ADONAI’s inability or indifference, but the sin of the people that is the cause of Israel’s sorrow and suffering. This is not a pretty sight! Could these actually be the people of God? And yet which of us who has had the courage to look into the depths of our own hearts has not found such things hidden there? The mirror that Isaiah holds up shows us ourselves as well.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God (59:2a). Those sins will be a barrier between the people and ADONAI. The fact that this phrase occurs elsewhere only in Genesis makes it likely that Isaiah is alluding to it here. Just as expanse separated the water that remained on the earth from the water above (Genesis 1:6), preventing them from coming together, so sin and iniquity will prevent any union between the LORD and the Jews during the Great Tribulation. A similar point is made by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 5:25), and Habakkuk observes that the LORD is too pure to look upon evil (Habakkuk 1:13). ADONAI is neither powerless nor insensitive. But He is holy. What can keep Him from us? Only sin.

John says the same thing: If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies or cleanses us from all sin (First John 1:6-7).

Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear (59:2b). Sin always takes you farther than you want to go, and costs you more than you want to pay (Psalm 66:18). That was true of Isra’el and that is true of us. Sin had totally corrupted them. Not only that, their sins were premeditated and were not done in ignorance. Their sin lays the ground for their own self-destruction. This is one of the verses that Paul quotes to prove the sinfulness of man. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways (Romans 3:15-16). Their actions were like those of deadly poisonous snakes. Their plots are so deadly that whether one falls victim to them, or one attempts to counteract them, the effects are equally fatal. Even if their acts appear helpful, they are in reality useless, if not dangerous.

For your hands are stained with sin, leaving a mark that remains visible to God, with blood because of the violence done to others, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things (59:3). The heart of the wicked sinner bubbles out of the mouth. Throughout the prophets, violence and murder are symptoms of a society where the self runs rampant. There could be no greater example of anarchy than during the Great Tribulation where the restraining influence of the Church is gone from the world as a result of the Rapture (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click By – The Rapture of the Church).

There will be no “justice system” per se, because the world will be under the control of the counterfeit trinity of Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet. No one calls for justice; no one pleads their case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments (tohu), meaning to lack stability or sense, and speak lies (58:4). We see the same thing in Genesis 1:2: Now the earth was formless (tohu) and (waw) empty (bohu). The Jews will be spiritually lost and the entire world wants to kill them. At that point they will do anything or say anything to survive. There will no longer be any rules except for the self-imposed anarchy of the unholy trinity. When the standard is wickedness, the law of the jungle prevails. This is the society that the Jews will be living in during the Great Tribulation.

They hatch the eggs of snakes and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. Their spider webs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. God could see through their evil deeds and He judged them. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands (59:5-6). These two verses are the perfect example of a sinful society controlled by the man of lawlessness (Second Thessalonians 2:3). What type of society produces serpent eggs and spider webs? Whether you try to eat the eggs or crush them, the results are just as deadly. The baby snakes, whose poison is already as potent as a mature snake’s, can kill you. Normally eggs are good to eat, but not these eggs! They are the very opposite. Like a beautiful spider’s web seen with its glittering dew, it seems so beautiful. Yet, getting involved in the sinful society of the Great Tribulation will be like getting all tangled up in spider webs.

In a hurry to do evil deeds, they were bringing ruin to others. Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts and schemes are evil; ruin and destruction mark their ways (59:7). When the society is so wicked that all restraints are removed, the most powerful move quickly to reap the apparent rewards, even if those rewards are only snake eggs and spider webs. In a picture of total depravity, we are told that violence will be in their hands (59:6b) and their feet rush into sin.

Sometime before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, Isra’el will sign a seven-year covenant with the antichrist (see the commentary on Revelation Bz – The Signing of the Seven Year Covenant with the Antichrist). This charismatic leader will seemingly sway the whole world with his ability to bring about world peace. For the first half of the Great Tribulation the Jews will be allowed to worship in a rebuilt tribulation temple (Revelation 11:1-2). But in the middle of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), the antichrist, who will be the epitome of Satan, will have his image set up in the Most Holy Place in the tribulation temple by the false prophet. There, the counterfeit son will claim to be God (Second Thessalonians 2:4), and the persecution of the Jews will begin.²³⁹

Of the Jews that were living when the Great Tribulation began, two-thirds will be struck down and perish either as a result of the seven seal judgments (Revelation 6:1-12), the seven trumpet judgments (Revelation 8:2 to 9:21), or persecution for not taking the mark of the beast (see the commentary on Revelation Dp – The Mark is the Name of the Beast or the Number of His Name). By the end of the Seventieth Week of Dani’el (Dani’el 9:27), one third will be left (Zechariah 13:8). This will be the believing remnant, purged by tribulation, but still lost. As a result, they will have no peace. The way of shalom, or peace they do not know. This verse is quoted by Paul to emphasize the sinfulness of man (Romans 3:17). There will be no justice in their paths. They will have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know shalom (59:8).

In verses 9 through 11 Isra’el recognizes the calamity she is in. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness (59:9). Isaiah now uses first-person plural pronouns (us, we, our), to identify himself with his people. Up to this point, except for the believing remnant, Isra’el, will be corrupt and without justice (59:4, 11, 14-15) or righteousness. Spiritually they will be in darkness, blind and dead. At that point Isra’el then will confess the truth of what she has been accused of in the first eight verses. The situation is that preceding the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom; therefore, Isra’el must make a national confession of her sin of rejecting Yeshua Messiah and asking Him to return (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). The actual words of this prayer are found in four key passages of Scripture, first, in Psalm 79, secondly in Psalm 80, thirdly Isaiah 53:1-9, and lastly in Isaiah 63:7 to 64:12.

As the spiritual scales fall from their collective eyes, they begin to acknowledge how Isra’el had turned her back on their Messiah. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midway we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead (59:10). Up until that time spiritual blindness and death had characterized them. What a picture of the person who does not have a personal relationship with the LORD. We growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away (59:11). They will recognize that not only has there been no justice, but even worse, there has been no deliverance or salvation.

In verses 12 through 15a Isra’el recognizes her sin. For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us and we acknowledge our iniquities (59:12). The very sins of Isra’el will testify against Isra’el. There is a recognition that as religious as they thought they had been, in reality, their sin had separated them from ADONAI. Rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived (59:13). These sins were not merely against other men, they were against God (Psalm 51:4).

As the army of the antichrist tighten its noose around the neck of the Jews left at Bozrah, they finally realize the results of their denial. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, and honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey (59:14-15). The believing remnant, the righteous of the TaNaKh, finally recognize their sin.

True Fasting
58: 1-14

True fasting DIG: In what ways did God’s people seem to do the right thing? How did they spoil it? How did their view of fastings differ from the LORD’s? If their fasting were sincere, what would be different about their relationships with others? Their concern for the poor? What did ADONAI bless instead? What separated the two time periods? Why the change when the faithful remnant came back to the Land?

REFLECT: Do you ever find yourself just going through the motions with your faith? How can you know that you are in such a rut? What can you do about it? When should God’s people fast today? Who should observe the Sabbath today (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Dn – Remember the Sabbath by Keeping It Holy)? How do you get through the dry places in your spiritual journey?

In this section Isaiah gives two near-historical prophecies. Before the Babylonian Captivity (58:1-8), the prophet warned the Jews that their abuse of fasting had exposed their wicked hearts and spiritual adultery. After the Babylonian Captivity (58:9-14), he directs their attention to the true fast of the Sabbath rest.

With a heavy irony, Isaiah declared publicly that although the Israelites thought their behavior should win them special favor with the LORD, its real purpose was to gain ground in the merciless struggle for power, position and possessions. Why did ADONAI establish the outward forms of Temple worship? As ends in themselves? No, but as symbols of an attitude of submission, surrender and trust that would reveal itself in changed behavior. Without that attitude, however, those outward forms of worship did not please God, but disgusted Him. We can see a slow gradual decay in the religious fabric of the nation from the ministry of Isaiah down to the ministry of Jeremiah. While it is true that many of the contemporaries of Isaiah brought sacrifices that were unacceptable to the LORD because of an unseen condition of the heart (see Aj – Stop Bringing Meaningless Offerings), nonetheless, they still brought sacrifices ordained by ADONAI. However, over a hundred years later, the nation had descended into the pit of more extreme forms of idolatry even in the Temple itself (Ezekiel 8). In reality, they were playing God and making stuff up. It had gotten so bad that Jeremiah could not find a single righteous person in all of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 5:1-9).

First, Isaiah depicts the false fast of those Jews living in Jerusalem before the Babylonian Captivity. The prophet is commanded to shout aloud a message that is always unpopular; that is, to point out the sins of people who think they are very religious. Sin is a fatal disease if not treated and the LORD wanted the Israelites to know that unless something changed, it would lead to spiritual death and eternal separation from Him. Therefore, Isaiah declared: Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet or shofar (58:1a). Isaiah begins his commission by declaring a specific sin in the southern kingdom of Judah. Shout out loud in Hebrew means to cry or call out loud with the throat; to cry or to call out loud at the top of one’s lungs with a loud and clear voice. The shofar was the primary means used to gain attention in ancient Isra’el (18:3, 27:3). Its piercing blast was a sign to stop everything and pay attention. And that which they were to pay attention to was to Judah’s sins.

Declare to My people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins (58:1b). Their self-serving religion had become nothing short of rebellion. The sad commentary on their spiritual condition was that Jeremiah would search all over Jerusalem and could not find one honest person who would seek after justice and truth (see the commentary on Jeremiah Ba – Not One Is Upright). That call to acknowledge their sin looked back to 57:18-19, where the LORD said that He would comfort, guide and restore them back to a relationship with Him if they would only turn from their wicked ways, and it looks forward to 59:1-13, where they acknowledge their national wickedness.

Who were those rebels? They were people who sought after God! They were meticulous in following the forms of worship; yet their lives bore no resemblance to those of believers. The clearest example of this contradiction would be the Pharisees during the life of Messiah, who even tithed the spices in their cupboards, and yet had no qualms about throwing a widow who could not pay her debts out onto the street (Matthew 23:23; Luke 20:47), or ignoring the fifth commandment (see the commentary on Exodus Do – Honor Your Father and Your Mother) by refusing to help their parents by declaring their property Corban, that is, a gift devoted to God (Mark 7:9-13).

For day after day they seek Me out (in public worship); they seem eager to know My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and have not forsaken the commands of their God (58:2a). Me is in the emphatic position and could be translated, “Me they seek. Of all things, they seek Me!” Basically, they were hypocrites, and this sin called for the most dramatic action (Matthew 21:12-13). They seem like they want a relationship with ADONAI, it is as if they want to know His ways. But they really didn’t. Actions always speak louder than words.

They ask Me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them (58:2b). He points out what hypocrites they were. Isra’el was acting as if they had not forsaken the commandments of the LORD. They kept the letter of the Torah and loved the ritual of Temple worship. But like the Oral Law (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) that their descendants would invent after coming back from the Babylonian Captivity, those religious rulers of Jeremiah’s day also made up fasts that were supposedly ordained by ADONAI. And just as Rabbi Sha’ul said that he was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers (Galatians 1:14), those Jews during the ministry of Jeremiah were extremely zealous for their fasts. But they had no substance, and like the Oral Law, they elevated the importance of fasting to a position that God never intended.

They were merely observing the outward forms of their religion (Luke 18:12), but dared to question the LORD’s actions towards them. They sat in judgment of ADONAI and His methods. Complaining, they said: Why have we fasted if You have not seen it (58:3a)?. They had kept the letter of the Torah. They had been very conscientious in their Temple worship. They loved the ritual of it all. They had even fasted “religiously.” But they begin to notice that none of it was doing anything for them. It wasn’t fair! The LORD needed to honor their sacrifices. In other words, their manipulation of God wasn’t working! So they started to grumble.

Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed (58:3b)? They criticized the LORD for not blessing them, and it was as if they were saying, “Can you not see, look how religious we are!” They dutifully went up to the Temple and made their sacrifices. But the veneer of godliness was, and is, nauseating to ADONAI. The only reason they wanted an answer to their fasting was for their own personal gain. Without realizing it, they were playing God.

Fasting had become the centerpiece of their “religion.” The only problem was that the LORD never gave them fasting days. The TaNaKh commanded only one fast – the annual Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-31, 23:27 and 32). Only after the fall of Jerusalem were additional fast days added (Zechariah 7:3 and 5, 8:19). But He did give them feast days (Leviticus 23:1-44). Fasting is supposed to be an outward expression of the soul, but they had turned it into something that only ministered to their ego. They probably boasted of the fact that they fasted, and made a private matter public. About seven hundred years later Yeshua would say: When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:16-18).

ADONAI’s evaluation of their self-serving motives was confirmed in His response: Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers (58:3c). In spite of their outward observance of religion they indulged in their own wicked ways. How could they? Because they had no real relationship with the LORD. And the hearers of this prophecy by Isaiah were probably offended by this accusation. A lot of people still do this today.

Then God gave a practical example of the bad fruit their counterfeit religion produced. He said: Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife and in striking each other with wicked fists (58:4a). Every fast day ended in a fight. Fasting was intended to bring people closer to ADONAI, but unfortunately for them it brought out the worst – not surprising really, when a godless family was forced to spend a hungry day together! However, they kept expecting spiritual favors from unspiritual behavior. So the LORD let them in on some spiritual reality: You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high (58:4b). They didn’t realize that all their pious acts were for nothing because of their wicked hearts and evil actions. As far as ADONAI was concerned, their mistreatment of others revealed so much about them that it blotted out all of their phony fasting.

Therefore, the prophet explained why the LORD could not accept their phony fasting. They thought it gained them special favor with God, but He asked: Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day on the Sabbath for a man to humble himself. They had only been focusing on their external behavior rather than internal change, so ADONAI asked them if the Sabbath was really only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes (58:5a)? The very act of their fasting was exposed as meaningless as a reed nodding in the wind. Is this what you call a day of fasting acceptable to the LORD (58:5b)? If they were fasting for the wrong reasons, ADONAI didn’t want their fasting at all (Revelation 3:16). King David said it like this: You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 58:16-17).

In 58:6-7 there is a change from the infinitive absolute that answers the question, to the second person verbs of command. It is difficult to see the dramatic effect this has in the English, but its forcefulness in the Hebrew needs to be recognized. The LORD was not merely offering suggestions here. The Ten Commandments were not the Ten Suggestions, and neither were these.

What kind of fast did God want to see? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke (58:6)? ADONAI’s nature is to give Himself away to those who can never repay Him; there is no clearer evidence of His presence in a person’s life than the duplication of that same behavior. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t there in Jeremiah’s day. It’s as if the LORD was saying, “Do you really want to fast? Instead of going around with distorted faces, stop your sinning. Stop your gossiping. The kind of fast I am looking for is to fast from doing evil, to fast from oppressing, to fast from afflicting the poor.” Later, James would say it this way: Get rid of all the moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent . . . do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:21-22).

Continuing with the kind of fast ADONAI wanted to see, Isaiah said: Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood (58:7)? They were turning their backs on the poor. But more than that, the Israelites were to consider themselves members of one family who at one time had been slaves in Egypt. As a result, they were not to neglect each other. Those who know the compassion of God in their own lives will be unable to deny it to others. However, they even refused to show kindness and love to their own flesh and blood. They didn’t have a heart for the LORD because they didn’t have a heart for others. It was the same concept in the Torah: Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).

Had they really exercised pure worship instead of mundane ritual, then 58:8 would have spoken of their healing. Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you (Exodus 13:21-22, 14:19-20), and the Sh’khinah glory of the LORD will be your rear guard (58:8). They would have been declared righteous. They would have experienced God’s glory, and ADONAI would have answered their every call. Those would have been the results of true worship. These were the results Isra’el was looking for. But because the motivation behind the rituals of the Temple and fasting was improper, they did not experience the results of true worship. If only they would have abandoned their sin and returned to Him, they could have been forgiven.

This is the same for us today as it was in Jeremiah’s day. We are still just as tempted to use religious behavior as a way of manipulating the LORD for our selfish ends as our Israelite forebears were. It is interesting that Isaiah points to fasting, because that continues to be a practice of believers today who seek a more disciplined life. Other activities, however, have replaced Israelite religious activities, such as church or messianic synagogue attendance, daily devotions, prayer, tithing and so on. These are all susceptible to the same danger.

The risk for us, is that we might engage in merely outward religious behavior in order to receive blessings from God, who we feel is not inclined to give us blessings unless we manipulate Him in some way. Insofar as these attitudes, either consciously or unconsciously, govern our behavior, then our religion is nothing more than idolatry. By contrast, to the extent that our religious life is characterized by selfless service, freely given with no return expected, to that extent it is mirroring the life of ADONAI. And for those who are in the flow of God’s life, His blessing is a natural and abundant by-product. In this kind of behavior we show that we know the LORD and are not in a relationship with Him for what we can get out of it, but because we love Him.²³⁶

In the second near historical prophecy, Isaiah then gives a description of the true fast of Sabbath rest practiced by those Jews returning from the Babylonian Captivity. God desperately wanted to hear the prayers of His people so He could bless them, but their hearts weren’t open to receive it because of their spiritual adultery. Divine discipline was in order. Therefore, in 587 BC the LORD allowed King Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem and take the best and the brightest back to Babylon (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). It was an extremely difficult and painful period of time for the nation. They would later remember: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion (Psalm 137:1). Many times in life it seems like we have to undergo our own “Babylon Captivity” to really learn our lesson, and that was true of the Israelites.

The faithful remnant who returned to the Land after the decree of Cyrus (see Ia – The Deliverance of Cyrus the Great) were noticeably different than the generation that preceded them there. It is not that they were perfect, but they were teachable. Their hearts had changed. They repented, sought after the LORD and their spiritual adultery had ended.

Then you will call, and ADONAI will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I (58:9a). ADONAI is emphatic, ADONAI Himself will answer! Here am I is the response of a waiting, obedient servant (Genesis 22:1 and 11, Second Samuel 3:4). Answered prayer is not like sending a care box, it is like a home visit by the doctor. Then God emphasizes the rewards for repentance in both its negative and positive aspects. The negative aspect was to do away with the yoke [of oppression], stop doing evil, or pointing the finger of scorn against the poor and the weak with malicious talk, and if they spent themselves in behalf of, or literally grant your soul to, the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then there would be external evidence of an internal transformation (58:9b-10a). The positive aspect was a change of heart. They had to turn from their sin and bring their hearts back toward God. And if they truly repented and sought after the LORD, three specific results would follow:

The first result was divine reflection. Then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday (58:10b). The first blessing is clarity in life’s darkness. In those situations where we don’t know what to do, or which way to go when troubles close in around us. Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (Psalm 139:12). ADONAI promises that even the gloom of His people will be as light. Why? John says: God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all (First John 1:5) and we reflect the Lord’s glory (Second Corinthians 3:18). As children of God, we reflect our Father’s likeness to the world. We walk in His light when we help others, not hiding our light under a bucket (Matthew 5:15).

The second result was divine guidance and provision. The Ruach ha-Kodesh says: The LORD will guide you always (58:11a). Our experience may well continue into the darkness, and we step hesitatingly into it as best we know how. But the reality is that the Spirit of God guides us. He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber (Psalm 212:3).

You’ve been there. You’ve escaped the sandy foundations of the valley and ascended His grand outcropping of granite. You’ve turned your back on the noise and sought His voice. You’ve stepped away from the masses and followed the Master as He led you up the winding path to the summit . . . Gently your Guide invites you to sit on the rock above the tree line and look out with Him at the ancient peaks that will never erode. “What is necessary is still what is sure,” He confides. “Just remember that you’ll go no where tomorrow that I haven’t already been.” The truth is still triumph . . . the victory is yours. The sacred summit. A place of permanence in a world of transition.

The LORD will lead you continually, and in the dry places He will satisfy your soul and make your bones strong (58:11b).We all hit dry places in our spiritual journey. But the Good News is that ADONAI will be there to meet us, and to satisfy our souls. He will strengthen us spiritually. The Jews in Dachau, Auschwitz and Treblinka could not be protected physically. But God was in those Nazi concentration camps with them, strengthening their souls. We do not have to be a spiritual thornbush in the desert, all of our energy consumed with mere survival, but will have the fruits and flowers to give from the overflow of their abundance. The idea of making bones strong is in contrast to all those places in the Bible where terror makes the bones tremble and shake (Job 4:14; Psalm 6:2; Jeremiah 23:9 and Habakkuk 3:16). This is the truth that all doctors know, when the spirit is healthy the body has a better chance of being healthy also.

You will be like a well-watered garden (Jeremiah 31:12), like a spring whose waters never fail (58:11c). Yeshua referred to the Holy Spirit when he said: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive (John 7:37-39). In the TaNaKh, the Ruach ha-Kodesh would come and go. After his affair with Bathsheba, King David would plead with God, saying: Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11). As a result of conversion, we have the permanent indwelling of the Ruach ha-Kodesh to guide and teach us into all truth. He is like a fountain that will not stop pouring out of us.

A third result was divine restoration. ADONAI promises that we do not have to live in the mess that we have made of our lives. It is true that we are deeply sinful, and our sin destroys everything that it touches. Nevertheless, God is stronger than our sin. He is able to give us the power to restore and renew that which was destroyed. Isaiah said that one day your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations when they return from the Babylonian Captivity; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets and Dwellings (58:12). Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubbabel, Joshua, Ezra, Nehemiah and Malachi led the way, but they were just the tip of the ice-burg. If it was the people’s sin that destroyed the City, it will be their righteousness, through the grace of God that will rebuild it. The LORD always allows us the dignity of being involved in putting back together what we have broken. We cannot do it apart from Him, but He will not do it apart from us.²³⁷

Sabbath observance was one barometer of one’s faithfulness to the Torah (see the commentary on Exodus Dn – Remember the Sabbath by Keeping It Holy). If a man, for example, followed the Sabbath commands and thereby acknowledged the importance of worshiping ADONAI, and showed that he depended upon the LORD to bless him materially for that time he took off from work by putting God first and not seeking to do as he pleased, then he would have joy, not only in a spiritual sense (ride on the heights), but also in a material sense (feast on the inheritance).

The Sabbath is the feast with a blessing (58:13-14a), which is antithetical to the fast without a blessing (28:2-5). ADONAI said: If you keep your feet from breaking, literally turn back your foot from, the equivalent in today’s vernacular would be to watch your step. So we could translate this, “If you watch your step on the Sabbath,” and keep from doing as you please on My holy day . . . (58:13a). The Sabbath is viewed as holy ground that should not be desecrated. The phrase doing as you please means doing business on the Sabbath. There was a lot of business going on during the worship service. Their place of business was officially closed, but business was still conducted verbally.

If you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then the blessings of the next verse would be theirs (58:13b). The phrase speaking idle words is also seen in Hosea 10:4, where the prophet says: They make many promises and take false oaths to God. He is speaking of using words that are empty and have no meaning to anyone. Three things were spelled out negatively concerning Sabbath observance; do not desecrate the Sabbath, do not do business on the Sabbath, and do not speak idle words on the Sabbath.

Opposed to the phony feasts, they should have a positive attitude toward the Sabbath. In the concept of the prophets, keeping the Sabbath was symbolic of keeping the whole Torah (Ezeki’el 20:10-17 and Ezeki’el 22:8 and 26). They would only experience the results of true worship by Sabbath observance. That’s what it was designed for. Then ADONAI said: You will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the Land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob (58:14a). The phrase to ride on the heights of the Land is a figure of speech used by the prophets in reference to reaching spiritual heights in one’s relationship to God. And those who have this positive attitude will inherit and possess the Land that was promised to their father Jacob. This is a wonderful promise to the people of Isra’el. But Isra’el did not even attempt to pursue it. In the next section we will see how Isra’el retained her separation from the LORD and deals with the sin that caused that separation.

Shabbat observance was one barometer of faithfulness to the Torah. By following the rules for the Sabbath a man, for example, acknowledged the importance of worshiping God and showed that he depended upon ADONAI to bless him materially for that time he took off from work. By putting the LORD first and not seeking to do as he pleased, he would have joy, not only in a spiritual sense (ride on the heights), but also in a material sense (feast on the inheritance). The holy Sabbath was God’s answer to the so-called fasting feasts made up by wicked men.

All this was certain because the mouth of the LORD had spoken it (58:14b). Here is the golden key to understanding the Bible: those who give themselves away find themselves; and those who surrender the throne receive a crown of righteousness.

Isra’el’s National Wickedness
58:1 to 59:21

In the days before the fall of Jerusalem (Ezeki’el 8; Jeremiah 52), Isra’el was full of sin. But more than anything, they were hypocrites, clinging to rituals of the letter of the Torah, yet being spiritually dead so they were separated from God by their sin. Like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), she would have to come to the end of her rope to be willing to submit to God. Pride had kept her from doing so, and will keep her from doing so for a long time. It is pride that says: I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High (14:13b-14). It is the pride of self-sufficiency. It is the pride that says, “No thanks, God, I can handle it.” It is the pride from the pit of hell that spiritually blinds people and anesthetizes them to the truth that they need God. We all need to give up the steering wheel of our lives to Him.

Alcoholics have talked about a “moment of clarity” where they see themselves as they really are – drunks. The alibi system is stripped away. “Everybody is picking on me,” will not do anymore. It is then that they say, “I need to do something about this.” Isra’el will go through the same process at the end of the Great Tribulation. As the armies of the antichrist are closing in on those Jews at Bozrah, those who are still alive at the end of the Great Tribulation, her life flashes before her eyes and she has a “moment of spiritual clarity.” Those Jews will see themselves as they really are – sinners in need of a Savior (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ev – The Basis of the Second Coming of Jesus Chrst). At that moment they will confess their national sin, and invite Jesus Christ to come back and save them. And so all Isra’el will be saved (see Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah). At that time, she will go from groan to glory.

Rebuke for the Wicked and Promises for the Faithful (58:1 to 60:1-22)

A summary of the Suffering Servant’s First Coming, Second Coming
and the restoration of Isra’el (61:1-11)

Far Eschatological Prophecy (62:1 to 66:24)

That She Had Received from the LORD
Double for All Her Sin
58:1 to 66:24

The last of the three-fold message is that she had received from the LORD double for all her sin (58:1 to 66:24). The second point, that her sin had been pardoned, gives the reason for the first, that her hard service had been completed; because her sins had been pardoned, her hard service had been completed. Likewise, the third point gives the reason for the second. The reason she had received double for all her sins was so that her sins could be pardoned. So we have a progression in thought.

I Live in a High and Holy Place,
But Also with Those Who are Contrite
57: 14-21

I live in a high and holy place, but also with those who are contrite DIG: Who would be reading this prophecy? When would they be reading it? What road needed to be built up and prepared? What obstacles needed to be removed out of the way of God’s people? What does it mean to be lowly and contrite? What does the LORD promise here? In what sense does the prophet picture the people of Isra’el mourning? 

REFLECT: Are you lowly and contrite or high and lofty? What obstacles are hindering ADONAI’s work in your life? What areas of your spiritual highway are in need of repair? If the wicked are like the tossing sea, how would you picture those at peace with God? Which do you feel like? Why? What might you need to quiet things down? What word of peace (57:19) might Jesus speak to calm you?

In this near historical prophecy, Isaiah speaks to the nation of Judah and city of Jerusalem about one hundred years later during the ministry of Jeremiah. Through His prophet, God offers His forgiveness if only they would repent from their wickedness.

After rebuking the religious leaders of Jerusalem for only looking out for their own selfish interests (to see link click Jl – Israel’s Watchmen Are Blind, They All Lack Judgment), and accusing the citizens of Judah of spiritual adultery, (see Jm – You Have Made Your Bed on Every Hill, There You Went Up to Offer Sacrifices) ADONAI offers both groups mercy: Not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Grace is getting what you don’t deserve, while mercy is not getting what you do deserve. Because of their wickedness both of those groups deserved judgment. Instead, God gives them hope (Titus 2:13).

The invitation to: Build up, build up, prepare a road (57:14a) for the people of faith points to that road spoken of by the forerunner earlier in Isaiah (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Be – John the Baptist Prepares the Way). He will be a voice of one calling in the desert. “Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God (see Gm – The Highway of Holiness Will Be There). Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the Sh’khinah glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it! For the mouth of ADONAI has spoken (40:3-5).”

Whatever prevented them from coming to Him and taking refuge in Him had to be removed. God said: Remove the obstacles, every stumbling block, out of the way of My people (57:14b). The picture of a stumbling block is significant here because of its use earlier: And He will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare (8:14). There ADONAI is the stumbling block to those who refuse to give Him a place in their lives. As a result, they stumble over Him instead of allowing Him to be the Sanctuary that He wants to be.

Here the context is similar to 8:14 above. God is the Holy One and there is a stumbling block in the people’s way. But the tone is different. There, Isaiah was commanded to leave this people to their stumbling ways (8:11), and seal up the testimony (8:16), while God hid His face from the house of Jacob (8:17). Here, the prophet is empowered to speak to My people, and to let them hear the command to remove every stumbling block in their way so ADONAI could stop hiding from them (57:17), and heal them (6:10). What could have made the difference between 8:14-17 and here? Because the Servant has been crushed (53:10), the LORD could sit in the dust with those who have been crushed (57:15). Those who would humble themselves and live with the Holy One would find a perfectly smooth road to salvation.

For this is what the high and lofty One says – He who lives forever, literally inhabiter of eternity. The word sakan (Exodus 25:8, 29:45) is used of ADONAI coming to dwell temporarily among His people in the Tabernacle. And just as at the exodus, when He gathered His people to Himself by redemption (see the commentary on Exodus Bz – Redemption) with the deliberate purpose of dwelling among them (Exodus 29:42-46), so now He purposes exactly the same but with forever in mind.

Whose name is Holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also the one who is contrite, literally crushed, and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of those crushed under life’s burdens (57:15). He is the God of eternity. Mankind, however, doesn’t last very long on this earth. The eternal God promises to take those who do not trust in themselves, but trust in Him, and He covers them as a mother hen covers her chicks (Matthew 23:37). What peace and security there is for those who belong to the LORD. Even though He is majestic, high and lofty, He fellowships with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit. ADONAI is very high, but He is not so high that He is removed from our struggles. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin. Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).

What ADONAI was looking for then, and what He is looking for today is brokenness over sin. David wrote Psalm 34 when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who eventually drove him away (First Samuel 21:13): He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). After committing adultery with Bathsheba, he also wrote: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17). But David repented saying: I have sinned against the LORD (2 Samuel 12:13), and therefore, reestablished his relationship with ADONAI (1 John 1:8-10).

How can God bridge the gap between our sin and His holiness? ADONAI must satisfy His own legal requirements and bring an end to His anger. This is accomplished by the suffering Servant of the LORD (53:1-12). The theological name for this is propitiation, which is the averting of God’s wrath by means of the substitutionary sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah. His shed blood satisfies every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that God is free to act on behalf of sinners (Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1 John 2:2). I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry (57:16a). He is eternal, but His anger is not. If we repent, the LORD’s accusations and anger will not last forever because of His grace. As Jesus said: There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent (Luke 15:7).

For then the one would faint away because of Me – the very people I have created (57:16b). Here ADONAI expresses His dilemma. On the one hand, if He could not find a way of abating His righteous anger, the humans that He had created would be forever separated from Him. But, on the other hand, how could He fail to punish sin and continue to be the just God of all creation (Genesis 18:17-19)? The answer to this puzzle continues to be the Suffering Servant (53:10-12). The only question is that tricky little matter of free will. Would those He created choose His sin offering, or go their own way?

In the past He had to be harsh with His people because of their sinful greed and independence. I was enraged by their sinful greed, or covetousness (see my commentary on Exodus Dt – You Shall Not Covet Anything That Belongs To Your Neighbor).  God said: I punished them, and hid My face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways (57:17). The sin being described is greed, which seemingly summed up all their sins. Covetousness is the proud, unrestrained motivation that wishes to make itself the center of the universe. It is not surprising, therefore, that the commandment not to covet is last. If you break the tenth commandment, do you not also break the first?

If only they would repent He would forgive them, giving healing, guidance and comfort. He said: I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to the mourners of Israel. The nation is pictured here as theoretically asking for forgiveness, being forgiven, and mourning, as it were, over her sins that are pictured as being dead and gone. As the prophet Micah said: You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).

The natural result of forgiveness is praise, and therefore, praise would be heard on the lips of the forgiven sinners (57:18-19a). God would heal the contrite and brokenhearted Israelites; He will comfort, guide and restore them back to a relationship with Him. If they would only turn from their wicked ways. He so desperately wanted to heal them and change from anger to loving concern.

The forgiven ones would enjoy peace. ADONAI would no longer be at enmity with His children. “Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them” (57:19b). This peace would not be a matter of birthright, but a matter of choice. They could say no to God and make it stick. Comfort and restoration, however, will be the state of the righteous, the wicked will not be so fortunate.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud (57:20). The contrast between the righteous and the wicked is especially relevant from here to the end of the book were Isaiah focuses on balancing the ideas of salvation and vengeance (59:17, 61:2, 63,4-6). This is probably one of the most picturesque descriptions of the wicked in the Bible. Like the troubled and restless sea, the wicked can find no peace no matter how hard they try or no matter how much peace they pretend to have (Psalm 37 and 73). They are like a hunted criminal looking for deliverance and safety, but doomed for punishment because they refuse to turn to God.

There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked (57:21). Like gravity, this is an axiom of life. In contrast with the abundant peace promised to the righteous, unrest like that of a troubled sea with its mire and dirt is the lot of the wicked. Jesus’ parable is an excellent illustration of this fact (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ii – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector). There is no rest for the wicked in this life, and there will be no peace in the next life. Each of the three-fold messages (That Her Warfare Had Been Completed – 40:12 to 48:22; That Her Sin Had Been Pardoned – 49:1 to 57:21; and That She Had Received from the Lord Double for All Her Sin – 58:1 to 66:24) ends with one verse that describes the state of the wicked, and that is what we have here.

The first of the three-fold message was that her warfare had been completed. It was completed with the seventy years of Babylonian captivity (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). Babylon was conquered and the Jews were permitted to go back. God had demonstrated His absolute superiority over the idols by doing something never before done in human history, causing a conquered people, His people, to return from exile to their native Land. That section ended with the judgment of the evil ones: There is no peace, says the LORD, for the wicked (48:22).

The second of the three-fold message, which ends here, is that her sin had been pardoned. In this section, the reason that Isra’el’s sin was pardoned was because of the death of the Servant of the LORD. This section also ends with the condemnation of the wicked: There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked (57:21). And we will see the condemnation of the wicked again at the end of the last of the three-fold message in Chapter 66.

You Have Made Your Bed on Every Hill,
There You Went Up to Offer Sacrifices
57: 3-13

You have made your bed on every hill, there you went up to offer sacrifices DIG: How is the people’s idolatry like adultery? What is Isaiah’s point in using that image? Why has this happened? What is meant by the prophet’s harsh words in 57:9? What is syncretism? From these verses, why do you think the LORD permits divorce on the grounds of adultery? How will the fate of the idolaters contrast with the future of those who have taken refuge in God? How does this section show us that ADONAI is a promise keeper?

REFLECT: How are people still burning with lust and sacrificing their children today? How are they sending ambassadors far away? Why are they not worn out with their idolatry? What forms does idolatry take today? Has something ever taken the place of the LORD in your life? TV? Sports? Family? Spouse? Children? Job? Which have failed to help you when you really needed help? In reality, how do these very things end up separating us from the help ADONAI gives? How would you explain to someone what it means to take refuge in God? What pressures are driving you to take shelter in Christ right now?

In this near historical prophecy Isaiah condemns Jewish citizens living about one hundred years later during the ministry of Jeremiah. This is a scathing denunciation of the men who indulged in idolatrous rites and pagan practices. In this section, Isaiah expands on the self-righteousness of the nation that considers itself to be the elect of the LORD, a nation that sees righteousness as a matter of political correctness in their religious practices. In 57:3-10 through His prophet, ADONAI exposes the practice of idolatry. Finally, in 57:11-13, God addresses the foolishness of idolatry.

In contrast with the righteous, the vast majority of the nation was involved in idolatry. Because they had begun worshiping other gods, they were guilty of spiritual adultery. The concept of Isra’el being the wife of the LORD is rooted in Deuteronomy, which is written in the form of an ancient marriage contract (to see link click Je – The Restoration of the Wife of the LORD).

But you – come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes (57:3). And as His wife, Isra’el was involved in religious prostitution (Hosea 4:14). In fertility religions “worshipers” engaged in sexual relations with prostitutes, supposedly identifying in that way with the gods and goddesses to help guarantee fertility in their crops, animals, and families.

Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? They participated in a rising tide of rejection against ADONAI and His followers; starting with poking fun, leading to scornful sneers, which ended up in vulgar rejection. Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars (57:4). Such people in Isra’el were mocking the righteous while they were up to their eyebrows in sin. By such actions they were rebels against God.²³⁴ This was no accident. It was willful departure from the truth to the lie. Timothy said it this way: For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (Second Timothy 4:3-4)

Isaiah now proceeds to describe two aspects of Canaanite religion that never ceased to horrify the prophets: fertility worship and child sacrifice. First, fertility worship, with its symbolic lush spreading tree and its sexual ritual, supposedly prompted the god to fertilize their land, their animals and their family. The exact reason for the association of a lush spreading tree with fertility worship is not known. But whatever the specific reasons were, the connection was clear (First Kings 14:23; Second Kings 16:4, 17:10; Isaiah 1:29; Jeremiah 2:20, 3:6 and 13; Ezeki’el 6:13, 20:28-29; Hosea 4:12-13). Their physical union with the loins of creation, rather than a spiritual relationship with the Creator, became the key to their imaginary power.

You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree (57:5a). In addition, worship centers were set up on high places so that the idolaters could imagine themselves even closer to their gods. Often these high places were in lush forest areas to picture the fertility being sought by the idolaters. Their spiritual adultery was so great that ADONAI said: You burn with lust, and would accuse them of making their bed on every high and lofty hill. They even sacrificed their children to the tree gods among the oaks (see below). Idol temples and altars were built, surrounded by thick groves and trees. There, under every spreading tree, offering sacrifices in gardens (65:3), excesses of the worst kind were committed. Therefore, God had to forbid the planting of trees near His altars, lest His people should become, or seem to be, like unbelievers.²³⁵

The second aspect of Canaanite worship was child sacrifice. You sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags (57:5b). ADONAI had told Moses to say: Any Israelite or any alien living in Isra’el who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him (Leviticus 20:2, also see Leviticus 18:21, 20:3-5; Jeremiah 49:1-3). Molech worship consisted of the ritualized sacrifice, or “passing through the fire” of the first-born infant son of every Ammonite family. Building a fire in the belly of the beast, getting it good and stoked, so that the flames poured out of the mouth, the high priest mounted a scaffold and tossed the first born male child into an opening in Molech’s chest or placed him in the statue’s outstretched arms (Jeremiah 7:31, 32:35). If a couple sacrificed their first-born son, they believed that Molech would ensure financial prosperity for the family and future children. In contrast to that, the Torah taught that the firstborn of Isra’el belonged to the LORD (see the commentary on Exodus Cd – Consecrate To Me Every Firstborn Male), but those idol worshipers gave their firstborn male to Molech instead! They treated their infant sons like cattle.

They even worshiped the smooth stones from the stream that once slew a giant (First Samuel 17:40). The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion (57:6a). And as if worshiping the tree gods wasn’t sufficient, they also worshiped the stone gods and expected God to look the other way. One of the rites of idol worshipers was the worship of stone pillars, water-worn and smoothed by the winter floods, upon which was poured or smeared the blood or oil of sacrificial offerings to the deity the stones represented. The worship of stone is referred to in Deuteronomy 7:5, 12:3 and in many passages where the word images is used. It is also very probable that the allusion to the rock in Deuteronomy 32:31 and 37 is a reference to the same practice of idolatry. The image of the goddess Artemis, which fell down from heaven and was worshiped by the Ephesians, may be another example (Acts 19:27and 35). The old custom was to anoint the stones, which were worshiped, and to present offerings to them. The worthless stones are contrasted with the greatness of God. ADONAI said to the Israelites, if you reject Me, then all you will get are some useless stones. They, they are your reward instead of a relationship with Me (57:6c).

Then God asked rhetorically: Yes, to the idols of stone you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In the light of these things, should I relent (57:6b)? The answer expected is that no appeasement is possible. Such revolting worship demands not pacification but punishment. From the depths of the ravines to the height of the lofty hills, practice of spiritual adultery filled the whole Land. Returning to the imagery of prostitution, He said: You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices (57:7). They worshiped everything except the true and living God.

All of this resulted in spiritual adultery. Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness (57:8). Money aside, her heart was given to another. In Deuteronomy 6:9 Moses said that the commandments of the LORD were to be written on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. But now we see that they had put pagan symbols of other gods behind their doors and doorposts. They had forsaken God, and Isaiah uses the allusion of them climbing into bed and making a pact with those who they love to worship. It is no wonder that Jesus says: I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another women commits adultery (Matthew 19:9). ADONAI knows how much Israel’s actions hurt Him. He loved her so much, yet she kept committing spiritual adultery. God finally gave Isra’el her certificate of divorce in Jeremiah 3:8. I gave Isra’el her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. God does not ask more of us than He does of Himself.

The metaphor of prostitution is expanded. You went to Molech, an Ammonite god, with olive oil and perfumes to attract her foreign lover. You sent ambassadors far away (57:9a). Judah had flirted with foreign powers to gain military alliances (Ezeki’el 23). But those political alliances always involved relations with foreign gods. Therefore, signing covenants with pagan nations was like signing her own death warrant. Figuratively, it was like she descended to the grave, or sh’ol, itself (57:9b)! When she was committing spiritual adultery with foreign gods, it was like she was killing herself. You can’t swim in the toilet, and come up smelling like a rose!

The constant quest for new gods with which to prostitute herself was exhausting. You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, “It is hopeless, I need to return to the LORD.” You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint in your pursuit of other lovers (57:10-11). We see that while the Israelites liked to worship many gods in general (Ezeki’el 8), they like to worship one god in particular, Molech the god of the Ammonites. As mentioned above, the worship of Molech required human sacrifice, specifically first-born baby boys. So the children of sacrifice were slaughtered. Even though the worshipers of Molech were very tired, they always found a second wind to continue their worship of him. So while they were committing spiritual adultery they never even thought about the One true God, who alone gave them life and strength.

Finally, God called the people to account. He starts out by asking them what could possibly have motivated them to be untrue to Him. Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to Me, and have neither remembered Me, nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me (57:11)? The Bible teaches that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). Isra’el had feared wood and stone, but not the true God. And yet those gods of wood and stone had kept silent. But Isra’el’s God, whom they had ignored, continually spoke the truth. God’s apparent indifference to their way of life had ended. He was proceeding to pronounce judgment and would expose Isra’el’s lack of righteousness and works of adultery. Those who trusted in and had faith in, or believed in those little gods of wood and stone were left with nothing but the wind. There was nothing to stop them from chasing after their evil desires, since no fear of the LORD stood in their way. In short, they were fools.

So what would God do? I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you (57:12). Their alleged righteous works, when exposed, would be shown for what they really were, and as a result their counterfeit deeds would be of no help to them when they face Yeshua Messiah in judgment (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). The books will be opened and all their counterfeit righteousness will be exposed. ADONAI said sarcastically: When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry them off (57:13a). They fooled themselves into believing that all their rituals and spells, their sexual escapades and child sacrifices were pleasing to the LORD. It is the same today. The out-and-out denial of God is rarely the problem. Most people say they believe in “God.” The problem is the prostitution of it. People rub shoulders with syncretism so much that in the end their “faith” ends up being worthless. They might have called it righteousness, but it was really abomination (66:3). There was so little spiritual substance to those Israelites living in Jerusalem during the days of Jeremiah that a mere breath blew them away (57:13b). They were spiritual shells with nothing inside . . . walking spiritual zombies.

But whoever takes refuge in Me will inherit the Land and possess My holy mountain (57:13c). In contrast to those who worshiped wood and stone were those who took refuge in the true God of Isra’el. Those who took refuge in Him will inherit the Promised Land, and possess ADONAI’s holy mountain (11:9). This is a hint of something that is spelled out in other prophets. The righteous of the TaNaKh will be resurrected after the Second Coming (see Fg – You Who Dwell in the Dust Will Wake Up and Shout for Joy), for the purpose of inheriting and possessing all of the Promised Land. ADONAI said to Abraham: To your descendants I give this Land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephates, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites (Genesis 15:18-19). He repeated this promise to Isaac and Jacob. Yet when all three died, the most they possessed of the Promised Land was a buried cave and several wells. So how would God fulfill His promises?

The only way ADONAI could fulfill His promises to them is to resurrect them from the dead and bring them to the Land, where they will possess all of the Promised Land. In addition, the prophets also clearly make the point that the righteous of the TaNaKh will also possess the Promised Land someday: For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the Land (Psalm 37:9).

Isra’el’s Watchmen Are Blind,
They All Lack Knowledge
56:9 to 57:2

Isra’el’s watchman are blind, they all lack knowledge DIG: What three figures of speech does Isaiah use to describe the leaders of Isra’el? What time period was Isaiah describing? How do we know? To whom was this prophecy addressed? In what ways are the leaders as useless as gluttons or sleeping watchdogs that can’t even bark? What are the primary concerns in these verses?

REFLECT: How can we check ourselves against spiritual blindness? How can you be taken away to be spared from an evil situation? How do you think you would react in a situation like this? Why? What is the most important life lesson you can take away from this study? How can you use it to help others?

Throughout most of this third major section in the second half of the book: Il – That Her Sin Had Been Pardoned from 49:1 to 57:21, the emphasis has been on the far eschatological prophecy of the righteous of the TaNaKh in the Messianic Kingdom. Now in 56:9 to 57:21, Isaiah prophesied about the spiritual condition of the nation about a hundred years in the future. We can be confident of our interpretation because the nation was not broken apart during the days of Isaiah, although undoubtedly corrupt. It was, however, during the ministry of Jeremiah, that the beasts came and Jerusalem fell (Jeremiah 52). It was then that the Israelites were taken into captivity and the book of Lamentations was written. In view of the wonderful future that Isaiah had already prophesied, one would expect the Israelites would want to obey ADONAI in anticipation of that glorious Kingdom. But, sadly, that was not the case. And if we look around us, we have the same problems today.

In this near historical prophecy Isaiah condemns the religious rulers of Jerusalem of about one hundred years later, during the ministry of Jeremiah. The leaders of Isra’el were not the LORD’s servants, they were working for themselves. They had failed the people and they had failed God. Therefore, they were to be condemned and removed by Babylon. In irony and bitterness the heart of the prophet invites the wild beasts of the field and the beasts of the forest to come and devour the defenseless sheep, because they were left unprotected by their shepherds. This is a scathing accusation against the slothful leaders of the people and is a standard motif elsewhere in the Bible (Jeremiah 12:9; Ezeki’el 34:8). Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest (56:9)! The beasts in the plural refer to the Gentile nations. Just because ADONAI had selected her as His vineyard did not mean He would not break down its walls and call in the wild animals if they did not keep their covenant promises (to see link click Ba – The Song of the Vineyard). Grace is not to somehow condone overt, continuous sin and make it acceptable, but rather, to make it possible, after chastisement, to start over with a clean slate and the power to obey (Rom 6:1-23).

But here the LORD was permitting the Gentile nations to break down the walls of the vineyard, and like wild beasts, devour His people. Assyria had already broken in and Babylon was coming. Later, others would come and devour her. If you have ever seen pictures of the walls of Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall, you can see that they are built of stones from different time periods and civilizations. History tells us that Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twenty-seven times, and today is built upon its own debris. To reach the place where Yeshua walked, you would have to dig down thirty to fifty feet. Why did ADONAI allow the Gentile nations to devour the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:10b)?

In his first figure of speech, Isaiah uses a watchman. The watchmen of Isra’el were the prophets, who were designated to see what was coming and prepare the people to meet the challenge (Isaiah 21:6, 52:8; Jeremiah 6:17; Ezeki’el 3:17; Habakkuk 2:1). If these “seers” were blind, however, the likelihood that the people would choose the right way and avoid sin was virtually non-existent. Unfortunately, that was the case during the ministry of Jeremiah. Isra’el’s watchmen were blind. They all lacked knowledge, they were all mute dogs who could not even bark; they lay around and dreamt, loving to sleep (56:10). From Isaiah we learn that Isra’el’s watchmen were guilty of a whole list of wrongdoings. It would almost be laughable if it were not so tragic.

First, they were blind (56:10a); they could not see the difference between good and evil. Unfortunately, it was the blind leading the blind, and not surprisingly, it ended terribly. The Psalmist wrote: I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11). The only way we can tell if we have a spiritual myopia is check ourselves against the Word of God. For all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the person of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (Second Timothy 3:16-17).

Secondly, they all lacked knowledge (56:10b). They lacked the necessary foresight and knowledge to lead, even though the well-being of the nation rested on their narrow shoulders. The LORD said through His prophet Hosea, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6a). The priests in particular had ignored their duty to communicate the Torah to the nation (Deut 31:9-13, 33:8-10; Malachi 2:7).

Thirdly, in his second figure of speech, Isaiah likened those counterfeit leaders to dogs. Rather than being barking dogs for protection, they are all mute dogs, because they would not bark (56:10c). In Isaiah’s day every shepherd had a dog to help him watch the sheep. The dog would lie down at night and keep one eye open. The second a dangerous animal or human being came to harm or to steal the sheep – the dog would bark. But the watchmen, the religious leaders who should have been warning ADONAI’s people, were ignoring it. Like mute dogs, they did not bark when danger was near. A silent watchdog is worthless.

Fourthly, rather then keeping a sharp eye on the flock, they laid around dreaming because they loved to sleep (56:10d). Instead of staying alert watching for the approaching enemy, those dogs were fast asleep, their legs twitching in their dreams, only waking up long enough to yawn and change positions. They didn’t love the people, or even their task. The real affection of their lives was for sleep. Because those religious leaders had allowed their sense of calling to become fuzzy, laziness had overtaken them and destroyed their ability to perform their calling.

Fifthly, not only were they lazy, but they were also greedy. That is a bad combination. They were dogs with mighty appetites; they never had enough (56:11a). The problem with them was not merely idleness and sloth; the problem was much more active than that. They were concerned with their own self-interests rather than the welfare of their flock. Ironically, they had forsaken the real purpose of their lives for self-gratification that they could never satisfy. Like a dog chasing its tail, they could never find the reward that they were so desperately looking for. It always seemed just out of their reach.

Sixth, in a third figure of speech they are compared to shepherds who lack understanding (56:11b). Solomon wrote: Folly delights a man who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding keeps a straight course (Proverbs 15:21). Good shepherds know the best grazing ground for their flocks. But these pseudo-leaders were self-absorbed and ignorant. They just didn’t get it.

Seventh, they all turned to their own way, each seeking his own gain (56:11c). They sought their own interests without caring for the welfare of the people. The cardinal sin of leadership is insatiable self-concern. The threefold imagery of the watchman, dogs and shepherds suggests that Isaiah’s prophecy was addressed not only to the prophets but, as other places in the book, to the heart of the Jewish leadership: the priests and the royalty. Each group, without exception, had chosen to put themselves before the interests of their God, their country and their people. If they only could have seen king Zedekiah taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, forced to watch the execution of his own sons, then blinded, bound with shackles and taken to Babylon to die (Jeremiah 52:9-11), then maybe they would have chosen differently. But they were blind.

Eighth, then Isaiah offers a concrete illustration. Without an introduction of a speaker we simply hear the watchman speak. Then everything Isaiah had been saying became tangibly real. “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer” (56:12a). They drowned their sad plight and condition in excessive drinking. The Bible doesn’t object to drinking wine (First Timothy 5:23), but it does condemn drunkenness. Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise (Proverbs 20:1).

Ninth, they were characterized by a false sense of security, saying tomorrow will be like today, or even far better (56:12b). If a little pleasure is good, then more is better, and much more is better still. They faced the future as drunkards and blind optimists, unable to see beyond the glass of alcohol in front of them. There are many people who are facing life like that today. What desire never tells us is that she can never be satisfied, and in the end, she ends up enslaving us. Sin always takes you further than you want to go, and costs you more than you wanted to pay.

In Matthew 23 Jesus accuses the Jewish leadership of not fulfilling their God given duties and pronounces seven woes against them. Jewish critics like to use that chapter to try to show that there is anti-Semitism in the New Covenant. If anyone ever does that to you, turn to Isaiah 56:10-12 and ask them if Isaiah was anti-Semitic also?

The disappearance of the righteous and godly was a result of the apathy of the nations’ supposed leaders. The righteous perish and no one takes it to heart (57:1a). As the wicked leaders continued their pursuit of pleasure, their flock was being devoured. They didn’t care; in fact, they didn’t even notice. Evil became so rampant in Jerusalem that during the ministry of Jeremiah there was a time when he was virtually unable to find one person who dealt honestly and sought the truth (Jeremiah 5:1-2). There were a few, but basically Jeremiah found a city full of evil. They were like Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah; in effect they basically made no difference. ADONAI had disciplined Isra’el in the past, but He had only been met with resistance. If anything, God’s discipline only made their hearts harder and they refused to repent (Jeremiah 5:3). Zion was rushing headlong toward both spiritual and physical disaster.

Therefore, the LORD, in His mercy, began to take the righteous out of their society. Devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil (57:1b). He was preparing the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and knew the suffering that would result. So one by one, devout men and women were taken away, not to be replaced. Slowly, like a body bleeding to death, the spiritual life was drained from the City. The Bible doesn’t tell us how this was accomplished; only that God did it. The disappearance of the righteous should have been a signal to all that drastic corrective measures were at hand. But no one understood that the righteous were taken away to be spared from the evil.

Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death, literally they lie upon their beds (57:2). Those who walked uprightly had the peace of death (Second Kings 22:20), and their souls are in heaven because of their righteousness. In contrast to this peaceful state of the righteous, the wicked, however, were idol worshippers; as we will see in the next section.

Rebuke for the Wicked and Promises to the Faithful
56:9 to 58:14

It is customary for Isaiah, under the direction of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, to go back and forth between near historical and far eschatological prophecies. The way you can distinguish between the two is content and context. In this section we see the condemnation of the Jewish religious leaders, the disappearance of the righteous, and idolatry being practiced. None of those things take place during the messianic Kingdom. Therefore, the condemnation pictured here is that of the Jewish leadership of Jeremiah’s day, about one hundred years later. That makes it a near historical prophecy. It is not unusual for Isaiah to alternate between far eschatological and near historical prophecies. Here Isaiah uses a far – near – far motif. Once again, context and content drive our interpretation, not ideology.

A far eschatological prophecy pointing to Isra’el’s national regeneration (54:1-17) and the offer of salvation to the Gentile nations during the Messianic Kingdom (55:1-56:8).

In this near historical prophecy, Isaiah rebukes the unrighteous Jews one hundred years later during the ministry of Jeremiah (56:9 to 57:13); promises to forgive them if they will repent (57:14-21); then reminds them that there is a true way to fast (58:1-14).

A far eschatological prophecy of the end of the Great Tribulation, the Second Coming and the Messianic Kingdom (59:1-21 to 60:1-22).

My House Will Be Called a House of Prayer for All Nations
56: 1-8

My house will be called a house of prayer for the nations DIG: With the absence of the Temple and the sacrifices that go along with it, how do Jews believe they are saved today? How is the Dispensation of Grace a mystery? Who is the Servant? What two examples are given to demonstrate that a place in the Kingdom will be based on the relationship to the King rather than simply being Jewish? What kind of burnt offerings and sacrifices will be offered in the Messianic Kingdom? If Jesus paid for our sins once for all when He offered Himself (Hebrews 7:27), what is their purpose? How does Isaiah show that the blessings for Israel will not be limited to Israel?

REFLECT: How do the attitudes and actions of these verses apply to us today? Why are these so crucial to God? How might you act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8) this week in your family? Your work place? Would you describe your church or messianic synagogue as a gathering place for sinners, or a fortress to protect those “inside” from those “outside?” Why? Try seeing your church or messianic synagogue services from the viewpoint of someone from a totally different background. What “inside” practices or beliefs might prevent outsiders from regarding it as a place for them to meet God? What might you do to help change this? What “outsider” will you befriend this week?

This is a far eschatological prophecy during the Messianic Kingdom, where we see ADONAI’s gathering of His people. This section provides an excellent transition between Chapters 40-55 and Chapters 56-66. It is also parallel to ADONAI’s gathering of His people in 66:18-24 (see the chiastic structure below). Earlier chapters spoke of the Servant’s offer of salvation to the Gentile nations. Now Isaiah begins to work out it’s implications. Even though it will be a small percentage of the millions and millions of Gentiles multiplying in the Messianic Kingdom (Revelation 20:7-9), many will come to the LORD by faith. But whether it be Isra’el or the Gentile peoples, this B’rit Chadashah will not be primarily performance based, but a relationship. That point is made clear here with its shocking references to eunuchs and foreigners.

Who is especially pleasing to God? Those who carry the bloodline of Abraham and pass it on to succeeding generations of covenant people? No! His people are those who reveal a living relationship with Him in their lives. Although they may have never known Abraham and die childless, all who received Him, and to those who believe in His name, He gives the right to be become children of God (John 1:12). It is not and will not be genealogy, but faith that marks the servants of ADONAI.

Today, in the absence of the Temple and the tribe of Levites to offer the sacrifices on their behalf, Jews believe that prayer, observance of the Sabbath, and good works will save them. But the Bible, even the Hebrew Scriptures, reject that faulty theology. The Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11, is a testimony that salvation equals faith, plus nothing. In other words, we can only be saved on the basis of faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). However, during Isaiah’s day, the Jews believed that since they had the revealed Word of God in the Scriptures, and they had the Temple, that salvation was limited only to Isra’el. They were in fact, very racist in thinking that Gentiles were equivalent to dogs. They considered themselves defiled if they even went into the house of a Gentile. Here Isaiah will point out that salvation is not limited to Isra’el, but to all men (Gen 12:3). Thus, there is the announcement of salvation for all nations.

This is what the LORD says: Maintain justice and do what is right (56:1a). The advice by Isaiah is to mankind to maintain justice and do what is right. Jewish teachers have at various times attempted to make collections of different scriptures from the Torah. One of the most remarkable of these was made by Rabbi Samlai. The following is his condensed statement: Moses gave six hundred and thirteen commandments on Mount Sinai. David reduced these commandments to eleven, which may be found in the fifteenth Psalm, in answer to the question: LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Isaiah further reduced the eleven to six, as may be seen in Isaiah 33:15. Then came Micah and reduced the six to three (Mic 6:8). Once more Isaiah reduced the three to two (Isaiah 56:1). Last came Habakkuk, and reduced them all to one: but the righteous will live by faith (Hab 2:4).²³²

The reason is because God says: For My salvation is close at hand (56:1a). Like Peter (Matthew 17:4), Isaiah and the other prophets expected the Kingdom to be established immediately; however, the Dispensation of Grace (see my commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Bp – The Dispensation of Grace), was a mystery to them: And to make plain to everyone that administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, the Creator of everything (Ephesians 3:9). A mystery in the Bible is different than what we usually think of as a mystery – something that cannot be discovered. It is something hidden by God, that is now revealed (Romans 11:25, 16:25; Colossians 1:27).

And My righteousness will soon be revealed (56:1b). These very expressions were used earlier in Chapter 55. These two words, salvation and righteousness, do not emphasize the concept of salvation so much, but the Person through whom it would come. That is the Suffering Servant (see Iz – See, My Servant Will Act Wisely, He Will Be Lifted Up and Exalted). So the final revelation of the Suffering Servant, because the time is short, goes out to all mankind in general.

Blessed is the one who does this, the person who holds fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil (56:2). He promises blessings for those who will maintain justice and do what is right. He promises blessing for those who believe that salvation is close at hand and righteousness will soon be revealed. The person who believes all this is marked by obedience; holds fast, keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing evil. The future salvation Isaiah announces in verses 1 and 2 will extend to two unique groups, foreigners and eunuchs, in verses 3 through 8.

First, the foreigner. Let no foreigner who is bound to ADONAI say: The LORD will surely exclude me from His people (56:3a). The foreigner who has bound himself to the ADONAI will not be excluded from His people Isra’el. First, the term foreigner may have a special reference to Ammonites and Moabites. The Torah teaches that no Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever (Deuteronomy 23:3 NKJ). Notice how the word forever is limited to the tenth generation? The Hebrew word forever does not mean forever as we think of it. The Hebrew word never means eternity as we think of it. It merely means up to the end of a period of time. It could be a person’s life, it could be a matter of several generations, or it could mean the end of a dispensational age. David would say: I will dwell in the House of the LORD forever (Psalm 23:6). He meant during his lifetime. When David said: I reigned in Jerusalem forever, he did not really reign there forever, he actually reigned there for forty years. The rabbis teach that the Messianic Kingdom is forever. But the B’rit Chadashah tells us that it lasts for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6). There is no contradiction.

In Deuteronomy 23 two groups were excluded from participating in the Temple service. One group was the eunuch, and the other group included Ammonites and Moabites whose origin started with an incestuous relationship between Lot and his two daughters (see my commentary on Genesis Fb – Let’s Get Our Father to Drink Wine, and then Lie With Him to Preserve Our Family Line). If an Ammonite or Moabite accepted the God of Israel, he or she would become a believer in that sense but still could not participate in the Tabernacle or Temple service even down to the tenth generation. But this will not be so during the Dispensation of the Torah (see the commentary on Exodus Da – Dispensation of the Torah), but the Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fh – The Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom).

Secondly, the eunuch. And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree” (56:3b). The eunuch, or one who has been emasculated, was not permitted to participate in the Temple service. Something in the image of God had been destroyed. The eunuch could no longer choose to have children with God’s help. Therefore, the Torah said that worshipers needed to be without any physical defects before God, as the sacrifices offered to God were without physical defects. The Ammonites or Moabites were in the same position. So these two groups under the Torah were unable to participate, but under the B’rit Chadashah during the messianic Kingdom they will be able to participate. Although literal, both groups point to an all-embracing inclusiveness. Now Isaiah elaborates on both groups.

The eunuch is elaborated on first. It seems that the antichrist castrated many male Jews during the second half of the Great Tribulation. Like Hitler, the antichrist tortured and experimented on them. But this physical handicap did not exclude them from the B’rit Chadashah, unlike the First. For this is what the LORD says: To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My Covenant – to them I will give within My Temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off . . . no pun intended (56:4-5). This contrasts with the exclusion of eunuchs under the Torah: No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of ADONAI (Deuteronomy 23:1). Eunuchs will have a place in Temple worship and they will keep the Sabbath in the Messianic Kingdom. But even though they will not be able to have children, they will have their very names written upon the walls of God’s House because of their faithfulness.

Then Isaiah elaborates on the foreigners. And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship Him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34). They too will receive a place in the Messianic Kingdom. God says these I will bring to My Holy Mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer (56:6-7a). What is true of the eunuch is also going to be true of the foreigner. That which was forbidden to them under the Torah will be permitted under the B’rit Chadashah because they will love the name of the LORD and will worship Him.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My bronze altar (56:7b). (see the commentary on Exodus Fa – The Build an Altar of Acacia Wood Overlaid with Bronze). And while their burnt offerings and sacrifices were not acceptable under the Torah, they will be acceptable in the Kingdom (see Db – The Nine Missing Articles in Messiah’s Coming Temple). They will have the privilege of offering sacrifices on the burnt altar that will be viewed as communion because we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). This is what Solomon had envisioned long before (First Kings 8:41-43), and what Malachi would see as inevitable (Malachi 1:11).

Then we see his conclusion. Adonai ELOHIM, He who will gather the Jewish exiles of Israel from around the world, says: I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered (56:8). Grammatically, Adonai ELOHIM stands first in a sentence here and in 1:24. Here, as there, the purpose of this unusual construction seems to give the sentence a special emphasis. Isaiah wants to make it very clear that God will not be finished with those outcasts during the Messianic Kingdom. The blessings for Isra’el will not be limited to Isra’el. The very one who has promised to regather Isra’el, will regather still others to them besides those Jews already gathered. God will gather Gentiles, in particular those Gentiles who could not worship in the Temple under the Torah. God, speaking through John, says: I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd (Jn 10:16).

Indeed, God says that My house will be called a house of prayer for all Gentile nations (56:7c). Jesus quoted Isaiah when He cleansed the Temple after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Iu – Jesus Entered the Temple Area and Drove Out All Who Were Buying and Selling). Notice the phrase will be called is in the future. It had not happened yet. But it will be true in the Messianic Kingdom although we do have a foretaste of it. Who was both a foreigner and a eunuch and came to salvation through the book of Isaiah? The Ethiopian eunuch in the book of Acts (see the commentary on Acts Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet (Acts 8:26-39).

Little has changed today. A Christian worship service is beginning, and two young men come in who are clearly out of place. Their clothes are outlandish and not very clean. Their hair is long and their arms are covered with tattoos. They are clearly not of the evangelical subculture. Are they earnestly seeking salvation? Are they believers who have left all to follow Christ? Who knows? Who cares? They don’t belong here because they are different from us. So an usher, perhaps tactfully or perhaps rudely, goes up and tells them that they don’t belong. And God may say to us the same thing He said to the returned Israelites, “Don’t you dare exclude them from My house. They love Me more than you do, as you could tell from their lives if you took the time to look. Loving obedience is the only family credentials that matter to Me!”²³³

There is a chiastic structure from here to the end of the book where the first letter is parallel to the second letter, and so on, with the letter F being the turning point.

A The faithful remnant will turn to righteousness (58:1-8)

B Rebuke for the wicked and promises to the faithful (56:9 to 58:14)

C Israel confessing her sins (59:1-15a)

D God, the divine warrior (59:15b-21)

E Jerusalem, the Wife of the LORD (60:1-22)

F The Coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom (61:1-11)

E Jerusalem, the Wife of the LORD (62:1-12)

D God, the divine warrior (63:1-6)

C Isra’el confessing her sins (63:7 to 64:11)

B Rebuke for the wicked and promises to the faithful (65:1 to 66:17)

A The faithful remnant will turn to righteousness (66:18-24)

My Word That Goes Out from My Mouth
Will Not Return to Me Empty
55: 1-13

My word that goes out from My mouth will not return to Me empty DIG: What time period do we see here? And what is God’s message to these unsaved Gentiles? What three types of drinks are offered, and what do they represent? Why is King David mentioned? What kind of authority will he have? How will he be a witness? Why will Isra’el be the center of Gentile attention? What does it mean to seek the LORD? How long do the unbelieving Gentiles have to be saved? What are the two reasons that they should do so?

REFLECT: How does the question in 55:2 strike you? How does Isaiah’s invitation relate to Jesus’ words in John 6:35? What does it mean to “feed” upon Jesus? This past week, would you say you have been living on spiritual junk food, or God’s meat and potatoes? Why? God’s Word is compared to food (Psalm 119:103; Ezeki’el 3:1-3; Revelation 10:10) because it is where we obtain our spiritual nourishment. So there are only two kinds of spiritual food; there is angel’s food or devil’s food and if you aren’t eating one, you’re eating the other. What have you been eating lately? Joy and peace are the fruit God’s Word produces. At what stage of development is the fruit in your life?

This is a far eschatological prophecy during the Messianic Kingdom. The work of the Suffering Servant in Chapter 53 made possible the offer of salvation in this chapter. ADONAI calls the Gentile nations to come and eat and drink spiritual food. Speaking both for God and as God, the prophet issued a sweeping invitation: Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost (55:1)! Shockingly, Isaiah says that it may be acquired without cost. What merchant would ever think of selling his goods free of charge? But God does! How can He do it? Perhaps Someone else has already paid the price? We have everything we need necessary for eternal life – without cost. Why wait to accept the invitation?²²⁹

The call brings to mind Jesus’ comments to the Gentile Samaritan woman. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water. “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Everyone who drinks the water you speak of will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up in to eternal life (John 4:10-14).

There are three types of drink offered. First, come to the waters. The plural form is used. In Hebrew the plural form a superlative degree. This water is too wonderful to be expressed in the singular form. Waters also speaks of abundance, of quantity as well as quality. This is water for the soul. This is the water that Yeshua offered using the same symbolism when He stood in the Temple and said in a loud voice: Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:37b-38). The Gentiles who are not killed by the end of the Great Tribulation will have another opportunity to accept rivers of living water during the Messianic Kingdom.

Secondly, come and buy wine, which symbolizes joy. David wrote: You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound (Psalm 4:7; also see Ecclesiastes 9:7; Isaiah 16:10, 22:13, 24:11; Jeremiah 31:12, 48:33; Zechariah 10:7). Joy is the flag that is flown in the heart when the Master is residing within.

Thirdly, come and buy milk. The milk of the Word of God is necessary for spiritual growth. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (First Peter 2:2).

Is a piece of your life missing? We might wake up one day and find ourselves far from ADONAI. Sometimes we grow accustomed to feeling distant from God. This makes it easier to sin, complicating the sense that something important is missing. But no matter how far we may drift from God, He wants us near. He appeared to His people through His prophet: Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy (55:2a)? Worldly pursuits involve the spending of money and labor without satisfying the soul that craves the spiritual life. The solution is in the second part of the verse: Listen intently to Me and give Me your full and undivided attention. Eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of food (55:2b). If something is missing in your life, remember that God is the only One who can fully and abundantly satisfy you. The God-shaped void within your heart cannot be filled by anyone else.

Give ear and come to Me; hear Me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting Covenant [for] you, my faithful love promised to David (55:3). King David is mentioned here for two reasons. First, the Covenant was everlasting, based on God’s faithful love promised to David (Second Samuel 7:11b-16). The point is that just as the Davidic Covenant is sure, so is the New Covenant. The obligation of the Gentiles living in the Messianic Kingdom will be to listen and come to God. The promise is that if they hear, in the sense of doing that which is heard, in the sense of obeying what they know, their soul may live. And if they respond to the invitation of salvation, God’s response will be an everlasting, or B’rit Chadashah (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

The second reason king David is mentioned is that he will be given the dual titles of king and prince in the government in the Messianic Kingdom (Psalm 89:34-37). The absolute monarchy of the Messiah will extend to Israel as well as to the Gentile nations (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fi – The Government of the Messianic Kingdom). But directly under Jesus, having authority over all Isra’el, will be the resurrected David, who will be given the dual titles of king and prince. He will be a king because He will rule over Isra’el (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezeki’el 34:23-24, 37:24-25; Hosea 3:5), and He will be a prince because He will reign under the authority of the Messiah. The Gentile peoples will have kings, and Isra’el will have a king. The difference is that the Gentile kings will have their natural bodies, while David will have his resurrected body.

To the nations under the Messiah’s leadership, ADONAI says: See, I have made David a witness to the Gentile peoples (55:4a). This is a surprising announcement, for Isaiah uses a term that is never applied to David in the historical books of the TaNaKh: a witness. As he is obedient to the LORD, he is a witness to the Gentile peoples to be obedient to ADONAI. He will be building a kingdom for himself, but declaring the character of the One who alone can be called King of all the earth. Because he is a witness, he is also a leader and commander of the Gentile peoples (55:4b). So in that sense David is in a unique position and God calls him three things. First, he is a witness to the peoples because he will demonstrate the faithful love of God. Secondly, he will be a leader (2 Sam 7:8). And thirdly, he will be a commander. The Gentiles will be given every opportunity to accept Yeshua as the Messiah and David will be a positive example for them to emulate.

Then Isra’el’s position is emphasized. Surely you will summon the Gentile nations you know not, and those Gentle nations that do not know you will hasten to you (see Jw – Foreigners Will Rebuild Your Walls, and Their Kings Will Serve You). And the reason Gentile nations will run to Isra’el is because of the LORD her God, the Holy One of Isra’el, for He will empower her with splendor (55:5). This is the same point that Zechariah 8 makes, the Jews will become the center of Gentile attention in the Messianic Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fj – My Chosen People Will Inherit My Mountains). So what Isaiah says here first, Zechariah elaborates on later.

For the Gentiles, the invitation to salvation is followed by an exhortation that will have both positive and negative aspects. On the positive side, they are to seek the LORD while He may be found and call on Him while He is near (55:6). The inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 3:10, 6:10, 8:13 11:10, 13:8, 12 and 14, 17:2 and 8), who hated ADONAI so much during the Great Tribulation, will live in a perfect society where they will not be permitted to act on their own sin nature. They will be encouraged to call on Yeshua Messiah while He is near because He will be ruling and reigning directly from the Most Holy Place in the Millennial Temple in Jerusalem (see Db – The Nine Missing Articles in Messiah’s Coming Temple). As a result of these experiences, they will not be able to offer any further excuses for their sin.

Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation (Second Corinthians 6:2b). In other words, while the Gentiles have suffered the wrath of God during the Great Tribulation, He will still be willing to extend mercy during the Messianic Kingdom. Jesus uses this same intensity of exhortation in His parable of the king’s banquet (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Hp – The Parable of the Great Banquet). When those who were first invited to the banquet refused to come, the king told his servants to go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. God has made all the preparations, and he will find people to respond to His invitation. As Paul says: not many of these will be mighty, wise, influential, or noble by human standards (First Corinthians 1:26-29). The mighty, the wise, and the noble demand that God’s ways and thoughts be made intelligible to them first. But the lowly, the helpless and the broken don’t have to have things explained to them; they simply see the open door and the loaded tables. During the Messianic Kingdom, the Gentiles will be lowly, helpless and broken.

An illustration of both the gravity and the intensity of this invitation can be pictured by a time of tragedy, such as a flood. A mother, a son, and a daughter are clinging to the upper branches of a large tree surrounded by raging floodwaters. The rescue team in a boat cannot get right up to the tree because of debris, but the distance between the boat and the tree can be jumped with effort. The team in the boat shout with urgency, “Jump, jump.” But the family members are afraid. Finally, summoning up courage, the son jumps and lands safely in the boat. Then the daughter jumps. She falls into the water, but the rescuers are ready and quickly pull her into the boat. Now the rescuers along with the son and daughter plead with the mother, “Jump, jump, you can do it!” There is a compelling urgency and exhortation. But she is afraid, and as she debates whether to jump or remain in the apparent safety of the tree, there is a terrible crack, the tree falls and she is swept away with it. Seek the LORD while He may be found.²³⁰

On the negative side, the wicked must forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. The only way they will be able to do that is for them to turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon (55:7). If the Gentiles will turn to Messiah, He will have mercy and freely pardon all their wickedness and unrighteousness. There is an implied urgency here because those unbelieving Gentiles will have until their hundredth birthday to accept Yeshua as the Messiah or die (see Kq – The Wolf and the Lamb Will Feed Together, and the Lion Will Eat Straw Like the Ox).

Can God so quickly forget and forgive? From a human perspective this seems impossible. But in the next two verses God differentiates His thinking processes from our thinking processes. These two verses stress the superiority of God’s thoughts and ways. To be sure, God’s invitation comes to us as He desperately pleads with us to jump from that apparently secure tree of pride and self-sufficiency into His arms. It is a plea to jump from appearance to reality. The life outside of God is only apparently secure and abundant. It really has none of that to offer in the end. To remain in the world is to choose loss and spiritual poverty. It is to live in defiance of the God who made us. Thus, God calls us to jump out of what is only an appearance into what is a reality. Come from hunger to the richest of food, from thirst to water, from sadness to joy, and death to pardon.²³¹

Two reasons are then stated why the unbelieving Gentiles should ask for forgiveness of their sins and be saved. First, God’s work is different: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. As the heaven’s are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (55:8-9). So if we sometimes cannot understand why God does things the way He does, it is because He has a different frame of reference than we do. God’s work is different. And one of these differences lies between the carrying out of that which has been promised. We may resolve to do something and then not do it. God’s Word is totally different as we see in the next two verses.

Secondly, His Word is dependable: Having spoken of the future Messianic Kingdom and their salvation as a result of it, the LORD assures the Gentiles that His Word will accomplish what He has said it will. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from My mouth. (55:10-11a). His Word is like rain and snow that water the earth and help give it life. God’s Word is as crucial to the process of salvation as rain is to the process of plant growth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (55:11b). Just as rain comes down and accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent, when God sends His Word out it accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent. It will not return to Him empty. The reason for turning to God is the dependability of His Word. What God has said about the certainty of pardon for sin being available is absolutely dependable. And because God’s Word is dependable, it accomplishes nine things at the moment of belief, faith, and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord of one’s life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith).

Because God’s Word will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent, those unbelieving Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom can be saved. For you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (55:12). Instead of the thornbush, the pine tree will grow, and instead of briers, the myrtle will grow (55:13a). These verses are obviously figurative, mountains and hills do not sing; and trees don’t clap their hands. Therefore, the interpretation is likewise figurative. Those Gentile peoples will be changed from the worthless thornbush (Proverbs 26:9; Isaiah 7:19, 33:12, 55:13; Matthew 7:16) and briers (Judges 8:16; Job 31:10; Isaiah 5:6, 7:23-25, 9:18, 10:17, 27:4, 32:13; Ezeki’el 2:6, 28:24; Hosea 9:6; Luke 6:44),to the productive pine and myrtle trees (Nehemiah 8:15; Isaiah 41:19; Zechariah 1:7-11).

This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed (55:13b). The salvation of the unbelieving Gentiles will serve as an everlasting sign, which will never be destroyed because their salvation cannot be lost. Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

The Offer of Salvation to the Gentile Nations
55:1 to 56:8

This is a far eschatological prophecy describing life during the Messianic Kingdom. If you ask most believers about the Great Commission they will normally direct you to Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus came to them and said: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Yeshua told them to go and make disciples of all nations. But if the foundational story of the Bible is the Great Commission, is it mentioned anywhere else in Scripture? Yes, in the book of Revelation. If we see its culmination in the Bible with every tribe, language, people, and nation around the throne of God (Revelation 5:9, 11:9, 14:6), was the Great Commission also present at the beginning of the Bible? Yes, at the call of Abraham.

God said to Abraham: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3). God said all. The offer of salvation is to be made to every tribe, language, people, and nation on the face of the earth. This means that what we actually have in Genesis 12:3 is the Great Commission. Therefore, Jesus never “gave” the Great Commission, He “reviewed” the Great Commission of Genesis 12:3. This is the story of the Bible. It starts in Genesis, runs through the TaNaKh and flows into the 66 books. It’s one cohesive theme. It unifies all sixty-six books of the Bible to form one story. God’s desire is to see all peoples on the earth given the offer of salvation through His Son Yeshua.

We know that God offers salvation to both Jews and Gentiles. However, by the end of the Great Tribulation all the Jews still gathered at Bozrah will accept Christ just before the Second Coming (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). After a seventy-five day interval (see the commentary on Revelation Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval), the thousand-year reign of the Messiah from Jerusalem begins (see Db – The Nine missing Articles in Messiah’s Coming Temple). Therefore, there will not be any Jewish conversions during the Millennium – only Gentile conversions. In other words, the blessings for Isra’el will not be limited to Isra’el. And those who respond to the invitation of God in any age will be blessed with an everlasting Covenant or the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

In Righteousness You Will Be Established,
Terror Will Be Far Removed
54: 9-17

In righteousness you will be established, terror will be far removed DIG: How would the Messianic Kingdom be like the days of Noah for God? How can we be confident that Isaiah is prophesying about the Millennial Kingdom and not the return from the Babylonian Captivity? Why is Isra’el safe from harm? What is the basis of the restoration of the relationship of the LORD to Isra’el?

REFLECT: Have you ever felt the “ground” under your spiritual life quake? Can you trace God’s control of events in your own life, which seemed “out of control?” How do you keep yourself centered? Of the promises spoken of here, which one means the most to you now? Why? How does that hope make a difference in the way you live now?

As a result of Isra’el’s national confession of sin at the end of the Great Tribulation, this is a far eschatological prophecy pointing to Isra’el’s national regeneration and life during the Messianic Kingdom. God’s New Covenant of peace and mercy with Isra’el will be eternal, like the Covenant He made with mankind after the Flood in the days of Noah, more permanent than the apparently everlasting mountains and hills. The basis of the restoration of the relationship of Isra’el to ADONAI is the Covenant of peace or the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

For me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again (54:9). God promised in the Noahic Covenant that He would never again devastate the earth as punishment against mankind (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Da – Never Again Will There Be a Flood to Destroy the Earth). Similarly here, God promised that the day was coming when He would never be angry and rebuke, or punish Isra’el again. Statements like this teach us that Isaiah was prophesying about the Messianic Kingdom rather than the return from the Babylonian Captivity, for Isra’el suffered the anger of God many times since then.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My Covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you (54:10). In the same way the New Covenant guarantees the end of wrath, here ADONAI guarantees His unfailing love for Isra’el regardless of what may happen to the earth. This is not a love that is blind to our humanness, but it is the love that never fails of which Paul knew (First Corinthians 13:8). God is a Covenant keeper; we can be assured that what He says will happen. So once that sixth stage is entered into (see Je – The Restoration of the Wife of the LORD), once there is a remarriage between God and Isra’el, that remarriage will remain intact forever.

Many passages in the TaNaKh speak of a yet future time of true peace and prosperity for the righteous followers of God under the benevolent physical rule of Yeshua Messiah on earth. Zechariah 14:9 says: ADONAI will be King over all the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and His name the only name. Then in Zechariah 14:16-21 we read about what the Messianic Kingdom will be like. But Ezeki’el 39:21-48 presents the most detailed account of the Millennium found in Scripture. Other passages in the TaNaKh that comment on the Messianic Kingdom include Psalm 2:6-9; Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:6-9; 65:18-23; Jeremiah 31:12-14, 31-37; Ezeki’el 34:25-29; 37:1-6; and Chapters 40-48; Dani’el 2:25; 713-14; Joel 2:21-27; Amos 9:13-14; Micah 4:1-7; and Zephaniah 3:9-20. These are only a few of the many prophetic passages that describe this Kingdom. The New Covenant also speaks of the coming Millennial Kingdom in passages such as Matthew 5:1-20; 19:27-30; 26:27-29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18; First Corinthians 6:9-11 and Revelation 20. Interestingly, it’s not until we get to Revelation that we are told the Messianic Kingdom will last a thousand years.²²⁸

God starts out contrasting Isra’el’s past and future conditions. In her past she had been afflicted by Nebuchadnezzar and in her future by the antichrist. Needless to say, neither had comforted her. Isaiah lamented: O afflicted City, lashed by storms and in despair (54:11a). But ADONAI was not unaware of the suffering of either His City or His people. And if you are a believer today, who loves the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is not unaware of your despair. On the one hand, ADONAI does not lightly dismiss our brokenness and emotions surrounding our suffering, even when He tells us that those conditions are not permanent. But on the other hand, this description tells us that the blessed hope of the people of the LORD are not given in ignorance of the realities of the situation. Hope is often dismissed as something that is possible only by denying the hard facts of reality. If that is sometimes true, it is certainly not true here. It is precisely to the despairing, deficient and depressed Isra’el that these incredible promises will be made.

But that is going to change once the nation repents and asks Messiah to return. Isaiah paints a word picture with the most glowing colors. He says that ADONAI will build up Jerusalem with stones made of precious gems, symbolic of His care and esteem for the value of the City. I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels and all your walls of precious stones (54:11b-12). In the future, Isra’el will be glorified and that glorification is seen here in a figurative description of the restored Jerusalem (see the commentary on Revelation Fu – A Great High Wall with Twelve Gates)

Our hope and the hope of Isra’el is not in her own inner resources. It is in ADONAI, the One who is both infinitely stronger and infinitely more trustworthy than anyone, or any man made god the world has ever known. We wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

We now move to the interpretation of the preceding imagery. The means by which Isra’el will obtain this glorification is by God’s teaching. All your children will be taught by, or will be disciples of, the LORD, and great will be their peace. In righteousness you will be established (54:13-14a). Once again, this could not have been referring to the return of the Babylonian exiles because ADONAI did not teach all of Isra’el’s children after their return from Babylon; in fact, most did not return to the Land. Even today, Isra’el is generally a secular society. During the Messianic Kingdom, however, the knowledge of the LORD will cover the earth. The antichrist or Satan will not oppress them any longer; they will be free of tyranny and will have nothing to fear. God says that terror will be far removed from them; it will not come near them (54:14b).

Never underestimate the ponderings of a believing parent. Never underestimate the power that comes when a parent pleads with ADONAI on behalf of a child. Who knows how many prayers are being answered right now because of the faithful prayers of a parent ten or twenty years ago? There is no set formula, but God listens to thoughtful parents. Praying for our children is a noble task. If what we are doing, in this fast-paced society, is taking us away from prayer time for our children, we’re too busy. There is nothing more special, more precious, than that time a parent spends struggling and pondering with the LORD on behalf of a child.

Isra’el’s enemies will be totally defeated before the thousand years begins. The principle is this: If anyone does attack you, it will not be My doing, whoever attacks you will surrender to you (54:15). This cannot be the return of the Babylonian exiles because in 70 AD Titus the Roman general and his legions came and destroyed Jerusalem and killed about a million Jews. Surely they did not surrender to the Jews at that time. No, this is the gathering of all the nations of the world against Isra’el at the end of the Great Tribulation (see Kh – The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon). But when they do attack it will not be God’s doing because they will do so out of their own free will. They attack because they want to attack, not because the LORD makes them attack. James makes this principle very clear (James 1:13-15). Although the army of the antichrist will be destroyed in the Campaign of Armageddon, millions upon millions of Gentiles will surrender and enter the Millennial Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom) for one last chance at salvation (see Kq – The Wolf and the Lamb Will Feed Together and the Lion Will Eat Straw Like the Ox).

ADONAI controls human history. Maybe not every single little decision that we make, but the ultimate result. He will not violate our free will no matter how much He loves us; we can say no to the LORD and make it stick. He uses our fallen nature, and Satan’s evil desires to get the end result He wanted all along. Since God is the Creator who creates both the soldier (destroyer), and the weapon in his hand; and not only the weapon in his hand but the blacksmith who made the weapon, we should not worry that anything could come against us that would be contrary to the LORD’s purposes for our lives (Romans 8:28-39). See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc (54:16). No part of the universe is exempt from the purposes of God.

This is the conclusion of the entire chapter. No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you (54:17a). Such it is in our own day. The thousand year Third Reich of Nazism, whose centerpiece was its “final solution” against Judaism, survived little more than ten years. And the main result of its vendetta was the establishment of the Jewish state of Isra’el, which had not existed for 2000 years previously. The antichrist will come closer to “the final solution” than Hitler ever did. Hitler’s persecution took place primarily in Germany, but the antichrist will kill Jews all over the world, but he still will not succeed. ADONAI’s people will survive long after the antichrist is gone. This is the unique heritage of the servants of the LORD, which is Isra’el. And this is their vindication from Me, declares the LORD (54:17b). It is comforting to know that Isra’el may fail Him, but because of the Covenant relationship that God has with her (Deuteronomy 29:1-29), He will not fail Isra’el, and because He will not fail her, He will not fail us.

Look what happens when you combine verses 54:17a and 54:3. No weapon forged against you will prevail and your descendants will dispossess nations. How can this happen? It will happen because Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, will be ruling and reigning from His throne in Jerusalem (see Db – The Nine Missing Articles in Messiah’s Coming Temple). But for all the human effort, there will be no peace in Jerusalem until the King of Peace comes. When that happens, the opportunity for salvation will culminate during the Messianic Kingdom.

For Your Maker is Your Husband,
the LORD Almighty is His Name
54: 1-8

For your Maker is your Husband, the LORD almighty is His name DIG: How can we be confident that this passage refers to the Messianic Kingdom and not the return of the exiles from Babylon? Earlier Abraham and Sarah were used as an example of faith for the believing remnant (51:2). How is Sarah’s experience reflected in these verses as well (Genesis 18:9-14; 21:6-7)? Since singleness and barrenness were causes of shame for a woman, how would that exemplify the experience of the believing remnant during the Great Tribulation? What is the point of each analogy?

REFLECT: What circumstances have caused you to feel abandoned by the LORD? At those times, as a part of the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-27; Second Corinthians 11:2-3), how might you be helped by the picture of God as your husband renewing His vows to you? When have you felt like a slave bought off of the slave block? Who bought you back? How much did it cost? What is your response?

As a result of Isra’el’s national confession of sin, this is a far eschatological prophecy pointing to Isra’el’s national regeneration and return to the Land in peace and security during the messianic Kingdom. In Chapter 54 the invitation is limited to Isra’el. At the end of the Great Tribulation all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26a). Jeremiah tells us that there will be no Jewish unbelievers in the messianic Kingdom when he says: , No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Every Jew will accept Messiah when the time comes.

Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy (54:1a). It is cruel to ask a barren woman to sing unless you are able to offer her the only thing that will make her happy – children! And during the Messianic Kingdom He will make a barren Sarah more fruitful than a fertile Hagar. Being a barren woman in Isra’el was a disgrace; but children were a sign of the LORD’s blessing. Here Isra’el is pictured as a woman who had no children, but by the grace of God became fertile again. First, there is a call to burst into song and shout for joy, and it is a gradual development upward. First, sing. Second, burst into song. Third, shout for joy. The problems during the Great Tribulation will vanish and future blessings of the Messianic Kingdom will be at hand.

You who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband: says the LORD (54:1b). The past problems are spelled out: you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman. The point here is that Isra’el has produced far more children during her spiritual adultery, separation, and divorce than when she was faithful to her husband. Because of that, the majority of the children Isra’el has produced have been illegitimate ones. For that reason, the land has become desolate. The Hebrew word desolate is a reference to being desolate without inhabitants.

However, now there is going to be a changed condition. In the Near East women were responsible for the construction and maintenance of the family tents, so it is appropriate that this formerly barren woman would now be so fertile that she would be called upon to enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes (54:2). Jerusalem, once desolate and in mourning during the Great Tribulation, will be crowded with people. The land that is about to be possessed is to be filled completely. Never in Jewish history has Isra’el possessed and inhabited all of the Promised Land. The land God marked out for them in Joshua 1:4 is about 300,000 square miles. Even in the height of Isra’el’s power under David and Solomon they only occupied about 30,000 square miles. That’s quite a difference. But when the remarriage takes place, for the first time Isra’el will possess all of the Promised Land. But why do they need a bigger tent? We find the answer to that in the next verse.

Then God tells Isra’el, “For you will spread out to the right and left (which are also used for north and south) or on all sides; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities” (54:3). The reason she is to enlarge the area in which she will live and the tent itself is because she will produce far more children in her faithfulness than she did in her unfaithfulness. Furthermore, Isra’el will possess and rebuild areas and cities that she has never before inhabited as her own (See how 54:17 also relates to this verse). This is quite a verse. Will they dispossess the Palestinians? Will they dispossess Jordan? Syria? Iran? This did not happen when the exiles returned home from the Babylonian Captivity. In fact, in 70 AD the Romans came and killed over a million Jews and dispersed the survivors throughout the world. The only time Isra’el will possess all the Land that the LORD intended for them to have is during the Millennial Kingdom.

Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood (54:4). The LORD will take back Isra’el as a man would take back his unfaithful wife. One of the results of being childless in the ancient world was terrible shame (First Samuel 2:3-5 and Luke 1:25). A woman was considered at best, a failure and at worst, guilty of some secret sin. Her entire life was spent in humiliation (Genesis 16:4 and First Samuel 1:6). Historically, Isra’el had been humiliated; hunted, and put to shame in the Great Tribulation. But now God says to the barren woman, to the humiliated nation, the days of shame are over. The feelings of inferiority are to be removed. On the negative side, she will not suffer shame, disgrace, or feel humiliation again. On the positive side, she will be so fruitful that she will remember no more the reproach of her widowhood during the Great Tribulation.

For your Maker is your Husband, the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (CJB) is His name (54:5a). How is it that the childless, rejected woman should still have hope after all the fruitless years, after the depths of her sins against her Husband? The answer lies in Him. Who is this husband of hers? He is no ordinary person.²²⁶ And who is Isra’el’s Husband? Isra’el’s Husband is Isra’el’s Maker. The Holy One of Isra’el is her Redeemer (35:9-10), the ever-present Next-of-Kin, at hand to meet every need, bear every burden and pay every price. He is called the God of all the earth (54:5b). It is one thing to want to redeem her, but it is quite another to have the power to do so. Our God has both the desire and the power. How so? He is not merely one of the many idols Isra’el had worshiped in the past, He is the same one who is called the God of the whole earth. He has a unique relationship to Isra’el. Not only is He Isra’el’s Maker, but her Redeemer also.

Inevitably, this close relationship between Maker, Redeemer and Husband reminds us of the story of Ruth. She was a childless, foreign widow, as humiliating and hopeless position as it was possible to be in. But the man who fell in love with her was also just the man who was able to redeem the land and the name of her dead husband. This is our LORD, the One who is able make all things right. Who is this Redeemer? He is the Holy One of Isra’el. This is Isaiah’s favorite term to express the absolute supremacy of God. He is the only One who is so holy that to see Him is to die (Exodus 33:12-23), and at the same time so humble as to be born in a stable and die a criminal’s death on the cross.

The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit, a wife who married young, only to be rejected, says your God (54:6). As for the wife, at one time she was a wife deserted and distressed in spirit, a wife who married young, only to be rejected. But God, who has the power to do whatever He wishes, does not want to leave her in the terrible condition that her sins have left her in but to buy her back again. Here our thoughts automatically go to the story of Hosea. His wife’s continual prostitution had brought her to the slave block (Hosea 3:2). Hosea could have easily left her to be sold and no one would have blamed him. But as he looked at her, he didn’t see the used, embittered adulteress with resentful eyes and broken dreams. He saw the wife of his youth, with laughing, dancing eyes. And even though she had been rejected as a result of her own foolishness, her husband bought her back off of the slave block.

Lastly, we see the contrast between the wrath and the blessing of God. Although her persecution lasted for a long period of time, yet her future blessings will make her period of abandonment seem like only a brief moment. Though not stated here, Isaiah had given the reasons for it several times. It was because of the nation’s sins (50:1-11), and the LORD’s commitment to His word. The contrast continues.

For a brief moment it seemed like I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I had always planned to bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment (54:7-8a). Although at one time God was angry at Isra’el (28:15 and 18), and hid His face from her for a moment, His anger would not last forever. God’s anger is temporary, but His love is everlasting. In fact, God is love (First John 4:8b). This is His unchanging essence. But we should not be troubled over the idea of an angry God. ADONAI is passionately concerned about us and the thought that we should destroy ourselves and our relationship with Him stirs Him to action. How much better is it to have a loving father who is angry with his child’s self-destructive behavior than one who neither knows or cares what is happening? Our society is falling apart because of uninvolved, uncaring fathers.

But with everlasting loving kindness (hesed) I will have compassion on you, says the LORD your Redeemer (54:8b). Yes, God’s anger may have surged over Isra’el like a tsunami during the Great Tribulation, but that was nothing compared to the unchanging sea of His righteous deliverance. He will have compassion on her again. As with Gomer on the slave block, only ADONAI can see the wife of His youth as He looks at Isra’el stuck in her sin. Before she had confessed her sin and asked Jesus to come back to save her (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ), God had already reconciled Himself to her, and had satisfied Himself of her sins through the death of His Son.

The TaNaKh says it this way: Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (53:3-4). The B’rit Chadashah says it this way: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). All that remains for us to do, as it will be for the nation of Isra’el at the end of the Great Tribulation, is to accept this as fact and rejoice in it.²²⁷

It is not only Isra’el, but all of us who are going to look back at what we thought was horrible down here in this life. It will seem, as Paul described it, as our light and momentary troubles that will achieve for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. We need to get our eyes focused on the things that are not seen rather than the things that are seen (Second Corinthians 4:16-18).

The Restoration of the Wife of the LORD
54: 1-17

As a result of the suffering Servant’s sacrifice on the cross, and Isra’el’s national confession of sin, this is a far eschatological prophecy pointing to Isra’el’s national regeneration at end of the Great Tribulation and return to the Land in peace and security during the Messianic Kingdom. This passage shows us the heart of the gospel of Messiah. ADONAI has reconciled His lost world to Himself. He has not waited for us to find a way to bridge the gap between Him and us, as He certainly could have in His own righteousness. After all, we are the ones who created the breach between Him and ourselves, so let us find a way across it. But of course, there is no way from our side. For God to wait in the lonely isolation of His moral perfection for us to come to Him would be to wait for all eternity. Our sinfulness makes it impossible to get ourselves to a place where we can stand before His blazing purity and survive because the soul who sins will die (Eze 18:4).

Yet, the amazing thing about ADONAI is that He gets no satisfaction from the richly deserved death of the sinner (Ezeki’el 18:32; 33:11). Some of the family members of the victims of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh were disappointed when they were prevented from seeing him die in June, 2001. They wanted that satisfaction. Not so with God. Not even the death of the most heinous criminal brings a grim smile of satisfaction to the face of God. Rather, there is grief in His heart like the grief of David who cried: O Absalom, my son, my son, over the death of his rebel son, who would have killed his father without a second thought.

So what did God do as an expression of His unfailing love, His everlasting kindness, and His covenant of peace with the nation of Isra’el? What did He do so the barren Jewish woman could be surrounded with laughing children, the Jewish widow could be married to the most wonderful husband in the world, and the rejected Jewish divorcee could know that the rejection was only for a moment while the acceptance was forever? Yeshua took all of her pride, all of her self-sufficiency, and all of her sin on His body on the cross. This is the true face of ADONAI – not the stern, cruel Judge dispassionately rehearsing the endless list of her crimes and our crimes, and in the end grimly giving out exactly what we have deserved. No, He will go to any lengths to see that she and we receive mercy. The Judge has taken the judgment.²²⁴

But even with this understanding, it is important to realize that there is a difference between Isra’el being the wife of the ADONAI, and the Church being the wife of Christ. Here is an outline of the relationship.

The first stage is the Marriage Contract, which is the book of Deuteronomy. It should not merely be looked upon as a duplication of the previous teaching of the five books of Moshe. Deuteronomy is God’s marriage covenant with Isra’el. It contains all the elements of an ancient marriage contract. After the initial marriage contract, which took place at Mount Sinai, Isra’el went through a lengthy second stage.

The second stage was one of spiritual adultery. Isra’el failed to keep her promise of faithfulness, which she committed herself to in the original Marriage Contract. That eventually led to the third stage.

The third stage was the separation that took place between Isra’el and God. It lasted about 100 years. Many Israelites were complaining that the LORD was withholding the material blessings He had promised in the marriage contract. Therefore, it looked to them as if God had divorced His wife. But ADONAI asks them in Chapter 50 to produce a bill of divorcement. But there was no bill of divorcement at this stage. The reason that material benefits had been withheld was because of Israel’s adultery, because the material benefits guaranteed in Deuteronomy were based on the condition of faithfulness.

The fourth stage of this relationship is the divorce itself. In Isaiah’s day there was no bill of divorce. But a century later when Jeremiah was a prophet, there was a bill of divorcement. In fact, the book of Jeremiah is that bill of divorcement, just like Deuteronomy is the marriage contract. The first four stages are all historical.

The fifth stage is the stage of punishment. Prophets like Jeremiah, Hosea, Ezeki’el, and to a small degree Isaiah, prophesied about this stage. Isra’el is undergoing a lengthy period of punishment because of the divorce. The dispersion is part of the punishment, and persecutions in the dispersion are also part of the punishment. Any time these prophets talk about the punishment of Isra’el, they keep emphasizing that the punishment is not for its own sake. There is a purpose to this punishment. The goal of the punishment is to bring Isra’el back to God. Someday there will be a sixth stage.

The sixth stage will be the remarriage. A new contract will be entered into, but this time it will be based upon the New Covenant (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Eo – The Days are Coming, declares the LORD, When I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el). What we have in Chapter 54 is a discussion of the sixth stage. It is a far eschatological prophecy of the national regeneration in the last days of the Great Tribulation, and return to the Land in peace and security during the Messianic Kingdom.²²⁵

It is not unusual for Isaiah to alternate between different time periods. Normally he alternates between near historical and far eschatological prophecies. But here, Isaiah begins to alternate between far eschatological prophecies and prophecies about the Suffering Servant. The way you can distinguish between the two is the context.

A far eschatological prophecy about the final restoration of Zion (49:14-26)

How the Suffering Servant died (50:1-11)

A far eschatological prophecy of comfort to the last Jewish generation before the return of the Messiah at the end of the Great Tribulation (51:1 to 52:12)

Why the Suffering Servant died (52:13 to 53:12)

A far eschatological prophecy pointing to Israel’s national regeneration (54:1-17) and the offer of salvation to the Gentile nations during the Messianic Kingdom (55:1 to 56:8).