The Book Of Isaiah. Day 176, The God Who Comes To Help

In Chapter 64 we find the people acknowledging their sins and recognizing that they have brought their terrible circumstances upon themselves. I do not believe this acknowledgement happened during the lifetime of Isaiah, or at least not in the northern kingdom which had fallen so far into idolatry and immorality by Isaiah's day that the Lord allowed it to be conquered in the prophet's lifetime. 

The southern kingdom enjoyed some spiritual revivals during the 130 years it lasted after the fall of the northern kingdom, but it too eventually descended into so much idolatry and immorality that it was conquered as well. Many scholars think the people's acknowledgement of their sin, as related to us here in Isaiah, occurred after they had been conquered and taken into captivity.

We find the people longing for deliverance from their enemies. As is often the case when we find ourselves in unpleasant circumstances, they had asked themselves, "Why is this happening to us? Why did the Lord not prevent this from happening?" And, again as is often the case, they concluded that they have only themselves to blame. We bring a lot of the hardships of this life upon ourselves by getting outside of the will of God, like the people of Isaiah's time did, don't we? I confess I have made some terrible messes at times by either doing the opposite of God's will or by stepping ahead of Him to get something that is His will but is at the wrong time.

Having gotten out of the Lord's will but having turned back to Him when their hardships caused them to face their wrongdoings, the people cry out to Him for help. "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, as the mountains would tremble before You! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make Your name known to Your enemies and cause the nations to quake before You!" (Isaiah 64:1-2)

As we've mentioned before, references to "the nations" are references to the Gentiles. Gentile nations were heathen nations in those days. That is not the case for many Gentile nations in our own times, but it was certainly the case in Isaiah's day, although there were some Gentiles from other nations who had converted to Judaism. But the worship of the God of Abraham was not the national religion of any Gentile nation during Bible times.

These heathen nations were the "enemies" of God because they rejected Him. They rejected Him and they hated the descendants of Abraham---the people called by the Lord's name. In today's passage we find the descendants of Abraham calling upon God to fight against their enemies---and His.

The Lord fought against their enemies in the past, such as when He delivered them from Egypt and such as when He defeated the heathen nations of the Promised Land in order to place the Israelites there. The people think back on those times when He acted mightily on their behalf. "For when You did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled before You. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him." (Isaiah 64:3-4) The Gentiles believed in other gods but no other gods ever proved their existence. No other gods performed signs and wonders. No other gods miraculously saved those who called upon them. Only the God of Israel ever did any of those things because He is the only God there is.

This God---this only God---is a righteous and holy God. He does not reward sin. Although we cannot live perfectly sinless lives in these frail mortal bodies, the Lord knows our hearts. He knows who loves Him and who feels bad for their sins (and who quickly repents of them) and He knows those who not only make sin their lifestyle but who actively enjoy living in opposition to Him (because they do not really care about Him). When so many of the people of the northern and southern kingdoms forsook Him in favor of useless pagan deities, this was a form of deliberate sin and a purposeful change of lifestyle. The Lord could not reward unrepentant sin. He had to discipline them for their own good, which is why He did not deliver them from their enemies, as we see them recognizing below.

"You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, You were angry. How then can we be saved?" (Isaiah 64:5) They stopped gladly doing right. They did not care to remember His righteous ways. They did not repent when He pointed out to them, time and time again, that they were going down the wrong path. Eventually the situation reached a tipping point and the Lord had to take action in ways He would have preferred not to take action, but He had to allow such dire circumstances to befall them that they would consider their actions and repent of them.

Our portion of text today ends with them asking, "How then can we be saved?" We are going to talk about this question in more depth in our next study session. But, thanks be to God, there is a way to be saved! The God who comes to help has made a way for us to be saved.

The Book Of Isaiah Day 175, The Redeemer From Of Old

In Chapter 63 we have been studying a portion of Scripture in which Isaiah's people think back on the days of old when their nation was prosperous and mighty. It is believed by many scholars that the thoughts of the people are those which took place after they had been conquered and taken captive. They have been asking themselves, "Why is this happening to us? Why did the Lord not protect us from our enemies as He did in times past?" 

The conclusion they will reach in our next chapter is that their troubles have come upon them because they have sinned against the Lord. We know that they did not reach this conclusion during Isaiah's day, for in his day the sins of the people of the northern kingdom reached such a tipping point that they were conquered during the prophet's lifetime. Following Isaiah's lifetime, the southern kingdom eventually descended into the same type of idolatry and immorality as the northern kingdom, sins for which the Lord allowed them to be conquered also. For these reasons I agree with the scholars who believe that the thoughts relayed to us by Isaiah are of a prophetic nature; he foresees the people's distress and he hears the thoughts they will think in those days.

Today we conclude our look at Chapter 63. Due to their distress, the people (of whom a majority fell into idolatry prior to their defeat) begin calling upon the Lord again. "Look down from heaven and see, from Your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us." (Isaiah 63:16)

They have indeed done wrong but they know that the Lord is a merciful and forgiving God. They know that the Lord has the right to be angry with them but they also know that He has a right to be angry with their enemies who are so severely oppressing them. They ask Him to remember the zeal He had for Israel in times past. They ask Him to think back on the ways He mightily defended them for the sake of His holy name. Of all the people in the world, they alone are known by the name of the Lord and they alone are referred to time and time again in the Scriptures as His "inheritance". They know that He promised never to make an end of them as a people. They know that He promised David his lineage would never end. I believe they are calling upon the Lord not because they are righteous but because He is. They are calling upon Him not because they have kept their end of the covenant but because He has kept His side of the bargain.

"But You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; You, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name." (Isaiah 63:16) Abraham, who was a "friend of God" (James 2:23) would not recognize them as his descendants, spiritually speaking, for they have erred so much from the faith. I believe that the reference to "Israel" is a reference to Jacob (whose name the Lord changed to Israel) and not a reference to the nation. Jacob would find it difficult to claim them as his descendants because their faith differs so much from his own. Abraham and Jacob would be reluctant to acknowledge them as kinsmen but the Lord, who called Israel His "firstborn son" (Exodus 4:22) never breaks His word and the people are counting on Him to still claim them as His own. 

They say something next that reminds me of something I said to my parents several times when I was a small child. "Why, Lord, do You make us wander from Your ways and harden our hearts so that we do not revere You?" (Isaiah 63:17a) The word "make" would be more properly translated as "allow", such as, "Why do You allow us to wander from Your ways?" In other words, they are saying, "Why didn't You stop us?" There were several times as a child when my parents warned me not to do something but I did it anyway, with unfortunate results, and I petulantly whined to them, "Why did you let me do it?" Just as my parents sometimes let me do something they knew wasn't going to work out, in order to teach me a lesson, the Lord gave us the free will to disobey His instructions so we would learn a lesson. When we deliberately disobey the Lord, we cannot expect good results. The outcome of our poor decisions is intended to teach us to more closely follow His instructions so we don't find ourselves in unpleasant circumstances nearly as often. While it's true that bad things happen in this world even when we are walking on the right paths, it's also true that we bring a great deal of unnecessary troubles upon ourselves through sin.

Chapter 63 concludes with the people asking the Lord to defend His inheritance against their heathen enemies. This will show the whole world that He alone is God. By restoring the fortunes of Israel, He will be proclaiming to the world that He keeps His promises (in spite of man's inconsistent obedience) and that there is no other God. "Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes that are Your inheritance. For a little while Your people possessed Your holy place, but now our enemies have trampled down Your sanctuary. We are yours from of old; but You have not ruled over them, they have not been called by Your name." (Isaiah 63:17b-19)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 174, Recalling The Days Of Old

In Thursday's study we talked about how the Lord brought the descendants of Jacob out of Egypt and settled them in the Promised Land and made them into a nation. But in time they drifted away from Him into idolatry, so He allowed them to be conquered and taken captive. While held in foreign lands, they thought back upon the days of old, and that is what we will be talking about today.

"Then His people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people---where is He who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of His flock?" (Isaiah 63:11a) It's important to note that although the Lord allowed them to be conquered and taken captive, they are still "His people". He did not allow these calamities so He could make an end of them as a nation; He allowed hardship in order to bring them back to Himself---in order to cause them to recall the days of old and to repent of their waywardness.

We continue looking at the thoughts they pondered. "Where is He who set His Holy Spirit among them, who sent His glorious arm of power to be at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for Himself everlasting renown, who led them through the depths?" (Isaiah 63:11b-13a) They are asking, "Where is God? Is He still with us? Why did He not rescue us from our enemies as He rescued Moses and the group that came out of Egypt?"

It is wise to ask ourselves "why" when hardships befall us, for the answer is sometimes that we brought the hardships upon ourselves through sin. This is not always the case but this should be our first consideration. Have we strayed from the right path? Have our thoughts or actions become displeasing to the Lord? Submitting ourselves to the Lord in prayer, asking Him to reveal to us anything that is displeasing about our life, is the first and best thing to do. David set a wonderful example for us when he prayed to the Lord, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24) 

We don't always recognize it when we've drifted into a wrong attitude or when we've begun to compromise with the world. These things can happen so gradually that, in the busyness of everyday life, we don't notice them until troubles bring us up short and we ask ourselves, "Why is this happening?" The thing to do is take this question to God and ask, "Why is this happening? Are my thoughts or actions offensive to you? I submit myself to You so that You may reveal to me anything for which I need to repent."

As Isaiah's people consider their defeat at the hands of their enemies, they think back on the times when the Lord gave them miraculous deliverances from their enemies. Their ancestors were rescued from defeat and capture in the days of old. "Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble; like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord. This is how You guided Your people to make for Yourself a glorious name." (Isaiah 63:13b-14)

The people weren't sinless while the Lord guided them through the wilderness. When we studied that era we found many of them grumbling against the Lord. But they didn't have the same advantages as the people of Isaiah's day and beyond. They couldn't yet look back on the way the Lord led them and provided for them through those years, feeding them every day, making sure their clothes and shoes didn't wear out, defeating the tribes of Canaan and setting them up in their place, making them into a nation that their neighbors feared because their God fought so mightily for them. Much of this was still in the future during the time of Moses. But in Isaiah's day the name of the Lord was recognized throughout the known world because of what He had done for Israel. The Lord would never have allowed Isaiah's nation to fall if the people had continued to revere His name in the sight of their enemies.

Instead the majority of them had begun to revere the names of false gods---the names of gods that the tribes of Canaan had worshiped---gods that had been unable to protect their worshipers from Israel and from Israel's God in the days of old. They had begun to worship the false gods of the people with whom they traded, such as the Phoenicians. Many of them had even sacrificed their children in abominable rituals to pagan deities. The Lord could not overlook such things. If He had overlooked such things, His great name would have fallen into disrepute and then how could anyone have been saved? The entire world would have erroneously concluded that He was just like any other god, that He was unrighteous, that He was very much like carnal mankind. For the sake of His holy name He could not allow this to happen. For the sake of human souls He could not allow this to happen. He had to discipline the people of Isaiah's nation in order to show them and the whole world that He alone is God and that He is a righteous and holy God.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 173, Great Goodness

Our next segment of Chapter 63 speaks of the great goodness of God and of man's unfaithfulness in spite of His goodness.

"I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us---yes, the many good things He has done for Israel, according to His compassion and many kindnesses." (Isaiah 63:7) The Lord has been good to Israel---and to people all over the earth---but we have not always been true to Him. Granted, we cannot live perfect lives as long as we are in these mortal bodies in a fallen world, but there is a difference between making mistakes (while still loving the Lord) and forsaking Him. A majority of the people of the northern and southern kingdoms ended up forsaking Him for idols. In some cases they chose to worship literal idols; in other cases they chose to have no religion and to simply do what their carnal natures wanted to do.

After the Lord made a mighty nation out of Isaiah's ancestors by doing many miraculous things for them, He had a right to expect their fidelity. "He said, 'Surely they are My people, children who will be true to Me,' and so He became their Savior." (Isaiah 63:8) He brought them out of Egypt, which was one of the most---if not the most---idolatrous nations of all time and proclaimed Himself the one and only God by many awesome signs and wonders on their behalf. 

He sympathized with their troubles in Egypt and was moved by compassion for them. His heart broke for the way they were oppressed and persecuted. "In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old." (Isaiah 63:9) The Lord caused them to multiply greatly while in Egypt and He protected them from the plagues that He sent upon the Egyptians. He provided for them in spite of their wicked taskmasters' prejudice against them. He brought them out of the land of slavery with many valuable possessions and sent them water and food during the wilderness years. Day after day and night after night He led them, protecting them from their enemies, providing their every need.

But many did not trust Him and I want to point out that it's not only Isaiah's people who have rewarded His goodness with unfaithfulness. The Lord has been kind to everyone, yet we have been wayward at times. We were once lost in our sins, serving the flesh and serving the gods of this world. Even after we accepted Him as Lord, we have sometimes done what we wanted---what we knew was wrong---instead of repaying His kindness with obedience. Because Isaiah's people repaid His kindness with rejection and idolatry, He allowed them to be conquered and taken captive. "Yet they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them." (Isaiah 63:10)

They turned against Him and, after repeatedly warning them and pleading with them, He turned against them, allowing pagan idolaters to flood in and take their territory over, allowing their human enemies to capture them. But even this was the goodness of God, for it was not done to make an end of them as a people but to turn them back to Him, as we will see in our next study session. The people will question why such calamity has come upon them and they will acknowledge that they brought it upon themselves. They will recall the days of old, as Isaiah will phrase it, and will remember how carefully the Lord watched over them when they were faithful to Him.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 172, Treading The Winepress

As we stated in yesterday's study session, the portion we are studying in Chapter 63 has to do with the day of the Lord's vengeance. Isaiah saw a vision of a man wearing robes splattered with crimson and he asked, "Who is this?" The answer was that it was the Lord, who proclaimed Himself "mighty to save".

He is mighty to save us from our sins and He is also mighty to save us from our enemies. He will tread them down like one treading down grapes in a winepress, as we will see in today's session. In His eternal kingdom there will be no enemies; those of us who have placed our trust in Him will live securely and in peace forever. When Isaiah beholds the Lord with spattered garments, he is reminded of the way the juice from the grapes spatters upward onto a person's garments. "Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?" (Isaiah 63:2)

The Lord answers: "I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My wrath; their blood spattered My garments, and I stained all My clothing." (Isaiah 63:3) The Lord does the work of vengeance alone, for no one else can righteously judge. No one else has the power, the purity, or the prerogative to judge the enemies of God and of His people. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished redemption on His own and He will accomplish the work of judgment on His own. We find Him doing this in the book of Revelation. When the Apostle John was given the visions in Revelation, he beheld the Lord Jesus Christ on the day of vengeance---Judgment Day, if you will---and he said of Him: "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood---He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." (Revelation 19:13-15b)

The blood on Christ's robe is not His blood as it was at His first advent. It is the blood of those who have hated Him and His children. It is the blood of those who have persecuted His children. At His first advent, the blood He wore was His own---the blood of redemption. But those who have rejected the blood of His redemption will have to face Judgment Day on their own, without the Savior to stand up for them and say, "This one's sins have been paid for." They will have to pay for their own sins. 

The Lord now speaks the final verses of today's portion of Scripture. "It was for Me the day of vengeance; the year for Me to redeem had come. I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so My own arm achieved salvation for Me, and My own wrath sustained Me. I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground." (Isaiah 63:4-6)

These verses may seem violent and graphic to us, but we must keep in mind that the work the Lord does in the verses above is the work of avenging the wrongs done to those who love Him. If the Lord never judged sins, how could we worship Him? If He did not enforce His laws, how could we trust Him? He will avenge every wrong that has ever been done to anyone who belongs to Him. In Revelation we find Him judging the wicked of all ages; the dead are brought before His judgment seat, as well as those still alive at His coming. Those who belong to Him will enter eternal life in His presence: "The year for Me to redeem had come"---the year for Him to fulfill the blessed promise of eternity with Him. Those who have rejected Him will be sentenced for their deeds. 

No one can help the Lord in the day of vengeance, for He alone can perform this task, just as He alone could give His life on the cross for our sins. Just as no one stood up for Him on the day of His earthly death (His supporters fled when He was arrested) and left Him to face His trials, beatings, false accusations, and death alone, so also will He judge and sentence alone. No one else is worthy. He has been rejected by "the nations" (a term used in the Old Testament to signify idolaters) and He has been hated by many and His children have been hated by many. He alone has the mandate to judge His haters. He alone has the mandate to judge those who hate His children. He alone can judge righteously, knowing the whole story about every single deed ever committed, without prejudice, and that honor is His.

That honor is His because, as John envisioned when he saw His robes dipped in blood, He is the "King of kings and Lord of lords." (Revelation 19:16b)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 171, Who Is This?

I'm happy to finally be back to the Bible study. My laptop was a mess and was so slow I couldn't use it. It still has a few weird quirks but those are due to it being old and low on memory; the computer person can't do anything about that. I really need a new one but right now isn't a good time to purchase one because we've had to spend quite a bit on the house my mother-in-law is moving into.

Today we are beginning Chapter 63. Earlier in the book of Isaiah we talked about the prophecies regarding the advent of the Redeemer and also the glory of His eternal kingdom. Today we will talk about the day of His vengeance.

In our last study session the Lord said He would judge Israel's enemies and vindicate the people of Israel. One of Israel's ancient enemies was the nation of Edom. The Edomites were descended from Jacob's brother Esau but the Edomites felt no affection for their close kinsmen. When the Lord led Jacob's descendants out of Egypt, the Edomites refused them passage on the way to the promised land. The Israelites pointed out that they wanted nothing from the Edomites---that they would drink their own water and eat their own food---but the Edomites came out in battle array against them. The beginning of today's passage makes a reference to Edom.

The prophet Isaiah sees someone coming out of Edom wearing robes that are stained red. He wants to know the identity of the person and, since the person is the Lord, I will be capitalizing the pronouns. "Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with His robes stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of His strength?" (Isaiah 63:1a) 

The person in the robes answers him: "It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save." (Isaiah 63:1b) Who is mighty to save except the Lord? This is a phrase used for Him a number of times in the Bible. So, having established that this person is the Lord, why is He coming out of Edom and why are His robes stained red? 

We know Christ wasn't born in Edom and that He wasn't descended from Esau, but that's not what the vision is about: the vision is about judgment, not the advent of Christ. We can surely say that Edom was judged in antiquity and that there is no nation of Edom in the world today. Of all the people in the ancient world who should have extended the hand of friendship to the Israelites, it was the Edomites, but they cared nothing about their shared roots and they had come to care nothing about the God their shared ancestors worshiped. The Edomites very quickly fell into idolatry after the time of Jacob and Esau. They hated the Israelites, they did not serve the God of the Israelites, and on the pages of the Old Testament they opposed the Israelites time and time again and joined with their enemies against them. 

So we see that the Lord is coming out of Edom, not because He was born there but because He went there to carry out an act of judgement, and now He is emerging from there. I believe that the segment we are studying today and tomorrow is a metaphor. I believe that Edom represents the unbelievers of the world (and the enemies of the Lord's people) and that Israel represents the believers of the world. I think that this segment is about the judgment of the wicked and the salvation of the godly.

As we learn more about the stained garments in tomorrow's study session, we will look at a reference from the book of Revelation about these garments. We will see that the One striding forward in the greatness of His strength can be no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Computer Problems

My laptop got so slow that it was virtually unusable so it's been getting some work done on it. I'm sorry I haven't been able to post. I hope to be back by Sunday. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 170, Zion's New Name, Part Two

In yesterday's study we found the Lord telling the people that the desolation of their land that is coming will not be a permanent state. There will be a near-future fulfillment of His words (when they return from captivity) and a farther-off fulfillment of His words (in the millennial kingdom and then the eternal kingdom).

Someday the city of Jerusalem will be the capitol city of the whole world. The King of kings and Lord of lords will reign from there. No enemy will ever threaten the nation of Israel again. No one will ever be unfaithful to the Lord again. We spoke yesterday about how the Lord often refers to Israel as His "wife" (and as an unfaithful wife, at that) when the people fall into idolatry. It was because of idolatry that He allowed defeat and captivity to occur; this was a "separation", if you will, between the Lord and His wife. But also, as we discussed yesterday, He will take this wife back. Therefore, He said she would no longer be called "Deserted" but would be called "Hephzibah" (which means "He delights in her") and "Beulah" (which means "married"). A day is coming in which the Lord and this wife will never part again due to disbelief or unfaithfulness on her part, so He says the things He says in the verses below.

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth." (Isaiah 62:6-7) She is to keep praying until the promise is fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ talked about how important it is to keep praying. (Matthew 7:7-12) We don't always see our prayers answered immediately but that doesn't mean they won't be answered. The Lord never breaks a promise. We may not know when or how He will bring it to pass, but we can be certain He will keep His word. Praying daily about the matter is important because it keeps us in constant fellowship with the Lord and it keeps reminding us to remain confident in Him.

"The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: 'Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled; but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.'" (Isaiah 62:8-9) A time would come when the captive people could return and rebuild, so the prophecy looks forward to that, but a time will also come when "never again" will an enemy threaten them. This doesn't mean that foreigners won't visit Israel or that they won't eat or drink anything there; we know from previous passages that Gentile believers will make pilgrimages to Israel. But it means that no foreigners will take anything by force. No one will ever hate Israel or seek to conquer the nation.

"Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations." (Isaiah 62:10) In ancient times the roads were mostly dirt roads. Workers had to keep them clear of stones and fallen branches. Workers had to fill in potholes. This was especially important when a large caravan was about to come through, or a royal procession. The wheels of chariots could then travel smoothly over the road's surface. 

I believe that two different processions are in view here. One is the procession of the people returning from captivity. In that case the preparing of the road is more symbolic than literal; the Lord will prepare the way for them to be set free. But the most royal of all royal processions will occur as well. This was partially fulfilled when Jesus Christ was able to travel so freely on the roads built and maintained by the Roman Empire during His lifetime on earth. Not only did the Romans maintain the roads, but they maintained the peace on the roads, which enabled Jesus and His followers to travel safely without being attacked by robbers or enemies to His message. The complete fulfillment will occur when He returns to reign over the earth and to maintain peace over the earth, when all the descendants of Jacob can return to Israel and live without fear of enemy attacks, when Gentiles will come to honor Him and to extend the hand of friendship to all the Jewish people. That is what we find happening in our final verses.

"The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your Savior comes! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.' They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.'" (Isaiah 62:11-12) 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 169, Zion's New Name

Chapter 62 contains more good news for Zion (Jerusalem) and for the nation of Israel. Isaiah has predicted that the southern kingdom will fall to an enemy. In his day it was Assyria that Judah feared, for it conquered the northern kingdom during Isaiah's lifetime, but we know from our study of the kings that Judah was spared for another 130 years until it was conquered by Babylon. Isaiah provided some bad news in his book but he also provides good news: good news for the nearer future and good news for the farther future. We are studying a segment that regards good new for the farther, more permanent, future. Although there will be a return to the land and a rebuilding of so much that has been lost, which is a glorious thing, a permanent state of glorious joy will be theirs someday.

The Lord says: "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow." (Isaiah 62:1-2)

Israel has had many enemies throughout the ages. All of these enemies have been Gentiles: "the nations". Even in our own day, Israel has many enemies who would like to see her wiped off the map. But the Lord has always promised to preserve descendants of Jacob and, in the eternal kingdom, to make Jerusalem the capitol city of the whole world---the city from which the King of kings will reign forever. 

Every time He has rescued Israel from an enemy, the world has seen it. No king or regime has ever been able to eradicate the descendants of Jacob from the earth or to completely destroy the nation. Even nations that don't acknowledge the Lord as their God have had to admit that He has provided for and protected the descendants of Jacob and the Promised Land. 

"You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate." (Isaiah 62:3-4a) The land desolated by ancient enemies would not remain uninhabited by the people who whom the Lord gave the land when He brought them out of Egypt. Many would return from captivity to resettle it. In more modern times, since the reinstatement of Israel as a sovereign nation in 1948, many more Jewish people from all around the world have returned to the land. In a future time, it appears that under the Messiah's eternal reign there will be more people returning than ever before---perhaps all of the people on earth of Jewish heritage. The borders of the Promised Land were intended to be quite large, as outlined earlier in our study of the Old Testament, but the people never conquered and took possession of all of it. But in the Messiah's kingdom all of the land outlined in the Old Testament will be the nation of Israel, allowing for a great number of Jewish people to live there.

The Lord is going to exchange some old names for new names. The land will no longer be able to be accurately called "Deserted" or "Desolate". In exchange for these terms the Lord will call it something else. "But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62:4b-5)

The name "Hephzibah" means "He delights in her", and the name "Beulah" means "married". There are many occasions in the Bible when the Lord refers to Israel (the people as a whole) as His wife. When so many of the citizens fall into idolatry, He compares them to an unfaithful wife. In the Old Testament we've seen Him stating His intention to separate from this wife for a while due to her adultery against Him, meaning He intends to allow her to be conquered and carried away for a time. But a day is coming when He will never again find occasion to be angry with her. He will delight in her as a man delights in the woman he loves. He will join Himself with her forever, never again to be parted from her.

A young man who is about to be married thinks his bride-to-be is the most beautiful woman on earth. He loves her so much that he only has eyes for her. He makes his vows to live with her in fidelity his entire life. The Lord is making vows like this to Israel. He thinks she is beautiful, so beautiful He finds her continually a delight to His eyes. He intends to protect her and be with her forever.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 168, Garments Of Salvation

As we study the concluding verses of Isaiah 61 we cannot be certain who is speaking. I don't know if the praises to God are Isaiah's words alone---words with which he interrupts his prophetic narrative because the glory of the preceding verses are so wonderful---or whether they represent Isaiah and all the people of Isaiah's nation who place their trust in the Lord or whether they represent all the believers of all nations.

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of His righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations." (Isaiah 61:10-11) We can be certain that such words can only be spoken by believers, for the words declare that He is "my God". We cannot declare Him as our God unless we have placed our faith in Him.

From the beginning of our chapter until now, Isaiah has been relaying a message from the Messiah. When we place our trust in Christ, our filthy garments of sin are replaced with garments of salvation. The robe of His righteousness is flung about our shoulders and from then on, when God the Father looks at us, He sees the righteousness of God the Son. We have no righteousness within ourselves. We cannot do enough good works to erase our sins because righteousness has always been by faith, not by works. The Scriptures told us way back in Genesis that Abraham's faith is what imputed righteousness to him. Abraham lived long before Christ but he believed in the one true God and he believed that God was going to bring the Redeemer---the One who would bless all nations---through his offspring. Therefore he was saved by his faith in what was to come. He trusted God to bring about what He had promised. 

The Lord promised to bring the Redeemer from Abraham's descendants and He has done so. The Redeemer has been made manifest to the Gentile peoples of the world as well. This is why Isaiah could declare that the righteousness of the Lord and the praise of His goodness would "spring up before all nations". 

What message did the Gentile nations hear? The gospel message. My ancestors and most of your ancestors were Gentiles. They worshiped false gods. They engaged in many immoral rituals. They made offerings and sacrifices to deities that did not exist, and in some cases even made human sacrifices, which is an abomination in the eyes of God. But Christ, who came from the family tree of Abraham, came to rescue not only Jews but also Gentiles from fruitless living. He came to wash our sins away and to clothe us in His righteousness, without which we can never stand before a holy God. And that gospel message spread far and wide, bringing Gentiles into the family of God. 

If not for the gospel message, I would still be lost in my sins. I would still be wearing the filthy garments of useless works. I would still be living a fruitless and pointless life. But because of what the Redeemer did for me, I can praise the Lord and say: "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of His righteousness." 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 167, The Messiah's Message, Part Two

Isaiah has been relaying to us a prophecy in the words of God the Son. When we began Chapter 31 we looked at the words Jesus read in the synagogue at Nazareth when He began His earthly ministry. He talked about how His advent was the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2a. He said that this was the beginning of the "year" of the Lord's favor. 

The "year" (or "era", as the word can be translated) began with the advent of Christ and the beginning of His ministry. He did not read the remainder of verse 2b because it was about the judgment of God the Father. That time has not yet come and we are still living in the era of His favor.

Those who place their faith in Him will experience great joy, for in the millennial kingdom and then later in the eternal kingdom He will: "Comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion---to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." (Isaiah 61:2b-3) The people of Israel will be strong and immovable in the power of the Lord, never to be uprooted. In Isaiah's day the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria; approximately 130 years later the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon. But nothing like that will ever happen again when Christ sits on the throne at Zion (Jerusalem). 

"They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast." (Isaiah 61:4-5) I believe this portion has to do primarily with the millennial kingdom, which occurs before the final judgment and the eternal kingdom, when numbers of Jewish people like never before will accept Jesus as the Messiah. But these verses can also symbolize the way the Gentile believers will join themselves to the Jewish believers. Already we see many of the Christians of the world supporting the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, but they will support them as never before during the millennium. When we arrive at the book of Revelation we will study what the millennium is and how it differs from the eternal kingdom.

"Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." (Isaiah 61:7) Sin doesn't benefit anyone. It will not bring glory. It will not bear godly fruit. As the Apostle Paul phrased it, "What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!" (Romans 6:21) But salvation in Christ brings forgiveness, redemption, rewards, and everlasting joy. Our sin has brought us nothing but disgrace and shame. But salvation in Christ bestows upon us a double portion of joy! The Lord doesn't simply replace our shame with an equal measure of blessing; He gives us twice the amount of blessing. 

I think another meaning is in view here---a meaning which has to do only with the nation of Israel. The Lord called Israel His "firstborn son" in His message to Pharaoh in Exodus 4:22. The firstborn son was the son that received the double portion of his father's inheritance. I believe the Lord is saying to Israel that each person who is descended from Jacob will receive a double portion of blessing when they receive Jesus as the Messiah. They will receive the inheritance of a firstborn son when they believe in Jesus (the literal Firstborn Son): a double portion from the Father.

Today's text concludes: "For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In My faithfulness I will reward My people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed." (Isaiah 61:8-9) Many things in the Bible only involve the nation of Israel but many things involve both Jews and Gentiles. In the kingdom age, no Gentiles will ever hate Israel again. No one will ever say, "The Lord's wrath is upon them and my god's blessings are on my nation." Instead they will say, "Blessed be Israel and the Lord God of Israel!" Jewish believers and Gentile believers will be of the same family, which is why the Apostle Paul said of Christ: "For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." (Ephesians 2:14) And Paul says again in another book: "Both the One who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family." (Hebrews 2:11a)