Chapters 51and 52

Points of introduction

1. The orientation to the dispensation of Israel. This passage covers certain principles and activities in at least two different dispensations. Everything in this passage by way of interpretation deals with the Age of Israel. The general subject of Isaiah chapter 51 is the doctrine of encouragement. 2. Israel has a future. Israel during the Church Age is in dispersion under divine discipline. God promised Israel four things unconditionally — the Abrahamic, the Palestinian, the Davidic and the New covenants to Israel. These all have a forever-life provision.

3. The principle of encouragement. The subject covered in this section is encouragement to the people of God. Interpretation: this belongs to Israel; application: we, the people who have trusted in Christ are the people of God today and there is application for us in this passage.

Even though the Jews are dispersed today [comparable to the Jews in the 70 years of captivity] God still has something for them. Cursing is turned to blessing today when any Jew accepts Christ, as it was in the Babylonian captivity. The principle is: God has a purpose for Israel, even in their dispersion, and on the other side of their dispersion Israel has a future.

There are seven types of encouragement found in Isaiah chapters 51 and 52. The subject for these two chapters: Encouragement for the people of God. This passage anticipates the Babylonian captivity, the discouragement which will come to people then, and how Isaiah’s message will provide encouragement , first for the Jews in the Babylonian captivity; secondly, today on the Church Age and especially in the Tribulation these two chapters will be a great source of encouragement, they anticipate the deliverance which will come at the second advent.

Application: Many today are discourage by personal problems; many are discouraged by national problems; many are discouraged by the international situation; many are discouraged by the economic situation; many are discouraged by business conditions. There are many things right now to discourage believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and whether they are personal or on a larger scale of national problems we should remember that the principle is just as true today: no matter how dark things get on this earth for us personally, or how difficult things may be for the world collectively, there is always the faithfulness of God. He never changes; He never becomes faithless; He turns every cursing into blessing; He provides comfort and peace for every situation in life. And if we do not have that comfort and peace right now it can be: 1. Ignorance of how to get it, or; 2. Failure to apply what we do know.

A simple, natural outline to these two chapters

The first type of outline is found in the word which occurs — “hearken” — in verse 1, “Hearken to me ...”; verse 4, “Hearken to me ...”; verse 7, “Hearken to me ...” Some of the principles of encouragement are brought out in these phrases.

There is another phrase which begins other verses: Verse 9, “Awake, awake, put on strength … “; verse 17, “Awake, awake, stand up ...”; 52:1, “Awake, awake, put on thy strength … “

So we have an outline here by the phraseology. Three times we are told to hearken; three times we are told to wake up. Both of these phrases actually will be feeders and will form outlines for the principle and the doctrine of encouragement.

Verses 1-3, Encouragement by the foundation of the Jewish race — by going back to the beginning.

The Jews who are about to become discouraged by the Babylonian captivity are told to go back to their foundations. How was the Jewish race founded? What was behind it? What did God have in mind? And if they understand the foundation of the Jewish race then they will lose their discouragement, for the principle of these three verses is: when God starts something He never stops it.

Verse 1 — “Hearken unto me, ye that pursue righteousness.” The word “follow” or “pursue” — qal imperative. This is a simple declaration to listen. “righteousness” — God’s righteousness, The pursuit of righteousness refers to salvation. In other words, this is a command to believing Jews not to be discouraged. Principle: A believer in the Lord Jesus Christ in time has a basis of encouragement from God and can avoid, if he utilises this base, any discouragement in life.

Many of the Jews pursued righteousness by trying to keep the law and therefore they did not get the law of righteousness which is justification by faith. Why? Because they sought it not by faith — Romans 9:30. The Jews to whom this is addressed in Isaiah 51 pursued righteousness based on faith — “ye that seek the Lord.” To pursue righteousness is to believe in Christ; to seek the Lord is positive volition which precedes faith.

“look unto the rock” — the rock here is Abraham. And the “hole” is Sarah. How do we know that this is Abraham and Sarah? Because the context must define our words and when the context defines our words we go no further for a solution.

Cf verse 2 — “Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you” .These two words represent the principle of the foundation of the Jewish race. “You believing Jews who are discouraged take a good look at how the Jewish race got its start.”

“for I called him alone” — the word “alone” means several things. First of all it means Abraham had no possible human way in which he could get the Jewish race started. Sarah was barren, therefore he was alone in that sense. He was also alone in another sense. When God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, at which time he was a Gentile, he was called to leave his father and his father’s house, etc. He called him alone. The principle was: Abraham had nothing of his own, he had no social prestige or anything that God could use. It was strictly grace. In other words, when it says, I called him alone, it means I called him and I didn’t depend upon his father, his brothers, I didn’t ask Lot along, I didn’t use Ur of the Chaldees which was a great and powerful city. But God called Abraham away from all of these things that he could lean on in any way. Principle: Grace. Abraham had nothing; God must provide.

When we are born again we start out alone. We have nothing in the flesh to help us, it must be of God. Our assets are zero and God’s are one hundred per cent. God takes the person with nothing; He wants to provide everything; this is the principle of grace. We have nothing in ourselves.

“I called Abraham alone.” Notice the three factors in grace: “I called him” — phase 1, salvation; “I blessed him” — phase 3, the future; “I increased him” — phase 2 [Lit. I caused him to increase, hiphil stem (causative)].

Verse 3 — “For the Lord shall comfort Zion.” Zion is an escarpment on the western side of Jerusalem. Eventually Zion became a term for Jerusalem and sometimes Zion even means the whole of Israel. Zion in verse 3 refers to the high part of Jerusalem and it refers to the high part of the Jews. In other words, it refers to the born again Jews. God comforts the believer is the principle. The word “comfort” is in the piel stem, the intensive stem. In other words, God is very loving and gracious in His comfort.

“all of her waste places” — referring to the desert parts in Israel; “make her wilderness [desert] like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”

There are two kinds of comfort administered her. First of all a change in the land itself which will take place in the future, and secondly a change in the people. At the time of the Babylonian captivity the whole land of Palestine was deserted; it had turned to desert. The cities were all destroyed. And so the desert places, the places of ruin, will be raised up again. So there will be a change in the topography, there will be buildings where there were ruins. Then, in the last part of verse 3 there will be a change in the people. They will be in the land happy. When they left the land under Nebuchadnezzar they were miserable. Their happiness and stability is described by the words “joy” — inner happiness; “gladness” — the outer expression of it; “thanksgiving” — recognition of grace. Thankfulness means something given to you, something you didn’t work for. And these people are going to come back in thanksgiving because everything they will have in the land after the captivity, everything they will have in the land after the second advent, will be provided by the grace of God. That’s encouragement. “the voice of melody” — everyone will sing in harmony.

Verses 4-8, — encouragement by the Word. Twice in the passage (verses 4,7) we have the word Law which refers to the Old Testament scriptures.

Verse 4 — “Hearken unto me my people” — Interpretation: “my people” refers to Israel; application: believers today; “give ear unto me, O my nation” — the nation of the past dispensation was Israel, so the word “nation” by interpretation is Israel. But the word “nation” by application is the Church — “for a law shall proceed from me,” reference to the Word of God; “proceed” — qal stem, this is a point of declaration. God is declaring the existence of the Word. In other words, they are to claim it — “and I will make my justice to rest for a light of the people” .What is the difference between my judgment and my justice? It is the difference between condemnation and salvation. The word is not judgment here but justice. Justice is the doctrine of propitiation. In other words, I will give my Son, He will be justice, He will satisfy my justice, He will satisfy my righteousness, He will propitiate me. “I will make my justice to rest for a light to the people” — this is a reference to salvation.

Verse 5 — “My righteousness [Christ] is near, my salvation [Christ dying for our sins] sent forth, and mine arm [singular in the Hebrew, Christ is the arm of the Father] shall judge the people” — Christ will judge the people because they have rejected Him. Notice three ways in which Christ is described: My righteousness — reference to Christ; my salvation — reference to Christ; my arm — reference to Christ. Notice: “my righteousness — near” — in other words, they can be saved; “my salvation — sent forth", they have heard the gospel; “my arm” — the One who died for our sins will judge the people. This is a reference to the baptism of fire which takes place at the second advent of Christ. The One who was judged at the cross will be the judge at the second advent.

“the isles [literally, continents. Referring to the Gentiles] shall wait [trust or believe] for me, and on my arm [Christ] do they trust.” While the Jews were hearing the gospel the Gentiles also heard the gospel. There has never been a generation in the history of the human race where the Gentiles did not have every opportunity to be saved. The Gentiles trusted in the Lord.

Verse 6 — “Lift up your eyes [Keep looking up, lit. The principle of occupation with Christ] to the heavens, and look around the earth.” Look up first. Most believers look around first and get upset about what is going on and then they look up. Here is the principle: If you are ever going to be encouraged you must first look up and then look around — and you’re calm. But if you look around first you’re upset, and then you look up and hope you can get some help. So the order is: Look up first.

“for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment.” When you look up and then look around what do you see? You see man working and striving. Man’s plans get old like clothes. What if he does straighten things out? It will only last for a little while. What is the answer? The answer is in something permanent. God has a permanent plan — salvation, phase two, phase three.

“they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but [conjunction of contrast] my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall never be removed.” Here is the reason why God has provided encouragement in the most difficult situations in life. Because you and I have been left here as believers for the purpose of representing Christ. We have been left for the purpose of witnessing, for the purpose of letting others in on the glorious gospel. And because we have been left here for that purpose God wants us to have happiness in the midst of adversity so that people will listen to what we say about Christ. Therefore He has provided encouragement. And encouragement is the Word, but not the Word by itself, the Word in your frontal lobe. The only encouragement you get in time of stress is what doctrine you know, what doctrine you have transferred from the page of the Word to your frontal lobe.

Verse 7 — “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness” — they know some doctrine — “the people in whose heart [mind] is my law.” If you are ever going to be effective for Christ in time you must be able to go through the tragedies, the frustrations. the trials, the heartaches, and the crises of life with encouragement, with stability, with peace, with power. And you can’t do it humanly speaking. None of us has anything to encourage us in time of adversity, it is something which must come from the Lord. It is the one thing that makes the unbeliever sit up and take notice when nothing else will do. He knows a believer who gets into a difficult time, a time of stress, a time of heartache, etc. and who moves right on with encouragement, with peace, with blessing, and this causes him to sit up and take notice.

But if, when your time of crisis comes, you fall apart, if you move into panic palace, if you are upset, then you have lost your testimony for that time. God equips the believer to represent Him. One thing God has given the believer is encouragement, in time of stress, in time of crisis, in time of difficulty. And the second principle of encouragement — “in whose heart is my law.” And if you have the Word in the frontal lobe — “fear ye not the reproach [pressure] of men” .Don’t be afraid of human pressure; “neither be ye afraid of their persecutings” — there is encouragement — the Word of God in the frontal lobe, no fear of man.

Verse 8 brings out the principle: man’s plans are temporary; God’s plans are permanent and eternal. “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment” — man’s plans and man depart — “the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation [shall be declared] unto all generations.” From generation to generation means there never was a generation of people on the face of the earth who didn’t hear the gospel.

We have seven principles to the doctrine of encouragement as found in chapters 51 and 52. In chapter 51:1-3 we have the principle: the doctrine of encouragement based on the foundation of the Jewish race. The Jewish race was founded on the principle of regeneration. The race came second to regeneration. The point is that God always takes care of the one who puts his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful to the believer at the point of salvation; He is faithful to the believer in eternity; He is faithful to the believer in time. From this the Jews were to derive encouragement.

What does that means by application to us? We are not Jews, we are those who have trusted in Christ as saviour, we are Church. Just as God always takes care of those who are born again, His children the regenerate, so in every age and every dispensation the same factor is true.

The second basis for the doctrine of encouragement: encouragement is based on the Word of God — verses 4-8.

Beginning with verse 9 we have the third phase of the doctrine of encouragement: Encouragement means inner happiness in times of stress and adversity. Encouragement means that God provides for every difficulty in life and that the bondage to circumstances for the believer has been broken. Every person who comes into the world is a slave, he is a slave to his circumstances. If he is doing something he enjoys, fine, he is very happy about it. If he is doing something he doesn’t enjoy he is very miserable. All of this is eliminated if you have accepted Christ as saviour. There are no circumstances of life which can cause you misery provided that you are: 1. Born again; 2. Utilising doctrine. The doctrine of encouragement means inner happiness, inner peace, stability in time of stress. In time of stress, the background of this passage, the Jews are about to be disciplined. It is going to be a terrible time and consequently Isaiah is in the process of preparing them.

Verses 9-16, encouragement by the doctrine of divine essence

Essence refers to the character of God, the essence box. These Jews are in pressure. And the ones who have accepted Christ as saviour, all they have to do is take a look at the essence box. Because the righteousness and justice of God was satisfied at the cross, righteousness and justice can now only bless them. God is right in blessing believers even when they are doing something that is wrong. The principle is: God doesn’t bless you because you are good; God doesn’t bless you because you are bad. You aren’t even the issue. If God blessed us on the basis of what we did none of us would be here. The principle is grace. The reason we get blessed is because of who and what Christ is and who and what God is — the doctrine of divine essence.

Verse 9 — “Awake, awake” — a command to wake up; it is a cry of distress. It is given to, of all people, the Lord Jesus Christ. Three times in our context we have the command, Awake, awake. In verse 9 it is directed toward Christ; in verse 17 it is directed toward unbelievers; in chapter 52:1 it is directed to believers. Here is verse 9 it is a plea, a very earnest plea because it is in the imperative mood, to the Lord from His people — “put on strength” — strength refers to the omnipotence of the Godhead. “O arm of the Lord” — a title of the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation. Now why is this addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ who is omnipotent? This is addressed to the humanity of Christ to again utilise His divine power and deliver His people. It is a recognition of the fact that Christ surrendered the voluntary use of His attributes during the period of the incarnation. But even though Christ did not use His divine attributes independently of the Father’s plan He kept on using His divine power to hold the universe together. This command, Awake, awake, is a cry to the Lord Jesus Christ who is the God of Israel to help in time of stress. But He isn’t going to deliver them until after 70 years. They chose to go down the drain, they ignored the Word of God. But all the time that they are under discipline He is still using His strength to sustain them and to care for them.

“awake, as in the days of old” — the time of the Exodus when God delivered the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. “Art though not he that have cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?” This is not Rahab the prostitute. Rahab is simply a word for Egypt — at the time of the Exodus. The word “dragon” isn’t dragon at all, it is “crocodile” — a title for the Pharaoh of Egypt. The crocodile is used elsewhere to represent the Pharaoh of Egypt — Ezekiel 29:1-3.

Verse 10 — “Art thou not he which dried the sea, the waters of the great deep [reference to the Red Sea and the deliverance]; that hath made the depths of the sea a highway for the redeemed to pass over?” All of those who passed over the Red Sea are called the redeemed, they were born again.

Verse 11 — A quotation. Isaiah quotes himself — 35:10. “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” This refers to two periods. It has a near fulfilment at the time of the Jews to the land under Atarxerxes as per the decree of Cyrus. But this doesn’t really fulfil the picture; this refers to the second advent of Christ. The Jews will not all return to the land until the second advent of Jesus Christ. Until then they will be scattered. “shall return,” returning under the sponsorship of Christ, fulfilled completely at the second advent; “come with singing unto Zion” — that means Christ is gathering the Jews in fulfilling the covenants; “and everlasting joy” — inner happiness which continues forever — “shall be upon their heads” or, literally, in their heads. Joy is inner happiness, mental attitude happiness. “they shall obtain” — hiphil stem, “they shall cause to appropriate gladness and joy,” literally. The One who causes this is the Lord Jesus Christ. Sorrow is a mental attitude, mourning is an expression of it.

Verse 12 — “I, even I am he that comforteth you” — this is during the time of their stress. Until the wonderful moment comes when all Israel shall be regathered here is the Lord’s attitude toward those who are born again in Israel. The piel stem indicates that this is an intensive care. Application: Until Christ returns to the earth every believer on the earth, regardless of the circumstances of life, is under His intensive care. Why? Because of who and what He is, not who and what we are.

Illustration of pressure upon the believer: The average member of the fourth estate is very liberal and consequently distorts everything so as to malign anything that is not liberal, either subtly or directly or a combination of both. That means, of course, that those who love the Lord and who know His Word cannot help but receive greater pressure as things get worse. But if things get tough in life you have encouragement that as long as you live the Lord does not let go of you; the Lord does not turn His back upon you; the Lord will never leave you or forsake you; the Lord will sustain you through every difficulty of life. And all of the opposition from the pit of hell cannot take one believer off this earth unless it is the Lord’s will.

“who are you that you should be afraid of man that shall die” — if you fear man you have yet to discover this wonderful encouragement, this intensive care which God provides. There is nothing in God’s Word which says that you should ever fear man — “and of a son of man which shall be made as grass.” In other words, and their children’s children. When believers are afraid in time of stress they have forgotten some doctrine, or they don’t know any, they are ignorant of it. But in this age the people knew enough doctrine to have encouragement in time of stress.

Verse 13 — “And forgettest the Lord thy Maker"— the Lord here refers to the Lord in all of His essence. When you get distressed do you remember that the Lord is immutable, that He can’t change, that He can’t be faithless to you? He will help you through any difficulty and trial, including dying — doctrine of dying grace.

Now we are going to get a dissertation on the doctrine of omnipotence. God has the power to deliver and if He doesn’t use that power to deliver He uses that power to stabilise in time of stress. God’s power is illustrated from creation — “that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the persecutor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the persecutor?” In other words, Look, you’ve got the wrong doctrine. Here you are frightened to death and you’re not even dead. You are not going to die until the Lord says and all the persecution in the world will not remove you until He is ready to take you.

Verse 14 — the impotence of human power. The Jews of the Babylonian captivity will try by energy of the flesh to deliver themselves and they will fail. “The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosened” — the word “hasteneth” is intensive, it is the piel stem, it means to struggle intensively — “that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail” — in other words, operation energy of the flesh will not get the job done. For the 70 years they ought to have peace and power and blessing in the pit, illustration, Daniel — “that he shall not die in the pit, nor that his bread shall fail.” The Lord never leaves us. The bread won’t fail but he is not going to get out of the pit.

Verse 15 — the power of deliverance resides in the grace of God. And if He is not ready to deliver He will provide grace for the adversity. “For I am the Lord thy God, that divideth the seas, whose waves roar: the Lord of hosts is his name.” In other words, I can deliver, I will deliver, my power with which I deliver is the same power which will keep you during the time you are in the pit. At the end of 70 years God will deliver. What will do it? Omnipotence. God’s power, not their struggling, not their working. God will deliver them. This same power which will deliver them will sustain them during the period before the deliverance.

Verse 16 — divine power is available through the Word. “And I have put my words in thy mouth [encouragement through the Word], and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand” — this is while they are in the pit! — “that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, Thou art my people.” In other words, deliverance is coming in the future; I have protected you now; I will deliver you later.

Encouragement is stability in time of stress, orientation in time of adversity, inner happiness in time of great pressure. Encouragement is a doctrine for the difficult times.

Verse 17-20, encouragement by catastrophe

Each verse in this section indicates a type of disaster.

Verse 17 — the principle of personal disaster. “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.” This is addressed to the unbelievers, and the principle of disaster in these passages is to awaken the unbeliever to his need of Christ and to bring him to the place where he will receive Christ as saviour. The sufferings of the unbeliever are designed to remove him from the area of his self-sufficiency and his complacency, and to awaken him to the reality of eternity and the importance of receiving Christ as saviour which is the only hope for eternity. “Awake, awake” is to awaken the unbeliever to his terrible situation. The principle we find in the section: the purpose of catastrophe is to bring the unbeliever to the Lord Jesus Christ. Once a person accepts Christ he falls into the area of encouragement.

“stand up, O Jerusalem” — the people of Jerusalem are pictured as being in some state of inebriation. The principle is that this is a form of sublimation whereby they try to escape reality. They are said to be drunk at the hand of the Lord. This means that God has permitted personal disaster and He wants them to awaken now and to face up to this disaster so that they might realise the importance of accepting Christ as saviour.

Verse 18 — leadership disaster. “There is [in italics and not in the original] none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth” — there isn’t anyone in Israel at this time [of the Chaldean invasions] who knows what to do. They had very clear teaching which they ignored. They ignored and rejected the Word of God and therefore the leadership didn’t know what to do and the people didn’t know what to do. It was a case of the blind leading the blind. Principle: When you get away from the principles of God’s Word — the divine institutions and their development, when you get away from the doctrines on which nationalism can prosper and develop — then of course this means that one of the first signs is confused and poor leadership.

“neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.” No one to step in the breech, no man in the gap. Why? Because they have turned their backs on the Word of God. And this means disaster.

Verse 19 — possession disaster, materialism disaster. “These two are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee?” — The two things are: 1. Desolation and destruction; 2. Famine and the sword.

Desolation and destruction refers to material disaster to the land. It affects the economy of the land — the farms (agricultural economy), and the personal property. So when the invasion takes place there will be loss of business in the economic field and there will be loss of personal possessions in the domestic field. Then the people — famine, hunger, and others will be destroyed by violent death. And when these things happen, “by whom shall I comfort thee?” This question is asked to show them a point: they have rejected the only source of comfort and encouragement; they have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, and they have rejected the Word. This is their only source of comfort and encouragement; they have rejected it. And, therefore, in time of disaster if you do not turn to the Lord, if you do not use the Word, there is no comfort. When the pressure is on, when the crisis approaches the only source of comfort is: 1. To be born again; 2. To find your strength, your peace, your happiness in the Word of God.

Verse 20 — military disaster: “thy sons have fainted” — this is a pual stem which means that they have been destroyed. Passive voice, they have received intensive destruction in battle; “they lie at the head of all the streets” — no one has buried them. They have lost, there is no one to bury them; “as a wild bull in a net; they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.” In other words, a wild bull is caught and he uses all of his strength to struggle free but doesn’t get anywhere. So they’ve had it.

Verses 21-23 — encouragement by deliverance. There will be deliverance; the situation will not go on endlessly. There are two deliverances in mind here. First of all the Babylonian captivity and, secondly, the deliverance which will come at the second advent.

Verse 21 — “Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine” — this is a call to the unbeliever to listen to God. The unbeliever is under disaster situation. The purpose of the disaster is to awaken him to his need of Christ.

Verse 22 — “Thus saith thy Lord, and thy God, that pleadeth the cause of his people.” The word “plead” a legal term for being represented at law. In other words, God Himself will go to court and get the release of His people. The court will be the movements of history and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will be the One who releases the Jews from the Babylonian captivity.

“Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling [I have removed the disaster. This is the deliverance], even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again.” This phrase has two fulfilments: 1. The return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity; 2. The deliverance of the Jews at the second advent of Jesus Christ.

Verse 23 — “And I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee” — He is going to take the cup of God’s indignation and put it in the hands of those that afflict Israel — “ which have said to thy person” — the word “which” refers to the persecutors of Israel during the Babylonian captivity, the persecutors of Israel during the Tribulation — “Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.” In other words, this is an illustration of the persecution. In the ancient world it was common for oppressors to make their victims lie down in a muddy pathway for them to walk over in order to keep their feet dry.

The principle again: God delivers. This is a source of encouragement in time of difficulty for you and for me as believers because we recognise the fact that no matter how difficult things may be there always comes a time of deliverance. Sometimes we have to wait a long time and sometimes it is very short, but there is deliverance.

Application: In the middle of difficulty you can’t often see daylight. It gets very difficult and very disheartening and we need patience, of course, that is faith in the long run. But we must remember that God will always deliver; there will never be a difficulty in life from which God does not deliver.

Chapter 52:1-12, the sixth point of encouragement: encouragement by the regathering of Israel. The impact of these verses means that the Jews are dispersed right now; the Jews have been dispersed for 1900 years, and the Jews are going to stay scattered, there are Jews in every part of the world. God says the Jews are going to remain scattered until He brings them back, only God can bring them back.

“Awake, awake” — this is the third time in context and this time it is addressed to believers — Jewish believers in status quo humiliation. It is addressed first of all to the Jews of the Babylonian captivity and secondly, it is addressed to the Jews of the Tribulation. They are going to be aroused from their humiliation; they are going to go back to the land and God will fulfil their covenant.

“put on thy strength, O Zion” — put on strength means two things: Psalm 27:1 — “The Lord is the strength of my life” — they are to put on the Lord. The word “strength” also means power and it refers to the Word of God.

“put on thy beautiful garments [the use of the techniques], O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean [The Chaldeans, and then in the Tribulation the armies of the king of the north].”

Verse 2 — The termination of the dispersion at the second advent. This has to do with the Jews of the Tribulation. “Shake thyself from the dust” — the dust refers to the humiliation of Israel from the time of 70 AD until the second advent — “sit down [rest or relax], O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” In other words, the bands around the neck refer to the chains [a picture of slavery]. The shackles of slavery are broken.

Verse 3 — It is the Lord who purchased or redeemed Israel. The oppressors did not purchase Israel and because of legalism and because of religiosity the Jews went into captivity. “For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nothing [no one has bought you as a slave]; and ye shall be purchased without money.” In other words, You put yourselves into captivity but I will bring you back.

This verse has as its background a custom of the ancient world whereby a family, to get out of hock, would sell one of their children into servitude. And the point is, the Lord Himself did not sell the Jews into the captivity. They got there by their own works; the Lord didn’t have anything to do with it. Apostasy and so on resulted in their captivity. And while they did everything themselves and the Lord did not sell them the Lord will bring them back by His grace, He will redeem them. He will purchase them not with money but by His blood — 1 Peter 1:18,19.

Verse 4 — a reference to two of the four captivities. There are four Jewish captivities first, the Egyptian bondage — their release was the Exodus; secondly, the Assyrian bondage — their release was under Cyrus the Great; thirdly, the Chaldean bondage — released under Artaxerxes; and finally, the present dispersion which began in 70 AD with the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and terminates with the second advent of Christ.

“Thus saith the Lord God, My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian oppressed them without a cause.” The point is: I delivered both times. These are historical deliverances and if I have delivered in the past I will deliver again.

Verse 5 — Christ is faithful. He goes into captivity with His people; He never leaves nor forsakes them in the time of captivity. They knew this from Deuteronomy 31:6-8; Isaiah 41:10.

“Now therefore, what do I here [Heb. Why am I here?], — He is there because He is faithful to them. Even though they have apostatised and deserted Him He has never deserted them. Principle: You may be faithless to the Lord but He is never faithless to you. “are my people taken away for nothing?” — no, they sinned, they failed — “they that rule over them make them to scream [hiphil stem, they caused them to scream], saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blasphemed.” These people who are screaming are blaming the Lord for it yet He is there all the time. He has never left them nor forsaken them.

Verse 6 — “Therefore my people shall know my name” — They will respond with salvation; they will be saved in captivity — cursing turned to blessing — “therefore in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak; behold, it is I.” They will recognise when it is time to be released because they’re saved, they’re born again, they know doctrine, they know when it is time to move out.

Verse 7 — Those who declare the gospel in the Babylonian captivity [like Daniel] have beautiful feet, and those who witness for Jesus Christ in the Tribulation have beautiful feet. The beautiful feet have to do with locomotion, moving from place to place to witness, to declare the Word. The principle is that it isn’t the feet that are beautiful but the people who move from point to point to declare Jesus Christ. Daniel did this; Moses and Elijah do this in the Tribulation; the 144,000 do this in the Tribulation. The word “preach” doesn’t mean preach, it means to declare the gospel. The word “mountains” is used because it is tough moving over mountains and the point is they move over all sorts of barriers to declare the Word of God. To “publish good tidings’ means to proclaim the gospel, and “publisheth peace” means to disseminate information with regard to the gospel. Peace refers to the doctrine of reconciliation.

“that bringeth good tidings of [absolute] good” — absolute good is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ — “that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion [the Jews in captivity, in dispersion], Thy God reigneth!” “Thy God reigneth” refers specifically to the second advent when Jesus Christ will return to reign.

Verse 8 — The watchman is the newspaper man! “The watchmen shall lift up the voice [today he picks up a pen], together they shall sing; for they shall see, eye to eye” — reference to seeing Jesus Christ face to face when He comes back to the earth — “when the Lord shall return to Zion” — reference to the second advent of Jesus Christ.

Verse 9 — “Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places [the destroyed parts] of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.” The comforting and the redeeming have to do with their regathering. They will come back and they will have their covenants — the born again of Israel are referred to here — and they will rebuild the city.

Verse 10 — “The Lord [God the Father] hath made bare his holy arm” — hath made bare means to reveal. The holy arm is the Lord Jesus Christ (see Isaiah 53:1) — “in the eyes of all the nations; and the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” The salvation of our God is a title for Christ at the second advent — “Behold every eye shall see him” — Revelation 1:7.

Verse 11 — The regathering. “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing” — touch no unclean thing means Do not take any cash or anything that belongs to the unbeliever. This is a principle which has come down to us today. No church where the Word of God is declared should ever take or solicit funds from an unbeliever. One of the reasons is that when money is taken from the unbeliever the unbeliever gets the impression that he is buying his way into heaven, and no one has ever bought his way into heaven yet. The price for eternal life was already paid for on the cross by Jesus Christ and no none can purchase salvation.

“go ye out of the midst of her [out of the place where you are]; be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord.” The vessel of the Lord have to do with the reestablishment of the Millennial temple in Jerusalem and “those who bear the vessels of the Lord” — the vessels will be what the Lord provides and they will not be made from precious metals taken from the unbeliever. There will be nothing in the temple in the Millennium which was taken from the unbeliever.

Now, why this particular “bearing the vessels”? What was the source of the metals of the Tabernacle? They got it out of Egypt legitimately, because what they took from Egypt was the back wages for four hundred years of slavery. Everything in the Tabernacle was made from Egyptian things. But they are not to do it this time because the Lord will provide everything for the temple.

Verse 12 — “For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight [contrast with the Exodus]: for the Lord will go before you [and prepare the way]; and the God of Israel [Jesus Christ] will be your rearward [rearguard].”

Verses 13-15, encouragement through occupation with Christ. There can never be true encouragement unless you are occupied with the person of Jesus Christ — Hebrews 12:2; Colossians 3:1,2.

Verse 13 — Christ is presented in glorification. “Behold, my servant [Jesus Christ] shall deal prudently” — the hiphil stem means to prosper. The hiphil stem is causation. This means he causes believers to prosper. He causes the believing Jews who go into captivity to prosper; He causes the Jews coming back to prosper; He causes the regenerate to prosper. In context the born again of Israel will be caused to prosper.

The basis for causing the regenerate Jews to prosper is the work of Christ at the first advent, and we have three verbs in this verse which talk about the work of Christ in phase one. “He shall be exalted; and extolled; and be very high” .

“He shall be exalted” means He shall rise up. It has to do with resurrection. Jesus Christ could not regather Israel at the second advent unless He was resurrected at the first advent. This is in the qal stem — declarative, active voice. David’s son will rule forever but He can’t rule forever if He is in the grave. He has to be alive.

“and be extolled” — niphil stem, passive. In other words, He shall receive lifting up. This further lifting is ascension. He is said to receive that because God the Father must permit the humanity of Christ to enter into His presence — and He does, doctrine of propitiation applied.

“and be very high” — qal stem, which means the session of Christ. He is seated at the right hand of the Father — Psalm 110:1. Here is the glory of Christ and the glory of Christ is the basis of encouragement. Christ had to be glorified before Israel could be regathered and one of the first things He will do when He returns to the earth is to regather Israel.

Verse 14 — Christ is presented in humiliation. We have a reference to the cross. “Many were astonished [shocked] at thee, (his visage [face] was so marred more than any man” — When it says “his face was marred” it is the hophal stem, passive causative. In other words His face received disfiguring. People caused Jesus Christ to be completely disfigured — “and his form more than the sons of men,” is an idiom which means His appearance was no longer human.

Verse 15 — Christ is presented at the second advent. “So shall he sprinkle many nations; Kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.”

The word “sprinkle” means to startle — no sprinkling here. He will startle many nations at His second advent. They will see the most majestic person they have ever seen, Christ at the second advent. They will be startled by His beauty and by His appearance, in contrast to the fact that He didn’t even look human when He was on the cross. Kings will close their mouths in astonishment, they will be dumbfounded.

“for that which had not been told them” — the reason they hadn’t been briefed is because Satan will rule during the Tribulation and Satan doesn’t tell them about the second advent.

“and that which they had not heard they will now have to look upon” — the word “consider” means to discern or look upon. What is really means is that they will look upon the One of whom they have heard no good. In other words, Satan has distorted and tried to discount the message about Him. Christ is preached all over the world which will be evangelised three times during the Tribulation and Satan will go around and try to distort the preaching of the gospel. So it means they will have to look upon the One about whom they have heard no good. And they have to see Him in all of His majesty and glory and beauty.

These three verses add up to the principle that we are encouraged by occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. We must never have our eyes on things.