ISAIAH 62-63 “I Cannot Keep Silent Until
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
in chapter 60 prophetically at Zion glorified when she is restored to Jesus Her
Messiah and He establishes His Millennial Kingdom based in Jerusalem, and then
in chapter 61 at God’s ‘ideal’ or ‘suffering’ servant speaking out about the
work that He is going to perform when He comes to earth and as He establishes
His kingdom upon the earth
1.1.1.
We saw that
1.1.2.
We saw that at the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry that He quoted the first three verses of chapter 61 before
the synagogue in
1.1.2.1.We concentrated upon the blessings that Jesus, God’s ‘ideal’ or
‘suffering’ servant declares that He will come and bring to the lives of those
who respond to His message of ‘good news.’
1.1.2.2.We saw that God’s ‘ideal’ or ‘suffering’ servant declares that He will
bring certain blessings to those who mourn in this life, and then come to him through the ‘good news,’ or
“gospel,” and, we saw how that we need to look to Jesus daily to perform in us
those things He came to bring us:
1.1.2.2.1.A garland instead of ashes
1.1.2.2.2.The oil of gladness instead of mourning
1.1.2.2.3.The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting
1.1.2.2.4.Make us oaks of righteousness
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at chapter 62 where God’s ‘ideal’ servant the Messiah says that
he cannot keep silent until Jerusalem’s righteousness goes forth like
brightness and her salvation like a torch that is burning, and then at chapter
63 where we see that now that the salvation that the Lord will provide for
mankind is explained, His vengeance on the nations that will occur at His Second
coming is described
1.2.1.
I do want to remind us that
these last 11 chapters of Isaiah contain what we termed general “interim”
admonitions, that is, those that we as God’s people need to apply to our lives
after the Lord has shown us how that He is planning to deliver us, and yet in
the mean time we are stuck with waiting in anticipation of that deliverance
1.2.2.
Chapter 62
1.2.2.1.We see that Jerusalem will be given a new name as will the land of
Israel
1.2.2.2.We see that the real treasure of
1.2.2.3.We see the importance of being a prayer warrior and interceding for
God’s people and reminding the Lord of His promises
1.2.3.
Chapter 63
1.2.3.1.Isaiah records for us a dialog with God’s ‘ideal’ servant the Messiah
after He has returned from judging the nations and his garments are stained
with the blood of the wicked on the earth
1.2.3.2.We will look at the two different types of judgments that the Lord
promises in His word for the wicked upon the earth
1.2.3.3.Isaiah recalls for us the great deeds that the Lord did for His people
in days of old when He became their Savior and delivered them from their
enemies. We will see that all that the
Lord did in saving and delivering His people was out of grace for it has always
been the case that soon after delivering His people they would again rebel and
go astray from Him in their hearts
2.
VS 62:1-3 - “1 For
2.1.
I say that the ‘speaker’ says these things
because there is debate as to whom is actually doing the speaking in the first
section of this chapter. The choices for who could be doing the
speaking are Isaiah, God’s ‘ideal’ servant who is the Messiah, and the
Lord. The speaker in verse 6 is
definitely one of the godhead for he says, “I have appointed watchman.” To me it does not make sense for Isaiah to
say the things written in this first section of this chapter, and it doesn’t
seem that the Lord would be declaring them either. I believe that this is now yet again God’s
‘ideal’ servant the Messiah who is declaring these things. He speaks out here saying that he will not be
silent concerning
2.2.
I want to yet
again make the comment that those who believe that since the Jews rejected
their Messiah that all of the Old Testament promises concerning the Jews now go
to the church really have a hard time with all of the numerous references to
Zion and Jerusalem being the center of the Lord’s kingdom and end times plans
for the earth. Jesus is coming to set up
His Millennial Kingdom which will be centered in
2.2.1.
Unfortunately,
much of the church today is caught up in Amillennial or post-millennial
theology which incorporates a replacement theology where since they believe
that since the Jews rejected their Messiah that God rejected them and that now
all of the promises related to the Jews now pertain to the church. Thus, everywhere a future promise is made to
the Jews, they replace that with the church.
This is a very poor distortion of the scriptures and very dangerous
theology for us to believe. Everywhere
all throughout the Old Testament Jerusalem is mentioned as the place where
God’s kingdom will be established.
According to Dave Hunt, at least 130 times in the Old Testament
Jerusalem is specifically mentioned in relation to end times prophesy and God’s
kingdom.
2.2.2.
2.3.
We can see here
from this first part of this chapter also how that it is so important that we
indeed pray for the peace of
2.4.
The timeframe that
the speaker is envisioning is not the time after the captive Judeans have
returned from
2.5.
The speaker tells
us that
2.6.
The speaker tells
us that
2.7.
Surely, when we believers
consider the salvation that the Lord has provided for mankind through Christ as
well as the fact that very soon He is going to establish His kingdom upon the
earth, then we too as evangelists should not keep silent from declaring the
salvation of the Lord!
3.
VS 62:4-5 - “4 It will no longer be said to
you, “Forsaken,” Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; But you will be called, “My delight is in
her,” And your land, “Married”; For the
Lord delights in you, And to Him your land will be married. 5 For as a young man marries a virgin, So
your sons will marry you; And as the
bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you.” - The speaker tells us that
Jerusalem will no longer be called ‘forsaken’ or ‘desolate,’ rather she shall
be called ‘Hephzibah,’ which means ‘My delight
is in her,’ and the land will be called ‘Beulah,’ which means
‘Married’
3.1.
‘Hephzibah’ was the Hebrew name of the queen of King Hezekiah and mother of Manasseh.
3.2.
When Jesus returns in His Second Coming which
will occur at the end of the 7 Year Tribulation of the book of Revelation, He
will then will be married not only to God’s people but also to the land of
Israel as the habitation of His Millennial kingdom. He will delight in
3.3.
What is the treasure of
3.4.
In that day when the Lord establishes His
kingdom in
3.4.1.
One of the worship songs that we sing in the
church here is taken from Zeph. 3:17
where we read also about how that the Lord will rejoice over His people in that
day, “17 “17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is
mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his
love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
3.4.2.
It is a wonderful thing to
consider that as we delight ourselves in the Lord and worship Him that He likewise
is rejoicing over us!
4.
VS 62:6-7 - “6 On your walls, O
4.1.
These verses speak of the importance of
intercessory prayer, and what it consists of, reminding the Lord of His
promises and claiming them.
4.2.
The watchman in this case are prayer
warriors. As they watch over the land
from the walls of
4.2.1.
How important is the ministry of prayer in
God’s work. How we must all become
prayer warriors to pray to the Lord for His favor and for His hand to work in
the church. God always works in
conjunction with the prayers of His people.
4.2.2.
We see here that there is urgency concerning
prayer, for God’s watchman, which we are as God’s people, are told to ‘take no
rest for yourselves.’
4.2.3.
God forgive us for the sin of prayerlessness.
4.3.
The Lord would have us to know that it is His
desire for us to ‘take no rest for’ ourselves as we remind the Lord in prayer
of His promises and seek Him to work in our midst according to His perfect
will.
5.
VS 62:8-9 - “8 The Lord has sworn by His
right hand and by His strong arm, “I will never again give your grain as food
for your enemies; Nor will foreigners
drink your new wine, for which you have labored.” 9 But those who garner it will eat it, and
praise the Lord; And those who gather it
will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.” - The speaker tells us that the Lord has sworn
by His right hand and by His strong arm that He will never again give their
grain or wine as food or drink for their enemies
5.1.
The Lord does not need to swear concerning
the things that He says that He will or will not do, for His word is always
good. However, He occasionally will
swear and when He does this it is only to attempt to convince His people to
trust in His word.
5.2.
The Lord swears by His ‘right hand,’ which is
an indication of the agency of His doing something.
5.3.
The Lord swears by His ‘strong arm,’ which is
a declaration of His power to be able to perform everything that He promises.
5.4.
As we have seen already in our study, the
Lord has shown us that when
5.5.
Notice that the Millennial temple is again
mentioned here as the Lord tells us that His people will bring their new wine
into the courts of His sanctuary.
6.
VS 62:10-12 - “10 Go through, go through the
gates; Clear the way for the
people; Build up, build up the
highway; Remove the stones, lift up a
standard over the peoples. 11 Behold,
the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of
6.1.
This is a declaration to prepare the way for
God’s people to come to
6.1.1.
Are you clearing and preparing a way for the
Lord in your heart?
6.2.
The ‘standard’ or ‘banner’ that is to be
lifted up I believe represents the good news of salvation and the preaching of
the gospel to the peoples. Tell the
people that the Lord is coming and how that they must be prepared in their
hearts by personally receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
6.3.
Notice here that the speaker combines
salvation with judgment in verse 11. He says
that the Lord’s ‘salvation’ is coming with Him, but also that His reward and
recompense are likewise coming. When
Jesus returns to the earth at the end of the 7 Year Tribulation the judgment of
the wrath of God will have been poured out upon the nations who have rebelled
against Him, and at the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom He will judge all
of those who were not His people in this life at the Great White Throne
Judgment of Rev. chapter 20.
6.3.1.
This then provides a perfect segue into the
next chapter which deals with the judgment of the Lord that will occur when He
establishes His kingdom.
6.4.
The Lord’s people are called holy people,
which is the definition for the word used in the New Testament for God’s
people, “saints.”
6.5.
The Lord’s people will also be called,
‘sought out, a city not forsaken.’
7.
VS 63:1-4 - “1 Who is this who comes from
Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in
His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in
righteousness, mighty to save.” 2 Why is
Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine
press? 3 “I have trodden the wine trough
alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger, And trampled
them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is
sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. 4 “For the day of vengeance was in My heart,
And My year of redemption has come.” - Isaiah records for us a dialog with the God’s
‘ideal’ servant the Messiah as he is returning from judging the nations and his
garments are red, like red grape juice, with the blood of the wicked
7.1.
There are two different types of judgments
from the scriptures that we can see that the Lord is going to deliver upon the
unbelieving and rebellious people upon the earth in the end times when He is
establishing His kingdom. H.A. Ironside calls these two judgments the ‘warrior
judgment’ and the ‘sessional judgment’ in this quote, “If you look carefully into the prophetic Word and the book of Revelation,
you will see that there are two different kinds of judgment on the world at the
time of the Lord’s second advent: the
warrior judgment and what might be called the sessional judgment. These two aspects of one judgment may be
distinguished, but not separated. The
warrior judgment is represented by the treding of the wine press. The nations will gather together and the Lord
will descend in power from Heaven and destroy all found in definite, open
opposition to God and His people. “The
Lord Jesus shall be revealed…in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know
not God, and that obey not the gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8)—that is, those
who have had every opportunity to be saved and have turned away and taken the
place of enemies of God and His people.
The sessional judgment is described in Matthew 25:31-32: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory,
and all the holy angles with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his
glory: And before him shall be gathered
all nations: and he shall separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.””
7.1.1.
This judgment that Isaiah
writes of in these verses then is the ‘warrior judgment’ when during the 7 Year
Tribulation Christ is going to pour out His wrath upon the nations, with the
finale of that judgment being the battle of Armageddon when all of the armies
of the nations come to war against the Lord and He destroys them all!
7.2.
It is hard for many people to conceive of the
Lord as being wrathful or of taking out vengeance upon anyone. We know that the God is love (1 John 4:8) as
the scripture tells us, however the scriptures also teach us that God is one
day going to perform an act that is an unusual work for Him yet one that is
also necessary and which emanates out as part of His very nature, namely He
will execute vengeance on His enemies. Barry G. Webb has written about what God’s vengeance is and
why it is necessary, “In common usage, vengeance
is a word which has connotations of deliberately harboured malice and personal
vindictiveness. It is the opposite of
love. And yet the bible insists that
there is a proper time and place for vengeance, for without it a host of evils
would never be righted and there would be no moral government in the
universe. It is the final calling to
account of those who have oppressed others and apparently got away with it.”
7.3.
In Rev. 14:19-20,
at the end of the 7th Trumpet Judgment that is to come upon the
earth, John writes about the angels at the Battle of Armageddon throwing the
wicked on the earth into the wine press of the wrath of God, and his words were
also the inspiration for one of the verses to the Battle Hymn Of The Republic, “19 And the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the
clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press
of the wrath of God.20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and
blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance
of two hundred miles.”
7.3.1.
The apostle John also mentions the battle of
Armageddon in Rev. 19:15-16, “15 And
from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations;
and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the
fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a
name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.””
7.3.2.
The Old Testament prophet Joel also
prophesied about this event in Joel 3:9-16, “9 Proclaim
this among the nations: Prepare a war;
rouse the mighty men! Let all the
soldiers draw near, let them come up!
Beat your plowshares into swords, 10 And your pruning hooks into
spears; Let the weak say, “I am a mighty
man.” 11 Hasten and come, all you
surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, O Lord, Thy mighty ones. 12 Let the nations be aroused And come up to
the
7.4.
Isaiah tells us that the Lord’s garment was
stained red with the blood of the people on that day of vengeance, and the
color will be just like the color of the red juice from the grapes of harvest.
7.5.
Redemption and vengeance are connected you
see in God’s scheme for the end times as clearly revealed in God’s word.
8.
VS 63:5-6 - “5 “And I looked, and there was
no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me; And My wrath upheld Me. 6 “And I trod down the peoples in My anger,
And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”” - The Lords says that He looked
around and there was no one to help and so His own arm brought salvation to Him
and His wrath upheld Him
8.1.
Mankind was not able to save themselves from
their sins, and thus the Lord had to intervene and send His own Son to do that
work they were incapable to do in bring salvation to them, and now in the same
way there is no one who has ever lived who could bring judgment to the earth,
and so the Lord also had to do for man what He could not do for himself in
judging the nations and establishing true justice upon the earth.
8.2.
The people on the earth will one day be ‘trod
down’ by the Lord’s anger and they will stagger as if drunk when judges them on
that day.
8.3.
The Lord tells us that the blood of the
wicked people on the earth will be poured out on the earth when He pours out
His wrath and vengeance upon wicked mankind.
9.
VS 63:7-9 - “7 I shall make mention of the
lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, According to all that
the Lord has granted us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has granted them according to His compassion, And according to the
multitude of His lovingkindnesses. 8 For
He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction He was afflicted,
And the angel of His presence saved them;
In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them; And He lifted them and carried them all the
days of old.” - Isaiah now speaks out about the
‘lovingkindnesses,’ ‘praises,’ ‘great goodness,’ and ‘compassion, of the Lord for having become their
Savior and rescuing them in the days of old
9.1.
We will see implied in the ensuing verses
that the Lord delivered
9.2.
Isaiah tells us that the Lord delivered them
saying that surely if He delivered them that they would not then deal falsely
with Him, however we know and Isaiah records that none-the-less they did rebel
over and over again.
9.3.
Isaiah is not implying that the Lord does not
know the end from the beginning and that He didn’t know that they would harden
their hearts towards Him after He had delivered them. We already saw in Isaiah 46:9-10
that the Lord, and only the Lord, declares the end from the beginning to
mankind, “9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other; I
am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning
And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose
will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’.” Instead, Isaiah is
pointing out the steadfast love of the Lord and His great lovingkindness in
delivering the Israelites despite the fact that He knew how that they would
harden their hearts.
9.4.
Isaiah records the empathy that the Lord has
for His people when he says that, ‘in all their affliction He was afflicted.’
10.
VS 63:10-14 - “10 But they rebelled And grieved
His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned
Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. 11 Then His people remembered the days of
old, of Moses. Where is He who brought
them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the
midst of them, 12 Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name, 13
Who led them through the depths? Like
the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble; 14 As the cattle which go down into the
valley, The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So didst Thou lead Thy people, To make for Thyself a glorious name.” - Isaiah tells us that despite
the Lord’s becoming His people’s Savior and delivering them from their enemies
in the times of old, the Israelites ‘rebelled and grieved is Holy Spirit’, and
thus the Lord was caused to become their enemy
10.1.
Again, as was mentioned earlier we see
displayed in these verses the “grace” and “steadfast love” of the Lord in that
He delivered His people even though their history had always been to turn away
from the Lord not long after He had miraculously saved and delivered them.
10.2.
Isaiah recalls some of the great deeds of the
Lord in delivering His people in the days of old:
10.2.1.He
‘brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock.’
10.2.1.1.This
would most likely refer to the Red Sea, for the
10.2.2.He
‘put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them.’
10.2.2.1.This
is a reference to the shekinah glory of God that was the visible sign of the
presence of the Lord with His people
10.2.3.He
‘divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name.’
10.2.3.1.This
perhaps referred to the Lord parting the Jordan River as the Israelites were
led by the Lord to cross over into the
10.2.3.2.It
could of course refer to the Lord parting the
10.2.4.He
‘led them through the depths, like the horse in the wilderness, they did not
stumble; As the cattle which go down
into the valley.’
10.2.4.1.This
again could refer to either the crossing of the Red Sea or the
10.2.5.He
‘gave them rest.’
10.2.5.1.This
refers to the fact that the Lord gave the Israelites, under the leadership of
Joshua, rest from all of their enemies as He led them in victory in battle
after battle as their were conquering their land of promises. After the victories, the Israelites rested
since they had conquered every immediate enemy.
11.
VS 63:15-17 - 15 Look down from heaven, and see
from Thy holy and glorious habitation;
Where are Thy zeal and Thy mighty deeds?
The stirrings of Thy heart and Thy compassion are restrained toward
me. 16 For Thou art our Father, though
Abraham does not know us, And
11.1.
In those times when the people had rebelled
and turned away from the Lord, when they finally were being oppressed by their
enemies they would wake up spiritually and begin to think sane thoughts for a
moment.
11.1.1.They
would begin to question where the Lord was in their life, why they weren’t
experiencing His ‘mighty deeds’ anymore, etc.
11.1.2.They
would even question whether the Lord had actually caused them to stray from His
ways, and whether He had hardened their heart against Him.
11.2.
However, whenever the people of
11.2.1.We
Christians need to learn from these verses that if we are caused to go through
difficult and trying times that the Lord has not fallen asleep from His
watching over our lives. He is always on
the throne and there is nothing that comes into our lives which He did not
allow. If something we experience is
difficult or trying then we ought to try to see what the Lord is trying to
teach us or work into our character as a result of allowing us to go through it. Sometimes also, the Lord allows us to go
through difficulties so that He can use us in others’ lives, whom He will bring
into our lives in the future, who will go through similar things. He allows some things into our lives to lead
us into His callings and ministries He has for our lives!
11.3.
If the people got desperate enough in their
crying out to the Lord to save them, then eventually the Lord would open their
eyes to see the error of their way, and they would repent and then once again
the Lord would deliver them from their oppressors.
12.
VS 63:18-19 - 18
Thy holy people possessed Thy sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries
have trodden it down. 19 We have become
like those over whom Thou hast never ruled, Like those who were not called by
Thy name.” -
Isaiah recalls that the adversaries of
12.1.
Isaiah is recalling the situation that would
occur when the people of Judea had eventually were taken captive as slaves to
13.
CONCLUSION:
13.1.
As you are awaiting Christ’s
return and the establishing of His kingdom, are you the prayer warrior that the
Lord wants you to be? You need to
realize the importance of interceding for God’s people and for reminding God of
the promises and plans He has told us He is going to bring about
13.2.
Are you also unable to keep
silent as a witness and evangelist to the people you come in contact with each
day?
13.2.1.You know today you can tell people that the reason that all of the
things that are happening in the middle east and Israel is because of the fact
that the Lord is getting ready to return and set up His kingdom, and there is a
spiritual war going on over that very land because of the fact that Christ has
shown us that it is there that He will establish His kingdom. This can be a stepping stone to sharing with
them your testimony of coming to Christ for salvation and for sharing the
gospel with them…