These last seven chapters of Isaiah speak of the coming of
the Messiah (Christ) and how God was going to bring to conclusion His divine
plan for all people. This of course
includes His plans for Jerusalem as well.
Although, as in the previous fifty-nine chapters, Isaiah jumps abruptly
from subject to subject, this passage is a bit easier to follow. It will be easier to read these chapters if
you reference this post while doing so, as I will be careful to identify the
subjects and audiences as Isaiah continues his style.
Chapter 60 – The New Jerusalem
First verse says “Arise, shine; for the Light has
come”. Although this is prophesy for the
future, Isaiah is telling them that there will be reason for celebration and
that God has not forsaken them. Note
that the phrase “the glory of the Lord” always meant God’s presence. God’s actual presence will be in Jerusalem. Verse 2 says that Jerusalem’s light must
shine. Light takes away darkness, and
people will always move toward light.
Here Isaiah is prophesying that the whole world will come to Jerusalem
to worship and acknowledge God as the only God that is, was, and always will
be. He gets more specific in verse three
as he indicates than all non-Jewish nations will come to Him and He will
welcome them. As for the rest of this
chapter, Isaiah describes a time when people and wealth from all nations would
move to Jerusalem (vss 4-10). Then he
says in 11-17 that the gates would always be kept open and the Light would be
everlasting (18-22).
Chapter 61 – The Role of God’s Servants
This chapter deserves a few moments, as Jesus Himself chose
to read from Isaiah 61:1-3 when He was in the synagogue in Nazareth. This reading was the Sanhedrin’s most
damaging evidence against Him, as it was here that Jesus pointed to Himself as
the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy (Luke 4:16-21). Note in verse 1 the word “anointed”. The ceremony of anointing one is to symbolize
he person’s authority and endowment to serve.
{This is the reason people here to follow their king, as the kings of
Judah were always “anointed”, giving them the authority from God to fulfill
their commission.} The word “poor”
includes all who were oppressed. The
word “proclaim” means to preach. This
message in verses 1-3 offered hope for Jerusalem’s mourners, who were about to
become celebratory instead. In the
remainder of this chapter Isaiah specifies four of these good tidings upon the
Israelites. 1. Rebuilding of the
destroyed cities (61:4-5). 2. A priestly
ministry for all of Jerusalem’s citizens (61:6-7). 3. An everlasting covenant with God
(61:8-9). 4. Israelites would become a
permanent model for the world (61:10-11).
Chapter 62
Verses 1-5 in this chapter says that God promises to
establish Israel as a righteous nation in spite of its sinful past. Jerusalem’s name would change from “Deserted”
which means desolate, to Hephzibah which means “My Delight is in Her”. In verses 6-9 God places watchmen to guard
over Jerusalem. These guards would not
only serve as protectors, but would also be in constant prayer for all of the
inhabitants. In the next three verses
Isaiah urges the current citizens of Jerusalem to prepare for and welcome the
returning exiles who would be considered a holy people. (In previous chapters we saw that Isaiah was
urging the exiled Israelites to return.)
Chapter 63
In verses 1-6 Isaiah pictures God as the ultimate
Warrior. As He returns from dealing with
the other nations His garments are red, indicating that He had destroyed the
enemy nations. In much of the Old
Testament the name of Edom is used to refer to all nations who had been cruel
to Israel.
63:7 – 64:12 is an intercessory prayer by Isaiah. He starts with a recap of Israel’s History
and a review of God’s redemptive acts, all of which were grounded in His love
for His chosen people. Then starting in
verse 15 Isaiah asks for God to again act out of love for His people and
deliver them. He confessed the people’s
sins of idol worship and declared that they deserved bondage or a similar
punishment. But then he appeals to God
not to remember their sins forever.
Chapter 65 - God’s Answer to Isaiah’s Prayer
God had reason to be angry with Israel, mostly because of
idol worship, but it went beyond that.
Remember, God loved Israel, but Israel did not love God, as described in
the beginning verses of this chapter.
These verses describe an attitude of indifference toward God. {When asked “what is the opposite of love?”
most people will say “hate”. This is not
true. The opposite of love is
indifference. To hate is to have
feelings and thoughts toward something or someone, howbeit unfavorable. To be indifferent is placing no value on them
at all. Think about that.} This passage says that God is repeatedly
holding out His hands saying “Here I am.
I love you. I want to help
you.” But they ignore Him, pretending He
is not there. But in response to
Isaiah’s intercessory prayer, God promises not to destroy all of them, but only
those who deliberately forsaken Him. (This
probably was more of a concentration on the leaders, pagan priests, and
sorcerers.) Then starting in verse 17
God speaks into the more distant future as He promises to create a new heaven
and a new earth, emphasizing that the old earth will not even be
remembered. He says in verses 18 and 19
that in the new Jerusalem there will be total, indescribable happiness as
opposed to sorrow and mourning. The
following verses are specific examples of the comparison between the old and
the new Jerusalem. It says that no more
will babies die while they are still babies.
Men will grow to be a hundred years old.
They will dwell in the houses they build, instead of building them for
someone else. It goes on to say they
will not labor in vain. {This is a
reference not only to slavery, but also to the situation that foreigners would
regularly raid and steal everything they labored for.} It repeats that there will be no more
weeping, but only joy in the hearts of the inhabitants of the new
Jerusalem. I like verse 24. God says “I will answer their prayers before
they speak them”. Think about that. Then in the last verse He describes peace the
best way they could have understood it.
To paraphrase, He says “the lion will lie down peacefully with the
lamb”.
Chapter 66, the final chapter of this Book of Isaiah
reiterates both the harsh judgment of God’s enemies and the great salvation of
His people. In this conclusion you will
find Isaiah making one last appeal for the people to pay attention and listen
to his words of condemnation, warnings, hope, and redemption.
Next post: The Book
of Jeremiah
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