Good
News Brings Rejoicing
– Let Zion Rejoice
Student
Textbook Teacher's Handbook
Devotional
Reading: Psalms 42:5-11 Background Scripture: Isaiah 52:1, 2 7-12
Psalm 33
Rev.
Michael J. Hudgins
Sunday,
November 30, 2014
Isaiah 52:1-12 King James Version
1 Awake,
awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O
Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come
into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
It is not God who is asleep, it is Jerusalem. Zion
must wake up to a new reality! In spite of Israel's call in the first
exodus to be a peculiar treasure, a holy nation, Zion never fulfilled
God's desire regarding that command.
“Despite Israel's having the priestly house of
Aaron, the royal dynasty of David, etc., the world does not see the
true character of God through His people.” page 107, student text
book.
Exodus 19:5-6 New King James Version
5 Now therefore, if you
will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a
special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is
Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.’ These are
the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
“While
studying and reading that comment in the student book, it gave me
pause to think and I pray that it did to others that read it. (I
hope) Something to think about from that very observation, a question
to all of us who claim and proclaim to be born again, saved,
Christians:
Does the world
see the true character of God through us, or does the world see
something entirely different, something that would cause God to
become angry with us?”1
The First
Exodus: The Exodus
of the Israelites from Egypt, led by Moses
The Second
Exodus: Second Exodus back to the Promised Land; the reunification of
Israel and Judah; God's restoration and blessing of His covenant
people.
After the death of Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel
split into two separate kingdoms. The northern ten tribes retained
the name Israel, establishing their capital at Samaria. The
southern tribes—Judah and Benjamin, along with part of Levi—became
known simply as Judah (and its people known as Jews;
II Kings 16:5-6)
Zion is to awake to new clothing that will become her
strength. She can finally discard the filthy rags of sin and idolatry
that led her into exile in the first place, leaving with new garments
of beauty and strength.
The beautiful garments refer to a new character of
holiness in this regard. The uncircumcised and unclean cannot enter
this renewed city. The new reality is that the renewed people of God
will be “Holiness to the Lord”. Page 107 and 108 student text.
2 Shake
thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose
thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
“After the captive daughter of Zion arises from the
dust of humiliating captivity, she is enthroned as royalty.
The next 4 verses were not included in the lesson,
but I felt it appropriate to include them for a clearer picture of
the lesson.
3 For
thus saith the Lord,
Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without
money.
4 For
thus saith the Lord God,
My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the
Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now
therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord,
that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them
make them to howl, saith the Lord;
and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore
my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day
that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
(3) Ye
have sold yourselves . . .—Literally, ye were sold. The people had
complained that Jehovah had “sold them” into the hands of their
enemies (Psalm
44:12).
“Not so,” is the answer. “There was no real sale, only a
temporary transfer, and therefore Jehovah can redeem you at His own
pleasure.
God
received nothing when he allowed his people to become the slaves of
the Babylonians. He took no price for them (see Isaiah
50:1),
and therefore is free to claim them back without payment (comp.
Isaiah
45:13).
He has but to say the word; and he is about to say it. 2
7 How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
A messenger who runs to deliver good news can be
described as having beautiful feet even if those feet are covered in
dust, calloused, bruised, and cut from the running. The nature of the
news is described with the words peace, good, and salvation. All of
these concepts converge in the thunderous expression thy God
reigneth!
“Verse 7 is one of the better known verses
in this section of the book, thanks to its citation in Romans
10:15 Paul in that section of Romans is talking
about the nation of Israel, its ultimate salvation at the end of the
age as a fulfillment of the promises, and the basis of that
restoration in Christ’s death. So the ultimate meaning of this
passage in Isaiah concerns the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even though
the immediate context refers to news of Israel’s deliverance from
exile. But the parallel ideas are obvious. Here is another example of
how the “near view” of a prophecy is but a shadow or preview of
the “far view” (compare Psalm
118 and the prophecy of the “stone which the
builders rejected” which in the Old Testament refers to Israel
overlooked by empires, but in the New Testament signifies Christ
rejected by the leaders).”3
8 Thy
watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they
sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord
shall bring again Zion.
The watchmen on the wall receive the good news of the
runner and are predicted to join their voices together as if in a
choir.
I saw in the visions of my
head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy
one came down from heaven;
For there shall be a day,
that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye,
and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.
What is all the shouting about?
The runner's bearing good news, and what the
watchmen will see is God's coming as king! That is GOOD NEWS!
9 Break
forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the
Lord
hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
As will the watchmen, the inhabitants of Jerusalem
shall break forth in singing as a choir! Talk about a Mass Choir!!!
This type of singing is the mark of a redeemed people. Such rejoicing
occurs on top of the waste places, or ruins of Jerusalem. Page 109 of
student text.
“Verse 9 is a call to praise the
LORD for this great deliverance. People are called to praise because
the “desolate places” are no longer such—in fact, waste or
desolate places are being called to sing will sing for joy. The
reason?—the LORD has “comforted” and “redeemed” . So in the
future when the exile is over and the rebuilding begins, people will
forget their desolation and rejoice in the power of the LORD.”4
10 The
Lord
hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all
the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
The arm of The Lord = His power to save!
“We may think of a homespun idiom of God “rolling
up His sleeves” to bare his holy arm for accomplishing this
salvation.” page 110 student text.
“Verse 10 uses a bold
anthropomorphism to express the dominant power
of God—”He has made bare His holy arm.” It is the idea of
pushing back the mantel and exposing the arm for action. “Holy”
arm means that His power is unique, incomparable. There is no “arm”
like His, no power like His. It will be a mighty salvation.”5
For the nations to see the salvation of our God means
that they experience it. See page 110 of student text.
God calls His people to respond to His deliverance with purity and confidence (52:11, 12).
11 Depart
ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye
out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the
Lord.
If Israel is to be a holy nation, she must do two
things, one negative and one positive: touch no unclean thing and
continually be ye clean. God's wrath is gone and His people are
established as a holy nation.
“Verse 11 records an address to
the exiles that comes from Jerusalem (“from thence” shows that
the speaker is not in Babylon), suggesting again the transporting of
the prophet in his vision. Since the LORD is present in the march to
the holy land, the people must be pure. They must not be defiled by
unclean things. After all, they are to be restored as the kingdom of
priests. If they truly believe in the LORD, they will separate from
the world and follow the LORD’s call to a renewed spiritual
service. Thus it is with every kind of deliverance.
The prophet holds out for them the promise of
divine protection. Unlike the exodus from Egypt, they will not have
to go in haste, or by flight, because the LORD will lead them in the
way and be their rearguard as well. “6
For I am the
Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God:
ye shall therefore be holy, for I am
holy.
Speak unto all the
congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye
shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am
holy.
Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Wherefore come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
12 For
ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord
will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.
Haste is not necessary as it was in the first exodus.
The God of Israel establishes His kingship over His people as the one
who goes before them as well as acting as their rearguard in the
pilgrim journey of life. The new exodus is to take place in order for
the renewed people of God to be His once again.
The suffering servant of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 takes
upon himself the “chastisement” that brings “peace”. By means
of this substitutionary atonement, God's people, made up of all of
the nations, are set free from sin bondage.
Commentary on Isaiah 52:1-12
The gospel proclaims liberty to those bound with
fears. Let those weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find
relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and
fears, and loose themselves from those bands. The price paid by the
Redeemer for our salvation, was not silver or gold, or corruptible
things, but his own precious blood.
Considering the freeness of this salvation, and how
hurtful to temporal comfort sins are, we shall more value the
redemption which is in Christ. Do we seek victory over every sin,
recollecting that the glory of God requires holiness in every
follower of Christ?
The good news is, that the Lord Jesus reigns. Christ
himself brought these tidings first. His ministers proclaim these
good tidings: keeping themselves clean from the pollutions of the
world, they are beautiful to those to whom they are sent. Zion's
watchmen could scarcely discern any thing of God's favour through the
dark cloud of their afflictions; but now the cloud is scattered, they
shall plainly see the performance. Zion's waste places shall then
rejoice; all the world will have the benefit. This is applied to our
salvation by Christ.
Babylon is no place for Israelites. And it is a call
to all in the bondage of sin and Satan, to use the liberty Christ has
proclaimed. They were to go with diligent haste, not to lose time nor
linger; but they were not to go with distrustful haste. Those in the
way of duty, are under God's special protection; and he that believes
this, will not hasten for fear.7
Isaiah 52:13 King James Version
Isaiah 53:1-12 King James Version
2 For he shall grow
up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is
no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and
rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we
hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed
him not.
4 Surely he hath
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed.
6 All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed,
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so
he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from
prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for
he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression
of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his
grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of
the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he
shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out
his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
1Rev.
Michael J. Hudgins
2http://biblehub.com/commentaries/isaiah/52-3.htm
3https://bible.org/seriespage/announcement-comfort-redeemed-isaiah-521-12
4https://bible.org/seriespage/announcement-comfort-redeemed-isaiah-521-12
5https://bible.org/seriespage/announcement-comfort-redeemed-isaiah-521-12
6https://bible.org/seriespage/announcement-comfort-redeemed-isaiah-521-12
7http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?com=mhc&b=23&c=52
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