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In our last study we were finally introduced to our righteous redeemer – Jesus,

Isaiah 60

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

The picture is of a people sleeping during a long night – at last the dawn has come!

But this is an unnatural dawn, it is the rising of Gods son and the brightness of his glory will attract many to come. But now the prophecy becomes more mixed. Is this truly what the exiles will experience, or again is this long into the future?

4 ‘Lift up your eyes and look about you: all assemble and come to you;

your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip.

Again is this children who were exiled, or is it those adopted children from other nations?

5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple.

Using the language of the time, Isaiah describes a land full of treasure, where people are intent on praising God.

8 ‘Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?

9 Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honour of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendour.

‘The Islands’ was often used to refer to gentile nations – here they too are bringing their treasures to present to the Lord.

10 ‘Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favour I will show you compassion.

11 Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations – their kings led in triumphal procession.

Now there will be no distinction between Israel and foreigners – all will be welcomed.

12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined.

13 ‘The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place for my feet.

14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

But there will still be a distinction. The new Jerusalem only welcomes those who are redeemed. Those outsiders will have to admit defeat, bowing down before the punishment that awaits them.

15 ‘Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one travelling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations.

16 You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Saviour, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron.

Now the description is more definitely that of the New Jerusalem – totally transformed.

Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones.

I will make peace your governor and well-being your ruler.

18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.

19 The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

Truly a description if Heaven!

20 Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.

21 Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land for ever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendour.

22 The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation.

I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.’

Here we again get a glimpse of God’s view of time – having described the joys of heaven and the end times, we get a date for all this: ‘in its time’. But when that comes, ‘I will do this swiftly’.

Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me

Isaiah knows he has been chosen as God’s mouthpiece – not only to warn a disobedient people, but now to bring encouragement. (I’ve changed these verses into a more modern list form.)

He has sent me

• to bind up the broken-hearted,
• to proclaim freedom for the captives and
• release from darkness for the prisoners,
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and
• the day of vengeance of our God,
• to 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.

Here he lists specifically the ways he has been instructed to bring encouragement to his people. He sees a glorious future for them.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.

Now again we have to question – is this all going to happen to the returning exiles?

Will it depend on a complete change in the people? To be called ‘oaks of righteousness’ needs not only for all the people to change their ways and become dependably righteous, all the time, but to be a people in whom the Lord can ‘display his splendour’. Perhaps we again see God’s perfect plan, but only to bear fruit in the ‘New Jerusalem’.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 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.

7 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.

People ask me ‘Does God have a plan for my life?’ and I have to reply not a plan, but a purpose. (Study HERE) The problem with a plan is that we won’t do as we are told. But however disobedient or devious we are, God will continue to steer us towards his ultimate purposes for us. Here he has set before the Exiles a beautiful picture – for the righteous. Only with the coming of Jesus and the prospect of the ‘New Jerusalem’ at the end of time, will it be able to come to fruition.

8 ‘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.

9 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.’

10 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.

11 For as the soil makes the young plant come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Again a beautiful picture – of what might have been theirs. It will still come about, the Sovereign Lord has said he will do it. But not here, and not now.

Isaiah 62

1 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.

2 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.

3 You will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, [My delight is in her] and your land Beulah, [married] for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married.

5 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.

The Lord had always regarded his chosen people to be his bride, but they had constantly been unfaithful. Now the ‘bride of Christ’ will fulfil that role and all who claim salvation through him will be included. Jews first, and then the Gentiles.

6 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, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

But while we wait, we have been instructed to pray. And what should we pray as we call on the Lord?

‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven’.

8 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;

9 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.’

10 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.

11 The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your Saviour comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.”’

12 They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.

This is where it is all leading – and shortly we will be part of it too. That is God’s ultimate purpose for us.

Isaiah 63

(Bozrah was a major town in Edom, modern-day Jordan)

1 Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendour, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? ‘It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.’

2 Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?

3 ‘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.

4 It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come.

5 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.

6 I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.’

This is no ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. Rather this reflects Revelation 19:11-16

11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron sceptre.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.

Jesus has to bring Judgement as well as mercy. We don’t like to dwell on that aspect of his character but God’s justice requires it. If we are being saved to something, we are also being saved from something.

So let’s not dwell on that:

7 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.

8 He said, ‘Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me’; and so he became their Saviour.

From the start of creation, God longed for people to put their faith in him. But people failed spectacularly. After the Flood, God chose Abraham and built for himself a nation that he would favour specifically, calling them his children. His kindness continued towards this rebellious people until he himself, in the form of his son, became their saviour. But now, he has also revealed that this salvation is available to all who will repent.

9 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.

10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.

As we read the Old Testament, there are many instances where he ‘lifted them up and carried them’. Even so, they still turned from him until finally he turned from them.

11 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? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them,

12 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,

13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble; 14 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.

It took a while, but eventually people came to their senses. Look at all the wonderful things God has done for us. But where is he now? they ask.

15 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.

16 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.

17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?

We realise that our misery must be because you have turned from us and no longer shower us with your blessings. Not only that but it’s your fault that we have wandered away from you and our hearts are hard.

Why is it always someone else’s fault – never our own?

What can we do about it? Prayer is a good place to start.

We will look at their prayer in our next study.