A. Sennacherib’s Attempt to Capture Jerusalem (36:1–37:38)

36:1 fourteenth year of King Hezekiah. Since Sennacherib’s attack came in 701 B.C., this places the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign in 715 B.C. But since 2 Kings 18:1 says he began to reign in the third year of Hoshea, c. 729 B.C., Hezekiah served as co-regent with Ahaz (c. 729–716 B.C.) before assuming the throne exclusively. It was customary for the later kings of Israel to bring their sons into partnership in the government during their lives. Sennacherib. The king of Assyria (c. 705 to 681 B.C.). fortified cities. The discovery of the ancient Annals of Sennacherib reveals the cities he conquered in his campaign southward from Sidon on the Mediterranean coast.

36:2 Rabshakeh. The spokesman for Sennacherib’s three highest officials, who represented the king against Jerusalem on this occasion, according to 2 Kings 18:17. great army. This was a token force of the main army (37:36), with which Sennacherib hoped to bluff Judah into submitting. Lachish. A city about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s conquest of this city was in its closing phase when he sent the messengers. aqueduct from the upper pool. Isaiah met Ahaz at the same spot in his unsuccessful attempt to dissuade him from trusting in foreign powers (7:3).

36:3 Eliakim . . . Shebna. See notes on 22:19–22. Joah . . . the recorder. The position was that of an intermediary between the king and the people.

36:4–10 Rabshakeh’s logic was twofold: (1) Egypt was unable to deliver Jerusalem (vv. 4–6, 8, 9), and (2) the Lord had called on the Assyrians to destroy Judah (vv. 7, 10).

36:4 great king, the king of Assyria. This is the self-appropriated title of Assyrian kings. In contrast, Rabshakeh omitted any title for Hezekiah (vv. 4, 14, 15, 16).

36:5 mere words. Words amounted to nothing when it came to warfare. In other words, Judah was defenseless.

36:6 broken reed, Egypt. The Assyrian’s advice strongly resembled that of Isaiah (19:14–16; 30:7; 31:3).

36:7 He whose high places and whose altars. Rabshakeh mistakenly thought Hezekiah’s reforms in removing idols (2 Kin. 18:4; 2 Chr. 31:1) had removed opportunities to worship the Lord. this altar. That all worship should center in Solomon’s temple was utterly foreign to the polytheistic Assyrians.

36:8, 9 Rabshakeh taunted and minimized Judah’s best defensive efforts, even with Egypt’s help.

36:10 The LORD said. Rabshakeh’s boastful claim of the authority from Judah’s God for his mission may have been a ploy on his part to get a surrender, but it aligned with Isaiah’s prophecy that the Assyrians would be His instrument to punish His people (8:7, 8; 10:5, 6). The Assyrians may have heard this from partisans or may not have known this, but Judah did.

36:11 Aramaic . . . Hebrew. Hezekiah’s representatives, aware of the alarm created by the suggestion that the Lord was on the Assyrian side, asked Rabshekah to change from Hebrew to Aramaic, the language of diplomacy, so the people on the wall could not understand his words and be terrified.

36:12 men . . . on the wall. The foreign emissary continued his efforts to damage the city’s morale by speaking of the horrors of famine that a long siege would involve.

36:13–17 Rabshakeh spoke longer and louder, suggesting that Hezekiah could not save the city, but the great king, the king of Assyria, would fill the people with abundance (vv. 16, 17).

36:16 Make . . . present. Lit. “Make a blessing with me.” The official invited the people to make a covenant with Assyria by surrendering.

36:17 take you away. Rabshakeh did not hide Assyria’s well-known practice of deporting conquered peoples to distant places.

36:18–20 In Rabshakeh’s eyes, the Lord was one of the many gods worshiped by nations conquered by the Assyrians (cf. 10:8–11).

36:21 held their peace. Hezekiah had apparently anticipated the ultimatum of the Assyrians and had told his representatives and the men on the wall not to respond.

36:22 clothes torn. The king’s representatives returned to him in a state of grief and shock at the blasphemy they thought they had heard.

37:1 tore . . . sackcloth. A reaction that symbolized Hezekiah’s grief, repentance, and contrition. The nation was to repent and the king was to lead the way. house of the LORD. God designated the temple as His “house of prayer” (56:7; Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46), so it was the proper place to confess sins and seek forgiveness (cf. Ps. 73:16, 17).

37:2 elders of the priests. These were senior religious leaders in Israel.

37:3 come to birth . . . no strength. Hezekiah compared his dilemma with a mother in labor, unable to deliver her child. Jerusalem had to be delivered, but he was helpless to make it happen.

37:4 reproach the living God. Hezekiah received a report of Rabshakeh’s belittling of the Lord by equating Him with other gods and responded by pointing out the distinction between God who is living and gods who are lifeless and helpless (40:18–20; 46:5–7). remnant that is left. Only Jerusalem remained unconquered. Hezekiah asked Isaiah’s prayer for the city.

37:6 Do not be afraid. This is the same assurance Isaiah had given Ahaz (7:4).

37:7 spirit. The Lord promised to incline Sennacherib’s attitude in such a way that he would leave Jerusalem unharmed and return home.

37:8 Libnah. After conquering Lachish, Sennacherib moved on to this smaller town to the north of Lachish.

37:9 Tirhakah king of Ethiopia. Tirhakah did not become king of Ethiopia (and Egypt) until eleven years after the 701 B.C. siege, so Isaiah’s use of king anticipates his future title. At that moment, however, he represented a threat to Sennacherib from the south that caused him to renew his call for Jerusalem’s surrender to the north.

37:10–13 The king of Assyria sent messengers to summarize the arguments given in Rabshakeh’s ultimatum of 36:4–19.

37:10 deceive. The accusation of deception was first made against Hezekiah (36:14), then against the Lord.

37:11–13 The threat repeats the thrust of 36:18–20.

37:12 The conquered cities mentioned here lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia.

37:13 These were cities of Syria that had recently fallen to the Assyrians.

37:14 house of the LORD. Godly Hezekiah returned to the house of the Lord (cf. v. 1) as he should have, in contrast to Ahaz, who in a similar crisis refused even to ask a sign from the Lord (7:11, 12).

37:16 the One who dwells . . . heaven and earth. The basis for Hezekiah’s plea was God’s role as the Sovereign and Creator of the universe, not Judah’s worthiness to be delivered.

37:17 hear . . . see . . . hear. In contrast to the gods of other nations (Ps. 115:4–7), the God of Israel heard and saw everything.

37:18, 19 Hezekiah dismantled the Assyrian theory that the Lord was no different from gods of the other nations that could not deliver their worshipers.

37:20 You alone. Hezekiah displayed the highest motivation of all in requesting the salvation of Jerusalem: that the world may know that the Lord alone is God (cf. Dan. 9:16–19).

37:21 Isaiah the son of Amoz. Immediately upon the conclusion of Hezekiah’s prayer, Isaiah had a response from the Lord.

37:22 laughed you to scorn. Jerusalem, portrayed as a helpless virgin before a would-be rapist, had the last laugh against Sennacherib.

37:23 you reproached and blasphemed. The Lord had heard Sennacherib’s reproach against Him (37:17).

37:24, 25 Even the servants of Sennacherib had bragged about Assyria’s being unstoppable.

37:26 I have brought it to pass. God corrected Sennacherib’s vanity; he conquered nothing on his own, but was a mere instrument in the Lord’s hand.

37:27 They were dismayed. Assyria had utterly overwhelmed populations in their conquests.

37:28 your rage against Me. Sennacherib’s ignorance of being a mere tool in the Lord’s hand was bad, but his belittling of God, the source of his life, was far worse.

37:29 hook in your nose . . . bridle in your lips. In judging Sennacherib, the Lord treated him as an obstinate animal with a ring in his nose and/or a bridle in his mouth. Some ancient sources indicate that captives were led before a king by a cord attached to a hook or ring through the upper lip and nose. Thus, he was to be brought back to his own country.

37:30 sign. The two years in which they were sustained by the growth of the crops were the two in which Sennacherib ravaged them (cf. 32:10). He left immediately after the deliverance (37:37), so in the third year the people left could plant again.

37:31, 32 remnant . . . remnant. From the remnant of survivors in Jerusalem came descendants who covered the land once again (1:9, 27; 3:10; 4:3; 6:13; 8:16, 17; 10:20, 22; 11:12, 16; 26:1–4, 8; 27:12; 28:5; 37:4).

37:32 zeal of the LORD of hosts. The same confirmation of God’s promise in 9:7 assured the future establishment of the messianic kingdom. Deliverance from Sennacherib in Hezekiah’s day was a down payment on the literal, final restoration of Israel.

37:33 shall not come . . . build a siege mound. God promised that the Assyrians would not even pose a physical threat to Jerusalem. They came near, but never engaged in a true siege of the city.

37:34 shall he return. In contrast with his arrival in Judah as an overbearing, invincible monarch, he returned to Assyria as a defeated, dejected “has been.” In his own Annals, he claimed only to have “shut up” Jerusalem, not to have conquered it.

37:35 For My own sake. Since Sennacherib had directly challenged the Lord’s faithfulness to His word (v. 10), the faithfulness of God was at stake in this contest with the Assyrians (cf. Ezek. 36:22, 23). for My servant David’s sake. God pledged to perpetuate David’s line on his throne (2 Sam. 7:16; cf. 9:6, 7; 11:1; 55:3). See note on 2 Samuel 7:8–16.

37:36 the angel of the LORD. This was Isaiah’s only use of a title that is frequent in the OT, one referring to the Lord Himself. For the identification, see note on Exodus 3:2. killed. Secular records also mention this massive slaughter of Assyrian troops, without noting its supernatural nature, as expected (cf. Ex. 12:12, 29).

37:37 Nineveh. The capital of Assyria.

37:38 his god. The place of Sennacherib’s death (c. 681 B.C.) recalled the impotence of his god, Nisroch, compared with the omnipotence of Hezekiah’s God. struck him down. Sennacherib’s pitiful death came twenty years after his confrontation with the Lord regarding the fate of Jerusalem. Ararat. The mountain region north of Israel, west of Assyria (cf. Gen. 8:4; 2 Kin. 19:37; Jer. 51:27). Esarhaddon. The successor to Sennacherib (c. 681–669 B.C.).

B. Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery (38:1–22)

38:1 In those days . . . sick. Hezekiah’s sickness occurred before the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem described in chapters 36 and 37. Isaiah placed the description of that illness here, along with chapter 39, to introduce chapters 40–66. See note on 2 Kings 20:1. Set your house in order. An instruction telling Hezekiah to make his final will known to his family (cf. 2 Sam. 17:23; 1 Kin. 2:1–9). you shall die and not live. The prediction sounded final, but Hezekiah knew God was willing to hear his appeal (cf. Ex. 32:7–14).

38:2, 3 prayed . . . wept bitterly. See note on 2 Kings 20:2, 3.

38:3 loyal heart. Hezekiah based his implied request for an extension of his life on an undivided desire to please the Lord.

38:5 fifteen years. The Lord’s immediate (2 Kin. 20:4) response granted the king’s request. Having to reverse a prophecy so quickly did not alarm Isaiah, as it did Jonah later on (Jon. 4:2, 3). Isaiah resembled Nathan in this respect (2 Sam. 7:3–6).

38:6 I will deliver . . . this city. The deliverance described in the previous chapter.

38:7, 8 sign . . . ten degrees backward. Here is the first biblical mention of any means of marking time. According to 2 Kings 20:8–10, Hezekiah requested this sign to confirm the Lord’s promise of healing.

38:9 writing of Hezekiah. In response to his healing, Hezekiah wrote the record of his helplessness when facing death (vv. 10–14) and told of God’s response to His condition (vv. 15–20). This poetry is missing from the parallel account in 2 Kings.

38:10 In the prime of my life. The king was probably in his thirties or forties when he fell sick.

38:11 I shall not see. Hezekiah feared that death would terminate his fellowship with the Lord. YAH. The Hebrew repeats the name: “YAH, YAH.” The KJV rendered it, “LORD, even the LORD.” See 12:2; 26:4 for other such repetitions.

38:12 shepherd’s tent . . . a weaver. Two comparisons with transient articles illustrate how death removes, in a moment, what may have seemed so permanent.

38:14 I mourned . . . Undertake for me! In his helplessness, Hezekiah pleaded with God to deliver him from impending death.

38:15 He Himself has done it. The king had complete confidence in God.

38:16 restore me and make me live. The king’s survival was God’s accomplishment.

38:17 sins behind Your back. Hezekiah felt his sickness was somehow related to his sinfulness. To be rid of the latter was to be rid of the former also.

38:18 cannot hope. Hezekiah’s understanding of the resurrection of believers was incomplete. The same was true of others throughout much of the OT. But he was right in recognizing that death ended his opportunity for earthly praise and worship in the presence of men.

38:19 father . . . children. Word about God’s faithfulness passed from generation to generation (Deut. 4:9; 6:7; Ps. 78:3, 4). If Hezekiah at this point had no heir, he had another reason for frustration over dying in the prime of life.

38:20 sing . . . in the house of the LORD. Hezekiah was so overwhelmed with gratitude to God that he felt compelled to express it appropriately throughout the fifteen years he had left on earth.

38:21, 22 These two verses furnish background details of the account in verses 1–8.

38:21 poultice on the boil. The medicine for healing the king’s sickness (2 Kin. 20:7).

38:22 sign. Hezekiah’s request explained why the Lord gave him a sign that he would be healed (v. 7; cf. 2 Kin. 20:8). the house of the LORD. Hezekiah went to the temple (v. 20) as Isaiah had instructed him to do (2 Kin. 20:5, 8).

C. Babylonian Emissaries to Jerusalem (39:1–8)

39:1 At that time. This was just after Hezekiah’s sickness and recovery. Merodach-Baladan. See note on 2 Kings 20:12.

39:2 Hezekiah was pleased. The text does not say whether it was because of flattery or a desire for help against the increasing Assyrian threat. Cf. attentive in 2 Kings 20:13. treasures . . . treasures. Doubtless to try and impress his visitors (2 Chr. 32:25), Hezekiah showed all he could contribute in an alliance against the Assyrians.

39:3 Isaiah the prophet went. God’s spokesman showed up, without being invited, to confront the king, as often happened (e.g., 7:3; 2 Sam. 12:1; 1 Kin. 13:1; 18:16, 17).

39:5, 6 word of the LORD . . . carried to Babylon. Isaiah predicted the Babylonian captivity that would come over a century later (586 B.C.), another prophecy historically fulfilled in all of its expected detail.

39:6 nothing shall be left. Hezekiah’s sin of parading his wealth before the visitors backfired, though this sin was only symptomatic of the ultimate reason for the captivity. The major cause was the corrupt leadership of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son (2 Kin. 21:11–15).

39:7 sons who will descend from you. To a king without an heir, this was good news (that he would have one some day) and bad news (that some of his sons must go into captivity). See 2 Kings 24:12–16; 2 Chronicles 33:11; Daniel 1:3, 4, 6 for the prophecy’s fulfillment.

39:8 word of the LORD . . . good. This is a surprising response to the negative prophecy of verses 5–7! It perhaps acknowledged Isaiah as God’s faithful messenger. peace and truth in my days. Hezekiah might have reacted selfishly, or possibly he looked for a bright spot to lighten the gloomy fate of his descendants.

III. SALVATION (40:1–66:24)

40:1–66:24 The prophecies of chapters 1–39 addressed Judah in her situation during Isaiah’s ministry (739 B.C. until c. 686 B.C.). The prophecies of chapters 40–66 address Judah as though the prophesied Babylonian captivity (39:5–7) were already a present reality, though that captivity did not begin until 605–586 B.C. The words “‘There is no peace,’ says the LORD, ‘for the wicked’” (48:22; 57:21) signal the divisions of this section into three parts: chapters 40–48, chapters 49–57, and chapters 58–66.

A. Deliverance from Captivity (40:1–48:22)

40:1–48:22 This section looks at the hope and comfort of a blessed future subsequent to God’s judgment in the forthcoming Babylonian captivity.

1. Comfort to the Babylonian exiles (40:1–31)

40:1, 2 Comfort . . . comfort. The prophecy addressed God’s prophets, instructing them to emphasize the theme of comfort to a captive people in a foreign land many miles from their home city of Jerusalem. God has good plans for great blessing to Israel in the future because they are His covenant people, who are never to be permanently cast away (cf. Rom. 11:2).

40:2 iniquity is pardoned . . . double for all her sins. Cruel slaughter and captivity at the hands of the Babylonians were sufficient payment for past sins; someday after their worldwide dispersion, Israel will return to her land in peace and in the glory of Messiah’s kingdom.

40:3–5 A prophetic exhortation told Israel to prepare for the revelation of the Lord’s glory at the arrival of Messiah. Scripture sees John the Baptist in this role (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4–6; John 1:23). It likewise sees the future forerunner who is to be like Elijah preparing for Christ’s Second Coming (Mal. 3:1; 4:5, 6).

40:3, 4 Prepare the way. The remnant of Israel could remove obstacles from the coming Messiah’s path through repentance from their sins. John the Baptist reminded his listeners of this necessity (Matt. 3:2), as did Jesus (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15). These verses reflect the custom of some eastern monarchs to send heralds before them to clear away obstacles, make causeways, straighten crooked roads, and level hills (cf. 45:1, 2). John had the task of getting people ready for Messiah’s arrival.

40:5 glory of the LORD . . . revealed. Jerusalem’s misery is to end and the Lord’s glory to replace it; comfort will come to the city (v. 2) and every person will see God’s glorious salvation (cf. 52:10) in Messiah’s future kingdom (Hab. 2:14; Rev. 21:23; cf. 11:9). mouth of the LORD has spoken. This language is used for confirmations also in 1:20; 58:14; 62:2.

40:6–8 All flesh . . . flower fades. Isaiah elaborated on how transitory humanity is: here today, gone tomorrow. People pass away like plants under the hot breath of the withering east wind. James used this illustration to teach the folly of trusting in material wealth (James 1:10, 11). Peter used it to illustrate the passing nature of everything related to humanity (1 Pet. 1:24, 25).

40:8 the word of our God stands forever. The permanence of God’s word guarantees against any deviation from the divine plan (55:11). He has promised Jerusalem’s deliverance (v. 2) through His coming (vv. 3–5), so it must happen that way (cf. Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17).

40:9 Zion . . . good tidings . . . Jerusalem . . . good tidings. Like a messenger on a mountain, to be seen and heard by all, the prophet called on the city to proclaim loudly to the rest of Judah’s cities the good news of God’s presence there (cf. 2:3). Behold, your God! The restoration of Israel to the land is to include the resumption of God’s presence in Jerusalem after many centuries of absence (Ezek. 43:1–7; Rev. 21:22, 23; cf. Ezek. 11:22, 23).

40:10 the Lord God shall come with a strong hand. At His Second Coming, Christ returns with power to defeat His enemies and gather the dispersed of Israel to their land (Matt. 24:31; Rev. 19:11–21).

40:11 His arm. A picture of God’s omnipotence. The same arm that powerfully scatters the Jews all over the earth in judgment is to overcome Israel’s oppressors (v. 10) and to tenderly feed and lead His flock (Ps. 23:1, 2; Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:11–16; Mic. 2:12).

40:12–14 By a series of questions, to which the implied answer is “no one,” the prophet emphasized the omnipotence and omniscience of God, the God whose coming is to bring comfort to Israel according to verses 1–11.

40:12 Who has measured . . . in a balance? God alone has power to create the physical universe and the earth in perfect balance, weighing mountains and seas perfectly, so that the earth moves perfectly in space. This matter of the amazing balance of our planet is called the science of isostasy.

40:13, 14 directed the Spirit of the LORD. Isaiah pointed to the incomparable wisdom of God. Paul alluded to this verse in connection with God’s wisdom in dealing with Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 11:34) and with God’s impartation of wisdom to the spiritual believer (1 Cor. 2:16).

40:15–17 Since the surrounding nations who had oppressed Israel were insignificant in comparison to the Lord’s greatness and power, they could not prevent His purposes from being accomplished. His deliverance of Israel was certain.

40:16 burn . . . burnt offering. God is so great and worthy of so much worship, that even the large wood and animal resources of Lebanon were insufficient for appropriate offerings to Him.

40:18–20 The prophet sarcastically indicated the futility of trying to portray the immensity of God—His power, wisdom, and resources—in the form of a man-made idol, no matter how ornate, durable, and immovable.

40:21–31 Isaiah extolled God as Creator, in whom the Jews were to put their full trust.

40:21 told you . . . understood. Throughout human history, people had heard by special revelation from God that the Lord, not idols, created all things. They had also understood it from natural revelation as human reason looks at creation (cf. Rom. 1:20).

40:22 sits above the circle of the earth. The word circle is applicable to the spherical form of the earth, above which He sits. This implies that God upholds and maintains His creation on a continuing basis (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3). As He looks down, people seem like insects to the One who has stretched and spread out the universal heavens.

40:23 princes . . . judges. God disposes of human leaders according to His will (34:12; Job 12:17–21; Ps. 107:40; Dan. 2:21). Verse 24 expands on how suddenly God removes them.

40:25 liken . . . be equal. Israel was foolish to compare such a sovereign, almighty Lord with the gods of their Babylonian captors (see v. 18).

40:26 created these things. Rather than worshiping the stars (47:13; Deut. 4:19; Jer. 7:18; 8:2; 44:17), Israel should have seen in them the evidence of God’s creatorship (Ps. 19:1). As innumerable as the stars are, He knows every one and named each. Not one of the stars runs astray, but all are held by the forces with which He has endowed the universe to keep them in their orbit and place.

40:27–31 The prophet applied the comforting truths in verses 1–26 about God to Israel’s situation in Babylon during the coming captivity.

40:27 Why do you say? In light of who God is, how could His people in exile have thought He had forgotten them or was ignorant of their condition?

40:28 Neither faints nor is weary. God was not too weak to act on their behalf, nor was fatigue an obstacle for the Creator in caring for His people (cf. vv. 29, 30). Though even the young and strong become tired and fall, the Ancient of Days never does. unsearchable. To the human mind, God’s wisdom is not fully comprehensible in how He chooses to fulfill His promises to deliver Israel. Paul saw a further illustration of this truth in God’s plan for the final restoration of Israel (Rom. 11:33; see Is. 40:13).

40:31 wait on the LORD. See 8:17; 49:23. There is a general principle here that patient, praying believers are blessed by the Lord with strength in their trials (cf. 2 Cor. 12:8–10). The Lord also expected His people to be patient and await His coming in glory at the end to fulfill the promises of national deliverance, when believing Israel would become stronger than they had ever been.

2. The end of Israel’s misery (41:1–48:22)

41:1 coastlands. The coasts of lands around the Mediterranean Sea and the islands represent the nations. renew their strength. The Lord challenged the nations that refused to wait on Him to be silent in awe and then move to renew their strength (cf. 40:31), meaning to collect their best arguments to plead their cause before Him.

41:2 one from the east. The Lord anointed Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, to accomplish His righteous will by conquering Babylon in 539 B.C. and allowing some of the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem (cf. 41:25; 44:28; 45:1). He founded the Persian Empire and ruled from c. 550 to 530 B.C.

41:3 pursued . . . not gone with his feet. Cyrus accomplished his conquests with great ease in territories he had never before visited.

41:4 first . . . last. God existed before history and will exist after it (cf. 44:6; 48:12; Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). I am He. It is legitimate to translate the two Hebrew words thus represented by “I am” (see also 42:8; 43:10, 13; 46:4), a messianic title appropriated by Jesus frequently as explicit testimony to His deity (e.g., Mark 13:6; 14:62; Luke 21:8; John 8:28, 58; 13:19). The title comes originally from the Lord’s self-revelation to Moses in Exodus 3:14.

41:5–7 Instead of turning to the Lord when they saw Cyrus, His anointed one, approaching, the nations turned to one another for help and made more idols. See 40:18–20 regarding Isaiah’s description of idols and their makers.

41:8 Israel . . . My servant. The faithful of the nation receive the honored, corporate designation as the servant of the Lord (see note on 20:3 ). As His servant, they stood in bold contrast to the rest of the nations (vv. 5–7). Cf. Israel as the servant in 42:18–25. Abraham My friend. Friend is an even higher designation than servant (John 15:14, 15; cf. 2 Chr. 20:7; James 2:23) and speaks of a greater faithfulness.

41:9 taken from the ends of the earth. In the last days, God will regather Israel from her worldwide dispersion as He did from Egypt and Babylon, because Israel is God’s chosen nation (cf. 45:4; Amos 3:2).

41:10 Fear not. Israel need not fear God’s destructive judgment, as the rest of the nations do (vv. 5, 13, 14; 43:1, 5), because He is their God and will be faithful to His promise to restore the nation.

41:11–13 Through the Lord’s help, the enemies of Israel were to be weakened and vanish (60:12; Zech. 12:3), while God strengthened Israel.

41:14 worm. This refers to the contempt of Israel by the ungodly nations; the same term is used similarly of the Messiah on the cross (Ps. 22:6). Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The Hebrew for Redeemer refers to a near relative who has the opportunity and responsibility to buy back what a relative has lost (see note on Ruth 2:20 ). The term occurs five more times in connection with the title Holy One of Israel. See notes on 43:14; 48:17–19; 49:7; 54:5. As the Lord purchased His people from the bondage of Egypt by the blood of the Passover Lamb, He is to do the same from their worldwide exile by the blood of the true Lamb, Jesus Christ, when they turn to Him in faith (cf. Zech. 12:10–13:1).

41:15, 16 mountains . . . hills. These are figurative representations of foreign nations, whom Israel is to grind into nothingness at the time of her kingdom, when the Lord Jesus sets Himself up as King in Jerusalem.

41:17, 18 poor and needy. Israel, in her deprived state as a captive of foreign nations, is spoken of as thirsty for blessing and joy. Although, in the Messiah’s future kingdom, the land of Israel will be actually well-watered (cf. 12:2, 3; 35:6, 7; 43:19, 20; 44:3, 4; 48:20, 21), a real physical blessing here, the quenching of Israel’s spiritual thirst in the millennium is symbolized.

41:19 myrtle . . . oil tree . . . cypress tree . . . pine . . . box tree. Luxuriant vegetation will enrich the land when God redeems His creation (35:1, 2, 7; Rom. 8:19–21).

41:22, 23 what will happen . . . come hereafter. God challenged the idols to prove their competence by predicting future events, as the Lord has done regarding “the former things,” i.e., the raising of Cyrus (v. 2), the repulsion of the Assyrians from Jerusalem (chs. 36; 37), and the healing of Hezekiah (ch. 38).

41:23 do good or do evil. God invited the idols to proclaim and execute either deliverance or judgment, as He had done.

41:24 nothing . . . nothing. The idols were not what humans claimed they were, because they could not predict the future, nor could they judge or deliver. They were lifeless and useless (44:9; Ps. 115:2–8; 1 Cor. 8:4; 10:19; Gal. 4:8).

41:25 from the north …; from the rising of the sun. Cyrus, king of Persia, a land east of Babylon, approached Babylon from the north where he had conquered Media before coming to Babylon. call on My name. This was apparently fulfilled by Cyrus’s proclamation in Ezra 1:1–4.

41:26 no one. No soothsayer had predicted future happenings as the Lord had.

41:27–29 Idols were helpless in giving “good tidings” of future events (v. 27) and counsel to people (v. 28); and thus, they were useless.

42:1–9 This is the first of four Servant-Songs referring to Messiah (cf. 49:1–13; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12). They speak of the Servant’s gentle manner and worldwide mission. Verses 1–3 are applied to Jesus Christ at His First Coming in Matthew 12:18–20.

42:1 My Servant. Others deserve the title “my servant” (see note on 20:3 ), but this personal Servant of the Lord is the Messiah, who was chosen (Luke 9:35; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8) because the Lord delights in Him (Matt. 3:17; 17:5) and puts His Spirit upon Him (11:2; 59:21; Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18). justice to the Gentiles. At His Second Coming, Christ will rule over a kingdom in which justice prevails throughout the world. The millennial kingdom is not for Israel alone, though the Messiah will reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem and Israel will be the glorious people. In fact, all the nations of the world will experience the righteousness and justice of the Messiah King.

42:2 not cry out . . . in the street. The quiet and submissive demeanor of Christ at His First Advent fulfilled this prophecy (Matt. 11:28–30; 1 Pet. 2:23).

42:3 bruised reed . . . smoking flax. The Servant will bring comfort and encouragement to the weak and oppressed. Cf. 40:11; 50:4; 61:1; see notes on Matthew 12:18–20.

42:4 justice in the earth. Isaiah looked beyond the First Coming of Christ to His Second Coming. Jesus fulfilled verses 1a, 2, 3 at His first coming and will fulfill verses 1b, 4 at His Second Coming, when He rules the earth in perfect justice with “a rod of iron” (Ps. 2:8, 9; Rev. 2:27).

42:5 Thus says God the LORD, who created . . . walk on it. Here, God spoke directly to the Messiah, identified as “You” (v. 6). God’s role as Creator of the universe (cf. 40:21, 22) is the basis of certainty for the fulfilling of His will by His Servant the Messiah.

42:6 I, the LORD. Beginning with 41:13, the Lord’s self-identification is frequent (41:13; 42:6, 8; 43:3, 11, 15; 45:5, 6, 7, 18; 48:17; 49:23; 51:15). His personal name is the one He explained to Moses as specially symbolic of the unique relationship He bore to Israel (Ex. 3:14, 15; 6:3). Here, that covenant name guarantees His ministry through the Messiah-Servant. covenant to the people. The Servant is a covenant in that He personifies and provides the blessings of salvation to God’s people, Israel. He is the Mediator of a better covenant than the one with Moses, i.e., the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31–34; Heb. 8:6, 10–12). See note on 49:8. light to the Gentiles. Simeon saw the beginning of this fulfillment at Christ’s first coming (Luke 2:32). He came as the Messiah of Israel, yet the Savior of the world, who revealed Himself to a non-Jewish, immoral woman by the well in Samaria (cf. John 4:25, 26) and commanded His followers to preach the gospel of salvation to everyone in the world (Matt. 28:19, 20). The church, made up mostly of Gentiles grafted into the trunk of blessing (cf. Rom. 9:24–30; 11:11–24), fulfills this promise; so does the future kingdom on earth when the Servant will use Israel to enlighten all the nations of the earth (49:6; cf. 19:24).

42:7 open blind eyes . . . bring out prisoners. Jesus fulfilled these words (9:1, 2; Matt. 4:13–16) when He applied them to miracles of physical healing and freedom from spiritual bondage during His Incarnation (Matt. 11:5; Luke 4:18). Under the Servant’s millennial reign on earth, true spiritual perception will replace Israel’s spiritual blindness and her captives will receive their freedom (29:18; 32:3; 35:5; 61:1).

42:9 former things . . . new things. The former things are already fulfilled or about-to-be fulfilled prophecies of Isaiah (cf. 41:22). The new things pertain to the future accomplishments of the Lord through His Messiah-Servant when He comes.

42:10 new song, and His praise. This new song, never before sung, called for by new manifestations of God’s grace, will match the newness of conditions created by the Servant’s work of redemption in the kingdom, for which earth’s inhabitants will also sing “His praise.” Cf. 2:2; 26:1; Revelation 4:11; 5:9.

42:11 Kedar . . . Sela. See 16:1; 21:16.

42:13 mighty man . . . man of war. As a mighty warrior, the Lord will work through His Servant to overcome all enemies (40:10; cf. 9:7; 37:32; 59:17).

42:14 held My peace . . . been still and restrained Myself. From the beginning of creation, God remained silent until the time was ripe to intervene in human affairs. He has not been indifferent to wickedness in the world, but will send His Servant in “the fullness of the time” (Gal. 4:4).

42:15 lay waste . . . dry up . . . dry up. God’s judgment through His Servant will wreak devastation on the earth (cf. Rev. 6–19). The reverse of that will be His blessing through the same Messiah subsequently in the millennial kingdom (see 35:1–4; 41:18).

42:16 I will bring . . . lead . . . make . . . do. God’s sovereignty will be evident to all as He guides the blind over previously uncharted courses (cf. Ex. 13:21, 22). The spiritually blind (9:1, 2) will see the way (see 42:7). Cf. Ephesians 5:8.

42:17 carved images . . . molded images. God will utterly repudiate idolaters (cf. Ex. 32:4).

42:18–24 The Lord charged Israel, His servant, with unfaithfulness. In an important comparison, positive qualities of the Servant (42:1–7) are personified in the Messiah; but terms of reproach toward God’s servant (42:18, 19, 22–24) are personified in the nation, Israel.

42:18–20 deaf . . . blind. Israel is called “My servant” (v. 19; 41:8; 44:21) and “My messenger” and was perfectly fitted with the truth. However, Isaiah’s commission to prophesy highlighted the spiritual deafness and blindness of Israel (6:9, 10; cf. 22:14; 29:11; 32:3). They were deaf to the voice of God and blind to spiritual reality and duty.

42:21 His righteousness’ sake. In spite of Israel’s deafness, blindness, and defective righteousness (v. 24), God will uphold His principles of righteousness. Cf. 59:14–17.

42:22 robbed and plundered . . . snared . . . hidden. Exiled and dispersed, Israel was like a caravan in the desert, attacked unmercifully by bandits and imprisoned in caves or dungeons, so that no human deliverer could restore them (cf. 63:5).

42:24 Was it not the LORD? The nation went into Babylonian exile and worldwide Dispersion as punishment by God for their rebellion against Him (30:15; 57:17; 65:2).

42:25 the fury of His anger. The fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 B.C. did not result from the strength of Babylon. Rather, Israel had to taste the wrath of God because they paid no attention to the Lord (1:3; 5:13; 29:13; 47:7; 51:1; Hos. 7:9). set him on fire. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, burned Jerusalem when he conquered the city (2 Kin. 25:8, 9).

43:1 created . . . formed. The only explanation for the ongoing existence of the nation of Israel is God’s sovereign grace, which brought her into existence from nothing (cf. Deut. 7:6–11) and sustains her. Since she was God’s creation, she could find comfort in knowing that no one or nothing can destroy her, not even her own wickedness (cf. 43:18–25; Rom. 11:1, 2, 25–27). Jacob . . . Israel. This double designation (cf. Gen.32:28) for God’s chosen nation is used by Isaiah twenty-one times, sixteen of them in chapters 40–49 (9:8; 10:20; 14:1; 27:6; 29:23; 40:27; 41:8, 14; 42:24; 43:1, 22, 28; 44:1, 21, 23; 45:4; 46:3; 48:1, 12; 49:5, 6). This speaks of the Lord’s special attachment to Abraham’s physical seed. Fear not. The Lord repeated His word, relieving Israel’s fear (35:4; 41:10, 13, 14; cf. 7:4). redeemed. God’s redemption of His people from exile is not to be complete until His Servant returns to reign over the faithful remnant in the land of Israel who have believed on Jesus Christ (cf. Zech. 12:10–13:1; Rom. 11:25–27; Rev. 11:13). The limited return from Babylon only typified the final return. See note on 43:14.

43:2 waters . . . rivers . . . fire . . . flame. Many perils, symbolized by these words, have confronted the Israelites through the centuries and will continue to do so until the nation’s final redemption, but the Lord promises the nation survival through them all. The passage of Moses’ and Joshua’s generations through the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21, 22) and the Jordan River (Josh. 3:14–17) and the preservation of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace illustrate His care for Israel.

43:3 your Savior. God is by nature a Savior (v. 11; 45:21), both temporally and eternally (see note on 1 Tim. 4:10; cf. Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4). God delivered Israel from Egypt and will deliver her from Babylon and all future exiles, as well as bring her to spiritual salvation (Zech. 12:10–13:1; Rom. 11:25–27). Ethiopia. See 18:1. Seba. A country, either in southern Arabia or across the Red Sea in northeast Africa, near Ethiopia. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba became a vicarious compensation so that God could spare Israel. Sabeans is another name for the inhabitants of Seba (cf. 45:14; Job 1:15).

43:5, 6 east . . . west . . . north . . . south . . . ends of the earth. The Lord will regather, to the land of Israel, the faithful remnant of His people from their worldwide dispersion in conjunction with the inauguration of the Messiah’s kingdom on earth (cf. 11:12).

43:7 called by My name . . . created for My glory. The faithful remnant of Israel will bear the Lord’s name and exist for one primary purpose: to glorify Him (44:23).

43:8 blind . . . have eyes . . . deaf . . . have ears. Restored Israel (vv. 5–7) will have their spiritual eyesight and hearing restored (29:18; contrast 42:18, 19).

43:9 their witnesses. Who among the idolatrous soothsayers could predict Cyrus would deliver Israel from Babylon, or make prophecies of any kind that already were fulfilled? The lifeless gods of the nations showed no ability to reveal accurately “the former things” (41:21–23) as the Lord had. So the nations had no witnesses to accredit that their gods could speak prophetic truth.

43:10 You are My witnesses . . . My servant. Israel’s God repeatedly predicted the future accurately, thus enabling Israel to witness to His truthful accuracy (v. 13), and the reality that He was the only eternal, living God. They will do this witnessing again in the millennial kingdom (cf. Joel 2:28–32).

43:12 declared and saved . . . proclaimed. As in the deliverance from Egypt (Ex. 3, 4), God declared in advance how He would redeem Israel from their captivity. Then came the actual events of the saving process, followed by the Lord’s proclamation of that deliverance as a reminder. The people, on the basis of such omniscience and omnipotence, gave testimony to the true and only living God.

43:13 before the day was. Before the first day of creation, when time began, and throughout all periods of history, God exists and manifests His will and purpose. no one . . . My hand. The Hebrew behind this clause is identical with the comparable clause in Deuteronomy 32:39. God’s actions are irreversible and can never end in frustration.

43:14 Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The former title characterizes the Lord’s role in the salvation of His people in chapters 40–66 (41:14; 43:14; 44:6, 24; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7, 26; 54:5, 8; 59:20; 60:16; 63:16). The latter title represents His holiness throughout the book (see note on 1:4 ). The Lord’s Servant retains His holiness in implementing His redemption of Israel. Chaldeans . . . their ships. When God sent a conqueror against Babylon (i.e., Cyrus, 45:1), the proud Babylonian fleet provided a means of flight for the country’s fugitives. Babylon was accessible by ship through the Persian Gulf and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

43:15 your King. The Lord was King over Israel from her inception, but the people asked for a human king instead (1 Sam. 8:4–7). The restoration will put Him back on the throne in the person of His Servant, the Messiah (Luke 1:31–33; cf. 6:1; 41:21).

43:16, 17 sea . . . mighty waters . . . chariot and horse. To bring assurance of the greater future deliverance that He will bring through His Servant, the Lord reminded Isaiah’s readers of His deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt (Ex. 14:16, 21, 26–28; Josh. 3:13).

43:18, 19 former things . . . things of old . . . new thing. Deliverances of the nation in the past will pale in comparison with the future deliverance the Lord will give His people (42:9; 48:6; Jer. 16:14, 15).

43:19, 20 rivers . . . waters . . . rivers. In the Messiah’s future kingdom, the barren places of Israel will be well-watered (41:18) and will supply refreshment for God’s chosen people (43:1).

43:21 declare My praise. In the messianic age, Israel will finally give the Lord the credit that is due Him (contrast Jer. 13:11).

43:22–24 Even though the Lord has chosen Israel, throughout her history, Israel has not chosen Him. Rather, they have wearied Him with their iniquities and empty ritualism (1:11–15).

43:25 I, even I . . . not remember your sins. This verse is one of the highest points of grace in the OT. In spite of Israel’s utter unworthiness, the Lord in His grace has devised a way that He can forgive their sins and grant righteousness (see note on 61:10 ) without compromising His holiness. This redemption He would accomplish through the work of His Servant (53:6). In spite of her failures, Israel will always be God’s chosen people.

43:26 State your case. God gives the nation opportunity to come into the court and plead her case. The strongest plea is not to claim personal worthiness, but to confess their sin and repent, to plead for mercy and forgiveness based on God’s gracious promise in verse 25 and based on what Jesus Christ would do on the Cross (cf. 55:6, 7; Rom 3:21–26).

43:27 first father . . . mediators. Sins of even the respected patriarchal ancestors of the Jewish race, like Abraham, kept them from claiming personal merit (e.g., Gen. 12:11–13; 20:2). Even such honored intermediaries between God and Israel as the priests needed cleansing from sin (6:5–7).

43:28 Jacob to the curse . . . Israel to reproaches. Even though God will forgive the nation in the messianic age, she still must suffer in the intervening interval.

44:1–5 Under the shadow of more punishment to come (43:26–28), the prophet spoke of abundant blessing that was to be the nation’s portion during the Millennium.

44:1, 2 My servant . . . whom I have chosen . . . made you . . . formed you. God has chosen His servant Israel to be His own eternally (43:1, 21, 25), and they need not fear abandonment.

44:2 Jeshurun. An honored name for Israel whose root meaning is “right” or “straight,” in contrast to the root of Jacob which means “over-reacher” or “deceiver” (cf. Deut. 32:15).

44:3 water . . . floods. The extensive blessing of physical conditions will favor the nation in the coming kingdom age (43:19, 20); they were also symbolic of spiritual refreshment from the Holy Spirit and God Himself (32:15; Joel 2:28, 29).

44:5 the LORD’s . . . name of Jacob . . . The LORD’s . . . name of Israel. In the future golden age of Israel, belonging to the Lord and belonging to God’s chosen people will be synonymous, and it will be a badge of honor gladly worn without fear.

44:6 King . . . Redeemer . . . LORD of hosts . . . First . . . Last. The Lord identified Himself as Israel’s King (43:15), Redeemer (43:14), champion in battle (1:9), and eternal One (41:4; cf. 48:12). Jesus, in a direct affirmation of His deity, called Himself the First and the Last (cf. Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). Besides Me . . . no God. God’s exclusive claim to deity prepared the way for another challenge to false gods in verses 7–20 (cf. 43:10).

44:7 let him declare . . . let them show. If idols can foretell “the things that are coming and shall come,” let them predict accurately, as the Lord has. Since the Jews have had predictions of the future ever since God chose them as His people, they are qualified to be His witnesses (v. 8).

44:9–11 ashamed . . . ashamed . . . ashamed. The workmen who manufactured idols were mere men and could make nothing as good as or greater than man. They and others who put their trust in idols had ample reason to fear and be ashamed of such folly (v. 11; contrast v. 8).

44:12–19 Human workers expended all their energy to produce a beautiful idol, but the best they could make was the likeness of a man (Deut. 4:15–18; Rom. 1:23), and that could not renew their strength. Yet, they who wait on the Lord will renew their strength (40:28–31). The same humanly nurtured trees used as fuel for fires to furnish warmth and to cook also provides wood for people to make idols, which they worship and to which they entrust their prayers and themselves. Nothing could be more foolish than worshiping, as deity, a piece of wood, while burning the same wood in a fire to keep warm. Idol-makers cannot comprehend the idiocy of creating gods from materials used for the most trivial domestic purposes. Cf. 6:9, 10; Deuteronomy 27:15.

44:20 deceived heart . . . lie. Like eating ashes, which provide no nourishment, idolatry is a deception, from which the sinner gets nothing but judgment (cf. Prov. 15:14; Hos. 12:1).

44:22 blotted out . . . your sins. Further reassurances of God’s sovereign grace at work on behalf of Israel were given (43:25). God had blotted out their sins written in His book against them (cf. Rev. 20:12). As a person can’t see what is ahead because it is blocked by a “thick cloud,” so God obliterated the sins of those He redeemed. Return to Me. God has already provided for redemption, even before the cross, but based on it alone. For those who turn from sin and return to Him, there is redemption (because the purchase price for the sinner was paid by the sacrifice of Christ). The Lord calls on His people to repent so they may receive the promised redemption (cf. Neh. 1:9; Jer 4:1; 24:7; Joel 2:12; Zech. 1:3; Mal. 3:7; Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Rom. 3:25, 26; Heb. 9:15).

44:23 heavens . . . every tree . . . redeemed Jacob. The national redemption of Israel at Christ’s Second Coming entails also the redemption of all nature (Rom. 8:19–22), so the prophet calls on the whole creation to rejoice.

44:25 babblers . . . diviners. False prophets must suffer the consequences of their deceptive counsel (47:12–14; Deut. 13:1–5; Josh. 13:22; Jer. 27:9; 29:8; 50:36; Mic. 3:7).

44:26 His servant . . . His messengers. In contrast with His breaking the word of false prophets (v. 25), the Lord confirmed the word of His true prophets such as of Isaiah (Zech. 1:6). Most specially, God confirmed the word of the Messiah, who is the consummate embodiment of all the prophets and messengers of God (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 21:34, 36, 37). raise up her waste places. The fall of Jerusalem came in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians invaded the land. God promised to restore the land to prosperity, the foretaste of restoration coming after seventy years with the help of the Persians (41:2), but the greater restoration to come in Messiah’s kingdom.

44:27 Be dry! The Lord demonstrated His power by drying up the Red Sea and the Jordan River when delivering His people from Egypt (43:2).

44:28 Cyrus . . . My shepherd. The prophecy—given a century and a half before Cyrus lived and became king of Persia—predicted God’s use of the Persian king to gather the faithful remnant of Israel back to the land. In this role, Cyrus prefigured the Lord’s Servant, who will shepherd the sheep of Israel in their final regathering (Mic. 5:4). The title shepherd applied to kings as leaders of God’s people (2 Sam. 5:2; Jer. 3:15). In Acts 13:22, Paul compares David to the standard of Cyrus’s obedience. Jerusalem . . . the temple. In 538 B.C., Cyrus decreed the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 1:1, 2; 6:3), thus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. The returning Jews completed the work in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:15).

45:1 His anointed. This word is the one translated from the Hebrew by the transliteration—“ Messiah.” It is the word used for the messianic Redeemer King in Psalm 2:2 and Daniel 9:25, 26, but here refers to Cyrus, as the king set apart by God’s providence for divine purposes. Though not a worshiper of the Lord, the Persian monarch played an unusual role as Israel’s shepherd (44:28) and God’s anointed judge on nations.

45:1, 2 double doors . . . gates . . . gates of bronze. This was probably a reference to the many gates in the city wall of Babylon which Cyrus entered with relative ease. The inner gates leading from the river to the city were left open, as were the palace doors. Herodotus, the Greek historian, reported that the openness of the city was so great that the Persians were taking prisoners as they moved to the palace in the center.

45:3 That you may know. God intended Cyrus to be aware that the God of the Jews was providing him with victorious conquests. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, who indicated that Daniel influenced Cyrus with the prophecy of Isaiah, the king did know that the God of Israel was with him.

45:4 For Jacob . . . have not known Me. For His servant Israel’s sake, the Lord raised up Cyrus, calling him by name, even though Cyrus did not have a personal relationship to Him. At some point, Cyrus certainly became aware of the true God and His sovereign control over human affairs, perhaps through the influence of Daniel (cf. Ezra 1:1–4).

45:6 from the rising of the sun to its setting. This expression, meaning the whole earth, points to the fact that through the eventual, final regathering of Israel (of which Cyrus’s exploits were a foretaste), the whole earth will know that the Lord alone is God (cf. 43:10; 44:6).

45:8 righteousness . . . salvation . . . righteousness. Eventually, the Lord will cause righteous goodness to prevail throughout the world, just as He has promised Israel that it would (v. 13; Hos. 10:12).

45:9, 10 Woe . . . Woe. Figures of the potter and the clay and of parent and child show how absurd it is to contend with God over His plans for the future. This anticipated the objections by the Jews against (1) their captivity and restoration by a pagan king, and (2) ultimately, God’s sovereign plan to redeem Gentiles, as well as Jews, worldwide (cf. Rom. 9:20–24).

45:11 Ask Me of things to come. The Lord commands Israel to seek information about what He will do for the nation in the future, because He will reveal it.

45:12, 13 I have made . . . He shall build My city. As the omnipotent Creator, God can save the nation through Cyrus as He has promised.

45:14 Egypt . . . Cush . . . Sabeans. Three countries to the south (cf. 43:3) illustrate the worldwide submission to Israel that will prevail during the messianic kingdom age. Surely God is in you. All nations will acknowledge the presence of the one true God among His people Israel (49:23; 60:14). Paul the apostle found a fuller sense in these words when he advised the Corinthians on exercising prophecy rather than tongues in their meetings. This brought an acknowledgment from visitors of God’s presence among them (1 Cor. 14:25).

45:15 hide Yourself. The contemporary situation hid God’s purposes of mercy toward Israel, i.e., that they would repent and He would eventually regather them and make Jerusalem the center of world attention (cf. 8:17; 54:8; 57:17; Ps. 44:24).

45:16, 17 Israel shall be saved. Makers of idols are to find disillusionment because of the failure of their gods to deliver, but Israel is to find eternal salvation in the Lord (44:9–11; Rom. 11:25–27).

45:19 not spoken in secret. Unlike mysterious utterances of the false gods (8:19; 29:4), God’s revelations through His true prophets are open and accessible.

45:21 Who has declared this from ancient time? The Lord’s case to prove He is the only true God is unanswerable; only He foretold the captivity of Judah and the deliverance from that captivity, as well as other future events that happened just as He had predicted.

45:21 there is no other . . . There is none. The Lord restated the truth expressed by Moses in Deuteronomy 4:35 (cf. 43:10; 44:6; 45:6). The scribe who asked Jesus about the greatest commandment cited this same principle in agreeing with Jesus’ answer to his question (Mark 12:32).

45:22 be saved, all you ends of the earth! When the Messiah sits on His throne in Jerusalem, all people will enjoy His temporal salvation in the physical blessings of the millennial earth and will have opportunity for spiritual salvation (49:6).

45:23 every knee shall bow. In the kingdom age, all nations will worship the one true God of Israel. A further meaning, justified by the NT, applies this verse to believers’ accountability to God when He evaluates their works (Rom. 14:11). In assigning the words another meaning, Paul relates the words to the coming universal acknowledgment that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10, 11).

45:25 all the descendants of Israel. Physical descent from Abraham alone cannot bring justification. Only the faithful remnant of Israel will be saved (v. 17; Rom. 11:25–27). “Justified” means to be declared righteous, to be treated as if one is not sinful, but holy through the application of Christ’s righteousness to the one who believes (cf. 61:10; 2 Cor. 5:21).

46:1 Bel . . . Nebo. The two most prominent gods in Babylon. Bel is another spelling for “Baal,” the Phoenician chief god of Babylon. That Nebo was extensively worshiped is shown by the Babylonian proper names compounded from his: Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar, and Nebuzaradan.

46:2 gone into captivity. When Cyrus came, even the gods were taken into exile. These idols couldn’t save themselves from being laid down on the backs of beasts and hauled away, let alone save the people who worshiped them.

46:3, 4 all the remnant of the house of Israel. The God of Israel is not helpless like idols. In His strength He has sustained and will sustain helpless Israel through every circumstance. In verse 4, the Lord uses the first person pronoun five times to emphasize His personal involvement in delivering Israel.

46:5–8 The human origin and utter impotence of idols renders them unfit for comparison with the God of Israel (40:18–20). In verse 8, the prophet calls on the readers to recall the impotence of the idols they worship in transgression of God’s law.

46:9 Remember the former things of old. The readers are to recall: (1) all the past history of fulfilled prophecies, as well as (2) miraculous deliverances such as that from Egypt, and (3) providential blessings Israel has experienced. All of these are ample evidences that He alone is God.

46:11 man . . . from a far country. Cyrus was this man whom God summoned to conquer Babylon and return a remnant of Israel to end the seventy-year captivity a century and a half after Isaiah wrote this prophecy (44:28; 45:1).

46:13 righteousness . . . salvation in Zion. At God’s appointed time, the salvation of Israel will become reality and result in the Messiah’s righteous kingdom (61:3; 62:11; Joel 3:17; Zech. 12:10–13:1; Rom. 11:25–27).

47:1–3 O virgin daughter of Babylon. The prophet depicted Babylon as a virgin, in the sense of never before having been captured. Babylon sat like a royal virgin in the dust, experiencing complete humiliation. The “throne” was gone, taken by Persian power, and the empire never recovered from being robbed of its power, its people, and its name. The former royal virgin is depicted as a slave woman forced to exchange royal garments for working clothes; she must lift her garment to wade through the water as she serves like a slave traversing the river in her duties. Such duties in the east belonged to women of low rank, providing fitting imagery for Babylon’s fall into degradation.

47:5 Lady of Kingdoms. The title continues the analogy of verse 1 and speaks of the exalted position from which Babylon was to fall. She was mistress of the world, but would later become a slave woman (cf. v. 7), degraded by pride and false security (v. 8).

47:6 showed them no mercy. Though God was punishing Israel in captivity, Babylon’s cruel oppression of the captive Israelites was cause for the kingdom’s overthrow. Cf. Jeremiah 50:17, 18; 51:33–40; Zechariah 1:15.

47:7–9 In Revelation 18:7, 8, 10, 16, 19, John alludes to these verses in describing the downfall of Babylon just before Christ’s return. Compare “a lady forever” with 18:7, “am no widow” with 18:7, and “in one day” with 18:8.

47:8 no one else besides me. This pinnacle of Babylon’s pride was mockery of the true God in its frivolous presumption of deity (v. 10; cf. 44:6).

47:9 In a moment, in one day. Babylon did not decay slowly, but went from being the wealthy lady, the unconquered virgin, the proud, invincible mother of many, to a degraded slave woman in the dust who lost her throne, her children, and her life. It happened in one night, suddenly and unexpectedly, when Cyrus and the Persian army entered the city (cf. Dan. 5:28, 30). loss of children, and widowhood. Babylon did lose its inhabitants, many of whom were killed and taken captive under Cyrus. This prophecy was fulfilled again when Babylon revolted against Darius. In order to hold out in the siege, each man chose one woman of his family and strangled the rest to save provisions. Darius impaled three thousand of the revolters.

47:10 Sinners foolishly think they are safe, and there is none to judge them. Cf. Psalms 10:11; 94:7.

47:11 evil . . . trouble . . . desolation. The Persians under Cyrus suddenly initiated (cf. v. 9) the visitation that ultimately obliterated Babylon. Its culmination is to come in conjunction with the destruction of a revived Babylon, the world headquarters of evil at the Second Coming of Christ (51:8; Rev. 18:2–24).

47:12 enchantments . . . sorceries. The magical practices of Babylon, designed to aid against enemies (also v. 9), will characterize the Babylon of the future also (Rev. 18:23).

47:13 Let now the astrologers . . . save you. Babylon relied heavily on those who looked for combinations of stars, who watched conjunctions of heavenly bodies, who made much of months of birth, and who relied on the movements of stars to predict the future (Dan. 2:2, 10). The prophet sarcastically points out the futility of such trust. This ancient deception is still popular today in the widespread use of horoscopes.

47:14 They shall not deliver themselves. The astrologers were helpless to save themselves, much less the Babylonians who depended on them, or anyone else. The divine fire that came was not to be a fire to warm them, but to consume them.

47:15 No one shall save you. When judgment comes, the astrologers with whom the people trafficked and spent their money will run to their homes, unable to save themselves or anyone else.

48:1, 2 swear by the name of the LORD . . . not in truth. The people were nominally Israelites, but their hearts were far from God. This hypocrisy was common all through Israel’s history, even to the time of the Lord Jesus. Cf. Matthew 23:3, 13–39.

48:3–5 The Lord predicted events that have happened as He predicted them (41:2–4; 46:10), so the people could not ascribe these events to other gods.

48:3 former things. See note on 46:9.

48:6 new things. From this point onward, the prophecies of Messiah’s first and Second Coming and the restoration of Israel have a new distinctiveness. Babylon becomes the Babylon of Revelation (v. 20), and God uses Isaiah to communicate truths about the messianic kingdom on earth and the new heavens and new earth that follow it (e.g., 11:1–5; 65:17). Verse 7 indicates that God had never before revealed these features about the future.

48:9 For My name’s sake. The nation Israel had no merit to prompt God’s favor toward them (v. 8). They deserved wrath and death, but His mercy toward them originates in His desire to be glorified and His desire to display the integrity of His own name.

48:10, 11 refined . . . tested. Since Isaiah’s time, Israel’s testings have included the Babylonian captivity and present worldwide dispersion from her land. Unlike silver purged in the furnace, the purging of Israel is not complete, and they are not refined. But God keeps up the afflictions until they are, so His name is not defamed through the destruction of Israel. The nation will be purged in anticipation of Messiah’s coming kingdom (cf. Zech. 13:1). God’s plan is such that He alone, not man or man-made idols, will receive credit for Israel’s salvation (42:8; cf. Rom. 11:25–27, 33–36). The adversaries of God are never to be given legitimate reasons for scoffing at God and His work.

48:14, 15 him; He . . . His arm . . . him . . . him . . . his way. Beginning with verse 6, the prophet began to write of the new things. Babylon is the final one of Revelation 18, and the instrument of God’s judgment is Messiah. The pronouns refer to Jesus Christ, whom the Lord will anoint to defeat the final Babylon at His Second Coming and bring Israel to her land and kingdom. That it is not Cyrus is also clear from the statement, “The LORD loves him,” which is too strong to apply to the pagan king—but not to God’s Beloved, the Lord Jesus.

48:16 sent Me. It was not the prophet who spoke but the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord whom the Lord God and the Holy Spirit will send for the final regathering of Israel and establishment of His kingdom as described in 61:1–7. Each person of the triune Godhead is mentioned here (cf. Gen. 1:26; Matt. 3:16, 17).

48:17–19 Chastisements of Israel by the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel are for discipline (42:18–43:13; cf. Heb. 12:10). They will end some day when Israel heeds the Lord’s commandments and God’s punishments will turn to prosperity. A future generation will do so and enjoy the refreshment of a continuous stream of God’s peace and righteousness that rolls over them like the relentless sea (65:18).

48:19 like the sand . . . like the grains of sand. Because of Israel’s disobedience, God’s promise to Abraham to multiply his descendants (Gen. 22:17) has not yet been finally fulfilled. Even though the nation was temporarily set aside during the Babylonian captivity and during the dispersion before A.D. 1948 and will suffer deadly assaults in the coming time of Jacob’s trouble (cf. Jer. 30:7), God will be true to His promise.

48:20 Go forth from Babylon! The worldwide proclamation of deliverance, along with the statement that “the LORD has redeemed . . . Jacob,” shows that it is not the return of a meager fifty thousand Jews from historic Babylon while most stayed in that pagan land, but the final redemption of the nation as Zechariah spoke of it in Zechariah 12:10–13:1 and Paul in Romans 11:1, 2, 25–27. A redeemed Israel is to make a complete separation from the final Babylon and its wicked system, and proclaim to the world the Lord’s grace toward the nation. John repeats this command in Revelation 18:4.

48:21 they did not thirst. Isaiah pointed to the way God miraculously provided for Moses’ generation, after He delivered them from Egypt (Ex. 17:6; cf. Is. 41:17, 18), as an illustration of how He will provide for redeemed Israel when they escape the final world empire of Babylon.

48:22 no peace . . . for the wicked. Cf. 57:21. Not every Israelite will enjoy the Lord’s salvation, but only the faithful remnant who have turned from their wicked ways. The wicked will be purged out before the kingdom of peace is established (cf. Zech. 13:7–9).

B. Suffering of the Servant of the Lord (49:1–57:21)

49:1–57:21 This section defines the Messiah/Servant’s prophetic and priestly functions, His equipment for His task, His sufferings and humiliation, and His final exaltation. The word servant occurs about twenty times in this portion, which magnifies Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who was slain to redeem God’s elect.

1. The Servant’s mission (49:1–52:12)

49:1–13 This second of four Servant Songs (cf. 42:1–9; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12) tells of the Servant’s mission and spiritual success.

49:1 from the womb; from the matrix of My mother. The whole world, including Gentiles (“coastlands,” “people from afar”) are called to recognize two significant points: (1) the Messiah/Servant will be a human being, born as others are of a woman, yet virgin born (cf. 7:14; Luke 1:30–33), and (2) He will be an individual as distinct from a personified group such as the nation of Israel, which has also been called the Lord’s servant (41:8, 9; 42:19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 21, 26; 45:4; 48:20; 50:10).

49:2 My mouth like a sharp sword. The Lord has given power to His Servant to speak effectively and thereby to conquer His enemies (11:4; cf. Ps. 2:9; Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15). His Word is always effective (55:11; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12) hidden Me. Messiah, before His appearing, was hidden with God, ready to be drawn out at the precise moment (cf. Gal. 4:4, 5).

49:3 You are My servant, O Israel. That the Lord’s use of the name Israel refers here to Messiah (42:1; 49:5, 6, 7; 52:13; 53:11) is explainable through the intimate relationship that exists between the nation and her King.

49:4 in vain . . . for nothing and in vain. At His First Coming, the Servant met with rejection by His nation. It may have appeared to some that His mission was a failure because of the suffering and rejection He endured (cf. John 1:9–11). The last two Servant Songs also emphasize the Servant’s suffering (50:4–11; 52:13–53:12). Although rejected by men, the Servant expresses His strong assurance that He is doing God’s work and will be rewarded with complete success.

49:5 back to Him . . . gathered to Him. The Servant’s mission will include the priority of bringing Israel to the Lord. Cf. Matthew 10:5, 6; 15:24; Romans 1:16; 11:25–27. He will complete this at His Second Advent (cf. Zech. 12:10–13:1).

49:6 raise up the tribes of Jacob . . . My salvation to the ends of the earth. The Servant’s goal is the salvation and restoration of Israel for the fulfillment of the covenant promise. Not limited to Israel, He is to function as a light, bringing salvation to the Gentiles. Israel’s mission had always been to bring the nations to God (19:24; 42:6). Finally, she will do this very effectively in the Tribulation after the conversion of the 144,000 witnesses (Rev. 7:1–10; 14:1–5) and when she is restored to her land at the Servant’s return to earth. Cf. 9:2; 11:10; 42:6; 45:22; Luke 2:32. Paul applied this verse to his ministry to the Gentiles on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:47).

49:7 man despises . . . nation abhors. This speaks to the humiliating treatment of the Servant at His First Advent, a theme especially emphasized by Isaiah (50:6–9; 52:14, 15; 53:3). The nation is used collectively for all who reject Him, particularly Gentiles, who are the rulers, kings, and princes referred to as someday giving exalted treatment to the Servant at His Second Advent. Former oppressors will bow down to Him, as in 52:15, because of the salvation of Israel.

49:8 acceptable time . . . day of salvation. Messiah is represented as asking for the grace of God to be given to sinners. God gives His favorable answer in a time of grace (cf. 61:1) when salvation’s day comes to the world (cf. Gal. 4:4, 5; Heb. 4:7). At His appointed time in the future, the Lord will, by His Servant, accomplish the final deliverance of Israel. Paul applied these words to his ministry of proclaiming the gospel of God’s grace to all people (2 Cor. 6:2). a covenant to the people. See note on 42:6. When the Lord saves and regathers Israel, they will return to the land, to which Joshua brought their ancestors after their exit from Egypt; then it will be restored and glorious (44:26; Josh. 13:1–8).

49:9, 10 prisoners . . . darkness . . . feed . . . pastures. At the Messiah’s Second Advent, Israel’s condition will change from captivity and oppression to contentment and prosperity, such as that enjoyed by a well-fed, protected, and watered flock of sheep. These ideal conditions will be enjoyed by the faithful remnant returning for their kingdom in Israel. John reveals that this condition is a foretaste of heaven (Rev. 7:16, 17).

49:12 come from afar. Israel’s regathering will be from a worldwide exile (43:5, 6), even far away places like Sinim, probably an ancient name for the region known today as China.

49:13 Cf. Revelation 12:12.

49:14 This summarizes the history of lament by the nation during its long period of suffering. Verses 15–23 follow with words of assurance responding to the despondency.

49:16 The Lord is referring here to the Jews’ custom, perhaps drawn from Exodus 13:9, of puncturing their hands with a symbol of their city and temple as a sign of devotion (cf. Song 8:6).

49:17, 18 Your sons . . . bind them on you. Zion’s sons will return as the city’s destroyers depart and will adorn the city. Israel will be the means of the conversion of the nations in the end (cf. Rom 11:11, 12, 15).

49:19–21 After the faithful remnant is regathered in salvation and Gentiles come to faith in the kingdom through Jewish witnesses, millennial Jerusalem will not be large enough to contain all her inhabitants.

49:22 nations . . . shall bring your sons . . . and your daughters. The promise will find literal fulfillment as the nations of the world assist the faithful remnant of Israel to return to their land (14:2; 43:6; 60:4; 66:20). At the outset of the kingdom when this regathering takes place, all the Gentiles will be believers in Jesus Christ who, by faith, escaped the wrath of the Lamb on the Day of the Lord and entered the kingdom (see notes on Matt. 25:31–46 ). Nations and leaders that have oppressed Israel will humble themselves before the redeemed people of God’s covenant, and Israel will know that waiting on the Lord will not disappoint (8:17; 40:31).

49:24 prey be taken . . . captives . . . be delivered. As in verse 14, Isaiah speaks of Zion again expressing her despondency over her captivity and wondering about deliverance. The Lord replies again with encouraging words in verses 25 and 26.

49:25, 26 feed . . . with their own flesh . . . drunk with their own blood. Strong language against Israel’s enemies reassures her of eventual deliverance from her exile. The angel of the waters draws on this terminology in celebrating the third bowl judgment in Revelation 16:6. The destruction of Israel’s enemies, led by Satan in the Tribulation (cf. Rev. 12:15, 16), also fulfills this pledge.

49:26 All flesh shall know. God’s deliverance of Israel will be so dramatic that the world will recognize that the Lord, the Savior, Redeemer, and Mighty One of Israel, is the true God (11:9; 45:6; Ezek. 39:7; Hab. 2:14).

50:1 certificate of your mother’s divorce . . . My creditors. Though the sufferings of Judah were the necessary result of sin, no certificate of divorce or sale to creditors occurred because Zion’s separation from the Lord was only temporary. In fact, God gave the non-Davidic northern kingdom a certificate of divorce (see note on Jer. 3:8 ). However, the unconditional promises of the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7) precluded such a divorce for Judah, although there would be a time of separation (cf. 54:6, 7).

50:2 Why? God asked why no one was willing to believe and obey Him, even after everyone had seen His redemptive power in Egypt when He dried up the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21), opened the river Jordan by turning it into dry land (Josh. 4:23), and killed the fish in Egypt (Ex. 7:18–21). The Lord’s power to redeem was indisputable (59:1). He proved it by His deliverance of the Jews from Egypt (43:16, 17; 44:27; 46:9; 48:3, 21).

50:4–11 This is the third of four Servant Songs (cf. 42:1–9; 49:1–13; 52:13–53:12), and it is Messiah’s soliloquy about being perfected through obedience (vv. 4, 5) and sufferings (v. 6). The apostle John writes much about Jesus’ obedience to God in fulfilling His will (cf. John 5:19, 36; 6:38; 7:16, 29; 12:49, 50). Cf. Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:8; 10:7.

50:6 My back . . . My cheeks . . . My face. The Servant remained obedient, though provoked to rebel by excessively vile treatment. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by remaining submissive to the Father’s will (Matt. 26:67; 27:26, 30; Mark 14:65; 15:19; Luke 22:63; John 18:22).

50:7 set My face like a flint. So sure was the Servant of the Lord God’s help that He resolutely determined to remain unswayed by whatever hardship might await Him (cf. Ezek. 3:8, 9). Jesus demonstrated this determination in setting His face to go to Jerusalem to be crucified (Luke 9:51).

50:8, 9 No matter how He was mistreated, mocked, and repudiated, the Servant had such full confidence of the Lord’s support that He welcomed an adversary to come.

50:10, 11 Here is a call to the unconverted to believe and be saved, along with a warning that those who tried to escape moral, spiritual darkness by lighting their own fire (man-made religion, works righteousness) were to end up in eternal torment.

51:1, 2 The prophet assured the nation of deliverance by pointing to God’s past covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3), who was the rock in the quarry from which they were hewn as a people. Originally, Abraham was only one person, but God multiplied his descendants as He had promised (Gen. 13:16; 15:5; 17:5; 22:17).

51:3 waste places . . . Eden . . . desert . . . garden of the LORD. The same God whose power fulfilled His promises to Abraham is to transform Israel’s desolation into a paradise, both nationally and spiritually, causing joy and songs of thanksgiving to ring from it.

51:4 law . . . justice . . . light of the peoples. The Servant’s rule over Israel’s earthly kingdom is to cause righteousness to prevail for the benefit of all nations.

51:5 near . . . gone forth. The Servant’s power to restore His people and bring justice, righteousness, and salvation to the world was at work, but God’s time perspective differs from man’s reckoning of time. Though near by God’s reckoning in timeless eternity, the fruition of His deliverance was still many centuries from Isaiah’s day. The nations that survive judgment will trust in Him and enter His kingdom.

51:6 heavens will vanish . . . earth will grow old. This begins to take place in the time of Tribulation (cf. Rev. 6:12–14; 8:12, 13; 16:8–10, 21), setting the stage, along with the earthly judgments on land, sea, and fresh water (cf. Rev. 6:14; 8:6–11; 16:3–5), for a renewed earth during the Millennium. The actual “uncreation” or destruction of the present universe, of which Peter wrote (2 Pet. 3:10–13), occurs at the end of Christ’s millennial reign on the earth, when a new heavens and a new earth will replace the present creation (2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 21:1).

51:7, 8 Israel’s enemies will perish, but the Servant’s salvation will be permanent.

51:9, 10 This prayer for deliverance in the future was based on times past when the Lord overcame Rahab. This term was widely used to refer to things that wreak havoc, often, as in this case, Egypt (see Ps. 87:4).

51:11–16 Again Isaiah summarized a constant theme, that instead of hearing dying people (v. 12), Israel should trust the Creator of all things. He had delivered Israel in the past and would do so permanently in the future before the nations can be destroyed (v. 14), so they have no need to fear oppressors. The blessing of restored Israel will be evidenced in the joy of verse 11.

51:16 My words in your mouth. Israel had been the unfaithful depository of divine revelation (cf. Rom. 9:1–5), but the time is coming when God will put words into the mouths of His future faithful remnant (59:21) when He sets up the kingdom of Messiah in Zion on a renewed earth. Cf. 51:6; 65:17; 66:22.

51:17, 18 O Jerusalem, you who have drunk. Jerusalem experienced the Lord’s anger through her extended subservience to foreign powers with no human to deliver her (v. 18), but the punishment will end (v. 22; 40:1, 2; cf. 29:9). On the other hand, Babylon will drink from the cup of His anger forever (Rev. 14:8–11; 16:19).

51:19 two things. The city of Jerusalem (v. 17) had suffered the double loss of property (“desolation and destruction”) and human life (“famine and sword”).

51:20 Your sons have fainted. The city’s inhabitants lay helpless in the streets, having expended all their strength in fighting unsuccessfully against the Lord’s fury (40:30).

51:21, 22 drunk but not with wine. Jerusalem was drunk through drinking the cup of God’s wrath (63:6). But in contrast to Babylon which drank the fury of God’s wrath to the last drop (v. 17; Rev. 18:6), Israel will have the cup removed before all the wrath is consumed. It will be handed to Israel’s oppressors for them to drink the full fury (49:26; Jer. 25:15, 26, 28; Zech. 12:2).

52:1, 2 your strength . . . beautiful garments. A call is given for Zion to awake from drunkenness and clothe herself in garments of honor and dignity provided by the Lord. Foreign invaders will no longer control the city at the time of her final restoration.

52:3 sold yourselves for nothing . . . redeemed without money. The Jews became the servants of their foreign conquerors, who paid nothing for Israel, so the Lord will redeem Israel gratuitously from sin (45:13; 55:1).

52:5 Those who rule over them. A reference to the Babylonians and their cruelty to captive Israelites. My name is blasphemed. Foreign rulers despised the God of Israel as long as His people were in bondage. God delivered His people, not for their goodness, but for the sake of His holy name—to prove He was truthful, faithful, and powerful (Ezek. 20:9, 14). Paul cited the blasphemy to Israel’s God that resulted from the hypocrisy of first-century Jews not applying to themselves the standards of God that they knew and taught others (Rom. 2:24).

52:6 in that day that I am He. After the Day of the Lord, when Israel experiences deliverance from her worldwide dispersion, she will recognize the fulfillment of prophecies through Isaiah and others and enjoy full assurance that the Lord had spoken and fulfilled His promises of deliverance. They will connect these events with the great “I AM” (43:11; Ex. 3:13–15).

52:7 How beautiful . . . good news. Messengers will traverse the mountains around Jerusalem to spread the good news of the return of redeemed Israel to the land (40:9; 61:1; Nah. 1:15). Paul broadened this millennial reference to the preaching of the gospel in the kingdom to include spreading the gospel of God’s grace from the time of Jesus Christ on (Rom. 10:15; cf. Eph. 6:15). good things . . . salvation . . . Your God reigns! The good news pertains to the ideal conditions of Israel’s golden age, during which Christ will reign personally over His kingdom (24:23; Ps. 93:1).

52:8 eye to eye. See Numbers 14:14. This Hebrew expression portrayed two people so close together that they can look into each other’s eyes. The point is that the messengers of the truth (“watchmen”) will see the Lord return to Zion (a better translation) as vividly as they see each other looking eye to eye.

52:9, 10 comforted . . . redeemed. The ruined city will respond to the call to sing for joy because the Lord has provided comfort (40:1, 2; 49:13; 51:12) and redemption (41:14; 43:1, 12, 14; 44:6, 23, 24; 47:4).

52:11 Depart! Depart! The prophet commands the Israelites to leave the lands of their exiles to return to Jerusalem (48:20; Jer. 50:8; Zech. 2:6, 7; Rev. 18:4). Under Cyrus, there was only a limited return (50,000), but the final fulfillment in view here is in the future. Touch no unclean thing . . . be clean. Returning exiles were not to defile themselves by taking property home from their exile (cf. Josh. 6:18; 7:1). The NT gave these prophetic words an application in principle by using them as an exhortation forbidding Christians to involve themselves with spiritual ties to forces of paganism (2 Cor. 6:17).

52:12 not . . . with haste. Delivered captives will not have to hurry in their return to Jerusalem, as their ancestors did when delivered from Egypt (Ex. 12:11, 33, 39; Deut. 16:3). They can move deliberately and safely, with the Messiah in front and God in back. Cf. 58:8.

2. Redemption by the suffering servant (52:13–53:12)

52:13–53:12 This is the last and most memorable of the four Messiah/Servant Songs (cf. 42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4–11). This section contains unarguable, incontrovertible proof that God is the author of Scripture and Jesus the fulfillment of messianic prophecy. The details are so minute that no human could have predicted them by accident and no imposter could have fulfilled them by cunning. Clearly, this refers to Messiah Jesus, as the NT attests (cf. Matt 8:17; Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37; John 12:38; Acts 8:28–35; Rom. 10:16; 1 Pet. 2:21–25). It is often alluded to without being quoted (cf. Mark 9:12; Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 1:19; 1 John 3:5).

52:13–15 Here is a summary and preview of the humiliation and exaltation of the Servant, described in more detail in 53:1–12. The details cover the work of Christ in His substitutionary death, His burial, His resurrection, His saving of sinners, His intercession, and His kingdom.

52:13 exalted . . . extolled . . . very high. Ultimately, when the Servant rules over His kingdom, He will receive international recognition for the effectiveness of His reign (cf. Phil 2:9).

52:14 His visage was marred. The Servant must undergo inhumane cruelty to the point that He no longer looks like a human being. His appearance is so awful that people look at Him in astonishment (53:2, 3; Ps. 22:6; Matt. 26:67; 27:30; John 19:3).

52:15 sprinkle many nations. In His disfigured state, the Servant will perform a priestly work of cleansing not just Israel, but many people outside the nation (Ex. 29:21; Lev. 4:6; 8:11; 14:7; Num. 8:7; 19:18, 19; Heb. 9:13). shut their mouths. At His exaltation, human leaders in the highest places will be speechless and in awe before the once-despised Servant (cf. Ps. 2). When He takes His throne, they will see the unfolding of power and glory such as they have never imagined. Paul applied the principle in this verse to his apostolic mission of preaching the gospel of Christ where Christ was yet unknown (Rom. 15:21).

53:1 Who has believed our report? The question implied that, in spite of these and other prophecies, only a few would recognize the Servant when He appeared. This anticipation found literal fulfillment at Christ’s First Advent. Israel did not welcome Him at His First Advent (John 1:9–11; 12:38). Paul applied the same prophecy to the world at large (Rom. 10:16). the arm of the LORD. At His first coming, the nation did not recognize the mighty, incarnate power of God in the person of Jesus, their deliverer.

53:2 before Him. Though unrecognized by the world (v. 1), Messiah Jesus was observed carefully by God, who ordered every minute circumstance of His life. dry ground . . . no beauty that we should desire Him. The Servant will arise in lowly conditions and wear none of the usual emblems of royalty, making His true identity visible only to the discerning eye of faith.

53:3 despised . . . rejected . . . despised. The prophet foresees the hatred and rejection by mankind toward the Messiah/ Servant, who suffered not only external abuse, but also internal grief over the lack of response from those He came to save (e.g., Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34). we hid . . . we did not esteem. By using the first person, the prophet spoke for his unbelieving nation’s aversion to a crucified Messiah and their lack of respect for the incarnate Son of God.

53:4 borne . . . carried. Cf. verses 11 and 12. Even though the verbs are past tense, they predict happenings future to Isaiah’s time, i.e., Hebrew “prophetic perfects” here and elsewhere in this Servant Song. Isaiah was saying that the Messiah would bear the consequences of the sins of men, namely the griefs and sorrows of life, though incredibly, the Jews who watched Him die thought He was being punished by God for His own sins. Matthew found an analogical fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ healing ministry (see notes on Matt. 8:16, 17 ), because sickness results from sin for which the Servant paid with His life (vv. 7, 8; cf. 1 Pet. 2:24). In eternity, all sickness will be removed, so ultimately, healing is included in the benefits of the atonement.

53:5 wounded for our transgressions . . . bruised for our iniquities. This verse is filled with the language of substitution. The Servant suffered not for His own sin, since He was sinless (cf. Heb. 4:15; 7:26), but as the substitute for sinners. The emphasis here is on Christ being the substitute recipient of God’s wrath on sinners (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:3, 4; Heb. 10:9, 10). chastisement for our peace. He suffered the chastisement of God in order to procure the believer’s peace with God. by His stripes we are healed. The stripe (the Hebrew noun is singular) that caused His death has brought salvation to those for whose sins He died. Peter confirms this in 1 Peter 2:24.

53:6 All we . . . every one . . . us all. Every person has sinned (Rom. 3:9, 23), but the Servant has sufficiently shouldered the consequences of sin and the righteous wrath deserved by sinners (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; 4:10; 1 John 2:2). The manner in which God laid our iniquity on Him was that God treated Him as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe, though He was perfectly innocent of any sin. God did so to Him, so that wrath being spent and justice satisfied, God could then give to the account of sinners who believe, the righteousness of Christ, treating them as if they had done only the righteous acts of Christ. In both cases, this is substitution. See notes on 2 Corinthians 5:21.

53:7, 8 This is the portion of Scripture read by the Ethiopian eunuch and subsequently explained to him by Philip as referring to Jesus (Acts 8:32, 33).

53:7 opened not His mouth. The Servant will utter no protest and will be utterly submissive to those who oppress Him. Jesus fulfilled this (Matt. 26:63; 27:12–14; Mark 14:61; 15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9; 1 Pet. 2:23). lamb to the slaughter. The Servant was to assume the role of a sacrificial lamb (Ex. 12:3, 6). Jesus literally fulfilled this figurative role (John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; Rev. 5:6).

53:8 cut off . . . for the transgressions of My people. The Servant lost His life to be the substitute object of wrath in the place of the Jews, who by that substitution will receive salvation and the righteousness of God imputed to them. Similar terminology applies to the Messiah in Daniel 9:26.

53:9 with the wicked . . . with the rich. Because of His ignominious death, the Jews intended the Servant to have a disgraceful burial along with the thieves (cf. John 19:31), but instead He was buried with “the rich” in an honorable burial through the donated tomb of wealthy Joseph of Arimathea (Matt. 27:57–60; Mark 15:42–46; Luke 23:50–53; John 19:38–40). no violence, nor . . . deceit. The Servant’s innocence meant that His execution was undeserved. Peter notes the fulfillment of this in 1 Peter 2:22.

53:10 it pleased the LORD. Though the Servant did not deserve to die, it was the Lord’s will for Him to do so (Matt. 26:39; Luke 22:42; John 12:27; Acts 2:23). an offering for sin. Fulfilled by the Servant as the lamb of God (v. 7; John 1:29). Christ is the Christian’s Passover (1 Cor. 5:7). This conclusively eliminates the error that Christ’s atonement provides present-day healing for those who pray in faith. His death was an atonement for sin, not sickness. See note on 53:4. see His seed . . . prolong His days. To see His seed, the Servant must rise from the dead. He will do this and live to reign forever (2 Sam. 7:13, 16; Pss. 21:4; 89:4; 132:12).

53:11 He shall . . . be satisfied. The one sacrifice of the Servant will provide complete satisfaction in settling the sin issue (1 John 2:2; cf. 1:11). By His knowledge. The Servant knew exactly what needed to be done to solve the sin problem. justify many. Through the divine knowledge of how to justify sinners, the plan was accomplished that by His one sacrifice He declared many righteous before God (Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21).

53:12 portion with the great . . . spoil with the strong. The Servant’s reward for His work will be to enjoy the spoils of His spiritual victories during His millennial reign. numbered with the transgressors. The Servant assumes a role among sinful human beings, fulfilled by Jesus when He was crucified between two criminals (Luke 22:37). made intercession for the transgressors. This speaks of the office of intercessory high priest, which began on the cross (Luke 23:34) and continues in heaven (cf. Heb. 7:25; 9:24).

3. Results of the suffering Servant’s redemption (54:1–57:21)

54:1 barren . . . have not borne . . . have not labored . . . desolate. In her exile and dispersion, Israel has been destitute, disgraced as a woman who had borne no children (49:21). The prophet calls for singing, however, because of the Lord’s promise of future fruitfulness for the nation (49:19, 20). The NT supplies an additional application of the principle in this verse, citing it as evidence that the Jerusalem above, mother of the children of promise through Sarah, will enjoy great fruitfulness (Gal. 4:27).

54:2 Enlarge . . . stretch out . . . Lengthen. The prophet commanded barren Israel to prepare for the day when her numerous inhabitants will require a larger space to dwell in (26:15; 49:19, 20).

54:3 expand . . . inherit the nations. The Messiah’s future kingdom is to be worldwide, far greater in extent than the former kingdoms of David and Solomon.

54:4 shame of your youth . . . reproach of your widowhood. Israel’s sins brought on the Egyptian captivity, the Babylonian exile, and her current dispersion, but the glories of the future kingdom will be so great that they will overshadow past failures.

54:5 husband . . . Redeemer. The basis for forgetting past failures is Israel’s relationship to the Lord as her husband (62:4, 5) and Redeemer (41:14).

54:6–8 forsaken . . . grieved . . . refused. Israel in exile and dispersion has been like a wife whose husband has rejected her. But this is only for a brief time compared to the everlasting kindness she will enjoy when the Messiah returns to gather the woeful wife (26:20).

54:9 waters of Noah. Just as God swore He would never again judge the whole earth with a flood (Gen. 8:21; 9:11), so He has taken an oath never to be angry with His people again. He will fulfill this promise after their final restoration.

54:10 mountains . . . hills . . . My kindness . . . My covenant. In the Millennium (48:6, 7; 51:6, 16) topography will change (see Ezek. 38:20; Mic. 1:4; Zech. 14:4, 10), but not God’s pledge of well-being for Israel as a result of the New Covenant (55:3; 59:21; 61:8).

54:11, 12 colorful gems . . . sapphires . . . rubies . . . crystal . . . precious stones. The elaborate ornamentation will outfit the new Jerusalem to be the center of the future, eternal messianic reign following the millennium (Rev. 21:18–21). As magnificent as this is, it is not as important as the spiritual richness of the kingdom, when truth and peace (v. 13) prevail along with righteousness (v. 14). The Lord Himself will teach everyone during the messianic kingdom, so everyone will know His righteousness (11:9; Jer. 31:34). Jesus gave this verse an additional focus, applying it to those with spiritual insight to come to Him during His First Advent (John 6:45).

54:15–17 Whoever assembles against you shall fall. In the millennial kingdom, this will occur as prophesied by John in Revelation 20:7–9. The Lord will burn up all Israel’s enemies. The heritage of the Lord’s servants in the Messiah’s kingdom will include His protection from would-be conquerors. It should be noted that after the Servant Song of Isaiah 53, Israel is always referrred to as God’s “servants” (plural) rather than His servant (54:17; 56:6; 63:17; 65:8, 9, 13, 14, 15; 66:14).

55:1 Everyone. The Servant’s redemptive work and glorious kingdom are for the benefit of all who are willing to come (53:6). The prophet invites his readers to participate in the benefits obtained by the suffering of the Servant in chapter 53 and described in chapter 54. no money . . . without money and without price. Benefits in the Servant’s kingdom will be free because of His redemptive work (53:6, 8, 11; Eph. 2:8, 9). wine and milk. These are symbols for abundance, satisfaction, and prosperity (Song 5:1; Joel 3:18).

55:2 not bread. This is the “bread of deceit” (Prov. 20:17) and not the “bread of life” (John 6:32–35).

55:3 everlasting covenant. The New Covenant that God will give to Israel (54:8; 61:8; Jer. 31:31–34; 32:40; 50:5; Ezek. 16:60; 37:26; Heb. 13:20). sure mercies of David. The Davidic covenant promised David that his seed would be ruler over Israel in an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam. 7:8, 16; Ps. 89:27–29). Paul connected the resurrection of Christ with this promise (Acts 13:34), since it was an essential event in fulfilling this promise. If He had not fully satisfied God by His atoning death, He would not have risen; if He had not risen from the dead, He could not eventually sit on David’s earthly throne. But He did rise and will fulfill the kingly role (v. 4). Cf. Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23, 24; 37:24, 25; Daniel 9:25; Hosea 3:5; Micah 5:2. The whole world will come to Him as the great King (v. 5).

55:6, 7 Here is one of the clearest OT invitations to salvation now and kingdom blessing later. It gives an excellent example of how people were saved during the OT period. Salvation grace and mercy were available to the soul that was willing to (1) seek the Lord (Deut. 4:29; 2 Chr. 15:4) and (2) call on Him while He is still available (65:1; Ps. 32:6; Prov. 8:17; Matt. 25:1–13; John 7:34; 8:21; 2 Cor. 6:2; Heb. 2:3; 3:13, 15). Such true seeking in faith is accompanied by repentance, which is described as forsaking ungodly ways and thoughts and turning from sinful living to the Lord. A sinner must come believing in God, recognizing his sin, and desiring forgiveness and deliverance from that sin. At the same time, he must recognize his own inability to be righteous or to satisfy God and cast himself on God’s mercy. It is then that he receives a complete pardon. His sin has been covered by the substitution of the Messiah in his place (ch. 53). This OT pattern of salvation is illustrated in Luke 18:9–14.

55:7 forsake. An integral part of seeking the Lord (v. 6) is a turning from sin (1:16).

55:8, 9 My thoughts . . . My ways. Some people may doubt such willingness as is described in verse 7, but God’s grace is far beyond human comprehension, especially as manifested toward Israel.

55:10, 11 rain . . . snow . . . My word. Moisture from heaven invariably accomplishes its intended purpose in helping meet human physical needs. The word of God will likewise produce its intended results in fulfilling God’s spiritual purposes, especially the establishment of the Davidic kingdom on earth (vv. 1–5).

55:12 go out with joy . . . led out with peace. Exiled Israel will return from her dispersion rejoicing in her deliverance and unbothered by her enemies.

55:13 Instead of the thorn . . . myrtle tree. In the Davidic kingdom, positive changes in nature, including the reverse of the curse (Gen. 3:17), will be an ongoing testimony to the Lord’s redemption of His people (44:23; Rom. 8:19–23).

56:1 about to come . . . to be revealed. Incentives to comply with 55:6, 7 include the nearness of God’s kingdom of salvation and righteousness (51:5).

56:2 keeps from defiling the Sabbath. Sabbath observance, established after the deliverance from Egypt (Ex. 20:8–11), became a sign of fulfilling the covenant God made with Moses (Ex. 31:13–17).

56:3 foreigner . . . eunuch. Such individuals, excluded from Israel by the law (Ex. 12:43; Deut. 23:1, 3, 7, 8), will find in the coming of the messianic kingdom the removal of such exclusions.

56:4, 5 hold fast My covenant . . . an everlasting name. Eunuchs with hearts inclined to comply with the Mosaic covenant may anticipate an endless posterity. It is never works that save (cf. Rom. 3:20; Eph. 2:8, 9); rather, obeying God’s Law, doing what pleases Him, or desiring to keep the promises of obedience are the evidences that one has been saved and will, thus, enjoy all salvation blessings.

56:6, 7 holds fast My covenant . . . accepted on My altar. The sacrifices of a foreigner who loves God, whose heart is inclined to serve Him, and who obeys the Mosaic Law will find his sacrifices welcome in the coming kingdom as well.

56:7 My house . . . for all nations. In the kingdom of the Messiah, the Jerusalem temple will be the focal point for worship of the Lord by people of all ethnic backgrounds. Jesus cited a violation of this by His contemporaries in His second cleansing of the temple: Jewish leaders had made the temple a commercial venture (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).

56:8 Others besides those . . . gathered. Besides gathering Israel’s exiles into His kingdom, the Lord will bring in non-Jews also (49:6).

56:9–12 A commentary on Israel’s false prophets and irresponsible leaders who led them astray.

56:9–11 beasts . . . watchmen . . . shepherds. These titles identify the wicked; other prophets also refer to Israel’s enemies as beasts (Jer. 12:9; Ezek. 34:5, 8). Prophets, who should have been watchmen and should have warned Israel to repent, ignored their responsibility (cf. Ezek. 3:17). Priests also failed to lead Israel in paths of righteousness (Ezek. 34:1–6; Zech. 11:15–17).

56:12 wine . . . intoxicating drink. This is indicative of the self-indulgent irresponsibility of the leaders. Drunkenness obliterated any concern that leaders had for their people. See notes on Proverbs 31:4–7.

57:1, 2 In contrast to the evil leaders, who were engaged in debauchery and self-indulgence, were the righteous who were removed from impending divine judgments. The righteous do suffer by oppression and distress at what is going on around them, but they die in faith and enjoy their eternal reward.

57:3 sorceress . . . adulterer . . . harlot. Sorcery and adultery were figurative designations for idolatry. God summoned the wicked to give an account.

57:4 stick out the tongue. The ungodly blatantly ridiculed God’s messengers (cf. 28:9, 10).

57:5, 6 These verses feature elements of idolatry such as child sacrifice, which were a part of worshiping the Ammonite god Molech (Jer. 32:35; Ezek. 20:26, 31). In response to Israel’s offerings to idols, what was the Lord’s appropriate response—to be satisfied or to take vengeance? Jeremiah had the answer (Jer. 5:9, 29; 9:9).

57:7, 8 These are the locations of idol altars where Israel committed spiritual adultery in offering sacrifices (Jer. 3:6; Ezek. 16:16) to Baal and Astarte.

57:9 went to the king. An example of this was Ahaz, who called on the king of Assyria for help and spared no expense in copying the idolatry of Assyria (2 Kin. 16:7–18).

57:10 found the life of your hand. Rather than recognizing the hopelessness of idolatry, and in spite of the weariness of idol worship, the Israelites found renewed strength to pursue their idolatrous course.

57:11 you have lied. These wicked people feared false gods more than the true God to whom they played the hypocrite, trading on God’s patience.

57:12, 13 I will declare your righteousness. God will break His silence by elaborating on Israel’s sham righteousness, a sarcastic way of saying they have no real righteousness. The folly of such devotion to non-existent gods will show up when judgment comes and all of them are blown away, while the worshipers of the true God enjoy the blessings of the kingdom. See Psalm 37:11; Matthew 5:5.

57:14–20 In contrast to the threats of judgment for idolatry (vv. 3–13), verses 14–20 give promises of blessing.

57:14 Take the stumbling block. The command is to remove all barriers in order to prepare the way for God’s people to return to Him (62:10).

57:15–18 revive the spirit . . . revive the heart. The Lord sends true revival, which comes to the humble and contrite (61:1–3; contrast v. 10). After all the years of Israel’s sin, backsliding, and punishment, God’s grace will prevail (43:25), and spiritual healing and restoration will come.

57:17 backsliding. See note on Proverbs 14:14.

57:19 fruit of the lips. According to Hebrews 13:15, this phrase refers to praising and thanking God. Cf. Hosea 14:2. In this context, it is the voice crying “peace, peace” in a call to people far and near to come to the Lord and receive spiritual healing.

57:20, 21 like the troubled sea. In contrast to those people in verse 19, the wicked enjoy anything but peace (Jude 13). Cf. 48:22.

C. Future Glory of God’s People (58:1–66:24)

58:1–66:24 This section describes the future glory of God’s people, Israel.

1. Two kinds of religion (58:1–14)

58:1–5 A description of religious formalism that manifests itself in improper fasting.

58:1 Cry aloud . . . their sins. The prophet was to tell the people of Israel in plain language those areas of their behavior with which the Lord was displeased.

58:2 take delight in approaching God. Israel was merely “going through the motions.” Their appearance of righteousness was mere pretense (1:11).

58:3–7 Why? The people complained when God did not recognize their religious actions, but God responded that their fastings had been only half-hearted. Hypocritical fasting resulted in contention, quarreling, and pretense, excluding the possibility of genuine prayer to God. Fasting consisted of more than just an outward ritual and a mock repentance; it involved penitence over sin and consequent humility, disconnecting from sin and oppression of others, feeding the hungry, and acting humanely toward those in need.

58:8 your righteousness . . . rear guard. When Israel learned the proper way to fast, she would enjoy the blessings of salvation and the Messiah’s kingdom (52:12).

58:9 Here I am. See 65:1. In contrast to the complaint of verse 3, a time will come when the Lord will be completely responsive to the prayers of His people (65:24). This will be done when they are converted and give evidence of the transformation in the kind of works that reflect a truly repentant heart (vv. 9, 10). At the time of Christ’s return, Israel will demonstrate true repentance, and the fullness of blessing will be poured out (vv. 10b, 11).

58:12 build the old waste places. In view here is the final restoration of the millennial Jerusalem, of which Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls (Neh. 2:17) was only a foretaste (61:4; Amos 9:11).

58:13 turn away your foot from the Sabbath. The Sabbath was holy ground on which no one should walk. Keeping the Sabbath was symbolic of obedience to all the law of Moses (56:2). For the setting aside of Sabbath law in the NT, see notes on Romans 14:5, 6; Colossians 2:16, 17.

58:14 delight yourself in the LORD. Repentant people walking in fellowship with the Lord experience satisfaction of soul (Ps. 37:4). Their satisfaction will not come from material goods (contrast 55:2).

2. Plea to Israel to forsake their sins (59:1–19)

59:1 LORD’s hand . . . His ear. The Lord’s strength is more than adequate to bring deliverance to captive Israel (50:2). His ear is attuned to the call of His repentant people (58:9; 65:24).

59:2 iniquities . . . sins. Abraham’s physical lineage had not yet experienced the Lord’s deliverance because of the barrier created by their wrongdoing. This is a universal truth applying to all people—sin separates people from God (cf. Rom 3:23).

59:5 vipers’ eggs . . . spider’s web. It is sad when people do evil, but even sadder when they delight in poisoning or ensnaring others with their evil habits (Rom. 1:32). Israel had reached this latter state.

59:6 webs . . . works. Just as spiders’ webs are too flimsy to serve as clothing, so were Israel’s evil works. Spiritually, they did not suffice.

59:7, 8 Their feet . . . shall not know peace. From Isaiah’s pen, the words focused on the national depravity of Israel that stood in the way of God’s deliverance. Paul showed that what was true of sinful Israel is indicative of the depravity of all mankind (Rom. 3:15–17).

59:10, 11 grope . . . stumble. Here is a picture of people seeking unsuccessfully to escape their depraved condition through their own strength. They wind up growling and lamenting their inability to gain salvation (Deut. 28:29).

59:12–14 transgressions . . . sins. The prophet supplies the answer to the nation’s frustrations: their sins and transgressions remain as an obstacle to God’s deliverance. Though their external rituals may be proper, the hindrance of impure motives remains between God and His people (Matt. 12:34; Mark 7:21, 22). The presence of iniquity eliminates righteousness.

59:15 makes himself a prey. In an environment where evil prevailed, anyone who departed from it became a victim of his environment because he did not fit in.

59:15, 16 the LORD saw . . . no intercessor. The Lord was aware of Israel’s tragic condition and of the absence of anyone to intervene on His behalf. The Lord took it on Himself to change Israel’s condition through the intervention of His Suffering Servant (53:12).

59:17 righteousness as a breastplate . . .helmet of salvation. Figuratively speaking, the Lord armed Himself for the deliverance of His people and for taking vengeance on enemies who would seek His destruction. Paul drew on this terminology in describing a believer’s spiritual preparation for warding off the attacks of Satan (Eph. 6:14, 17; 1 Thess. 5:8).

59:17, 18 garments of vengeance . . . recompense to His enemies. In the process of delivering the faithful remnant of Israel, the Lord executes decisive judgment against all rebellious nations (“coastlands”) as well as the wicked Israelites (63:1–6).

59:19 shall they fear. All surviving peoples throughout the world are to have added reason to worship the Lord, seeing how He defeated all enemies by the power of His Spirit in bringing salvation to His people Israel. All over the earth, submission to Him will be the only path to survival in the coming kingdom.

3. Future blessedness of Zion (59:20–61:11)

59:20, 21 The Redeemer will come. The Messiah, the Suffering Servant, will redeem Zion and all faithful Israelites. This unalterable promise to the nation was the basis for Paul’s reassurance of the future salvation of Israel (Rom. 11:26, 27).

59:21 My covenant . . . forevermore. Because God’s New Covenant with Israel is “everlasting” (55:3; cf. Jer. 31:31–34), God’s Spirit and His words are to remain objects of their attention continually.

60:1, 2 glory of the LORD . . . darkness . . . deep darkness . . . His glory. Addressing Zion (59:20; 60:14), Isaiah told the city and, thus, the nation of Israel that her light has come, putting her in contrast with the rest of the darkened world. This expressed the glory of Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom.

60:3 Gentiles shall come. Jerusalem’s light will attract other nations seeking relief from their darkness (2:3). Only believing Jews and Gentiles will enter the earthly kingdom after the eschatological Day of the Lord, but as the one thousand years goes along, children will be born and nations will become populated by those who reject Jesus Christ. The glory of the King in Jerusalem and His mighty power will draw those Gentiles to His light.

60:4 gather . . . sons . . . daughters. This is another promise concerning the regathering of Israel’s faithful remnant (49:18, 22).

60:5 joy . . . wealth. Several more benefits of Israel’s future kingdom will be (1) rejoicing and (2) an abundance of material possessions as symbolized in verses 6, 7 (23:18; 24:14; 61:6).

60:6 Midian . . . Ephah . . . Sheba. The descendants of Midian, Abraham’s son through Keturah (Gen. 25:1, 2), inhabited the desert areas east of the Jordan River. Ephah was one of the sons of Midian (Gen. 25:4) whose descendants settled on the east coast of the Elanitic Gulf. Sheba was a district in Arabia noted for its wealth (1 Kin. 10:1, 2).

60:7 Kedar . . . Nebaioth. The descendants of Kedar, a son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13), lived in the desert between Syria and Mesopotamia. The Nabateans, inhabitants of the Arabian city Petra, were probably the descendants of Nebaioth, the oldest son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13). acceptance on My altar. Animal sacrifices brought by other nations during the millennial kingdom will glorify the house of God’s glory even more (v. 13). See notes on Ezekiel 40–48 for the description of the operation of worship and sacrifices in the millennial temple.

60:8 fly like a cloud . . . doves. Figurative language describes the rapid influx of Gentiles into Jerusalem.

60:9 coastlands . . . ships of Tarshish . . . your sons . . . silver . . . gold. Because of the Lord’s favor toward Zion, the city will attract worldwide attention (23:1; 41:1). Trading vessels will return Israel’s faithful remnant as they bring rich treasures to Jerusalem.

60:10 build up your walls. The rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, helped by Persian kings, was merely a foretaste of the final rebuilding of the city, assisted by Gentiles, when Christ returns to earth. in My wrath . . . in My favor. God’s past dealings with Israel have largely been in wrath, but His future merciful work will demonstrate His favor.

60:11 gates . . . open continually. Unrestricted access to Jerusalem will prevail in the future kingdom (26:2; 62:10; Rev. 21:25, 26).

60:12 nation . . . perish. Survival in the future kingdom will be impossible for those nations who do not come to terms with Israel (11:13, 14; 14:2; 49:23). The Lord will rule the nations with a rod of iron (cf. Ps. 2:7–12).

60:13 glory of Lebanon. Timber was Lebanon’s claim to fame. As in Solomon’s temple (1 Kin. 5:10, 18), but even more so here, the timber taken from Lebanon’s forests will enrich the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem.

60:14 The City of the LORD. Nations which formerly were oppressors of Israel will acknowledge Zion’s supremacy as the city that belongs to the Lord.

60:15 forsaken and hated . . . eternal excellence. Jerusalem will switch roles from having been despised to being exalted forever.

60:16 milk . . . milk. As a mother feeds her infant, so Gentiles and kings will provide wealth and power to Zion. The city will recognize the Lord as her Savior and Redeemer, “the Mighty One of Jacob,” as will “all flesh” (49:26).

60:17 gold . . . silver . . . peace . . . righteousness. Jerusalem in the future kingdom will be a place of beauty and peace where right will prevail.

60:18 Salvation . . . Praise. The walls and gates of the city that will take on those names refer to the divine protection the Lord provides from any form of violence or destruction.

60:19 sun shall no longer . . . everlasting light. Isaiah, looking beyond the millennial kingdom, sees a view of the New Jerusalem following the Millennium (Rev. 21:23; 22:5). His prophetic perspective did not allow him to distinguish the eternal phase of the future kingdom from the temporal one, just as the OT prophets could not distinguish between the first and Second Advent of Christ (cf. 1 Pet. 1:10, 11).

60:20 mourning . . . ended. In the eternal kingdom of the new creation, subjects will shed no more tears (Rev. 21:4).

60:21 inherit the land forever. Israel will inherit the land promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:1, 7; 13:15; 15:18). During the millennial kingdom, that will be the land of Israel as we know it today. In the eternal kingdom, it will be the New Jerusalem, capital of the new creation. I may be glorified. The ultimate mission of Israel is to glorify the Lord (49:3; 61:3).

60:22 little one . . . strong nation. Israel’s great increase in numbers and power, resulting from the Lord’s working, will bring them into never-before-experienced world prominence.

61:1, 2a The Spirit . . . acceptable year of the LORD. The Servant of the Lord (42:1) will be the ultimate preacher and the redeemer of Israel who rescues them. Jesus speaks of the initial fulfillment of this promise, referring it to His ministry of providing salvation’s comfort to the spiritually oppressed (Luke 4:18, 19). He says specifically, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). The Jews who were saved during Christ’s ministry, and those being saved during this church age, still do not fulfill the promise of the salvation of the nation to come in the end time (cf. Zech. 12:10–13:1; Rom. 11:25–27).

61:1 Spirit . . . LORD GOD . . . Me. The three persons of the Holy Trinity function together in this verse (6:8; cf. Matt. 3:16, 17). liberty to the captives. The captives are Israelites remaining in the dispersion following the Babylonian captivity (42:7).

61:2 acceptable year. The same as “the day of salvation” (49:8) and “the year of My redeemed” (63:4). This is where Jesus stopped reading in the synagogue (Luke 4:19), indicating that the subsequent writing in the rest of the chapter (vv. 2b–11) awaited the Second Coming of Christ. day of vengeance. As part of His deliverance of Israel, the Lord will pour out wrath on all who oppose Him (59:17–18). Cf. Revelation 6–19.

61:3 console . . . glorified. The purpose of the Lord’s consolation of the mourners after centuries of suffering (60:20) will be to glorify Himself (60:21).

61:4 rebuild. The rebuilding of Israel’s cities is part of God’s future plan for the nation (49:8; 58:12; 60:10).

61:6 priests of the LORD. In fulfillment of Exodus 19:6, Israel will be a kingdom of priests when Christ establishes His kingdom. In the meantime, Peter applied the same terminology to the church (1 Pet. 2:9).

61:7 double honor. Israel will receive double portions of blessing to replace the double punishment of her exile (40:2).

61:8 everlasting covenant. This refers to the New Covenant. See note on 55:3.

61:10 clothed me . . . covered me. Here is the OT picture of imputed righteousness, the essential heart of the New Covenant. When a penitent sinner recognizes he can’t achieve his own righteousness by works (see notes on Rom. 3:19–22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8, 9 ), repents, and calls on the mercy of God, the Lord covers him with His own divine righteousness by grace through his faith.

4. Nearing of Zion’s deliverance (62:1–63:6)

62:1 not hold My peace . . . not rest. The Lord expresses His determination to make Jerusalem a lighthouse for the world (58:8; 60:1–3).

62:2 new name. Jerusalem’s new name will reflect Israel’s new favored status (vv. 4, 12; 65:15).

62:4 Hephzibah . . . Beulah. The terms mean “My delight is in her” and “Married,” reflecting a full restored relationship with the Lord.

62:5 sons marry you. Marry in the sense of occupying and possessing the city.

62:6, 7 never hold their peace . . . do not keep silent . . . give Him no rest. The prophets of Israel issued constant warnings about lurking enemies and prayed for Jerusalem to be “a praise” (60:18; 61:11). There will be more prophets in the kingdom who continually proclaim the honor of the Lord.

62:8, 9 The LORD has sworn. The end of foreign domination over Jerusalem is as certain as the oath of God.

62:9 My holy courts. This refers to the millennial temple (cf. Ezek. 40–48).

62:10 Prepare. This and the accompanying commands prepare the people for the exaltation of Zion and the manifestation of her salvation (11:12; 40:3; 57:14).

62:11 Say to the daughter . . . Behold. Matthew may also have alluded to these words when he was quoting from Zechariah 9:9 as it related to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see Matt. 21:5). His reward . . . His work. See 40:9, 10.

62:12 A City Not Forsaken. See verse 4. Cf. Zion’s complaint in 49:14.

63:1 Edom . . . Bozrah. Edom represents a God-hating world (34:5). Bozrah was a capital city in Edom at one time (34:6). Conquering Messiah, approaching Jerusalem to reign after having avenged His people, is presented in imagery taken from the destruction of Edom, the representative of the last and most bitter foes of God and His people. He alone is “mighty to save.”

63:3 anger . . . fury . . . blood. The Savior explains the red coloring of His clothing (v. 2) as resulting from His judgmental activity against Israel’s enemies (61:2). The splattered “grape juice” staining His clothing is,
in reality, blood from those destroyed in judgment. John alludes to verses 1–3 in describing the Second Coming of Christ, the Warrior-King. See notes on Revelation 19:13, 15.

63:4 day of vengeance . . . year of My redeemed. The Messiah’s future reckoning with the wicked will coincide with His redemption of Israel (61:2).

63:5 no one to help . . . My own arm. The future salvation of Israel will be a single-handed accomplishment of the Lord (v. 3; 59:15, 16).

63:6 Made them drunk. See 51:17, 21–23. Revelation compares God’s wrath to wine several times (e.g., Rev. 14:10, 19; 16:19; 19:15). “Brought down their strength” literally means “spilled their blood.”

5. Prayer for national deliverance (63:7–64:12)

63:7–64:12 As one of Israel’s watchmen and on behalf of the faithful remnant, Isaiah prays this penitential confession and prayer for Israel’s restoration (cf. 62:6, 7).

63:7–14 The prayer reviews God’s compassionate acts toward His people in spite of their unfaithfulness to Him.

63:7, 8 lovingkindnesses . . . lovingkindnesses. All the plurals in this verse imply that language is inadequate to recite all the goodness and undeserved mercies God has showered on the nation time after time because of His everlasting covenant with them. By His elective choice, they became His people and He their Savior (43:1, 3); this guarantees that they will not always be false (“lie”), but someday true and faithful to God because of His sovereign election of them. Cf. Ephesians 1:3, 4.

63:9 Angel of His Presence. The angel, who delivered the Israelites from Egypt, was none other than the Lord Himself (Ex. 14:19; 23:20–23; 33:12, 14, 15; Num. 20:16). He is sometimes identified as the Angel of the Lord. He was close enough to His people that He felt their afflictions as if they were His own. See note on Exodus 3:2.

63:10 rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. In spite of the Lord’s loving choice and sympathy, Israel continually turned their backs on God and spurned His lovingkindness toward them (Num. 20:10; Pss. 78:40; 106:33; Acts 7:51; cf. Eph. 4:30). Here is an illustration of the reality that the Holy Spirit is a person, since only an actual person can be grieved.

63:11–13 he remembered . . . might not stumble. The Lord, in spite of their perversity, did not forget His covenant or forsake them (Lev. 26:40–45; Ps. 106:45, 46). In contrasting their present state of destitution with that of blessing experienced by Moses’ generation, the people of Israel lamented the loss of God’s mighty works on their behalf and pleaded with the Lord that He would not forsake them. brought them up out of the sea . . . put His Holy Spirit within them . . . Dividing the water. Mighty works of God were letting the people pass through the sea as on dry ground (Ex. 14:29, 30) and the ministry of the Holy Spirit was among them (Num. 11:17, 25, 29). Within does not refer to individual indwelling but would best be translated with a corporate sense of “among” or “in the midst.” Another reference is made to the miracle of the Red Sea (Ex. 14:21, 22).

63:14 make Yourself a glorious name. The Lord’s purpose for Israel was and is to make them great in order to magnify His name in the world. Cf. verse 12.

63:15–19 After having extolled God’s goodness (vv. 7–9) and rehearsed God’s past faithfulness to Israel for the sake of His glory (vv. 11–13), the prophet offered a prayer of repentance by the nation in its desolate condition.

63:15 Where . . . Your mercies toward me? On behalf of the people, Isaiah asked if God had changed how He felt about Israel and prayed for new mercies such as He had exhibited toward the nation in the past.

63:16 Abraham . . . Israel. The nation’s physical ancestors, Abraham and Jacob (Israel), played a crucial role in Jewish thinking. It had been the besetting temptation and sin of the Jews to rest on the mere privilege of descent from Abraham and Jacob (cf. Matt. 3:9; John 4:12; 8:39), but at last they renounce that to trust God alone as Father.

63:17 made us stray . . . hardened our heart. The sense is that God allowed the Israelites to stray and be burdened in their hearts. They were not denying their own guilt, but confessing that because of it, God gave them up to the consequences of their iniquitous choices. Cf. 6:9, 10; Psalm 81:11, 12; Hosea 4:17; Romans 1:24–28.

63:18 trodden down Your sanctuary. The Babylonians, among others, had possessed the land given to Israel and desecrated God’s sanctuary (Ps. 74:3–7).

63:19 never . . . never. Israel’s complaint was that her desolate condition was comparable to that of nations who had no unique relationship with the Lord.

64:1–5 This represents a plea for the Lord to demonstrate His power as He did in earlier days.

64:1, 2 rend the heavens . . . shake at Your presence. Israel’s response to her own complaint (63:19) was a plea that God would burst forth to execute vengeance suddenly on His people’s foes (cf. Pss. 18:7–9; 144:5; Hab. 3:5, 6), manifesting Himself in judgment again as He did at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:18; Judg. 5:5; Ps. 68:8; Heb. 12:18–20). As God’s name is to receive glory through His redemption of Israel (63:14), it also is to have widespread recognition because of His judgment against Israel’s enemies (Ps. 99:1).

64:3 awesome things. This is another reference to God’s acts at Sinai (Deut. 10:21).

64:4 ear . . . eye. God’s judgmental manifestations are unique. No one has witnessed the likes of His awesome works on behalf of His own. Paul adapts words from this verse to speak of direct revelation of God, imparted to His apostles and prophets, pertaining to mysteries hidden from mankind before the birth of the church (1 Cor. 2:9).

64:5 we need to be saved. Direct exposure to the awesome character of God’s judgment brings a realization of sinners’ need of salvation (cf. Acts 16:26–30).

64:6 unclean thing . . . filthy rags. As in 53:6 (cf. 6:6, 7), the prophet included himself among those confessing their unworthiness to be in God’s presence. Isaiah employed the imagery of menstrual cloths used during a woman’s period to picture uncleanness (cf. Lev. 15:19–24). This is true of the best behavior of unbelievers (cf. Phil. 3:5–8).

64:7–9 no one who calls. The prophet finds no exception among a people whose iniquities had separated them from God. See notes on Romans 3:10–18. Such seeking and calling on the Lord as Isaiah describes in 55:6, 7 cannot occur apart from the powerful conviction and awakening of the sinful heart by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the prayer recognizes God as a potter in control of clay and pleads for Him to do a saving work (v. 8). Cf. 45:9, 10; 60:21; 63:16. Such a work is what God promised to end His fury (54:7, 8) and His memory of sin (v. 9; 43:25).

64:11 burned up with fire . . . laid waste. Through prophetic revelation, Isaiah uttered these words many years before the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C. Yet, he lamented over the fallen state as though it had already occurred. God’s people were in desperate straits and their prayers were urgent and persistent: “How can You stand by when Your people and Your land are so barren?”

6. The Lord’s answer to Israel’s supplication (65:1–66:24)

65:1–7 In response to the prayer of 63:7–64:12, the Lord repeated the warnings of His judgment.

65:1 not ask . . . not seek . . . not called. Though Israel sought the Lord, they did so only superficially. They did not genuinely seek Him. The NT assigns an additional sense to these words in Romans 10:20, applying them to Gentiles who find Him through the work of His sovereign grace.

65:2 I have stretched out . . . rebellious people. God had continually taken the initiative in inviting His people Israel to walk in His ways, but time after time they rebuffed Him. Using this verse, Paul concurred in citing the rebelliousness of his fellow Jews (Rom. 10:21).

65:3, 4 Here Isaiah gave additional references to Israel’s sin, such as defiance in practicing idolatry, communing with the spirits of the dead (a forbidden practice according to Deut. 18:10, 11), eating in ways forbidden by the Mosaic Law (Lev. 11:7, 8), consuming food connected with “abominable” idol sacrifices, and the arrogance of self-righteousness (cf. Matt. 9:11; Luke 5:30; 18:11).

65:5 smoke in My nostrils. This alluded to the smoke of their self-righteous sacrifices, an endless irritation to God who responds in judgment.

65:6 I will not keep silence. The Lord’s response to the prayer asking Him not to restrain Himself in granting deliverance (64:12) was that He will act in judgment, not deliverance, to punish sin (v. 7).

65:8–10 In the midst of the final fury of judgment when the time of Jacob’s trouble comes (cf. Jer. 30:7) and God purges out the rebels in Israel (cf. Ezek. 20:38), there will also be the restoration of the faithful remnant to the land. Though judgment comes to the nation as a whole, God will spare and save (cf. Zech. 12:10–13:1; Rom. 11:25–27) the faithful remnant, “My servants” (1:9), in the future kingdom. This will include a physical return of God’s elect, believing Jews, to the land of Israel (57:13).

65:10 Sharon . . . Valley of Achor. Sharon was the western, fertile territory on the Mediterranean coast, south of Mt. Carmel (35:2). The eastern Valley of Achor was near Jericho and the Jordan River (Josh. 7:24, 26). Together, they represented the whole land.

65:11, 12 Another pronouncement of judgment was given on the rebellious Israelites, who resorted to the worship of pagan gods, like Gad and Meni, and had no one to blame but themselves for the sword of damnation that fell on them.

65:13, 14 Continuing to address the rebel idolaters, the Lord Himself gave contrasts between the faithful and unfaithful of Israel.

65:15 your name as a curse . . . another name. Israel’s new name was intended to reflect her favored status among the nations (62:2–4). Delinquent Israelites, on the other hand, were to endure the reproach of men, so that the very name Jew would be disclaimed.

65:16 God of truth. Lit. this is “God of Amen,” referring to the very God, the true God, who will honor His promises to Israel, thus vindicating Himself in the eyes of all people. Someday, the rebels will be purged out and the redeemed remnant will be left. In that time, all blessing and swearing will be by the one and only true God, because all idols will be vanquished and forgotten in the glory of the kingdom of Messiah.

65:17–25 The blessings of faithful Israel in the coming kingdom are described.

65:17 new heavens and a new earth. Israel’s future kingdom will include a temporal kingdom of a thousand years (see notes on Rev. 20:1–10 ) and an eternal kingdom in God’s new creation (51:6, 16; 54:10; 66:22; cf. Rev. 21:1–8). The prophet uses the eternal kingdom here as a reference point for both. Isaiah’s prophecy does not make clear the chronological relationship between the kingdom’s two aspects as does later prophecy (Rev. 20:1–21:8). This is similar to the compression of Christ’s First and Second Advents, so that in places they are indistinguishable (cf. 61:1, 2).

65:20 No more shall an infant . . . Nor an old man. Long life will prevail in the millennial kingdom. In the temporal phase of the kingdom, death will happen, but not nearly so early as in the time of Isaiah. sinner . . . accursed. In the millennial phase of Israel’s kingdom, a sinful person may die at age 100, but will be considered a mere youth at the time of his premature death. Having died an untimely death at such a youthful time, it will be assumed that God has taken his life for sin. The curse will be reversed in the Millennium, but it will not be removed until the eternal state (cf. Rev. 22:3).

65:21, 22 build . . . inhabit . . . plant . . . eat. Social justice will prevail in Israel’s kingdom. No enemies will deprive people of what is rightfully theirs (contrast Deut. 28:30).

65:23 Nor . . . for trouble. Lit. this means “for sudden death.” Subjects in the kingdom will enjoy freedom from ordinary misfortunes related to the premature death of infants. There will be the lowest infant mortality rate ever. Because of longer life (v. 20), this means the earth will be greatly populated at an exponential rate of reproduction. Cf. Revelation 20:7–9 where a massive collection of people at the end of the kingdom come against Christ.

65:24 before they call . . . while they are still speaking. A personal relationship with the Lord will be so close that He will anticipate and provide for every need (58:9; cf. Matt. 6:8, 32).

65:25 wolf . . . lamb . . . lion . . . ox . . . serpent’s. Dangers from the animal world will be nonexistent during the reign of the Servant of the Lord (11:6–9).

66:1, 2 Isaiah began the final summary of his prophecy with a reminder that God is not looking for a temple of stone; as Creator of all things, the whole universe is His dwelling place. Stephen cited this passage before the Sanhedrin to point out their error in limiting God to a temple made with hands (Acts 7:49, 50). On the contrary, God is looking for a heart to dwell in, a heart that is tender and broken, not one concerned with the externals of religion (cf. Matt. 5:3–9). God is looking to dwell in the heart of people who take His Word seriously (cf. 66:5; John 14:23).

66:2 on this one will I look. Proud idolators will be rejected and judged severely (cf. vv. 3, 4, 15–17); those who humbly and with a contrite heart obey God’s Word will receive God’s blessing and favor (cf. v. 5).

66:3 as if he slays a man. God loathes even the sacrifices of the wicked (cf. Prov. 15:8; 28:9). They often killed children to offer in sacrifice (cf. Ezek. 23:39). Some of the Jews were offering bulls as sacrifices with the same empiness in their hearts as the pagans offering “a man” on the altar. breaks a dog’s neck. This refers to offering dogs in sacrifice, which, as unclean (Jer. 15:3; cf. 56:10, 11), are associated with swine (Matt. 7:6; 2 Pet. 2:22). To sacrifice a lamb with an attitude no different than if it were a dog betrayed the emptiness of the offerer. All of these images are meant to illustrate the shallow hypocrisy of a person who makes an offering to God, but with no more heartbrokenness than a pagan who kills a child, offers a dog, sacrifices pig’s blood, blesses an idol, and loves such abominations. God will judge such (v. 4).

66:5 Your brethren who hated you. The apostate Israelites intensified their rivalry with the faithful remnant (65:11–15) and blasphemously said, “Let the LORD be glorified,” words uttered in the sarcastic spirit of 5:19 by these apostates. In the end, “they shall be ashamed” because God’s judgment will fall.

66:7–9 Here is another comparison with the human birth process (see 13:8), intended this time to teach two lessons: (1) no birth can come until labor pains have occurred (vv. 7, 8) and (2) when labor occurs, birth will surely follow (v. 9). Cf. Jeremiah 30:6, 7; Matthew 24:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:3. The point is that Israel’s suffering will end with a delivery! The Lord will not impose travail on the remnant without bringing them to the kingdom (v. 10).

66:11 feed and be satisfied. The prophet compares Jerusalem to a nursing mother.

66:12 peace . . . like a river. The picture is of abundant peace, like that of a tranquil stream (cf. 32:16–18; 48:18; contrast 8:6). A wadi filled with a never-ending, rushing torrent of water pictures the millennial wealth and prosperity of Israel, in contrast to their previous poverty among the Gentiles, like a normally dry, desert stream bed (cf. 41:18; 43:20).

66:14 to His servants . . . to His enemies. Prosperity will belong to the faithful remnant, but wrath to those who oppose the Lord.

66:15 whirlwind . . . flames of fire. That the wrath of God will come to the rebels is expressed in language describing the end-time judgment (cf. 29:6).

66:16 the slain . . . many. The many who fight against the Lord when He comes to establish His kingdom will die (34:6, 7; Rev. 19:21).

66:17 sanctify themselves and purify themselves. Sanctification and purification rites, when done for purposes of idol worship, will draw judgment from the one true God (cf. vv. 3, 4).

66:18 their works and their thoughts. The Lord was aware of the motivations behind the actions of apostate Israelites (v. 17). gather all nations and tongues. See 2:2–4. Jerusalem will be the center of world attention because of the presence of the Messiah there.

66:19 those . . . who escape. The faithful remnant of Israel is in view; they had escaped both the persecutions of their enemies and the judgment of God against those enemies (v. 16). Tarshish and Pul and Lud . . . Tubal and Javan. Tarshish was possibly in Spain, Pul and Lud in North Africa, Tubal in northeast Asia Minor, and Javan in Greece. These were representative Gentile populations that will hear of God’s glory through the faithful remnant.

66:20 bring all your brethren. As their offering to the Lord, the Gentiles who hear of God’s glory will expedite the return of Israel’s faithful remnant (43:6; 49:22).

66:21 priests and Levites. Some of the returning remnant will function in these specialized roles in the services of the millennial temple and memorial sacrifices (cf. Ezek. 44–46).

66:22 your descendants . . . remain. National Israel will have a never-ending existence through the Millennium, and on into the new heavens and the new earth throughout eternity.

66:23 All flesh . . . worship before Me. All humanity will participate in worshiping the Lord at stipulated times during the temporal phase of the messianic kingdom.

66:24 worm does not die . . . fire is not quenched. The corpses of those enduring everlasting torment will serve as a vivid reminder to the grievous nature and terrible consequences of rebellion against God. In referring to this verse, Jesus spoke of the Valley of Hinnom (i.e., Gehenna) where a continu-

Further Study

Martin, John A. Isaiah, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary—OT. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor, 1985.