#1040 Isaiah 62 I Will Not Keep Silent

 

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

2 The nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,

and your land Married;

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you.

6 On your walls, O Jerusalem,

I have set watchmen;

all the day and all the night

they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance,

take no rest,

7 and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it a praise in the earth.

8 The Lord has sworn by his right hand

and by his mighty arm:

“I will not again give your grain

to be food for your enemies,

and foreigners shall not drink your wine

for which you have labored;

9 but those who garner it shall eat it

and praise the Lord,

and those who gather it shall drink it

in the courts of my sanctuary.”

10 Go through, go through the gates;

prepare the way for the people;

build up, build up the highway;

clear it of stones;

lift up a signal over the peoples.

11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

Say to the daughter of Zion,

“Behold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.”

12 And they shall be called The Holy People,

The Redeemed of the Lord;

and you shall be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken. Isaiah 62 ESV

Isaiah 62 Zion's coming salvation

1-5. And her salvation as a burning torch - Isaiah is preaching to a corrupt Jerusalem, whom he has already warned of the coming Babylonian captivity. This is a comfort but also a call of conviction. For their sins they will go to Babylon, but Israel should be the torch, that lamp to the rest of the world, advertising the salvation of the Lord. Take much comfort though, because He has promised a new name, and so His work with her is not done. She will be righteous one day, and her glory will be a diadem(jeweled crown, symbol of sovereignty) in the hand of the Lord. 

But you shall be called, My delight is in her - This is good news, for she has been compared to a harlot and Sodom before. She will be so transformed in the future that her call to righteousness shall also be her reality, and she will have a new name.

…16Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it. 18To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.… Revelation 2: 16-18

…11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name. 13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.… Revelation 3: 11-13

So shall your God rejoice over you - No longer desolate, forsaken, but rather, "married", and not a disgraceful union, but she has become the apple of His eye.

“With such economy of words and beauty of imagery Isaiah depicts the loving unanimity that characterizes Zion and her intimate union with the Lord – which Revelation 19:7 foresees as the marriage of the Lamb.” (Motyer)

…17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.… Ephesians 3: 17-19

6-9. I have set watchmen - These are the prophets and preachers He has given in every age, and even in Jerusalem's coming restoration. They are to pray without ceasing and remind all of Who God is, what He has accomplished, and will do. He will be her Husband and defense, no more will she till, plant and water in vain. Her work will be good now, and it will no longer become the plunder of her enemies.

iii. “‘Give him no rest’ is our Lord’s own command to us concerning the great God. I do not suppose any of you ever advised a beggar to be importunate with you. Did you ever say, ‘Whenever you see me go over this crossing ask me for a penny. If I do not give you one, run after me, or call after me all the way down the street. If that does not succeed, lay hold upon me, and do not let me go until I help you. Beg without ceasing.’ Did any one of you ever invite applicants to call often, and make large requests of you?… He does in effect say, ‘Press me! Urge me! Lay hold on my strength. Wrestle with me, as when a man seeks to give another a fall that he may prevail with him.’ All this, and much more, is included in the expression, ‘Give him no rest.’” (Spurgeon)

10-12. Clear it of stones - Get rid of the old obstacles, clear the path, make straight the way, repent.

5Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’ 6Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.… Jeremiah 4: 5-7

…14Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry? 15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.16They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.… Jeremiah 18: 14-16

…7The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus. 8And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it— only those who walk in the Way— and fools will not stray onto it.9No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it.… Isaiah 35: 7-9