Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 58

Verses 1-22

XXIV

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 16

Isaiah 58-60

This division (Isaiah 58-66) is eschatological and consists of promises and warnings for the future. The special theme of Isaiah 58-60 is Israel’s sin, Jehovah’s salvation, and Zion’s glory. Israel’s sin, as stated in Isaiah 58, was a heartless ritualism.

The prophet’s special commission in Isaiah 58:1 was to cry aloud, to sound forth like a trumpet against the transgressions and sin of Jacob.

The people complained (Isaiah 58:2-7) that Jehovah had not regarded their religious services; that he had not dealt with them in righteous judgments. To this Jehovah replied that their fasting was nothing more than a form; that while they fasted they, at the same time, did their own pleasure and oppressed all their laborers; that while they fasted they also fought and did not fast so as to be heard when they prayed; that fasting was not merely bowing the head like a bulrush and sitting in sackcloth and ashes; that such fasting was not regarded by Jehovah at all, but rather the fasting that put away wickedness, set the captives free, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and aided their own countrymen generally.

The promises to Jacob in this connection and the conditions upon which they were made are as follows:

1. On the condition that they fast in reality, as Just described, he promised that light should break forth upon them; that they should be healed speedily; that righteousness should be in front of them and the glory of Jehovah should be their reward; and then their cries to Jehovah should be answered by him.

2. On the condition that they take away oppression, scorning, wicked speaking, feed and sympathize with the hungry and afflicted, he promised that their light should become as bright as the noonday; that Jehovah would guide them; that they should be like a watered garden; and that the land should be restored to its former blessings.

3. On the condition that they keep his holy sabbath, doing the Lord’s pleasure therein, he promised that they should have delight in Jehovah and he would exalt them in the high places of the earth and would supply their every need.

This chapter has for its historical background the great atonement day, the only time when Israel was required to fast as herein pictured. The voice of the prophet here corresponds to the trumpet which announced the atonement day. His announcing their transgressions, sins, and iniquities, all of which cluster about this day corresponds to the reminding of their sins on the atonement day, on which also was announced the Jubilee, when there was the breaking of all yokes, and ita provisions for those who had come to be broken down and oppressed. But they had only kept the outward form of this ritual and had not observed it in heart. So the prophet issues a call to repentance, very much like that of John the Baptist before he announced the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. The great atonement was just ahead and it was necessary that they be afflicted in their souls on account of their sins.

This thought is carried on in the next chapter (Isaiah 58:1-8). Here the sins are pointed out more particularly. The prophet begins by announcing that the difficulty is not with Jehovah but with the people. Their sins had separated between them and God. The sins here recited cover the whole catalogue. Their hands, their fingers, their lips, their tongues, their feet, and their minds were all involved. Their state was most despicable and called for the severest Judgments. They were all gone out of the way.

There follows (Isaiah 58:9-14 a) a most wonderful confession of sin. In this confession they state their awful condition and lament their sins and hopelessness. This is very much like the condition of Israel when John the Baptist lifted his voice in the wilderness of Judea at which they repented confessing their sins.

But relief comes in this state of hopelessness and despair. Jehovah intervened in the power of his grace and wrought out their salvation (Isaiah 59:15-21). When Jehovah looked on he saw that there was no justice; that there was not a righteous man; that there was no one, like Moses or Aaron, to intercede. Just such a condition existed when our Lord came. There was none good, no, not one. So he was moved with compassion and stretched forth his arm and brought deliverance to his people.

When he came to contend like a mighty warrior for his people he put on righteousness as a breastplate, salvation for a helmet upon his head, garments of vengeance for clothing, and zeal as a mantle. Thus panoplied he waged a spiritual conflict with his adversaries and he recompensed to his enemies their dues.

The marginal reading of Isaiah 59:19 is to be preferred for this verse: "So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for when the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a standard against him." The first part of this verse teaches us that the true religion will be spread over the whole earth. The latter part seems to have its analogue in the past deliverance of Israel, as in the case with Sennacherib, but it connects directly here with the Messiah who is the standard which Jehovah has set up against the adversary, and for the whole world. He is the ensign for all peoples.

The Redeemer in Isaiah 59:20-21 is unmistakably the Messiah. This passage is highly messianic and reveals the salvation of Christ. The covenant here is the new covenant, or the covenant of grace, so much amplified in the New Testament. The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit who inspired the prophet and inspired the New Testament writers giving them words that would never depart from the mouths of God’s people. This is a promise of inspiration for all the word of God and that there will always be a seed who will contend for that inspiration. As surely as the church of Jesus Christ, which is the habitat of the ’Spirit, shall be perpetuated, just that surely there will always be a contention in that church for the word which was inspired by that same Spirit. A good sign of apostasy upon the part of a church is for it to deny the inspiration of the word of God. This is exactly in line with the New Testament teaching on the Holy Spirit. The new covenant herein spoken of involves the giving of God’s Holy Spirit to his people (Joel 2:28 and Acts 2), and this Spirit was promised by Christ as the Paraclete of the church forever. He shall not depart from God’s people while time endures, and his office work in the hearts of men and women will continue until the Lord, for whom he must bear witness, shall come back to this earth without a sin offering unto salvation.

The theme of Isaiah 60 is the transcendent glory of Zion and it is in the nature of a song of triumph, a poem which is the counterpart, perhaps, of Isaiah 47, describing the fall and ruin of Babylon. The theme of this song appears in verse Isaiah 60:14: "The city of Jehovah, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel."

The connection between Isaiah 60 and Isaiah 59 is very close. They are closely bound together, the relation between them being, for the most part, that of contrast. There are five of these points of contrast as follows:

1. In Isaiah 59 the people were waiting in "dark places for the light"; now the "light" has come.

2. In Isaiah 59 "righteousness and peace" stood at a distance; now they govern the Holy City.

3. In Isaiah 59 "salvation" was far off; now the walls of the city are called salvation.

4. In Isaiah 59 reverence for the "name of Jehovah" and "his glory" was promised; now it is realized.

5. In Isaiah 59 a "redeemer" was foreseen; now his work is accomplished.

The imagery of this poem seems to be borrowed from the account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, found in 1 Kings 10:1-10. This song consists of five stanzas, of nearly equal length, as follows:

1. Isaiah 60:1-4, Zion’s light and inhabitants

2. Isaiah 60:5-9, Zion’s wealth

3. Isaiah 60:10-14, Zion’s reconstruction

4. Isaiah 60:15-18, Zion’s prosperity

5. Isaiah 60:19-22, Zion’s crowning glories

The light of Zion is the reflected light of the glory of Jehovah, just as the light of the disciples of Jesus was his reflected light. He is the "Sun of Righteousness" and "the Light of the World"; primarily, while his disciples are "suns of righteousness" and "the light of the world," secondarily. Here Zion is exhorted to arise and shine, just as Christ said to his disciples, "Ye are the light of the world . . . let your light so shine, etc." The "promise" is that, notwithstanding gross darkness should cover the earth and its peoples, Zion should have the light of Jehovah, and it should be so attractive that the nations of the earth and the kings of the world should come to her brightness.

The inhabitants of Zion shall come from far, i.e., from all parts of the world, as Jesus said, "They shall come from the east, and from the west; from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God." They shall be Jews and Gentiles, Greek and Roman, Chinese and Japanese, Malayan and Australian, Indian and African, European and American. Yea they shall be Oriental, Occidental, Septentrional, and Austral, but all radiant with one life, one light, and one love.

The very best of everything in the material world is here mentioned as coming to Zion, illustrating both the temporal and spiritual blessings of Zion, the temporal being used to transport Zion’s sons and daughters, i.e., for missionary purposes. This is literally fulfilled in every material thing that is consecrated to the service of the king of this splendid city. The ships, the lower animals) the gold and the silver – the best of it all has been made to serve the purposes of Christianity from the time of Paul to the present day.

The reconstructors of this city are here called foreigners which may refer primarily to Cyrus and Artaxerxes Longimanus but the passage has a meaning far beyond the literal one. "Strangers" of all kinds, Greeks, Romans, Africans, Gauls, Spaniards, and others, are building the walls of Zion today. The promises here remind us of those concerning the New Jerusalem of Revelation. The gates are open continually, and kings and conquerors bring their trophies into it. The nation that will not serve this one shall perish. Many of them have come and gone according to this promise. The final and complete victory of this glorious institution over its enemies is one of the most encouraging promises of this passage.

But what of her prosperity? Whereas Zion has been down and trodden under foot, now she stands erect with an eternal excellency, and becomes the joy of many generations. Her nourishment comes through the means of the Gentiles. Righteousness and peace shall be its rulers, and no more violence shall be heard in the land. The entire cessation of war and violence is one of the most characteristic features of the "last times," when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks. The Prince of Peace shall ultimately establish peace. Many men of earnest religious feeling have thought, at various times, that they saw the actual commencement of the reign of peace upon the earth, so distinctly promised, so earnestly longed for, and so necessary for the happiness of mankind. But a calm dispassionate observer of the twentieth century is shaken from every confidence of its approach when he witnesses such disastrous wars as the recent terrific struggles for the championship of the world. Yet just such conflicts as these must precede the coming in of the reign of peace and who can tell but that these are the last great struggles which shall introduce this blessed reign of the Prince of Peace? (See the author’s discussion of this in his Interpretation of Revelation, pp. 225-267.)

This description (Isaiah 60:19-22) of the crowning glories of this city of Jehovah parallels John’s description of the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Here the redeemed are basking in a light whose radiance eclipses the light of the sun and moon, which streams down upon them from God the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. This light shall be everlasting and there shall be no mourning. All her people shall be righteous and the saying shall come to pass that "the meek shall inherit the earth." The little flock shall become the strong nation, the multitude that no man can number. All this must come in its own time, the time fixed in God’s counsels for the final and glorious triumph of his everlasting kingdom.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the theme of Isaiah 58-66?

2. What is the special theme of Isaiah 58-60?

3. What, in general, was Israel’s sin, as stated in Isaiah 58?

4. What is the prophet’s special commission in Isaiah 58:1?

5. What complaint do the people of Jacob make against Jehovah and what his reply?

6. What are the promises of Jacob in this connection and upon what conditions?

7. What the historical background of this chapter and what time in the history of Israel does it foreshadow?

8. How is this thought carried on in the next chapter?

9. What the effect of this cry of the prophet against their sin?

10. What relief comes in this state of hopelessness and despair?

11. When Jehovah looked on what did he see and how did it affect him?

12. What were his weapons for this mighty conflict?

13. What is the meaning of Isaiah 59:19?

14. Who is the Redeemer, what the covenant and what the mission of the Holy Spirit as set forth in Isaiah 59:20-21?

15. What is the special theme and what the nature of Isaiah 60?

16. Where in this chapter do we find the subject, or theme, of this address?

17. What is the connection between this chapter and the preceding chapter?

18. What is the imagery of this poem and where found?

19. Give an analysis of this song, showing its parts and their several

20. What is the light of Zion and what the promise concerning it (Isaiah 60:1-22?

21. Who are to be the inhabitants of Zion?

22. What shall be the wealth of this glorious city and what use shall be made of it?

23. Who the reconstructors of this city and what the promises connected with the reconstruction?

24. What of her prosperity?

25. Describe the crowning glories of this city of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.