Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 26

Verses 1-6

Isa 26:1-6

Isaiah 26:1-6

FURTHER PROPHECIES ON THE JUDGMENT

"In several respects Isaiah 26 parallels Isaiah 25, and so reinforces its message." No other scripture in the Old Testament surpasses this in providing comfort for God’s people in time of distress by a contemplation of future blessings; and no other passage in the Old Testament surpasses the definite promise of a bodily resurrection of the righteous dead in Isaiah 26:19.

The chapter may be divided thus: (1) a contrast between two cities (Isaiah 26:1-6); (2) a song, which is a complicated melding of lament, trust, confession, praise of God, and comment regarding the wicked (Isaiah 26:7-19); and (3) the last two verses which carry practical admonition and an assurance that God will indeed punish the wicked (Isaiah 26:20-21).

Isaiah 26:1-6

"At that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city; salvation will he appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation that keepeth faith may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is staid on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in Jehovah forever; for Jehovah, even Jehovah is an everlasting rock. For he hath brought down them that dwell on high, the lofty city: he layeth it low, he layeth it low even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy."

"At that day ..." These words indicate that the prophecy relates to the Messianic kingdom in the far distant future. Some have tried to find here the celebration of literal Israel’s return from Babylonian captivity; but the words do not fit. For many years following the conclusion of the captivity, the literal Jerusalem was no "strong city" in any sense. Furthermore, the people rebuilt walls of stone and mortar, quite a different wall from that of the city in view here, where God appointed "salvation" for walls and bulwarks. Also, can any person even imagine that God ever referred to the literal Jewish nation as "a righteous nation"? Look at Isaiah 26:2 : "Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth faith may come in"! This was never true of ancient Israel.

Therefore, we must agree with Archer who wrote: The redeemed saints will come to the gates of the (New) Jerusalem at the end of the age, chanting hymns of praise (therefore called `Judah,’ which means praise); they will be a righteous nation because clothed with Christ’s righteousness and indwelt by God’s Spirit.

The people of this "righteous nation" are not merely Jews, but, "A people made up of all kindreds, nations and tongues, which should henceforth be `the people of God.’"

Isaiah 26:3 has the words "perfect peace"; but the Hebrew from which this is rendered reads: "peace, peace," "Which means positive well-being, not merely lack of strife."

That other city, mentioned here, may not be identified with Nineveh, Babylon, or any other individual place. It is, "the lofty world-city of wickedness." "It is the world-city, the idealized stronghold of the adversaries of God in this world." "It is the capital of the world-empire." We prefer to identify this "lofty city" with the entrenched wickedness of all cities, identical with the "cities" of Revelation 16:19. Of course, Barnes and other respected scholars identify it with Babylon. We reject such views because it is "the end of the age," not "the return from Babylonian captivity" that forms the subject of the prophecy in these verses.

Isaiah 26:1-2 STRONG CITY: “That day” has as its antecedent the day of Isaiah 25:9. On the day when God makes a feast for all nations, removes the covering from all nations, swallows up death forever, and when those who waited on Him rejoice in His salvation—they will sing this song! The “land of Judah” then must be symbolic of the covenant people of God, the church, in the Messianic age. The “new Zion,” the “Jerusalem that is preeminent,” (cf. Hebrews 12:22-24; Galatians 4:26-27), the Church, will be God’s city of divine strength and power. Her strength and power will be in the divine salvation God provides and they will walk across the rubble-heaps of the once haughty enemies of God. A remnant of faithful ones endured the Babylonian captivity and walked upon the ruins of once proud, powerful, pagan Babylon. Christians today may go to Rome and walk among the ruins of the once cruel, calculating, Roman empire which vowed to exterminate Christianity from the face of the earth.

So the contrast in this section is between the “city of God” which we take to be the righteous, faithful covenant-keeping people of God, especially those of that day when God makes them a feast, removes their veil and swallows up death forever—the church—and the “high and lofty city” representing all that is Satanic and human and stands in opposition to the redemptive purposes of God. Justice, salvation and peace will come to the remnant in the new order to be brought by the Messiah. When it comes, the messianic people will sing about it.

Verses 7-10

Isa 26:7-10

Isaiah 26:7-10

"The way of the just is uprightness: thou that art upright doth direct the path. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee; to thy name, even to thy memorial name, is the desire of our soul. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah."

Note that Isaiah 26:7-8 are speaking of the same thing, and therefore they are included in the same paragraph here.

"It is especially significant in this paragraph that righteousness is learned only when God’s judgments are abroad in the earth (Isaiah 26:9 b). When favor is shown to the wicked, they learn nothing." It must not be thought, however, that this failure of the wicked was due to their inability to learn. It was the result of their stubborn refusal to learn. Barnes rendered Isaiah 26:10, "He will not learn," indicating that the wicked have no desire to learn. As Christ saw it, "Light has come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil" (John 3:19). Satan would have us believe that men disbelieve because they are "smart"; but that is one of Satan’s favorite lies. Men disbelieve because they are wicked.

Here also we find the necessity for God’s judgments. Isaiah 26:10 carries the idea that, "God’s judgments are necessary because his favor is ineffectual." However, Isaiah 26:11 in the next paragraph, thunders God’s message, "The adversaries shall see ... and be ashamed." This is the ultimate word for all unbelievers. Whether or not they wish to believe or intend to believe, there will not be an unbeliever anywhere in the whole universe on the occasion of the final judgment. See Revelation 6:12 ff.

Isaiah 26:7-10 GOVERN: The first objective of Jehovah’s justice is to govern His creation. He governs the earth and mankind through His providential and revelational manifestations of justice. This passage very evidently relates to all that has been said thus far in chapters 24, 25, and 26. Jehovah is going to bring in a new order (the Messianic order) by judging the old order and establishing justice which was so glaringly absent from the covenant people in Isaiah’s day. God will reign in justice in His new order, and citizens of His new order will be men of justice. All this will redound to His glory.

The true Israelite will be a man of righteousness and justice. He will long for God’s justice to be manifested because that will be his way of life. Changing men into just men is the purpose of God’s just judgments. So, God makes the believer’s way upright (Hebrew, meyshareem, meaning; even, level, smooth). God’s justice works for the good of the believer and makes him the kind of man God can govern in God’s new-order-kingdom.

In ages past God showed Himself to be just and the justifier of him who believes. He punished rebels and delivered believers. That was the very essence of His character. He always acted faithfully, consistently and as He said He would, He established a memorial name (reputation) of absolute justice. Memorial is the Hebrew word zekreka. It is translated simply name in Exodus 3:15; Psalms 30:4; Psalms 135:13; Hosea 12:5. It is the same Hebrew word from which the name Zechariah (“whom the Lord remembers”) comes. The true man of God desires with all his heart to see the God of justice act justly in the affairs of men, not for some selfish end but that all men might learn righteousness and justice.

The true man of God must have a deep and abiding desire to see justice done in order that men might learn righteousness. The true man of God cannot condone lawlessness and injustice in the name of indulgent mercy. Of course, every man of God must learn to be merciful, but he must also learn that justice is often the most merciful thing that can happen to a lawless man. The collapse of justice and punishment for evil was precisely the major cause of the downfall of the Hebrew people in the days of the divided kingdom! (Read Amos, Hosea, Micah and Isaiah.) The man who does not eagerly and passionately search for truth, honesty, justice and fairness is not the kind of man God calls into His kingdom. So, you see, this entire context is related to the new order that is being prophesied, (cf. Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 15:2-4; Revelation 16:4-7; Revelation 19:1-3). God’s saints praise Him for His justice and judgment.

If the Lord resorted only to kind treatment of the wicked, indulging them in their self-destructive rebellion, such men would never learn righteousness. Severity and punishment is often times the only warning some men will heed. Even then, some will never repent (cf. Revelation 9:20-21; Revelation 16:9; Revelation 16:11). Pampering and indulging wicked men will only intensify their appetite for wickedness, (cf. Hosea 4:1-3; Hosea 4:12; Hosea 5:3-4; Hosea 7:1-7; Hosea 10:3-4, etc.).

The greatest manifestation of God’s hatred for sin and the divine extent to which he would go to judge sin and accomplish divine justice is when He punished man’s sin in His Sinless Son. At the cross God was both “just and the justifier of Him who believes” in Christ (cf. Romans 3:21-26). That tremendous revelation of God’s judgment and justice should “draw all men to Him,” to be governed by Him as He rules their hearts.

Verses 11-21

Isa 26:11-21

Isaiah 26:11-15

"Jehovah, thy hand is lifted up, yet they see not: but they shall see thy zeal for the people, and be put to shame; yea, fire shall devour thine adversaries. Jehovah, thou wilt ordain peace for us; for thou has also wrought all our works for us. O Jehovah our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live, they are deceased: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation; thou art glorified; thou has enlarged all the borders of the land."

On Isaiah 26:11, see under Isaiah 26:10, above. Isaiah 26:13-14 are the most challenging verses in this paragraph. Who is it that received this triple declaration in the Word of God that they are dead, deceased, perished? Barnes believed that these "other lords" were "kings of Babylon who had ruled over the Jews"; and, of course, other scholars have followed his lead in this; but we believe that Archer has the proper understanding of it.

"Other lords are probably false gods, rather than foreign rulers ... Now they are dead because Christianity forever abolished the worship of all the heathen gods known to the Jews. (Rawlinson agreed with this). The power of the idol gods is altogether passed away, because God has visited and destroyed them, and made their very memory to perish."

What a wonderful demonstration does history itself become in connection with all of those heathen gods which were once worshipped by millions and millions of people! What a demonstration of the power of Almighty God and what a demonstration of the effects of the rise of Christianity is the current status of all those ancient gods and goddesses!

Bel, Asshur, Milcom, Molech, Zeus, Juno, Iris, Astarte, Diana, Mercury, Baal, etc., etc. Where are they now? They are deservedly almost totally forgotten; and, furthermore, there is not even the remotest possibility of the worship of such "gods" ever being renewed.

It is regrettable that some able scholars have missed the point about who those "other lords" actually were. The interpretation that understands them to have been the kings of Babylon, Nineveh, etc. makes the proper understanding of this passage impossible. For example Kelley, on the basis of what this passage says, and in the light of his erroneous application of it to former earthly overlords of Israel, stated that:

"The meaning of Isaiah 26:14 is that the death of the wicked will be final and irrevocable ... they will never rise."

Now the startling thing about this is the fact that, "If this is really what Isaiah 26:14 teaches, it is a lie"; because Jesus plainly taught that both the righteous and the wicked shall rise in the judgment. The Old Testament teaches the same thing (Daniel 12:2). Of course, the word of God never contradicts the Word of God, thus the error is in the interpretation.

Hailey did not fall into the same error that Kelley made, avoiding it only by referring this absence of any kind of a resurrection for those "wicked" in Isaiah 26:14 to the resurrection of "their states." We do not believe that the death of mortal men is even hinted at in Isaiah 26:14; for the reference is to the "death of the pagan gods and goddesses." They are the ones for whom no "resurrection" will ever come. Such considerations as these compel us to find the end of the age, the second advent, and the final judgment in this passage. Nothing else fits all the facts.

"Thou hast increased the nation, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation ..." (Isaiah 26:15). Note the repetition, which, in the Hebrew always means extreme emphasis. "This remarkable increase of God’s people points to the inclusion of the worldwide Gentile Church; hence also the enlargement of the borders of the kingdom.”

Isaiah 26:16-19

LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

How strange it seems that the times of "trouble" should be mentioned here in that proleptic song of the redeemed at the very moment of their being participants in the joys of eternal life! In this, their minds go back to the sorrows and tribulations they suffered during their earth-life; and they find something for which to be thankful even in all that trouble. Rawlinson explained it thus:

"They remember what brought them back to God from the alienation which they confessed (Isaiah 26:13). It was the affliction which they so long endured. Their present bliss is the result of their former woe, and recalls the thought of it."

"We have brought forth wind ..." (Isaiah 26:18). This simply means that all human efforts toward salvation are futile, with no result whatever. We have not been able to defeat our enemies, nor has the entrenched wickedness of mankind diminished.

Isaiah 26:19 speaks of the resurrection. "Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust ... The earth shall cast forth the dead." It is surprising that Barnes applied this resurrection to the resurrection of the state of Israel. "They had been dead, that is, civilly dead in Babylon ... `Shall live’ means `they shall be restored to their country’." Although ingenious, such an explanation seems totally inadequate.

Hailey gave three widely accepted explanations of what this resurrection is: (1) the figurative resurrection of the state of Israel, following their Babylonian captivity; (2) the final resurrection of the body at the end of time; and (3) the spiritual resurrection that occurred in the Messianic age. Hailey favored the third of these explanations as, "The most plausible of the three."

Others, with whom this writer agrees, accept the second of the above three understandings of this resurrection. "The prophet draws out the implications of Isaiah 25:8 in Isaiah 26:19 ... yesterday and today’s martyrs shall live. Few Old Testament writers were granted this glimpse beyond the grave." "Though obscure in details, Isaiah 26:19 clearly promises bodily resurrection."

Some cannot see the final resurrection here because the passage makes no mention of the resurrection of the wicked; but it is a characteristic of the Bible that the "whole truth" on any subject is seldom, if ever, given by any writer; but as Isaiah himself said, "here a little and there a little." See our introduction to this prophecy. Kidner noted this; and in connection with what Isaiah revealed here, he pointed out that Daniel (Daniel 12:2) specifically included the resurrection of the wicked also in what appears to be a simultaneous resurrection. In fact, there are a number of other Old Testament revelations of the resurrection. If this were not true, how? we may ask could the writer of Hebrews have stated that "Some were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection" (Hebrews 11:35).

Christ stated that God’s declaration to Moses (Exodus 3:6) that, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" is a clear indication of the resurrection; because God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:28-33). In that same passage, Jesus stated that the refusal of the Sadducees to believe in the resurrection was due to "their ignorance of the scriptures," the Old Testament.

We feel certain that the passages in this division, namely, Isaiah 25:5 and Isaiah 26:19, as Gleason stated it, "Are a most explicit prediction of the bodily resurrection of believers."

The prophet did not linger over this world-shaking revelation of a bodily resurrection but went forward at once to give practical admonition and to reiterate the certainty of God’s punishment of the wicked.

Isaiah 26:20

"Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be over-past."

Lowth called this, "An exhortation to patience and resignation, with a confident expectation of deliverance by the power of God." This might be an indirect reference to that night of the Passover when God’s children were told to enter their houses and not to go out of them until morning (Exodus 12:22). The message is eternal, that faith is a private and personal matter. It stands totally within the periphery of the inner and private life of true believers. There are times when every Christian should shut his doors to the noises and distractions of the world and to pursue privately his loving devotions to God, or as Christ put it, "When thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee" (Matthew 6:6).

Isaiah 26:21

"For behold Jehovah cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."

This is a clear warning of the final judgment when Adam’s rebellious race (the inhabitants of the earth) shall receive their final reward. This conclusion is required by the fact of the whole earth’s "disclosing her blood," that is, by God’s exposing all of earth’s murders, such an event being clearly scheduled for the last day. Rawlinson said that this refers to, "The many murders men have committed on earth." In the same place, he also wrote that:

"Isaiah denounced murder in his very first chapter (Isaiah 1:27). Manasseh’s murders were the main cause of the first destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:4). The second destruction was equally a judgment for the innocent blood that had been shed upon the earth "from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias (Matthew 23:35). Bloodshed cries to God for vengeance (Genesis 4:10); and bloodshed will be one of the main causes of the world’s final destruction at the last day (Revelation 16:6; Revelation 18:20).

"The earth shall no more cover her slain ..." "In the last day, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and nothing hidden that shall not be known" (Matthew 10:26). "Every murder, however secret, will be brought to light; and every murderer, however unsuspected previously, will be denounced and punished."

The implications of what is said here compel the identification of this event with the last day. Therefore, the punishment of the wicked promised in Isaiah 26:21 is a reference to the consignment of Satan and all who have followed him in the "eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).

Isaiah 26:11-15 GLORIFY: The second important objective of God’s judgments is to glorify His name. To exalt the name of Jehovah is the most fundamental need of man! If the name of Jehovah is not supreme, nothing is safe! If God’s integrity and faithfulness can be successfully impugned, man is lost! So, all of God’s actions are “for the sake of His name” (cf. Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14; Ezekiel 20:22; Ezekiel 20:44, etc.). All that man holds to be true, real, valuable, right or wrong, good or bad, depends upon the integrity of God and His Word. If God is not Absolute, everything is false! God’s most factual, arresting method of proving His Absoluteness is in His just judgments.

So, the true man of God prays for God’s justice to be done. The true man of God waits upon the Lord to carry out His judgments in His own time and in His own way (cf. Romans 12:14-21). And the true man of God does all within his own power to support God’s ordained structures of human government through which God executes some of His judgments (cf. Romans 13:1-10).

God’s zealous deliverances of His people and His judgments upon His enemies so glorify His name His people are moved to praise His name over and over.

God’s people praise Him expressing their absolute faith in Him to establish peace for them. They willingly confess that He has “worked all their works for them.” They, like David, realize that even their offerings to God came from Him (cf. 1 Chronicles 29:10-19). All the good that any man has done is possible only as that man allows God to work in him and through him.

Isaiah 26:13 is interesting because it contains the three major Hebrew names for God: Yaweh, Elohim, Adonai. In this verse Yaweh and Elohim denote God while Adonai denotes “other lords.” Adonai is parallel to the Greek word kurios (lord). Whether the “other lords” are human masters or idol-gods is uncertain. The Israelites allowed both human masters and idols to have dominion over them. When Jehovah has demonstrated once and for all His sovereign majesty in divine judgment and justice, and when He has brought in His new order men will never again call idols or human masters “lord.” While the church is in the world it will, of course, be subject to every human ordinance (not disobedient to God) for the Lord’s sake. But no human or idol will be called “Father” by a citizen of God’s new-order-kingdom.

God purged Israel of its idolatry once and for all through the Babylonian captivity. Israel, so enamored of idolatry during the time of the divided kingdom, was cast into a veritable sea of paganism and idolatry in Babylon and Persia. There they saw the cruelty and corruption that idolatry results in, and they cried out for deliverance. God erased every desire for idolatry from the true heart of the man of God. All over the world in this age when the gospel is preached and men love Christ and obey Him they throw away their false gods. The gospel has power to cast down “strongholds and every imagination that exalts itself against God and to bring every thought into captivity to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

God took a comparatively small and disorganized mass of nomadic slaves known as Hebrews, delivered them from the world-powerful hand of the Egyptian emperor, established a “beachhead” for them in the land of the Canaanites, and enlarged them numerically and geographically at the very center of world commerce and politics until their influence was felt all over the world. Miracles and providence were so evident in all this, the true believer had to acknowledge God’s working as the source of it all.

The establishment of God’s new-order-kingdom, the church, is even more spectacular and demonstrably divine in origin. One despised Galilean took twelve assorted fishermen and tax-collectors plus a tent-maker and conquered men from every tribe and tongue and nation on the earth.

In the days of Samuel, the people of God cried out for “a king like the nations.” Many “lords” came and went, exercising dominion over God’s people. For the most part, they led God’s people into idolatry and captivity. Through it all the Lord, Jehovah, was seeking to bring His people back to His own dominion over them. After long centuries of “troublous times” (cf. Daniel 9:24-27), God came to earth incarnate in human flesh, in His Son, and re-established His rule and His kingdom among men. So, now, God has “increased the nation” and “enlarged all the borders of the land” to include all who have and all who will believe Jesus and obey His commandments. And it all redounds to His glory!

Isaiah 26:16-18 JUSTICE IS SLOW: Batsar is the Hebrew for in trouble and primarily means to bind up, distressed, oppressed. In Isaiah 26:16 also is the Hebrew word musareka, translated chastening, which literally means, correction or discipline. We conclude then that Isaiah 26:16 is speaking of the corrective discipline by which the Lord had oppressed the Israelites in the past and would afflict them with in the future (the Babylonian captivity). This latter affliction is apparent when one compares the term “indignation” in Isaiah 26:20 with Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:36, which we shall do later.

These verses represent the prayers of the faithful remnant, in all its history, making known its frustration of looking for justice and deliverance in the midst of its trials and unable to deliver itself. The remnant is driven to hope in God’s justice. God’s justice seems to walk with leaden feet (cf. Habakkuk 1:1-4; Isaiah 59:14; Ezekiel 9:9; Revelation 6:9-11). So the saints of God cry out, but God is trying them, purging them, building endurance and character, if they will believe and hold fast their hope.

Like a pregnant woman, Israel had endured pain, much anxiety and now, trouble like a woman in the pangs of labor was upon Israel, and she had produced nothing. She knew from her prophets and patriarchs she was to bring to birth a new order, but now all she has is pain and in her anxiety she cries out again. Facing the captivity of the northern kingdom (Israel) and the disintegration of the southern kingdom (Judah) and its inevitable captivity, the faithful remnant (Isaiah, their spokesman) was gripped with frustration and anxiety about its Messianic destiny through which it was to bring deliverance to mankind.

Isaiah 26:18 contains the Hebrew word naphal which means birth, or as Leupold says, “is used of beasts dropping their young in birth.” A better translation of the phrase, “. . . neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen” would be, “. . . no inhabitants of the world came to birth through us.” This is better word usage and contextual harmony. The remnant’s agonized concern was that God’s covenant people had experienced nothing but pain and sorrow when their destiny was to produce a Messianic new-world-order. Thus far they had given birth to nothing at all!

Isaiah 26:19-21 JUSTICE IS SURE: But the answer from God through His prophet is, slow as His justice may seem, absolutely and divinely certain. What they think is dead shall live. God’s remnant is a living kingdom, not a dead one. There is some disagreement as to whether Isaiah 26:19 refers to personal, individual, physical resurrection from the dead or to a resurrection of the redemptive program of God through the deliverance of the covenant people from the captivities and its subsequent Messianic fulfillment. We tend to accept the latter view. We feel it fits the context more clearly, and such figure is used elsewhere (cf. Hosea 6:1-3; Ezekiel chapter 37; and see Daniel 12:1 ff). Those who dwell in the dust of death (in captivity) shall awake and sing. English translators translated the Hebrew ‘oroth as herbs, but it would better be, light. Thus we have paraphrased it: “. . . for God’s light of life will fall like refreshing dew upon them.” See Hosea 14:4-7 for the life-giving refreshment of dew.

It is specifically God’s people, the remnant, who are promised more than warned to hide themselves for a little while until the “indignation” is past. God invites them, Come, enter into thy chambers. He will protect them during the indignation. The Hebrew word used here for indignation is zaam and is the same word used in Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:36; and also Daniel 11:30 where it is translated “enraged” (RSV). See Daniel 8:19, The time of the indignation is the same as the “troublous time” of Daniel 9:24-27—the time for God’s accomplishing through the Jewish nation all that He is going to accomplish which will come to a culmination at the birth and death of the Messiah. In other words, the faithful remnant is going to have to endure a time of indignation/trouble from the time of the Babylonian captivities, through Persian domination, Greek domination, Seleucid domination, Roman domination until Christ is born. At His birth comes the long sought for deliverance (cf. Luke 1:67-79; Luke 2:25-38). At His birth comes the “resurrection” of the remnant’s Messianic destiny—its very life. The indignation, though it will last some 600 years, is only a “little while” with God. All during that time God is chastening, delivering, preparing them to become a people through which He can bring to birth His new order, His new covenant, the church.

God is going to do it. The guilty world cannot hide itself or its guilt. It cannot forego Jehovah’s deliverance of the remnant. God’s word is sure!