110. Awake, Awake, Jerusalem!

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Hymns: RHC 266 I Am Coming, Lord 268 Lord, I’m Coming Home 267 Only Trust Him 

Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. 4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. 12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. 

Awake, Awake, O Jerusalem

OUTLINE

  • Arise (v1-2)
  • Be Restored (v3-6)
  • Restorer’s Glad Tidings (v7-8)
  • Rejoicing Again (v9-10)
  • Separating from Idolatry (v11-12)

INTRODUCTION

In the prophecy of Israel’s coming captivity and Jerusalem’s destruction, Isaiah gives a word of encouragement to console the pious part of the Jewish community. The uplifting word from the LORD was the Jerusalem will be rebuilt again at the coming of Messiah. 

The general topic is, the promise of a rich blessing, first at the deliverance from the captivity at Babylon, and then, in a more complete sense, at the coming of the Messiah. [Barnes]

  • Arise (v1-2)

1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

Jerusalem, long in bondage, is called on to arise and shake herself from the dust, and to put on her beautiful garments (v1-2). She is addressed in accordance with language that is common in Isaiah, and the other prophets, as a female sitting on the ground, covered with dust, and mourning over her desolations.

Awake, awake – This address to Jerusalem is intimately connected with the closing verses of the preceding chapter. Jerusalem is there represented as down-trodden in the dust before her enemies. Here she is described under the image of a female that had been clad in the habiliments of mourning, and she is now called on to arise from this condition, and to put on the garments that would be indicative of gladness and of joy. The idea is, that the time had come now in which she was to be delivered from her long captivity, and was to be restored to her former prosperity and splendour. [Barnes]

Put on thy strength – Hebrew, ‘Clothe thyself with thy strength.’ The idea is, exert thyself, be strong, bold, confident; arise from thy dejection, and become courageous as one does when he is about to engage in an enterprise that promises success, and that demands effort.

Put on thy beautiful garments – Jerusalem is here addressed, as she often is, as a female. 

Zion, or Sion, was the name of one of the hills on which the city of Jerusalem was built. On this hill formerly stood the city of the Jebusites, and when David took it from them he transferred to it his court, and it was called the city of David, or the holy hill. It was in the southern part of the city. As Zion became the residence of the court, and was the most important part of the city, the name was often used to denote the city itself, and is often applied to the whole of Jerusalem. The phrase ‘daughter of Zion’ means Zion itself, or Jerusalem. The name daughter is given to it by a personification in accordance with a common custom in Eastern writers, by which beautiful towns and cities are likened to young females. The expression was also employed as an image of beauty, from a fancied resemblance between a beautiful town and a beautiful and well-dressed woman. 

She was to lay aside the garments expressive of grief and of captivity, and deck herself with those which were appropriate to a state of prosperity.

The uncircumcised and the unclean – The idea is, that those only should enter Jerusalem and dwell there who would be worshippers of the true God. The uncircumcised are emblems of the impure, the unconverted, and the idolatrous; and the meaning is, that in future times the church would be pure and holy. It cannot mean that no uncircumcised man or idolater would ever again enter the city of Jerusalem, for this would not be true. It was a fact that Antiochus and his armies, and Titus and his army entered Jerusalem, and undoubtedly hosts of others did also who were not circumcised. 

But this refers to the future times, when the Israel would be pure. Its members would, in the main, be possessors of the true religion, and would adorn it. Probably, therefore, the view of the prophet extended to the purer and happier times under the Messiah, when Israel should be characteristically and eminently holy, and when, as a great law of that church, none should be admitted, who did not profess that they were converted.

Zechariah 14:20-21 (KJV) In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

The mark of true consecration will be seen everywhere and practised in the millennium. It is “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD.” All are cleansed and holy in Jerusalem and among God’s people. 

There will be holiness in public life “bells of the horses,” in religious life “pots in the Lord’s house,” and all private life “every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah.” Truly, “blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8). God dwells physically in the midst of His saints who will be appointed to rule with Him. Sin will no more have dominion. What glorious freedom! These last two verses of prophesymay well close not only this book but the whole history of Israel, for it shows God’s original purpose fulfilled in Exodus 19:6, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

All who enter the house of the Lord are recognized as regenerated born-again believers. There shall be no Canaanites (heathen, unbelievers) in the house of the Lord of hosts. Our Lord rules in our hearts today but the corrupt nature wars daily against the spirit of holiness. May God’s people wage a good warfare against the corruptness in us, daily practising holy habits, watching and working for the night comes when no man can work. God does not forget His own children. The Lord truly remembers!

  • Be Restored (v3-6)

3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. 4 For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.

The LORD expressly promises to deliver His people from their captivity and bondage (v3-6). In stating this, he says (v3), that they had sold themselves for nothing, and should be redeemed without money; He appeals to the fact that He had delivered them from Egyptian oppression in former years, and that He was as able to deliver them now (v4); and He says (v5-6), that He would have compassion on them now that they were suffering under their grievous bondage, and would furnish them with the most ample demonstration that He alone was God.

  • Restorer’s Glad Tidings (v7-8)

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

The prophet, in vision, sees the messenger on the mountains that comes to proclaim restoration to Zion (v7-8). He speaks of the beauty of the feet of him who bears the glad message (v7); and says that when that messenger is seen bearing the glad tidings,’ the watchman’ should join in the exultation (v8). [Barnes]

This passage is applied by Paul to the ministers of the gospel (Romans 10:15). 

Romans 10:15 (KJV) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

The meaning here seems to be this: Isaiah was describing the certain return of the Jews to their own land. He sees in vision the heralds announcing their return to Jerusalem running on the distant hills. A herald bearing good news is a beautiful object; and he says that his feet are beautiful; that is, his running is beautiful. He came to declare that the long and painful captivity was closed, and that the holy city and its temple were again to rise with splendour, and that peace and plenty and joy were to be spread over the land. 

Such a messenger coming with haste, the prophet says, would be a beautiful object. The idea here is, that the feet of messengers when they travelled in the dust were naturally offensive and disgusting, but that the messenger of peace and prosperity to those who had been oppressed and afflicted by the ravages of war, was so charming as to transform a most disagreeable into a pleasing object.

It is true that the feet of those who had travelled far in dry and dusty roads would present a spectacle offensive to the beholder; and it is true also, that the consideration that they who were coming were messengers of peace and safety would convert deformity into beauty, and make us behold with delight this indication of their embassy. 

But it seems to me that this passage has much higher beauty. The idea in the mind of the prophet is not, that the messenger is so near that the sordid appearance of his feet could be seen. The beholder is supposed to be standing amidst the ruins of the desolated city, and the messenger is seen running on the distant hills. The long anticipated herald announcing that these ruins are to rise, at length appears. Seen on the distant hills, running rapidly, he is a beautiful object. It is his feet, his running, his haste, that attracts attention; an indication that he bears a message of joy, and that the nation is about to be restored. Nahum, who is supposed to have lived after Isaiah, has evidently copied from him this beautiful image. [Barnes]

  • Rejoicing Again in Jerusalem (v9-10)

9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Jerusalem, and all the waste and desolate regions of Judea, are called on to break out into singing at the glad and glorious events which would occur when the people of God should be again restored (v9-10).

Zechariah 14:16-19 (KJV) And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that haveno rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Despite their mistreatment of Israel, the repentant nations will be spared and provided opportunity for regular worship. The feast of Booths (Tabernacles) was one of Israel’s three pilgrim feasts observed annually by the people of Israel (v 16; Deut. 16:13-16). The feast commemorates the wilderness experience of Israel and celebrates the fall harvest (Lev 23:39, 42-43).

True worship shall be universally established amongst a remnant of the nations. Any nation slack in their worship and acknowledgement of their King will suffer punishment by a plague. And if a nation fails to go to Jerusalem for worship, it will

have no rain and suffer losses (v17). 

It is the same for God’s people today who fail to worship and acknowledge Him in their lives. Remember the encouraging words of the prophet Isaiah, “If thou turnaway thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORDhath spoken it” (Isa 58:13-14).

Egypt is the nation that has caused much suffering to God’s people. In that day, Egypt will be subdued and in their obedience, they will also enjoy the blessings of salvation given to Israel. The rule of the Prince of Peace from Jerusalem will be most glorious because there will finally be lasting peace, Satan will be bound up for 1,000 years. What a blessed scene of true prosperity!

May this study awaken us to the nearness of the Lord’s RETURN! Let us forsake the world and come to Jesus!

  • Separating From Idolatry (v11-12)

11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. 12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. 

In view of all this, the people are called on to depart from Babylon, and to return to their own land (v11-12). They were to go out pure. They were not to contaminate themselves with the polluted objects of idolatry. They were about to bear back again to Jerusalem the consecrated vessels of the house of the LORD, and they should be clean and holy. They should not go out with haste, as if driven out, but they would go defended by the LORD, and conducted by Him to their own land. [Barnes]

CONCLUSION

There is a way back with God. The LORD remembers His own. Amen.