ISAIAH 66: 10-17
REJOICE BECAUSE OF GOD’S PROMISES
[2 Thess. 1:7-9]
Nothing can prevent YAHWEH from accomplishing His purpose of repopulating Jerusalem with new life. In light of God’s promise concerning His people’s future, the faithful remnant in Zion is told to rejoice. They will know comfort and plenty. They will be protected, for God will execute His judgment upon the wicked.
We too, as the people of God need to rejoice because of God’s good promises. Though we struggle and travail in our service to God one day our sorrows will be turned into abundant joys also.
I. REJOICING OVER JERUSALEM, 10.
II. GOD’S TENDER LOVE, 11-13.
III. BLESSINGS OR JUDGMENT, 14-17.
Verse 10 calls for rejoicing because of the new life they will experience. “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,
The condition of Jerusalem has been a reason for mourning. The nations have used it for their own purposes and its people have rejected God’s way of righteousness. God though will do for Jerusalem what He has set out to do (60:20; 61:2-3; 65:18-19). This (spiritual) restoration (and new life) then is cause for rejoicing for those who love her.
What did God set out to do? To bring many into the kingdom of God through birth. We as NT Christians understand this to include spiritual birth. The last passage (vv. 7-9) dealt will the large number of spiritual births that the pain and travailing of God’s people will bring forth.
God, therefore, calls all who love Jerusalem to forget their complaining and rejoice. For what God plans to do, He will accomplish. The promises of Chapter 61 will certainly come to past.
II. GOD’S TENDER LOVE, 11-13.
The thought of infants is picked up again in verse 11. That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.”
The people of Israel (and I believe us to day) are told to delight in the new Jerusalem as an infant delights in her mother’s sustenance. In fact, rejoicing in the salvation of God’s people is what leads to being able to “nurse and be satisfied.” Rejoicing in the salvation of God’s people leads to drawing close to God & finding comfort. Rejoicing in the salvation of God’s people is what leads to the partaking of her bounty & delighting oneself in it. [Those that love Israel will be blessed. Those who pray for her will prosper.]
Verse 12 let’s us know that God is the source behind the blessings of the new Jerusalem. For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.
Notice it says, “Behold I extend.” If Zion is able to be such a blessing to others it is only because God is providing them with what they need to fulfill their calling. It is God who extends His blessings through His people. What He promises to extend is peace. As stated many times in the Book of Isaiah, peace will come to Jerusalem (48:18; 55:12 and the nations’ wealth will flow to her 60:5, 11; 61:6). Such salom peace comes out of one’s relationship with the One True God. When the Messiah reigns in men’s hearts He not only brings peace within and peace without, but His kingdom of peace will flow like a river. The glory of the presence of God (which is the true glory of the nations) which flows peace will sustain and carry His people in wondrous companionship and playful delight. They will be like loved children carried on the hip and bounced on the knees of an adoring mother.
In verses 11-12 Jerusalem is compared to a mother; in verse 13 God is compared to a mother who comforts her child. “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
Here is one of the few places in the Bible where God is compared to a mother. The comparison is used to reinforce the depth of God’s loving concern and tender care for His children.
The three fold use of the word comfort emphasis its depth and quality. As in the last verse the emphases is that God is the source of Zion’s blessings. It is really God who comforts. When we extend healing comfort to others it is out of the comfort that God has given us in our difficulties (2 Cor. 1:4ff).
My wife took our infant daughter Cassia to receive an IMMUNIZATION. As the needle entered her shoulder, she howled. I wished I could help her understand that the inoculation would protect her from disease for the rest of her life. Though my daughter could not have understood those words, she felt her mother’s arms cradling her and heard the soothing tone of her voice.
As children of God, we often experience pain and confusion. We question God’s wisdom. But God will never forsake us. Even when we don’t understand what is happening to us, we can experience the comforting touch of God’s Spirit and hear God’s love through the words of scripture.
God does not cause the bad things to happen, but God can work through our circumstances to bring about good, to strengthen us, to bring us closer to other people and to God, and to prepare us for service. So we can give thanks in all things, even in our suffering.
III. BLESSINGS OR JUDGMENT, 14-17.
Verse 14 assures its readers the of the glad and strengthening results of God’s comfort. Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants, but He will be indignant toward His enemies.
God’s comforting presence toward His people results in a heart leaping emotion of gladness. Such comfort brings new vigor to bones (Prov. 17:22; 15:13). The presence of God will cause them to spring forth with new life like grass does in the spring (60:5).
God will clearly distinguish between His servants and His enemies. The hand of the Lord which manifests His power and skill will be revealed to His servants, but His indignation will be upon His enemies. When God restores His people to Jerusalem (vv.10-13) in the Millennium, they will rejoice and prosper, but on His and her enemies He will swoop down in judgment as the following verses indicate.
In verse 15 the promise of hope for God’s people again is followed with judgment upon God’s enemies. For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.
God’s indignation toward His enemies is seen in His swooping down in judgment like a fire (2 Thess. 1:7-9) and a whirlwind to deal with them. It says “the LORD will come in fire.” Those who have lived with His holy presence have been refined by that fire (Isa. 33:14-16; 43:1-2) and will experience no terror at His coming. But those who have lived in human effort will be terrified by His holy presence.
Coupled with the image of fire is His chariot whirling the wind (5:28; 2 Kgs 2:11; 6:17; Ps. 68:17). The overwhelming power of His coming is illustrated by drawing imagery from the forces of tornados and thunderstorms upon which He will ride.
His coming is to settle the issue of His anger that has slowly been arouse to fury. He comes not only to release His fury but to rebuke the rebellious with flames of fire.
The imagery of His coming continues to expand in verse16. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.
Here God’s triumph over sinful humanity is caught up in a climactic statement. The sword of the Lord flashes across the rebellious earth and corpse of the slain are strewn everywhere. This judgment is against all flesh. Evil will no longer dominate the earth or the affairs of men.
Verse 17 points out a specific detestable rebellion that God will judge severely. “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center, who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice, will come to an end altogether,” declares the Lord.
God sees false worship as an especially abhorrent sin as and those who lead it as rebellious sinners of the worst kind. [Special attention and judgment is focused on the prominent leader of such worship because he led the people astray.]
All man-made religions will come to an end. Religion that is not leading its followers to a surrender of heart and life to the One true God will never be practiced again. This judgment will be fair because of their abominations: consecrating themselves in pagan rites (2 Chron. 30:17), worshiping in idolatrous gardens (Isa. 1:29; 65:3), and eating ceremonially unclean animals such as pigs (65:4; 66:3; Lev. 11:7) and rats (Lev. 11:29).
“The thought of absolute dependance on God, of abandoning our ways for His, is deeply abhorrent to us. If we can feel that we can remake ourselves into His holy image, even by using the methods His has indicated, we feel a measure of pride and accomplishment. God’s word on all of that is one of unreserved judgment. We cannot justify ourselves, and all our attempts to do so must fail. Far from commending such behavior, God labels it as only one more form of rebellion, the more pernicious because it is so effectively masked.” [Oswalt, NIC; Isaiah 40-66, 687]
CONCLUSION
Today the blessings of God are on the just and the unjust alike. The manifestation of the blessings of faithfulness to God is very difficult to distinguish The day is coming though when the distinction between His servants and the enemies of God will be unmistakable. God’s hand will be evident in the blessed condition of His servants and in His anger upon His enemies. When the Messiah returns the world will see His glory because His judgment will be on all nations (Zech. 14:3; Rev. 19:17-18) and He will bountifully reward His own for their faithful service to Him and His kingdom.
