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;
Isaiah 62:1-12
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.
Some passages of Scripture are difficult to understand if we don’t have a solid “Biblical Theology.” What’s that? The term systematic theology is more common and refers to the systematic study of topics throughout the Bible. For example, we can look at the attributes of God. We look at what we learn of God from Genesis to Revelation and systematize those truths. In systematic theology, we see God’s omnipotence, his omniscience, his omnipresence, etc.
Biblical theology looks at Biblical truth as it is revealed over time in the Bible. God reveals himself progressively a little at a time. If we only know what is disclosed in Genesis 1-3, we have the earliest foundation of God and his creation, but we don’t know about things revealed later in Genesis 5-9, where we learn of God’s relationship to humanity and the Noahic Covenant in which he promises to never again destroy the earth with water and will continue the seasons as we know them. Later we learn more through the Abrahamic covenant, and more with the Mosaic covenant, and still more through the Davidic covenant, etc. That is Biblical theology.
Isaiah 62 requires that we have some understanding of Biblical theology, the process of God’s revelation of himself, and his plan for his creation. Isaiah prophesied before Israel was taken into captivity by Babylon and is prophesying of future blessing and restoration. But the vision of Isaiah goes way beyond the restoration that Israel would look for. Isaiah takes us all the way to the New Heaven and New Earth. We know this because Jesus, in the Revelation, quotes from Isaiah 62:11, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” Jesus says, “Behold, I (your salvation) am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12)
The reference to Israel is not limited to the twelve sons of Jacob and their genealogical descendants. It becomes the expansive definition of Israel as all of the faithful people of God, “The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory…” Israel will be called by a new name and will be a royal diadem in the hand of God. One reference to the new name is in verse 4, Israel will no longer be known by the terms “Forsaken” and “Desolate.” Instead, she will be called, “my delight is in her,” and “married.” Where do we find this fulfilled? The church is the bride of Christ. The church is made up of all the faithful people of God, both Jew and Gentile.
The amazing message is that God rejoices over his bride, us.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
Zephaniah 3:17
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
The reality is so much over our heads and hearts that Paul prays a special prayer for us.
That we “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19)
Watchmen on the walls
God commands us to pester him with our prayers until we see the fulfillment of the restoration spoken of in Isaiah 62. This prayer is to prepare the way for people to come to Zion, the church, the dwelling of God.
And they shall be called The Holy People,
Isaiah 62:12
The Redeemed of the Lord;
and you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.
We who know and love the Lord have an essential task to complete that will bring to pass this restoration. We are to prepare the way for people to come to their salvation, Jesus. The prime element of the preparation is prayer. The watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem will
…all the day and all the night
Isaiah 62:6-7
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.
Prayer for the coming of the Kingdom of God is the prayer of a watchman. It is the first petition Jesus taught us to pray after we acknowledge his holiness in worship. It is his priority. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these earthly things will be added to us. May we be Biblical watchmen on the walls of God’s kingdom.
