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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'1-');">Isa 52</a> - Joy When the <span class="c6">Lord</span> Reigns in Zion</h2>
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<p>A. When the <span class="c6">Lord</span> brings back Zion.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'1-3');">1-3</a>) Wake up to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s redemption of Zion.</p>
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<p class="c2">Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! For thus says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>: "You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion</span></b>: The first <b><span class="c3">Awake, awake!</span></b> asked the <span class="c6">Lord</span> to <i>put on strength</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',51,9);">Isa 51:9</a>). The second <b><span class="c3">Awake, awake!</span></b> asked Jerusalem to remember the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s judgments and promises. Now, the third <b><span class="c3">Awake, awake!</span></b> tells <b><span class="c3">Zion</span></b> to <b><span class="c3">put on strength</span></b> in light of the first to awakenings.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Put on your beautiful garments...for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you</span></b>: Jerusalem could put on clothes of beauty and glory, because the time of judgment was over. This shows that this passage has ultimate fulfillment in the very last days.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money</span></b>: Tragically, Jerusalem went after other gods like someone selling themselves <b><span class="c3">for nothing</span></b>. Yet, they would be blessed by being <b><span class="c3">redeemed without money</span></b>. God's mercy answered to their tragic sin!</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">You shall be redeemed without money</span></b> - but it doesn't mean that it doesn't cost anything. The end of <a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'1-');">Isa 52</a> begins to describe the great cost of redemption, but it is a cost paid by another.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'4-6');">4-6</a>) The <span class="c6">Lord</span> vindicates His name before those who blaspheme His name.</p>
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<p class="c2">For thus says the Lord <span class="c6">God</span>: "My people went down at first into Egypt to dwell there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, "That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them make them wail," says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, "And My name is blasphemed continually every day. Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: 'Behold, it is I.'"</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Those who rule over them make them wail...and My name is blasphemed continually every day</span></b>: God looks down, and sees how the nations have oppressed His people. <b><span class="c3">Egypt</span></b> held them in captivity. The <b><span class="c3">Assyrian oppressed them</span></b>, and the Babylonians took them <b><span class="c3">away for nothing</span></b>, and ruled cruelly over them. Worse than how they treated God's people was their disrespect for the <span class="c6">Lord</span> Himself, whom they <b><span class="c3">blasphemed continually every day</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Therefore My people shall know My name</span></b>: Yet God will glorify Himself; first, He will do it among His own <b><span class="c3">people</span></b>. It is almost if God says, "I can abide with My name being <b><span class="c3">blasphemed continually every day</span></b> among the nations. Just let it be known and praised among My people."</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is bad enough that the world does not know or honor God; but it is far more tragic when His own people do not know or honor Him.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks</span></b>: In Isaiah's day, they <i>didn't</i> know that the <span class="c6">Lord</span> had spoken through His Word. This is to be expected among the nations, but should never be so among God's people. But God promises there will come a day when <b><span class="c3">they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'7-10');">7-10</a>) The whole earth sees that the <span class="c6">Lord</span> redeems Zion.</p>
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<p class="c2">How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the <span class="c6">Lord</span> brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The <span class="c6">Lord</span> has 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.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news</span></b>: Isaiah prophesies of the beautiful feet of those who bring the Gospel - the <b><span class="c3">good news</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. No wonder those who bring <b><span class="c3">good news</span></b> have beautiful feet; they are out partnering with God for the salvation of men. The <b><span class="c3">feet</span></b> speak of activity, motion, and progress, and those who are active and moving in the work of preaching the gospel have <b><span class="c3">beautiful...feet</span></b>!</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"</span></b> The good news - news of peace, glad tidings, and salvation - can all be summed up in the glorious proclamation, <b><span class="c3">"Your God reigns!</span></b>" Where <b><span class="c3">God reigns</span></b>, <b><span class="c3">peace</span></b> reigns. Where <b><span class="c3">God reigns</span></b>, <b><span class="c3">glad tidings</span></b> reign. Where <b><span class="c3">God reigns</span></b>, <b><span class="c3">salvation</span></b> reigns. What a marvelous declaration - Our <b><span class="c3">God reigns!</span></b></p>
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<p class="c5">i. "The watchmen who see this happy return are probably those in Jerusalem who had long awaited the messengers. According to Ezekiel, the prophets were the leading 'watchmen' for the nation." (Wolf)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">The <span class="c6">Lord</span> has made bare His holy arm</span></b>: The thought beginning at <a onclick="return mV('Isa',51,9);">Isa 51:9</a> (<i>Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>!</i>) is completed. The <span class="c6">Lord</span> has shown His strength, the strength of <b><span class="c3">His holy arm</span></b>. No wonder it is a time for joy and singing!</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "The expression <i>made bare his holy arm</i> is a Hebrew idiom derived from rolling up long, loose sleeves before starting to work. Then the arm was bared - the symbol of any mighty undertaking or initiative." (Bultema)</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">In the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God</span></b>: God does not make His saving strength known just for those who are immediately rescued. He also does it as a witness and a testimony to others, so they can <b><span class="c3">see the salvation of our God</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'11-12');">11-12</a>) A call unto and confidence for those who will return.</p>
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<p class="c2">Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the <span class="c6">Lord</span> will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Depart! Depart! Go out from there</span></b>: Prophetically, this has both a near and a distant application. It was intended for the Babylonian captives Isaiah has prophesied to; but also for those gathered unto the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in the very end times. The call to separate from Babylon - both literal and spiritual - is a call to purity, for those <b><span class="c3">who bear the vessels of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <a onclick="return mV('2Ti',2,21);">2Ti 2:21</a> has a wonderful promise for those <b><span class="c3">vessels of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b> who pursue purity: <i>Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.</i></p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the <span class="c6">Lord</span> will go before you</span></b>: When the salvation of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> comes - both in its near and its ultimate fulfillment - there is a sense of peace in the glorious work of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, not a striving in <b><span class="c3">haste</span></b> or <b><span class="c3">by flight</span></b>.</p>
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<p>B. The Servant of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> brings salvation to many nations.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,'13-14');">13-14</a>) The exaltation and humiliation of the Servant of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c2">Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Behold, My Servant</span></b>: This passage, through the end of <a onclick="return mV('Isa',53,'1-');">Isa 53</a>, has in focus the <b><span class="c3">Servant</span></b> of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. This is the Servant previously spoken of in <a onclick="return mV('Isa',42,1);">Isa 42:1</a>, and <a onclick="return mV('Isa',49,3);">Isa 49:3</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Isa',49,6);">6</a>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The Ethiopian in <a onclick="return mV('Act',8,24);">Act 8:24</a> asked a question about <a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,13);">Isa 52:13</a> through <a onclick="return mV('Isa',53,12);">53:12</a>: <i>Of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?</i> This question is still asked today, and the answer is extremely important.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Through the book of Isaiah, many have been called servants of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in one way or another. This includes Isaiah himself (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',20,3);">Isa 20:3</a>), Eliakim (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',22,20);">Isa 22:20</a>), David (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',37,35);">Isa 37:35</a>), Israel (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',41,'8-9');">Isa 41:8-9</a>). But there is no doubt that the phrase is also used as a specific title for the Messiah, and this is what is in view here.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. The New King James Version rightly capitalizes <b><span class="c3">Servant</span></b>, because the context demonstrates this is a clear reference to Jesus. Additionally, Matthew quotes <a onclick="return mV('Isa',42,'1-5');">Isa 42:1-5</a> and plainly says it is a prophecy fulfilled in Jesus (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',12,'16-21');">Mat 12:16-21</a>). Additionally, in <a onclick="return mV('Mat',8,'16-17');">Mat 8:16-17</a> the Bible takes this passage of <a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,13);">Isa 52:13</a> through <a onclick="return mV('Isa',53,12);">53:12</a> and says it specifically applies to Jesus.</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. Many people are amazed that people - especially Jewish people - can read a chapter like this and miss Jesus. But really it isn't surprising. When we make up our minds about who Jesus is, it's easy to become blind and deaf to the plain, simple message of the Word of God. Put away your pre-conceived notions and your cultural Jesus. Let the Word of God tell you who He is.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high</span></b>: The first words of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in the mouth of the prophet regarding His Servant declare His victory. <b><span class="c3">He shall be exalted and extolled</span></b> means that the Messiah will triumph. There is no doubt about it. Before any of His suffering is announced, His glorious triumph is assured.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">His visage was marred more than any man</span></b>: This speaks of the cruel and vicious beating Jesus endured at the hands of his enemies. Jesus was beaten so badly on His face that He hardly looked like a man. The result was so shocking that <b><span class="c3">many were astonished</span></b> when they saw Jesus.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <i>Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?"</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',22,'63-64');">Luk 22:63-64</a>)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. The <i>astonishment</i> mentioned may be subtly referred to in the New Testament. On several occasions after His resurrection, the followers of Jesus were slow to recognize Him (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,16);">Luk 24:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',20,14);">Jhn 20:14</a>, and <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',21,4);">21:4</a>). On one occasion, they even seem awkward about His appearance: <i>Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?" - knowing that it was the Lord.</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',21,12);">Jhn 21:12</a>) This may indicate that the <i>marred visage</i> of Jesus remained after His resurrection. We know that Jesus retained some of the scars of His crucifixion (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,40);">Luk 24:40</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',20,'25-28');">Jhn 20:25-28</a>), perhaps this extends to His face as well. However, we should not be troubled by the thought of seeing an "ugly Jesus" in heaven. If those scars do remain, they will only <i>increase</i> His glory and beauty to our eyes, standing as badges of His matchless love.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. <b><span class="c3">More than any man</span></b> does not literally mean that by appearances, Jesus was beaten more severely than any many would ever be beaten. It is a poetic hyperbole used to express the terrible effect of the beating He endured.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',52,15);">15</a>) The cleansing of many nations.</p>
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<p class="c2">So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">So shall He sprinkle many nations</span></b>: Sprinkling is often associated with <i>cleansing from sin</i> in the Old Testament (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',24,8);">Exd 24:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Lev',3,6);">Lev 3:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Num',19,21);">Num 19:21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eze',36,25);">Eze 36:25</a>). Here, the promise is that the work of the Messiah will bring cleansing to <b><span class="c3">many nations</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The Messiah is certainly Israel's Messiah; yet He belongs to more than Israel. His saving, cleansing work will extend far beyond Israel to <b><span class="c3">many nations</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Kings shall shut their mouths at Him</span></b>: Though all will be astonished at His appearance, they will have nothing to say against Him. His glory and His great work will stop every word. When they spoke against Him before, it was in blindness, but now <b><span class="c3">what had not been told them they shall see</span></b>.</p>
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