WWUTT 2104 Hope Will Come to Zion (Isaiah 52:1-15)

Hope for the Captives in Isaiah 52

Judah had been exiled into Babylonian captivity and while there they wondered will we perish here. But through the prophet Isaiah God promised release for his captives and so we find deliverance in Jesus Christ our Savior when we.

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New Testament book on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday an Old Testament book on Thursday and a Q &A on Friday. With our Old Testament study today here's Pastor.

Gabe. Thank you Becky and greetings everyone. Sorry I've been a little late getting the Wednesday and Thursday episodes up. I'll explain why tomorrow in the Friday Q &A if you tune in. In the meantime we continue with our study of Isaiah.

We're up to chapter 52 this week and we're gonna hear about hope for the captives and the promise of the Messiah who will prosper. Let me begin here in verses 1 through 6 of Isaiah 52 which I'm reading from the Legacy Standard Bible.

Hear the word of the Lord. Awake, awake, clothe yourself in your strength O Zion, clothe yourself in your glorious garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer come in to you.

Shake yourself from the dust, rise up O captive Jerusalem, loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says Yahweh, you were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.

For thus says Lord Yahweh, my people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there. Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. So now what do I have here declares Yahweh, since my people have been taken away for nothing.

Yahweh declares, those who rule over them howl and my name is continually blasphemed all day long. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking. Here I am.

And then he will continue to proclaim his glory, the Lord, in verses 7 to 12. And then we read about the promise of the exalted servant who is Christ. We have something messianic at the end of this chapter in verses 13 to 15.

Hope for the Captives and the Call to Repentance

But overall the theme here that we're reading about is hope for the captives. Remember this is Judah. This directly pertains to Judah that had been exiled out of their land into Babylonian captivity. Now of course this is all speaking prophetically toward that day because they had not yet been exiled at the time that Isaiah is writing this.

This is all prophecy a hundred years before those things happen. But yet these are written for their benefit and for their good so that when their hearts are turned they realize their wickedness. They repent before God.

They hear from the Prophet. They didn't listen to him in the days that he was speaking. But now with that change of heart, as God has poured out repentance upon them, they are able to hear what Isaiah said and understand it and long for and have hope for the day of their deliverance.

So let's come back to the start of chapter 52 again. Awake, awake. Clothe yourself in strength, O Zion. So here's the call for them to wake up. That they would turn from their sin to the glory of God.

That they would come to realize their error and repent of it and turn back to God's ways. Clothe yourself in strength, O Zion. Now for us who have repented of sin and come to Christ, we are likewise clothed not with garments of our own making but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Talked about that even yesterday with regard to the conclusion of Matthew 25, the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus is talking to those saints who had done great things. They had demonstrated in their works that they loved God.

And by great things I just simply mean they loved as Jesus loved. Not great miraculous works or whatever, but they they did simply what Jesus has commanded us to do. That we keep his commands, that we pursue godliness, that we be holy, we turn from sin, and we live like Christ.

So they had done this in their lives demonstrating that they were wearing the righteousness of Christ. So we are likewise clothed in strength when we are followers of Jesus Christ. Strength to turn from sin.

Strength to do what we could not do living righteously before we came to Jesus Christ. We could not follow him. We could not live in a way that was pleasing to God until the Holy Spirit changed our hearts, opened our eyes to understand our sin and need for a Savior, and seeing that Jesus is that Savior.

So here, clothe yourself in your glorious garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. We are likewise clothed in glorious garments and they come not from ourselves, they are of Christ. Now it goes on to say, for the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer come into you.

So when Judah was conquered and exiled, it was the Babylonians came into their city, destroyed the temple. God is saying that a day is coming in which the unclean won't come into you anymore. Now that could not have been.

That could not have been when the Jews returned back to their land after their exile. Because the unclean did come into them again, didn't they? The Greeks who blasphemed God when Antiochus Epiphanes the fourth sacrificed an unclean animal, a pig, on the altar and erected a statue of Zeus in the temple of God.

And then after the Greeks, the Romans came in. At the time of Christ, the Romans are the ones who are ruling over the Jews. And they are under captivity once again. So this promise that the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer come into you cannot be related to the return of the Jews to their land.

It is actually, prophetically speaking, about us today. So we who are Christians who have been called out of darkness and into his marvelous light, when we are in Christ Jesus, when the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, the uncircumcised and the unclean no longer come into us.

We belong to Christ. We are not under the rule and captivity of anyone else. We are under Christ Jesus. And even this address here, Jerusalem the holy city, that's an address to the church. This is typology here.

It's types and shadows of things that are going to come that will be fulfilled in Christ. But we are called the new Jerusalem. When you read in Revelation about the new Jerusalem coming down clothed in white as a new bride, this is the church that John is observing.

It's not a physical place. It's a people. And so we are that people, we who are in Christ. And in the church, in the true church that is made up of true followers of Jesus Christ, the uncircumcised and the unclean do not come into her.

Verse 2, shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem. Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Now, Jerusalem cannot just by their own will decide, I'm not going to be captive anymore.

It has to be the work of God. And remember that we've heard throughout Isaiah that God is going to release them. He is going to send them back to their land. It is by the work of God that this will be done, not by their own will.

And so it is with us coming to salvation. We are not saved by our free will. We are saved when we are given a new will. The Holy Spirit changes our hearts from being rebellious and opposed to God to now we desire God.

And he desires us, seeing that we've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ by faith. So shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem. Loose yourself from the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

For thus says Yahweh, you were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money. We're not talking about physical things here once again. For thus says Lord Yahweh, my people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there.

Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. So they went down to Egypt. That's referring back to when Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt to sojourn there. And then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

So it could be in reference to that. Let me put it that way. It could be in reference to Jacob and his sons sojourning in Egypt. God called them out of captivity. So here as he is talking about loosening yourself from the chains that are around your neck, it could be that that this reference to Egypt calls their attention back to.

Remember, you were enslaved before and I freed you. Then I will free you even from your chains now. That could be it. But it could also be in reference to the fact that when the Assyrians were coming against Jerusalem, against Judah, then they thought our only way out is to start developing alliances.

And they developed an alliance with Egypt. And some of them probably did go down to Egypt and sojourn there, but the Assyrian continued to oppress them. So now what do I have here, declares Yahweh. This is verse five.

Since my people have been taken away for nothing. Yahweh declares those who rule over them howl and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long. Remember that the desolate land, the land that the Jews were driven out of when they were taken captive by the Babylonians, it was referred to there that it became a haunt of jackals.

And so here they are even among the Babylonians where they're howling like wolves. So their land is left desolate and became a haunt of jackals. And now they're even living in a land that's like living among jackals.

And the name of God is continually blasphemed all day long. Nobody there in Babylon, nobody later among the Medes and the Persians. Truly honor God, the nation as a whole is blasphemous against God. So in verse six, the Lord says, therefore, my people shall know my name.

Therefore in that day, I am the one who is speaking. Here I am. So God is going to free his people from that place, from the place where God is blasphemed and deliver them back to a place where God is worshiped.

The Good News Proclaimed in Isaiah and Romans 10

Beginning on verse seven. Now this is, this is the next section goes from seven to 12 with God's declaration of good news. So we have the call, which was verses one through six. Now we're going to hear essentially the gospel.

It's the good news versus seven to 12. And then after that, it will be the one who brings the gospel with the declaration of the coming of Christ in verses 13 to 15. So here we are in that call of good news.

There's the call to pay attention. Now there's the call of good news that begins here in verse seven. How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who proclaims good news, who announces peace and proclaims good news of good things, who announces salvation and says to Zion, your God reigns.

Now this all sounds really familiar, right? You've heard this before somewhere. This is also repeated in Romans 10 where the apostle Paul says, how beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things.

This is where Paul is urging. He is encouraging the Christians, Jews and Gentiles together that they need to be going out and declaring the gospel. Romans 10, eight, what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.

That is the word of faith, which we are preaching that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for with the heart of person believes leading to righteousness and with the mouth, he confesses leading to salvation for the scripture says, whoever believes upon him will not be put to shame for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all abounding and riches for all who call on him for whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Now listen to this next part. This is still Romans 10 verse 14. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard and how will they hear without a preacher and how will they preach unless they are sent just as it is written and here's the quotation from Isaiah 52, seven, how beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things.

However, they did not all heed the good news for Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our report Romans 10, 17. So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. And that's what it is that we are hearing right here.

It is the word of God that is being proclaimed the good news to the captives that they might be set free and how will they know unless they are told. So here is the declaration. Here's the proclamation from the Lord God through his prophet Isaiah, though the people wouldn't hear for over a hundred years.

Verse eight, the voice of your watchman, they lift up their voices. They shout joyfully together for they will see with their own eyes when Yahweh returns to Zion. Break forth, shout joyfully together.

You waste places of Jerusalem for Yahweh has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. And how does God do this? This is not talking about their return from exile. Once again, it's not talking about when they go back into the land, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, so on and so forth.

In the days of Nehemiah and Ezra, that's not what this is in reference to. When Yahweh returns to Zion, that's prophetically talking about Jesus Christ. That Jesus is going to come into that land. God who put on flesh and dwelt among them.

And he'll even return to Zion. We just finished that up, didn't we? A few weeks ago in Isaiah, or sorry, Isaiah, Matthew, Matthew chapter 23, where Jesus finishes the seven woes to the Pharisees, and then he leaves the temple.

So in that week, right before going to the cross there on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday or something like that, he had been teaching in the temple. He had been in the temple before that as well, but especially right there in that week where salvation is going to be accomplished, where he is going to go to the cross and fulfill the requirement of atonement and then rise again from the dead for our justification, as said in Romans 4.

This is through Christ that all of this will be accomplished. They will see with their own eyes when Yahweh returns to Zion. And it says, the voice of your watchmen, they see this together. And we read about in the gospel accounts of those who were anticipating the coming of the Savior.

You have Simeon and Anna who were both in the temple praying, and when they saw the Christ, they knew. There were people who were looking. They were anticipating it. They were like watchmen in that day.

And so in verse 9, break forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for Yahweh has comforted his people. Going on to verse 10, Yahweh has bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations.

All the nations will see the Savior. People from every nation will come to Jesus Christ. Every tribe, tongue, and nation being represented around the throne is talked about in the book of Revelation. He has extended his holy arm in the sight of all the nations that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.

Depart, depart, go out from there, touch nothing unclean, go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh. So we go from at the very beginning of this chapter, awake, awake, clothe yourselves in strength.

And now here in verse 11, depart, depart, go out from there, and touch nothing unclean. God who calls you out is holy, he calls you to be holy. And so just as we have been called in Christ Jesus to be holy, let us not turn back to sinful ways or look to the world for satisfaction and pleasure.

For we are fully satisfied in Christ. Go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh. And Paul tells Timothy that he must be like a worthy vessel in 2 Timothy, that he must cleanse himself and make himself worthy of the calling that God had placed upon him to preach and teach the word.

So every one of us, likewise, we are purified by Christ, but we must also purify ourselves. As James says in James 4, cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double-minded. We are purified by Christ and yet there is also a responsibility upon each and every one of us to turn from our sin.

Verse 12, but you will not go out in haste, nor will you go as those who flee, for Yahweh will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Once again, even though the call is upon Israel to respond, it is ultimately God who fulfills it.

He goes before them, He makes sure the last one leaves at the end of them. It is God who does this. And He does it all through the person and work of Christ. Let's come now to verses 13 to 15. Behold, my servant will prosper.

He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted, just as many were appalled at you, my people. So his appearance was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. So there were people appalled at you.

There are people that look at you and they go, look at those people. It wasn't because Israel was the greatest nation that God chose them. In fact, in Deuteronomy, it says they were the least among the nations and yet God chose them to put his name.

But it's the same with the church. We're not the greatest gathering of people in the world and yet it is among us that God has chosen to put his name. Just as many were appalled at you. You'd see that in the culture right now.

People in the culture appalled at those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. But so it was with Christ, wasn't it? His appearance was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men.

How he was beaten and bled for our sake. And so verse 15, thus he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths on account of him for what had not been told them they will see and what they had not heard they will understand.

And everyone on that day of Christ's return will see him. The kings of the world will tremble and cower as talked about in Revelation. They will run away. They will flee. They will say who can stand in the presence of the wrath of God that has come to judge the wickedness of man.

But those who are in Christ Jesus, we are captives who have been set free. We are no longer enslaved to our flesh, to our sin, to this world. We've been set free in Christ Jesus to live holy, godly, upright lives before him in the present day.

So let us do that. Turning from sin, living as those who have been set free from the snare of sin, living in the righteousness of Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here.

The hope that is given to Zion that they will be set free from their captivity. We know that hope. Who is Jesus Christ? We have been set free. So God, if there is any sinful way in us, convict us of our sin that we may turn from that and live in the righteousness of Christ that we have been clothed in.

You have gone before us. You come in after us that we might be held safely in your arms and delivered safely into your kingdom. Not by any work that we have done, but the work that you have done through us.

And so by our works, we demonstrate that we belong to God and his kingdom. So may we live holy, upright lives before you in this time. Looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. It's in his name that we pray.

Amen.

Closing Prayer and Ministry Sign-Off

This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

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