ISAIAH CHAPTER 62 |
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ISAIAH 62 Isaiah
62:1-12 relates the promise of kingdom blessing upon Israel .
Isaiah’s personal
testimony continues from verses 61:1-3 and 10-11.
He represents the Messiah at the first advent in verses 1-2a.
It shows Israel in a time of suffering -
And
at 63:18, “our adversaries have trodden it down.”)
When the Messiah arrives in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, this will OFFICIALLY end the time of distress (Matthew 24:22, 29-30). But the PROCESS of deliverance and judgment on Israel’s enemies will take several months.
When the Old Testament
prophets saw the second coming, they envisioned the arrival of Yahweh (the
Messiah) in His descent to the earth as one event. They did not see the arrival in the sky and the physical descent to the earth as two separate events. And they did not see the supernatural gathering of believers out from the earth before the pouring out of God’s wrath and judgment. They saw the second coming as occurring during the time of great distress, and as ending that time of distress. They did not see a PROCESS of judgment that would take several months, but a TIME of judgment as a general event.
Verse 62:1b
This refers to a time when
Israel will be restored to her RIGHTEOUS standing with God.
Verse 62:12
This will only happen when
every Jew living on the earth is a believer in Jesus.
God will never forsake
Israel. He made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that will never be
broken. Romans 11:1-2
Romans 11:29
Romans 11:26 Paul quotes the Old Testament to indicate HOW it will happen that “all Israel will be saved.” Isaiah 59:20. It will happen because –
(1) The Messiah will come.
Thus, there is no conflict
between the Hebrew and Paul’s quote.
This is a general
statement concerning the second coming of the Lord. Paul is only interested in telling us that when the Messiah comes, He will conduct a process of cleansing Israel from sin so that only believers will be left to go into the kingdom. Specifically, the cleansing process will occur as many Jews trust in Christ after His arrival in the clouds of the sky at the 6th seal, and during the Day-of-the-Lord judgments that follow.
Then, after Armageddon,
all the Jews will be gathered into Palestine where Christ will remove the
unbelievers (fat sheep) from the earth. The only ones left will be the
believers; the “lean sheep” of Ezekiel 34:17-22.
Paul continues at Romans
11:26, “He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
Once again, there is no
conflict. Isaiah says that the Messiah is coming FOR THE BENEFIT of the ones who have turned away from their sins and embraced the Messiah. Thus, when the Messiah comes He will “trigger” many conversions and will accomplish His judgment and kingdom agenda for the benefit of those who are converted. And eventually, He will REMOVE all transgressions – He will remove the unbelievers from the earth so that all who remain will be “all Israel saved.” According to Ezekiel 34:17-22, He will come FOR the lean sheep and He will REMOVE the fat sheep.
At Romans 11:27 Paul
continues to document the future salvation of ALL ISRAEL. It seems that Paul has correlated three Old Testament FACTORS rather than passages. He is not quoting any particular passage in its entirety, but referring to the CONCEPT of the covenant with God through the forgiveness of sins. And he mentions these factors by referencing Isaiah and Jeremiah.
The two main ideas are
“the covenant” and the “removal of sins.”
This is brought out by
Jeremiah in 31:33-34. However, it seems more likely that Paul is making a reference to the covenant of Jeremiah 31. He quotes the first part of Isaiah 59:21, “and this is My covenant with them.” And that reminds Him of the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34, and the fact that this salvation covenant is based on “I will forgive, and their sin I will remember no more.” Thus, Paul is saying that the COVENANT of “all Israel will be saved” is based on the fact of a complete judicial forgiveness of sins. We have to add some details, for it should be obvious that the establishment of this covenant on a personal level comes only when a person has trusted in Jesus Christ as the Messiah/Savior. The covenant in view is an extension of the salvation covenant established by Jesus through His sacrifice and victory on the cross (Heb. 10:12-18); “the everlasting covenant – the grace provisions of David.”
Isaiah 55:3 This is the new covenant of salvation from sin was established by Christ on the cross, and confirmed through His death and resurrection. Hebrews 10:5-18.
The “grace provision” of
salvation is available to all, “for there is no distinction between Jew and
Gentile; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who
call upon Him.”
When ALL Israel is SAVED
Israel, then they will all be under the new covenant of salvation from sins as
promised at Jeremiah 31:31-34. According to Romans 11:25, this will occur some time AFTER “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” This refers to God’s plan to bring a maximum number of Gentiles into the body of Christ through faith in Christ. In God’s perfect timing, He will send Jesus back to arrive “in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory;” “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will show at His own time.” (1 Tim. 6:14-15). It is at this time that the church body, comprised of all saved Jews and Gentiles, will be resurrected and taken out of the world to meet the Lord in the air. 1Thes. 4:14-17; Mat. 24:31 (the rapture). (The fullness of the Gentiles is not the same thing as “the times of the Gentiles.) (The two witnesses of Revelation 11:1-12 have a unique and specialized ministry during the second half of Daniel’s 70th week. They are the only believers who will not be go up at the rapture. When their testimony is over at the end of the week, they will be caught up to join the rest of the raptured saints.) See Topic: THE TWO WITNESSES
MESSENGERS TO ISRAEL At that time, after the church has been “raptured,” there will be 144,000 Jews who trust in Christ as their Savior. These will become the heralds of the kingdom of God, announcing to the people, “Behold, your salvation comes. Behold His reward is with Him and His recompense is before Him.”
1. Messengers within the
city of Jerusalem: Verse 62:6
Verse 2 All the surviving nations will see the righteousness and the glory of Israel and recognize that Israel is God’s chosen nation. There will then be a massive migration of Jews and Gentiles into Palestine during the 45 days of Daniel 12:12 – prior to the official establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom. Isaiah 60:4-9
Verse 4 The re-gathering of the Jews into the land of Palestine is a major doctrine of the Old Testament. From the perspective of the Old Testament prophecies, the re-gathering will begin at some time prior to the start of the 70th-week covenant of peace and religious toleration mentioned at Daniel 9:27. Actually, it BEGAN historically already, with the primary catalyst being the Zionist movement of 1896. It was given a huge boost by the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917; and the United Nations resolution 181 of 1947; and the establishment of an independent Jewish nation on May 14, 1948. But the re-gathering will not be complete until the great migration into the land during the 45 days after the defeat of the nations at Armageddon. From the time of the rapture until the “last chance” in God’s eyes during those 45 days, there will be many Jews who turn to Christ in faith. But in the end there will still be many who simply will not accept Him as the promised Messiah and Savior. Thus, at the end of those 45 days, the divine evaluation of all peoples will conclude and only those who have trusted in Jesus will go into His earthly kingdom. Those who have not trusted in Christ will be rejected and removed from the earth to await final judgment at the great white throne of Revelation 20:11-15.
(1) The process of
re-gathering and the evaluation of the Jews is described at Ezekiel 34:11-24
and Ezekiel 37. Thus, after the evaluation, only believers will remain alive on the earth to live under the world-wide rule of the Messiah. And every year, the “believing” nations will come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of booths. Zechariah 14:16
“Then it will come
about that any who are left of the nations that went against Jerusalem This will probably be done through an official delegation as well as any individuals who are able to go.
And the Gentiles will
participate in the worship activity re-established during the kingdom and
bring much wealth into the nation. In fact, the nations will bring much wealth
into the land to help re-build the city of Jerusalem, which will certainly
include the temple.
Isaiah 66:23 This of course, refers to the beginning years of the kingdom. As the years progress through the 1000 years, many who are born will not choose to trust in Christ as their personal sin-bearer. Thus, at the end of that time, there will be a large number of unbelievers alive on the earth, who will be judged after the final GOG-rebellion of Revelation 20:7-9.
Isaiah 62:3-5 But BEFORE the kingdom begins, there will be the time of judgment and preparation. MESSENGERS TO ANNOUNCE THE ARRIVAL OF MESSIAH
The ministry of the
144,000 evangelistic bond-servants of Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-7. MESSENGERS INSIDE THE CITY
Verses 6-9
WITHIN the city there are
messengers announcing the truth of God’s kingdom blessings. These will express constant diligence in fulfilling their divine commission to proclaim truth, telling the people, “You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves.”
Those who pray should
continue without ceasing. Luke 18:7-8
“Now shall not God bring
about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night,
This is a challenge to all
who are living in the end-times. God hears and answers prayer.
Isaiah 59:2
Isaiah 62:7
Such an interesting image
– to deny God “rest” through CONSTANT prayer activity.
These three degrees of
intensity teach us that repetition of a request is not lack of faith. See Topic: PRAYER The “pray-ers” are to continue in their diligence until God actually comes to their rescue. This is what they are looking for in this END-TIME context; what the MESSENGERS are announcing; and what happens in the prophet’s predictions as seen at chapter 63. Isaiah 62:8-9
More statements concerning
the kingdom blessings that Yahweh has promised Israel.
“The LORD has sworn by His
right hand and by His strong arm, MESSENGERS OUTSIDE THE CITY
Verse 10a
Verse 10b The message will be to the people outside the city, telling them to prepare for the arrival of many more of their fellow-Jews. The people of Israel who have been hiding in the wilderness area of Edom will have just witnessed the arrival of the Lord and the destruction He brought to the armies and people of that area. And they will immediately begin to make their way back to Judah (cars and buses, etc. – the distance is not really that far).
It is very possible that
they will arrive in Judah in time to participate in the battle of Jerusalem. Also, as seen above, there will be a gathering of the Jews from all over the world after the battle of Armageddon. Isaiah 26:20-21
“Come, My people, enter
into your rooms, The announcement includes heralding the arrival of the Messiah - TO THE CITY OF JERUSALEM
Verse 11
These messengers were
mentioned earlier at Isaiah 40:9. Thus, during the time from the rapture of the saints to the physical descent of Jesus, there will be many converts from among the Jews. The Jewish people will be calling out to God during the time of the great tribulation.
Hosea 5:14-15; 6:1.
Isaiah 59:20,
Jesus said, “From now on
you shall not see Me until you say, praised is He who comes in the name of the
Lord.”
THE PHYSICAL DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH TO JERUSALEM
The deliverance will come
through the arrival of the Messiah
The word recompense is
peullAh, and refers to the work or action of passing out There are three STAGES to the second coming of the Messiah.
(1) His arrival in the
clouds of the sky with power and great glory: This arrival will in the sky
ONLY. From his position in the clouds or ON THE CLOUD (Rev. 14:14) He will
pour out the judgments from God’s wrath through the trumpets and bowls
recorded in the book of The Revelation. There four phases to it. Sometimes the prophets focused on the inception of the day of the Lord; sometimes on some aspect of the judgment that will happen DURING the day; and sometimes on the kingdom blessing that follows the judgment. The reader/interpreter needs to be very diligent to recognize the context in each of the passages. But it is not until the New Testament teaching by Jesus and the apostles that we learn that Jesus will FIRST arrive in the clouds of the sky.
THE ARRIVAL IN THE CLOUDS This also constitutes the arrival of
the Day of the Lord, and will be “announced” by several phenomenal things.
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one of the sky to the other.”
The MOURNING of all the
tribes of the earth will BEGIN as soon as these awesome signs are seen, so
that as Jesus said, “and THEN all the tribes of the earth will mourn. Thus at Revelation 1:7, the “mourning” will occur AFTER “every eye will see Him.”
This is also portrayed
symbolically at the 6th seal of Revelation 6:12-17. After seeing the heavenly and earthly signs, and the sign of the Son of man, the people of the earth will try to hide from the FACE of the Father and of Jesus (the Lamb). Jesus taught that it is AFTER they see the “sign of the Son of Man” that “all the tribes of the earth will mourn.” Here at Revelation 6, it should be obvious that their reaction indicates they have indeed SEEN Him come in the clouds. After the initial “mourning” they will then take action to try to hide from Him, for they will be well aware that “the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:17. The arrival of the Lord is also envisioned by Joel as the arrival of THE DAY OF THE LORD.
Joel saw the signs as
occurring BEFORE the Day of the Lord arrives. Joel 2:30-31.
Jesus does NOT step foot
on the earth at this time, but remains ON THE CLOUD to administer God’s wrath
through the trumpet judgments of Revelation 8-11 and the first 5 bowl
judgments. Revelation 14:14-16.
In fact, the Old Testament
prophets did not see the arrival in the clouds as distinct from His physical
descent to the earth. The main things they focused on were -
B. See Topic: ISRAEL’S
NATIONAL DISCIPLINE
Revelation 19:11-16 and
Zechariah 12:2-9 As portrayed in the last two bowl
judgments, which includes Revelation 19:11ff, Jesus will descend PHYSICALLY to
the earth toward the end of the 30 day-period that follows the end of Daniel’s
70th week (Dan. 12:11). At
that time, He will come down from His cloud (Rev. 14:14), from where He has
been administering the trumpet and bowl judgments after the rapture (6th
seal). (1) The descent to Edom. The physical descent of Jesus is described at Revelation 19:11-15, IN GENERAL, without focusing on any one particular area. “And I saw heaven
opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it {is} called Faithful
and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. This is the same kind of GENERAL focus that the Old Testament prophets usually envisioned. After such general statements by the prophets, and depending on the context, one or more specific factors would be taught. John’s vision at Revelation 19 does the same thing. At verses 17-21, John’s vision describes the specific battle of Armageddon which will occur AFTER the battle of Edom and the battle of Jerusalem. IT IS THIS descent of Jesus that the Jews in Jerusalem are looking for, but specifically, His descent into the city of Jerusalem is what Isaiah is seeing. From the perspective of the prophecy, they are looking for THE ARRIVAL OF THE MESSIAH. From the perspective of actual events, they will have already seen His arrival - for every eye will observe His arrival in the clouds of the sky. As a result of that, MANY of them will trust in Jesus as the promised Messiah. However, as the Day-of-the-Lord judgments continue, the Jews will still be oppressed as various armies will have assembled in Palestine and some, specifically, will have invaded the city of Jerusalem as seen at Zechariah 14:1.
1. The first phase of the
Messiah’s physical descent to the earth, is the battle of Edom.
Matthew 16:27 This is the general statement of fact that the second coming will indeed occur and involve TWO basic issues – reward and judgment.
Revelation 11:17-18
describes the “situation” after the 6 trumpets have concluded and the 70th
week has come to an end. Several things are mentioned here, but it is a time when the nations HAVE BECOME enraged. That is, they will have become very angry with God because of the 6 trumpet judgments. So, then they are going to begin to move (as will have already begun with the movement of the army at the 6th trumpet) in overt rebellion against God and against the reign of the beast (the king of the west). Thus, it is at this time that God will begin the final stage of bringing destruction upon the rebellious armies. This will take place through the bowl judgments and culminate with the three phases of the Armageddon campaign. As I taught earlier, after the battles have been resolved, the people of Israel will be gathered, purified and recognized by the world as God’s chosen people.
Isaiah 62:12
This is based on the
judgment process that separates the unbelievers from the believers.
AS noted earlier the
translation at Isaiah 59:20 is worded differently than Paul’s quote.
Both ideas are correct. And it is also true that after He arrives He will REMOVE all transgressions – He will remove the unbelievers from the earth so that all who remain will be “all Israel saved.” According to Ezekiel 34:17-22, He will come FOR the lean sheep and He will REMOVE the fat sheep.
This is through the
purging process of Isaiah 4:4 and Ezekiel 34:17-22.
“And this is my covenant
with them when I take away their sins.” Romans 11:27.
The people will thus be
recognized as - This can only happen if the people accept the sacrifice of Christ for the payment of sins and trust in Him as their savior.
Isaiah 4:2-6
Verses 3:16-4:1
describe the second phase of the 5th cycle on Judah when Jerusalem
At verses 4:2-6 the
prophet shifts to the end-times, during the time of Jacob’s distress of Verses 3-4
“And it will come
about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called
“When the Lord has
washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the The whole process of evaluation and cleansing, from the initial arrival of Jesus in the
clouds of the sky
until His victory at Armageddon, is here summarized as “washed away Verses 5-6 predict the kingdom blessing that comes after “all Israel will be saved.” The chapter division represents a natural break in the Hebrew, but the subject has not changed. At 62:11, we were shown the arrival of Jesus to deliver Israel. This refers to the SECOND STAGE of the second coming of the Messiah, which is His physical descent to the earth.
At 63:1, we are shown that
when He arrives to rescue Israel, He will come FROM EDOM. | ||
©Ron Wallace, http://www.biblefragrances.com.
Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, |
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