Page 128 - Isaiah Student Worktext

18.3 Chapter 62 Main Idea: Christ’s passionate zeal for the glory of Zion, His bride, is
relentless, calling forth a corresponding zeal from His people until her radiant beauty is finally
and perfectly consummated.

Not all Bible scholars agree, but many of them believe this is the preincarnate Christ speaking in
Chapter 62, and is simply a continuation of Chapter 61 where, in V. 8, it says ‘I, the Lord…’

Zion, or Jerusalem, has not been a beautiful bride. She has been forlorn and
ravaged by disobedience leading to destruction. But Jesus says here in V. 1 that
He will not rest until her righteousness shines brightly and her salvation becomes
a lamp that burns for all to see.

Again, that is a perfect picture of the believer’s salvation. Despite our disobedience which was leading
to destruction, accepting the sacrifice of Jesus causes our righteousness to burn brightly. At least it
should…

V. 2 The immediate fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah’s time meant that Gentiles would see the
rebuilding of Jerusalem and marvel. Of course the later fulfillment of the prophecy is being lived out in
you and me.

V. 3-5 No longer Forsaken and Desolate, the Lord says that our new name will be Hephzibah and Beulah.
The names mean that the Lord will ‘delight’ in us and that we shall be ‘married’, permanently united, to
Him.

Just as a young man rejoices in his marriage, so the Lord rejoices over us.

V. 6-7 ‘set a watchman’…the watchman refers to the prophets and by extension all believers. We are to
be vigilant, constantly on guard and prepared for any attack from the enemy.

We shall not keep silent, we shall have no rest until God’s purpose is accomplished. This is a high calling
and it is difficult to keep true to it. But nevertheless, it is God’s calling. It will be our calling until the day
we die.

In V. 7, it says ‘Give Him no rest’. Him is capitalized and is believed to refer to Jesus. We should give
Him no rest…continue to pray and to seek fulfillment of His promises.

V. 8-9 It’s a hard concept to realize that God allows ‘our’ food to go to our enemies…but He does allow
it, as a result of our disobedience or to guide us in His way.

But here, God promises to not allow it any longer.

V. 10 Another part of our calling is to prepare the way, build up the ‘highway’ for others. Take out the
stones, the things which are obstacles, and lift up a banner to show the way.

The highway has been built for us by previous generations of believers.

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