-- The voice of thy watchmen, they lift up the voice, they sing aloud together; for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah shall bring again Zion.
In Isaiah 52 a runner reaches the mountains with news that God reigns. The city's lookouts hear it. It raises three questions: why the watchmen sing instead of warning, what "eye to eye" means, and when this song happens.
A watchman's voice normally warns of danger. Here it does something else.
Watchmen usually lift up the voice to warn. Now it will be to sing. There will be no disharmony, for they will agree in what they see. And indeed the joyful song will be everywhere. It will break out even in the "waste places of Jerusalem." It will be a song based on the redemption the Lord has accomplished for them.
The message to Zion has moved on from the one given earlier in the book.
Earlier (Isaiah 40:9) the word to the cities of Judah was, "Behold your God." Now Zion hears, "Your God reigns!" The watchmen lift up their voice. They sing; they do not warn. The wastes of Jerusalem, forsaken so long, sing together in joy they cannot hold back.
They sing together because they see eye to eye. Agreement follows sight, and what they see is the Lord returning to Zion.
The good news will sound out far and wide. The word about Zion will be, "Your God reigns." Then at last the nation will be restored. Israel and Judah will sing together, for they shall see eye to eye. But all this blessing will be wholly the work of the LORD, for it will be "when the LORD shall bring again Zion."
Commentators agree that this has not happened yet. One of them also gives the reason.
No — the watchmen of Jerusalem cannot yet raise their voice or sing together. Jerusalem is still in the hands of the cruel enemy, and the hearts of the Jews are still under a tyrant more deadly still. But they shall see eye to eye when Jehovah restores Zion. After ages of ruin, the waste places of Jerusalem will burst out and sing together. … Zion remains in the hands of the stranger because Zion's sons did not receive their divine King. They killed Him on the cross by the hands of lawless outsiders whom they could sway to join them in that fatal deed. Out of that deed God has caused the richest mercy to shine for both, if they will only heed His message.
The New Testament handles this passage in a striking way. Paul takes up verse 7 in Romans 10, but he stops before the words about Zion.
Look also at Romans 10:15. It quotes Isaiah 52: "As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" Now, why does the Apostle stop there in the middle of the sentence and leave out what follows? The reason is clear. The next words are, "who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'" They cannot be fulfilled yet. They wait for the Lord Jesus to take His rightful place as Son of David and to reign in glory before His elders as King of Israel.
This verse also speaks to believers now. It names the one condition under which people sing as one.
We can sing together only in His presence, with every heart taken up with Himself. That is what the prophet says: "With the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye." Only when every eye rests on Him shall we see eye to eye. Away from His presence we are easily offended because of Christ, and offended with one another. Offended saints will soon part company and become scattered sheep.
Another writer sees the same failure in the world today. Men "do not see eye to eye" because ambition, selfishness and greed set them against each other. Real unity comes only when grace enters the human heart (A. J. Pollock).
The watchmen are not the last to hear. The joy keeps travelling outward.
His Israel on the earth shall see "eye to eye." The light and the joy of Zion's salvation will travel with holy speed. It will pass from the messengers on the mountains to the watchmen of the city, from them to the people, and from the people to the nations.
- Sight first. They sing together because they see together. Unity here is a result, never the starting point.
- One object. What they see is the Lord returning to Zion — every eye on the same Person is what makes one voice possible.
- His work. The whole scene waits on the LORD returning to Zion. The restoration is His doing, not the watchmen's.
- Not yet. Zion's sons rejected their King, so the song still waits. Paul quotes verse 7 and stops short of the reign in Zion.
- Then outward. From messengers to watchmen, to the people, to the nations — the song that starts with a few messengers ends among the nations.
Break forth, sing aloud together, waste places of Jerusalem; for Jehovah comforteth his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
Isaiah tells ruins to sing, and gives the reason in the past tense, as work God has already done. So when does this song start, why is the rubble addressed, and what could make a wrecked city sing?
Commentators tie this call to a deliverance that history has not yet matched. The fall of Babylon did not deliver what this verse and the ones around it describe.
Isaiah spoke this in connection with Babylon's overthrow, but its wider application and meaning is future. The overthrow of Babylon and Nineveh did not result in the glorious things spoken of by Isaiah and Nahum. At that time the ends of the earth did not see the salvation of God. Jerusalem was not redeemed. God was not enthroned as King in Zion. It is all yet to come.
One writer draws a line from this song to the one thing that could ever unite people now.
It is true that this verse is in a Jewish setting, and it will not be fulfilled to the letter until our Lord comes to reign on the earth. But the passage applies to the present time in a striking way. The great trouble in the world today is that men do not see eye to eye. Ambition, selfishness, greed, lust, cause men to fall out about everything... But when men receive the proclamation of our Lord, they will see eye to eye. That will be a testimony to the only truly uniting bond men can ever know: the grace of God entering the human heart.
The verse before speaks of watchmen, whose job was to shout warnings.
So in their eyes, as in His, the feet of the one who brings good news and announces peace are beautiful. Earlier, in Isaiah 40:9, the cities of Judah heard, "Behold your God." Now Zion hears, "Your God reigns!" The watchmen lift up their voice, singing instead of warning. The very wastes of Jerusalem, forsaken for so long, sing together with joy they cannot hold back.
"The LORD has comforted his people" answers a long complaint from Jerusalem's own book of laments.
The history of God's earthly people shows plainly what a bleak and comfortless state they came into by turning their backs on God. "How lonely sits the city, that was full of people! ... she has none to comfort her" (Lamentations 1:1-2). To this day they are still stripped bare and without comfort. But Isaiah, Zechariah and other Scriptures show that God has good and comforting words in view for them. When their "day of salvation" (Isaiah 49) has come, brought by the "beautiful ... feet of Him ... that announces salvation" (Isaiah 52), they will "break forth into joy", singing "the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem."
"He has redeemed Jerusalem" is one of a long chain of promises about Israel's future deliverance. All of them, one writer notes, trace back to a single price.
Redemption is used very often in the Psalms and the Prophets for the future deliverance of Israel for His kingdom on earth. See Ps. 103:4, Isa. 43:1, Isa. 48:20 and Isa. 52:9, among others. All of it rests on His blood-shedding. The return from Babylon was an outward sample and pledge.
Isaiah 53 sits between this call to sing and the next one, in Isaiah 54. One writer treats that placement as the key.
Turn to Isaiah 52:7-10 and Isaiah 54:1-10 and you will find a good deal about singing. Between these two chapters stands probably the best-known chapter in the Old Testament — Isaiah 53. The position of that chapter, between Isaiah 52 and 54, gives the key to all the rejoicing of God's people.
The same order shows up all through Scripture.
It is remarkable how, all through Scripture, singing is the response to redemption... the first actual record of singing is in Exodus 15, after God redeemed Israel out of Egypt. Then in Psalm 22, which prophesies the death of Christ for our redemption, the first result mentioned is a song... Again, just after the verses we are looking at, we get the wonderful prophecy of the death of Christ in Isaiah 53; and the very first word of Isaiah 54 is, "Sing."
Notice who the song is about, and who can share its theme now.
We learn that when the restored nation finally breaks into singing, the great theme of their song will be the LORD and what He has done... And even now, if each of us were looking to Christ, would we not see eye to eye and be of the same mind as the Lord! (Phil. 4:2). Seeing eye to eye, we will break into singing, and He will be the great theme of our song.
- Redemption first. In Scripture, song follows rescue: Exodus 15, Psalm 22, and the "Sing" that opens Isaiah 54, right after Isaiah 53 foretells the death of Christ.
- Comfort next. The city that once had no one to comfort her is the city told to sing; the comfort is God's own answer to her lament.
- Ruins sing. The watchmen stop warning and start singing, and even the long-forsaken wastes join in.
- The reach widens. Babylon's fall never delivered this. It is still ahead: Jerusalem redeemed, God reigning in Zion, and the ends of the earth seeing His salvation.
- The theme is Him. The song's subject is the Lord and what He has done — and those who look to Christ can see eye to eye and sing that theme now.
Jehovah hath made bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
-- Depart, depart, go out from thence, touch not what is unclean; go out of the midst of her, be ye clean, that bear the vessels of Jehovah.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for Jehovah will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear-guard.
This verse ends a long stretch of Isaiah with a marching order, and its pace is the surprise: no rush, no panic, no running. The second half of the line says why — God at the front of the column, and the same God at the back.
This is not a stray promise. One commentator maps the whole run of appeals leading up to it, and puts these last two verses at the summit.
In Isaiah 50 we have seen the divine Messiah in the depths of humiliation, but the Lord Jehovah helping and justifying Him. In Isaiah 53 (which really begins at Isaiah 52:13) we shall see Him "pierced for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities"... Between these everlasting foundations of blessing for Israel (or for anyone), the Holy Spirit gives us stirring appeals. They have the greatest force, interest, and beauty. It is a complete whole, made up of seven distinct parts (Isaiah 51:1-3; 4-6; 7, 8; then, 9-16; 17-23; Isaiah 52:1-10; last of all, 11, 12). These parts trace the stages of the godly Jewish remnant, from their deep distress... advancing step by step until they stand in the full glory that was promised them.
Another writer reads the twice-repeated "Depart" as the final call — a call away from something, and also toward Someone.
"DEPART, DEPART!" This is the final call. Holy separation is to mark those who are called to such high honour. It is separation not only from what is "unclean," but separation to the Lord Himself.
Israel's first departure from Egypt was a scramble — haste and flight. One writer sets the two exits side by side.
That is what they did in Exodus 12. They were like a lot of timid frightened creatures, flying from an angry foe. Being "thrust out of Egypt" (Ex. 12:39), they went out in haste, and word reached the king of Egypt "that the people fled" (Ex. 14:5). They were not marching out at a calm, dignified pace. They went out for what I may call dear life. They fled for refuge, fearing the pursuing foe. One day it will not be in haste. By then they will have learned that the question is not between themselves and Pharaoh. It is between God and Pharaoh, as to whom they belong.
The last two lines of the verse cover both directions: the road ahead and whatever follows behind.
Finally, in view of this great deliverance, Jehovah's people are called to separate from the unclean of the nations. Those who carry the vessels of the LORD must be clean. Their deliverance from the nations will be no hasty flight, for the LORD will surround their going. He will go before to lead the way.
Verse 12 gives the reason attached to a command in verse 11 about being clean. One commentator points out that the text never names the place they leave, so more than one empire is in view.
Last of all, the passage closes with a firm call: act in keeping with the holiness of Jehovah and of His sanctuary. "Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out of the midst of her; be clean, you that bear the vessels of Jehovah" (v. 11). The text does not name Babylon: a larger sphere is meant. This going out will not be, like the old one, in haste or in anxiety, however they were guided and delivered then.
The New Testament takes up that same call and presses it on Christians.
Believers are marked by righteousness and light. They are under the leadership of Christ, and they form the temple of God. So they are under a binding obligation to come out from the world and to be separate from evil. The Apostle presses this call home by pointing back to Isaiah 52:11.
Commentators do not tie the verse to one historical return. One writer reads it beside a group of psalms about a journey home, and traces the pattern forward.
The coming out from Babylon is celebrated in advance by prophets, in very lofty language (Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 52:11-12)... So the return at that time was a type: the pledge of Israel's return from another dispersion, the one they are in now. These Psalms may answer to the words of the remnant of the last days, as they pass through the stages of their trials, until they come into the rest of the kingdom. And in the right conditions they may also, in spirit, be the words of any believer journeying on through the present world to the glory and presence of the Lord — a traveller with Jesus.
- Called — the verse closes a series of stirring appeals. They lift a small, distressed remnant step by step into promised glory.
- Calm — the first exodus was a panicked flight from Pharaoh. This one is unhurried, because the question is no longer between Israel and Pharaoh, but between God and Pharaoh.
- Covered — God takes both ends of the march. He leads the way in front and closes the line behind.
- Clean — the escort comes with a command: those who carry what belongs to the Lord must be clean. Commentators press the same call on believers today, as separation from evil.
- Certain — the return from Babylon was only a pledge of a larger one. The same pattern fits any believer travelling through this world toward the Lord's presence.