For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
God has just said that His word will not come back empty. Verse 12 is the "for" that follows: it names the harvest that word produces, and it raises the question of when that harvest arrives.
The verse does not stand alone; it names the crop that grows from the seed described in verses 10 and 11. One writer gathers the whole result of that sowing into a single line.
His sowing of the good seed of His word of grace will bring forth a harvest of "joy" and "peace." It will hush creation's groan, secure blessing for man, and secure the everlasting glory of the name of the LORD.
Many read this as a promise about Israel's return from exile in Babylon. One commentator warns that tying such language to that homecoming makes Scripture look like it exaggerates.
To apply such glowing language and such glorious hopes for Israel, the peoples, and the earth to the return from the exile in Babylon — still more, to restrict them to it — must always have been an extreme assumption. It clearly tends to bring on Scripture the charge of exaggeration. Today, more than ever, men claiming to be critics would reduce it to a promise that the exiles' journey home should be pleasant and comfortable!
A second reading takes the verse as a picture of gospel work today. One writer allows that use, and still keeps something in reserve.
Apply the grace of the chapter as far as can truly be done to the need and comfort of souls now by the gospel. There still remains the clear indication of "the times of refreshing" kept for Him who died and rose, when He comes from heaven to reign over the earth.
Another writer finds the same two reaches in the chapter. Its earlier lines are already applied to today in the New Testament.
In the coming day, of course, Isaiah 55 will have its full and final fulfilment, in the millennial blessing of the Gentile nations together with Israel. Yet there is a present-day fulfilment of this chapter... So Paul also quotes "the sure mercies of David" (v. 3) in Acts 13:34 as referring to Christ risen from the dead. Such mercies are now available to all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile.
The mountains and trees are not scenery. One writer ties their joy to a release that reaches wider than Israel.
Creation too will rejoice when the millennial day is reached. God's unfailing word guarantees it here. Turn to a Scripture such as Romans 8, and we are told how creation will be delivered from the bondage produced by the sin of man, and brought into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. There we are carried beyond what will be true for Israel, into the largeness of the thoughts of God for the whole creation.
Isaiah and Paul hang this joy on two different events. One writer explains why the two do not compete.
But notice this: the apostle hangs all this joy of creation on "the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom. 8), while the prophets hang it on the redemption of Israel (Isa. 44:23; 49:13; 55:12). These distinct testimonies match the different ministries of apostles and prophets.
Read as a picture of daily life, each image in the verse finds a counterpart.
We have the assurance that if we are receiving and responding to His word we shall be marked by joy and peace... Mountains and hills stand as pictures of governing powers. They have in view the authorities we are told to submit to... The trees of the field have in view people of high standing, or perhaps those we serve. Why not serve them with such Christian devotion and honesty that they clap their hands, as it were, in approval of us?
Even a singing creation is not the highest point that Scripture reaches.
The saints will shine in heavenly glory, and quietness and assurance will fill the world for ever. The freed earth will be so fruitful that the prophet does not exaggerate when he says, "the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isa. 55:12). We might well imagine that this is the climax. But it is not so... Christ is the Heir of all things. His glory is the supreme consideration.
- Word first. Joy and peace are the crop of the seed sown in verses 10–11. God's word does not return empty.
- People next. God leads His people out in joy and peace, and that mark is meant to show in how believers live and serve now.
- Creation after. The singing hills answer the groan of Romans 8. Prophets tie that release to Israel's redemption; Paul ties it to the revealing of God's sons.
- Scale matters. The words are too large for a comfortable trip home from exile, and too large for present gospel work alone.
- Christ above all. A rejoicing earth is glorious, but the summit is the glory of Christ, the Heir of all things.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 55 closes with the ground itself changed: the weeds of a cursed earth give way to trees, and God gains a lasting memorial. The verse raises three questions — when does this happen, on what basis, and why can this sign never be cut off?
The thorn and the brier are not random weeds. God named them when He cursed the ground after Adam sinned. This verse cancels that sentence.
The creation was made subject to futility. It did not choose this; it came about because of man when he fell. It groans and suffers pain, waiting for that day of its deliverance. It will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We read in Genesis 3, "Cursed is the ground because of you… thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you." But of the day when it is made new we read, "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree."
Note that older translations read "fir tree" where the ESV has "cypress."
The reversal has a cause, and the cause is a Person. Two chapters earlier the same book describes a Servant wounded and cut off. He is the root of this new growth.
Why all this life out of death? How does it come about? Because of that other "Plant," the "tender Plant." He had no majesty in their eyes, for He was among them in lowliness. They saw no beauty that they should desire Him (Isa. 53:2). He was wounded for their transgressions, He was bruised for their iniquities. Through His stripes they will get healing. He was "cut off out of the land of the living" (Isa. 53:8).
One was cut off so that the sign would never be cut off.
The verse names replacements, not just removals. Each tree carries its own character.
The useless, harmful marks of sin will begin to disappear. In their place we will see what the fir trees and the myrtles show. Thorns and briers came in as a result of sin, but the fir tree speaks of strength and the myrtle of sweetness. Why irritate the people around us? We can benefit them instead, when the features and fragrance of Christ mark us.
The last line turns the scenery into a monument. The changed earth makes a name for God, and the sign is called everlasting.
All this is unmovable and eternal because of Him and His work. The covenant is "an everlasting covenant"; and He is "WITNESS," "PRINCE," and "COMMANDER," so that nothing can fail. God promised the sure mercies; Christ has secured them. Those who turn to Him hold them in Christ. So joy and singing, peace and prosperity are to mark such people… God's stamp of firmness, stability, and eternity seals the sure mercies of David, secure in Christ. It is an everlasting sign; an everlasting covenant; sure mercies speaking of abundant pardon and full blessing.
Some read this as poetic language for exiles returning from Babylon. Kelly rejects that as far too small for the words used.
Apply the grace of this chapter as far as it can truly be applied to the need and comfort of souls now by the gospel. There still remains the clear indication of "the times of refreshing" kept for Him who died and rose, when He comes from heaven to reign over the earth. To apply such glowing language and such glorious hopes for Israel, the peoples, and the earth to the return from exile in Babylon was always an extreme assumption. To limit them to it is worse still. It clearly tends to bring on Scripture the charge of exaggeration. Yet more than ever in our day men who claim to be critics reduce it to a promise that the exiles would have a pleasant and comfortable journey home!
Commentators differ on how far the verse reaches readers today. Kelly keeps it for the coming reign of Christ over the earth. Davison draws a lesson for believers now.
- Curse. God named thorn and brier when He cursed the ground in Genesis 3. This verse undoes that exact sentence.
- Cross. The change is possible because One was "cut off out of the land of the living." The tender Plant of Isaiah 53 is the root of this life out of death.
- Character. The thorn is not simply removed. Strength and sweetness take its place — the fir and the myrtle, the features and fragrance of Christ.
- Credit. The restored earth makes a name for God, and nothing can fail, because all of it rests on Christ and His work.
- Constancy. The sign is everlasting and can never be cut off. The same firmness seals the everlasting covenant and the sure mercies of David.