And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw [it], and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment.
This verse sits at the bottom of a long confession. Truth has collapsed in public life. The one man who steps away from the evil becomes prey. Then the verse turns: the Lord looks at the scene, and what He sees moves Him to act.
The chapter changes speakers partway through. Verses 3–8 are God's charge against the people. From verse 9 the prophet speaks for the godly and confesses their state back to God.
In verses 3-8 the prophet speaks on God's behalf and denounces the sins of the people. In verses 9-15 he turns to make confessions on behalf of the people — the confessions that those among them who feared God might well make. He owns the miseries that existed on every hand: no justice; darkness so deep it was as if they had no eyes; desolation and mourning. Oppression, falsehood and injustice of every sort ran wild. Anything like truth failed completely. It is hard to imagine a darker picture.
The man who withdraws from the wrongdoing is not left alone. His life passes a verdict on everyone else, and they answer it.
There were some, however few, who walked in the fear of God. So they departed from all these evils and kept separate from them. The crowd who went on with the evils condemned them; for "he who departs from evil makes himself a prey." It was a very unpopular thing to do. It cast discredit and rebuke on the crowd who indulged in the sins. We see the same thing today. But the instruction to depart is far clearer and more definite now: "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:19).
An alternative rendering in the margin of this verse says the man who turns from evil is treated as insane. One writer finds that exact situation in the letter to the church at Thyatira, where a small faithful group was accused of dabbling in Satan's secrets.
The time had come when people counted those who departed from evil as mad. Those they refused to walk with charged them with knowing the "depths of Satan" — that is, with being led by Satan, as having fallen into one of his most subtle traps. And what was the occasion of this fearful charge? Separation from evil, a clear purpose to walk in the path of truth and holiness.
The reaction is not an accident of one bad generation. Commentators trace it to what God Himself is like.
In the world through which we pass, all is hostile to the development of what is of God. "He who departs from evil makes himself a prey." Separation from evil is a basic principle of the divine nature. So the people of God should accept persecution for righteousness as the necessary result in a world like this one.
Being prey is only half the story. Another writer warns that leaving evil behind is not enough on its own.
Going out from what we have learned to be evil is only negative, and no man can live on negatives. Going out to Him, outside the camp, does involve separation from evil. But it is much more: it is separation to Christ. It is a separation that gives us a positive object.
The verse ends with God's eye on the scene. The absence of justice displeases Him. That displeasure turns the chapter.
Such complete moral chaos was hopeless for man. But it was the call for the Lord's intervention. "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him." … It is the picture of God's mighty intervention for His people in the last days.
That leaves one question: what will God do about a people like this?
As we indicated a little earlier, God falls back upon His sovereignty in mercy. He shows that though there was no hope in man, His mighty "Arm" would act and bring salvation.
- Confession — from verse 9 the prophet stops accusing. He confesses for those who feared God in the darkness.
- Cost — the man who steps away from evil is hunted, not admired. His separation rebukes everyone who stays.
- Contempt — such a man is counted mad. The faithful few at Thyatira heard the same charge: that they knew "the depths of Satan".
- Cause — separation from evil belongs to God's own nature, so hostility is the expected result. The answer is not just leaving evil, but going out to Christ.
- Rescue — God sees the chaos, finds no man to act, and His own arm brings the salvation no one else could.
And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor; and his arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Isaiah 59 has just described a society where honesty has collapsed and no one can get justice. Then God Himself looks at the scene. What He fails to find there is why He steps in Himself.
The two negatives in the verse are not the same complaint twice. One writer sees two lacks: no merit to plead with, and no one to plead. He hears the same "no man" in Revelation 5, where a sealed book waits for someone worthy to open it.
There is "no man" who can act and be an intercessor, just as earlier we saw that "none calls for justice." No man has any merit. No man is able to act to put things right. We meet this second fact again in very striking form in Revelation 5. There "no man" was worthy to take the book of judgment and break its seals — no one except the Lamb who had been slain.
Read across the surrounding chapters, this verse is where the whole prophecy turns. Everything before it is God pleading with His people. Everything after it is the result of His arrival.
So chapters 58 and 59 are the time before the Lord's appearing — that is, His pleadings with the people then. Chapter 60 is the effect of that appearing, chapter 59:16 being the turning point.
If no arm but His own is available, the rescue can carry no human credit at all.
In verse 12 the Spirit of prophecy becomes a Spirit of confession. It weighs the extent of it in sorrow. So it rises (v. 15) to the need for the Lord to step in, for there was no man. "Then His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him"... So His glory in action had to be grace, though in the execution of judgment against the wicked.
Commentators place the fulfilment of this verse in Israel's future rescue. One writer draws a sharp line between that rescue and the hope of those who belong to heaven.
Such utter moral chaos, hopeless for man, was the call for the Lord to step in... This is the picture of God's mighty intervention for His people in the last days. It is not at all like what He will do for the saints who belong to heaven. He will take them out of the scene of their pilgrimage to heaven. His earthly people He will deliver from their enemies by judgement in that day... It is not by the gospel, but by the execution of judgement on the Gentiles.
The verse describes an absence. One writer points out that God has since filled it, and that this changes what a believer can count on when everything looks hopeless.
It is always the way — "man's extremity is God's opportunity." No one can say now, "there is no man." There is a Man at the right hand of God. He is the Head of the church, and He maintains the interests of God. So no power can prevail against the church. No one can say now, "there is no intercessor." Christ died for us, and God raised Him up again. He is "at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us" (Romans 8:34)... He is able to save His own completely, and "He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
The emptiness God found in Isaiah's day can become a prayer. Having nothing to offer turns into the argument itself.
Our feebleness laid hold of the unique power of Christ — power that was only in Him — to bring Him in for us. He had the power, and there was no one else, and He knew it... What an argument to infinite Love — to tell Him, if we can say it truthfully: "Lord, You are my one necessity. You are the light of these poor eyes, the light in which alone we see light. You are the Life without whom there is only death!"... We put both arms round Him when we say so. It is a prayer we can all pray, a child's prayer — an infant's. The tender pity of God will never refuse it.
- Emptiness. God looked for merit and for a mediator. He found neither — the same "no man" who cannot open the sealed book in Revelation 5.
- Turning point. Verse 16 is the hinge of the prophecy: the pleading of chapters 58–59 ends here, and the glory of chapter 60 follows from it.
- His own arm. No help existed, so the rescue owes nothing to man. God's glory in action becomes grace, even while judgment falls on the wicked.
- Reach. Commentators place the fulfilment in Israel's future rescue. It comes by judgment on the nations, not by preaching, and it is not the hope of heaven.
- Result. The gap is filled. There is a Man at God's right hand who always lives to intercede. So having nothing of your own becomes the plea He never refuses.
And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance [for] clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.
Isaiah 59 has just described a nation in ruins: sin, violence, and no justice anywhere. Now God Himself steps in as a warrior, and the armour He puts on tells us what He has come to do.
God arms Himself because the search for a human deliverer came up empty. One writer sets that emptiness beside a scene in Revelation.
Verses 17 and 18 of our chapter speak of the judgment that must be carried out by the Arm of the Lord. There is "no man" who can act and step in as an intercessor, just as earlier we saw that "none calls for justice." No man has any merit. No man is able to act to put things right. We meet this second fact again in very striking form in Revelation 5. There "no man" was found worthy to take the book of judgment and break its seals — except the Lamb who had been slain.
Man's hopeless state does not drive God away. It is the very thing that calls Him in.
But such utter moral chaos, hopeless for man, was the call for Jehovah's intervention... This is the picture of God's mighty intervention for His people in the last days. It is nothing like what He will do for the heavenly saints. Those He will take from the scene of their pilgrimage up to heaven. His earthly people He will deliver from their enemies by judgment in that day.
The armour is not only protection. One writer looks at what each piece says about the One wearing it.
There is no question about His justice and His uprightness. In righteousness He judges and makes war. Along with His holy fury, His "righteousness sustains Him." His bright breastplate sparkles with it. His very words "speak in righteousness." His glorious garments shine with truth and justice. His armour is the armour of light! But see the shining helmet on His head, telling us what is in His thoughts! It is the "helmet of salvation"; yes, His "glorious Arm" is lifted up to "bring salvation." He is the Mighty to Save.
The last garment is zeal. One writer reads it through the story of Ruth, where Boaz acted as the kinsman who could rescue her.
When the Lord sees that there is no man, when He wonders that there is no intercessor, then His own arm will bring salvation... the nearest kinsman will fail in that day... "Then the Lord will be jealous for His land, and pity His people: then He will put on zeal as a cloak," and He will appear to bring repayment in Zion's cause. As the true Boaz, He will not rest till He "has finished the thing." He will not rest till He clothes her with garments of salvation, and rejoices over her as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride.
The same coming lands two ways, depending which side of it you stand on.
In the day when He brings light and liberty to Israel, He will come in power and majesty... But though this brings blessing to Israel, it will mean "fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies" (Isa. 59:17-18). This will free Israel from oppression, and cause the fame of the Lord to spread abroad.
The apostle Paul quotes the closing lines of this chapter. That quotation fixes when all of this happens.
Here I follow the apostle's own reading of this passage in Romans 11. The way he applies it is of immense importance. He says it applies to the restoration of Israel, after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. That is, to the glory of the nation after the end of the era of the church.
The believer wears the same two pieces of armour. But they do not mean the same thing.
With Christ it is the righteousness He carries out in judgment, and the salvation He brings as the deliverer of His people. With us it is the righteousness and salvation we have in Him. If righteousness is the breastplate that guards the heart from doubt, the helmet is the crowning piece of the armour. It lets the believer hold his head up in the fight — the settled knowledge of a full and certain salvation.
- No man. No one had merit and no one had power to put things right. That empty search is what calls out God's own arm.
- He put on. Righteousness is His breastplate, salvation His helmet. The helmet shows His thinking, and His thinking is to save.
- Zeal. He wraps Himself in zeal like a cloak and, as the true kinsman-redeemer, will not rest until the work is finished.
- Two sides. One coming, two outcomes: freedom for His oppressed people, repayment for His enemies — and His fame spreading everywhere.
- Our turn. The believer wears the same two pieces today. Ours are the righteousness and salvation we have in Him, not ones we carry out ourselves.
According to deeds, so will he repay fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
Isaiah 59 describes a nation sunk in its own wrongdoing, with no one able to put it right. Then God Himself steps in, dressed for battle. Here His action turns outward. The repayment matches what people have done. It reaches adversaries, enemies, and lands far across the sea.
The same coming that rescues one group crushes another. Rescue for the oppressed and fury against the oppressor are one event, not two.
But in the day when He brings light and freedom to Israel, He will come in power and majesty. The armour of light will clothe Him, and His own inherent righteousness will sustain Him... Yet though this brings blessing to Israel, it will mean "wrath to His adversaries, repayment to His enemies" (Isa. 59:17-18). This will free Israel from oppression, and spread the fame of the Lord far and wide.
The verse ends at the "coastlands." Older translations say "islands" or "isles." The word carries the scene out to the far edges of the map.
There are no islands near Palestine. Cyprus is the closest, and it lies about seventy miles from the nearest point of Syria, far to the north. So the term 'the isles' sometimes stands in a general way for places or nations far away. We read of 'the isles beyond the sea,' 'the isles far away,' and 'the isles of the Gentiles.'
Isaiah speaks warmly of these same far places elsewhere. God calls them to listen and to wait for His law. Their sin, not their distance, changes the outcome.
But who are the "isles"? Surely not only those inside the Mediterranean Sea. Whoever they are, God favours them, and marks them out in a remarkable way. "Keep silence before Me, O islands..." He says to them in Isaiah 41:1. Again, "The isles will wait for His law" (Isa. 42:4)... But, as elsewhere, failure and sin against God reach their coasts, and at last we read, "To the coastlands He will render repayment, and they will fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun" (Isa. 59:18-19).
Paul draws on the opening verses of this chapter to prove human guilt. He answers that guilt with grace, not with wrath. The prophet's answer runs another way, and belongs to another time.
When the same apostle set out the gospel of God to the believers in Rome, he quotes heavy, crushing words from the early verses of our chapter. He uses them to convict of sin and ruin, and so to prove the desperate need of grace (Rom. 3:15-17, 19-20). But he follows this with God justifying freely by His grace... The prophet, though, follows his exposure of the people's sins with Jehovah stepping in, wearing garments of vengeance, giving fury to His adversaries and repayment to His enemies. This is not what He is doing now. It is in no way the gospel of grace. It is His coming in the kingdom, displayed for all to see.
The verse is not the end of the story. It is the gate that opens onto restoration. The chapter's closing promise of a Redeemer follows from it.
Isaiah 59:15-21. The apostle quotes verse 20 of this passage in Romans 11, looking to the future restoration of the people: "The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression." Then He establishes the new covenant with Israel... Verse 18 and what follows show that judgment opens the way to it... The next chapter declares that Jerusalem is restored in the glory of the kingdom, with her sons and daughters gathered in from every side.
- Cause. No one stepped in to intercede, so God acted Himself. This repayment is His own work, not a human reform.
- Measure. He repays "according to their deeds": wrath to adversaries, repayment to enemies. Nothing is random.
- Reach. It runs past the nearby nations to the far coastlands — places God once called to listen. Distance is no shelter, and the nations learn to fear His name.
- Timing. This is not the gospel and not the present hour. Paul uses the chapter's opening to press the need of grace. The prophet's answer is the Lord's coming in the kingdom, displayed for all.
- Result. Judgment is the doorway, not the destination. It opens the way to the Redeemer at Zion, the new covenant, and a restored Jerusalem.
And they shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and from the rising of the sun, his glory. When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him.
Earlier in this chapter God found no man to step in, so His own arm brought salvation. Verse 19 tells what follows when He acts. Older translations read the second half as an enemy flooding in and the Spirit raising a banner against him, and the writers below work from that reading.
One commentator sets the verse against the sealed book of Revelation, and follows the outcome from west to east:
Verses 17 and 18 of this chapter speak of the judgment that the Arm of the Lord must carry out. There is "no man" who can act as an intercessor, just as earlier we saw that "none calls for justice." No man has any merit, and no man can act to put things right. We meet this second fact again in very striking form in Revelation 5. There, "no man" was worthy to take the book of judgment and break its seals — no one except the Lamb that had been slain. Revelation shows plainly what these verses indicate. The Arm of the Lord will be clothed in righteousness and salvation. The salvation will reach His people. His righteousness will bring fury and recompense to His adversaries. So from west to east people will fear the name of the Lord and know His glory.
The same writer sees the flood rising on two fronts at once:
Scripture is clear that just before the Redeemer comes to Zion, the enemy will have "come in like a flood." This happens in two ways at once. According to Psalm 2, the kings of the earth and the rulers will have set themselves against the Lord and His Anointed, and hostile nations will target Jerusalem. Alongside that, Satan will have been cast down to earth, as Revelation 12 relates, and spiritual wickedness will reach its climax. But just then, the enemy coming in like a flood, the Spirit of God will act, to raise up a "standard," or "banner," against him.
The ESV wording printed above differs from the readings these writers work with:
The literal translation of Isaiah 59:19 is: "When comes like a flood the foe, the Spirit of Jehovah shall make flee against him …" The J.N.D. Translation gives: "When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him." These verses show that those who "hope in Your word" do not hope in vain!
A banner is a rallying point, and Isaiah uses the image more than once. Tracing the mentions shows what a raised banner does to the attacker:
The first mention of it is in Isaiah 5:26: "He will lift up a Banner to the nations." The last mention is in Isaiah 62:10: "Lift up a Banner for the peoples"; this is in view of the salvation and blessing of the city. So in Isaiah 49:22. God sets up His Banner to the peoples, and they bring the sons and daughters of Israel to Jerusalem. The next-to-last mention, our own verse, shows an aggressive enemy on the scene. Another place in Isaiah shows the effect of this: the enemy "shall pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the Banner, says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem" (Isa. 31:9).
One writer marks the timing here as something to notice:
The enemy comes in like a flood — the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him; note this, for here is a work of the Spirit before the Redeemer comes to Zion. Then the Redeemer comes.
Another writer draws from this a rule for the believer under pressure:
His purpose is to assure the soul. Christ has triumphed over every power of evil. Just as surely, every display of evil only guarantees to us that a far greater power is at hand for us. And the greater the evil opposition, the clearer the power that will overcome and silence it.
One writer asks whether that same work of the Spirit can be seen today:
Are there not signs of a movement of the Spirit among the people of God? They are separating themselves from the vessels to dishonour. They assert that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." They contend "for the faith which was once delivered to the saints." They announce the Gospel in season and out of season, and they look for the coming of the Lord.
- Flood — The enemy arrives at full strength: nations set against the Lord and His Anointed, and spiritual wickedness at its height.
- Banner — Against that flood God raises a rallying standard, and the enemy retreats to his stronghold in fear.
- Before — The Spirit's work comes first; then the Redeemer comes to Zion.
- Alone — No man had merit and no man could act, so the arm of the Lord brings salvation to His people and recompense to His adversaries.
- Everywhere — The result reaches from west to east: His name feared, His glory known.
And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
Isaiah 59 has described a nation tangled in its own sin, with no one to step in to help. So God's own arm brings salvation, and verse 20 names the result: a Redeemer comes to Zion — but when, and to whom?
One writer ties the "Arm" of verse 16 to the Redeemer here, and finds two comings in view: one past, one still ahead.
In the closing verses of our chapter, the "Arm" of verse 16 is the same as the "Redeemer" of verse 20. Romans 11:26 refers to this verse, and the differences in wording between the two passages teach us something. The Redeemer is now referred to as the Deliverer, for the Arm of the Lord will prove to be both. When He came as the humbled Servant of the Lord He accomplished redemption's mighty work. When He comes to Zion in His glory, He will bring the deliverance that His redemption made possible in righteousness.
The promise rests on something Isaiah announced earlier, in the chapters about the suffering Servant.
These striking chapters are full of promises of a coming redemption by the avenging might of God. Yet in the middle of them we get a most wonderful prediction about something far deeper: redemption by the death of Christ. We read, "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money" (Isa. 52:3). Then comes the heart-moving chapter that pictures the blessed Servant of Jehovah as the suffering, dying One, whose soul Jehovah Himself makes an offering for sin. The Redeemer is going to come "to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression" (Isa. 59:20). This is only possible because He has first redeemed them without money, as the result of the anguish of His soul.
Isaiah says the Redeemer comes to Zion; Paul, quoting it in Romans 11:26, says the Deliverer comes out of Zion. Commentators treat this not as a contradiction but as two halves of one movement.
The apostle cites this verse (Rom. 11:26) as His coming out of Zion. Doubtless both are true and each appropriate in its place. The Redeemer must come to that royal mountain in the Holy Land before He can come out from there.
One writer draws out what this means for the kingdom.
The king must really be in Zion for deliverance to come. The kingdom of Christ must be openly set up in power on the earth.
Some take this promise as already fulfilled, in the church or in a later movement. Kelly answers both from Paul's use of the verse.
The apostle uses this prophecy (Isa. 59:20) in Romans 11:26, and it appears clearly to refute both. It gives us God's key: the future salvation of that Israel which is now the most blinded, the Israel that stumbled at the Stumbling-stone. The timing is made certain too: it is not present, and not past, but future. As the Spirit interprets the prophecy there, we are not to look for it to be fulfilled in the salvation of all Israel until after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. That is only happening now, so it is not yet complete.
Jacob is another name for the people of Israel. Isaiah and Paul word the promise differently, and one writer explains why.
According to Isaiah, He will come "to those in Jacob who turn from transgression." In Romans we read that He "will banish ungodliness from Jacob." Romans tells us what He will do in His delivering might, while Isaiah shows us how He will do it. He will come to the God-fearing in Jacob, when judgment falls on the evildoers.
Kelly describes what happens inside the people themselves.
This is not a mere outward event; the power of the Spirit will go with it. There will be conversion of heart before Jehovah appears in the height of their distress and destroys their foes. But that appearing will deepen all their feelings toward Himself, and bring them into peace and blessing fully and for ever.
The chapters right after this one describe a city flooded with light.
No words could be more beautiful than the description of what follows, set out in Isaiah 60–62. There it can be said, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." All this follows Isaiah 59:20, when the Redeemer comes to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob.
- Cost — He came first as the humbled Servant and paid the price. Only that redemption makes the coming deliverance possible.
- Coming — He comes to Zion first, and then out of Zion. The King must be in Zion before deliverance goes out from it.
- Clock — The verse is future, not past or present; Romans 11 places it after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
- Company — He comes to those in Jacob already turning from transgression, while judgment falls on the rest.
- Consequence — With the Redeemer in Zion, the chapters that follow open with light risen on the city.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.
The Redeemer has just come to Zion. Now God speaks for Himself and names His covenant: His Spirit and His words, kept in the mouth of His people for three named generations and beyond.
The verse opens with "And as for me," tying it to the Redeemer's coming in the line before. One writer says this rescue is more than outward. Hearts turn before the Lord appears.
On the one hand, this is not only an outward stepping in: the power of the Spirit will go with it. On the other hand, this is not the Spirit acting while the Lord is absent, as He does now in Christianity. "And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, says Jehovah" (v. 20). The apostle (Rom. 11:26) quotes it as His coming out of Zion. Both are surely true, and each fits its own place... Their hearts will turn before Jehovah appears, at the worst of their distress, to destroy their enemies.
One writer reads this covenant as the new covenant with Israel, and points to what clears the ground for it.
The apostle quotes verse 20 of this passage in Romans 11, looking to the future restoration of the people... And then He establishes the new covenant with Israel. His Spirit is with His people, and His words are in their mouth, and they would stay with them for ever. Verse 18 and following shows that judgment brings it in.
God speaks of "them," then turns to a singular "you." One writer takes the prophet as the one addressed, with Christ standing in the same place as the people.
From then on the Spirit was in the prophet, and in Christ, for it was the Spirit of Christ in them. Jehovah had also put His words in His mouth, for the One whom Jehovah sent speaks the words of Jehovah. Neither the Spirit nor the words would depart out of the mouth of Israel, the remnant with whom Christ is here identified. The prophet is addressed in this way, and then "nor from his seed" — for that is how they are counted: children God had given him, a seed who should serve Him, keeping the words of Jehovah, by Christ, for ever.
The covenant hands over two things at once.
The last verse of the chapter states how lasting this delivering work is. In it the Lord addresses the prophet as the representative of the nation. In that day they will have two things: "My Spirit" and "My words." When the Spirit of the Lord governs the sons of poor, failing Jacob, so that they walk in obedience to the words of the Lord, their full blessing will have come.
"From this time forth and forevermore" reaches both ways. The Spirit works before the Redeemer comes, and He does not stop after.
This outpouring of the Spirit does not happen only at the start of the thousand-year reign. He works on the souls of the remnant even before Christ comes in judgment. And His presence with the nation after that time is never to cease.
One writer takes "your children's offspring" to cover the children born during Christ's reign. He also draws a sharp line between Israel and the nations.
During the reign all Israel is saved (Jer. 31:31-34; Rom. 11:26), and their seed and seed's seed for ever (Isa. 59:20-21). But it is not so with the nations... As far as we know, Scripture does not say that those born during the thousand years are converted, except those among Israel (Isa. 59:21).
Words kept in the mouth are words spoken out. The next line of the book turns this inward gift outward.
Israel kept every testimony of God, and every revelation of Himself, of His purposes and His ways, by the Spirit in His word... When Israel has received this One, God's purpose of giving out light on earth will be fulfilled in them... The prophetic summons follows at once: "Arise, shine, for your light has come." (Isa. 59:21; Isa. 60:1.)
Jesus rebuked Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher, for not understanding new birth. One writer names this verse among the passages that should have taught him.
The Lord reproaches him, the teacher of Israel, for not knowing these things. As a teacher with Israel for his pupil, he ought to have known them... Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 59:21, Ezekiel 36:25-27 ought to have made the Lord's meaning plain to an intelligent Jew.
- Redeemer first — the covenant follows His coming to Zion. Hearts turn before He appears in judgment.
- Two gifts — the Spirit and the words. Full blessing comes when the Spirit governs and the people obey the words.
- Christ's own — the Spirit and words are Christ's, and the remnant is counted His seed, serving by Him.
- Three generations — the promise runs to the children and their children. It marks Israel out from the nations during Christ's reign.
- Then, shine — words kept in the mouth become light for the earth: "Arise, shine, for your light has come."