What does it mean that "you will go out with joy and be led forth in peace" (Isaiah 55:12)?

God's coming grace to Israel is in view here, as the two verses that close our chapter show. The peace that had been announced in the previous chapter, should without fail be theirs, and joy also. Creation too will rejoice when the millennial day is reached. It is guaranteed here by the unfailing word of God, and when we turn to such a scripture as Romans 8, 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, and we are carried beyond that which will be true for Israel into the largeness of the thoughts of God for the whole creation.

(Vv. 12, 13). His sowing of the good seed of His word of grace will bring forth a harvest of “joy” and “peace;” hush creation’s groan, secure blessing for man, and the everlasting glory of the name of the LORD.

The risen Son of David has secured “the sure mercies of David”; and God says, “Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the peoples, a Prince and Commander to the peoples” (v. 4). All, therefore, is stable, sure and safe in the hand of Him who died and rose again. “The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” He is the great Shepherd of the sheep, brought again from among the dead, “in the power of the blood of the everlasting covenant.” 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. The sure mercies were promised, now they are procured, and in Christ to be possessed, by those who turn to Him. Joy and singing, peace and prosperity is therefore to mark such. “Ye shall go forth 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 fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for AN EVERLASTING SIGN THAT SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF” (v. 13). The divine stamp of fixity, stability, and eternity, seal 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.

Crucified and risen, Christ is the attractive object for all indiscriminately. And the spirit of this wide grace breathes fragrantly through this chapter. "Behold, thou shalt call a nation thou knowest not, and a nation [that] knew not thee shall run to thee, because of Jehovah thy God and the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified thee. Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, says Jehovah. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall accomplish that for which I sent it. 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. 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" (vv. 5-13).

Certainly the language rises into bright figures, expressive of a joy and blessing incomparably beyond human experience since sin came into the world, and with all the firmness given by Christ's coming to blot out sins by His blood, to establish everlasting righteousness, and to display the mercy and the glory of God here below. But can anything be more unreasonable, to say nothing of the ingratitude of unbelief, than to misuse such modes of expression to get rid of the truth and reduce the living word to inanity? Apply the grace of the chapter as much as can be done truly to the need and comfort of souls now by the gospel; there still remains the clear intimation of "the times of refreshing" reserved for Him Who died and rose, when He comes from heaven to reign over the earth. Doubtless Christ is exalted to the highest in heaven; He sits on the Father's throne; but He is coming to sit on His own throne, and will make His enemies His footstool. This He is not doing, but sitting on high till that moment be arrived. Now He is converting souls, as well as baptising believers into one body by the Spirit. Then He will break the nations with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. How monstrous to pervert such words to the work of the gospel! It is that execution of divine judgement which inaugurates the Lord's taking His own throne. He is now seated on His Father's throne. When He reigns over the earth, we shall reign with Him, instead of suffering with Him, as we are called to do now.

Even to apply, yet more to restrict, such glowing language and such glorious hopes for Israel, the peoples, and the earth, to the restoration from the Babylonish exile, must always have been an extreme assumption, and it evidently tends to bring on scripture the charge of exaggeration. Yet more than ever in our day men claiming to be critics would reduce it to a promise that the homeward journey of the exiles should be pleasant and comfortable! Truly faith is not the portion of all, least of all, one might sorrowfully say, of critics. It is also flagrant ignorance of the Book they essay to interpret, and of its structure; for we have done with Babylon since Isa. 48 and Isa. 49 has begun the new theme of the rejected but glorified Messiah and the everlasting consequences. This fact alone dissipates all such delusions.

We have the assurance that if we are receiving and responding to His word we shall be marked by joy and peace. So the apostle Paul desired for the saints at Rome, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing," Romans 15:13. Mountains and hills are used typically of governing powers and have in view the powers that be to whom we are told to be subject. We both "Fear God," and "Honour the king," 1 Peter 2:17. The trees of the field would have in view individuals of eminence, or perhaps those whom we serve. Why not so serve them in true christian piety and honesty that they will figuratively clap their hands in showing their approval of us? Moreover, the useless, harmful marks of sin will begin to disappear, and in their place will be seen that which the fir trees and the myrtles indicate. Thorns and briars came in as a result of sin, but the fir tree speaks of strength and the myrtle of sweetness. Why be a cause of irritation to those around us, when we may rather benefit them as we are marked by the features and fragrance of Christ?

In the coming day, of course, there will be an exhaustive fulfilment of Isaiah 55, in the millennial blessing of the Gentile nations in connection with Israel. Yet there is a present-day fulfilment of this chapter. Verse 5, for instance, foreshadows the announcement which the Lord made in Matthew 21:43. So also "the sure mercies of David" (ver. 3) is quoted by Paul, 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.

All this joy of heaven and earth is much spoken of. The times of restitution and refreshing are felt throughout — "the presence of the Lord" becomes the exhilarating atmosphere every where. John, in spirit, heard all creatures in heaven, in seas, on earth, and under the earth, uttering their praise in prospect of this. (Rev. 5) But I would observe, that all this joy of creation the apostle hangs upon "the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom. 8), and the prophets, upon the redemption of Israel. (Isa. 44:23, Isa. 49:13, Isa. 55:12) For these distinct testimonies are according to the several ministries of apostles and prophets. In one place our Psalmist shortly connects the two, touching the chord where their harmonies lie — "when the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory." (Ps. 102:16)

Thus far we have dwelt upon what we get, and what creation gets in a subsidiary way, as a result of the second Advent. Reading the glowing predictions of the Prophets we might wonder if anything could exceed the blessedness of it. When the saints shine in heavenly glory, and quietness and assurance for ever fill the world; when such is the exuberant fertility of the emancipated earth that it is no exaggeration for the prophet to say, "The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isa. 55:12), we might well imagine that the climax is reached. But it is not so. God has a good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself for the glory of Christ, and this concerns a sphere even wider than that of redeemed saints and a redeemed millennial earth. Christ is the Heir of all things. His glory is the supreme consideration. He is Pre-eminent. It is only when we view things from this angle that we reach the climax.

In singular and striking conjunction with this terrible picture of the vast solitude for man, consigned as it were only to ravenous beasts and birds of prey and reptiles, God thereon shows that the day which beholds this desolation for Edom inaugurates Israel's blessing. Nor is it only Israel rejoicing, but Jehovah will form a large and enlarging scene for His own glory, where erst was misery and barrenness. "The wilderness and the parched land shall be gladdened;* and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose (or, narcissus). It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, and the excellency of our God" (vv. 1, 2). It is not mere fertility, but the restitution of all things when the day is come on earth: every joy, fruitfulness, and beauty. How singularly blinding is the theological prejudice which the pious J. A. Alexander expresses, when he says (Comm. ii. 34) that without any change of its essential meaning, it may be applied to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, to the vocation of the Gentiles, to the whole Christian dispensation, to the course of every individual believer, and to the blessedness of heaven. As it has been so applied, certainly it may; but the question is, what is its definite meaning? The chapter before gives the awful judgement that awaits the earth in one aspect of it; so does this the deliverance of creation, and especially of Israel that follows, "in that day."

What a mighty change! what an immense relief to this groaning earth! Satan and his evil angels banished from the abodes of men: Christ reigning, and His risen saints associated with Him on the throne of His heavenly and earthly glory. Then shall come creation's day of boundless blessedness so constantly spoken of in the Old Testament. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk and honey. The wild beasts of the field shall become gentle and harmless as the lamb, and warfare and strife shall cease from amongst the children of men. Thus will God reverse the history of man; He will heal his sorrow, relieve his misery; crown him with health, peace, and plenty, and spread joy throughout the restored creation, according to His estimate of the cross of His beloved Son. In that day it will be seen and acknowledged that the cross of the Lord Jesus is the foundation of the wide-spread scene of millennial glory and blessing. Colossians 1:20.