The close of Chapter 11 of Isaiah is a prophesy that the remnant of Israel will pour out of Assyria like a highway, the second exodus. This will be paralleled in the Millennial Kingdom as God calls forth the dispersed Jews to be his Royal Priesthood. Chapter 12 picks up there.
6.5.22
Then you will say on that day, "I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord (Jehovah), for although Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou dost comfort me."
Isaiah 12:1
Behold, God (El) is my salvation (yešûa) I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God (Ya Jehovah) is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation (yešûa).
Isaiah 12:2
This is why it's buried deep in our cumulative conscious that good stories end with a happy ending. The hero saves the day and the bad guy gets what's coming to him. The Lord knows the end of the story and has promised us that ending by writing His word on our heart.
Notice the word for "salvation" in verse 2, "yešûa", is the same base ward as...Joshua..or...Jesus. Our Savior.
Isaiah's prophesy is the remnant singing praise to the Lord, our Savior. Because of the work Jesus did the Lord's anger will turn from me and He will comfort me. Amazing Grace. For those who want it.
In his commentary on Isaiah, Be Comforted, Warren Wiersbe points to this phrase from verse 2: "Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation." He states that this same phrase was lifted up throughout the Old Testament when the people were saved or starting a new beginning.
- During the exodus (Exodus 15:2)
- Rededication of the Temple in Ezra's day (Psalm 118:14)
- By the Red Sea, by Moses, on their escape from Egypt
- And in the end when the remnant recognizes Jesus as their substitutionary Savior and Lord.
Therefore, you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.
Isaiah 12:3
These verses are such sweet fruit. I feel like I have little to add than to post them as they are written.
Jesus promised us living water. Here it is in verse 3.
And in that day you will say, "Give thanks to the Lord (Jehovah), call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them remember that His name is exalted."
Isaiah 12:4
This verse is another prime example why we need to know the names of the Lord. We are to call on His name. We have to know who He is and what to call Him.
It's amazing, in this modern world how often we still casually and humorously attribute things to other "gods". We're watching a survival series on TV right now and they plea with the "rabbit gods" to help them catch a rabbit to eat. Then they thank the rabbit gods. Or they thank the name of the country or region they are in. You hear people half-jokingly plead with the "weather gods" or "baseball gods" or whatever thing they are doing. If they thought about, they would say they they don't actually believe in baseball gods, but the fact that that notion springs to mind when we want something...tell us that our heart believes there is help out there; but to ask the real God would be to consider what they would take, why He would listen or care. Fantasy and generic hope are more convenient.
But on that day, the Day of the Lord, the Millennial Kingdom, we will
- Call on His Name
- Express His deeds
- Remember to exalt His Name
What a relief. No more trusting ourselves. No more trusting in unnamed voodoo and juju. We will know the name of our Salvation and call on Him. We will express all that He has done for us. And we will exalt His name.
Praise the Lord (Jehovah) in song, for He has done excellent thing; let this be known throughout the earth.
Isaiah 12:5
It does not surprise me that praise and worship is on this list of what we will do in the Millennial Kingdom. Music is a powerful force that affects us physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don't think we'll know how it all works until we get to heaven, but it's obvious to me that music was designed by God for powerful purposes. It's often hijacked by the enemy; but will be redeemed for its proper purpose, solely, of praising the Lord.
Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 12:6
Think back to the fall of Eden. Of all the consequences we earned and privileges we lost, far and away the worst was separation from our Lord and Creator. He walked with them in the cool of the day. He communicated with them directly. And a day is coming when He will, once again, be able to be in our midst because of the price paid by our Savior.
What a truly blessed passage of scripture. 6 verses of pure gold promises to cling to as our true hope.
The MacArthur Bible Commentary states that this chapter is actually 2 songs we'll sing at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, verses 1-3 and 4-6. It goes on to states that this is the early counterpart the doxology going on in heaven in Revelations 19: 6, 7.
Wirersbe's commentary ends his chapter on this section with the perfect conclusion: The Best Is Yet to Come!
Amen.
Chronologically speaking, the Blue Letter Bible reading plan has us pause here in Isaiah and move to the entire book of Micah, with a brief stop over in II Kings and II Chronicles, and then back for a long stretch of Isaiah.