There were a couple of special verses that stood out to me in these chapters.

“Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’ And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭62‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There are a LOT of people in this text.

First – there is Yahweh, the speaker, who says, “Say to the daughter of Zion…”

Next is “The Daughter of Zion,” the recipient of His declaration. The Daughter of Zion is called “you” at the end of the passage – “YOU shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.” This name “the daughter of Zion” is one we have encountered already on our way through Isaiah and it is used by other prophets. It refers to the residents of Jerusalem (in particular) and the Jewish people (in general).

But if Zion also hints at the heavenly city, then there is another text that comes to my mind about her child…

“Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬-‭28‬, ‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This is part of Paul’s larger argument about the Gentile believers trying to achieve righteousness by observing the Law of Moses. He links Hagar, Mount Sinai, and Jerusalem with the idea of slavery- which is what a works-based salvation is.

Then he links Sarah and the Heavenly Jerusalem. And this, he says, “is our mother.” Paul even quotes Isaiah 54:1 to support this idea which suggests that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is saying that Isaiah 54:1 is talking about the Heavenly City, not just the earthly Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day. Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3 that a person must be “born from above.” That’s the New Testament equivalent of this:

“And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; for the Most High himself will establish her. The Lord records as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭87‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In a very literal way then, the Redeemed in Christ (both Jew and Gentile) are “the Daughter of (New) Jerusalem.”

Let’s go back to Isaiah 62…

“Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’ And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭62‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Did you notice that the “salvation” is a HIM? The salvation comes and is referred to with no less than 4 pronouns: him/his. This is the Hebrew word translated “salvation” here:

Jesus name in Hebrew and Aramaic is Yeshua. Salvation. Here is yet another instance of the very name of Messiah inserted into the scriptures.

So we have Yahweh speaking, the Daughter of Zion, and Yahweh’s Salvation.

🤔 Who are the “they’s”?

The they’s are the Holy People. And we know from Jude that the Holy Ones come with the Lord when He shows up.

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,”
‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

🤔 So… are the you and yours and they’s the same bunch?

Could be. I guess we’ll find out when it happens

Jesus kinda paraphrases Isaiah 62:11 when He says, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

That is the idea behind the opening of chapter 63. The LORD is showing up to settle accounts with mankind. The wicked get what is coming to them: destruction.

“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Isaiah longs for this day to happen NOW. He missed “the good old days” when God dwelled among them in a pillar of fire and made other nations think twice about attacking them. Recently Yahweh has been very quiet and the surrounding nations gloat as if their gods have defeated the God of Israel. Ripping open the sky and coming down… THAT would get their attention!

The people have stopped truly seeking Yahweh. They have become like the nations- no interest in Yahweh unless He shows up in some spectacular way that demands their attention.

We can fall for that too. Perhaps we’re not so extreme as to expect fire from heaven, but we might expect a certain set of feelings or some powerful spiritual experience and if we don’t get it, we assume that the Lord is far away and doesn’t care. Perhaps, like Israel, He is simply testing our ability to remain faithful and obedient to Him; to walk by faith.

Isaiah confesses their sinfulness. He acknowledges that they have been unfaithful and disobedient and have suffered accordingly.

“After all this, Lord, must you still refuse to help us? Will you continue to be silent and punish us?”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Tomorrow we will see how the LORD responds. His answer will expose a huge problem in the question.