Israel is singing once more (24:14–16; 25:1ff.), and this time the emphasis is on righteousness and peace. There can be no true peace apart from righteousness (32:17), and there can be no righteousness apart from God’s salvation in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21–31). It is at Calvary that “righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10). When Jesus Christ reigns on earth, the promise of Psalm 72: will be fulfilled: “In His days the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more” (nkjv). Jesus Christ is our true Melchizedek—King of Righteousness and King of Peace (Heb. 7:1–3).
The phrase “in that day” (Isa. 26:1; 27:1–2, 12–13) refers to “the day of the Lord” and the blessings that will follow when the Lord defeats His enemies. In these two chapters, the prophet encourages God’s suffering people by describing in seven pictures the kingdom blessings that await them in the future.
The strong city (26:1–6). Samaria fell to the Assyrians and Jerusalem to the Babylonians, but the New Jerusalem would be impregnable. During “the day of the Lord,” God will level the lofty cities of the earth, but Mount Zion will be exalted to the glory of the Lord (2:1–5). Jerusalem will no longer be the sinful city described in chapter 1; it will be a righteous city for a holy nation whose sins have been washed away (Zech. 13:1). Compare Isaiah 26: with Psalms 15 and 24.
Only those who have trusted Jesus Christ will enter into the city, and because they believe, they have peace (Rom. 5:1). The Hebrew word for “peace” (shalom) means much more than a cessation of war. It includes blessings such as wholeness, health, quietness of soul, preservation, and completeness. “What is your peace?” is the way Jews often greet one another, and Isaiah’s reply would be “My peace is from the Lord, for I trust wholly in him!” Paul’s counsel in Philippians 4:6–9 is based on Isaiah 26:3.
It is worth noting that Augustus Toplady’s song “Rock of Ages” is based on the marginal reading of verse 4: “for in the Lord God is the Rock of ages.” The New Jerusalem is a city built on a Rock!
The level path (26:7–11). We have noted Isaiah’s emphasis on the image of the highway (see comments at 11:16). During much of their history, the Jews have traveled a rough road, but when the kingdom is established, God will give them level paths and a smooth way. Because they will be walking in the will of God, their way will be safe and enjoyable. They will wait on the Lord to discern His will. They will yearn for the Lord and worship Him even in the night (Ps. 119:55).
According to Isaiah 26:9–11, God wants the world to learn righteousness. He sends His judgments, but the people still will not repent (Rev. 9:20–21; 16:9). He shows them His grace in a thousand ways, but they continue to do evil. His hand is at work, but they will not see it. The prophet prays that God will reveal Himself through His people as He works on their behalf. The reviving and restoring of Israel should help to convince a lost world that God is not dead and that He keeps His promises.
The woman in travail (26:12–18). The agony of “the day of the Lord” is compared to the pain of a woman travailing in birth (13:6–8; 1 Thess. 5:1–3). Isaiah described the remnant confessing their failures to the Lord. Because of their sins, they had been subjected to many Gentile tyrants, but now these tyrants were dead and could not return to enslave them. God disciplined His people and brought them to the place where all they could do was whisper their prayers (Isa. 26: niv), but He heard them and delivered them. Israel was in pain like a woman giving birth, except that their travail produced nothing! Israel failed to give birth to the blessings God wanted them to bring to the world (v. 18). But during the kingdom age, Israel and Mount Zion will be the source of blessing for the whole world.
What hindered Israel from being the blessing to the world that God wanted them to be? They turned from the sincere worship of the true God and gave their devotion to idols. The Hebrew verb in verse 13 translated “had dominion” (kjv) gives us the noun baal, the name of the Canaanite storm god whose cult created so many problems in Israel. But the word baal also means “husband,” so the suggestion is that Israel was not true to her husband Jehovah, but in her unfaithfulness turned to another god. The same image occurs in James 4:4.
The life-giving dew (26:19–21). Just as the dew brings new life to the soil and vegetation, so God will raise the dead out of the earth. The prophet had already announced God’s great victory over death (25:7–8), and now he tells us how He will do it: He will raise their bodies from the dust. Resurrection is not reconstruction; God does not reassemble the body and give it life. Paul compared the miracle of resurrection to the harvesting of grain planted in the soil (1 Cor. 15:35–49). The seed is buried and dies, but out of this death comes forth life and fruitfulness. Isaiah had just written about travail (Isa. 26:17–18), so he compared the resurrection to human birth: “The earth will give birth to her dead” (v. 19 niv).
When Christ returns for His church, believers who “sleep in Jesus” will be raised from the dead (1 Thess. 4:13–18). When He returns with His church to judge His enemies and establish His kingdom, there will also be a resurrection (Rev. 19:11—20:6). These two events are called “the first resurrection” and include only saved people. At the end of the thousand years, when Satan is finally imprisoned, the lost will be raised to face the Great White Throne Judgment (vv. 7–15). While the Old Testament does not give the complete revelation about death and resurrection, it does assure us that there is a future for the human body (Dan. 12:2; Ps. 16:9–10).
The remnant has been praying to God (Isa. 26:11–19), and now God speaks to them and gives them the assurance they need (vv. 20–21). He promises to shelter His people from the terrible attacks of the enemy (Rev. 12). God will punish His enemies who have slain His people, whose blood cries out from the earth for vengeance (Gen. 4:10–11; Ezek. 24:7–8; Rev. 6:9–11). The unjust shedding of blood pollutes the land (Num. 35:29–34; Ps. 106:34–39) and invites the judgment of God.
The conquered beast (27:1). The nations around Israel had many myths about sea monsters, one of which was compared to “leviathan,” probably the crocodile (Job 3:8; 41:1ff.). To slay leviathan was a great achievement (Ps. 74:14), and the Lord promised to do it. Satan held these nations in bondage through their superstitious religions, but the remnant did not need to fear the false gods of the Gentiles. God’s people today are set free from bondage to Satan and the false gods he seduces people to worship (Col. 2:13–15), and we can rejoice in our Lord’s great victory (John 12:31). When the battle is over and the Lord has conquered evil, Israel can enter her glorious kingdom without fear.
The fruitful vineyard (27:2–11). As in 5:1–7, the vineyard is Israel, but here the prophet saw both the Israel of his day and the Israel of the future day when the kingdom will be established. God was not angry with His people (27:4); He just yearned for them to return to Him and fervently trust Him. He used war (Assyria) to punish the northern kingdom and captivity (Babylon) to discipline the southern kingdom (v. 8 niv), but He did this in love and not in anger. Verses 10–11 are a description of Jerusalem after the Babylonian siege. God temporarily took away His mercy until His purposes were fulfilled.
In “the day of the Lord” God will use suffering to purge His people and prepare them for their kingdom. Verse 9 does not suggest that personal suffering can atone for sin, for only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can do that. God uses suffering as a discipline to bring us to submission so that we will seek Him and His holiness (Heb. 12:1–11). The Babylonian captivity cured the Jews of their idolatry once and for all (Isa. 27:9).
In Isaiah’s day, the vineyard was producing wild grapes, but in the future kingdom, Israel will be fruitful and flourishing. God will guard His people and give them all that they need to bring glory to His name. The nation will “blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit” (v. 6). Through Israel, all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3).
The Bible speaks of three vines: the people of Israel (Isa. 5; 27), Christ and His church (John 15), and godless Gentile society, “the vine of the earth” (Rev. 14:18). The vineyard of Israel is not bearing fruit, the “vine of the earth” is filling the world with poisonous fruit, and God’s people must be faithful branches in the Vine and produce fruit that glorifies God’s name.
The holy and happy feast (27:12–13). The camp of Israel was directed by the blowing of trumpets (Num. 10). The Feast of Trumpets took place on the first day of the seventh month and prepared Israel for the annual day of Atonement (Lev. 23:23–32). But the day of Atonement prepared them for the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a picture of the joy of the future kingdom (Lev. 23:33–44).
Isaiah envisioned a glorious day when God would repeat the miracle of the exodus and deliver His people from their bondage to the Gentile nations. The trumpet would summon them to Jerusalem (Matt. 24:31) and announce God’s victory over their foes, and they would “worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” The kingdom will be like an endless feast and a holy day of worship as the people rejoice in the Lord. Of course, God’s people today are also awaiting “the sound of the trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:50–58; 1 Thess. 4:13–18) announcing the coming of the Lord for His church. Then we will go with Him to heaven and prepare for the marriage supper of Lamb. We shall return with Him to earth and reign with Him in the kingdom.
Are you praying daily, “Thy kingdom come”?