Isaiah 52:1

The Bible says in Isaiah 52:1, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” The command from the Lord to believers is, “Awake, awake.” It is up to each believer to make sure that he or she is spiritually alert and communicating with the Lord Jesus through faith.

What are the beautiful garments that the believer is urged to put on? These are the garments of righteousness. There are no garments more beautiful than these. Blessed are those who will be dressed in these white, pure, beautiful garments. Speaking of believers as the bride of Christ, the Bible says in Revelation 19:7-9, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

The day will come when holiness will win out over sin. That is what the Word of God says will ultimately happen. If you look at the world, things do not appear to be heading in that direction. The times seem to wax worse and worse. But God’s promise skips over these times, and looks to the last time: the day of the fulfillment of His promises. Notice that Isaiah 52:1 says that “henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” Circumcision symbolized the removing of sin from someone’s life in order for them to become rightly related to God. That is why we repent of our sins when we believe in Jesus. Without repentance from sin, there is no true relationship with Christ. That is why John the Baptist as the forerunner to Christ, came preaching the baptism of repentance based upon the remission of sins. The will of God is that His children would live clean lives and holy lives. No matter how many times we humans fail at doing righteousness, God will bring it to pass when we all enter the Kingdom of Christ. Nothing unclean or defiled will be allowed to enter into heaven: only those clothed in the “beautiful garments,” made white by the Lamb of God. The world does not know what is truly beautiful. Righteousness is beautiful.

The Bible says in Isaiah 52:2, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” Jerusalem had been taken captive by the Babylonians. This captivity was the cause for their shame, and their sorrow, and their regret. The Babylonians had been cruel, and the Babylonians had been powerful. But notice carefully what it required for the Israelites to be freed from their captivity: it simply required that the Lord give the command. The Lord commanded, “loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” It is also interesting to notice that the Lord told the Israelites to loose themselves. They were held captive by the Babylonians, but the Lord told the Israelites to loose themselves. There is a spiritual application to this. Believers can become improperly attracted to and involved in activities of the world in such a way that the believers are captive. What does it require for a believer to become free from worldly entanglements: simply to loose himself or herself from their worldly entanglements. Do not underestimate the power of your own choices. You have the power to be free because you have the power of choice. It says in First John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 52:3-6, “For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.” The phrase “for nought” is used twice in this passage. God said that the Israelites sold themselves “for nought”, and He said that they had been taken away captive “for nought.” In other words it was all done in vain. There was no useful outcome to any of the actions done by man, whether these actions were done by the children of Israel or done by the people of the world. Concerning man’s efforts, we can truthfully say, “All is vanity.” But because the name of the Lord was involved, the Lord Himself took action to make sure that His name would not be blasphemed. And so we see that the Lord is highly motivated by what will bring honor to His name. That is important to Him. He wants to prove to the world that those who call upon His name are protected and guided and taken care of. We who have been saved through faith in Jesus should also be motivated by the desire to bring honor to His name. When we consider one action over another, we should ask ourselves, “Will this honor the name of Christ, or not?” Notice that it says in Second Thessalonians 1:12, “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” And it says in Second Thessalonians 3:6, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” It also says in Second Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Isaiah 52:1 told us about “beautiful garments,” and now we are being told about beautiful “feet.” Of course, the beautiful feet mentioned here are not real feet, but are symbolic of something else. They are symbolic “of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation.” You have beautiful feet in God’s eyes if you are a person who says these things wherever you. That is where the feet come in. If you say these good things only in some places but not in others, then you do not have beautiful feet. That is a mistake that church-goers sometimes make. Some people talk one way when they are at church, but another way when they are someplace else.

Notice also that this message that God loves so much to hear from the mouths of human beings is a very positive message. In order to be consistent with the message that God wants believers to announce, the message must be “good tidings.” The message must publish “peace.” It must bring “good tidings of good,” and it must publish “salvation.” The word “gospel” means good news. The gospel of Christ is the good tidings about peace and salvation that Isaiah 52:7 is speaking about. Be careful to avoid those who have a negative message and who claim they are speaking truth. The gospel of Christ is a positive message about good things from a good God and a good Savior. The Apostle Paul referred to this verse in Isaiah 52:7 when Paul wrote in Romans 10:12-15, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

It is interesting to notice that the last phrase of Isaiah 52:7 tells us that the “good tidings” especially involves telling people, “Thy God reigneth!” God is in control. Jesus is King of kings. He has all power. This is very important to remember, if you are going to live by faith in this world. It is also very important to speak this message to others. If you emphasize human control or human effort to much, then you are departing from the comforting truth, the truth that brings peace, that God is in control. “Thy God reigneth!” That is why it says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

God, who controls all things, has a good future planned for His children. That is why it says in Isaiah 52:8-9, “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.” Notice the terrible condition that had befallen the city of Jerusalem. It is called here the “waste places of Jerusalem.” That is similar to the lives of many who call themselves Christian. The world and the ideas of the world have gotten a hold of many, and instead of an abundance of spiritual power and strength, there is spiritual poverty and waste of potential and opportunity. But Jesus will not let it stay that way. He has a plan to transform every single believer into His own image, and if through the failures of men and women it does not happen in this life, then it will happen through the power of God in the next life. This goodness will happen in the life of every believer because Jesus who reigneth over all will bring it to pass. The Bible says in Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” It says in Second Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Because of Christ, this is what believers have to look forward to. It says in First Corinthians 15:48-53, “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

___________________________________________________