A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 65: Called by a New Name

In Isaiah chapter 56 Yahweh had promised to gather the outcasts of Israel, and in chapter 57 His Word avowed that there shall be no peace for the wicked, for His enemies, even if in this age the righteous may suffer on their account. Then in Isaiah chapter 58, the sins for which the children of Israel had been sent into captivity are described, as they had defiled their fasts and their sabbaths by oppressing the weak and disadvantaged of their own people, and having neglected their own flesh they only fasted and used their sabbaths for their own individual self-righteousness. However there they are told how it is that they may repair the breach which such conduct had caused between themselves and Yahweh their God, and in chapter 59 they are reminded again of their more general iniquities, which separated them from their God, the breach of the previous chapter. But there, as they are portrayed, it is only once they realize they cannot save themselves, and turn to their God, that they are promised by Yahweh that He Himself would save them, bringing the destruction of His enemies along with salvation “unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob”. So the promises which are in Christ are echoed in the final verse of that chapter, where we read:

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.  

In Isaiah chapter 60, there are premonitions of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, and finally, we left off at the end of chapter 61, where there is a prophecy of “the acceptable year of Yahweh” which Christ Himself had professed as having come to proclaim, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 4. Now here we have given this synopsis, because there is a lesson in the order of subjects in these chapters. We could have begun at Isaiah chapter 41. Salvation is for all of Israel, because in Isaiah chapter 45, there are promises that ultimately, all of Israel shall turn away from transgression, and all of Israel shall be saved with an everlasting salvation.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 64: The Acceptable Year of Yahweh

This seems to have been expressed here in various ways already, however we must insist on finding different methods by which to illustrate it as completely as possible, because it is, in my opinion, one of the most significant aspects of this prophecy of Isaiah, and of the lessons of the Old Testament as a whole: There is no temporal salvation for the children of Israel without obedience to Yahshua Christ, and that includes the keeping of His commandments, which are found in the laws of Moses. So what we have read in Isaiah concerning the sins of the children of Israel is sufficient cause for repentance, and repentance certainly is a prerequisite to receiving the blessings and promises of these same chapters. As we have just read, in Isaiah chapter 59:

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

However as we have also seen, the prophecies in these chapters also foreshadow many of the words of Christ Himself in the Revelation, so these same conditions of repentance must be satisfied if we are ever going to see the Kingdom of God. Therefore all Christians should seek to follow in the teachings of Christ, and hope to have a part as repairers of the breach which had developed between Yahweh God and His people Israel on account of their sins.

In our last presentation in Isaiah, we cited a much earlier prophecy found in Isaiah chapter 26 where we read in part: 

15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. 16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. 17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. 18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 63: Premonitions of Sheep and Goats

In Isaiah chapter 58 there is a recounting of the sins of Israel which had caused a breach between them and Yahweh their God, and we are informed as to how men may be Repairers of the Breach, by caring for the weaker and more unfortunate, the defenseless or even the despised of their own people, which, as we hope to have illustrated, is also the core message of the Gospel of Christ. So it is evident that He is the model Repairer of the Breach and men must aspire to be followers of Him, as He Himself had beckoned. Then in Isaiah chapter 59, many of these same sins were described once again and we learn that the entirety of Israel was responsible for this breach, because ostensibly, none of them had spoken out against the injustice, none had sought to correct it, and therefore Israel had been taken into captivity and punishment For Want of Judgment.

In the course of these things, it is evident in Isaiah chapter 58 that the true significance of fasting and of Sabbaths is for men to put those needs of their people above any concern for themselves, and they are beckoned to use them as opportunities to provide for their people, or to do good for them, especially for the disadvantaged of them, rather than providing only for themselves or taking their leisure time to satiate their own desires. This was also the purpose of the ministry of Christ, and it was expressed frequently throughout the accounts of the Gospel. Then in chapter 59, for want of judgment, Yahweh God Himself “16 … saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor”, and He is portrayed as having adorned Himself with His righteousness, salvation, vengeance and zeal, whereby “20 … the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob.”

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 62: For Want of Judgment 

In the world of ancient Israel, a fast was an act of voluntarily self-deprivation, especially depriving oneself of something of sustenance, like food, as a way of demonstrating humility or of humbling oneself. Often fasts were made in mourning, but sometimes they were made in times of distress. Then, humbling oneself, one was better prepared to entreat God. One example of this is found in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, at a time when the Ammonites and Moabites had attacked Judah:

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

Evidently, because the people had humbled themselves, Jehoshaphat’s prayer was answered, and the enemies fled before the people, even leaving their spoils behind, without the people of Judah even having needed to raise a sword. But Jehoshaphat was king of Judah about two hundred years before Hezekiah, at a time when Judah had not yet gone completely off into sin. While he was not perfect, we read in 1 Kings chapter 22 that:

42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

So even a man who fails in some regards, as Jehoshaphat had failed by not purging the sins of others who had been under his rule, could nevertheless find grace in the eyes of God as he himself had sought to do what was right. But later, in Jeremiah chapter 14, about seventy-five years after the failed Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, at a time when the people had collectively turned to sin in spite of the reforms of Josiah, we read:

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 61: Repairers of the Breach

In the closing verses of Isaiah chapter 57, in verse 16, we saw a promise that Yahweh God would not contend with His people forever, nor would He be angry with them forever, “… for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.” On account of their sins, a breach had been created between Yahweh God and His people, and now in this chapter, there is a message of encouragement and instruction which explains to the people how that breach should be repaired. Yahweh God is also our wall, our protection, as He had said, for example, in Isaiah chapter 26:

1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

Then, speaking of a prophetic Jerusalem, in Zechariah chapter 2:

4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: 5 For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.

Therefore if Yahweh is the true wall of protection for the children of Israel, then if they disobey Him and He does not hear their prayers, as we shall see here in Isaiah chapter 58, there is a breach in the walls and the people have no protection. Yet, as we had seen in Isaiah chapter 45, Yahweh has promised salvation to all of the children of Israel, without exception, but that at the same time, He had said in that same chapter that

23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

So repairing the breach between Yahweh God and the children of Israel, one must be obedient to God, since it is evident that obedience is a necessary prerequisite for anyone who would follow in this path, and the only alternative is to wander in darkness. This is also the path of Yahshua Christ, the Teacher and Guide of all who may aspire to be Repairers of the Breach.