Chapter Sixty-Two

1–5. The Messiah’s providential care for the establishment in His church of the light of righteousness and its highest glory. 6–7. The call to the same activity and to special holy watchers. 8–12. God’s particular protection of the interests and well-being of His people.

This chapter, according to the general opinion of its interpreters, is a natural continuation of the previous one and, like it, speaks of the glorious destinies of the New Testament church, more particularly of special Divine providence and protection of it. Even more closely, in its content and very exposition, it connects with chapter 54 of Isaiah. The speaker through the prophet here, as before, is the same incarnate Lord, the Messiah-Christ. However, there is also another view, that here the words of three persons are united: in the first section the prophet himself (verses 1–5); in the second the Son of God (6–10), and in the third the Lord Almighty (11–12).

Isaiah 62:1. I will not keep silent for Zion’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. Isaiah 42:14. “I will not keep silent for Zion’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” That is, I will not cease My saving and providential cares for the spiritual Zion, until I achieve the goal of My activity—its enlightenment, justification and salvation—says the Messiah through the mouth of the prophet—the Founder of the New Testament church (compare similar parallels—Isaiah 42:14; Isa 57:11). “Zion” and “Jerusalem” are used, evidently, as synonyms, which is generally characteristic of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 2:3; Isa 4:3-4; Isa 31:4-5; Isa 40:9; Isa 41:27; Isa 52 and others), just as “Jacob” and “Israel. Isaiah 62:2. And nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will give. “And you shall be called by a new name.” According to the nature of Hebrew understanding, a “name” is the very essence of a thing; hence the change of name of an individual person or of an entire people is a great change in their entire fate. Applying this change to Jerusalem itself, we, based on the context, can guess that its new name is “the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isa 60:14). If we apply it to all Israel, or properly to Christians as its spiritual descendants, we must count as such a new name the designation of it as “a holy people” (Isa 62:12), which is in full accord with New Testament testimony (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2).

Isaiah 62:3. And you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem on the palm of your God. “And you shall be a crown of glory... and a royal diadem.” Just as the crown of glory that crowned the head of the victor at the Olympic games, and the precious diadem adorning the head of a king, all this are expressive images for a more vivid and powerful representation of that high honor with which the Lord will glorify the newly established church (cf. Isa 60:21; Isa 61:3).

Isaiah 62:4. You shall no more be termed “forsaken,” and your land shall no more be called “desolate,” but you shall be called “My delight,” and your land shall be called “married,” for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. Isaiah 62:5. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. The comparisons and images given in these verses have been revealed more fully by the prophet Isaiah earlier (Isa 54:4-8), where they have been commented by us. The general sense of them is that if formerly carnal Israel (the Old Testament church) broke its marriage covenant with the Lord and therefore was as if forsaken by Him, now spiritual Israel (the New Testament church) through its sincere turning to God has again attracted to itself the favor of its Lord, has restored and confirmed for eternity this covenant. It deserves attention that the change in Israel’s position is sealed here by a corresponding change of name: before it is called “forsaken,” in Hebrew הכיצע (Azuva), and then it is renamed הכ–יצמה (Hephzi-bah), which means “one pleased with.” It is curious to note that such names were indeed in use among the Hebrews: Azuba, for example, was the name of the mother of the Judean king Jehoshaphat (1 Sam 22:42), and Hephzibah the mother of the Judean king Manasseh (2 Sam 21:1).

Isaiah 62:6. Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen who shall never be silent day or night. O you who put the Lord in remembrance, do not be silent! Isaiah 62:7. and do not be silent until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. The Messiah will not only Himself unceasingly and tirelessly accomplish the high tasks of His Messianic service, but will call to the same a whole series of special “watchmen,” that is, co-workers in the person of the apostles, disciples and the entire New Testament hierarchy in general. The very image of this “Great Evangelist” and the role of “watchmen” with Him have been revealed by the prophet Isaiah and have been explained by us earlier (Isa 52:7-8 verse).

Isaiah 62:8. The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: I will not give your grain to your enemies, and the sons of aliens shall not drink your wine for which you have labored. Deuteronomy 28:33. “I will not give your grain to your enemies, and the sons of aliens shall not drink your wine for which you have labored.” “Evidently, the prophet is pointing to the reversal of the punishments appointed to Israel for their apostasy in Deuteronomy: ‘The fruit of your land and all your labor shall the people whom you do not know eat, and all your toil shall be consumed’ (Deuteronomy 28:33); ‘you shall plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you shall not drink the wine’ (Deut 28:39). All this took place repeatedly over Israel and Palestine during the invasions of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Syrian and Roman forces. But at the coming of the new era, new kingdom, new life, the old covenant punishments are revoked, for the very kingdom of the new Israel takes on new significance and embraces all the earth given by the Lord to mankind” (Vlastov. Cited work, 357 p.). Isaiah 62:9. Those who gather it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and those who bring it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary. “But those who gather shall eat... drink its wine in the courts of my sanctuary.” The Lord will not give the wheat of Zion to its enemies and its wine to drink to strangers; the wheat and wine of Zion will be enjoyed only by its citizens, who praise the Lord. Under the wheat and wine of Zion, that is, the church, according to blessed Jerome, the body and blood of Christ are understood, from which only those belonging to the church partake (cf. John 6:55; Commentary of the St. Petersburg Academy, p. 901–902). “In the courts of my sanctuary.” This addition, leading the thought to one of the definite Old Testament ordinances (Deut 14:22-24), confirms the above-mentioned conjecture of blessed Jerome about the special, symbolico-sacred character of those gifts of the earth spoken of here.

Isaiah 62:10. Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people! Build up, build up the highway! Clear it of stones! Lift up a signal for the peoples! “Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people! Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones, lift up a signal for the peoples!” In this poetic picture the prophet draws before our minds the image of the restored city of Jerusalem as the center of renewed Zion, with its gates widely opened for the free passage of dense masses of people. To prevent disorder, inconvenience and crowding, the Messiah Himself comes forth here as it were in the role of a master of ceremonies, establishing order, guarding safety and creating the comforts of the way. First of all, He invites to pass through the gates of the city the “watchers” themselves, that is, His apostles and disciples, the chief co-workers and collaborators of the Lord in the founding and spreading of His church. Then He gives them the commission to prepare the way for the unobstructed passage into the enclosure of the New Testament church of broad masses of people. The analogous cry “prepare the way for the Lord” (Isa 40:3) has already met us with the prophet Isaiah and was thoroughly expounded there. “Lift up a signal for the peoples.” As a commentary to these words, two following parallels from the same prophet may serve: “And he will raise a signal for nations and will assemble the outcast of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa 5:26). “And he will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa 11:12). “Thus says the Lord God: behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples” (Isa 49:22). The image is taken, evidently, from a military standard remaining after battle, by which it is raised high after the battle and gathers around itself all the scattered members of the regiment. In a typological sense, such a standard of the New Testament church is the Cross of Christ—the symbol of Christianity’s victory over all its external and internal enemies. The moment of the most complete historical fulfillment of this prophecy in the New Testament period should be recognized as the era of Constantine the Great.

Isaiah 62:11. Behold, the Lord proclaims to the ends of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your Savior comes; his reward is with him and his recompense before him. The concluding speech of the Lord Himself. “Say to the daughter of Zion,” that is, to the New Testament church, which in this image the psalmist has specially celebrated (Ps 44:11-18). “Your Savior comes.” The prophet Zechariah connected this prediction with his special prophecy about the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem (Zech 9:9; cf. Isa 40:10; Matt 21:5; John 12:15). “His reward is with him and his recompense is before him.” These words present almost a literal repetition of verse 10 of chapter 40, where they have been commented.

Isaiah 62:12. And they shall call them the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken. It is a general conclusion of this chapter and a repetition of its basic thought revealed in the first section, verses 2–5.