“Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
    and their kings will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you,
    in favour I will show you compassion.
¹¹ Your gates will always stand open,
    they will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations—
    their kings led in triumphal procession.

No ancient city would keep its gates open all the time. It would then be vulnerable to attack. But the doors of the church are open to all who genuinely want to come in, and be under God’s rule. Here there is a wide and warm welcome extended to everyone: to gentiles as well as Jews. In ultimate terms, the church has nothing to fear in its openness. As we will see next time, it is a victorious church.

The book of Revelation 21: 2, 24,25 describes the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy in the new heavenly Jerusalem.

Just recently, my wife and I had reason to visit the city of Manchester. We managed to get into the art gallery for about half an hour before it closed. We were surprised, and delighted, to see a few paintings by Holman Hunt. His famous, ‘the Light of the world’ was there. This picture depicts Jesus standing outside the heart’s door, wanting, waiting to be let in. That is one side of the gospel coin. It comes with the challenge, ‘Will you open your door to Him? The other side of the coin (in terms of Isaiah’s picture) is, ‘Will you go through the door God has opened for you?’

Jesus said,

”I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9: King James Version)

‘Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    all assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
    and your daughters are carried on the hip.
⁵ Then you will look and be radiant,
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.
⁶ Herds of camels will cover your land,
    young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
    bearing gold and incense
    and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
⁷ All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,
    the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on my altar,
    and I will adorn my glorious temple.

⁸ ‘Who are these that fly along like clouds,
    like doves to their nests?
⁹ Surely the islands look to me;
    in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,^[a]
bringing your children from afar,
    with their silver and gold,
to the honour of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendour.

This chapter is about the return of God’s people to Jerusalem and the wealth that will be brought to the city from all over the world.

But it also speaks, at least in part, of the influx of the nations (and resources) into the church. Every conversion is for the glory of God (9b) who, in turn, makes His people glorious. The last line takes us back to verses 1-3: ”for he has endowed you with splendour.”

I don’t know about you, but verse 5a comes close to describing how I feel when I see someone to turn to Christ. There is nothing quite like it.

Living in the British Isles, I want to say how thankful I am that the good news of the gospel reached these ”islands” (9a).

The prophecy about ”flocks” and ”rams” being gathered to Jerusalem to serve as ”offerings” (verse 7) was partly fulfilled during the reign of Darius king of Persia (see Ezra 6:9). Don’t forget this is a multi-layered prophecy, and although this was true of the restored city of Jerusalem in Old Testament times; after Jesus came into the world, animal sacrifices were no longer necessary (see Hebrews 10:1-5, 10-14).

Derek Kidner comments that ‘The gold and incense (6) remind the Christian reader of the harbingers of this migration in Mt.2, whose homage then, however, was perilous and whose gifts included the enigmatic myrrh (cf. Mk.15:23; Jn.19:39) – pointers to the struggle that still lay ahead.’ New Bible Commentary, pp.666/667.

‘Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
³ Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

God’s people are called to ”shine” in this very ‘dark’ world. But our light is not our own. It is a reflected glory. It is like the beautiful light of the moon, transmitting the rays of the sun.

”And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate (or reflect) the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor.3:22).

This light is attractive, drawing others in (3, see Mat.5:14-16).

It has been said that God is depicted in these words as rising over Jerusalem like the sun, filling it with glory, so that it becomes magnetic, drawing nations towards it.

As we come in to this magnificent chapter, I want to share Tom Hale’s helpful introductory words. They provide an excellent over-view, and will no doubt assist us in the coming days:

This prophecy ‘is to be interpreted on three levels. First, it is a prophecy of the restoration of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. However, that restoration was only a partial fulfillment of this prophecy; the scope of Isaiah’s words in this chapter far exceeds anything that happened in Old Testament Jerusalem.

Second, this is a prophecy of Christ’s church in this present age, to whose light the nations are even now coming (verse 3). Foreigners will rebuild [its] walls (verse 10) – that is, the church will be built by Gentile believers (see Acts 15:14-16; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5).

Third, this is a prophecy of the Messianic age that is yet to come. Much of the prophecy in this chapter, especially verses 15-22, has not yet been fulfilled. It will be fulfilled only when Christ comes again at the end of this present age to establish His Messianic kingdom.

In summary, the return of the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem was a foreshadowing of a much larger movement of believers into the church of Christ And the church today, in spiritual terms, is a foreshadowing of the Messianic reign of Christ that is yet to come. All of this is dealt with in this one chapter…’ ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, pp.1064, 1065.

‘The Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,’
declares the Lord.

²¹ ‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants – from this time on and for ever,’ says the Lord.

Somebody said that the gospel is bad news before it is good news. The flow of this chapter takes us from the bad and into the good.

‘Isaiah has moved from his people’s sins to their confession of sin, then to God’s judgment on evildoers, and here finally to God’s redemption of his repentant people-the remnant of Israel.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1064.

”The Redeemer” has come, and His Name is Jesus. He gives grace and forgiveness to all who will repent of their sins. Through Him we experience the New Covenant (see Jer.31:31-34), with His two great everlasting Covenant gifts: His ”Spirit” and His ”Words”.

How precious it is to be the recipients.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.
¹⁶ He saw that there was no one,
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
    and his own righteousness sustained him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
    and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
    and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
¹⁸ According to what they have done,
    so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands their due.
¹⁹ From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath of the Lord drives along.

Some people give the impression that God is never ”displeased” about anything. He is seen as a kindly, over-indulgent grandfather figure who never shows anger. But such an idea is a flagrant contradiction of many clear statements of Scripture. This passage says otherwise and shows God, like a warrior taking action. We might not like the doctrine of divine judgment, but our distaste for it doesn’t make it unreal.

The word ”displeased” is even sharper than it appears. It should be rendered ”appalled”, as at 63:5.

Derek Kidner makes the point that with this unshared indignation of God (see verse 16 – ” no one…no one to intervene…”) we should compare Jesus’ solitary grief and anger over the temple, as described in Luke 19:41,45. But he also says that this judgment ‘clears the way for a kingdom of converts.’ New Bible Commentary’, p.666.

  uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
    and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Mark Twain

In this ‘post-truth’ environment we often hear people speak about my truth. ‘So long as it’s true for me, you have to respect it.’ That seems to be the prevailing orthodoxy, and woe betide anyone who dares to challenge it.

But objective truth is still objective truth, and a lie is a lie even when smartly dressed in the garb of truth. The Bible remains the litmus test for all truth claims.

It is tragic when we in the church speak ”lies our hearts have conceived”, making out that the Bible says what it doesn’t; damning souls to Hell in the wake of our infidelity.

May God have mercy on us!

For our offenses are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:
¹³ rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
    uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
    and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

We are, apparently, now living in a ‘post-truth’ world. Or so we are told. Isaiah’s words, then, have a contemporary ring to them: a prophetic relevance to our own times. I think there will be many people who have never read this ancient prophetic work, who would nevertheless entirely agree with the statement: ”truth is fallen in the street” (King James Version). The ‘English Standard Version’ renders this: ” for truth has stumbled in the public squares”.

As I write this, we are approaching a General Election in the UK, and I believe many people will be feeling: ”Truth is nowhere to be found” (15a). We may be right; we may be wrong about this, of course. My perception is that many good-hearted people want to believe their politicians, but can’t help but think that they are repeatedly and regularly lied to. Politics sometimes seems like a sophisticated ‘sleight of hand’ act, designed to get our vote. I think many of us would just like to believe that our leaders (or prospective leaders) are telling the truth – even if it is unpalatable. Level with us.

There is a sense of dishonesty hanging over our political system, and I’m sure this is not just restricted to the UK. It is sad, because it is hugely unfair to the MP’s who say what they mean and mean what they say. But rather like the non-smoking teachers in my old school staff room, they have the smell of other people’s stale smoke on their clothing. They are unfairly affected by that thick blue haze of deception lingering over politics.

PRAYER: Lord, please have mercy on us. Forgive all the lies we see, and those we ourselves have told. O God, in our time, please will you raise up leaders of righteousness, integrity and truth.

So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰ Like the blind we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.
¹¹ We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹² For our offenses are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:
¹³ rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
    uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
    and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

At this point Isaiah does what a number of other Biblical leaders also do. He stands in solidarity with his nation and confesses its sins as if his own. This is not merely a device. It is not pretence. When we confess the sins of our nation, we recognise that in our natural selves we are a part of the problem. We are sinful by nature, and we do sin. We are sinners. We may not have committed every sin we see in our particular country, but we have contributed to the overall problem. We have added to the pile of sins heaped up in our land. We cannot stand aloof from it all as if passive bystanders, and say ‘it’s them and not us.’

There is a story told that a number of years ago, a national newspaper put this question to certain famous authors: ‘What is wrong with the world?’ It received a number of answers, but I think the most succinct came from G.K. Chesterton. He wrote to the editor:

‘Dear Sir,

I am.

Yours sincerely,

G.K. Chesterton.

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.
³ For your hands are stained with blood,
    your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴ No one calls for justice;
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
⁵ They hatch the eggs of vipers
    and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶ Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence are in their hands.
⁷ Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
    acts of violence mark their ways.
⁸ The way of peace they do not know;
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
    no one who walks along them will know peace.

God’s people were tempted to blame Him for their sad plight, saying that His arm was ”too short” to help them, or His ears ”too dull” to hear. But they were wrong. The truth is that our sins separate us from God, and this is why we need the Saviour, Jesus. He is the only bridge who can effectively span the gulf between us and God. Without repentance for sin, and faith in Him, there can be no reconciliation with God.

Tom Hale writes: ‘…to blame God is always wrong. Whenever God seems distant and His blessings few, we need to look to ourselves to find the cause: it is our own iniquities that separate us from God.’ ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1063.

If we persist in known sin, refusing to turn from it, we cannot expect God to listen to us (see Ps.66:18).

(Note that Paul quotes from vv.7,8 in Rom.3:15-17 to show that all people are guilty of sin: Jews and Gentiles alike).