CHAPTER 26

(712 B.C.)

A MILLENNIAL SONG: PRAISE FOR THE SALVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED

¹In 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. (The entirety of this Chapter is a Millennial song to be sung by Judah as a song of triumph in that coming Glad Day.

The night of Israels captivity and subjection [Vs. 9] is to be succeeded by the day of her Restoration and glory.

The lofty city [Babylon, Vs. 5], representative of Satans whole power, will be destroyed, and the strong city [Jerusalem] will be beautified and fortified by Jehovah, its Salvation.

The words, in that day, signify the coming Millennium, and consequently have not yet been fulfilled.)

²Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the Truth may enter in. (Israel has never fully kept the Truth, but now will do so. The Truth is the Word of God.)

³You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You. (The keynote of this Passage is Peace. It speaks of the coming Glad Day of the Millennium, when Christ, the Prince of Peace, reigns supremely on Earth.

As well, every Believer can presently enjoy the tremendous fruit of this Promise by keeping our minds centered on Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross. This shows total and complete trust.)

⁴Trust y ou in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength (Jehovah is the Rock of Ages, the Undefeatable One, the Eternal Strong One. The implication of this Verse is that whereas men, even faithful men, will sometimes prove unfaithful, the Lord can be trusted forever. He will not change or vary in direction. What He says today, He will say tomorrow):

⁵For He brings down them who dwell on high; the lofty city, He lays it low; He lays it low, even to the ground; He brings it even to the dust. (The lofty city is Babylon. It speaks of Satans efforts through man from the beginning, and it will never rise again. Immediately before or at the Second Coming, the Lord will lay it low.)

⁶The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy. (The poor and needy constitute Israel. Now, energized by Christ, she shall tread down the glory and power of the enemy.)

THE WAY OF THE RIGHTEOUS

⁷The way of the just is uprightness: You, Most Upright, do weigh the path of the just. (The way of the just can be described with one word uprightness. The Most Upright is Christ. He is the One Who makes level the path of the just. As well, one can be just only in Christ and Faith in what He did for us at the Cross.)

⁸Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O LORD, have we waited for You; the desire of our soul is to Your Name, and to the remembrance of You. (The righteous nation and the righteous person do not follow the judgments of their own wisdom, but walk in the way of Divine Judgments, and in the energy of true affection for the absent but expected Messiah.)

⁹With my soul have I desired You in the night; yes, with my spirit within me will I seek You early: for when Your judgments are in the Earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (This is similar to a portion of the Lords Prayer, Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven [Mat. 6:10]. That prayer has yet to be answered, but most surely it will be answered!)

THE WAY OF THE WICKED

¹⁰Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD. (This Verse foretells the present dispensation of Grace and predicts mans rejection of it. Verses 9 and 11 point to the day of wrath that is to succeed it. Then man will learn that God is faithful to His People and righteous in His punishment of their adversaries.)

¹¹LORD, when Your Hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. (This Verse may be thus understood: Lord, Your Hand is lifted up in indignation in defense of Your People, Israel; yet the wicked nations do not recognize it; but they shall see Your Zeal for Your ancient People and shall be ashamed; and the fire reserved for Your Adversaries shall devour them.

If men will not yield to Gods Grace, they must bow to His Wrath!)

THE PRAYER OF GODS PEOPLE ANSWERED

¹²LORD, You will ordain peace for us: for You also have wrought all our works in us. (As it is with Israel, so it is with Believers; our Salvation is ordained and accomplished by God Alone.)

¹³O LORD our God, other lords beside You have had dominion over us: but by You only will we make mention of Your Name. (The other lords were the oppressors of the past. But it is the Lord Alone Who holds the answers.)

¹⁴They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore have You visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. (Those who oppressed Israel, Isaiah says, are dead and deceased, and shall not rise and live in the First Resurrection [Rev. 20:6]; however, they shall rise in the second resurrection of damnation [Rev. 20:14-15], and then they shall be punished, destroyed, and all their memory caused to perish.)

¹⁵You have increased the nation, O LORD, You have increased the nation: You are glorified: You have removed it far unto all the ends of the Earth. (The Lord increased Israel, and then removed it, because of rebellion against Righteousness. But Israel will be restored.)

¹⁶LORD, in trouble have they visited You, they poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them. (Israel has done this many times in the past, but will do it even in a greater way during the last half of the Great Tribulation. At that time, they will truly be in trouble [Jer. 20:1-9; Dan. 12:1; Rev., Chpt. 12].)

¹⁷Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in Your sight, O LORD. (Paul alluded to this in I Thess. 5:3. Israel will then find out that the Antichrist is not really the Messiah, but an imposter, meaning that the last half of the Great Tribulation is going to be a terrible time for Israel, actually more terrible than she has every known before [Mat. 24:21].)

¹⁸We 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. (In effect, the Holy Spirit is saying through Isaiah that Israel has brought forth nothing in the world but wind. They did not bring any deliverance to the Earth, as God intended, because they became too lifted up in their own self-righteousness. The inhabitants of the world, namely the Gentiles, did not bow to Israels God, but instead continued to worship idols [Rom. 10:1-3].)

RESURRECTION OF THE JUST; PUNISHMENT OF THE UNJUST

¹⁹Your dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the Earth shall cast out the dead. (The Holy Spirit in this Passage declares the Truth of the coming Resurrection of Life [I Thess. 4:16-18]. The phrase, And the Earth shall cast out the dead, refers to the giants, or the Rephaim, which the Earth will not yield up in Resurrection. This concerns fallen angels who cohabited with women, bringing forth a race of giants [Gen. 6:4].)

²⁰Come, My people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. (This speaks of the latter half of the Great Tribulation, and comprises about three and a half years. At this time, when Israel is invaded by the Antichrist, she will flee to Petra, which is in modern-day Jordan, comprising the area once known as Edom and Moab.)

²¹For, behold, the LORD comes out of His Place to punish the inhabitants of the Earth for their iniquity: the Earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her dead. (This proclaims the Wrath of God being poured out upon the Earth in the coming Great Tribulation. It refers, as well, to the Battle of Armageddon, which will take place at the very conclusion of the Great Tribulation.)