Isaiah 59
I. (1-39) Condemnation
A. Chapters 1-12 - ”Prophecies against Israel and Judah
B. Chapters 13-23 - ”Prophecies against the Nations
C. Chapters 24-27 - ”Prophecies of the Day of the Lord
D. Chapters 28-35 - ”Prophecies of Judgment and Blessing
E. Chapters 36-39 - ”Historical accounts
II. (40-66) Consolation
A. Chapters 40-48 - Israel’s God
B. Chapters 49-54 - Israel’s Messiah
C. Chapters 55-66 - Israel’s Opportunity
1. \\#Isa 55:1-56:8\\ An Invitation
2. \\#Isa 56:9-12\\ A Condemnation
3. \\#Isa 57:1-14\\ A Warning
4. \\#Isa 58:1-14\\ A Possibility
5. \\#Isa 59:1-62:12\\ A Commitment - This chapter begins as the last
chapter, speaking to those of Isaiah’s time. It will end with
prophecies of the tribulation and millennium.
I. \\#Isa 59:1-21\\ A Commitment
A. \\#Isa 59:1\\ God Is Able
1. "the Lord’s hand is not shortened… neither his ear heavy" - There
is nothing lacking in the Lord.
2. "that he cannot save" - God can bring the Jews to Himself at any
time. He could do this at any time by forcing Himself upon His
people, but He has chosen to set up circumstances in such a way that
they will come to Him.
B. \\#Isa 59:2-8\\ But the People Have Chosen Sin
1. \\#Isa 59:2\\ "your iniquities have separated between you and your
God" - Instead of choosing God, Israel choose sin. Israel’s sin has
built a barrier between them and God.
2. "your sins have hid his face from you" - The reason Israel could not
see God not because God was too weak to be sin, but because their
own sin blocked their view. Some of their sins are listed.
3. \\#Isa 59:3-4,7\\ Some of their sins are listed.
a. \\#3\\ your hands are defiled with blood"
b. "lies"
c. "perverseness"
d. \\#4\\ "None called for justice"
e. "nor any pleadeth for truth"
f. "they trust in vanity"
g. "they conceive mischief, bring forth iniquity" - The Jews of
Isaiah’s day spent their time thinking up new ways to do wrong.
h. \\#7\\ "they make haste to shed innocent blood"
i. "their thoughts are… of iniquity" - Their mind is preoccupied
with wrong.
4. \\#Isa 59:5-8\\ God gives images of Israel’s wickedness.
a. \\#5\\ "They hatch cockatrice’ eggs" - A COCKATRICE is some form
of reptile, perhaps a crocodile or snake, the off spring of which
are deadly. Israel’s sins will prove more deadly than the most
poisonous snake or powerful crocodile.
b. Yet the works of these people is worse for they are also like a
"spider’s web," easy to get into and very difficult to get out.
c. \\#6\\ "neither shall they cover themselves with their works" -
Nothing good or useable will come out of Israel’s sin.
d. \\#7\\ "Their feet run to evil" - Like children running to get
to their destination, so Israel is running to involve itself in
evil. All they will find on the "path" they are travelling is
"destruction."
e. \\#8\\ "The way of peace they know not" - Israel does not even
know the pathway that leads to peace. They only travel the
"crooked paths."
f. "whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace." - On this road,
they will never find anything but heartache and sorrow.
C. \\#Isa 59:9-15\\ The Consequences
1. \\#Isa 59:9\\ "Therefore is judgment far from us, neither… justice"
The lament is for the lack of judgment and justice within the land
of Israel. Even the most wicked people want some form of justice
when wrong has been done to them.
2. \\#Isa 59:9-11\\ God gives images of Israel’s lack of justice.
a. \\#9\\ "we wait for light…but…darkness" - The people wander
about blindly. They have no law to guide them. This thought
will be picked up again in \\#Isa 60:1\\.
b. \\#10\\ "We grope for the wall like the blind" - The situation
is pictured as more serious than the absence of light. The
problem is within the people. They are BLIND. There condition
has caused them to "stumble at noonday" and ended them up in
"desolate places."
c. \\#11\\ They "roar like bears, and mourn… like doves" - Israel
groans and laments loudly, like an injured animal; but it is to
avail. Both "judgment" and "salvation… is far off from us."
3. \\#Isa 59:12\\ "For" - God repeats the reason for Israel’s afflictions.
a. "our transgression are multiplied"
b. "our sins testify against us"
c. "our transgression are with us"
d. "our iniquities, we know them"
4. \\#Isa 59:13\\ More sins are mentioned.
a. "transgressing and lying against the Lord"
b. "departing away from our God"
c. "speaking oppression and revolt"
d. "conceiving and uttering… falsehood"
5. \\#Isa 59:14-15\\ The consequences are enumerated.
a. \\#14\\ "judgment is turned away"
b. "justice standeth afar off"
c. "truth is fallen"
d. "equity cannot enter"
e. \\#15\\ "he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey" -
Those who do attempt to do right are victimized by the corrupt
people and system that the wicked have built.
f. "the Lord saw it, and it displeased him" - This phrase introduces
the last section. Having seen the condition of Israel, God
commits Himself to fixing it.
D. \\#Isa 59:16-21\\ But God Will Make Things Right - The section is
difficult because the male pronoun will be used extensively and about two
separate entities. The Lord will be the HE that is moving to help, and
Israel will be the HIM that is needing help.
1. \\#Isa 59:16\\ "And he saw" - The Lord saw.
a. "there was no man" - God saw that no man stood to correct this
wicked condition.
b. "there was no intercessor" - God saw that no one stood either to
plead with others to do right or to God for forgiveness and
cleansing.
2. "therefore his arm" - So God took it upon Himself, upon His own
strength, to remedy the situation.
a. "his arm brought salvation" - God determined to bring salvation to
Israel. This is probably both a spiritual and physical salvation.
In the physical sense, God did deliver Judah from Assyria and
returned them to the land out of the Babylonian and Persian
empires. However, their spiritual salvation has not come yet.
b. "and his righteousness" - And God used His righteousness… "to
sustain him," that is, to sustain Israel. Israel’s sins
warranted their destruction, but, even without Israel asking, God
imparted to Israel some of His righteousness. Throughout history,
God has lent unrequested righteousness to sinners. Adam and Eve
were kept alive by it until, by offering sacrifices, they
requested it. David was kept alive a full year by it after he
sinned with Bathsheba. And you and I were granted it for years
until we finally turned to accept Jesus Christ as savior.
3. \\#Isa 59:17-20\\ The Lord goes to battle.
a. \\#17\\ The Lord dresses for the battle. The Apostle Paul was
no doubt thinking of these verses when he wrote of the
Christian’s armor.
Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
(1) "For he" - In this text, the One who wears the armor is the
Lord. The fact that the Lord "put on" these items, does not
mean that these attributes were not already upon Him. The
items are listed to emphasis which of His characteristics
will be most needed to repair and help Israel.
(2) Four are listed:
(a) "righteousness as a breastplate"
(b) "helmet of salvation"
(c) "garments of vengeance"
(d) "zeal as a cloke"
b. \\#18\\ The Lord goes out to battle. The text does not
differentiate between wicked Israel and wicked Gentiles. These
verses are giving a visual image of God’s dealings with Israel’s
enemies during the tribulation and at the beginning of the
millennium.
(1) "According to their deeds… he will repay" - God will give
justice to mankind.
(2) What God gives is described more.
(a) "fury to his adversaries"
(b) "recompense to his enemies"
(c) "to the islands, he will repay recompense" - The ISLANDS
is most likely the Gentile continents.
\\See 2006Notes on "Isa 41:1"\\
c. \\#19\\ The results of God’s battle are declared.
(1) "So shall they fear the name of the Lord… and his glory"
After the tribulation, God will be feared and His glory,
His person, shall be respected.
(2) "from the west… the rising of the sun" - From the east
to the west, that is, God will be feared all around the
earth, not just in Israel.
d. \\#19\\ The time of God’s battle is given.
(1) "When the enemy shall come in like a flood" - Israel has had
a great many enemies. Assyria was even described as a river
which had overflowed its banks \\#Isa 8:7\\. God’s
destruction of the Assyrian army may, in part, be a partial
fulfillment of this passage. However, \\#Isa 59:20-21\\
were clearly left unfulfilled and await a completed
fulfilling in the end times.
(2) "the Spirit of the Lord shall life up a standard against him"
The HIM mentioned in this verse is not plural but singular.
It is a reference to the anti-Christ.
e. \\#20\\ The aftermath of the battle.
(1) "the Redeemer shall come to Zion" - The Messiah shall come
to sit upon the throne. Zion the part of Jerusalem that
refers to political power. Messiah does not come merely to
the temple to be Israel’s spiritual Leader. He comes to
Zion to be Israel’s Ruler.
(2) "and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob"
Messiah will come for reign over all of Israel but
especially He will come especially for those who are
repentant.
4. \\#Isa 59:21\\ The Lord makes an eternal promise.
a. "this is my covenant… and my words" - God does not need to make
this statement. If God says anything, it is true; but He makes
it to emphasize to those who would doubt that what He has said,
He will perform.
b. God’s words "shall not depart… from henceforth and for ever"
That there might be no room for mistake, God says that these
promises are eternal.
c. "shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor… of thy seed, nor… of
thy seed’s seed" - And to accentuate it even more, it declares
the promise valid to all generations.
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
