“Good
News”
[Isaiah
52:7-12]
April
18, 2021 YouTube
As we turn to this morning’s text, let us remember that
God has just told Jerusalem – and all believers, that we are to believe and act
like who we are in Christ and who we will be in Christ, and God will make us to
know His Name. All who believe will know
God’s Attributes intimately. This section is of the promise of deliverance,
whereas this morning’s text is a view of the fulfillment of the promise of
deliverance.
We may remember that there were no phones or
walkie-talkies in 700 B. C. – or in the times before this, so, as wars rage on,
runners would be assigned to run back to the camp or the kingdom and report how
the battle is going. The runner would
come yelling the bad news or the good news so the people could react in the
appropriate manner.
We remember bad news coming when Eli is the judge of
Israel and his two wicked sons serve under him.
As war rages with the Philistines, the runner comes with news:
“When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, ‘What
is this uproar?’ Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. Now Eli was
ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. And the
man said to Eli, ‘I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle
today.’ And he said, ‘How did it go, my son?’ He who brought the news answered
and said, ‘Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a
great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are
dead, and the ark of God has been captured.’ As soon as he mentioned the ark of
God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck
was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel
forty years’” (I Samuel 4:14-18, ESV).
This morning’s Scripture is not of a runner bringing bad
news; it is of a runner bringing good news.
And so, we see, first, good news comes.
“How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who
publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who
says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”
Again,
we remember that Jerusalem has heard that they will be taken for seventy years
into exile in Babylon. They know this is
coming as discipline for their sin. They
also understand that God has promised to deliver them at the right time,
because discipline is temporary.
Jerusalem
is not told how God will deliver her at the right time, but the promise is made
– and she is are told that the runner will come – and the runner will bring
good news. The fact that he runs with good
news – victory – deliverance – causes them to see his very feet as beautiful
for the sake of the news that he brings.
As opposed to the news that is brought to Eli – a runner whose feet are
ugly.
The
runner comes with two parallel sets of statements:
The
runner brings good news – the good news of deliverance from Babylon – and he
publishes peace – peace for Jerusalem is come on that day and the fact of it is
made know to all the people of Jerusalem and all the surrounding nations.
The
runner brings good news of happiness – it is good news that is so good that it
makes the people happy – ecstatic – filled with the joy of God – and he
publishes salvation – all of Jerusalem and the surrounding nations see the
salvation of Jerusalem by her God.
As
the runner says, “Your God reigns.”
This
is the promise that is made to Jerusalem and the fulfillment of the promise made.
Paul
brings this promise of fulfillment into the Good News of Jesus Christ – the
salvation that He brings:
“For
‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
“How
then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to
believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without
someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is
written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But
they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed
what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through
the word of Christ” (Romans 10:13-17, ESV).
The
ultimate fulfillment of the Good News given to Jerusalem is found in the Gospel
– the Good News – of Jesus – the Promised Savior. The runner who brings and publishes this Good
News are those who preach Who Jesus is and what He has done.
Jesus
announces Himself as a runner with Good News:
“And
he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he
went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found
the place where it was written,
“’The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
“And
he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the
eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today
this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-21, ESV).
Jerusalem
has the good news that she will be freed – joyously freed, and God promises the
fulfillment of this promise of deliverance.
The runner will come with good news.
Ultimately,
they are the beautiful feet of Jesus that bring the Good News of salvation
through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to
us – with the promise of total fulfillment when He returns for us and brings us
into the fulness of His kingdom.
Second,
salvation is seen.
“The
voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for
eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into
singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he
has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all
the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
If
you have seen a castle or an ancient city, you likely would have seen some sort
of wall around it for protection. Watchmen would be standing on the walls with
weapons to help keep the city safe and intruders out of the castle or city. The city of Jerusalem had a wall around it
and watchmen watched for enemies coming against the city.
The
watchmen see the runner coming towards the city – calling out good news – they understand
that the Lord is returning to Zion – Jerusalem.
God keeps His promise to free Jerusalem, and as the runner gets close to
the wall, the watchmen see him eye to eye.
(During the Revolutionary War, it was said, “don’t shoot until you see
the whiles of their eyes.”) They saw the
runner well enough to see the joy in him – and the watchmen lift up their
voices and sing for joy!
The
desolate places are called upon to revive and sing for joy – in the finale of God’s
redemption of His people all evil and sin and corruption will be done away with.
The
reason for this singing – in the return of Jerusalem and in the return of Jesus
to restore His kingdom – is that the Lord has comforted His people, He has
redeemed His people, and He bears His arm before all the nations of the world.
He
comforts His people. We saw God comfort
His people back in chapter forty:
“Comfort,
comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that
her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from
the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2, ESV).
Be
comforted – you are being sent into captivity for your sin, but I will save you
and return you to the land.
We
remember these words:
“For
to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV).
The
Lord has redeemed His people.
“While
I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have
guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17.21, ESV).
Every
single person Jesus came to redeem will be redeemed. Jesus pays the debt of everyone who will ever
believe throughout time and space to the Father, and we are welcomed into the
kingdom.
And
God bears His holy arm.
Have
you ever seen a fight – or been in a fight – where a person rolls up his sleeve
to fight? God symbolically rolls up His
sleeve bearing His arm, so the people will know coming against Him is futile. He is the All-powerful God Whose Providence
cannot be stopped.
Jesus
speaks of His return, when the Arm of the Lord will be bared:
“Then
will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31, ESV).
Salvation
is seen in God’s keeping His promise to return Jerusalem when the captivity is
done, but primarily in the work of Jesus and His return when all the world will
know that salvation is only in Jesus Alone. For the great and cosmic battle is
won by Jesus on the last day and all glory is given to Him.
Third,
the greater exodus comes.
The
history of the Exodus is used throughout the Scripture as one of the great
examples of God’s salvation of His people, and we have this imagery here in the
good news to Jerusalem. Here we see that
the force of this text is found in the work of the Savior and the salvation of
all the people of God, rather than the return from Babylon.
“Depart,
depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of
her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD.”
Israel
was symbolically covered and made holy through the blood of the lamb:
“Then
Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and select lambs
for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a
bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the
lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you
shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass
through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and
on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the
destroyer to enter your houses to strike you’” (Exodus 12:21-23, ESV).
The
final Passover lamb is identified and brings us out of the kingdom of darkness
through His blood.
The
author of Hebrews explains, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the
good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not
made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into
the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of
his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12, ESV).
The
Wrath of the Lord against His people is gone because Jesus takes it on Himself
and washes us with His blood. We are
delivered from slavery to sin and its fruits.
“For
you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD
will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
God
leads us out of wickedness and sin into His kingdom, and He goes before us and
keeps us safe at the rear. Israel saw
this visibly in the Exodus:
“And
they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the
wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead
them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that
they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the
pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people” (Exodus
13:20-22, ESV).
God
led Israel to the promised land by the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. He continues to lead we who are the Israel of
God as our Good Shepherd. He will not
let us fall into a ditch or be eaten by a wolf.
He leads us through the dangers of this life and brings us into pastures
of green in the New Eden.
Israel
has an exodus yet to come out of Babylon, but all we who believe are engaged in
the greater Exodus, following God. “Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell
in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).
Good
news for all we who believe.
Let
us pray:
Almighty
God, we thank You that it was Your will from before the Creation to send Good
News to Your people. We thank You for
opening our eyes so we could see the salvation that Your Son brings. We thank You that You are with us, leading us
through the greater Exodus. Brig us
safely to the New Eden and be glorified in us.
For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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