Devotions
Rev Gav
Both
Isaiah 52.7–10
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you ruins 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.
Reflect
Isaiah 52 is a prophecy about two things. It is about both Babylon and Christ.
The Jewish people were enslaved or in exile in Babylon and Isaiah predicts how they will be liberated, stating that: God has won a victory over Babylon, the Israelites are free to go home, the ruins of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, God will return to the temple, and everyone will see how God saved them.
This prediction has a parallel too, because Isaiah is about to explain about the ‘suffering servant’, God’s holy and anointed one who would redeem the world where: God has won a victory over death, humanity’s brokenness will be restored — freeing them to come home to God, God’s temple will be God’s people, and the whole world will know that God saved them.
The word Zion is a word that encapsulates, not just a geographical or ancestral people, but a holy people, centred around Jerusalem and its temple, chosen and redeemed by God. In the same way, we are Christian or Christ-centred. We are a holy people, centred around Christ, chosen and redeemed by God.
Because of this double-meaning in Isaiah, Christians have often used passages such as this one as a creed in Christian worship and prayer. When we read it, we apply it to ourselves, for the ‘messenger’ is Christ, and we ‘sing for joy’.
Today, read the Bible passage again — this time out loud — making it your Monday morning creed!
Photo by Eunice De Guzman on Unsplash
Pray
Read out loud...
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you ruins 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.
and then