Isaiah · chapter 52 of 66
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Isaiah 52 calls Zion to awake and put on strength, because the Lord redeemed his people without money, and it celebrates the feet of the messenger who announces peace and proclaims that God reigns. It then commands the exiles to leave Babylon and, in verses 13 through 15, opens the fourth Servant song, in which the Servant will be exalted after a humiliation that leaves many kings astonished.
Isaiah 52 is the point where the comfort of chapters 40 through 51 reaches its climax and opens into the fourth Servant song. Verses 1 through 12 describe the deliverance of Jerusalem and the announcement of God's reign, and verses 13 through 15 form the first stanza of the song that continues in chapter 53, so the two chapters should be read together.
The chapter begins with a call to Zion: awake, put on your strength, put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean will never again enter you. Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, loose the bonds from your neck. The Lord recalls that they were sold for nothing and will be redeemed without money. His people went down to Egypt as sojourners, and Assyria oppressed them without cause. Now his people are taken away for nothing, their rulers wail and his name is continually blasphemed. Therefore his people will know his name and know that he is the one who speaks.
Verses 7 through 10 are a celebration. How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news of good things, who announces salvation and says to Zion: your God reigns! The watchmen lift up their voices and sing together, for they see with their own eyes the Lord's return to Zion. The ruins of Jerusalem break into joy, for the Lord has comforted his people and redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
Verses 11 and 12 command them to leave: depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. They will not go out in haste or flee, for the Lord will go before them, and the God of Israel will be their rear guard. Verses 13 through 15 open a new theme: my servant will prosper, he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as many were astonished at him, because his appearance was marred beyond that of any man, so he will sprinkle many nations; kings will shut their mouths because of him, for they will see what had not been told them and understand what they had not heard.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
How beautiful are the feet of the messenger who announces peace and salvation and says to Zion that her God reigns. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10:15 to speak of those who carry the gospel.
The Lord bares his holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see God's salvation. Israel's deliverance is not a private matter: it is a witness to the world.
Unlike the hurried departure from Egypt, the people will not leave in haste, for the Lord will go before them and be their rear guard. The promise recalls the exodus, but with more calm and more protection.
The Servant will prosper, be raised up and highly exalted. So the fourth song begins: before describing his suffering, the text announces the outcome of glory.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To awake, put on strength and beautiful garments, and shake off the dust. — Isaiah 52:1-2
Answer: Without money, because they were sold for nothing. — Isaiah 52:3
Answer: Peace, good news and salvation, and he says to Zion that her God reigns. — Isaiah 52:7
Answer: The salvation of our God. — Isaiah 52:10
Answer: Without haste or flight, because the Lord will go before them and be their rear guard. — Isaiah 52:12
Answer: He will prosper, be raised up and lifted up, and be highly exalted. — Isaiah 52:13
Isaiah 52 speaks of waking up. There are times when a community of faith lives drowsy, bound by chains it could already have loosed. A class can ask which areas of the church's life need someone to say: awake, put on your strength.
The beautiful feet of the messenger remind us that sharing the gospel, even with simple steps, is something God treasures. Whoever invites a neighbor, visits a sick person or teaches a child carries good news. And the opening of the Servant song invites us to prepare for the next chapter: God's road to glory passes through a humiliation that disconcerts, and that is a good reason to read Isaiah 53 slowly and with gratitude.
Isaiah 52 ends with the exalted Servant, before whom kings fall silent. Chapter 53 continues the same song and explains why that Servant was despised, wounded and led like a lamb.
The fourth Servant song begins at 52:13 and ends at 53:12. The division into chapters, made centuries later, cuts the poem in half. The verses from 13 to 15 present the Servant's exaltation and his marred appearance, and chapter 53 explains the reason for his suffering and its outcome.
In Romans 10:15 Paul quotes verse 7 to speak of the messengers who carry the gospel, and in Romans 15:21 he quotes verse 15 to explain that he preaches where Christ is not yet known. Both quotations show that the first Christians saw in these passages the mission of announcing Christ to the nations.