Isaiah 12:1-6

CHAPTER TWELVE
F. PRAISE FOR IMMANUEL

TEXT: Isaiah 12:1-6

1

And in that day thou shalt say, I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.

2

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation.

3

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

4

And in that day shall ye say, Give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name, declare his doings among the peoples, make mention that his name is exalted.

5

Sing unto Jehovah; for he hath done excellent things; let this be known in all the earth.

6

Cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel.

QUERIES

a.

What is the day spoken of in Isaiah 12:1; Isaiah 12:4?

b.

How would they draw water out of the wells of salvation?

c.

Who is the inhabitant of Zion?

PARAPHRASE

On that day you of the remnant will say, Thanks be unto You, O Jehovah, for You were angry with me but now Your anger is turned away and You comfort me. See, you will say, God is my salvation and no one else. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and of Him I sing. He is my salvation! With unbounded joy you, O remnant, will draw and drink from the Water of Life. In that day you will proclaim, Give thanks to Jehovah and call upon Him! Tell the whole world about His mighty works and glorify His name among all peoples. Sing in thanksgiving and praise of Jehovah's name for His works excel everything and sing His praises unto all the world. Cry aloud, you who are the true inhabitants of Zion, for the Great and Mighty and Holy One of Israel lives among you.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 12:1-6 PRAISE IMMANUEL: This is one of the most beautiful peans of praise in all the Bible! In the day that Immanuel shall make His advent into the world of man and shall conquer man's enemies and shall set up His kingdom, the Church, God's remnant (those who believe and are redeemed) will be able to give thanks and praise Jehovah's name for His grace. It will be by His grace that God will satisfy His wrath upon His Son and turn His wrath away from man. In the substitutionary death of the Messiah men will find comfort and strength and salvation. It will be a work of salvation totally initiated by God and not by man, Man's response will be to trust and enter into covenant relationship through the covenant terms revealed by God.

Water is a beautiful figure of salvation, especially for a people of a dry and arid land. (Cf. Isaiah 41:17-18; John 4:14). There is an interesting practice attendant to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jesus day in connection with Isaiah 12:3. Each day of the feast the people would come with palm branches and limbs of willows to the temple. They held these branches over the great altar of burnt offering until they formed a sort of roof and the people marched around the altar. While the people were thus marching, one of the priests went, according to the ceremony, to the pool of Siloam and filled a golden pitcher with about two pints of water. As he returned through the Water Gate, the people chanted Isaiah 12:3. With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. The figure of water for Messianic salvation permeates the Old Testament (Cf. Isaiah 35:7; Isaiah 49:10; Isaiah 55:1; Psalms 42:1; Psalms 36:9; Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 17:13; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Zechariah 13:1; Zechariah 14:8; John 4:7-26; John 7:37-38).

When men enjoy the blessings of salvation they must make known the glories of their discovery. In John 7:37-38 Jesus says, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Perhaps Jesus meant that those who drink from the wells of salvation will also become, as it were, springs of salvation to others. When men proclaim the Living Water and direct men's hearts to Him they have, by their preaching, become secondary sources of the Water of Life.

Notice carefully that the content of true praise and preaching of God is to praise and preach His doings. The church does not exist to give the opinions of men, or to teach that all religions are equally good, or to beg men to unite with her, or to psych them into joining her by emotionally-charged entertainments and mass-hypnotic salesmanship methods. Her one supreme task is to cause men to praise the name of God through the direction of their minds to the record of His doings! A part of that proclamation may be done through singing His praises.

The inhabitant of Zion is the member of the new covenant people. Zion is the church of Christ (Cf. Hebrews 12:22). The Holy One of Israel dwells in His church which is His temple (Cf. Ephesians 2:11-22). Isaiah will have a great deal more to say about the glory of Zion (Chapter s 60 through 66 especially), which is all future to Isaiah's day and cannot refer to anything but the Church.

QUIZ

1.

What are the wells of salvation?

2.

What is to be declared among the peoples?

3.

Where is Zion?