The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 47

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The Gospel is beautiful in presentation by Isaiah. The detail is so great that we need to remind ourselves again and again that this is God presenting the atonement 700 years before it was finished. It is an amazing and blessed text.

 

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah 53:9

No wonder the Ethiopian eunuch wanted Philip to explain this stuff (Acts 8:32-33). Outside the context we know so well it really isn't something that makes sense. We know that Christ died between two guilty men (the wicked) and was buried by Joseph of Arimathea (a rich man). We know that Christ did not have an earthly army and was not a physical threat to the rulers of His day. We also know He spoke the truth with authority and there was not one bit of deceit in His mouth. However, 700 years before His birth these words were behind the veil.

 

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:10-11

You can see why this was such an easy set of verses to use to explain the Gospel to the Ethiopian. Jesus was sacrificed by God and as a result saw offspring (the believers) and was resurrected (His days were prolonged). Out of His suffering and anguish He made many (the believers) to be accounted righteous and He bore their (the believers) iniquities. There is double imputation again. Our sins are imputed to Christ and His righteousness is imputed to us.

 

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12-13

Think of the comfort to our Lord that these verses were. He asked if there was another way in the darkness of Gethsemane but He did not go to the Cross simply to open a door and hope that someone would walk though. He had these promises from God.

 

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."

John 10:14-18

Jesus says a bunch in these few verses. As a good shepherd, He has a complete familiarity with those who are His. He lays down His life with purpose and certainty that it is being offered for the sheep that He knows as well as He knows the Father. This is why we call the atonement purposeful. It is also important to see that the Trinity was in accord over the atonement.

 

So what about the sheep that are not of this fold? Well that is all who are not Israel according to the flesh or by birth. Isaiah begins to address that in the next verse.

 

"Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married," says the LORD. "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. "Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Isaiah 54:1-4

This is a promised growth of the Church to possess the nations. We are blessed to be family when we were not family and it was a disgrace to not be a people of God. As Peter says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10). In our day we can trust God to bless if we trust Him and pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

 

For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer.

Isaiah 54:5-8

As the book of Revelation shows we, as the Church, are the Bride of Christ. The period leading up to Pentecost in approximately 34 AD was a hard time for the people of God. But the ingathering with everlasting love was (and has been) a remarkable thing.

 

If you want to see God gather with great compassion and display everlasting love then read Church history. Start with Acts but don't stop there. God has been faithful to this day and will be faithful to gather with great compassion until the last day.

 

"This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. "O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones.

Isaiah 54:9-12

Peter tells us that baptism is like Noah's flood and the water represents God's anger and judgment of sin (1 Peter 3:20-21). Peter, speaking of the atonement, says, "because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ". So, as God says here, like the days of Noah, we enjoy the peace with God of having passed through the wrath of God by the atonement of Christ and we testify with water baptism. Thinking back to the Ethiopian with Philip, I'm guessing they read at least this far in Isaiah because the Ethiopian pointed to a body of water and said, "What prevents me from being baptized?" I think the testimony of baptism is especially rich in that both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water. The Ethiopian didn't baptize himself and neither do we. We need assistance to give the testimony and we are passive in the testimony as we are moved through the symbol of God's judgment. We owed a debt we could not pay. We appeal to God for right standing before Him because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

God is preparing a place for us. There will be no vacancies in Heaven. He will never leave you or forsake you. We have assurance of salvation. We see the preservation of the saints here. God says, "the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and My covenant of peace shall not be removed." My security is truly a blessed assurance that Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. God is not going to need to remove one mansion in glory. Each will be occupied and they are not just tract homes. He knows you better than you know yourself and is preparing a place that is beyond all you could ask for or think of. Think of your treasure and remember where your treasure is because it centers and keeps your focus and your heart in the right place.

 

All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Isaiah 54:13-14

This doesn't teach a form of universalism but rather that all of Abraham's children will be established and will be found in heaven. We do pray for our children with confidence but that is because of God's ability to save. Here we have promises for the Church.

 

If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you. Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD."

Isaiah 54:15-17

I think we see these verses fulfilled in the Church and Church History. Especially in the life of the Apostle Paul these verses have been fulfilled in a blessed way to establish the Church.

The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 46

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We begin by continuing in Isaiah 52:4 we see Isaiah begin to expand his prophecy under the anointing of the Holy Spirit to focus on the Gospel.

 

For thus says the Lord GOD: "My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here," declares the LORD, "seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail," declares the LORD, "and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I."

Isaiah 52:4-6

Think of how each of us was in captivity prior to salvation and how each of us sold ourselves for nothing and simply complained about spiritual needs. We provided our own dead spiritual leadership before salvation. God now makes Himself known personally. Our rule over our lives is gone. We learn to avoid grumbling and complaining and we know God's name and acknowledge that it is He who is speaking in Scripture and we know the great "I Am" through the Gospel.

 

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." 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.

Isaiah 52:7-8

Think of the angel who had the privilege of telling the shepherds (a picture of a faithful rulers) "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11. Think also of the feet of Christ walking over all the mountains of Israel to proclaim good news, peace, happiness, salvation, and God's sovereignty. By now in our study of Isaiah it should be clear in our minds that God is both holy and just. That means that He hates sin and loves judgment. We find it easy to praise God for mercy but He deserves our praise for His justice too. Even though we don't want to be subject to justice, and it would rightly send us to hell, we still must love that perfect holiness and justice is part of Him. So why are we talking about good news and peace when they are naturally so far from us sinners? The answer is that this happiness is foreshadowing the work that God has promised in redemption.

 

Listen to this command for the watchmen …

 

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. 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. 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.

Isaiah 52:9-12

When you look for the first watchmen to begin the fulfillment of the preaching of the Gospel then I think you could say Mary the Mother of Jesus was one of the first to watch and to preach the Gospel. She literally sang a prophetic song called the "Magnificat" and glorifies God for His work in someone like her who was not powerful or rich. She uses the phrase "He has shown strength with His arm" and prophecies that the mighty will be brought down and the humble exalted. She then ties the fulfillment of these promises to God's faithfulness in honoring the covenant with Abraham.

 

Other faithful watchmen were Zechariah, John the Baptist's father (Luke 1:67-79) who also praised God for His faithfulness to the covenant with Abraham in giving us Christ for "light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace". Also remember Simeon (Luke 2:29-32) who proclaimed Christ as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" and Anna who saw Christ as a child and began speaking of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38).

 

We need to take on this heritage as watchmen. We are the ones who have left Jerusalem and departed and should keep ourselves pure as we bear God's Gospel in the world. We don't hurry and we don't run but we simply let the LORD will go before us and the God of Israel will be our rear guard. How do we get to that point? How do we become fit to share good news?

 

Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 52:13-15

The servant is of course Christ who is now at the right hand of the Father and has a name at which all creation must bow. Don't let anyone ever tell you that the atonement and the cross of Christ were ideas developed by Paul or theologians during the reformation. Isaiah knew about the atonement and looked forward as a faithful watchmen for it. "Sprinkle" may also be "startle" in that verse. The revelation of the Cross shuts off argument as you see what you were not told and understand what you've not heard. When the wind of the Holy Spirit blows in revival and God's holiness affects us then we change.

 

And yet, for the early watchmen (Mary, Zachariah, John the Baptizer, Simeon, and Anna) you can hear their voices in the next verse.

 

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:1-3

So who listened to the watchmen? Pretty much nobody paid attention. But we require the arm of the Lord to be revealed to us because of our sin natures. Even Mary had a hard time with what was happening in her day and doubted for a little while (Mark 3:20-21; 31-35)

 

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53: 4-6

There is so much in these verses. The Gospel saturates these verses. If you are ever in a place where they stop teaching the atonement on the Cross where the penalty for your sin is paid and your peace and righteousness granted from Christ then leave. If I stop teaching it then you should leave and go somewhere where someone is teaching the Gospel. Your justification by the Cross of Christ is the Gospel. There is no other Gospel than this.

 

One thing that is sometimes lost on us is that our offenses against God put Christ on the Cross and the punishment was from God. For example, every once in a while someone begins to think and teach that Jesus suffered at the hands of Satan. While Satan was involved in what happened on Golgotha, the picture portrayed in a book like "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" is inaccurate in that the debt is portrayed as being owed to the enemy of our souls. When Aslan lays down his life it is shown as being taken by the enemy as a ransom for the boy. Be sure to point out to your children how that differs from the Gospel. We have sinned against the Most High God. He is perfectly holy, perfectly just, and He will tolerate no sin.

 

When David says, "Against you and you only have I sinned!" (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 51:4)after his affair with Bathsheba we might just laugh and say, "Right, well what about Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, Nathan, and all the people of Israel?" And we would have a point. However, to sin against an unrighteous man or woman who is also a sinner is bad, but to commit treason against a perfectly holy and just God who is without any error or sin is infinitely worse. This was Isaiah's problem in chapter 6 verse 5. Even a slight awareness of God's holiness will make you cry uncontrollably. It just doesn't come across in "Woe is me for I am lost" but Isaiah thought he was a dead man.

 

In the atonement Christ carried your grief and sorrow. He was stricken by God, wounded for your lawless sinning, so that you can have peace and be whole. I've heard this verse used to claim healing. Well that is fine and yes we can pray and be healed in Jesus name and in fact if any is sick we are commanded to pray but … let us remember the context of this verse. The context here is sin and the destruction it brings. Think of the damage that sin does in our lives. If we could only see with spiritual eyes then we would see the wounds and loss. It is why leprosy in those days was such an effective picture of sin and was treated as such and healed by Christ (Luke 17:12-19). Prior to salvation, if you could only see, you are being eaten alive by sin. Just as ugly and in need of healing. That is the healing you need and by His strips we are healed.

 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

Isaiah 53:7-8

I'd say that under the Cross that day not one person really understood what was going on. Peter was ashamed and mourning, John and the other disciples were mourning, and Mary was mourning as if a sword had pierced her soul. This was as Simeon said she would when Jesus was only 8 days old. Do you think those who physically put Him on the Cross deserve a special place in hell? Do you remember Jesus' prayer for them in Luke 23:26? Forgive them for they know not what they do. People seem to think it amazing that Jesus would pray for the evil ones that did that to him. However, we believers each did that to Him. Why would those at the foot of the cross deserve greater punishment? But in verse 47 and 48 it seems, as we should expect, that God did hear the prayer. Luke tells us that conviction and repentance fell on the crowd. Luke says, "Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!" And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts." What will we say in heaven to these who were there at the Cross? He went to the Cross for His sheep and if He asked the Father for those souls at the foot of the Cross then the Father is going to give them to Him just as He has given you to Christ. You don't deserve salvation any more than those who physically put Him on the Cross.

 

 

The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 45

Today, since we are moving from bondage and captivity into a state in which we are a particular possession of God, our study indicates some attitudes and practices that God wants to be in us today as we serve Him.

 

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. "Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

Isaiah 51:1-4

We as the redeemed of the Lord are told to consider God's work in the lives of Abraham and Sarah. The God revealed in the Old Testament is the same as the God revealed in the New Testament. There is no disharmony and in fact the Old and New testaments magnify each other. If you have been ignoring the Old Testament in your private study time then make a place for it.

 

The remnant was small after the captivity. It was not a powerful people but God was able to bless. Those who came back from Babylon and rebuilt the temple were not great in number but consider their work. The temple they built was embellished by Herod the Great but, those who returned built the final temple, the temple used by the Lord of Glory on earth. To be able to build that temple was a blessing beyond what they knew at the time or imagined. We do not weigh actions and times the way God does and often show our ignorance when we talk about great and small things.

 

In these verses God tells us that He is the source of comfort, blessing, growth, joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and song. We are told to give attention to Him because we are His people and His nation. God promises that His law and justice will be a light to the peoples. Law and justice are the foundation of God's salvation.

 

My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. "Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations."

Isaiah 51:5-8

People sometimes argue that the imputation of Christ's righteousness (also called a judicial or forensic judgment by God) is a fiction invented by the Apostle Paul. Well here it is with God in first person speaking it though Isaiah 700 years before Paul was born. Apart from the mercy of our God, the justice of God could only cause us to weap and give up all hope. But God puts salvation and judgment together. Believers are judged to be righteous because of the work of Christ. In that sense we are saved by works. Justice has been served by every blow and cut that Christ bore on our behalf. His righteousness has drawn near. We wait for the arm of His salvation and know that His salvation is forever. Men may reject this teaching and reproach and revile those who embrace it but those who reject it will disappear like moth eaten garments. Those who embrace the salvation of the Lord will be forever because they are born again of imperishable seed. There is an eschatological or end of time link in this verse that looks forward to the Great Judgment. We need to know righteousness and have God's law in our hearts to stand in that Judgment clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

 

John Bunyan wrote, "One day as I was passing into the field … this sentence fell upon my soul. Thy righteousness is in heaven. And methought, withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God's right hand; there, I say, was my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, he wants [=lacks] my righteousness, for that was just [in front of] him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, "The same yesterday, today, and forever." …

Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions and irons; my temptations also fled away; so that from that time those dreadful scriptures of God [e.g., Hebrews 12:16–17] left off to trouble me; now went I also home rejoicing for the grace and love of God." (John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, Hertfordshire: Evangelical Press, 1978, orig. 1666, pp. 90–91).

 

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 51:9-11

Here is an Old Testament verse that is essentially the last 2 verses of the New Testament in which John says, "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." (Revelation 22:20-21). God in His power will accomplish all that He has set out to do in redeeming a people.

 

"I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name.

Isaiah 51:12-15

We need to hallow God's name and not the name of men. God alone is worthy of fear and awe. We need to be diligent to keep fear out of our hearts except with regard to God. This isn't just a mental exercise it is the only rational way to live if we know who God is.

 

And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.' " Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne; there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. These two things have happened to you— who will console you? — devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you? Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.

Isaiah 51:16-20

This is Zion in the midst of rebuke and correction from God. They are lost except for God and there is no strength in Jerusalem to fight back. They are on the bottom. Remember that this captivity by Babylon would have destroyed them as a nation except for the power of God to keep a remnant.

 

Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: "Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, Bow down, that we may pass over'; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over."

Isaiah 51:21-23

God did judge Babylon with Persia and used Persia to send His redeemed back to Jerusalem for restoration. Even in our sin and rebellion, God pleaded our cause and showed us mercy and grace. God has poured out mercy and grace to such a degree in our lives that we begin to expect grace and mercy. Anytime you find yourself expecting grace apart from the revelation of the Gospel then stop and repent. If you ever find yourself thinking you deserve grace then confess to living with an oxymoron and repent on your knees with tears in your eyes.

 

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the LORD: "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money."

Isaiah 52:1-3

We see the Scripture move from a few verses earlier with the command to "wake yourself" to here where we have God's command to awake. The beautiful garments are commanded along with holiness and freedom from bondage. Zion is redeemed without money as you were redeemed without money. The cost of your sin is death. You can't just pay cash and have the problem go away because the wages of sin is death. Someone must die. Either you die eternally to pay the price or you accept the free gift of life purchased for you through the sacrifice of Christ. We'll see this message repeated over and over in these last chapters of Isaiah.