Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads… My object will be to give the text its highest practical appropriation as setting forth in glowing language the return of God's spiritual Israel, His ransomed ones, from every land. I. WHO THEY ARE. 1. "The ransomed of the Lord." To ransom signifies to redeem or free from captivity or punishment by paying down an equivalent, to rescue from danger and death, to deliver from the possession of an enemy either by/exploits of warfare or purchase by gold. The Lord's ransomed people are, therefore, those who have been spiritually rescued, emancipated, delivered. They are the purchased property of God by the precious blood of Christ. 2. The ransomed of the Lord are the regenerate of the Holy Ghost. They have been quickened into new life as well as redeemed. 3. The ransomed of the Lord are the adopted into the family of God. What a unique and beautiful sequence we have here. Life purchased, life begotten, life ennobled. II. WHITHER ARE THEY JOURNEYING? "To Zion." The old-time Zion was typical of the "city which hath foundations, whose maker and builder is God." Let us glance at the parallelism. 1. Zion of old was the seat and scene of worship. The ransomed of the Lord in returning are going to Zion above, to join the immortal worshippers in the "temple not made with hands." We shall worship, but we shall also serve in multifold ministries of good. 2. Zion of old was the seat of royalty. "There were set," we are told, "thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David." Jerusalem was the metropolis of the nation — the centre of monarchy, authority, power, and splendour. Heaven is the city of the Great King. On its sapphire throne, belted as with a rainbow of mercy and grace, sits the Mediator-King of the New Covenant, crowned with many crowns, holding the sceptre of righteousness. To His ransomed ones He says, "Verily, I say unto you, that ye which follow Me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye shall also sit upon, thrones." "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My, throne. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life." 3. Zion of old was the seat of rest. It was the terminus of the pilgrim-worshippers' journey. With the ransomed of the Lord it is now the pilgrimage; but daily they pitch their moving tents a day's march nearer home, heaven, rest. What a magic word is "rest." What volumes of meaning it holds! Rest from conflict, rest from sorrow, rest from suffering, rest from self and sin, rest from all the ills of the time-life! Rest in the Lord in holy contemplation, holy worship, holy service, holy visions, holy companionships, holy pleasures for evermore! III. WHAT IS THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THEY JOURNEY? "With songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." They march to music made in the sanctuary of the soul. Undoubtedly the allusion is to the Songs of Degrees or of the Ascents, which the rejoicing tribes sung on their way to the great festive celebrations at Jerusalem, or to the paeans of deliverance the emancipated exiles rang out as onward they pressed to the laud of their fathers and God. Thus the homeward-bound hosts of God on the highway of holiness are urging their way. They are like soldiers returning from the scene and spoils of a great victory, with heart and step keeping time to jubilant melody. But the ransomed not only sing on the way home, they also "Come to Zion with songs." It is a jubilant arrival. IV. WHAT DO THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD REALISE ON THEIR ARRIVAL HOME? "Joy and gladness" — i.e. outward and inward joy. The joy of holy retrospect; the gladness of present possession of glory; the joy of fulfilled hope, perfected manhood, satisfied life, prospective progression, intellectually and morally, for ever and ever. It is the "joy and gladness" — 1. Of heavenly reunions. 2. Of perfected knowledge. 3. Of the beatific vision.This "joy and gladness" will mean the exclusion of "sorrow and sighing." As light expels darkness, and day excludes the night, so the rapture of joy prevents the sighings of sorrow. (J. O. Keen, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. |
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