Isaiah 52:7














How beautiful upon the mountains, etc.! Not so with the warrior. His garments are dyed in blood; his track is over desolated cornfields and ruined vineyards. Look at the footsteps of the servants of God.

I. THE MESSENGERS. They are not self-inspired or self-commissioned. They are sent of God. From Jerusalem the apostles are to go forth; over her all-surrounding mountains they go to tell the story of the angels' song, the Messiah's ministry, and the redeeming cross. How beautiful! - to publish peace!

1. Peace between man and man.

2. Peace between God and man.

3. Peace between nation and nation.

4. Peace in a man's own soul.

II. THE MESSAGE. "Good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation." Blessed word! But how often narrowed and marred through human interpretation!

1. We are saved from ourselves. And this salvation is going on within us day by day, as we grow in grace.

2. We are saved from guilt. As we can only be by an atonement where the offering is without spot.

3. We are saved from all that is inimical in the evil that is without us. For the Saviour knows our enemies, is stronger than our enemies, and will subdue them under his feet. "Thy God reigneth," and, mystery of mysteries, the cross is his sceptre. "I, if I be lifted up., will draw all men unto me." - W.M.S.

How beautiful upon the mountains.
Messengers coming over the mountains announce to Jerusalem the people's redemption from Babylon, and the advent of Jehovah's eternal kingdom.

(A. B. Davidson, D.D.)

The exclamation does not refer to the pretty sound of their footsteps, but their feet are as if they were winged, because it is a joyful message which they bring.

(F. Delitzsch, D.D.)

is the Gospel of the kingdom of God which is at hand.

(F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

I. THE PRIMARY MEANING. The passage is supposed to refer to the sending forth the heralds of the conquering Persian to proclaim liberty to the Jews that groaned under captivity in Babylon (Ezra 1:2, 3.) In order fully to understand the joy and gladness which such a proclamation as this must necessarily bring to the poor Jew mourning in captivity, we must have some conception of their condition, and the feelings that swelled in their hearts during that period of degradation and suffering. Of this, some idea may be formed from the lamentations of Jeremiah, which speak the language of the believing Israelite, mourning over the fall of Zion; and again, in Psalm 137, we find the captive Jews describing their bitter sorrows. Even as the prophet Isaiah foretold, this deliverance came to the people of God, great and sudden; but God had promised, and He surely brought it to pass. In vain the might and power of Babylon interposed; the dominion and empire of Babylon fell for ever, even in one hour, because the day for the redemption of Israel was fully come.

II. This passage has A SECONDARY FULFILMENT far more glorious and extensive, in the sending forth those who shall preach good tidings of salvation to all the ends of the earth; and the message thus conveyed has an analogy with that proclaimed by the heralds of Cyrus; for it bears to man — fallen and degraded, the captive of sin, fast bound in slavish chains — the tidings of deliverance. The blowing of the trumpet of the Gospel tells of restoration to the forfeited inheritance. It proclaims a full and yet the only mode of deliverance to enslaved man; the only mode of reconciliation with an offended God. The state, then, of the multitude of the heathen should excite our earnest attention, and rouse our warmest sympathies.

III. THE MODE WHICH GOD HAS BEEN PLEASED TO APPOINT FOR MAKING THE JOYFUL SOUND KNOWN TO MAN. The preaching of the Word of God by his fellow. man. The message must be received by faith.

IV. THE CHARACTER OF THE PREACHER SHOULD CORRESPOND WITH HIS MESSAGE, that he should show forth in his life and conversation, that the glorious tidings he was commissioned to convey to others had been received by himself. Pray that the feet of the missionaries in foreign lands may be beautiful in holiness and love.

V. THE AUTHORITY ON WHICH THIS PROCLAMATION IS MADE. It was the conqueror of Babylon, the victorious Persian, that gave liberty to the captive Jew; it is the Conqueror of death and hell, the risen and triumphant Saviour, who gave commandment that the Gospel should be proclaimed to all people.

(C. Caulfield, M.A.)

1. The tidings of the deliverance from Babylon were joyful. But the prophet sees more joyful tidings than these, and a mightier deliverance from a more terrible bondage than even that of Babylon.

2. It is not said, "How lovely are the messengers! but "How beautiful are their feet!" Not what they are in themselves, but what they bring, as sent from God, and running in obedience to Him, is here presented to the view.

3. Observe how the message is dwelt upon! as if it was so full of everything joyful and good that words fail to express it. It is "good tidings," "peace," "good tidings-of good," "salvation." What a mine is there here for him who has eyes to see, a mind to understand, a soul to love, and a heart to overflow with gratitude!

4. Observe how the message ends. It is a glorious note of jubilee. It is a veritable shout of joy. It is a summing up in very deed of the glorious news. It is a pledge of peace and of salvation with which the good news is concluded: "Thy God reigneth."

(R. W. Close, M.A.)

1. The rich blessing, to which the text refers in such emphatic language, is conveyed in that single, but comprehensive word, "Peace."

2. To whom, then, is the word of this salvation sent? To whom is the minister of the Gospel commissioned to preach the message of peace? The very mission implies the existence of previous enmity. With whom has God this controversy? Who stand in need of so free an amnesty? Where are the objects of His unmerited grace?

3. Whose heart should not burn within him at the thoughts of his privilege in being employed on such a ministration of love?

4. Let me add one word on the responsibility of those to whom the message of reconciliation is sent.

(C. R. Sumner, D.D.)

I. THE STATE IMPLIED in the words before us is to be collected from the view of their primary meaning. They originally refer to the Jews captive in Babylon, banished from their country, and deprived of the ordinances of Divine worship, under the displeasure of the Almighty, and oppressed by a haughty and idolatrous enemy. But this is only a faint emblem of that spiritual captivity in which mankind are naturally involved, and from which the Son of God came to deliver us.

II. IN WHAT MANNER IS THIS GRACIOUS DISPENSATION DESCRIBED? As the proclamation of good tidings, as the message of reconciliation and peace, as the publication of deliverance and salvation.

III. We are now, in some measure, prepared to enter into the spirit of THE EXCLAMATION and to participate in the joyful reception of the message which it announces. Practical remarks:

1. The true nature of the Gospel. It is not, as some would represent it, a mere system of morality. It comprises this, but infinitely more. It contains, first and principally, the offer of parson to the guilty, of deliverance to the oppressed, of salvation to the lost.

2. If such, however, be the nature of the Gospel, how highly should we value it, and how anxious should we be to profit by it!

3. While we rejoice in the good tidings which have been proclaimed to ourselves, let us pray that the multitudes of our fellow-creatures, to whom they have not yet been announced, may speedily hear the same delightful sound; and may exult in the joyful message of the Gospel, until "all flesh" shall at length "see the salvation of God," and "the whole earth be filled with His glory!"

(Hugh Pearson, D.D.)

When bad news is abroad, this is good news; and when good news is abroad, this is the best news: that Zion's God reigns.

( M. Henry.)

I. THE MINISTER OF CHRIST IS HELD IN COMMUNION WITH THE GREATEST REALITIES IN THE UNIVERSE. The Hebrew prophets were strenuous men, living in the coils of battle, wrestling with great serpents, struggling up bare cliffs, and giving their lives for the ransom of the people; but we cannot doubt that they were happy men as well, because of the intellectual and spiritual glories in which their lives were set, and, their cheering and inspiring comradeship with the wonderful words of God. The "Hymn to the Sun" and the "Sermon to the Birds" of St. bear witness to a soul that was enriched, ennobled, purified, simplified, magnified, and made to ripple with gladness and to sing the songs of victory and peace because of perpetual communion with the high and holy thoughts of its heavenly Father. The artist whose soul is seeing visions of the great creations of Raphael and Angelo, the general on the eve of a campaign for the emancipation of a people, the philanthropist pouring out his tears upon the miseries and sins of the world, will sleep on planks and find them soft as down, will eat coarse food and get good blood out of it, and so far forget themselves in their sublime consecrations and so populate with their holiest passions the thought-world and spirit-world within them as to realize Hawthorne's parable of "the Great Stone Face," and grow into the image of the mountain on which their gaze is fixed. So it is with the preacher, and more so. He is surrounded by an imperial guard of holiest inspirations.

II. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IS BOUND TO WIN.

III. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY HAS THE BULK OF GOOD MEN IN THE WORLD BEHIND IT, CHEERING IT ON.

(W. J. McKittrick, D.D.)

Dr. Judson when at home on a visit, addressed a large meeting, his theme being "The Preciousness of Christ," and sat down, deeply affected. On his way home a friend said to him, "The people are much disappointed; they wonder you did not talk of something else." "Why, what did they want?" said the missionary. "I presented to the best of my ability the most interesting subject in the world." "But," said the man, "they have heard that before; they wanted something new from a man who has just come from the antipodes." "Then," said the great man, kindling, "I am glad to have it to say that a man from the antipodes had nothing better to tell them than the wondrous story of the dying love of Christ."

(The Wellspring.)

People
Isaiah
Places
Egypt, Jerusalem, Zion
Topics
Announces, Announceth, Beautiful, Bring, Bringeth, Brings, Comely, Gives, Glad, Happiness, Harbinger, Lovely, Messenger, Mountains, News, Peace, Proclaim, Proclaiming, Publishes, Publisheth, Reigned, Reigneth, Reigns, Ruling, Salvation, Saying, Says, Sounding, Tidings, Zion
Outline
1. Christ persuades the church to believe his free redemption
7. To receive the ministers thereof
9. To joy in the power thereof
11. And to free themselves from bondage
13. Christ's kingdom shall be exalted

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 52:7

     4040   beauty
     5151   feet
     5307   envoy
     6628   conversion, God's demand
     7725   evangelists, identity
     7726   evangelists, ministry
     7741   missionaries, task
     7755   preaching, importance
     8025   faith, origins of
     8425   evangelism, nature of
     8496   witnessing, importance

Isaiah 52:7-8

     5335   herald

Isaiah 52:7-10

     2428   gospel, descriptions

Library
Clean Carriers
'Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.'--ISAIAH lii. 11. The context points to a great deliverance. It is a good example of the prophetical habit of casting prophecies of the future into the mould of the past. The features of the Exodus are repeated, but some of them are set aside. This deliverance, whatever it be, is to be after the pattern of that old story, but with very significant differences. Then, the departing Israelites had spoiled the Egyptians and come out, laden with silver
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Great Revival
Now, leaving the figure, which is a very great one, I would remind you that its meaning is fully carried out, whenever God is pleased to send a great revival of religion. My heart is glad within me this day, for I am the bearer of good tidings. My soul has been made exceedingly full of happiness, by the tidings of a great revival of religion throughout the United States. Some hundred years, or more, ago, it pleased the Lord to send one of the most marvellous religious awakenings that was ever known;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

The Vanguard and Rereward of the Church
I shall first consider this as it respects the church of God; and then, in the second place, I shall endeavour to consider it as it respects us, as individual believers. May God comfort our hearts while considering this precious truth! I. First, consider THE WHOLE CHURCH OF GOD AS AN ARMY. Remember that part of the host have crossed the flood; a large part of the army are standing this day upon the hills of glory; having overcome and triumphed. As for the rear, it stretches far into the future; some
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

"Take My Yoke Upon You," &C.
Matt. xi. 29.--"Take my yoke upon you," &c. Christianity consists in a blessed exchange of yokes between Christ and a pious soul. He takes our uneasy yoke, and gives his easy yoke. The soul puts upon him that unsupportable yoke of transgressions, and takes from him the portable yoke of his commandments. Our burden was heavy, too heavy for angels, and much more for men. It would crush under it all the strength of the creatures, for who could endure the wrath of the Almighty? Or, "what could a man
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jesus, the Great Object of Astonishment.
A COMMUNION ADDRESS AT MENTONE. "Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at Thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."--Isaiah lii. 13-15. JESUS, THE GREAT OBJECT ASTONISHMENT. OUR Lord Jesus
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

If Then the Prophets Prophesied that the Son of God was to Appear Upon The...
If then the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to appear upon the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in what manner He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the Lord took upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition of the preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles, who being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of God, who came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Elucidations.
I. (Princes and kings, [154]p. 13.) How memorable the histories, moreover, of Nebuchadnezzar [1609] and his decrees; of Darius [1610] and his also; but especially of Cyrus and his great monumental edict! [1611] The beautiful narratives of the Queen of Sheba and of the Persian consort of Queen Esther (probably Xerxes) are also manifestations of the ways of Providence in giving light to the heathen world through that "nation of priests" in Israel. But Lactantius, who uses the Sibyls so freely, should
Lactantius—The divine institutes

That the Ruler Should be Pure in Thought.
The ruler should always be pure in thought, inasmuch as no impurity ought to pollute him who has undertaken the office of wiping away the stains of pollution in the hearts of others also; for the hand that would cleanse from dirt must needs be clean, lest, being itself sordid with clinging mire, it soil whatever it touches all the more. For on this account it is said through the prophet, Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord (Isai. lii. 11). For they bear the vessels of the Lord who undertake,
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Awakening of Zion
'Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.'--ISAIAH li. 9. 'Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.'--ISAIAH lii. 1. Both these verses are, I think, to be regarded as spoken by one voice, that of the Servant of the Lord. His majestic figure, wrapped in a light veil of obscurity, fills the eye in all these later prophecies of Isaiah. It is sometimes clothed with divine power, sometimes girded with the towel of human weakness, sometimes
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Remaining Books of the Old Testament.
1. The divine authority of the Pentateuch having been established, it is not necessary to dwell at length on the historical books which follow. The events which they record are a natural and necessary sequel to the establishment of the theocracy, as given in the five books of Moses. The Pentateuch is occupied mainly with the founding of the theocracy; the following historical books describe the settlement of the Israelitish nation under this theocracy in the promised land, and its practical operation
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia.
Part I. History of the Councils. Reason why two Councils were called. Inconsistency and folly of calling any; and of the style of the Arian formularies; occasion of the Nicene Council; proceedings at Ariminum; Letter of the Council to Constantius; its decree. Proceedings at Seleucia; reflections on the conduct of the Arians. 1. Perhaps news has reached even yourselves concerning the Council, which is at this time the subject of general conversation; for letters both from the Emperor and the Prefects
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Place of Jesus in the History of the World.
The great event of the History of the world is the revolution by which the noblest portions of humanity have passed from the ancient religions, comprised under the vague name of Paganism, to a religion founded on the Divine Unity, the Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Son of God. It has taken nearly a thousand years to accomplish this conversion. The new religion had itself taken at least three hundred years in its formation. But the origin of the revolution in question with which we have to do
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Christ all and in All.
(Colossians iii. 11.) Christ is all to us that we make Him to be. I want to emphasize that word "all." Some men make Him to be "a root out of a dry ground," "without form or comeliness." He is nothing to them; they do not want Him. Some Christians have a very small Saviour, for they are not willing to receive Him fully, and let Him do great and mighty things for them. Others have a mighty Saviour, because they make Him to be great and mighty. If we would know what Christ wants to be to us, we
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

Bunsen's Biblical Researches.
When geologists began to ask whether changes in the earth's structure might be explained by causes still in operation, they did not disprove the possibility of great convulsions, but they lessened necessity for imagining them. So, if a theologian has his eyes opened to the Divine energy as continuous and omnipresent, he lessens the sharp contrast of epochs in Revelation, but need not assume that the stream has never varied in its flow. Devotion raises time present into the sacredness of the past;
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

The Gospel Message, Good Tidings
[As it is written] How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! T he account which the Apostle Paul gives of his first reception among the Galatians (Galatians 4:15) , exemplifies the truth of this passage. He found them in a state of ignorance and misery; alienated from God, and enslaved to the blind and comfortless superstitions of idolatry. His preaching, accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit, had a great and marvellous effect.
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

First Ministry in Judæa --John's Second Testimony.
(Judæa and Ænon.) ^D John III. 22-36. ^d 22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judæa [That is, he left Jerusalem, the capital of Judæa, and went into the rural districts thereof. We find him there again in John xi. and Luke xiii.-xviii. He gained disciples there, but of them we know but few, such as Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Simeon, and Judas Iscariot]; and there he tarried with them [It is not stated how long he tarried, but it may have been from
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix viii. Rabbinic Traditions About Elijah, the Forerunner of the Messiah
To complete the evidence, presented in the text, as to the essential difference between the teaching of the ancient Synagogue about the Forerunner of the Messiah' and the history and mission of John the Baptist, as described in the New Testaments, we subjoin a full, though condensed, account of the earlier Rabbinic traditions about Elijah. Opinions differ as to the descent and birthplace of Elijah. According to some, he was from the land of Gilead (Bemid. R. 14), and of the tribe of Gad (Tanch. on
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

"For what the Law could not Do, in that it was Weak through the Flesh, God Sending his Own Son in the Likeness of Sinful Flesh,
Rom. viii. 3.--"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh." For what purpose do we meet thus together? I would we knew it,--then it might be to some better purpose. In all other things we are rational, and do nothing of moment without some end and purpose. But, alas! in this matter of greatest moment, our going about divine ordinances, we have scarce any distinct or deliberate
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

How Christ is to be Made Use Of, as the Way, for Sanctification in General.
Having shown how a poor soul, lying under the burden of sin and wrath, is to make use of Jesus Christ for righteousness and justification, and so to make use of him, go out to him, and apply him, as "he is made of God to us righteousness," 1 Cor. i. 30, and that but briefly. This whole great business being more fully and satisfactorily handled, in that forementioned great, though small treatise, viz. "The Christian's Great Interest," we shall now come and show, how a believer or a justified soul
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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