Reading:
I
have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold
their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not
silence, And give him no rest, till he
establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and
by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be
meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine,
for the which thou hast laboured: But
they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that
have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye
the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones;
lift up a standard for the people.
Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to
the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is
with him, and his work before him. And
they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt
be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Commentary:
The
prophets of the Old Testament were the watchman upon the walls. They were to warn Jerusalem, Zion, the
Church, of the enemies (false preachers, false doctrine). Jerusalem also was to be busy, namely
proclaiming the saving name of the Lord.
As for the Lord Himself, He had sworn (by His Right Hand) the enemies
would no longer eat the labors of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem would enjoy their own
fruit. In a sense all of our life on
earth is like the O. T. period of captivity, where the enemy oppresses us and
reaps the work of our hands. We however
know such oppression will end when we reach heaven. Yet even on earth believers are the happiest
of people, for we are redeemed from sin and are daily God's children by
grace. There is a rest for the people of
God. Hence, "Go through, go through
the gates…." This means we are to
pass through the gates of Jerusalem and bring the Word to others (prepare ye
the way of the people…cast up the highway, gather out the stones). We do all we can to remove the obstacles and
hindrances which keep men from faith, and we raise our standard high, namely
Christ crucified. "As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up: That whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life."
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