“Henceforth (after the cleansing judgments are over) there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.”
They had sold themselves for what? for nothing; Satan had deceived them into turning away from God, and bitter has been the fruit of it; they shall be redeemed without money when God undertakes to free the poor prisoners.
The seventh and concluding theme of the series we have been considering includes verses 7-12. It views the peaceful and happy scene when the judgments which introduce the Millennium shall have been completed; then the voice of singing shall be heard where groans and tears have been; then all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of Israel's God.
Anticipating this happy issue of the years of travail, the godly are bade to depart from all that is about to be judged—the Gentile nations, evidently, among whom they have been so long, and at whose hands they have suffered, As in days of old, Jehovah will go before them, and be their rearguard (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-2021And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (Exodus 13:21‑22)
19And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. (Exodus 14:19‑20)).
Chapter 49 introduced the Messiah of Israel as God’s Servant, taking Israel’s place, for Israel had been God’s servant and was rejected because of unfaithfulness. But the Messiah is rejected by Israel (verses 4-7). In chapter 50, He, though Jehovah’s Equal (verses 2-3) is the subject One, taught through suffering (verses 4-9). Chapters 51 and 52 (to verse 12) in seven striking exhortations treat of the redemption of Israel, leading the remnant on step by step in the knowledge of what God will have done for and in them, knowledge which must lead to the realization of their treatment of the Messiah, and what He did for them.
And now verses 13-15 of chapter 52 which should be the first verses of chapter 53 had the chapters been rightly arranged, Jehovah’s Servant is again the subject of the prophetic word. “Behold, My Servant (it is God who speaks) shall deal prudently (or, shall prosper); He shall be exalted and extolled (or lifted up) and be very high.” For that day the redeemed wait with longing; they joy already in anticipation of the time when the Crucified One will be the Crowned Victor.
When He came into the world as a Man; when He passed through the years of His ministry to Israel; when the bearing of grief and sorrow caused that blessed face and form to appear marred than any man—then Israel, seeking their own glory, insensible to the grace and loveliness of their Messiah-King was "astonished;" they stumbled at that stumbling stone (Romans 9:32-3332Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans 9:32‑33)).
So—as the Son of Man—shall He sprinkle (cleanse) many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at Him, etc. In Psalm 2:2,10,2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, (Psalm 2:2)
10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. (Psalm 2:10) kings are seen in the day of the Lord's coming, and in Revelation 21:22And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)1 They are, in the peaceful years of the Millennium, subject to Him.