Scripture Reading: Isa. 55:3-4; 59:20; 60:1-3
Prayer: Lord, we still worship You. We worship You as the One who has all the realities of God. Lord, thank You. You are the embodiment of the fullness of God, You are the Word, and You are the Spirit. Lord Jesus, we give You all the glory, and we trust in You for tonight's meeting. Lord, You know we can do nothing. We trust in You for Your speaking. Lord, You are so living, and You are even living within us as the living Word and as the life-giving Spirit. Lord, honor Yourself, honor Your name, among us. Lord, bless everyone who is here in the meeting. Give us a heart that is seeking after You, and give us the eyes that we could see You. Lord, remember Your enemy. We accuse him. We hand him over to You. Cover us. We hide ourselves under the precious blood that is prevailing against the enemy. Amen.
The all-inclusive Christ, the Servant of Jehovah, is the sure mercies of David (Isa. 55:3b-4). History tells us that David was a marvelous king. It is difficult to understand how an excellent, marvelous, and majestic king would need mercies. According to our concept, poor people, low-class people, need mercies. David may be considered as the top king in human history. How could such a high person need mercies?
David wrote many marvelous psalms. It is hard to believe that such a writer murdered a person and took that person's wife (2 Sam. 11). Murder and fornication were committed by this one king. Did he not need mercy? Among all the good psalms written by David, there is Psalm 51. This is a psalm of David's repentance and confession after he had committed fornication and murder. This psalm shows that even David was a person who needed God's mercy. This indicates that everyone in the human race needs the mercy of God.
The books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles speak of the history of the children of Israel and their kings. To a great extent the record of the citizens of the commonwealth of Israel with their kings is terrible. Few of the kings were good; most of them were bad to the uttermost. In such a bad situation, there was the need of God's mercy.
The book of Isaiah is full of Isaiah's condemnation of the children of Israel. He compared them to the wicked inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah (1:9-10; 3:9). Jeremiah was also strong in his condemnation of Israel. Jeremiah shows us how much the kings of David's family needed God's mercy. Jeremiah speaks of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. He was warned by Jeremiah to the uttermost but he would not listen. Eventually, he was captured. After Jerusalem fell, he attempted to escape, but he was captured by the Babylonian soldiers and brought before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar slew his sons, put out his eyes, bound him with chains, and carried him away to Babylon (Jer. 39:1-7; 52:1-10). This shows the pitiful situation of the Lord's people at that time. In such a pitiful situation, they needed God's mercy.
When Isaiah came to chapter fifty-five, after having written so many chapters concerning Christ, he spoke of an aspect of Christ which we would never dream of or imagine. This aspect of Christ is that He is "the sure mercies shown to David" (v. 3b). The word shown is not in the Hebrew text of Isaiah 55:3. A number of translations say "the sure mercies of David," but this can be interpreted as David having a lot of mercies. This is not correct. These mercies are shown to David or promised to David.
We have pointed out that the sixty-six chapters of Isaiah are divided into two sections. The first section of thirty-nine chapters matches the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament; and the last section of twenty-seven chapters matches the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. The content of these two sections also matches the thought in the Old and New Testaments respectively. The second section, matching the New Testament, is altogether a word of comfort. There is no more condemnation or rebuking. In this word of comfort, there is a portion which says that Christ, the all-inclusive One, is the sure mercies that God has shown to David and promised to David. God promised that the very Christ, who would come out of David's descendants, would be the sure mercies of God toward the royal family of David.
No one could blot out the entire royal family of David because of the sure mercies of God, Christ. Christ, one of the descendants of David, became God's sure mercies to David. Jeremiah said that just as the ordinances of the sun for light by day and of the moon and the stars for light by night will never depart, so the seed of Israel and David would not cease from being a nation before Him forever (Jer. 31:35-36; 33:24-26). In other words, nothing can annul God's feeling toward the royal family of David. Many kings among David's descendants are mentioned in 1 and 2 Kings. The last king of the royal family of David will be Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God's sure mercies. He is the sure mercies to the house of David. These mercies include many gracious things and blessings from God to the house of David.
The Scriptures speak of God's love, God's grace, and God's mercy. Luke 15 says that when the prodigal son came back, the father, who was expecting him, was moved with compassion (v. 20). Compassion is a tender kind of mercy. The father's tender mercy was touched because the returned prodigal son was in such a poor condition, just like that of a beggar. He was altogether not worthy of the father's love. The father's love was so high, and his son had fallen to the bottom level. Thus, the father's compassion was moved.
The apostle Paul in Romans 12 exhorted the saints through the compassions, the mercies, of God (v. 1). Why did Paul not exhort the saints through the great love of God? This is because the great love of God is too far away from us in our pitiful condition and situation. Love and grace are too high for us to touch in our low state. But, hallelujah, God has another attribute called mercy. Mercy reaches the farthest. We are so low, but the mercies of God can reach us in our pitiful situation and wretched position. Often in my prayers before ministering the word, I tell the Lord, "We trust in Your mercy." I dare not tell the Lord that we trust in His love. If I am so poor, I am not on the level to match God's love. But God reaches us on the bottom level through His mercies.
A number of Christians may speak about the great love of God in Christ, but I am concerned that what they speak is not so thorough. If they were thorough in knowing God in His attributes in different levels, they would speak much about God's mercy. This is because our day by day present situation does not match the level of God's love. Our real practical situation surely fits the lowest level of God's attributes, that is, God's mercy.
God's love and God's grace are on a higher level than His mercy. Grace is a gift. God has a heart loving us, and out of that heart God prepares a gift for us. That gift is grace. Because we are not worthy of this gift, however, God has come down to reach us in His mercy. In His attribute of mercy, He can reach us on the lowest level. Very few of God's children, however, realize that they need God's mercy. In my prayers in the early days of my being a Christian, I spoke about God's love. Today after many years of experience, however, I trust in God's mercy. This is because my low situation does not match the high level of God's love.
We may consider that we are ladies and gentlemen, but really we are "scorpions" and "gophers." The people considered David as a high king, but he considered himself as a worm (Psa. 22:6). This is why he told God that he needed His mercy (51:1; 52:8b). Eventually, David's very descendant would be the King of kings on this earth to be the sure mercies to the entire royal family of David.
Mercies are somewhat like kindness and compassion. God's mercies (kindness and compassion), as the initiation of God's grace in His love, reach us the farthest. Mercy is the initiation for God's grace to come in with God's love. God's grace cannot be separated from His love. His mercies usher us into God's grace. When we get into grace, we have His love. God's mercy reaches us the farthest. Many times in our experience we are far away from God. We are not so close to God. Thus, we need God's attribute of mercy to reach us.
Jeremiah and Lamentations really show us the pitiful situation of Israel. God could not come to them in His love or in His grace. God needed to exercise His mercy. Without mercy, He could not have reached His people. According to Jeremiah, the children of Israel at the time of the exile to Babylon were in a pitifully low situation. It is difficult to even describe how low their condition was. That was why God gave them up for seventy years. But after seventy years, God came back to them in His mercy.
In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus came in mercy. He came in a very low level to have mercy upon the fallen Israelites, but most of them rejected Him. Eventually, the Lord cried for them and wept for them. In Matthew 23:37-38 the Lord said, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I desired to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate!" The Lord predicted that Jerusalem would be destroyed. In reference to the buildings of the temple, He told the disciples, "Truly I say to you, There shall by no means be left here a stone upon a stone, which shall not be thrown down" (24:2). This was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Titus and the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem. Josephus, in his history, tells us of the terrible destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.
In the Gospels the house of Israel offended the Son. In the Acts they offended the Spirit. The Spirit was with the apostles, especially with Paul. Shortly after Paul was martyred, Titus the Roman prince came with an army to utterly destroy Jerusalem. That was the final and consummate exile of the people of Israel. They were scattered for close to twenty centuries. The first exile by the Babylonians lasted only seventy years, but this final exile lasted about two thousand years. It was by God's mercy that in 1948 a small number of Israelites returned to restore the nation of Israel.
Today there is a controversy among Israel and neighboring Arab countries about how much land Israel should have. Israel regained the Golan Heights in the six-day war in 1967. Now some want Israel to give up the Golan Heights. According to biblical prophecy, however, we cannot agree with this. That is a part of the good land. According to the Scriptures, the good land extends from the shore of the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:4), where present- day Iraq is. The good land is that spacious! According to God's ordination, Israel will surely keep the Golan Heights. This is the Lord's mercy to Israel. Furthermore, the royal family will be recovered. Who will be the last king of David's royal family? The Lord Jesus will be the King. He is the sure mercies promised and shown to David by God.
These mercies were covenanted. This means that a contract was made for these mercies. A covenant is not just a promise but a contract, and this covenant is Christ. Isaiah shows that Christ is an eternal covenant (Isa. 55:3b; 61:8b) and the covenant of peace (54:10) to the people. Christ is also the Maker of the covenant. This means that Christ guarantees Himself to be the real mercies. A verbal or even a written promise does not stand quite strongly, but a covenant is absolutely binding. God did not merely promise Israel the sure mercies of David. He made a covenant. Isaiah 55:3b says, "And I will make an eternal covenant with you, / Even the sure mercies shown to David." This eternal covenant is the sure mercies.
We know that the sure mercies refer to Christ by Paul's word in Acts 13:34-39 (see note 1 of verse 34 in the Recovery Version). There Paul indicates that the sure mercies promised to David are the resurrected Christ, who never saw the corruption of death. The Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for mercies, chesed, is translated as the holy things (plural) or Holy One (singular) in Acts 13. Verse 34 speaks of "the holy things of David, the faithful things" and verse 35 of Christ as the "Holy One." The holy things of David, the faithful things, are the sure mercies of David. The Holy One is Christ, the Son of David, in whom God's mercies are centered and conveyed. Christ is the sure mercies, and He is also the One who is holy. This shows that these sure mercies will do a work to sanctify all the enjoyers.
According to the parable in Luke 15, the Father's compassion sanctifies the returning son. The prodigal son came back home like a beggar, but the father's compassion separated him from the world. The Father's compassion sanctifies the returning son, makes him holy, separating him entirely unto the Father.
Even though I did say that we all are probably "gophers" and "scorpions," I still would say that we are saints (1 Cor. 1:2). We are holy positionally before God. We are the sanctified ones. Christ is the sure mercies, and these mercies have sanctified us. Christ made us saints by His mercies. Today I can speak the holy word to God's holy people. I can declare all the holy things. This is the work of God's sure mercies.
These sure mercies have been covenanted with an eternal covenant. This covenant is the enacting Christ (Isa. 42:6b; 49:8b), and the covenant of peace (54:10). Peace means that all the problems are solved. When I say that I am a saint, this implies that I have no problems. We should have peace that enables us to say, "I have no problems because I am a saint." If we have even a little problem, we are not that holy.
God's sure mercies are the resurrected Christ who did not see the corruption of death and became the base of God's justification to His believers. This heavenly language is spoken in Acts 13:34-39. We need to study these six verses again and again. Otherwise, we will not be able to enter into a proper understanding of them. We all have been sanctified, but sanctification needs a base, and the base of sanctification is justification. If you are not justified, you can never be sanctified.
Christ is God's sure mercies for our sanctification. For this He also became the base of justification in His resurrection. Paul said in Acts 13 that it is by this Man, Jesus, who is the mercies of God, that we can be justified. Thus, justification is based upon the resurrected Christ who has never seen the corruption of death. Acts says that death cannot hold Him. That means death cannot touch the resurrected One. Such a resurrected One, Jesus, is the foundation, the base, of our justification. Based upon such a justification in Christ's resurrection, we are enjoying Christ as the mercies which sanctify us.
We should not forget that the resurrected Christ today is the sure mercies of God to us. He has become the base of our justification, and upon this justification something is built up, that is, sanctification. Furthermore, sanctification is something built with and by the sure mercies of God. These sure mercies are Christ.
Christ as the sure mercies of God has been appointed a Witness to the peoples, nations (Isa. 55:4a). Revelation 1:5a says that Christ, the second person of the Divine Trinity, is the faithful Witness of God. He is the Witness of the entire Godhead. Revelation 3:14a also says that He is the faithful and true Witness. Christ is the Witness to testify the true God.
He has been appointed a Leader and a Commander to the peoples (Isa. 55:4b; Acts 5:31a). He is the Leader above all the kings, the Leader above all the rulers. This is for His administration. He has also been appointed a Commander. He is the General to fight the battle. When He returns, He will fight in the war at Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21). He will be the Commander, the fighting General, to defeat the biggest army on earth with Antichrist as the opposing commander.
As the Servant of Jehovah, Christ will also be a Redeemer to Zion (Isa. 59:20). He will and can come as a Redeemer to Zion at His return because He is the sure mercies. Without being God's mercies, Christ could never be a Redeemer to the rotten, corrupted children of Israel. Only the merciful God with all His mercies would redeem them. Thus, Christ is not only the sure mercies of God but also God's Redeemer coming to redeem Zion at His return.
He will be such a Redeemer to the remnant of Israel who will turn to Him from their transgression. In Zechariah 12 there is a record of the repentance of the remnant of Israel at the Lord's return (vv. 10-14).
Christ will be the light of Israel (Isa. 60:1-3). He will come as light (the glory of Jehovah) upon Israel at His return (v. 1). The entire earth today is under darkness, including Israel. But when Christ comes as a Redeemer to Israel, He will be their light to enlighten them, and that light is the glory of God. Our light today in our homes is from electricity, but their light at the Lord's coming back will be the glory of Jehovah. It will not be sunlight or man-made light, but the light which is God Himself in His glory. Israel will have such a light by Christ being God's sure mercies.
When Christ comes as light upon Israel at His return, the darkness will cover the earth and the heavy darkness will cover the peoples, the Gentiles (v. 2a). All the Gentile nations will be covered by darkness. Only Israel will have light, and that light is the appearing God in His glory. Christ as Jehovah will rise upon Israel, and His glory will be seen upon her (v. 2b). Today the nation of Israel is suffering under the pressure of the nations, but when Christ comes back, Israel will rise up.
The nations, the Gentiles, will come to Israel's light, and kings will come to the brightness of her rising (v. 3). The nations will desire to be enlightened by Israel since they are in darkness. In that day Israel will be "rising," but today they are being put down by the nations. Israel has been put down and down for over two thousand years. Especially today they are suffering, but when Christ returns they will rise up.
Because we believers have Christ within us, we are rising up. We are not being put down. Today Christ is our divine mercies; He is our Redeemer; and He is our light. Based upon Him, we are rising.
