ACTIVE ZEAL IN SPREADING THE GOSPEL
Isaiah 62:10-11. Go through, go through the gates, &c.
I. THE GENERAL ORDERS OF OUR GREAT LEADER.
1. The general order. The Church is considered under the figure of an army in its winter quarters. From this state of comparative ease, it is called to enter upon active service. The repetition of the charge points out the earnestness of the speaker. Activity in goodness characterises God, who sent forth His Son to seek and to save the lost; our Lord who came forth on this great errand; and His true disciples in every age.
2. The peculiar services assigned them. Those who are to receive the Gospel are considered as at a distance from the city, and are requiring much to be done to facilitate their approach.
(1). The Jews are first mentioned. “The people.” Isaiah constantly distinguishes the Jews from the Gentiles, by using the singular number for the Jews, and the plural for the Gentiles (cf. Isaiah 2:2-4 with Isaiah 2:6; Isaiah 11:10 with Isaiah 11:11; and Isaiah 11:12 with Isaiah 11:16). Further the Church is to “cast up the highway;” that is, provide for them every outward means that may be useful to assist in their conversion, such as sending missionaries to them, &c. Next, “Gather out the stones,” i.e., remove the numerous stumbling-blocks at present in the way of that people; such as the unkind treatment, the unscriptural tenets, the ungodly lives, and the distressing immoralities of those who are called Christians.
(2.) For the Gentiles an important service is to be performed: “Lift up an ensign for the peoples” [1764]
[1764] The military figure used in the former part of the verse is still kept up. A standard or ensign is that implement of war which a commander raises, not only to collect his own troops, but also to bring the people, into whose country he is entering, to the allegiance of his sovereign. Hence it is that so much care is taken, in besieged towns, to keep up the standard. When that is taken, and the ensign of the besieging army is seen on the citadel, it is a signal for the inhabitants to yield themselves to the conqueror. The Christian army is therefore here directed to lift up the Redeemer’s standard, that the Gentiles may be drawn to His easy yoke. His ensign is Christ Himself (Isaiah 11:10). In Him there is everything to attract the soul. Upon that standard what attractive mottoes are emblazoned (Isaiah 45:22; John 11:25; Hosea 13:14; Revelation 21:7, &c.). The standard is to be lifted up; we must let the nations see the Saviour. He has only to be clearly seen to be loved and admired. The Gospel, therefore, is to be plainly and fully preached in the largest cities, and the most open cities wherever the Gentiles are, or to whatever tribes they belong.—Stewart.
II. AN ANIMATING ENCOURAGEMEN TO FULFIL THESE ORDERS.
This three-fold “Behold” seems to imply something on which the armies of the living God should fix their eyes with intense earnestness. Here, in fact, there is unsurpassed encouragement to missionary exertion. Of this you will be convinced, if you consider—
1. The countries to which the proclamation it mentions is directed: “Unto the end of the world,” i.e., wherever any of the remnant of Israel are scattered.
2. The person for whom the proclamation is to be made: “The daughter of Zion,” i.e., the remnant of Judah.
3. The contents of the message to that people: “Behold, thy salvation cometh,” &c. A message exactly accordant both to the desires and the necessities of the Jews. They have long been looking for the coming of their Messiah. They mistook Him, when He appeared the first time; for when they expected that He would come with outward pomp and splendour, not discerning that the prophet had declared that He had another work to do (e.g., ch. 53; Daniel 9:24). But still they are expecting Him. To them we are to say, “Your Saviour now draws nigh. That Jesus whom your fathers crucified,” &c. Surely such a message as this is an encouragement to “go through the gates,” for, if anything can touch the heart of the daughter of Zion, it is to hear that her King is coming, that her Saviour is at hand.—J. Haldane Stewart, M.A: A Practical View of the Redeemer’s Advent, pp. 296–315.