Salvation

As we look at this passage where God calls his people out of exile, we also see a picture of salvation. Isaiah tells the people,

Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger…

Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street…

They are filled with the wrath of the Lord and the rebuke of your God. (Isaiah 51:17–20)

Here, we see Isaiah calling the Jews who had been staggered by the judgment of God in their lives. Who had had everything stripped from them because of their sins. And he tells them in verse 22,

See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. (Isaiah 51:22)

In other words, their judgment was coming to an end, and they would never taste of it again.

In the same way, when we come to Christ, in our brokenness and sin, he saves us, having paid for our sins on the cross, so that we never need taste God’s judgment again.

Then in chapter 52, Isaiah says,

Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city….

Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. (Isaiah 52:1–2)

Just as God would take off their tattered, dirty clothes, and clothe them with rich garments, just as he would take off the chains that bound them, so he does with us.

He takes off the chains of sin that bound us, and he dresses us as his sons and daughters. No longer are we slaves, but God calls us his beloved children.

God said of the Jews,

You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed. (Isaiah 52:3)

We too were not bought by Satan. He never paid anything for us. Rather we sold ourselves as slaves to him through our sins. And when God redeemed us, it was not with money, but through the blood of Christ.

Now he proclaims his salvation to the whole world, saying,

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7)

And again,

The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:10)

So how shall we respond?

Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure… the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard. (Isaiah 52:11–12)

God told the Jews, “Leave your life of captivity. Leave your life of sin. And I will be with you.”

He tells us the same thing.

“The path has already been cleared for you to leave the kingdom of Satan, and enter the kingdom of God. Your sins are paid for. The clothes of salvation are waiting for you. So leave your old life. Leave your life of sin. And I will be with you.”