V. WITH THE RESTORATION
When Jehovah returns to Israel, He will return with the restoration.
A. A People Dwelling in Zion at Jerusalem
A people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, and they will weep no more. Jehovah will be most gracious to them at the sound of their cry. When He hears it, He will answer them (30:19).
Though the Lord has given them the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, their Teacher will no longer hide Himself in a corner, but their eyes will see their Teacher. Also, when they turn to the right or to the left, their ears will hear a word behind them, saying, "This is the way, walk in it" (vv. 20-21). The Teacher here is Christ. As our Teacher, Christ will no longer hide Himself in a corner, that is, at the crossroads, the place where we make a turn. When we are going astray or are taking the wrong way, He lets us go. But when we arrive at a corner, He is there. At the crossroads we have the choice to go to the right or to the left (v. 21). It is at the crossroads that Christ tells us the way to take.
According to verse 22, the people will defile the silver covering of their graven images and the gold plating of their molten idols. They will scatter them like some dirty thing, saying to it, "Go away!" Then Jehovah will give rain for their seed, which they will sow in the ground, and the bread of the increase of the ground; and it will be fat and plenteous. Their livestock will feed in that day in a vast pasture, and the oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder that has been winnowed with shovel and fork. Moreover, upon every high mountain and upon every prominent hill there will be brooks and streams of water (vv. 23-25). In our spiritual experience today, we may experience the Spirit as rain, as brooks, and eventually as streams.
In verse 26 Isaiah goes on to speak regarding the lights in the heavenly host. The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when Jehovah binds up the breach of His people and heals the wound left from His stroke.
B. The People Having a Song
and Gladness of Heart
In verse 29 we see that the people will have a song as in the night when the feast is sanctified. They will also have gladness of heart as when one marches to the flute to go to the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. This indicates that when Jehovah returns to His people with the restoration, their gladness and enjoyment will be extraordinary.
(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 17, by Witness Lee)
