Isaiah 55:12

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. FOR YE SHALL GO WITH JOY - from the various countries in which ye (the Jews) are scattered, to your own land (). AND BE LED FORTH WITH PEACE - by Messiah, your "Leader" (; ; Micah 2:12). THE MOUNTAINS AND THE HILLS SHALL BREAK FORTH BEFORE YOU INTO SINGING, AND ALL THE TREES - images justly used to express the seeming sympathy of nature with the joy of God's people. For when sin is removed the natura...

12._Therefore ye shall go out with joy. _The Prophet concludes the subject of this chapter; for, when he spoke of the mercy of God, his object was, to convince the Jews that the Lord would deliver them. He now applies to his purpose what was contained in his discourse concerning the infinite goodness of God, and shows that his thoughts are very unlike the thoughts of men. And the true way of teaching is this, that we should apply general statements for present use. Finally, he treats of the restoration of the people, which depended on the undeserved mercy of God. _The mountains and hills shall break out before you. _By “the mountains and hills” he means that everything which they shall meet in the journey, though in other respects it be injurious, shall aid those who shall return to Jerusalem. They are metaphors, by which he shows that all the creatures bow to the will of God, and rejoic...

6-13 Here is a gracious offer of pardon, and peace, and of all happiness. It shall not be in vain to seek God, now his word is calling to us, and his Spirit is striving with us. But there is a day coming when he will not be found. There may come such a time in this life; it is certain that at death and judgment the door will be shut. There must be not only a change of the way, but a change of the mind. We must alter our judgments about persons and things. It is not enough to break off from evil practices, we must strive against evil thoughts. To repent is to return to our Lord, against whom we have rebelled. If we do so, God will multiply to pardon, as we have multiplied to offend. But let none trifle with this plenteous mercy, or use it as an occasion to sin. Men's thoughts concerning sin, Christ, and holiness, concerning this world and the other, vastly differ from God's; but in nothi...

Verse Isaiah 55:12. _THE MOUNTAINS AND THE HILLS_] These are highly poetical images to express a happy state attended with joy and exultation. Ipsi laetitia voces ad sidera jactant Intonsi montes: ipsae jam carmina rupes, Ipsa sonant arbusta. VIRG. Ecl. v. 61. "The mountain tops unshorn, the _rocks_ rejoice; The lowly _shrubs_ partake of human voice." DRYDEN....

FOR YE SHALL GO OUT WITH JOY - This language is that which is properly applicable to the exiles in Babylon, but there can be no doubt that the prophet looks also to the future happier times of the Messiah (compare the notes at Isaiah 52:7). THE MOUNTAINS AND THE HILLS - Language like this is common in Isaiah, where all nature is called on to rejoice, or where inanimate objects are represented as expressing their sympathy with the joy of the people of God (see the note at Isaiah 14:8; Isaiah 35:1, Isaiah 35:10;...

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 55:1 AN EXHORTATION TO SPIRITUALITY AND REPENTANCE. The prophet passes from the ideal to the actual, from the glorious future to the unsatisfactory present. The people are not ripe for the blessings of the Messianic kingdom—they do not sufficiently value them. Hence a tender exhortation is addressed to them by God himself, inviting them to become more spiritually minded (Isaiah 55:1), and fresh promises are held out to the obedient (Isaiah 55:3). The disobedient are then somewhat sternly exhorted to turn from their evil ways and repent ...

FOR YE SHALL GO OUT WITH JOY, AND BE LED FORTH WITH PEACE,.... Though these words may literally respect the Jews' return from captivity to their own land, attended with joy and peace; as the preceding verse may respect the word of promise concerning it; as it is interpreted by the Targum, "for with joy shall ye go out from among the people, and with peace shall ye be brought to your own land;'' yet they may be spiritually applied to the conversion of men, in consequence of the word being made effectual, of which the deliverance from the Babylonish thraldom was a type; when men "go out" of a state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law; out of a state of darkness and ignorance; out of the pit of nature's misery and distress; out of themselves and their own righteousness; out of their own sinful ways, and from among the men of the world: and though here is a divine power exerted in all th...

CHAPTER 55 SALVATION'S OFFER AND PROVISION 1. _The invitation to everyone and the promise (Isaiah 55:1) _ 2. _The sure mercies of David (Isaiah 55:3) _ 3. _The exhortation to seek and to forsake (Isaiah 55:6) _ 4. _God's thoughts and God's ways (Isaiah 55:8) _ 5. _The joy, peace and glory of the future (Isaiah 55:12) _ The scope and application of this chapter must not be limited. While Israel eventually will break forth in singing as the result of believing on Him, whom they once despised, the invitation to a free and full

SEEK YAHWEH, FOR THE GREAT DELIVERANCE IS AT HAND. Let the exiles seek Yahweh, for the time is at hand. His plans for His people reach beyond their own as far as the heavens are exalted above the earth. Even as the rain and snow descend and do not return, but make the earth fruitful, so Yahweh's promise, that has gone forth from His lips, shall be accomplished without fail. (An utterance was looked upon by the Hebrews almost as a personal power fulfilling itself.) He will lead forth the rejoicing exiles, mountains and trees shall rejoice aloud as the happy procession passes. The thorn-bush and the brier (?) or nettle (?) shall give place to the fir and the myrtle, an everlasting memorial of Yahweh's gracious deliverance....

GO OUT. go forth: i.e. from the lands of your wandering. PEACE. prosperity. BREAK FORTH... SINGING. Figure of speech _Prosopopoeia._ See note on Isaiah 14:7. THE FIELD: i.e. the open country beyond the limits of cultivation....