Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
11, 12. A summons to the exiles to prepare for their departure from Babylon (cf. Isa 48:20-21). These are to accompany Jehovah in his triumphal “return to Zion” (see on ch. Isa 40:10-11).
go ye out from thence ] from Babylon; “in this section ( Isa 52:7-12) the prophet places himself in spirit at Jerusalem” (Cheyne).
touch no unclean thing] They are to “purify themselves” (see below) as those who take part in a religious procession. The stress laid on ceremonial purity in this verse is an exceptional feature in the prophecy.
be ye clean ( cleanse yourselves ye) that bear the vessels of the Lord ] As in the exodus from Egypt, the priests bearing the sacred utensils march at the head of the procession. Some have rendered “ye that are Jehovah’s armour-bearers” (so Cheyne, formerly), a military figure suggested by the Hebrew phrase, but perhaps a little far-fetched in the context.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Depart ye, depart ye – This is a direct address to the exiles in their captivity. The same command occurs in Isa 48:20 (see the notes on that place). It is repeated here for the sake of emphasis; and the urgency of the command implies that there was some delay likely to be apprehended on the part of the exiles themselves. The fact seems to have been, that though the captivity was at first attended with every circumstance suited to give pain, and though they were subjected to many privations and sorrows in Babylon (see Psa 137:1-9), yet that many of them became strongly attached to a residence there, and were strongly indisposed to return. They were there seventy years. Most of those who were made captive would have died before the close of the exile. Their children, who constituted the generation to whom the command to return would be addressed, would have known the land of their fathers only by report.
It was a distant land; and was to be reached only by a long and perilous journey across a pathless desert. They had been born in Babylon. It was their home; and there were the graves of their parents arid kindred. Some had been advanced to posts of office and honor: many, it is probable, had lands, and friends, and property in Babylon. The consequence would, therefore, be, that there would be strong reluctance on their part to leave the country of their exile, and to encounter the perils and trials incident to a return to their own land. It is not improbable, also, that many of them may have formed improper connections and attachments in that distant land, and that they would be unwilling to relinquish them, and return to the land of their fathers. It was necessary, therefore, that the most urgent commands should be addressed to them, and the strongest motives presented to them, to induce them to return to the country of their fathers. And after all, it is evident that but comparatively a small portion of the exile Jews ever were prevailed on to leave Babylon, and to adventure upon the perilous journey of a return to Zion.
Touch no unclean thing – Separate yourselves wholly from an idolatrous nation, and preserve yourselves pure. The apostle Paul 2Co 6:17-18 has applied this to Christians, and uses it as expressing the obligation to come out from the world, and to be separate from all its influences. Babylon is regarded by the apostle as not an unapt emblem of the world, and the command to come out from her as not an improper expression of the obligation to the friends of the Redeemer to be separate from all that is evil. John Rev 18:4 has applied this passage also to denote the duty of true Christians to separate themselves from the mystical Babylon – the papal community – and not to be partaker of her sins. The passage is applied in both these instances, because Babylon, in Scripture language, is regarded as emblematic of whatever is oppressive, proud, arrogant, persecuting, impure, and abominable.
That bear the vessels of the Lord – That bear again to your own land the sacred vessels of the sanctuary. It is to be remembered that when the Jews were taken to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar carried there all the sacred utensils of the temple, and that they were used in their festivals as common vessels in Babylon 2Ch 36:18; Dan 5:2-5. These vessels Cyrus commanded to be again restored, when the exiles returned to their own land Ezr 1:7-11. They whose office it was to carry them, were the priests and Levites Num 1:50; Num 4:15; and the command here pertains particularly to them. They were required to be holy; to feel the importance of their office, and to be separate from all that is evil. The passage has no original reference to ministers of the gospel, but the principle is implied that they who are appointed to serve God as his ministers in any way should be pure and holy.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 52:11-12
Depart ye
A peremptory, yet encouraging call
1.
Thus peremptorily were the Jewish exiles called home. Nearly three generations had fled since their fathers had been forcibly settled on the plains of Shinar; but during that period the temporal lot of the Jews had been gradually bettering. Time had healed many wounds, a milder administration had weakened the memory of many sorrows. In the strange land, strange no longer, homes had been gathered, wealth accumulated, honours won. The land of their fathers was far away, was personally known to few, and lay on the other side of a pathless wilderness. To men so circumstanced, the call to depart was far from welcome. Many ties must be severed if that call were obeyed; many sacrifices made, much travail endured. The present good seemed far better than the future. Besides, who did not know, at least by report, something of the perils of that barren waste over which their march must be made? Who could ensure them, during the progress of that march, against serious harm and loss? Who could demonstrate the certain gain to the majority of exchanging Babylon for Jerusalem, the level land of Shinar for the hill country of Judah? Thus, excuses for remaining sprung readily to their lips; difficulties in obeying the summons grew palpably before their eyes. It was an unwelcome demand, and therefore seemed impossible.
2. But if the prophet s call were peremptory, it was not unsupported by arguments of the weightiest kind. However difficult, the separation must be made, the departure undertaken; but there need be no hurry in their flight, as when Israel went forth from Egypt. The preparation might be deliberate and careful, but one end must be kept steadily in view–return to Palestine. Make all just allowances, meet all just claims, settle all needful matters of business; but still, Prepare to depart. Be ready to leave behind all taint of idolatry. And yet, Take heart, ye fearful ones, and be of good courage. The desert may be trackless, but God shall lead you. The perils of the journey may be numerous, but God shall defend you. The nomadic tribes may harass your hindmost companies, but God shall be your rearward. Such is the interpretation of the original purpose of the prophet s stirring words. (J. J. Goadby.)
Spiritual progress
Let us take these words as helping to illustrate some of the broader features of spiritual progress.
I. SPIRITUAL PROGRESS DEMANDS SEPARATION AND SACRIFICE. What are some of these things from which we must separate ourselves, even at the cost of sacrifice, if spiritual progress is to be made?
1. It is no uncommon thing to find an easy contentment with the truth already attained. The conceit begotten of little knowledge is a fatal bar to progress. The voice of truth may call loudly at our door, Depart ye; go ye out from thence; but to heed that voice sacrifice is inevitable. There is no other method of attaining large spiritual advantage than the destruction of our ignorant self-complacency.
2. Spiritual progress largely depends upon the renunciation of the idea of the present perfection of our character. Many would start back at the notion of laying to claim being already perfect who virtually live as though it were the first article of their belief. They merely dream over the possibility of improvement. In some cases the error is traceable to the mistakes committed at the very beginning of their spiritual life. Conversion is made the be-all and the end-all of their religion. Life seems to travel upward until it reaches that point, and to travel downward ever afterward.
3. But them is another form in which error crops out in older men. For example, when all the inspiration of life is drawn from the past, not with a view of further advancement, but rather as an apology for present repose. Our best inspiration is not gained from what is behind, but from what is before, and what is above.
4. Still further, no spiritual progress is possible unless we are willing to give up our personal indolence.
II. SPIRITUAL PROGRESS TOLERATES NO DELAY BUT THAT WHICH IS SPENT IN PREPARATION. It would have been a strange perversion of the prophets words if the Jews had regarded the assurance that they should not go out with haste, neither by flight, as teaching that they were to protract their preparations indefinitely, protract them so as ultimately to relinquish their journey. They rather encourage them, while not neglecting the judicious settlement of their affairs, to make suitable provision for their march across the wilderness. There need be neither bustle nor confusion, since their exodus will not be either sudden or stealthy. It is Cyrus who reigns, not Pharaoh. But still, it is a journey for which they are to prepare, not a lengthened residence in Babylon. The bearing of all this, as an illustration of spiritual progress, it is not very difficult to see. The delay which is spent in preparation is progress. This may spring, for example, from a careful acquisition of Divine truth. The same thing holds good in regard to character. We cannot force maturity, but we can prepare for it; and all such preparation hastens the desired consummation. Before the Jew reached the land of promise, every stage between Babylon and Jerusalem had to be faithfully traversed. There are stages, also, in the development of character, no one of which can be omitted without subsequent loss. Seasons of suffering of enforced idleness, of dark and apparently irreparable bereavement, are some of the necessary elements out of which real character is born. The time consumed by such discipline is not delay, but progress. All systems, therefore, which attempt to force maturity are as delusive as they are mischievous. Christian work furnishes another illustration of the same general truth. Bracing ourselves up for present duty, and mastering it, is the best qualification for future success.
III. SPIRITUAL PROGRESS IS UNDER DIVINE DIRECTION. The Lord will go before you. Here was encouragement for the timid Jew. As a general leads his army, and a shepherd his flock, so will Jehovah go before the returning exile. Nay more: He shall lead them as a conqueror and a king. But observe more particularly–
1. God has a perfect knowledge of our journey.
2. God is ever near. Whatever the stage, and whatever the necessities of the march, He was nigh at hand, even to the ancient Jew. Much closer has He now come to us, He is Immanuel. Here, then, is most powerful stimulus to the flagging Christian.
3. He never leads us where He has not Himself already been. Are we severely tested? He was tempted in all points like as we are. Are we finding that maturity can only come through travail of soul? He was made perfect through sufferings. He asks us to undertake no difficult service without first showing us His own obedience. When, therefore, murmurs arise within us, and rebellious feelings agitate and disturb, let this be the sufficient check of them all–It is enough for the disciple to be as his Master.
4. He is ever before us. We have One in advance of us who knows the possibilities of our nature; and while never overtaxing us, He expects no relaxation of our effort. Let us, therefore, forget the things that are behind, and reach forth unto those that are before, looking unto Jesus, the Leader and Perfecter of our faith.
IV. SPIRITUAL PROGRESS IS ASSURED OF DIVINE PROTECTION. The God of Israel shall be your rereward. The rereward is the hindmost part of the army, where the reserves are stationed. By this arrangement various important ends are served. For one thing, the stragglers who drop out of the line during a long and toilsome march are effectually gathered up and saved. For another, the army is better prepared to meet unexpected attack by being able rapidly to change its front. The God of Israel shall be your rereward. Here was the pledge of security for their march across that desert which swarmed, as it swarms now, with scores of robber tribes who have this in common, that they are all equally agile, all equally thirsty for plunder, and all equally unscrupulous. Here, also, lies our truest security in spiritual progress. The God of Israel is our rereward.
1. There will, therefore, be no surprises which we are not able to meet, no sudden attack from which He will not prove a sufficient Defender. Our sharpest vigilance will not always serve us; and while sweeping the horizon in one direction, our present danger may approach from another.
2. Then protection is afforded against permanent relapse. If we look forward, our Defender is there. If we look backward, behold, He is there.
3. Then there is a reserve of power and of available help which no saint has ever fully tested. (J. J. Goadby.)
The march through, the desert-world to the city of God
We may learn some of those qualities which should characterize us in this march.
I. THERE SHOULD BE PERPETUAL EXODUS. In all lives there are Babylons, which have no claim on the redeemed of Jehovah. We may have entered them, not without qualms of conscience; but, as time has passed, our reluctance has been overcome. A comradeship has grown up between us and one from whose language and ways we once shrank in horror. An amusement now fascinates us, which we regarded with suspicion and conscientious scruple. A habit of life dominates us from which we once shrank as from infection. A method of winning money now engrosses us; but we can well remember how difficult it was to coax conscience to engage in it. These are Babylons, which cast their fatal spell aver the soul, and against which the voice of God urgently proteste: Depart ye, depart ye! go ye out from thence. When stepping out from Babylon to an unwonted freedom, we naturally shrink back before the desert march, the sandy wastes, the ruined remnants of happier days. But we shall receive more than we renounce.
II. IT SHOULD BE WITHOUT HASTE. Ye shall not go out in haste. There are many English proverbs which sum up the observation of former days and tell how foolish it is to be in a hurry. But, outside of God, there is small chance of obeying these wise maxims. The age is so feverish. No great picture was ever painted in a hurry. No great book was ever written against time. No great discovery was ever granted to the student who could not watch in Natures antechamber for the gentle opening of her door. The greatest naturalist of our time devoted eight whole years almost entirely to barnacles. Well might John Foster long for the power of touching mankind with the spell of Be quiet, be quiet. In this our Lord is our best exemplar. This hastelessness was possible to Israel so long as the people believed that God was ordering, preceding, and following their march.
III. WE MUST BE AT PEACE ABOUT THE WAY. In early life our path seems clearly defined. We must follow the steps of others, depend on their maxims, act on their advice. It is only when the years grow upon us that this sense of waylessness, as it has been termed, oppresses us. So the exiles must have felt when they left Ahava and started on the desert march. At such times the lips of Christ answer, I am the Way. His temper, His way of looking at things, His will, resolves all perplexities. All this was set forth in the figure before us. The Lord will go before yon. When the people came out of Egypt, Jehovah preceded the march in the Shechinah cloud that moved softly above the ark. There was nothing of this sort when Ezra led the first detachment of exiles to Zion; but, though unseen, the Divine Leader was equally in the forefront of the march. Thus it is also in daily experience. Jesus is ever going before us in every call to duty, every prompting to self-sacrifice, every summons to comfort, help and save.
IV. WE MUST BE PURE. Touch no unclean thing. Be ye clean, etc. Those vessels were very precious. The enumeration is made with minute accuracy Ezr 8:26). But they were above all things holy unto the Lord. Thus they passed across the desert, holy men bearing the holy vessels. Through this world, unseen by mortal eye, a procession is passing, treading its way across continents of time. It bears holy vessels. Testimony to Gods truth, the affirmation of things unseen and eternal, the announcement of the facts of redemption–such are our sacred charge. What manner of persons ought we not to be, to whom so high a ministry is entrusted! Before that procession we are told that waste places would break forth into song. It is a fair conception, as though their feet changed the aspect of the territories through which they passed. What was desert when they came to it, was paradise as they left it! What were ruins, became walls! Where there had been hostility, suspicion and misunderstanding, there came concord and peace, the watchmen seeing eye to eye. This is a true portraiture of the influence of the religion of Jesus over the hearts and lives of men. But let us never forget the importance of prayer, as a necessary link in the achieving of these marvels. (F. B. Meyer, B.A.)
Marching orders
We have here, under highly metaphorical forms, the grand ideal of the Christian life.
I. We have it set forth as A MARCH OF WARRIOR PRIESTS. Note that phrase, Ye that bear the vessels of the Lord. The returning exiles as a whole are so addressed, but the significance of the expression, and the precise metaphor which it is meant to convey, may be questionable. The word rendered vessels is a wide expression, meaning any kind of equipment, and in other places of the Old Testament the phrase rendered is translated armour-bearers. Such an image would be quite congruous with the context here, in which warlike figures abound. And if so, the picture would be that of an army on the march, each man carrying some of the weapons of the great Captain and Leader. But perhaps the other explanation is more likely, which regards the vessels of the Lordas being an allusion to the sacrificial and other implements of worship, which, in the first Exodus, the Levites carried on the march. And if that be the meaning, then the figure here is that of a company of priests. I venture to throw the two ideas together, and to say that we may here find an ideal of the Christian community as being a great company of warrior priests on the march, guarding a sacred deposit which has been committed to their charge.
1. Look, then, at that combination in the true Christian character of the two apparently opposite ideas of warrior and priest. It suggests that all the life is to be conflict, and that all the conflict is to be worship. It suggests, too, that the warfare is worship, that the office of the priest and of the warrior are one and the same thing, and both consist in their mediating between man and God, bringing God in His Gospel to men, and bringing men through their faith to God. The combination suggests, likewise, how, in the true Christian character, there ought ever to be blended, in strange harmony, the virtues of the soldier and the qualities of the priest; compassion for the ignorant and them that are out of the way with courage; meekness with strength; a quiet placable heart, hating strife, joined to a spirit that cheerily fronts every danger and is eager for the conflict, in which evil is the foe and God the helper.
2. Note, further, that in this phrase we have the old, old metaphor of life as a march, but so modified as to lose all its melancholy and weariness and to turn into an elevating hope.
3. Again, this metaphor suggests that this company of marching, priests have in charge a sacred, deposit. Paul speaks of the glorious Gospel which was committed to my trust. And, in like manner, to us Christians is given the charge of Gods great weapons of warfare, with which He contends with the wickedness of the world–viz, that great message of salvation through, and in, the Cross of Jesus Christ. And there are committed to us, further, to guard sedulously, and to keep bright and untarnished and undiminished in weight and worth, the precious treasures of the Christian life of communion with Him. And we may give another application to the figure and think of the solemn trust which is put into our hands, in the gift of our own selves, which we ourselves can either waste, and stain, and lose, or can guard and polish into vessels meet for the Masters use. Gathering, then, these ideas together, we take this as the ideal of the Christian community–a company of priests on the march, with a sacred deposit committed to their trust.
II. THE SEPARATION THAT BEFITS THE MARCHING COMPANY. Depart ye, depart ye! go ye out from thence, etc. In the historical fulfilment of my text, separation from Babylon was the preliminary of the march. Our task is not so simple; our separation from Babylon must be the constant accompaniment of our march. The order in the midst of which we live is not organized-on the fundamental laws of Christs kingdom. And wheresoever there are men that seek to order their lives as Christ would have them to be ordered, the first necessity for them is, Come out from amongst them, and be ye separate. This separation will not only be the result of union with Jesus Christ, but it is the condition of all progress in our union with Him. They that are to travel far and fast have to travel light. Many a caravan has broken down in African exploration for no other reason than because it was too well provided with equipments, and so collapsed of its own,, weight. Therefore, our prophet, in the context, says, Touch no unclean thing. There is one of the differences between the new Exodus and the old. When Israel came out of Egypt they spoiled the Egyptians, and came away laden with gold and jewels; but it is dangerous work bringing anything away from Babylon with us. Its treasure has to be left if we would march close behind our Lord and Master. We must touch no unclean thing, because our hands are to be filled with the vessels of the Lord. It is mans world that we have to leave, but the loftiest sanctity requires no abstention from anything that God has ordained.
III. THE PURITY WHICH BECOMES THE BEARERS OF THE VESSELS OF THE LORD. Be ye clean. The priests hands must be pure, which figure, being translated, is, transparent purity of conduct and character is demanded from all Christian men who profess to carry Gods sacred deposit. You cannot carry it unless your hands are clean, for all the gifts that God gives us glide from our grasp if our hands be stained. Monkish legends tell of sacred pictures and vessels which, when an impure touch was laid upon them, refused to be lifted from the place, and grew there, as rooted, in spite of all efforts to move them. Whosoever seeks to hold the gifts of God in His Gospel in dirty hands will fail miserably, in the attempt; and all the joy and peace of communion, the assurance of Gods love, and the calm hope of immortal life, will vanish as a soap bubble, grasped by a child, turns into a drop of foul water on its palm, if we try to hold them in foul hands. And, further, remember no priestly service and no successful warfare for Jesus Christ is possible, except on the same condition. One sin, as well as one sinner, destroys much good, and a little inconsistency on the part of us professing Christians neutralizes all the efforts that we may ever try to put forth for Him.
IV. THE LEISURELY CONFIDENCE WHICH SHOULD MARK THE MARCH THAT IS GUARDED BY GOD. Ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight, etc. This is partly an analogy and partly a contrast with the story of the first Exodus. The unusual word translated with haste is employed in the Pentateuch to describe the hurry and bustle, not altogether due to the urgency of the Egyptians, but partly also due to the terror of Israel with which that first flight was conducted. And, says my text, in this new coming out of bondage there shall be no need for tremor or perturbation, lending wings to any mans feet; but, with quiet deliberation, like that with which Peter was brought out of his dungeon, because God knew that He could bring him out safely, the new Exodus shall be carried on. He that believeth shall not make haste. There is a very good reason why we need not be in any haste due to alarm. For, as in the first Exodus, the guiding pillar led the march, and sometimes, when there were foes behind, as at the Red Sea, shifted its place to the rear, so the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rereward. (A Maclaren, D.D.)
All the life for God
I have seen in a shop window, The bulk of our goods are of English manufacture. Not the bulk only, but all our life must be given over to God. (E. E. Marsh.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence] The Prophet Jeremiah seems to have had his eye on this passage of Isaiah, and to have applied it to a subject directly opposite. It is here addressed by the prophet in a way of encouragement and exhortation to the Jews coming out of Babylon. Jeremiah has given it a different turn, and has thrown it out, as a reproach of the heathen upon the Jews when they were driven from Jerusalem into captivity: –
“Depart; ye are polluted, depart; depart ye, forbear to touch.
Yea, they are fled, they are removed: they shall dwell here
no more.”
La 4:15.
Of the metrical distribution of these lines, see the Prelim. Dissert., p. lviii. note.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence; make haste, O ye banished Jews, to depart out of Babylon into your own land, that there I may meet with you, and bless you, and perform those further and greater things which I have promised there to do for you. And this invitation was the more necessary, because God foresaw that a great number of the Jews would upon worldly considerations continue in those foreign countries in which they were settled, and be very backward to return to the Holy Land.
Touch no unclean thing; and when you go thence, take heed that you carry not along with you any of their superstitions or idolatries; but purify and prepare yourselves, that so God may return to you in mercy, when you return into your own land.
Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord; and especially you priests and Levites, whose office it is to minister in holy things, and to carry back the holy vessels of the temple, keep yourselves from all pollution.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. (Isa 48:20;Zec 2:6; Zec 2:7).Long residence in Babylon made many loath to leave it: so as tomystical Babylon (Re 18:4).
ye . . . that bear . . .vessels of the Lordthe priests and Levites, whose office itwas to carry the vessels of the temple (Jer27:18). Nebuchadnezzar had carried them to Babylon (2Ch36:18). Cyrus restored them (Ezr1:7-11).
be . . . cleanbyseparating yourselves wholly from Babylonian idolaters, mystical andliteral.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Depart ye, depart ye,…. Not from Jerusalem, as some, for that is now said to be redeemed, and its waste places made joyful; but Babylon, even mystical Babylon. The Targum is, “be ye separated, be ye separated”: and so the apostle, 2Co 6:17. It denotes a separation from the idolatrous church of Rome; and the exhortation is repeated, to hasten the thing, to urge the necessity of it, and point at the danger of delaying it; and it may be it may respect a two fold separation, one that has been already at the time of the Reformation, and another that will be just before the destruction of Babylon, Re 18:4:
go ye out from thence: not only protest against the false doctrines, idolatries, and superstitions of that apostate church, but entirely relinquish her communion:
touch no unclean thing; have no fellowship with her in any of her unclean and idolatrous actions, and bring none of her abominations along with you. It was the fault of the first reformers from Popery, that they brought so many of the impurities of the church of Rome along with them, which are retained to this day; in this last separation, care is to be taken, and will be taken, that those that come out keep clear of all her defilements; see Re 14:4:
go ye out of the midst of her; which signifies much the same as before, and is repeated again and again, to show the importance of it:
be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord; not the vessels of the Lord’s sanctuary, as the Targum, restored by Cyrus to the Jews, at their return from the Babylonish captivity, Ezr 1:7, and so Jarchi interprets it of the priests and Levites that bore the vessels of the Lord in the wilderness; but Kimchi of the mercies and kindnesses of the Lord; Aben Ezra of the law: but it may much better be understood of the ministers of the Gospel, and of the treasure of the Gospel which they have in their earthen vessels; or the name of the Lord, which they are chosen vessels to bear and carry in the world; who ought to be pure from false doctrine, superstitious worship, and an evil conversation: though it may be applied to every Christian, since all true believers are priests under the Gospel dispensation; and as they bear the whole armour of God, and it is their duty to attend all the ordinances of the Gospel, they ought to have their conversation as becomes it. In Zohar p, these vessels are interpreted of the righteous, brought as a gift to the King Messiah.
p In Exod. fol. 87. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This salvation in its immediate manifestation is the liberation of the exiles; and on the ground of what the prophet sees in spirit, he exclaims to them (as in Isa 48:20), in Isa 52:11, Isa 52:12: “Go ye forth, go ye forth, go out from thence, lay hold of no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her, cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah. For ye shall not go out in confusion, and ye shall not go forth in flight: for Jehovah goeth before you, and the God of Israel is your rear-guard.” When they go out from thence, i.e., from Babylon, they are not to touch anything unclean, i.e., they are not to enrich themselves with the property of their now subjugated oppressors, as was the case at the exodus from Egypt (Exo 12:36). It is to be a holy procession, at which they are to appear morally as well as corporeally unstained. But those who bear the vessels of Jehovah, i.e., the vessels of the temple, are not only not to defile themselves, but are to purify themselves ( hibbaru with the tone upon the last syllable, a regular imperative niphal of barar ). This is an indirect prophecy, and was fulfilled in the fact that Cyrus directed the golden and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought to Babylon, to be restored to the returning exiles as their rightful property (Ezr 1:7-11). It would thus be possible for them to put themselves into the right attitude for their departure, since it would not take place in precipitous haste ( b e chippazon ), as the departure from Egypt did (Deu 16:3, cf., Exo 12:39), nor like a flight, but they would go forth under the guidance of Jehovah. (with the e changed into the original ) does not man, “He bringeth you, the scattered ones, together,” but according to Num 10:25; Jos 6:9, Jos 6:13, “He closes your procession,” – He not only goes before you to lead you, but also behind you, to protect you (as in Exo 14:19). For the m e ‘asseph , or the rear-guard of an army, is its keystone, and has to preserve the compactness of the whole.
The division of the chapters generally coincides with the several prophetic addresses. But here it needs emendation. Most of the commentators are agreed that the words “Behold my servant,” etc. ( hinneh yaskl abhd ) commence a new section, like hen abhd (behold my servant) in Isa 42:1.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 11-12: EXODUS FROM BABYLON
1. Israel is instructed to depart from the midst of Babylon without taking anything Babylonish with her, (vs. 11a; comp. 2Co 6:14-18) a figure of the end-time deliverance of God’s people from this present world-system (Rev 18:4).
2. In returning to their own land, they are to take the holy vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, (2Ki 25:14-15; Dan 5:1); those who bear these vessels must be clean! (vs. 11b; Ezr 1:7-11).
3. In contrast to the exodus from Egypt, they were not to go in haste, (comp. Exo 12:11; Exo 12:22; Deu 16:3); nor were they to flee in fear (vs. 12a).
4. The presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel, before and behind them will be all the security they need, (vs. 12b; Isa 26:7; Isa 42:16; Isa 49:10-11).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. Depart ye, depart ye. He now exhorts the people to be always ready to set out, and at the same time to bear their misery with patience. As the excessive haste of the people needed to be restrained, so it was also proper to shake off their slothfulness; for, before the time of deliverance arrived, they burned with extravagant eagerness to depart; but when the period of the captivity was fulfilled, they had grown languid through long delay, and had thrown away all hope and wish to return, so that there were few who returned to Judea. (45) They had mingled with the Babylonians, whose customs had captivated and depraved them so much that they disregarded their native country; and therefore they needed to be aroused and admonished, that they might not lose heart through long expectation, and might not suffer themselves to be corrupted by the pollutions of the Babylonians.
Touch not what is unclean. (46) This expresses more clearly what we have already said. He bids them keep themselves pure and free from the defilements with which the Babylonians polluted themselves; for there was a risk of their being corrupted by the pollutions of the Gentiles, as we are all prone to evil, and easily led away by bad examples. Accordingly, he exhorts them, though they are captives, not to do anything for the purpose of pleasing their masters, or of having their condition improved; not to allow themselves to be drawn aside from the pure worship of God; not to be polluted by their idolatries; not to pretend that they worship idols or approve of their religion; for this is detestable “uncleanness,” which the Prophet bids them shun. Captives and those who groan under tyranny meet with temptations of this kind, under which they frequently sink so as to allow themselves to do many things that are unlawful and base, under the pretense of wishing to mitigate the rage of tyrants. But how frivolous their excuse is we see in this passage; for the Prophet does not exhort the Jews to be clean when they shall be free, but so long as they shall be held captive, and even when their life shall be in danger. These words undoubtedly relate to us also, whom Paul exhorts to be unpolluted, not only “in spirit,” but also “in the flesh.” (2Co 7:1).
Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of Jehovah. This exhortation is especially directed to the priests and Levites, who, being standardbearers, ought to maintain greater integrity; not that others have a right to pollute themselves, but he addresses them chiefly, that they may give an example to others, to whom they have been appointed to be guides. Besides, we must bear in remembrance what we have already seen, and what Isaiah will again repeat at the end of this book, that there will be a new priesthood among a redeemed people. (Isa 66:21.)
Yet I approve of the simple meaning, that the Levites and ministers of the temple are put, by way of eminence, ( κατ᾿ ἐξοχὴν) for the whole of the people. This doctrine, therefore, relates in the present day, not only to ministers of the word, but to all Christians, who are also called “a royal priesthood,” (1Pe 2:9,) and not only are appointed to carry the vessels of the temple, but are themselves “temples of God.” (1Co 3:16.) Thus Ezekiel has predicted that at the restoration of the Church the Levites shall be high priests, and the whole people shall be admitted into the order of the Levites. Seeing, therefore, that the Lord has raised all to so high a rank of dignity, it follows that this “cleanness” is demanded from all without exception; and on this account also Paul has applied this passage to the whole Church.
(45) “ Tellement que le nombre de ceux qui revindrent en Judee fut bien petit.” “So that the number of those who returned to Judea was very small.”
(46) “ Ne touchcz point la souillure.” “Touch not defilement.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
A DIVINE CALL TO FORSAKE THE WORLDLY LIFE
Isa. 52:11. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, &c.
The prophet directly addresses those who were in exile in Babylon, and commands them to depart from it, when the opportunity, divinely promised, should occur. The urgency of the command, as indicated by its repetition, implies that there would be some delay on their part. Notwithstanding their early privations and sorrows, many of them seemed to prefer residence there, and were strongly indisposed to return. They knew the land of their fathers only by report. It was distant, involving a long and perilous journey across a pathless desert. Babylon was their native place, as well as their home, and the graves of their parents and kindred were there. Some of them had been advanced to official and illustrious positions, and many had property and friends there. Probably many of them had formed improper connections and attachments in that distant land, and they would be unwilling to relinquish them, to encounter the perils and trials incident to a return to the land of their fathers. Hence, the most urgent commands were addressed to them, and the strongest motives presented to induce them to leave the country of their exile. And after all, it is evident that but comparatively few of them were prevailed on to return to Zion. Apply this generally.
I. God calls men to forsake the worldly life. Depart ye, go ye out of the midst of her, &c. Many who attend our sanctuaries are men of the worldcareless and indifferent about the claims of God and their immortal souls. Hardened by sin, and overcome by the world, they are deaf to entreaty and disobedient to warning, &c. The great majority of our fellow-countrymen love the world and the things of the worldmanifest a stolid indifference to spiritual religion. This is the most painful aspect of our times. But Gods call to men is
1. Urgent.
2. Repeated.
3. Disinterested.
II. Men are reluctant to obey this Divine call. See introduction. Through love of the world they are prejudiced against spiritual religion. This reluctance springs from many causes.
1. Unbelief leads them to disregard all such calls. The Jews might doubt the power of God, the sincerity of the proclamation, and the benefits of returning to Jerusalem. To indolent and wicked men the commands of God seem unreasonable, the calls to duty prejudicial to selfish interests. Others may go to the celestial city, but they remain in the city of destruction.
2. Continuance in sin obliterates remembrance of spiritual good. The Jews forgot their own land, and preferred the wealth of Babylon to Jerusalem, their chief joy. Worldly men are concerned for nothing beyond present enjoyments.
3. Present possessions are thought more certain than future good. The present world to them is real Power, position, and riches are seen and felt. But they disbelieve in future blessings. They walk by sight, and for the sake of seen advantages, honours, and pleasures, they pursue courses of folly, sin, and shame, regardless of the consequences.
III. Sufficient motives to comply with this Divine call are presented to men. God deals with them as reasonable and intelligent creatures. He does not constrain or force men out of the world.
1. Though God has punished, yet He loves men. The Jews had been dispersed far and wide; they had been punished with violence; yet God recalled them, and had mercy on them. God hates your sin, but loves you; and though He punishes your sin, still He loves you. His love to you is manifested in manifold ways.
2. Though men have disobeyed the call, they are not forsaken. God had called the Jews again and again, and though they had been ungrateful and disobedient, still God invites them tenderly and urgently. How often has God called you! How ungrateful and disobedient have you been! Still God invites you! But His longsuffering will have an end. Beware! Hear and obey!
3. Though invitations are given to men, yet disobedience will endanger their souls (Isa. 65:12-15; Luk. 12:47; 2Th. 1:7-9; 1Pe. 4:17). The danger is,
1. Real.
2. Imminent, Therefore (Gen. 19:17; Jer. 51:45).Alfred Tucker.
This is a direct address to the exiled Jews in their captivity. They were to separate themselves wholly from an idolatrous nation and keep themselves pure. The command pertains particularly to the priests and Levites, whose office it was to carry the vessels of the Lord (Num. 1:50; Num. 4:15). They were required to feel the importance of their office, and to be separate from all evil. But all Christians are spiritual priests (1Pe. 2:9; Rev. 1:5). They are to bear the vessels of the Lord, are intrusted to keep the ordinances of God pure and entire; it is a good thing committed to them, and they ought to be clean, and so carry Gods vessels, and keep themselves pure.M. Henry.
I. Gods people will have to do with the world as long as they are in it. The separation enjoined does not refer to civil affairsbuying, selling, &c., neither to existing relationships, &c. While in the world, the godly must live, &c.; and they are commanded not to be slothful in business, &c. They are compelled to have intercourse with those whose ungodly deeds are grievous to them, like Lot (2Pe. 2:8). The believing wife must not leave her husband, &c. (H. E. I. 10351041, 50265043).
II. Gods people should regard the world as the sphere of their influence and usefulness.They are to be blessings to the world. They are its instructors, examples, ornaments, bulwarks, &c. Hence they must live and labour among worldly people, that they may be their benefactors, &c., and the instruments of their salvation. They are to shine in the worldto reprove its sinfulness by their holinessto attract it by the beauty of their lives, &c.
III. Gods people must be spiritually separated from the world. [1593] Why? Because,
1. The world is Satans kingdom, and sinners are his subjects (2Co. 6:15; Eph. 2:2; Joh. 14:30). Saints must not needlessly associate with sinners, but show that Christ is their Master. What concord (harmony) hath Christ with Belial? None. So is there none betwixt those who are Christs disciples and Satans servants. Discord arises from their fellowship, which is so painful that the believer is often tempted to lower his note in order to produce apparent harmony.
[1593] Touch no unclean thingconnected with the idolatries and defilements of Babylon; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye cleanby separating yourselves wholly from Babylonian idolatries, that bear the vessels of the LORD. The Apostle Paul has applied this to Christians, and uses it as expressing the obligation to come out from the world, and to be separate from all its influences (2Co. 6:17-18). Babylon is regarded by the apostle as not an inapt emblem of the world, and the command to come out from her as not an improper expression of the obligation of the friends of the Redeemer to be separate from all that is evil.(Barnes.) Go ye out of the midst of her. Practically, this means come out from the worldnot the material world, of course, nor the philosophic world, nor the commercial world; but come out from the spirit, the principles, the motives that govern worldly men. Touch no unclean thing belonging to themhave nothing to do with sin in any of its forms or manifestations. Let your intercourse with them be like that of angels, who, when sent from heaven, had no sooner discharged their errand than they flew back again with rapid wing to the pure heavens.
2. The world is spiritually dark (Joh. 3:19; Eph. 5:8; Eph. 5:11). What communion hath light with darkness? None. If there be communion betwixt light and darkness, it is to the detriment of the light. How has the brightness of many a Christian life been dimmed by intimacy with the ungodly.
3. The world is unbelieving (Num. 14:11). Worldly men trust in themselves and despise Christ. Sometimes their unbelief assumes the form of scepticism, which is not the result of careful inquiry, &c., but the slow result of indifference and prejudice, &c. (H. E. I. 369). What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
4. The world is idolatrous. They worship their pleasures, possessions, honours, &c. (Col. 3:5; 1Jn. 5:2). What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Wherefore, come ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, &c. The separation is not to be comprised in a single act, but must be the habit of the life. It must be a complete withdrawal from all that is inimical to our spiritual interests, and contrary to the will of God.
IV. Gods people have many motives urging them to this course of conduct.
1. The requirement of God (2Co. 6:17-18; Rom. 12:2, &c.) Remember who it is that speaks. His eye is full upon you. What will you answer Him?
2. The grand object and aim of the Gospel economy (Gal. 1:4, &c.)
3. The nature of their profession. The vows of God are upon them; their baptismal engagements bind them to renounce, &c.
4. The glory of God and the interest of His cause. How can we glorify God fully without entire separation from the world? Does not the worldliness of many professing Christians mar and sully the cause and honour of our Redeemer?
V. Gods people will realise the most blessed results from such a separation.
1. Deliverance from the terrible consequences of worldliness. Many have been ruined by it, as Sampson, Lot, Solomon, Demas, &c. (1Co. 11:32). Worldliness separates us from fellowship with God, and finally plunges us into perdition.
2. The abiding presence of God (2Co. 6:16; Col. 3:16; 2Ti. 1:14).
3. An interest in God and all that He has promised. I will be their Godthat is, everything that heart can desire (2Co. 6:16).
4. Ever-increasing usefulness. Other things being equal, you will be useful in proportion as you are holy. (H. E. I. 10891095.)
5. A more glorious reward in the world to come (P. D. 722, 1752).Alfred Tucker.
For introductory material, see other outlines on this text.
A summons to a very important duty, which, if more generally regarded, would greatly tend to the purity and prosperity of the Church, &c. One of the greatest evils of our times, with which the Church has to struggle, is conformity to the world, &c. From worldliness, that mildew of churches, good Lord, deliver us.
I. There is great danger lest we should damage our Christian life by conformity to the lower life of the world around. Such conformity may be
1. Involuntary. We have simply to cease to resist the current, and we shall drift with it. Left to themselves, things tend to equilibrium and assimilation.
2. Unconscious, because so slow and gradual. As the ship is moved by the tide without the motion being perceived, as old age creeps on a man before he is aware of it; so silently and stealthily the spirit of the world infuses itself into the unwatchful Christian.
3. It is easily glided into in times of prosperity. [1596] As you love your souls, beware of the world; it has slain its thousands and ten thousands. What ruined Lots wife, Achan, Haman, Judas, Simon Magus, Demas? The world! (Mar. 8:36.)
[1596] When the world persecutes the Church, Christians are in less danger of going over to the camp of the enemy than when it flatters and even imitates the Church, and the temptation is to meet compliance with compliance. Thus the very amelioration of the world under Christian influences may make it more dangerous by rendering it less repulsive, and by hiding its grosser evils under a decorous cloak. In Brazil there grows a common plant, which forest-dwellers call the matador, or murderer. Its slender stem creeps at first along the ground; but no sooner does it meet a vigorous tree, than, with clinging grasp, it cleaves to it, and climbs it, and as it climbs, keeps at short intervals sending out arm-like tendrils that embrace the tree. As the murderer ascends, these ligatures grow larger and clasp tighter. Up, up it climbs a hundred feet, nay, two hundred if need be, until the last loftiest spire is gained and fettered. Then, as if in triumph, the parasite shoots a large flowery head above the strangled summit, and thence, from the dead trees crown, scatters its seedthe work of death. Even thus worldliness has strangled more churches than ever persecution broke.Coley.
II. Our security against this danger lies in spiritual separation from it (H. E. I. 50265061).
1. It is vain to flee from the world, for we may carry the world in our hearts to the wilderness; and it is wrong, for we have a distinct mission to the world, and in fulfilling this mission must learn how to use the things of the world without abusing them. If you would overcome the world, be assured that you must remain in it, but not be of it; you must not shrink from its responsibilities to avoid its perils. You must stand where God in His providence has placed youhumble in prosperity, trustful in adversity, Christian in all.
2. It is equally vain simply to oppose the world. Unless we are ourselves different in spirit from the world, the opposition will be a futile hypocrisy.
3. It is only by moral separation from it that we can escape this danger. [1599]
[1599] People ask foolishly, Where shall we draw the line? Some draw it at the theatre, some at the concert, some at all amusements. Unworldliness does not consist in the drawing of any line, however strict and vigorous. It consists in the change of our own hearts into an unworldly spiritual condition. And when this change is effected we shall voluntarily loathe and hate all debased things, and they will no longer have any power to allure us. There will then be no need to draw a line, for there will be no inclination to approach as near as possible to forbidden ground. Faith realises Christs Kingship, and its subjects transfer their allegiance to Him, acknowledging Him to be their Master and Lord, and disclaiming all others. Faith recognises the rightful authority of the whole current of His commands, which run against the love of the world, and renders a willing obedience as the surest evidence of sincerity. A new world has opened to their view, that by an irresistible attraction draws away their hearts from this present evil world. The love of Christ expels the love of the world. Faith conquers it by connecting us with the grace and victory of Christ, and by keeping in view the distinguished and everlasting rewards of the future life.Tucker.
III. We are commanded thus to separate ourselves from the world. Go ye out of the midst of her (2Co. 6:17-18; Rom. 12:2, &c.)
1. The Divine command implies urgency. (See previous outline.)
2. The Divine command implies strenuous effort. (See vol. i. p. 37.)
3. The necessity for such a command is obvious when we consider
(1.) The constant presence of the world.
(2.) The ties which bind us to the world.
(3.) The tendency of the human heart.
IV. There are many motives which concur in urging obedience to this command.
1. The will of our Heavenly Father (1Th. 4:3). He requires our sanctificationseparation from all sin, &c.
2. The example and mission of Christ. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. In all His transactions, in all His intercourse with others, He preserved Himself unspotted (1Jn. 2:6). He has left us an example, &c. The design of Christ in dying for usthe one great moral result for which He gave Himself for us, was that He might rescue usselect and separate usfrom this present evil worldthe system or course of the present age, as impregnated with spiritual evil, &c. (Gal. 1:4, &c.) The grand moral result contemplated was our deliverance from worldliness.
3. The principles you profess.
4. The duty you owe to the Church and to the world. By nonconformity to the world you strengthen the cause of truth and righteousness, cause the friends of Zion to rejoice, and manifest to the world the sincerity of your profession, &c.
5. The duty you owe to yourself. Self-love prohibits conformity to the world, for thereby you take the most direct steps to plunge yourself into that condemnation which will be the portion of the ungodly. But by obedience to this injunction you promote your own holiness, happiness, usefulness, &c.
CONCLUSION.Is your separation from the world boldly and clearly defined? If not, in so far as you are concerned, Christ has died in vain. Come out from the world! Go ye out of the midst of her! Yield yourself to Jesus, that He may accomplish this great work in you. Give Him your heart and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness in heart and habits and life. Let not the charge of singularity frighten you from duty. Let your nonconformity to the world be manifest and thorough.Alfred Tucker.
HOLINESS
Isa. 52:11. Touch no unclean thing, &c.
The great Head of the Church speaks to His people now, in the voice of His word and by the voice of His providence, as He has scarcely ever spoken before. And for good reasons. The world is perishing all around us. The Church in many places is asleep in its worldliness, fashions, and follies, &c. But the fields around us are whitening to the harvest. The doors are opening on every hand, under the providence of God. We have no confidence in the permanent success of any reformatory movements, unless they are under the leadership and influence of a living Christianity and a living Church (Psalms 51; Isaiah 6) It was only when the coronals of fire were on the brow of the early Church that every one of its members became a living witness, testifying of Jesus and the resurrection.
I. Holiness furnishes both the disposition and desire to work for the Lord. We cannot be co-workers with God, unless we are one in sympathy, spirit, and purpose with Him. Just in proportion as the spirit of holiness sways the soul will be this disposition and this purpose. The very first entrance of the renewing Spirit into the soul of the believer begets this desire and purpose; and how much more will they control and impel it when He has taken full possession of all its powers! The believer will be willing to do anything for Jesus when he has consecrated all to Him. Sacrifices will be regarded as nothing for the sake of Him who sacrificed all for us.
II. The spirit of holiness also furnishes the help needed for such work. Nothing but this will bear the soul along for weeks, months, and years in this work. There are difficulties, discouragements, and sometimes fearful obstructions in the way of those who undertake these services. No one, unaided by Divine grace, would enter upon such a work, and if he did he would speedily abandon it in either disgust or despair. But the same Spirit who gives the disposition and desire to work for God, also gives the help to do that work (2Co. 12:9-10). This is heroic; it is sublime. And it is this endowment of power, the power which holiness brings with it to the soul, which the Church, in its ministry and membership, now needs to fit it for its high and holy mission (H. E. I. 2827).
III. Holiness furnishes the very best and the only absolutely necessary qualifications for this work. We do not refer so much to intellectual qualifications; they are to be secured in other ways. But holiness will clarify the intellect, enlarge the heart, and tip and touch the tongue with an unaccountable eloquence, far beyond any natural gifts which the witness for Christ may possess. This is the one indispensable requisite for this work. Learning is, indeed, exceedingly desirable; but all may be possessed, while the one who has it is unfitted for the Masters service, and powerless for the salvation of immortal beings. If he have this power, this grace, however rude he may be in speech, or inelegant in manners, or unacquainted with the mighty tomes which contain the facts of science or the lore of the ages, however unheralded he may be by name or fame, he will work wonders in the name of the Lord. The instances are multiplied, &c. Certainly, the more holy any one is, the more closely he will endeavour to imitate his Master and Lord, who went about doing good. Oh, it is not a negative holiness which the world wants, but a positive, earnest, self-sacrificing, all consuming holiness, which will expend itself in labours for the good of others (2Co. 5:14-15). If any one should think that he has attained to holiness, or profess to enjoy this grace, and has not this disposition or desire to work for Jesus, it is clearly evident that he is deceived, and all his professions are worse than vain.
IV. The spirit of holiness, dwelling in the human soul, will lead it to work for Christ, without selfishness, false ambition, struggle for honour, position, or emolument: and without envy or jealousy of the good, or the rights and privileges of others. [1602]Lewis R. Dunn: Holiness to the Lord, pp. 7786.
[1602] There is little time for looking after souls where self is dominant. There is little left for benefactions to the poor, the suffering, the distressed, for the cause of God and of humanity, where the loud and ever-increasing clamours for self-gratification demand all, and often more than all, we may possess. And there is but little satisfaction or comfort in the service of Christ which is so marred and blurred and clouded with false ambitions, envies, and jealousies. But this pure spirit of holiness not only expurgates sin, but also self, with all its train of evils and follies. And where these have held undisputed sway, now Jesus reigns alone. And how easy, how pleasant, to work for Him when His love inspires our breast! Love supreme, love to God, begets in us love for our neighbour, and bears us onward cheerfully, in all toils and sacrifices, to bless and save him. What power cannot accomplish, what wealth cannot buy, love can do. And it is the religion of love which is to conquer this world. Truly did the eloquent Castelar say recently in the Spanish Cortes, Might is the religion of power; but the religion of love is almighty.Dunn.
We have now everything else. In a measure we have this. But we have it not in the degree of fulness and power which is needed to enable us to meet our vast responsibilities and move our ponderous machinery. And this is what is needed to meet the wants of the great beating, surging heart of the world. This is to be its great centre of attraction. All else will be of no avail (H. E. I. 28132866).
I. Holiness is wanted in the ministry. The priests of Zion, to be efficient, must be clothed with righteousness as with a garment. They must be anointed and endowed with the spirit of holiness. It was for them primarily that the Saviour prayed in His intercessory prayer: Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth. There is nothing ministers need so much as holiness. How great is the need, even now, that the entire ministry of the Church should be clad in the shining vestments of holiness! What a spirit of consecration would they then exhibit! What zeal, what self-sacrifice, what sympathy, what power would they possess! It is true that this might create some opposition from worldly-minded, formal, or backslidden professors of religion; but this would not hinder the progress of the work of God. Such a mighty momentum would be given to the cause of the Redeemer, that all barriers would sooner or later be swept out of the way, and the Gospel would not only run, but it would be glorified. And what an impulse would this give to our missionary work!
II. Holiness is wanted in the Church. The history of the Church clearly demonstrates the fact that, as spiritual vitality and power have declined, there has been an effort to substitute for them external forms and multiplied machinery. And generally, where there has been the least of these spiritual elements, there has been the greatest amount of the material. Now the same absurd tendencies are developing themselves. Much is said nowadays about the barrenness of Protestant worship; it is the barrenest thing in the world, without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Romanism, the Greek Church, and the High Church of England and America, have a something which seems in a measure to compensate them for their loss or lack of spiritual vitality. As they have not the beauty of the Lord upon them, they have invented a sort of beauty which attracts the eye and ravishes the senses. As they have ceased to be spiritual, they have become simply sensuous. But Protestantism has really provided for nothing of this kind. Without holiness, our churches are nothing but a shell. But where this is, there the tabernacle of God is with men (Isa. 4:5). And this is all the glory and defence which we need. There must be a return to vital godliness, with all its blessed and heavenly influences, speedily, or else there will follow on rapidly decline, decay, and death.
III. It is holiness which is wanted to bring in the glories of the millennial era, and which will be universal in that era. The ministry and the Church thus consecrated, bearing on every forehead and every breast, on every heart and every life, Holiness unto the Lord, would soon bring in the brightest glories foretold on the glowing pages of Isaiah (H. E. I. 10891093, 1169).Lewis R. Dunn, pp. 109117.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(11) Depart ye . . .The command is addressed to the exiles in Babylon. They are not to plunder or carry off spoil that would render them unclean. They are to bring only the vessels of Jehovah, i.e., the gold and silver which had been taken from His temple, and which Cyrus restored by them (Ezr. 1:7). In this case the bearers are the Levites. Commonly, however, the phrase is used of armour-bearers, and this meaning is given to it by many commentators, as pointing to the whole body of the people as filling that function for the great king (1Ki. 14:27-28).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Depart ye, depart ye, etc. The language here is of high poetic scope, and though allusive of departure from the old Babel-home, from analogy with chap. Isa 48:20, yet the reference must be general. The renewed and cleansed in every age, and from every den of capture, whether Sodom, Egypt, or Babel, must betake themselves away, away, for so Alexander, following Gesenius, translates the words, and so St. Paul applies them, 2Co 6:17-18.
Touch no unclean thing Not the slightest memento. Probably the returning exiles were all natives of Babylon. Utter renunciation of things belonging to that polluted land was, however, only all too appropriate.
Bear the vessels of the Lord It is known that Nebuchadnezzar took away from Jerusalem all the golden service-vessels from the temple, and that Cyrus ordered their return. See 2 Chronicles 37:18; Dan 5:2-5; Ezr 1:7-11. The application of these words to ministers of the Gospel has no original warrant except as being secondarily very apt.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Sec. 3. MESSIAH AND THE GOSPEL, Isa 52:11 to Isa 55:13.
Thus far in this chapter is treated the case of an exalted Church passing, step by step, through suffering and deliverances into the purity of the typical holy Zion; from this point the view is turned again to the “Servant” of Jehovah, through whom the prophet has seen the Church to be redeemed. The portrait of a suffering servant is here filled out in detail, as a side-piece (Delitzsch) to the liberation and deliverance of Zion-Jerusalem already just depicted. He has conducted his people through suffering to glory.
This picture is to show, not only that Messiah’s earthly pathway, as our Mediator, is to be through intense, but voluntary, suffering, but also that it is in his heart also to suffer for and instead of, as well as with, his people.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 52:11-12. Depart ye, &c. They who compose the true church are set forth in this apostrophe, as in the communion of a certain polluted people and state. They are commanded to separate themselves from this people and its communion, and, being properly purified, to depart thence upon a certain expedition, to be undertaken with mature and deliberate counsel, under the care and protection of the divine providence. This office is especially imposed upon the sacred persons, who are here called those that bear the vessels of the Lord. The highest hope of success in their expedition is given them from their leader, Jehovah. The apostles and evangelists are here addressed, who were to depart from spiritual servitude, from every defilement of the world and the flesh, and to go forth and preach the glad tidings of salvation through Christ. The expressions seem to allude to the departure from Egypt. The meaning of the passage in the 12th verse, For ye shall not go out with haste, &c. is, that they should not undertake this expedition in an inconsiderate, tumultuous, and fearful manner. See Deu 16:3 and Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Probably the Prophet had his eye upon the deliverance of the people from Egypt; and it is probable also, that he connected with this view of what was past, the deliverance that was to come, when the Babylonish captivity, like the Egyptian should be over. But far greater prospects, no doubt, the Prophet had in contemplation, when he thus spake. The glorious redemption of poor sinners, by the Lord Jesus, called for this haste to depart, and to take nothing with them, when brought to see and feel their dreadful captivity in sin, and the pollutions of it. Oh! with what haste, like Lot’s flight from Sodom, would men flee from the wrath to come, did they but know the things which make for their peace, and before they are forever hid from their eyes. Reader! do not overlook how this sweet scripture declares the everlasting presence of Jesus with his people. The pillar of the cloud, and the pillar of fire, are still with all the redeemed. Exo 13:21-22 ; Mat 28:20 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
Ver. 11. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out, &c. ] Here we have a double repetition redoubled, and all little enough to bring them out of Babylon (not half, as may be probably thought, returned, which was no small prejudice to those that did), and us out of this wicked world; whereunto we are so affixed and addicted that nothing can sunder us but an extraordinary touch from the hand of Heaven. “Save yourselves from this perverse generation.” Act 2:40 “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men: avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it and pass away.” Pro 4:14-15 , a parallel place
Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
MARCHING ORDERS
CLEAN CARRIERS
Isa 52:11
The context points to a great deliverance. It is a good example of the prophetical habit of casting prophecies of the future into the mould of the past. The features of the Exodus are repeated, but some of them are set aside. This deliverance, whatever it be, is to be after the pattern of that old story, but with very significant differences. Then, the departing Israelites had spoiled the Egyptians and come out, laden with silver and gold which had been poured into their hands; now there is to be no bringing out of anything which was tainted with the foulness of the land of captivity. Then the priests had borne the sacred vessels for sacrifice, now they are to exercise the same holy function, and for its discharge purity is demanded. Then, they had gone out in haste; now, there is to be no precipitate flight, but calmly, as those who are guided by God for their leader, and shielded from all pursuit by God as their rearward, the men of this new Exodus are to take their march from the new Egypt.
No doubt the nearest fulfilment is to be found in the Return from Babylon, and the narrative in Ezra may be taken as a remarkable parallel to the prophecy here. But the restriction to Babylon must seem impossible to any reader who interprets aright the significance of the context, and observes that our text follows the grand words of verse 10, and precedes the Messianic prophecy of Isa 52:13 and of Isa 53:1 – Isa 53:12 . To such a reader the principle will not be doubtful according to which Egypt and Babylon are transparencies through which mightier forms shine, and a more wonderful and world-wide making bare of the arm of the Lord is seen. Christ’s great redemption is the highest interpretation of these words; and the trumpet-call of our text is addressed to all who have become partakers of it.
So Paul quotes the text in 2Co 6:17 , blending with it other words which are gathered from more than one passage of Scripture. We may then take the whole as giving the laws of the new Exodus, and also as shadowing certain great peculiarities connected with it, by which it surpasses all the former deliverances.
I. The Pilgrims of this new Exodus.
II. The priests.
b. Offering spiritual sacrifices. Service and self-surrender.
c. Mediation with men.
Proclamation. Intercession. Thus follows d. Bearing the holy vessels. A sacred deposit is entrusted to them-the honour and name of God; the treasure of the Gospel.
III. The separation that becomes pilgrims.
To a Christian they are to be means to an end, and ever to be felt to be evanescent. They should differ in the motive for action, which should, for a Christian, ever be the love of God. They should differ in that a Christian abstains from much which non-Christians feel free to do, and often has to say, ‘So did not I, because of the fear of the Lord.’ He who marches light marches quickly and marches far; to bring the treasures of Egypt along with us, is apt to retard our steps.
IV. The purity that becomes priests.
The consciousness of our own impurity should send us to Jesus, with the prayer and the confidence, ‘Cleanse me and I shall be clean.’ ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’ ‘He hath loosed us from our sins and made us kings and priests to God.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 52:11-12
11Depart, depart, go out from there,
Touch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the LORD.
12But you will not go out in haste,
Nor will you go as fugitives;
For the LORD will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Isa 52:11-12 These verses are using God’s directions to the priests (cf. Isa 52:11 d) as a way to assure all covenant people that God is with them and for them (cf. Isa 52:12). It is a veiled warning to leave the idolatry of Mesopotamia behind!
The returnees will take the vessels from YHWH’s temple with them (cf. Ezr 1:5-11; Ezr 5:14; Ezr 6:8; also note 2 Chronicles 4 where they are described). They left Babylon as they had Egypt (cf. Exo 11:2; Exo 12:35-36) by taking the spoils of the land with them (i.e., a symbol of the defeat of the nation and its gods).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. Why was Isaiah using Abraham’s call as an encouragement to the Jews in captivity?
2. How does creation and the Exodus bring encouragement to exiled Israel and Judah?
3. To whom does Isa 51:16 refer?
4. How did God use Israel to reach the Gentiles?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Depart ye. Note the Figure of speech Epizeuxis. Compare Rev 18:4. Quoted (in application for us to-day) in 2Co 6:14-18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 52:11-12
Isa 52:11-12
“Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah. For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight; for Jehovah will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.”
Compare this with Isa 48:20, where the instructions for Israel contained the word “flee.” Thus we have again that oft-repeated Biblical characteristic of repeating sacred records, or instructions, with additional and supplementary material, conforming to Isa 28:10; Isa 28:13, such characteristics being not only true of the pattern throughout all the Bible, but especially suggestive of the writings of Isaiah, and having the utility here of another signature identifying the whole prophecy as belonging to Isaiah. The critics have no answer at all by which they could hope to deny this. The additional material here is the fact that “flee” did not mean to leave in haste, as in the first exodus, but merely to “get out of the place as soon as possible.”
The exhortation here was addressed to the Jews of 537 B.C., who were challenged to leave the prosperity they enjoyed, and the property they had acquired, and to choose instead a life of pioneering hardship in a return to Jerusalem, over a trackless desert, and confronted with all kinds of dangers. Unfavorable as such a prospect must have appeared to all of them, “The safety and purity of their souls depended upon their fleeing” from the polluted society of Babylon and the seduction of its pagan culture.
“Depart ye, depart ye …” (Isa 52:11). This command also has its application for Christians of all generations. They should remember the danger to Lot who pitched his tent toward Sodom and who lived to regret it; and whose posterity provided armies of enemies for the people of God. Christians today have the same duty “to separate themselves from the mystical Babylon, from all that is evil, Rev 18:4.”
“Not with haste …” (Isa 52:12). This means that the captives in Babylon would not be escaping refugees, as were their forefathers in the Exodus from Egypt, for they would enjoy the patronage and safe-conduct of the Persian Emperor.”
“Cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah …” (Isa 52:11). “From this, we must understand those vessels which Nebuchadnezzar carried off from the temple (2Ki 25:14-16, and Dan 5:1-4); and which the Jews received upon their return from Babylon when the vessels were restored to them by Cyrus.”
It is agreed by all scholars that the logical end of Isaiah 52 occurs fight here, and that the last three verses form a logical introduction to the magnificent Fourth Song of the Servant, which extends through the following Isaiah 53.
Long usage, however, makes it proper to retain the common chapter divisions.
Isa 52:11-12 PURIFICATION: Now we come to the practical application of the prophecy of the coming Messenger and His message. How are these people of Isaiahs day or the people of the Babylonian captivity to relate to a prophecy of something that is so far off in the future? They are to keep themselves from the ungodliness that surrounds them. The temptations to become Babylonianized, to devote their energies to pagan pursuits, will be strong. The temptation to stay in the relative security of the land to which they were exiled and forget they have a messianic destiny to serve will not be easily overcome. Thousands of Jews did stay in Babylon! The task of returning to a ravaged land, occupied by hostile people, to struggle through long hard years of rebuilding, was almost overwhelming! Even the temptation to take with them back to Palestine some of the heathen customs and practices that seemed so security-enforcing would seem innocent enough. Yet the command of the Lord is, depart . . . touch no unclean thing . . . cleanse yourselves. The rule of God cannot be established if the people are unwilling to depart from ungodliness. Those that bear the vessels of Jehovah is probably a figurative way of indicating the uniqueness of the Jewish people as a messianic people.
They will have ample opportunity to consider and apply the command of the Lord for separating themselves from their heathen environment. They will not have to make a hasty exodus as their ancestors did in Egypt and so they will not have to take any of the Babylonian baubbles to support them as those under Moses did. These Babylonian exiles will have plenty of time and they will know, by prophecy, exactly how many years they will be spending there. Cyrus will supply them with money to rebuild their commonwealth. And finally, they will not have to tramp the wilderness, constantly fleeing from one enemy after another as their ancestors did. Jehovah promises to surround them with guidance and protection-both front and rear. And so they were protected from those who wanted to thwart their rebuilding (cf. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther), as they prepared to be the people through whom the great Messenger would come with a revelation of salvation to all the ends of the earth.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
depart ye: Isa 48:20, Jer 50:8, Jer 51:6, Jer 51:45, Zec 2:6, Zec 2:7, 2Co 6:17, Rev 18:4
touch: Lev 5:2, Lev 5:3, Lev 11:26, Lev 11:27, Lev 11:45, Lev 11:47, Lev 15:5-33, Eze 44:23, Hag 2:13, Hag 2:14, Act 10:14, Act 10:28, Rom 14:14, Eph 5:11, 1Pe 1:14-16, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:11
be: Lev 10:3, Lev 22:2-33, Ezr 1:7-11, Ezr 8:25-30
Reciprocal: Gen 35:2 – clean Exo 19:22 – the priests Exo 30:19 – General Lev 11:8 – they are unclean Lev 13:45 – Unclean Lev 21:6 – therefore Num 3:8 – General Num 16:26 – I pray you Jos 6:9 – and the rereward 1Sa 7:1 – Abinadab Ezr 6:21 – all such Ezr 8:28 – Ye are holy Ezr 9:1 – have not separated Psa 93:5 – holiness Isa 35:8 – the unclean Isa 62:10 – go through Jer 31:21 – turn Jer 51:50 – escaped Col 2:21 – General 2Ti 2:21 – purge
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CLEAN CARRIERS
Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
Isa 52:11
I. The chosen people are at the end of the seventy years captivity; the time of their deliverance has come. Their Almighty Deliverer, throwing back the loose sleeve of His robe, to leave His arm free, makes ready for an unusual exercise of power. There will be no need of haste as when the people fled at night from Egypt. They may not go out with haste, nor go by flight, for their Divine Leader would precede them, and His escort would be their rearguard.
II. This is the summons to us all who may have been in captivity to Babylon in any form.We are to arise and depart, shaking loose the bonds of our captivity. Let us follow the cloudy pillar of Gods presence guiding us continually, and let us not be always looking behind, as though dreading the recurrence of past sins and mistakes. They shall not pursue those whom God has delivered; or, if they do, they shall not overtake. It is an unspeakable comfort to those who have sinned to know that the old temptations and forms of bondage are intercepted by the presence of the Eternal God, just as His cloud intercepted Pharaohs host.
III. The one matter about which we must be scrupulously careful is our cleanliness.The Apostle bids us keep, through the Holy Ghost, that deposit which was committed to our care. But so holy a commission from so holy a God demands holiness in those whom He entrusts. We must not touch the unclean thing, but come out, be separate, and He will receive us and be a Father unto us.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 52:11-12. Depart ye, go ye out from thence Out of Babylon into your own land, that there I may meet with you, and bless you, and perform those further and greater things for you which I have promised to do there. And this invitation was the more necessary, because God foresaw that a great number of the Jews would, upon worldly considerations, continue in those foreign countries in which they were settled, and would be very backward to return to the Holy Land. Touch no unclean thing Carry not along with you any of their superstitions or idolatries. Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord And especially you priests and Levites, who minister in holy things, and carry the holy vessels of the temple, keep yourselves from all pollution. Ye shall not go out by flight But securely, and in triumph, being conducted by your great captain, the Lord of hosts. The God of Israel will be your rereward So that none shall be able either to oppose you in your march, or to fall upon you in the rear.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
52:11 {k} Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from there, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that {l} bear the vessels of the LORD.
(k) He warns the faithful not to pollute themselves with the superstitions of the Babylonians, as Isa 48:20, 2Co 6:17 .
(l) For the time is at hand that the priests and Levites chiefly (and so by them all the people, who will be as the Levites in this office) will carry home vessels of the temple which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In view of this salvation, the redeemed should depart from the unclean place where they had been, and purify themselves. The Babylonian exiles, who would be set free, should return to Jerusalem to reestablish their holy lives, in a holy city, in a holy land. The decision of many Israelites to remain in Babylon rather than returning with Zerubbabel, Ezra, or Nehemiah, was sinful rebellion against God’s revealed will for them. Some of them, such as Daniel perhaps, may not have been able to return, however. The recipients of spiritual salvation, which these Babylonian exiles represent, should also respond to redemption by living lives separated from sin unto God (cf. Lam 4:15; 2Co 6:17). The vessels in view are those things needed to worship God as He prescribed (cf. Ezr 1:7).