Isaiah 48-53: The Great Redeemer: Chapter 20: Departing from Jerusalem

Isaiah 52:8 says,

⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, they shout joyfully together; for they will see with their own eyes when the Lord restores Zion.

There are two levels of prophetic fulfillment that we must keep in mind at all times. Judah was to return from Babylon to the old land and rebuild the old city of Jerusalem after seventy years of captivity. Zerubbabel was to lead the captives back to the old land in 534 B.C., rebuild the city and the temple, and in 458 B.C. Nehemiah was to complete this by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

This would be the first fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “when the Lord restores Zion.”

Yet Jerusalem was also to be destroyed in 70 A.D., which would require a second fulfillment on a higher level.

Over the centuries, Jerusalem was rebuilt and destroyed many times, but none of these actually fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. Why? Because at no time was Zion “restored” on a prophetic level. Zion represents the seat of government for the house of David, which can only be restored to its legitimate Ruler when Jesus is crowned King.

Jesus has never been crowned King of Jerusalem. That title has always gone to other people, who, at best, may have been types of Christ but who were never able fulfill this prophecy. Even today, Jerusalem has no king, at least not one who has been declared king openly. We know that the Rothschild family considers itself to be its rightful kings. We see this often stated in Niall Ferguson’s two-volume set, The House of Rothschild.

For example, in Volume 1, page 8, we read,

“In this sense, phrases like “King of the Jews’ which contemporaries applied to them contained an important element of truth. That was exactly the way the Rothschilds saw and conducted themselves—as phrases like ‘our royal family’ in their letters show—and the way they were treated by many other less wealthy Jews.”

The Rothschild family largely financed modern Zionism, by which they hoped to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah and other prophets in restoring Zion.

From a Christian perspective, their efforts could only counterfeit the real fulfillment. Although many Christians have been tricked into supporting Zionism as if it were the real fulfillment of prophecy, we know that these political efforts were based upon the Jewish rejection of Jesus as the King. In a very real sense, then, the heirs of the Rothschild dynasty are true antichrists, in that they seek to replace Christ and usurp His rightful position.

Nonetheless, their efforts focus upon the earthly Jerusalem and its original seat of government called Zion. Jesus has a much bigger and better plan. He is not merely the King of the Jews, or the King of Judah, but also the King of Israel, the King of Kings, and the King of the World. “For He has put all things in subjection under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:27).

When He came the first time of the house of Judah, He was rejected and His throne rights were disputed for nearly 2,000 years. When He returns to claim His throne, He will come as Joseph with His robe dipped in blood (Gen. 37:31; Rev. 19:13) to fulfill the prophecies given to Joseph. Not only will his brothers (including Judah) bow down to him, but He will rule “Egypt,” that is, the world. In the process, the house of Rothschild will be judged for its treason against the true King and will not be part of Christ’s cabinet.

As I have said before, Christ’s seat of government is no longer Zion but Mount Sion. Sion is the government of “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Deut. 4:48; Heb. 12:22, KJV). For this reason, Jesus went there (Mount Hermon) to be transfigured. The manifestation of all the sons of God will be at Mount Sion, not at Zion in the earthly Jerusalem. The Rothschilds are Zionists; we are Sionists.

The Coming King

Isaiah 52:9 says,

⁹ Break forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places [chorbah, “ruins, desolate places”] of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.

Many assume that this is a prophecy of the restoration of the earthly Jerusalem that supposedly is to become the capital of the Kingdom in the future. But this is not so. The Apostle Paul clearly tells us that the earthly Jerusalem is the bondwoman that must be “cast out” (Gal. 4:30), even as Hagar was cast out in Gen. 21:10.

The heavenly Jerusalem is the mother (or capital) of the Kingdom (Gal. 4:26, 28), if indeed we are the children of the New Covenant, which alone can bring forth the heirs of the promise. The “waste places of Jerusalem” which are to be restored are not the ruins of the earthly city but the desolate places of the heavenly city. As long as the earthly city laid claim to the government of the world, the heavenly city remained “desolate.” In other words, the heavenly city could not claim its rightful position as long as men chose the earthly city.

This idea will be seen more clearly in Isaiah 54, where we see the two women (Hagar and Sarah) competing for the right to bring forth the heir of the Kingdom. Hagar bore a son, while Sarah was “desolate” (Isaiah 54:1) until later. After Isaac was born Hagar was “cast out,” for she could not submit to Sarah as commanded by the angel (Gen. 16:9). She could never accept the fact that her son was not the heir of the promise. Such is the nature of the children of flesh.

In the end, the “desolate” wife was restored, giving us the prophetic pattern of the heavenly Jerusalem. Isaiah thus tells God’s people to rejoice over the heavenly Jerusalem, for its desolation (childlessness) was not to last forever.

This is the manner of the redemption of Jerusalem. Most Christians seem ignorant of the fact that the Hebrew word for Jerusalem is a dual—Ierushalayim literally means “two Jerusalems.” Because of this ignorance, they have a difficult time interpreting the Old Testament prophecies about the city, for they think that “Jerusalem” must always mean the earthly city. But that is not the case. As we see with New Covenant eyes, we interpret Isaiah 52:9 as Paul and John interpreted it, and when we study Isaiah 54, we will see the basis of their interpretation.

Isaiah 52:10 continues,

¹⁰ The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation [Yeshua] of our God.

The word translated “salvation” is Yeshua, a prophetic reference to Jesus Christ, whose Hebrew name was Yeshua. Before Jesus was born, God gave revelation to an old man named Simeon that he would see the Messiah before he died. Simeon’s name means “hearing,” and he heard the word of the Lord that he would “see.” Luke 2:25, 26 says,

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple on the fortieth day of Mary’s purification, according to the law, Simeon’s revelation was finally fulfilled. It is possible that he had received revelation that the Messiah would be born on the feast of Trumpets and that he then knew that the Messiah’s parents would bring him to the temple on the fortieth day. He was waiting.

When he heard the baby’s name, he then took the child in his arms and said in Luke 2:29, 30,

²⁹ “Now, Lord, You are releasing Your bondservant to depart in peace, according to Your word, ³⁰ for my eyes have seen Your Yeshua.”

Simeon was a type and shadow of those who would see Christ later, not just seeing Him with earthly eyes but by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, Simeon’s experience fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy “that all the ends of the earth may see the Yeshua of our God.” Simeon saw Yeshua in the earthly Jerusalem; the earth will see Yeshua ruling from His throne in the heavenly Jerusalem.

Come Out of Her

Isaiah 52:11, 12 concludes,

¹¹ Depart, 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. ¹² But you will not go out in haste [chippazown, “hurried flight”], nor will you go as fugitives; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Some may assume that this is a command to depart from Babylon, but the context shows that Isaiah was talking about Jerusalem. It is somewhat obscure, of course, but Rev. 11:8 tells us that the city where Jesus was crucified is synonymous with Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt.

The book of Hebrews expounds upon this extensively. The word Hebrew literally means an immigrant, and the book of Hebrews shows the way in which believers are to depart from the earthly Jerusalem and immigrate to a better city with a better promise, a better covenant, a better priesthood, and a better sacrifice. The author concludes with the fact that Jesus bore His cross outside the city.

Hebrews 13:12-14 concludes,

¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ So let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

We seek the same city that Abraham sought in Heb. 11:14-16, “a better country, that is, a heavenly one… for He has prepared a city for them.” But in order to attain that heavenly city, we must go outside the camp, outside the earthly Jerusalem, immigrating from one country to a better one, and from one city to a better city.

This is why Isaiah tells God’s people to “depart” from the earthly Jerusalem. When it became “the bloody city,” as the prophets call it, it became an unclean place. Hence, Isaiah says to “touch nothing unclean,” for as priests of God, we “carry the vessels of the Lord.” The vessels represent gifts and callings.

Our departure is not done as refugees who flee for their lives. Our departure is orderly, unless, of course, we remain in the old city until the time comes for its destruction. Isaiah says that “the Lord will go before you,” indicating, as Heb. 13:12 says, that Christ went before us when He was crucified outside the gate. We are then to follow His example and leave the city with its old order of worship, bearing His reproach.

If we do so, the prophet says that “the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” Not only has Christ set the example by leading the way, but He will also protect us from the rear in our departure.