Haftarah Nitzavim
“Never Forsaken”
Isaiah 61:10-63:9
excerpted from TorahScope Haftarah Exhortations
The end of the Torah cycle is nearing. In Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20), Moses summarized his final plea to the people of Israel, to choose life over death. This would come about by obeying the Lord and receiving His blessings, rather than receiving His curses for disobedience. It is always worth remembering how these final instructions, were given not only to those preparing to enter into the Promised Land, but also all future generations who partake of the Biblical heritage and recognize the Lord God as their Creator:
“Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, but with those who stand here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with those who are not here with us today” (Deuteronomy 29:14-15, WMB).
It is not only these final instructions from Moses which are relevant to us, but also the consoling words of the Prophet Isaiah. For the past six weeks, Isaiah’s messages have spoken about the eventual return of Israel to the Promised Land, and its corporate restoration to a right relationship with God. The seventh and final Haftarah of consolation, which we read this week, brings to closure the comforting reminder that the Lord will never forsake His people (Isaiah 62:4).
As our selection from the Book of Isaiah commences, the Prophet reminded his audience of the high position Israel had before all the other nations of the Earth. The analogy of a bridegroom to a bride, reinforced the concept of an eternal covenant, despite a period of separation. We are reminded how God’s promises to Israel, allowed Isaiah to speak forth how Israel will be brought into a significant position of future blessing and delight:
“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning lamp. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name, which the LORD’s mouth will name. You will also be a crown of beauty in the LORD’s hand, and a royal diadem in your God’s hand. You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD delights in you, and your land will be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you” (Isaiah 61:10-62:5, WMB).
The Lord promises to protect His people, and the place He has chosen to be special. Jerusalem is the focus of such praise, and God’s people are to be comforted greatly in seeing the picture of Jerusalem’s future glory—even those today, who see Jerusalem more as a cause of strife and contention in the world:
“I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on the LORD, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The LORD has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, ‘Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored, but those who have harvested it will eat it, and praise the LORD. Those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.’ Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way of the people! Build up, build up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a banner for the peoples. Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes! Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him!”’ They will call them ‘The Holy People, The LORD’s Redeemed’. You will be called ‘Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken’” (Isaiah 62:6-12, WMB).
Next, the scene slightly shifts, as the emphasis moves to detailing the Lord’s work in redeeming His people. Notice that this is a physical redemption, where Israel’s enemies and the ungodly are judged. The Lord comes with might and strength, and powerfully overcomes the enemies of Israel. Images of bloody warfare remind the reader that God’s wrath and vengeance will require a high price from those who oppose His will:
“‘Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.’ Why is your clothing red, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat? ‘I have trodden the wine press alone. Of the peoples, no one was with me. Yes, I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold. Therefore my own arm brought salvation to me. My own wrath upheld me. I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath. I poured their lifeblood out on the earth’” (Isaiah 63:1-6, WMB).
Yet God is not One who judges without any mercy. Isaiah lauded the eternal mercies of the Holy One. The great attributes, of His compassion and lovingkindness, are epitomized in the strong declaration that He is indeed the Savior of His people:
“I will tell of the loving kindnesses of the LORD and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has given to us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. For he said, ‘Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;’ so he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:7-9, WMB).
There is great comfort as the month of Elul prepares to come to a close, with the advent of the month of Tishri soon on the horizon. We will shortly be remembering Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah, and a very serious time of spiritual reflection, as the Ten Days of Awe lead us to Yom Kippur.
For sincere followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the culmination of Isaiah’s comforting words this week is almost like a crescendo in an orchestrated symphony, as the Day of Atonement approaches. For the past few weeks, times of teshuvah or returning to God, coupled with contrite reconciliation toward others, dominate the thoughts and actions of many. Having these Isaiah passages to meditate upon, are a great reminder of how the Lord will fulfill His promises as Savior of His people!
I believe it would be beneficial for you to recollect all of the promises which are communicated throughout Isaiah chs. 40-66. As you do this, you might want to reconsider the opening verses of Deuteronomy 30, which in essence, bring these promises into a summary overview:
“It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that then the LORD your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:1-6, WMB).
We have two witnesses, in Moses and Isaiah, who confirmed how the Lord is going to fulfill the purposes which He has predestined for His people. I consider it to be a great blessing, to be able to witness elements of this beginning to take place, at this very point in time! I am encouraged that more is going to happen, as we move ahead, and as the Messianic movement grows at the Father’s pace.
May we all take great comfort as we prepare to enter into the Fall feasts, knowing that they are all foreshadowing rehearsals of the great works of the Messiah!
