“Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her:
rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her.”
(Isaiah 66:10)
This prophecy in Isaiah looks beyond the limited blessings enjoyed by the Jews after their return from Babylon and points toward a far greater advancement of the people of God. It reaches to a time when many peoples and nations are brought to the worship of the true God and the visible church is greatly increased.
What was seen in former restorations of God’s people was also a looking-forward to blessings much larger in extent when people of all nations will make their way to the house of the Lord. At this time, worship of the true God will extend beyond the boundaries within which it had once been chiefly confined, and those who were formerly outside will be brought near and made partakers of the blessings of Zion.
This gives the church reason to look beyond seasons of present weakness. God’s people may grieve now because of her low condition, her enemies, her divisions, or her limited visible prosperity. Yet this is not the end of the matter. The same God who permits seasons of humiliation has promised seasons of enlargement and glory.[1]
This is why those who mourn for Jerusalem are specifically called to rejoice with her. Their mourning arises from love, and therefore the promised prosperity of the church becomes the object of their gladness. Those who have grieved over her low estate can prepare to rejoice when God causes His glory to arise upon her.
The advancement of the church is glorious because it is the expansion of the knowledge and worship of God among men. And when nations come to His light, He is glorified.
The Israelites’ return from Babylon provides an instructive pattern. God gave temporal restoration, renewed settlement, and increasing prosperity to His ancient people, but those mercies also pointed beyond themselves. Again and again the prophets move from lesser deliverances to greater ones, from outward restoration to the far more glorious deliverance of the church. This smaller mercy becomes a shadow of the greater.
God has not forgotten Zion. Her lowest condition does not annul His promises, and her present weakness cannot measure her future state. The God who has delivered before is able to enlarge, restore, and glorify His church according to His own word. Those who love her have reason not only to mourn faithfully in dark seasons, but also to rejoice in the certainty that God’s purposes for His church will not fail.
Contemplations:
- You Have Not Forgotten Your Church. I thank You that the low condition of Your church is never the measure of Your power or purpose. When Zion appears weak, diminished, or afflicted, Your promises remain unchanged. You are able to raise her, enlarge her, and cause Your glory to be seen upon her.
- Let My Mourning for Zion Prove That I Love Her. Teach me to mourn because I love what belongs to You. Let the weaknesses, divisions, and afflictions suffered by Your people burden me because Your name and worship are precious. Then make me equally ready to rejoice when You strengthen, restore, and advance her.
- Make Me Glad When Others Are Gathered In. Your promise reaches beyond one people and speaks of nations coming to Your light. I thank You that Your church is enlarged by the gracious gathering of those who were once far off. And let every blessing to Your people become an occasion of joy because it displays the reach of Your grace and the glory of Your name.
- Teach Me to See Greater Mercies in Lesser Deliverances. You have often given smaller restorations that point toward greater works. Temporal deliverances, renewed strength, and seasons of peace are not insignificant, but they also remind me that Your purposes extend farther. Let every mercy toward Your church awaken expectation and gratitude in me. Make me see Your hand in the beginnings while still looking toward the fullness of what You have promised.
Prayer (Thanksgiving):
Lord, thank You for Your gracious purposes toward Your church.
You have not abandoned Zion, even in seasons when she is weak, afflicted, or diminished. You have given promises of enlargement, restoration, peace, and the gathering of peoples to the worship of Your name.
The glory of Your church comes from Your own glory rising upon her. When nations come to the light, when peoples gather to the truth, and when worship is extended, the praise belongs to You.
Give me a heart that truly loves Your church. When she suffers, let me mourn with her. When she prospers, let me rejoice without envy or indifference. Join my affections to her welfare so that her sorrows become a matter for prayer and her mercies a matter for thanksgiving.
I praise You for every past deliverance by which You have shown Your faithfulness. Lesser restorations remind me that You are able to accomplish greater ones.
Thank You that present weakness does not overturn Your promises. Thank You that discouraging appearances cannot defeat Your purpose for You are able to gather many peoples and strong nations to Yourself.
Keep me from unbelief concerning the future of Your church. Make me patient in seasons of mourning and ready to rejoice when You bring increase, peace, and renewed glory.
Let my thanksgiving rise because Zion belongs to You, her preservation depends upon You, and every true advancement of the church displays the greatness of Your grace.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References:
Deut. 32:43; Psalm 26:8; Isa. 25:9; Rom. 15:10
[1] Jonathan Edwards, The Millennium; Or, The Thousand Years of Prosperity, Promised to the Church of God, in the Old Testament and in the New, Shortly to Commence, Early American Imprints, 1639-1800; No. 26594 (Elizabeth Town N.J.: Shepard Kollock, 1794), lxi-67.
