Peace Like a River – Isaiah 66:10-12, 22-24

Diana Matthews tells us the song I’ve Got Peace Like a River “is an African-American spiritual. Spirituals began on the fields and the slaves would sing to pass the time of day. It was also a great way to pass messages along and share the gospel.”  Here is a cool rendition of it in Korean?

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.”

For thus says the LORD:  “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.  From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD….   

“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”  (Isaiah 66:10-12, 22-24 ESV)

The glorious future that Yahweh has for Jerusalem and Israel is not just for her but for all who have loved her because they love Yahweh.  Even as Paul describes to the Corinthian church how their gift to their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem was a physical blessing in response to the spiritual blessing that came from Jerusalem, so in that day Jerusalem will be the source of nurturing for all nations.

God will judge her enemies and they will pay for their rebellion against Him in eternal fire.  In the kingdom all the nations will share in the peace of Jerusalem as if it is a river flowing from her.  She will be our life-giving mother.  And in this new heavens and new earth she will once and for all remain before Yahweh as He longed for all her history.  And so will we as we are united to Israel’s greatest son, the Lord Jesus.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is it that mother usually carries the baby and toddler, not father,, and does it need to be that way?
2. Remember the old song, “I’ve go peace like a river”?  What do you think is the meaning of the metaphor, “I will extend peace to [Israel] like a river”?
3. What is the glory of the nations that shall flow into Jerusalem?
4. What will it mean that the nations/Gentiles are nursed and carried by Israel in the kingdom?
5. Why does Yahweh go to lengths to tell Israel that she shall remain before Him as long as the new heavens and the new earth?
6. How do you imagine your worship of God will be like in that day?