Millennial Kingdom: Joy, Part 2
Isaiah 42:11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices, the settlements where Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud, let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.
The wilderness is the desert or the uninhabited land. To the towns of the desert…belt it out, a joyful cry!
Kedar is the second son of Ishmael. Genesis 25:13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam.
His name means “dark” per Strong’s Concordance. Kedar settled in the region consistent with modern day northern Saudi Arabia.
Sela is first mentioned in Judges 1:36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward. Akrabbim is also known as Scorpion Pass. This would be the southern border of the Amorites. It is also the southern border of the tribe of Judah. This is the modern day region that extends up from the Dead Sea to the southwest in Israel.
Even those in the desert will have something to shout about.
Isaiah 52:9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
This verse implies that Jerusalem will be a city of destruction. Jerusalem is described as chorbah in the Hebrew. At the end of the tribulation Jerusalem is described as a place laid waste, a ruin, and a desolation.
Jesus will intensively console the people of the city.
He has redeemed Jerusalem. The word for redeemed is go‘el. This is the same word that is used for the kinsman redeemer (see the book of Ruth). The role of the go’el is to avenge. He will seek revenge on behalf of the people. His blood has paid the ransom for sin. The people of Jerusalem will be redeemed from bondage and slavery. Jesus is a kinsman from the tribe of Judah.
Jerusalem, give an ear splitting yell!
Isaiah 60:15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, A joy from generation to generation.
The verse above is the history of Israel for roughly 2000 years after the death of Christ. The Jewish people were dispersed from the land in 70 AD. This is how the land of Israel was viewed: left behind, departed, left alone, abandoned, and neglected. Just let it go. Neighbors surrounding Israel hated the Jewish people even when they were not there. The land laid effectively dormant until the early 20th century. Then, there was the Balfour Declaration in 1917. Fast forward to 2016, Israel is a nation and Jerusalem is its capital.
Things are going to change under the direction of Christ. The nation will become ga’own in the Hebrew, a place of majesty, pride, and excellence for generations and eternity.
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