Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Isaiah 26

This chapter is so significant it is studied first in the Amplified Bible and then in the New King James Version. The Amplified is poetic, while the New King James is a deeper study.

FIRST Below: The Amplified Bible:

• 26:¹ In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
  “We have a strong city; He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
  ²  “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
  The one that remains faithful and trustworthy (Lit keeps trustworthiness).
  ³ “You will keep in perfect and constant peace (Lit peace, peace, a Hebrew idiom of emphasis.) the one whose mind is steadfast (that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character),
  Because he trusts and takes refuge in You (with hope and confident expectation).
  
  ⁴  “Trust (confidently) in the Lord forever (He is your fortress, your shield, your banner),
  For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock (the Rock of Ages*).
  ⁵  “For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city;
  He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.
  ⁶ “The foot will trample it,
  Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”
  ⁷ The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level;
  O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.
  ⁸  Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord, We have waited expectantly for You;
  Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.
  
  ⁹  In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord],
  Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
  For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth
  Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
  ¹⁰  Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor,
  He does not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly,
  And refuses to see the majesty of the Lord.
  
  ¹¹  Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it.
  Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame;
  Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.
  ¹² Lord, You will establish peace for us,
  Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.
  ¹³ O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us;
  But through You alone we confess Your name.
  ¹⁴ The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return;
  Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
  And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].
  
  ¹⁵ You have increased the nation, O Lord;
  You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
  You have extended all the borders of the land.
  ¹⁶ O Lord, they sought You in distress;
  They managed only a prayerful whisper
  When Your discipline was upon them.
  
  ¹⁷ As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth,
  She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor,
  So we were before You, O Lord.
  ¹⁸ We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor;
  We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind (farting).
  We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
  Nor were inhabitants of the world born (Lit fallen).
  
  ¹⁹ Your dead will live; My dead body will rise.
  You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!
  For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],
  And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.
  ²⁰ Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; Hide for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath (Lit curse) is past.
  ²¹ Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His (heavenly) place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness (their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing);
  The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain.

A Song of Salvation

THE RETURN OF JESUS

Isaiah 26:¹ In that day (the end of the tribulation and the return of Jesus) this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation (Hebrew for “Jesus”) for walls and bulwarks (security and defenses).

• It never ceases to strike my heart how many “layers” of meanings one verse can provide. Layer after layer of symbolism, Hebrew word studies, patterns, shadows, types, science, history, … and suddenly you ask yourself “Who can write a book like this?”
  
• The verse above reveals the name of the coming Messiah from Isaiah’s time.
• “In that day” reveals a timeline, Jesus’ return at the end of the seven-year Tribulation.
• “walls and bulwarks” reveal a Jewish need for defenses.
• A “song is sung” reveals the relief of a historical lack of safety.
• “in the land of Judah” reveals the area which includes Jerusalem, the holiest place on earth by God’s standards.

Isaiah 26:² Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which keeps the TRUTH (Or remains faithful) may enter in.

• Once again Jesus is going to enter the Eastern Gate, just as He did at His triumphal entry.
  • Currently, the Eastern Gate is sealed up, the gate said to be the one Jesus will enter through when He returns, the gate entered at His first advent as King of kings.
    
• Jesus said He was “THE TRUTH”.
  • THE TRUTH is entering Jerusalem to set up His kingdom and rule the world from Jerusalem!
    
• At the time Jesus enters the Gate ALL the faithful from creation have been resurrected: ALL the Church Age Saints, ALL the Old Testament Saints, ALL the Martyrs from the Tribulation are present as well as All the Angels! Imagine the Joy!

AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO LIVE FOR HIS RETURN:

Isaiah 26:³ You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

• Luke 21:²⁸ Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Isaiah 26:⁴ Trust in the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) forever,
For in Yah, the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), is everlasting strength (Or the Rock of Ages).

• “Yah” is the shortened version “Yᵊhōvâ“.

WHEN HE RETURNS, HE WILL DEAL WITH THE ANTICHRIST WHO IS RULING IN HIS PLACE IN JERUSALEM, AS WELL AS THE UNRIGHTEOUS GENTILE NATIONS THAT CAME AGAINST ISRAEL

Isaiah 26:⁵ For He brings down (low) those who dwell on high (Lit. to exalt oneself, magnify oneself,
to be rotten, be wormy, breed worms)
The lofty city (Jerusalem when the Antichrist rules);
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust (the culture and government of the Antichrist).

Isaiah 26:⁶ The foot shall tread (trample) it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy.”

• Those whom the Antichrist has afflicted. He did “monstrous” things (Joel 2:20). It was a time of terror like none before it (Matthew 24:21).
• A foot or sandal is a sign of authority.

Isaiah 26:⁷ The way of the just is uprightness;
O Most Upright,
You weigh (Or make level) the path of the just.

Where There is no Justice even the Air is Heavy.

Isaiah 26:⁸ Yes, in the way of Your judgments,
O Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name (“Ha Shem”= “The Name”)
And for the remembrance of You.

Isaiah 26:⁹ With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

• A sinful man learns the hardest of ways.

Isaiah 26:¹⁰ Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;

• Zechariah 12:10
  Mourning for the Pierced One
  “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication;

Isaiah 26:¹⁰ (Cont.) In the land of uprightness he (the wicked) will deal unjustly,
And will not behold (refuses to see) the majesty of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

REMEMBERING JESUS’ CRUCIFIXION

Isaiah 26:¹¹ Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), when Your hand is lifted up, they (the Jews) will not (they refuse to) see.

• The “Arm” or “Hand” is symbolic for the Prince of a King, or the Son of a Father. (Psalm 44:3)
• When God’s “Hand” is lifted up, He is lifted up on a cross, yet the religious leaders could not discern the “day of their visitation” being the “blind leaders of the blind”.

When A Person Doesn’t Want to See “Truth” … They Won’t and They Don’t!

• Jesus was “lifted up” on the cross – then, when He was resurrected – and again when He will rule as King of kings.

Isaiah 26:¹¹ (Cont.) But they WILL see and be ashamed

• Zechariah 12:10
  Mourning for the Pierced One
  “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
• Hosea 5:15
  I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

Isaiah 26:¹¹ (Cont.) For their envy of people (Or Your zeal for the people);
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.

Isaiah 26:¹² Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works in us (Or for us).

Isaiah 26:¹³ O Lord our God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm), masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.

ARMAGEDDON: THE GENTILE NATIONS WHO CAME AGAINST JERUSALEM

Isaiah 26:¹⁴ They are dead, they will not live;
They are deceased, they will NOT rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to perish.

• Malachi 4:1 – The Great Day of God
  “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.

Isaiah 26:¹⁵ You have increased the nation, O Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the borders (Or ends) of the land.

Isaiah 26:¹⁶ Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.

THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS OBEYING THE AGENDA OF GOD IS ONE OF FAILURE,
THEREFORE THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIBULATION IS ONE OF A “THRASHING”.

• The Seven Year Tribulation is referred to by several terms including:
  • The Tribulation (Matt. 24:21)
  • The Day of the Lord’s Wrath
  • The Time of Affliction (Hosea 5:15)
  • The Time of Sorrows (A woman in labor)(Matt. 24:8)
  • The Thrashing (A Beating to Separate the Wheat from the Chaff) (Matt. 3:12)
  • Jacob’s Trouble (Seven Year Famine)
  • Daniel’s 70th Week (Daniel 9:27)

Isaiah 26:¹⁷ As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs (sharp pains),
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

Isaiah 26:¹⁸ We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth (given birth to) wind (farted);
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen (in the birth canal).

LOOKING FORWARD

Isaiah 26:¹⁹ Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body (their dead bodies; LXX those in the tombs) they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,

• Dew is symbolic for the rapture. The Rain is both literal and symbolic for the Messiah who comes down from heaven, but the Dew is the rapture; dissipating upwards: as the Lord meets the righteous in the air.
  
  • I Thessalonians 4:¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Isaiah 26:¹⁹ And the earth shall cast out the dead.

THE BRIDAL CHAMBER BEFORE THE INDIGNATION

Isaiah 26:²⁰ Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment (7 years, the 7 year tribulation),
Until the indignation (Tribulation) is past.

• “Chambers”:
  Joel 2:16
  Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. (A wedding feast for the gentile Bride of Christ during the 7 year/days of Daniel’s 70th “week”. See: Jacob’s Two Wives
• “Shut Your Doors Behind You”:
  Revelation 4:1 Scene in Heaven
  After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
• “A Little Moment”
  Revelation 17:10b … the other (the kingdom of the Antichrist) has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
  

AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION, THE RETURN OF JESUS WITH HIS ANGELS AND SAINTS

Isaiah 26:²¹ For behold, the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) comes out of His place (from heaven, sitting at the Right Hand of the Father – Hebrews 12:2)
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood (Or bloodshed),
And will no more cover (hide) her slain.

• Revelation 1:⁷ Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
• Zechariah 12:^10-11 Mourning for the Pierced One “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo (Hebrew- Megiddon or Greek- Armageddon)
• Jude 1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied … saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints…”

THE LORD’S ARMY AT ARMAGEDDON … ALL OF THEM, AN ARMY INNUMERABLE!

• Jude 1:¹⁴ “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

• Revelation 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress (bloodpress) of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.