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ISAIAH CHAPTER 12
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
.
.This
limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Isaiah. This
will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
Note that Isaiah chapter 12 continues the context of chapter of the Day of the LORD when He gathers all His people to the promised land:
****** EXCERPT FROM ISAIAH CHAPTER 11 ******
Or
skip to the beginning of chapter 12: 
(Isa 11:10 NKJV) " And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious . (Isa 11:11 NKJV) It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the [Mediterranean] sea . (Isa 11:12 NKJV) [And] He will [have] set up a banner for the nations, And will [have assembled] the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth . (Isa 11:13 ASV) The envy also of Ephraim shall [have departed], and they that vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not [cause distress to] Ephraim . (Isa 11:14 NKJV) But they shall [have flown] down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west [lit., seaward], Together they plunder the people of the east; they shall [plunder] Edom and Moab; and the [children] of Ammon [obeying] them . (Isa 11:15 NKJV) [ And] the LORD will [have utterly destroyed] the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will [have shaken] His fist over the [Euphrates] River, And [thus have made it into] seven streams, [so that] men [will have crossed over it] dryshod . (Isa 11:16 HOLMAN) [And] there will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will survive from Assyria [in the sense of descendants from the ancient generation of Israelites were captured by Assyria], as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt ." =
And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse. As a tree root is the source of life to the tree, so the Root of Jesse, in the line of David, is portrayed as the source of the life to the world. In that day, He shall stand as a Banner - a rallying symbol Who will draw all the peoples of the world to Him: "For the Gentiles shall seek Him" in the sense of coming to a knowledge of Him, trusting and worshipping Him. His "resting place" in the sense of where He sits, i.e., His throne in the Temple - the resting place of God, (cf. Isa 60:13)] shall be glorious, i.e., filled with the visible glory of God. This is an open declaration that this Root of Jesse is God incarnate. Note that this period of rule, considering the references to the sea and the nations in verse 10, ("Gentiles), is for all the peoples of the world, and not to be limited the Israel, as some contend, (Isa 11:10).
"And it shall come to pass in that day That the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people [the first recovery pointing to the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt where the whole nation was brought out of slavery and into the promised land, (Exodus 11:12-16; cf. Isa 11:16). The second time, the LORD Himself will gather the godly remnant of His people from the areas where they were scattered in the ancient times: They will come from the [SOUTH:] "From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros [i.e., 'Upper Egypt' - one of the three divisions of Egypt south of Memphis and north of Aswan] and Cush [Ethiopia, south of Egypt, now Abyssinia, and the southern parts of Arabia, along the Red Sea]; [EAST] From Elam [Persia, especially the southern part of it now called Susiana, lying north of the western end of the Persian Gulf ] and Shinar [The Babylonian heartland, lying in the south-eastern part of the Tigris-Euphrates valley] [NORTH] From Hamath [a Syrian city, a small kingdom on the Orontes River] [WEST] and [from] the islands of the sea [the Mediterranean maritime nations and the far western regions beyond the sea], (Isa 11:11).
Furthermore, the gathering of the remnant of His people will be worldwide: [And] He will [have] set up a banner for the nations, And will [have assembled] the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth - the remnant of all twelve tribes will be gathered from everywhere on earth. Note that this second gathering of the remnant of the people of the LORD is not the same as the return of the remnant from Babylon under the edict of Cyrus as some contend; because this latter return was partial, not worldwide. Many Jews remained scattered throughout the world, (cf. Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther). Furthermore, the detailed description of the complete and permanent return of all of God's people Israel from throughout the world as specifically stipulated in Isaiah chapter 11 has not yet occurred. Hence the return of Jews who were scattered after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, or after the Bar Kokhba rebellion of about A.D. 132-135 or when Jews returned to Palestine in 1948, or any event so far in history up through 2011 is not in view. But what is in view will be that all of the jealousy and hostility between the tribes will be gone forever: "The envy also of Ephraim shall [have departed], and they that vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not [cause distress to] Ephraim," (Isa 11:12-13).
But they [the restored worldwide remant of Israel] shall [have flown] down upon the shoulder of the Philistines [as a bird attacking its prey] toward the west [lit., seaward], Together they plunder the people of the east; they shall [plunder] Edom and Moab; [Edom - south of Judah, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea; "Moab"-- east of Jordan and the Dead Sea] and the [children] of Ammon [east of Judea, north of Moab, between the Arnon and Jabbok] [obeying] them [in the sense of the peoples who occupy that geographical area at the future time of the day of the LORD so that all who oppose Israel will be put down into submission throughout the world], (Isa 11:14).
[And] the LORD will [have utterly destroyed] [in the sense of drying up] the tongue of the Sea of Egypt [the Gulf of Suez], [destroyed in the sense that it no longer could be used as a waterway]; With His mighty wind He will [have shaken] His fist over the [Euphrates] River, [in the sense of breaking it up into seven streams] And [thus have made it into] seven [the number of completion] [shallow] streams, [so that] men [will have crossed over it] dryshod. [And] there will be a highway [i.e., a path completely clear of all obstructions] for the remnant of His people who will have descended from those of the Northern Kingdom that survived in captivity in Assyria [in the sense of descendants from the ancient generation of Israelites were captured by Assyria, a symbol of all of the people from all over the world who will return at that time], as there was for Israel when they [the entire nation of Israel in the first complete return] came up from the land of Egypt," (Isa 11:14-16).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM ISAIAH CHAPTER 11 ******
(Isa 12:1 NKJV)
"And in that day you will [have said]: 'O LORD, I will praise You;
[Because] You [have been] angry with me, [Let it turn, (imperfect /
jussive mood..)]
Your anger... away, [that] You [may, (imperfect / jussive mood)] comfort
me.
(Isa 12:2 NKJV) Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For Yah, [the LORD] the LORD, is my strength and song (cf. Exod 15:2; Ps 118:14); [And] He [is to me... salvation] has become my salvation [in the sense of temporal preservation / deliverance].'
(Isa 12:3 NKJV) Therefore with joy you [plural] will draw water From the wells of salvation.
(Isa 12:4 CBL) And you [plural] [will have said] in that day, 'Give [praise] to the LORD, call [plural] on His name; make [plural] known His deeds among the peoples, Remind [them] that His name is exalted.
(Isa 12:5 CBL) Sing robustly [plural] to [the LORD] because glorious things He has done making this known in all the earth.
(Isa 12:6 CBL) Shout, yes shout for joy [you] dwellers of Zion because great [is] the Holy One of Israel in your midst"
(Isa 12:1 NKJV)
"And in that day you will [have said]: 'O LORD, I will praise You;
[Because] You [have been] angry with me, [Let it turn, (imperfect /
jussive mood..)]
Your anger... away, [that] You [may, (imperfect / jussive mood)] comfort
me. (Isa 12:2 NKJV) Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and
not be afraid; For Yah, [the LORD] the LORD, is my strength and
song (cf. Exod 15:2; Ps 118:14); [And] He [is to me... salvation] has
become my salvation [in the sense of temporal preservation /
deliverance].' (Isa 12:3 NKJV) Therefore with joy you [plural] will draw
water From the wells of salvation. (Isa 12:4 CBL) And you [plural] [will
have said] in that day, 'Give [praise] to the LORD, call [plural] on His
name;' make [plural] known His deeds among the peoples, Remind [them] that
His name is exalted. (Isa 12:5 CBL) Sing robustly [plural] to [the LORD]
because glorious things He has done making this known in all the earth.
(Isa 12:6 CBL) Shout, yes shout for joy [you] dwellers of Zion because
great [is] the Holy One of Israel in your midst" =
The context continues into chapter 12 of the Day of the LORD when He will draw all the peoples of the world to Himself; when they will seek Him in the sense of coming to a knowledge and trust in Him; when He will sit on the throne in the Temple in Jerusalem. This is not the time of the return of the remnant from captivity in Babylon, as some contend. The context does not permit that view. For this is the time of the day of the LORD when He shall a second time recover the remnant of His people from everywhere on earth, (not just from Babylon. The first time being from Egypt, (Isa 11:16)); whereupon Judah will live in harmony with Israel; and together they will destroy their enemies, (which did not happen at the time of Babylon). And the LORD will create a highway for His people to come to Him from throughout the world, (Isa 11:10-16).
In chapter 12,
Isaiah has written a psalm of praise to the LORD relative to the day of
the LORD when He is in the midst of His people, to be sung in that day by
those who have been saved by grace - the remnant - His people and those of
other nations who have been delivered from judgment - evidently believers
all - to be sung with joy to others throughout the world to exalt His name
- the Holy One of Israel, for all that He is and has done. The psalm
begins with, "You [singular] have said" - referring to an
individual Israelite - one of those who will have survived the judgment of
the LORD in that day - evidently one of the redeemed of that time in
history, a representative voice of the whole redeemed nation - who will
have begun singing the hymn with, 'O LORD, I will praise You; Because You
have been angry with me, Let it turn Your anger away, that You may comfort
me, (Isa 12:1)." Notice that the Hebrew verbs rendered "Let it
turn [Your anger away] and [that] "You may comfort me," are in
the imperfect jussive mood..
.which expresses a desire for action from a
third person - in this case the LORD. And considering His character and
grace, He will provide salvation and comfort for His redeemed in that day.
The psalm goes on to indicate that those whom the LORD will have saved in
the sense of having preserved / delivered them from physical death unto
temporal and eternal blessing when He comes to commence His kingdom. And
although they evidently will comprise the future remnant of believers in
that day, (cf. Isa 11:11, 16); nevertheless, they will not have acted
entirely faithfully toward Him. Yet they will have been delivered unto
blessing by the grace of God. For the hymn goes on to declare, "Behold,
God is my salvation, [referring to temporal preservation /
deliverance] I will trust and not be afraid. For Yah [the LORD] the LORD
is my strength and song, (cf. Exod 15:2; Ps 118:14); [And] He [is
to me... salvation] has become my salvation [in the sense of temporal
preservation / deliverance. And in the sense that God is now - in the
future day of the LORD, everything to His people: their strength, song,
salvation, blessing].' So in that day men will be totally trusting in God
- to the exclusion of all else. Hence no longer will there be trusting in
mortal man. Recall that Isaiah had to be advised by the LORD that his
generation of the people of Judah would not give ear, eyes or mind to the
word of the LORD through Isaiah. But the future generation would be
totally, supernaturally committed:
(Isa 6:5 NKJV) "So I [Isaiah say] "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."
(Isa 6:6 ASV) Then [flies] one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
(Isa 6:7 NKJV) And he touched my mouth with it, and [says] "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity [has been] taken away, And your sin [is] purged [Hebrew, lit., atoned for]."
(Isa 6:8 YLT) And I hear the voice of [my] LORD, saying: "Whom do I send? and who [goes] for Us?" And I say, "Here [am] I, send me."
(Isa 6:9 YLT) And He [says], "Go, and [have it told] to this people, 'Hear... hear, and [you] do not understand, And see.. see and [you] do not know.'
(Isa 6:10 NKJV) Make the heart of this people fat, And their ears heavy [unable to ear clearly what is said] And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with [each one with his] heart, And return and be healed.' "
Incidentally, the salvation unto temporal blessing in the day of the LORD for His redeemed is also eternal, considering that the eternal kingdom of God is in view. There will be an absence of fear of human reprisal and cruelty. Note that the Hebrew word rendered salvation (Lîsû'â and Hâysû'â / Yeshu‘ah) in verses 2 and 3 respectively is another form of the Hebrew name for Jesus, (Yeshu‘a). Note also that the LORD is referred to twice in verse 2 to emphasize His almighty power and unchangeable nature: "yâ" and "yëhwâ" rendered Jah and Jehovah in the YLT , and "YAH," and "the LORD" in the NKJV, (Isa 12:2).
Isaiah's hymn is a hymn of international evangelism; for it goes on to declare, in the second person plural, "Therefore with joy you [plural, referring to the remnant / redeemed people of the LORD in the day of the LORD] - you will draw water From the wells of salvation [in the sense of having, as with drawing water from an artesian well, a constant and unlimited supply of God's salvation of temporal deliverance and blessing], (Isa 12:3).
Note that in verse 4, the second person singular whom Isaiah had representing all redeemed Israelites in the previous 3 verses becomes second person plural giving voice to all the redeemed of Israel together: "And you [plural] will have said in that day, 'Give praise to the LORD, [in the sense of give public acknowledgment of His Righteousness] call on His name,' [in the sense of trusting in His Righteous character and capacity to fulfill what He has promised and to deliver and bless those who are His] Make known His deeds among the peoples [in the sense of causing all the peoples of the world to know Who the LORD is and what He has done], Remind them that His name is exalted [to be honored above all names]. Sing robustly to the LORD because of the glorious things He has done making this known [referring to the people of the LORD singing this hymn so that all the peoples of the world will know of His glorious deeds] in all the earth." For it is the LORD Who is due the praise and worship of all the nations of the world. His name is above all names. It represents His holy, exalted nature and Righteous character. Verse 6 goes on to say, "Shout, yes shout for joy you dwellers of Zion because great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst." Notice that the presence of the LORD will be in the midst of His people in Zion - in the temple in Jerusalem, (Isa 12:4-6).
Isaiah's psalm / hymn of praise resembles Moses and Miriam's hymn of praise after the first Exodus from Egypt:
(Ex 15:1 NKJV) Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD and spoke, saying:
['Let me sing] to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!'
(Ex 15:2 NKJV) The LORD is my strength and song,
And He [is to me] salvation;
He is my God, and I will praise [lit., glorify] Him;
[the God of my father], and I will exalt Him.
(Ex 15:3 NKJV) The LORD is a man of war;
The LORD is His name.
(Ex 15:4 NKJV) Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea;
His chosen captains also are drowned in the [Sea of Reeds].