A260 : by Tony Garland
Context
Chapter 12 of Isaiah begins with the words, And in that day . . . to which the interpreter must ask, What day?
The answer is found by examining the wider context: namely in the day of the events described in the previous chapter, 11.
There are numerous clues in the text of Isaiah 11 that the time in view is after the return of Jesus: during the Millennial Kingdoma.
- Jesus will reign as righteous judge of all the earth (Isa. 11:1-5).
- Animals and mankind will again be at peace, as they were prior to the flood (Isa. 11:5-9 cf. Gen. 9:2-3).
- All people on the earth will have knowledge of the Lord (Isa. 11:9).
- The Jews will be gathered into the Promised Land from their earlier global dispersion (Isa. 11:12-16).
Then, when we reach Isaiah 12, we can understand that the opening phrase, And in that day you will say . . . refers to what faithful Israelites will say when the promises come to pass within the Millennium. At that time, all Israel will know the Lord (Rom. 11:26) and worship Him, as recorded in Isaiah 12. Thus, the inhabitant of Zion (Isa. 12:6) refers to Jews who come to know the Messiah as He rules in their midst from Jerusalem. (Zion being a literal geographical location in this passage.)
Genre
As should be obvious from my above comments, I take the genre of both Isaiah 11 and 12 to be prophecy.
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