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11 And it
shall come to pass in that day, [yowm] that the Lord ['Adonay] shall set [yacaph] his hand
[yad] again [yacaph] the second time [sheniy] to
recover [qanah] the remnant [sha'ar] of his people, [`am] which
shall be left, [sha'ar] from Assyria, ['Ashshuwr] and from Egypt, [Mitsrayim]
and from Pathros, [Pathrowc] and from Cush, [Kuwsh] and from Elam, [`Eylam] and
from Shinar, [Shin`ar] and from Hamath, [Chamath] and from the islands ['iy]
of the sea. [yam] KJV-Interlinear
11 Then it
will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with
His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt,
Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. NASB
A difficult verse to be sure, but only if you do not read it and the previous and the next verses properly.
A second time is referred to, but what is going to occur a second time? That is where many commentators and people in general, get mixed up. But it is really quite simple.
But first things first.
Where are these places, from which the Jewish peoples will come back? Or, are they actually coming back from these places?
And so we list the places first.
Assyria, is to the north of Israel. And actually since Jerusalem is the focal point of the Bible, then all directions generally are in relation to Jerusalem.
So, Assyria is the land and lands to the north. Egypt is a reference to the lands to the south. These are the two great powers that existed in Isaiah's day. Isaiah lived during the mid to early eighth century B.C., or 750 to about 700 B.C. He lived longer than this time frame but this is the general time period which needs to be looked at for the purpose of our study here.
Pathros refers to the northern end or upper Egypt, while Mizraim, for reference purposes, refers to the southern portion of Egypt.
Cush, generally refers to the lands to the south of Egypt or into Africa.
Elam, refers to the lands east of the Tigris River, typically todays Iran and the lands to the east.
Shinar, founded by Nimrod, refers to the lands south of and including the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, typically todays Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia.
Hamath, refers to what would be todays Lebanon.
The islands of the sea, refers to the local sea, which would be the Mediterranean Sea up into the island regions of Turkey and Greece, along the coast line, and perhaps beyond toward present day Italy.
What is being described is the region immediately surrounding and local to Jerusalem, as it was known in Isaiah's day.
In Isaiah's day, there was no historical deportation of the Hebrews, to these regions, even after the invasion of the northern kingdom of Samaria, and its removal from history. This does not even refer to the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, for that is a single country, and not to the entire region of the Middle East and beyond.
But as this entire chapter is messianic, then so too is the location of the Jews, prophetic, as in future times, they will live not only in Judah, but in all of the surrounding regions just described.
Likewise, in the next verse the four corners of the earth are made reference to, with regard to their regathering. But that is in the next verse, not this verse.
Here we focus on the words, second time.
So what does this mean?
Well we need one more definition.
What is happening a second time? And for that we look to the word, recover, 'qanah,' which means to purchase, to procure, to possess, to redeem, to deliver, to rescue.
So, to what do you suppose these two times are referring?
In the next verse there is a rallying of the remnant, but in this verse there is only the reference to the purchase, and a second purchase at that.
By the way this is not a second crucifixion. Christ has already been crucified, buried, resurrected in a resurrection body and glorified at the right hand of the Father, where He now resides.
So, within this single verse, we have the first and second advent being referred to. The first advent was a purchase for the purpose of salvation, and in the second advent there is a purchase due to the deliverance as a result of the second advent.
In the first advent all of humanity and especially the Jewish peoples, were purchased out of bondage. The then known world of Isaiah, being referred to here as all lands surrounding Jerusalem throughout the Middle East and beyond, but applying it to the time of Christ.
Many Jews lived in Greece, in Africa, in Persia and throughout the region in the time of Christ.
But the second purchase comes well after the first, since it is a part of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, wherein Christ will rule. This entire chapter pointing to that future time.
The phrase, 'in that day,' is our prophetic pointer to that future time. It refers to the same 'in that day,' as has been referred to throughout this chapter. The second purchase likewise being the focus of this verse, which too is future.
And by the way, the word for second, does in fact mean a second time, not a third, not a first, and is not even ambiguous like meaning, again or a repeat of something that is not numbered. This is the second time, and there are only two of these times of purchase.
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