Vv. 1-5 This chapter is about the bride of Christ, that is those who turn and choose to follow the Lord. This promise is seen fulfilled through the church, yet we must remember that this promise is extended first to the Jews. God is doing a new thing, calling both the people he has worked with since Abraham as well as all the peoples of the world. Those who were once called “forsaken” and “desolate” will be seen as a crown of beauty, married, and the Lord’s delight. We will be a reason for God’s own rejoicing!

• v. 1 Explains why we need to reconsider why the bride of Christ is beautiful in comparison to a modern wedding. Today, we recognize the bride’s beauty and her own. But the wedding with Christ is different. The Church is surely beautiful, but it is not because it is inherently beautiful but rather the Lord has made her into something beautiful.

• v. 4 “My Delight is in Her” is expressed in Malachi 3:12.

• v. 4 “Married” the bride of Christ is described in Revelation 21:2,9-11.

Vv. 6-9 The watchmen are people who are seen as intercessors for the people. They shall tirelessly pray for the bride to come into completion, and also that the bridegroom may come! They are to call for the Lord to establish the new Jerusalem. In the meantime, the Lord promises that he will uphold his people and allow them to prosper.

Vv. 10-12 It is interesting that the highway that we each are supposed to take to get to Zion we also are responsible for building. This means two things: we must repent and turn onto the highway to Zion and we also must proclaim the Good News that others may join you on this way. When we find the Lord, we in turn are responsible for making the path to the Lord easier than it was for you to walk.

Is your zeal for the church even a fraction of what Christ has for his bride? How should, seeing his love for the church, change how we represent/think/talk about the church?

Are you praying for the new Jerusalem to be established?

What are you doing to make the highway to the Lord smoother for the next generation? How do you see our church partaking in this?