The New World - Isaiah 62

I believe it was last week when I made reference yet again to my desire to become a hermit in some remote corner of Montana.  Some would say that is impossible, there is no remote corner of Montana.  ALL of Montana is remote.  Well, that’s even better.  That kind of remote, private, disconnected, free lifestyle definitely has an appeal to me.  I don’t want to become the next Jeremiah Johnson who wants nothing at all to do with human civilization.  But to be in a place of peace and quiet, far removed from the troubles of the world, a place where there at least appears to be no need for the concerns that so many others fret over, . . . that sounds like a bit of heaven on earth.  Unfortunately, it also sounds like a wacky cult the ATF and the FBI would feel compelled to look into.

But have you ever thought that the Pilgrims must have had some of these same kinds of desires when they made plans to set sail for America?  It is common knowledge that the Pilgrims risked their lives to come here to enjoy freedom of religion.  But there was much more than that.  They risked everything and left everything familiar in order to escape the severe persecution of the state-run church in England.  They did not come to this New World for an extended vacation and live beyond the reach of telemarketers.  They came here to escape religious oppression and persecution and an ugly death.

I’d like to read you several long excerpts from a book entitled The Story of the Pilgrims by Morton Dexter, written in 1894. 1  He explains in some detail the motivation behind the decision of the Pilgrims to leave their homes for America:

“People do not exile themselves from home and native land and expose themselves voluntarily to oppression, poverty, and the risk of death without the strongest reasons.  The statement often made that the Pilgrims fled from England to Holland, and finally came to America in order to obtain freedom to worship God is true, but it affords no sufficient explanation of the manner and extent of the prohibition of this freedom at home in their time.  A short study of the religious condition of England during the centuries immediately preceding their departure therefore is first in order.

“At the middle of the fourteenth century [i.e. 1300’s] the Roman Catholic Church, which possessed supreme control in England, had become shamefully corrupt and had lost public confidence in a very large degree, although still firmly retaining its power.  [Note: Bear in mind that Columbus would not discover America until the end of the 15^th century, 1492.  So we’re talking about a period of time in England 150 to 200 years before anybody decided to leave Europe and set up housekeeping in North America.]  

The people were in a mood to listen to any one who should set forth a purer religion, and John Wycliff, the famous preacher, reformer, and translator of the Bible into English, brought about a great popular change towards what afterwards became known as Protestantism.  His followers were called Lollards, and during the remainder of the century and the reign of King Henry V (1413-22) they grew rapidly in both number and influence.  But the power of the Roman Catholic Church still was too great to be overthrown completely.  A reaction in its favor took place and the Lollards were so far suppressed that their beliefs could not be held safely except in secret.

“The decisive break between England and the Papacy occurred in the time of King Henry VIII (1509-47) [Once again, just for the sake of having some reference point on the time line, Columbus discovered America 17 years before Henry VIII came to power].  

“At about the year 1529 he desired a divorce from Queen Catherine.  The Pope refused to grant it.  England still was distinctly Roman Catholic, but Henry was determined and fearless, and at last he openly assumed headship over the English Church and formally severed its connection with the Papacy.  This was the origin of the present Anglican Church, or the Church of England.  But it did not render the church Protestant, and in later reigns it was temporarily reunited, at least nominally, with the Church of Rome.  Yet Protestantism was able to take some advantage of the secession [i.e. the break with Rome] and began to revive, and most of the Protestants became known thenceforth as Puritans, because of their wish to purify and reform the State Church.

“From this time on for a hundred years the history of religion in England is a record of almost constant oppression on the part of the Roman Catholic authorities and of bitter sufferings on the part of those who sympathized with Protestantism.  Chancellor More, Bishop Fisher, and many others prosecuted all such persons actively.  We can understand that penalties for neglect of the church fast days and for absence from confession and the sacrament may have been natural in those times, although we know that they were often excessive.  But what is to be thought of punishing people for reading religious books, especially Tyndale’s translation of the Bible, for teaching children the Lord’s Prayer in English, and for condemning the notorious vices of many state clergymen!  It was for precisely these and similar offenses that the English Roman Catholics persecuted their Puritan fellow citizens, and they carried their cruelties so far that they even burned not a few of their victims at the stake.

“Edward VI (1547-53)--”good King Edward”--was of a nobler spirit.  He sympathized more with his Protestant subjects and the work of reform which they desired seemed well begun.  But his reign was so short that little was accomplished, and his successor, “Bloody Mary” (1553-58) again recognized the Pope as the head of the Church on earth and was in full sympathy with the most bigoted and cruel Roman Catholics.  The worst practices of Popery were revived and encouraged.  All married clergymen were ordered to put away their wives or leave their parishes.  Nearly three thousand of them, including a number of eminent men, -- for under Edward some Puritan ministers had been appointed to bishoprics or other high offices -- were deposed, and more than eight hundred fled out of England for their lives.  The pulpits of all Puritans were ordered to be closed, and two hundred and seventy-seven, including some women and even some children, is the lowest estimate of the number of those put to death for their faith during the five years of her [Mary’s] reign.  Most of these victims were burned at the stake.”

That’s why the Pilgrims came to their version of my idea of Montana.  It wasn’t because they just wanted a little peace and quiet to indulge in a bit of escapism from the worldly things they found distasteful in their culture.  On the contrary, they risked their lives and the lives of their wives and children to get to America because in every way they were being persecuted, even to death, for their faith.  Their crime was they desired to live godly lives in accordance with their understanding of the Scriptures, an understanding which was not in accordance with the oppressive civil and religious laws of evil men.

“It is worthwhile to notice some of the particular grievances of the Puritans.  For one thing, absolute uniformity in religious observances was insisted upon.  Not the slightest liberty was permitted under any circumstances.  For example, no portion of Scripture except that prescribed could be read at public worship, whether that happened to be appropriate to the occasion or not.  Furthermore, this uniformity was not confined to matters of ritual but included even the costume of the clergy.  The Puritans did not object to a dress distinctive of the clerical profession, but the garb which their ministers, like others, were obliged by law to wear was associated so closely with Popery in their minds that they abhorred it.  A fine of twenty pounds a month was proclaimed for absence from a parish church.  Even persons who attended church regularly on Sundays, if they also met in private at home for religious conversation and Scripture reading upon holidays . . . were punishable for that.  Clergymen themselves actually were forbidden to join in observing days of personal fasting and prayer for the queen and the Church.

“Spies were appointed in every parish in which there were suspected persons, so that offenders might be denounced.  All Puritan publications were forbidden and sometimes, when discovered, were publicly burned, and if the printers were detected, their presses were destroyed.  Worst of all, not only were a multitude of clergymen in sympathy with Protestantism deposed, but men ignorant and even known to be depraved were appointed to fill their places.  Certainly the church was in a bad way.”

Now, given the wretched circumstances in which these brethren lived, how do you suppose they reacted to the possibility of traveling to a place where the long arm of their persecutors could not reach?  Do you suppose any of them laid awake at night pondering the freedom of living in the New World where they could live according to the dictates of their consciences, where there was no one to hinder them?  How glorious and peaceful such a life must have appeared to them!  

The religious tyranny of England was so terrible, and escape from it was so valuable and so desirable that the Puritan Pilgrims willingly faced the very real dangers of traveling on the open sea for 66 days in what to us would be a primitive boat in order to make the journey here.  Many didn’t make it.  

“During the first winter in the New World, the Mayflower colonists suffered greatly from diseases like scurvy, lack of shelter, and general conditions onboard ship.  Forty-five of the 102 emigrants died the first winter and were buried on Cole's Hill.  Additional deaths during the first year meant that only 53 people were alive in November 1621 to celebrate the First Thanksgiving.  Of the 18 adult women, 13 died the first winter, while another died in May.  Only four adult women were left alive for the Thanksgiving.  No women died aboard the ship, though a newborn baby and three men, including the captain, did.” 2

Considering the sufferings they had endured in England, and considering the freedom from persecution they would enjoy in America, surely, the shores of Massachusetts must have seemed like a kind of Heaven for them.  A haven, a sanctuary, a place of respite and deliverance.  The New World to the Pilgrims must have been something like the Promised Land was to the Jews coming out of the wilderness.

But in both of those cases, both in the Promised Land and at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the realities of living in a fallen, sin-filled world were unavoidable.  Neither Canaan nor New England could provide escape from the depravity of man.  But beloved, that won’t always be the case.  Turn to Isaiah 62.

[62:1] For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,

until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.

  [2] The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory,

and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.

  [3] You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

  [4] You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married;

for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.

  [5] For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

 

[6] On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen;

all the day and all the night they shall never be silent.

You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest,

  [7] and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it a praise in the earth.

  [8] The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm:

“I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies,

and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored;

  [9] but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD,

and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”

 

[10] Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people;

build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones;

lift up a signal over the peoples.

  [11] Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth:

Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

  [12] And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD;

and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.  (Isaiah 62 ESV)

The city of Jerusalem, land of Israel, and the people of God.  All together they are referred to as Zion and Jerusalem.  In former days, she was known by the terms Forsaken and Desolate.  She was forsaken by God and desolate.  Without a husband, without children, without someone to love and care for her.  No one to protect her, leaving her vulnerable to her enemies who helped themselves to her grain and her wine, and they took whatever they pleased.  This was the history of the Jews.  They had forsaken God, so God left them to be ravaged by the nations.

Even today, the words still apply: Forsaken and Desolate.  As Paul said in Romans 11, God has rejected the nation of Israel for a time and given them “. . . a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” (Romans 11:8 ESV)

But the message of Isaiah is it won’t always be that way.  God is jealous for His own glory, and He has set His love upon His people.  The promise is that one day, the one who was unloved and unwanted will be a very happy bride and a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD. (v3).  The people will enjoy the loving companionship of God Himself, and even the land will rejoice.  Like a bride married to a young bridegroom who dotes over her, eventually, the young men of Zion will make the barren, desolate land productive once again.

This is such a sure thing that, in verse 6, we read that God places watchmen to both call for and look for His return to Jerusalem.  Is. 52:8 -The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.  And 62:11 - “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”  As we read last week in Chapter 61, the Lord comes “. . . to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;  (Isaiah 61:2 ESV).  His favor upon His people will be prolonged (year), but His vengeance upon His enemies will be sudden and swift (day).  

Beloved, the Jews have not yet seen the Promised Land of God.  The Pilgrims never saw the New World the Scriptures speak of.  That world is yet to come, when all of God’s people, all of Israel, all of the redeemed from every nation on earth, are gathered together.  All of God’s church will one day see His coming with favor upon them, and with judgment upon their enemies.  But His own . . . shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.  

We’re not going to Montana.  We’re not going to New England.  We’re not even going to the Middle East.  We are going to be gathered together as the New Jerusalem.  We are the New Jerusalem, the people of God and the city of God.  We are the Bride who is like a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of [our] God.  We are The Redeemed of the Lord, Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

And in that day, the sins and sorrows and troubles and trials and cares of this fallen world will disappear like England disappeared over the horizon for the Pilgrims as they made their way to a new, and blessed land.  They never saw England again.  We’ll never see this world ever again.  In that day, we’ll be able to say about everything, “The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”  Heaven has arrived.

We really are pilgrims, and the Lord Jesus is our Mayflower.  If we are in Him, we can be assured of a safe journey, without a single casualty, all the way to the other side, to our heavenly home where we will live with Him in peace and rest and fullness of joy forever.  

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1. http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=GV4MAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mayflower_passengers_who_died_in_the_winter_of_1620_-_1621