It was a very formal Southern church in which there was no messing around. That also meant it was a very serious and uptight church where nothing unseemly was allowed—ever. And that is what makes this story so much fun. Stuart Briscoe was one of my heroes—a great pastor, a spectacular teacher, and a phenomenal communicator and, on top of all that, he had an outrageous sense of humor. On one formal occasion, he was speaking at the above serious church on a very uptight Sunday morning. More to the point, he was speaking about today’s verse (as it is quoted in Romans 15): “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” And to prove his point, he swung his leg up and plopped his foot on the very formal, serious pulpit so that the sole of his shoe was facing the very formal, proper congregation. A few members of the congregation gasped. More than a few were not so pleased. And then Briscoe said, “Look at it. It’s beautiful! The Bible even says so!” Apparently, some in the congregation didn’t believe the Bible because they saw nothing beautiful about those feet. However, sometimes, starting off on the wrong foot is a great way to get your foot in the door. Here it is, forty years later, and I still remember the incident of the beautiful feet on the pulpit.
We are looking at Christopher JH Wright’s The Old Testament in Seven Sentences (IVP Academic, Downers Grove, IL, 2019). It’s an engaging book that surveys the whole Old Testament through the lens of seven verses. It seems like we just started, but here we are at verse six. And while verse #5 in the previous post was a verse everyone saw coming, today’s verse is one that no one had on their list! Let’s face it, feet verses are just not that popular.
The Fifth Verse: Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”
Let’s get a quick feel for Wright’s chapter by looking at three quotes (my favorite three of the chapter).
“There’s nothing especially beautiful about feet. But suppose you have been waiting in the ruins of a derelict city for two lifetimes (let’s imagine), desperate for any fragment of good news, longing for any shard of hope. Suppose one day you’re straining eyes see a long distance runner loping across the mountain ranges in the distance, bearing, (your heart leaps to believe) good news. Then you would bless the feet that carry him toward you, and maybe even kiss them when he finally arrives and tells you between gasps for breath that God has won the victory, that salvation and peace have come, ‘that your God reigns.’ That is the scenario that Isaiah 52:7-10 places before our imagination.”
“Feel the terror of Israel’s national trauma—the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC and the beginning of the exile in Babylon. Try to imagine the suffering of the people of Jerusalem during 18 months of siege, starvation, and disease, ending with the final days of destruction, looting, and slaughter. Try to stumble with the exiles out of the burning city, screaming at the sight of the bloodshed around them amid the tormenting spears of Babylonian soldiers. Try to trudge with them, possibly in chains, across mile after mile around the Fertile Crescent and down into Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Try to sit with them as strangers and captives in a foreign land, displaced, despised, and despairing. How do you feel? How do you react? How do you cope?”
“The other feature of the period [the intertestamental period] was an intensifying longing for God to intervene. As persecution increased, and as the wickedness and oppression of pagan nations that ruled over them went from bad to worse, it seemed that their only hope was for God to act directly and decisively to bring in his own kingdom. It felt like the exile had never really ended, even though they were back in their own land—back in the land, but not yet free from evil empires. God must come. God must send the one he promised. God must establish his kingdom. God must liberate Israel and defeat his enemies. God must put an end to injustice and suffering. Such were the hopes and longings of the people when a carpenter son from Nazareth began preaching, ‘The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’”
Five Reasons Why I Like Isaiah 52:7 as One of the Top Seven Verses
Reason #1: Paul uses this verse in Romans 10 as support for his argument that the gospel needs to be proclaimed throughout the world since we have been commissioned as the “sent-out ones.” Paul’s argument in clear. He writes in Romans 10:14-15:
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
Of all the verses Paul could have chosen to argue this point, he chose this one. That should put it in a special category and one worthy of consideration for our purposes.
Reason #2: Any verse that speaks of the end of the exile ought to be given its proper due. We seldom see the exile for the horror it was or feel the desolation that it brought. As a result, we also don’t grasp how miraculous the restoration of the people to their own homeland was. This is a verse that is proclaiming nothing short of amazing grace. God does, in fact, reign over all the world, and he is faithful to his promise, and his love does endure forever. This is a beautiful verse.
Reason #3: I said earlier that “feet” verses are not that popular, but I may have misspoken. Quick, take a guess. How many times is the word “foot” or “feet” used in the Bible? Let me be honest. I was way off! The truth is that the word is used 247 times in the Bible (162 times in the Old Testament and 85 times in the New Testament). To show veneration and respect, people would often bow before someone’s feet. We wait for enemies to be made Jesus’ footstool. We see the sinful woman in Luke 7 wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, dry them with her hair and then anoint them with perfume. We saw Jesus, as a demonstration of his love, wash the disciples’ feet. I was mistaken earlier. Feet are both quite popular and very beautiful.
Reason #4: Any verse that announces peace, good tidings, salvation, and that God reigns over all the world (even over Babylon); and then goes on to proclaim redemption, restoration and joy has to be a great verse and is worthy of inclusion here.
Reason #5: This verse is the basis of several good contemporary songs, including the ever popular “Our God Reigns.” You don’t make a song just out of any verse.
Four Reasons Why I’m Not Wild About Isaiah 52:7’s Inclusion as One of Our Seven Verses
Reason #1: Wright gives each of his verses a title (Genesis 1:1 is Creation, Micah 6:8 is Prophets, etc.). This chapter is aptly named “Gospel.” And yet, if I was going to pick a “Gospel” verse, I would not pick Isaiah 52:7. I would, however, pick a verse like Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah 55 (probably verse 7, but they are all great), Hosea 14:1-3, Joel 2:13, and Micah 7:18-19—just to name a few (and not including any from the Psalms). And there are all sorts of verses that speak of the people being called back from exile (for example, Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 51:3, Jeremiah 12:15, Jeremiah 30:18, and Ezekiel 39:25—just to name a few). Isaiah 52:7 is a great verse, but I am not sure it would be in my top ten “Gospel” verses from the Old Testament.
Reason #2: Although Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7 (see reasons for including this verse above), Isaiah 53:5-6 plays a much more significant role in the New Testament. In fact, scholars argue that Isaiah 53 (the chapter and not just verses 5-6) is cited or alluded to approximately 41 times in the New Testament. More than that, the Gospels clearly see the atonement of Jesus through the lens of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. Jesus certainly is referring to Isaiah 53 when he says in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” There is little doubt that each of Jesus’ predictions of his death lean heavily on Isaiah’s words, and Peter (1 Peter 2:24-25) quotes it specifically. Even the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 when Philip approached him. In other words, if we have to choose a “gospel” verse that is used in the New Testament, we would do better to choose one from Isaiah 53 than one from Isaiah 52.
Reason #3: While Isaiah 52:7 had a tremendous emotive appeal to those suffering in exile, it has less of an emotional force for us today. I would prefer each of my seven verses to grip the reader and fill them with faith, hope and love. I like Isaiah 52:7, but it pales in significance to Isaiah 53.
Reason #4: Since Wright classifies this as his “Gospel” verse (and not his historical text that shows the flow of biblical history and reveals the grace of God in restoring his people back to the promised land after the exile), I have to ask which verse—Isaiah 52:7 or Isaiah 53:6—would best serve us as we gather to partake of the Lord’s Supper and remember all that Jesus has done for us (the Gospel). For me, there is no question and the answer is obvious. I have never quoted Isaiah 52:7 as we prepared for the bread or the wine, but I have regularly quoted Isaiah 53:5-6.
My Conclusion about Isaiah 52:7 as One of the Seven Verses
I saw this assignment as a type of thought-experiment akin to the question if you could only have seven books with you on a desert island, which seven would you choose? I understand why Wright has chosen the verses he did and agree with several of them, but if I can only have seven verses with me on my island, I would most definitely choose Isaiah 53:6 over Isaiah 52:7. And I would do so without hesitation and without any buyer’s remorse. In short, when it comes to my choice for a Gospel verse, the choice is not between Isaiah 52:7 and Isaiah 53:6, but rather Isaiah 53:5 and Isaiah 53:6. Good luck making that choice. It would be like choosing one foot over another!
