Isaiah 52:7

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! The voice of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah returneth to Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for Jehovah hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. Jehovah hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

The apostle Paul applied this passage to the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:15); and the truth that Israel's God reigneth (Isaiah 52:7) is a reference to the same reality proclaimed "By John the Baptist, and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that, `The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!'"[10] As regards the exact time when that reign of God (through Christ) began, it was upon that occasion when Jesus Christ declared that, "All authority in heaven and upon earth has been given unto me" (Matthew 18:18-20). Some people find it hard to harmonize the fact of God's current reign upon earth with the presence of much evil in the world; but all such doubts fail when it is realized that, at the very darkest hours in the history of the Old Israel, as in this chapter, while the people were languishing in captivity, God was reigning then; and God through Christ is reigning now! The most delusive notion ever entertained by mortals is that all men will, in some glorious tomorrow, submit to the Word of God. The reason that the vast majority of Adam's race are condemned to eventual destruction is due to the fact that God has given men the freedom of choice; and as Jesus said, "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby" (Matthew 7:13). God will never rule in human hearts that reject his word, deny the Christ, and by choice prefer the service of Satan.

This reference to those "who bring good tidings and publish peace" is an oft recurring subject in Isaiah, as in Isaiah 40:9 and Isaiah 41:27, another signature declaring Isaiah as the author.

"Jehovah hath laid bare his holy arm ..." (Isaiah 52:10). When Isaiah wrote these words there were tremendous apparent contradictions in the contemporary situation that seemed to deny God's authority. Jerusalem was in ruins, her temple destroyed, its sacred vessels used for wine and debaucheries for the king of Babylon and his concubines. How could men believe that God reigned in a situation like that? But men of every age have been tempted by the same questions. "How can men believe that God is king when evil seems to be enthroned on every hand".'?[11] Isaiah here reveals the answer, namely, that God rules in the kingdoms of men (Daniel 4:25). God has control of all history, regardless of how the circumstances of any given generation may seem to contradict it.