26:1 At that time this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city! The Lord’s deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure.
There will be a second song sung during the Millennial Kingdom. This song will be called “the song of salvation.” Chapter 26 recorded this future song which is to come. Only the Bible can predict the names and lyrics of future songs!
The city is Jerusalem. The city is strong, because the Messiah has made it strong with His salvation.
26:2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter— one that remains trustworthy.
This New Jerusalem has just recently been finished. The gates are opened to allow a righteous nation to enter into it. The righteous nation is Israel. The entire nation of Israel will be righteous, because they will finally believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you.
The ones who maintained their faith were the 1/3 of the believing Jewish Remnant who survived the Great Tribulation. They were protected by God during the Great Tribulation.
26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector!
This Jewish Remnant was commanded to continue in their trust of Jehovah.
26:5 Indeed, the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place, he brings down an elevated town; he brings it down to the ground, he throws it down to the dust.
Those who live in a high place were the citizens of Babylon. Babylon was the capital city of the Antichrist’s kingdom. The city of Babylon will be destroyed at the end of the Great Tribulation.
26:6 It is trampled underfoot by the feet of the oppressed, by the soles of the poor.”
The Babylonians attempted to stomp down the Jewish Remnant, but it is the Jewish Remnant who brought them down. This is another example of the kind-for-kind judgment of the Abrahamic Covenant.
26:7 The way of the righteous is level, the path of the righteous that you make is straight.
The righteous are those Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah.
26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, O Lord, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow.
During the Great Tribulation, the Jewish Remnant saw and experienced the judgments of God. Now that these judgments are over, Israel will look forward to having an intimate relationship with God.
26:9 I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.
The Jewish Remnant now wants to spend their days and nights in getting to know the God who saved them. The judgments of the Great Tribulation will accomplish two things. First, it purges wickedness out of the world. Second, it helps everyone come to their senses and see the reality of God and Satan. After the events of the Great Tribulation, the angels, demons, believers, and unbelievers will know by experience the differences between good and evil.
26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy, they do not learn about justice. Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
During the Great Tribulation, some will see the judgments of God as unjust and turn away from God. Others will see the judgments as righteous acts of God and turn to Him. Even though the wicked will see supernatural miracles, they will not believe because of their total depravity.
The same thing will happen in the Millennium Kingdom. Some will see God’s favor in a perfect government, but they still will not believe. They will rebel against God’s authority. This is why there will still be sin and death in the Millennial Kingdom. Even a perfect environment will not convince those who are totally depraved and evil to turn to God.
26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, but they don’t even notice. They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, yes, fire will consume your enemies.
During the Great Tribulation, the enemies will not notice God’s zeal for protecting Israel. The enemies will attack, which will be a violation of the Abrahamic Covenant. God will consume Israel’s enemies by fire.
26:12 O Lord, you make us secure, for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us.
While God is executing a divine war against the enemies of Israel, Israel will experience peace.
26:13 O Lord, our God, masters other than you have ruled us, but we praise your name alone.
During the Time of the Gentiles, other ruthless Gentiles nations have ruled over Israel. Daniel identified these Gentile nations as terrible beasts. During the Millennial Kingdom, Jehovah will rule Israel.
26:14 The dead do not come back to life, the spirits of the dead do not rise. That is because you came in judgment and destroyed them, you wiped out all memory of them.
Many cults and isms misinterpret this verse to teach against the resurrection. The Gentile kings who ruled ruthlessly over Israel are dead. Jehovah destroyed them, so they will no longer be remembered. They will not be resurrected in the Millennial Kingdom to rule over Israel. They will be forgotten and living in Sheol during the Millennial Kingdom. They will be resurrected to face judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment.
26:15 You have made the nation larger, O Lord, you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor, you have extended all the borders of the land.
During the Millennial Kingdom, the population of Israel will increase. There will be no more anti-Semites to reduce the population. All of the land which was promised to Israel will be filled with the Jewish population increase.
26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline.
During the Great Tribulation, Israel will look to God in prayer.
26:17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O Lord.
During the last 4,000 years, Israel has continually suffered like a woman in labor. At the end of the Great Tribulation, the birth pangs of Israel will become intensely sharper.
26:18 We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; people to populate the world are not born.
Even though Israel was pregnant with the Messiah and going through terrible birth pangs, she was never able to give birth to the Messianic Kingdom.
26:19 Your dead will come back to life; your corpses will rise up. Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits.
The dead who come back to life are the Old Testament saints. They will not be resurrected at the time of the Rapture along with the church saints. They will be resurrected after the Great Tribulation, so that they can enter into the Millennial Kingdom and possess the land which was promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The resurrection of the Old Testament saints is found in Daniel 12:2 and Hosea 13:14. This resurrection will be as the dew of the morning. It will bring fresh and prosperous life to Israel.
26:20 Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over!
The Jewish Remnant is commanded to go hide themselves during the Great Tribulation. They are to hide until the judgments of the Great Tribulation have ended. In Matthew 24:15–16, Jesus told the Jewish Remnant of the Great Tribulation to flee to the mountains. In Revelation 12:6, the Apostle John looked into the future and saw the Jewish people fleeing into the wilderness. In Micah 2:12, Bozrah (Petra in Greek) was prophesied as the specific place where the Jewish Remnant will flee. In Zechariah, 1/3 of all of the Jews will go into hiding.
26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, to punish the sin of those who live on the earth. The earth will display the blood shed on it; it will no longer cover up its slain.
At the end of the Great Tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ will come down from heaven and punish the Christ-rejecters upon the earth. During the Millennial Kingdom, the earth will display the blood upon it as a memorial to future generations. This blood will serve as continuous, visible evidence of the wickedness of humanity.