Isaiah 52:15, “Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.”
Isaiah anticipates a day when the kings of the nations will come to understand something that had previously been unknown to them and that—upon understanding it—they will be humbled and silenced before it. What is previously veiled and now revealed reality? I would contend that it is YHWH Himself as revealed in the definitive work of revelatory redemption: the resurrection-illumined cross of Christ.
Just two verses earlier, Isaiah envisions the Suffering Servant who will be “high and lifted up” (52:13). John teaches us that this Servant is Christ Himself, who—to the eyes of faith—is exalted to the throne of glory as He is lifted up on the cross. WHEN the Suffering Servant is raised up on the throne, and marred beyond human semblance so that His blood sprinkles all nations, THEN the eschatological salvation of YHWH will be revealed, which means THEN the true Name and Character and Identity of YHWH will be manifest….And it is THIS revelation of God in Christ that I believe causes the kings to shut their mouths and bow their heads in awe.
And so, just as Job is humbled and silenced before the revelation of YHWH (Job 42:1-6), so too the kings and rulers of the nations—and, indeed, all people—will be similarly quieted and laid low before the definitive revelation of YHWH in Christ.
No one can imagine who God is…no one can theorize or through logical deduction arrive at an understanding of His identity….He Himself must reveal it. And He reveals it—contrary to all expectation—on the cross of Calvary as it is illumined by the light of the resurrection. It is there and there alone that we see what we have not been told and we understand what we have not heard…and to truly see and truly understand that God is THIS ONE, is to be humbled, silenced, and moved to repentance. May it be so for us all.
