Isaiah 22:12
And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
The Lord God of hosts called His people to show grief and repentance by weeping and mourning, by shaving the head, and by putting on sackcloth. The call belongs to a prophecy directed against Jerusalem, setting it apart from the prophecies against the surrounding foreign nations. Its force stands in its contrast with the people's actual response of feasting and pleasure-seeking, killing cattle, eating flesh, and drinking wine. In a time of calamity and crisis it summons God's people and Zion to weep, grieve, humble themselves, and fast, while insensibility to that trouble brings condemnation and severe displeasure. Applied to the investigative judgment, it calls God's people to mourning, prayer, fasting, deep searching of heart, and afflicting the soul and controlling appetite, that they may discern spiritual truth and follow their High Priest's work, while refusal to heed it and continuance in indulgence leaves iniquity unpurged until death.
Meaning and Historical Setting
In that day the Lord GOD of hosts called the people to express grief and repentance through weeping and mourning, through baldness or shaving their heads, and through girding themselves with sackcloth. The call belongs to a prophecy directed against Jerusalem, which distinguishes it from the surrounding prophecies against foreign nations. It stands in a prophecy concerning Israel, one of the prophecies in chapters 20, 21, and 22 concerning Assyria, the wilderness of the South, Idumea, and Israel.
Its setting sets this divine call to mourn and humble themselves against the response pictured in the surrounding verses. There the people instead choose feasting and pleasure-seeking rather than responding to the call to mourn. They slaughter animals, eat flesh, and drink wine, choosing feasting and wine instead of mourning.
Call to Repentance and Judgment
In a time of calamity and crisis the Lord calls His people to mourn and weep and show grief, and to humble themselves through fasting, and Zion's troubles are properly met with mourning. Those who do not respond to that call fall under condemnation, for insensibility to trouble in such a time brings severe displeasure.
The call is to mourn over sins, so that rejoicing while concealing wrongdoing and failing to repent stands contrary to it. Those who have not faced the evil of their hearts have not done a thorough work of repentance and turning to God. When people turn from God, His true church weeps while they rejoice, and her mourning in contrast to their celebration foreshadows a later reversal when the faithful rejoice in God and those who rejected Him mourn over their ruined hopes.
In the climax of national fatness, when the financial and commercial capital displays speculation and gambling and riotous living and overabounding extravagance and luxury, the Lord God of hosts calls to weeping and mourning and humiliation. That luxury is as ephemeral as summer fruit and will end in judgment. Applied to the investigative judgment, the call with the following verses summons God's people to mourning and prayer and fasting and deep searching of heart. They are to afflict their souls and control their appetites so they can discern spiritual truth and follow their High Priest's work, watching and praying and avoiding surfeiting and drunkenness while the judgment decides who is worthy and unworthy. Choosing feasting and wine instead and refusing that call and continuing in indulgence leaves iniquity unpurged until death.