Vineyard Church North Phoenix | July 25, 2008

Isaiah 32

Isaiah’s vision again moves beyond contemporary and future judgment to portray a “king [who] will reign in righteousness” (32:1). This grand messianic vision picks up themes found in other prophecies, portraying first one who does away with life’s unfairnesses (vv. 2-8). His judgments will shake the complacent (vv. 9-14), but lead to a pouring out of God’s Spirit that brings personal and international peace (vv. 15-20).

The Messiah and ideal government. Isa. 9 introduced the picture of Messiah as a ruler, announcing that “the government will be on His shoulders” (v. 6). These and other chapters of Isa. give us a vision of ideal government, usually associated with the messianic king. He will correct injustices, judge sinners, and establish righteousness, and “the fruit of righteousness will be peace.”

Forever . . . until (32:14-15). There is a vital truth in the saying that Israel’s land will become a “wasteland forever” and in the same sentence add, “till the Spirit is poured upon us.” Human beings are unable to reverse the effects of sin and its consequences. From our perspective, the devastation truly is forever. Yet God, who created by His Spirit, hovering over the face of the waters, can and will recreate! With man, the darkness is forever.

“Peace” (32:17-18). The Heb. word for peace, shalom, expresses a basic and vital biblical concept. The word suggests wholeness and harmony, that which is complete and sound, prosperous, healthy, and fulfilled. The word occurs over 200 times in the O.T. In narrative books it typically is used to describe an absence of hostility or strife. In the psalms and the prophets it goes beyond this, so that in at least 2/3 of the biblical references the word indicates a total fulfillment that comes when persons experience God’s presence. Isa. 32:15-16 portrays both the inner peace and material prosperity that will mark the joyful fulfillment of man’s hopes under the rule of the Messiah, God’s Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).

The N.T.’s word for peace, eirene, originally meant the ordered life that was possible when a people were not at war. Later, the concept was expanded to include an inner, personal peace. “Peace” is mentioned over 60 times in the N.T., with this later meaning, enriched by the O.T. idea of shalom. In Christ our lives are made whole, our relationships are harmonized, and we experience the spiritual and psychological wholeness that God intended for human beings in the original creation (see Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14-17; Heb. 12:14; Col. 3:12-15).

Righteousness and peace (32:15-17). Peace is possible only where there is righteousness, and righteousness only where God’s Spirit transforms humankind. Isa. 57:20-21 says, “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. `There is no peace,’ says my God, `for the wicked.’ “

Isaiah 33

With the destroyer destroyed (33:1-4), the exalted Lord Himself is to be the foundation for better times (vv. 5-12). That coming will terrify sinners, but seem a refuge to the righteous (vv. 13-16). Jerusalem will become the capital of the kingdom, supplying and satisfying all (vv. 17-24).

Survivors (33:14-16). One of the basic concepts in O.T. prophecy is that the divine judgments foretold will purge sinners, but that the righteous will survive. In fact, the Heb. word sa‘ar is a technical term, as used by the prophets, where it designates a “remnant” composed of Israelites who are converted and who receive the blessings promised in the O.T. covenants. Thus Isaiah says to the remnant, the Messiah “will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure” (33:6). This eschatological remnant is described in Joel 2:32 and Ezek. 6:8-9.

But the concept of a remnant has a present as well as eschatological meaning. However great Israel’s apostasy, and however terrible God’s judgments, the Lord is committed to preserve a faithful few (see 1 Kings 19:18; Mal. 3:16-18). The Apostle Paul applies this doctrine in two ways. First, he shows that salvation has always been by faith and that physical relationship to Abraham was no automatic guarantee of God’s favor (Rom. 9:8). And in Rom. 11:26 he declares that God’s O.T. promises still stand, for a remnant of the Jews will always be preserved and in a yet future day “all Israel will be saved, as it is written.”

Isaiah 34

Isaiah continues his description of history’s end with his characteristic alternating of images of terrifying judgments and exultant joy. First the prophet addresses the nations, announcing God’s anger (34:1-2). Terrible slaughter awaits all their armies, for God has a day of vengeance in store for those who have troubled His people (vv. 3-8). Isaiah focuses on Edom and describes what awaits this hostile people as illustrative of the fate of all nations (vv. 9-16).

Vengeance. The theme of divine vengeance and retribution dominates chapters 34 and 35. While some draw back from this doctrine, concerned with what they assume is an ascription of vindictiveness to God, both O.T. and N.T. boldly affirm the truth that the Lord is a “God who avenges” (Ps. 94:1). Deut. 32:34-35 says, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

A few times vengeance, naqam, is executed through human agencies (see Num. 31:2-3; Josh. 10:13). Yet no individual has God’s permission to take personal revenge. The reason is that vengeance is a judicial concept. It is reserved for God, as moral and spiritual Judge of His universe, to punish those who persistently reject Him, abandon His ways, and oppress the righteous. Typically vengeance is reserved for history’s end (see Isa. 63:1-6), and any present time is marked by a divine forebearance that provides individuals and nations with every opportunity to repent and to believe.

In the N.T., the doctrine is expressed in the Gk. dike and dikesis. This word has the primary meaning of “justice” and emphasizes the fact that vengeance is a judicial function reserved for God alone (Rom. 12:19). In the N.T., vengeance is also typically reserved for the future (Rom. 2:1-11). But its terrors are as graphically described in 2 Thes. 1:5-10 as they are in this and other O.T. prophetic passages.

The real wonder is not that God will certainly punish the unrepentant, but that He chose to vent His anger against sin on Christ rather than on us. Christ’s sufferings for us forever disprove the notion that a God of vengeance could not also be a God of love.

World conflict. A second major theme found in the O.T. and seen in these chapters is that of a great world conflict in which the armies of man are drawn up against the Lord and His people. This conflict, destined to take place at history’s end and to result in the crushing defeat of man’s rebellious forces, is described by many of the O.T. prophets. Among the passages which describe that conflict are Isa. 2:12-21; 30; 34-35; Ezek. 38-39; Dan. 11:40; Joel 2:1-17. The very same vision, of “the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse [Christ] and His [heavenly] army” is found in Rev. 19:9.

Reflection

Think about the Hebrew concept of peace. That is the peace that God wants for you. He doesn’t want you to just not have turmoil but he wants you to be whole. Jesus said that he came so you could have life and have it abundantly.