Still wandering the Eternal Courts in his spirit, Isaiah reports on the sights which meet his eyes there. Here he speaks of that condition when the Lord is actually Lord over His people. Again, this is less a description of some time and place in history, and more about the way things go when God actually reigns.
Isaiah describes the symbolic City of God. The protecting wall is God's deliverance, and only those faithful to Him can enter the gates. The peace which God grants is peace indeed for those who truly desire to please Him. God can build a perfect heart, and only what He builds will last. Those who trust in anything else will find the entire thing collapsing under His judgment.
The prophet finds himself lost in this spirit of joy and peace. God is the very definition of good and right, and no one can claim that without a commitment to His service. Not merely in terms of obedience, as in the Law, but with a full desire to please Him. This is the sort of desire which can keep earnest souls awake at night, wakens them before dawn, always seeking to know His desire. An essential element of His desire is to reveal Himself to the world.
You would think merely catching a glimpse of God's grace and glory would be enough to change men's hearts, yet it is not. There are some who would live among a whole nation of God's servants, and would still find a way to live in sin. It's as if they cannot see God standing right before them. Yet, in due time, they will surely see, when it is too late to repent. It's funny how such people envy God's blessings on His own, burn with a fire to have such advantage, yet that lust consumes them and lays waste their lives.
Those who belong to God will know peace, if only because He does all the works of peace in them. Every other thing to which a man might devote himself leads to destruction. God alone can make Himself known, and delivers from that bondage by His name. All other gods are imaginary, dead spirits which cannot rise into life, and are quickly forgotten in His grace. That grace will eventually build a true nation, a true Israel who will glorify the name of Jehovah. That nation will overflow human boundaries.
This brings Isaiah to moment of bitter confession. His earthly nation of Israel did well to call on the Lord when they were in trouble, but it was about the only time they remembered Him. It seems Israel was always on the verge of bringing forth the witness of God, always in pain and struggling, but never quite delivering that witness. Instead, it was empty, like the wind. The revelation of God never seemed to escape Israel, never touched anyone else in the world.
Still, Isaiah rejoices in knowing there are a few who truly belong to Him. They will all die, but their bodies will be raised again. Like dew falling on the desert, the seeds hidden in the dust will sprout with the resurrected bodies of the redeemed. At any given time, these redeemed of spirit will be few, and Isaiah calls to them in every generation to set themselves apart -- the very image of holiness. By cheerfully facing their earthly demise, they escape the growing evil of the fallen world. It will continue to grow until God's judgment and wrath will wash over the whole earth. All the hidden sins will be revealed in His holy presence. For His beloved ones, this will be a day of rejoicing.
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By Ed Hurst
11 December 2008
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