Text: Isaiah 21:1-17, Isaiah 22:1-25, 1 Corinthians 15:54, 1 Peter 2:6
We’re in the thick of Isaiah’s prophecy now, about a third of the way through the book we call by his name. But if you’re like me, things don’t feel much clearer than when we first began. So far in our reading, I’ve come across more questions than answers. But I think that’s okay. I think this feeling we’re feeling (are you feeling it, too?) is by design. We are not meant to feel comfortable here.
Isaiah’s prophecy to this point, both in general and in detail, is dark. If his message were one of those Magic 8-balls we had when we were kids, we’d shake it and it would say, “Outlook not good.” Judgment was coming. This was certain.
“Looking” is a recurring theme in these two chapters. We see it in chapter 21 when the Lord tells Isaiah, “Go, post a lookout; let him report what he sees” (v.6). The watchman sees what the Lord said he would: horsemen approaching in pairs. “Babylon has fallen, has fallen,” the Lord replies. “All the images of her gods have been shattered on the ground” (v.9).
As readers of Isaiah’s prophecy, we look, too, watching the scene through our modern-day imaginations. And we see it: destruction and devastation, pain and anguish. We see a kingdom fall along with its false gods—gods incapable of rescue.
Further into chapter 21, we see the lookers again. In his oracle against Dumah, Isaiah reports: “One calls to me from Seir, ‘Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?” (v.11). Desperation echoes in the repetition; surely there is something good, somewhere off in the distance? And there is—for a moment. “Morning has come, and also night,” the watchman replies (v.12). There is hope, sure, he says, but it won’t last.
In short, Isaiah 21 leaves us right where we started: lost in darkness and despair, no hope to be found among us.
No hope to be found among us.
Hope had to come to us. And Hope did, though we refused to see Him (John 1:10-11).
In chapter 22, Isaiah’s prophecy pivots to an oracle against Jerusalem, the holy city itself. Though referred to here as the “Valley of Vision,” Jerusalem was blind. They’d built up walls of self-reliance and weapons of their own strength, all in vain. They looked to themselves, forgetting their God. The prophet says to them:
“You made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the ancient pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or consider the One who created it long ago.”
– Isaiah 22:11
God called Israel to repent, but they had a party. God offered them solace, but they celebrated their futility instead. God said “Look!”, but they would not see.
What about us? Will we look? Not just to the future, hoping for a bright light on the horizon. Not to ourselves, drawing strength from our empty wells. And certainly not to whatever shallow joy we can cook up on our own. No, we look to the Lord of Hosts.
The Lord is the One who establishes kings and kingdoms, and He is the One who remains after they fall.
The Lord is the One who calls out to those in darkness and implores them to see His face—beautiful, holy, good.
The Lord is the One whose holy justice cannot overlook sin, and He is the One whose merciful compassion provides sin’s remedy at His own expense.
The cross of Christ was the darkest point on the landscape of humanity, but that sacrifice purchased our rescue. Because of Jesus, His death and glorious resurrection, death itself “has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Devastation is still all around us, and we are bowed down, dismayed (Isaiah 21:3). But we look. We look to Christ. We look to Christ and we return to Him, repenting of our sin and trusting Jesus, the only true and lasting Hope.
Thanks be to God and to Jesus Christ, our eternal, incorruptible Savior. Amen.
“Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!” This verse really stood out to me. They had lost all hope. My study bible notes hit the nail on the head and said when people are hopeless they respond with despair or self-indulgence. Our response should be to trust God. He is our hope. I went a step further and googled the definition of hope. Of course it means to have a feeling of expectation and desire for something to happen but it also means to have a feeling of trust. How often to we lose our trust in a situation? God has authority over ALL things. Why can’t we just trust in Him and HOPE that He has a bigger plan?
Thank you for the encouragement this morning, Mandy! Grateful for you.
– Stormye
This helps me understand a bit clearer what is going on in our culture- lots of hopelessness.
Yes!!!! Our culture has stopped trusting in God!
I need you Lord. Thank you that your mercy is new this morning.
This is a very solemn study, which I fully expected, but it amazes me how reading through books of the Bible changes as we mature. After being saved in my 20s, I read Isaiah and thought mainly of how the people were getting their just desserts. Which of course is true, but rather heartless. After having 3 children, Bible reading tended to be a rushed and hurried affair, especially as it pertained to the Old Testament. I’d read it many times before, knew the story, yep, those people were being punished….now in my 40s, with my firstborn in college and pregnant with number 6, these passages fill me with concern and a deep compassion. How much I identify with God as a parent, having begged His children to pay heed, to obey His Word, only to finally come to the place where He knows they must be punished. Our Father doesn’t look at the punishment as something He enjoys, it breaks His heart, but He must do it because He is Holy and Just. I have been there as a parent. And I know I have put the Father in that position myself with my own waywardness. How many times have I been a hearer of the Word, and not a doer? And how often have I looked at the mess our nation is in, our world, and felt the weight of concern for all the souls who only live for themselves, deliberately pushing thoughts of their Creator to the side? Yet God, in His greatness, calls each and every one of us to Himself, and provides a Way. This has never meant more to me than now.
Rebecca, thank you for your thoughts. When I first studied Isaiah I was pregnant with my third son. Now my last “arrow” of six, a daughter, is in college. God, our Father, is holy and just, but compassionate too. We can only pray that our nation would repent and give Him the glory He is due. And pray too that each of us has a heartfelt desire to make disciples. May your sixth bring Him glory!
Rebecca, what beautiful insight! Thank you for sharing. Praying for you and baby number 6 this morning.
– Stormye
Love your perspective! I will have to reread again once I’m a mother.
“The Lord is the One whose holy justice cannot overlook sin, and He is the One whose merciful compassion provides sin’s remedy at His own expense.”
Thus far in the Lent series, we have been reading the bleak environment of God’s people and the surrounding countries. At times the LORD is the stereotypical “God of the Old Testament” displaying his might, wrath, and judgement. However, the writer of today’s thought reframes the Old Testament God of my childhood teaching with a God that is pure and holy and cannot dwell in the presence of sin. He is the God that set into motion perfect law that bring order to chaos, peace to restlessness, and direction to waywardness.
The lesson I keep learning through reading Isaiah is that the punishment given to all of these sinful people and countries is the very punishment I deserve. Sin is sin regardless of the year, culture, or circumstance. Sin is breaking God’s natural and written law, which causes an imbalance in our relationship with Him. The only way balance can be restored is through punishment, which we all feel because the LORD put a sense of justice within us.
But Praise be to God that he sent his Son, a piece of His holy, pure, and divine self to take on my punishment for my sin. The LORD desperately longs for union with His people that he found a way to act justly according to the law He set in place, but sparing us so that we may we reunified and reconciled to Him through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior.
Thank you to all of the writers thus far in the series for making Isaiah palatable and bringing to light the goodness and mercies of our LORD.
“Sin is sin regardless of the year, culture, or circumstance” thank you for this Caroline! Reading Isaiah sometimes feels like reading a history book – I forget that I’m part of the story. I am grateful too, for the way it’s made palatable in this study.
Amen, Caroline! Thank you for sharing. Encouraged by your words this morning!
– Stormye
People will say, “Eat, drink and be merry!” Do they not know the next line…..”For tomorrow we die!” If they did they might not post these words in their kitchens. Praying for God to speak daily to me and for me to be ever listening and discerning his will in my life. Thanks for the study. I love it!
What conviction Isaiah 22 brings! Verse 8 talks about how the Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah. God was doing something among them to teach them, but rather than using that to turn to Him they took life into their own hands. They tried to patch holes. They tried to build a reservoir for water. They probably thought they were doing the right thing by repairing Jerusalem…isn’t that what God would have wanted? Except they completely forgot God in all of their work. How often do I do what I think would please God, forgetting God in the whole process? What if the pain I’m trying to avoid or fix from my life is actually a gift from God to draw me back to Himself and here I am just trying to patch gaping holes with bandaids? This morning is bringing deep conviction to this self-reported perfectionist planning woman!
Audrey,
I am definitely a perfectionist planner myself! We have to let ourselves look to God before, while, and after we plan. Praying for both of us today :)
Thanks for your words Audrey! Just what I needed to be reminded of…”What if the pain I’m trying to avoid or fix from my life is actually a gift from God to draw me back to Himself and here I am just trying to patch gaping holes with bandaids?”
Thank you for this. My husband has been going through a stressful time at work over the last month and God has been calling to him through it. It’s an unsettling time for us, as we’re unsure what will come of his work situation and I’m about to give birth to our first baby but we are trying to remember that God is in control. If you think of it, pray that he would have the ability to act with integrity and Christian witness as things blow up at work and that I would know how to best support him through it.
I just prayed for you, Meg! I am so sorry for what you are experiencing right now. You are an excellent example to us all of having your priorities in the right place in the midst of trial- desiring that your husband’s witness and integrity for Christ be paramount to all else that you are surely feeling overwhelmed by. May the Lord swiftly bring a solution for your husband’s work that is a solid and perhaps yet unthought of and unforeseen blessing for you and your family – may He bring you peace and tangible hope as you carry your dear child, and may He use you in exactly the perfect way that suits your family to uplift and support your husband in what he is going through during this time. Continue to seek first the Kingdom, and may restoration and a new way for you all be ushered in. In the Name of Jesus.
Thank you Audrey for such a clear picture of these words in Isaiah!! No more bandaids…. we need to drawer nearer and see & listen to what God may be doing.
Wonderful thoughts that made the song “Blessings” by Laura Story come to mind…
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know Your near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvgzjNb_X3Q
I am with you! Becoming more and more convinced of this truth! Beautifully said!
Audrey, I’ve been wrestling with this very issue myself. I am also a perfectionist planner, and sometimes I find myself trusting more in my methods than in Christ. I want to be more disciplined and organized, which are good things, but when I begin to depend on my self-improvement strategies as the means of “fixing” my life, I keep myself from realizing my need to seek God. Thank you for drawing my attention to this area of my life!
Oh are we in a potential “Jerusalem” type of season right now. We have buckled down and focused our hearts on Christ in this period but I know that the enemy hides, wringing his hands, in wait for the moment to jump in and have us “building up walls of self-reliance and weapons of our own strength”. As life would have it, the takeover I mentioned a couple of weeks went off without a hitch for my husband and his staff, although less than 48 hours into the new ownership and he saw and heard things his heart didn’t like. He was asked to manage people he cared about in a way that he wasn’t comfortable with and when concern was voiced, he was told to leave and so here we are, my husband with no job at present and myself in my “off” season. I know it is a place that could easily have us turning to our own abilities, fixing our eyes on what we can control but I am prayerful with each day that passes in this that we have our eyes on Christ, that we hear clearly His plan and that our feet walk steadily in that direction. It is easy to live in this “YOLO” kind of way and do whatever we feel we want to do in this but we know God is being clear and commanding us to “Be still” … so be still we will. Prayerful that my husband and I only see Christ, in those moments of worry or concern that we see the Cross and in the periods of despair, confusion or even sadness we see the bright light that is Hope because we know through Christ we have all we ever need.
Praying for you both today! Those seasons can be tough and a little scary, but I’m glad you have faith that will get you through!
Thank you for the prayers, very much!
Oh, B, my prayer is for strength, peace and confidence in a God who never fails even when the darkness surrounds us. Draw on your past victories as reminders that He will do it again! ♥
Thank you, friend! I am so thankful for prayers our way right now. Holding tight to God’s promises and looking forward to see how He works this all out! :)
Praying for you and your family.
Thank you, Pam!
Prayers for you and your family during this season of waiting. May this turn into a great blessing and your husband be led into a job that is perfect for him and blesses you all bigger than the previous one did.
Thank you, very much, Alexis. I am so prayerful that this new job, whatever and whenever it may be, will bless my husband so much more.
Praying for you and your family today. I know this time of uncertainty is hard and I’m grateful for the fact that our God is constant when our circumstances are not. Praising the Lord for your obedience in this time. Grateful to have you in our community!
– Stormye
Thank you, Stormye. So thankful that God *is* constant. That truth brings such peace in this season.
Praying for you. I find Lent is often the season of most blessings and most warfare from the enemy. God bless.
“The people were behaving in a very different manner from how the *Lord intended them to behave. The people only cared about their own pleasures. They did not bother themselves about God’s instructions. They had not obeyed him. And their actions showed that they were not sorry about their evil behaviour. The people did not really expect to ‘die tomorrow’. It was merely a way to say that only today’s pleasure interested them. The *Lord knew the future. These people would never change their behaviour. So they would never qualify for him to forgive them.” (commentary on Isaiah 22:12-14 from http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/isaiah21-30-lbw-nh.htm)
I tend to be so self-reliant and forget to pray for direction. I want to be one who looks and sees, not one who listens but doesn’t hear.