Isaiah 30:19-33 Grace in Action

 

The grace that the Lord will show towards His people when they repent is depicted here under three images: the Lord the teacher (vv. 19-22), the Lord the healer (vv. 23-26), and the Lord the warrior (vv. 27-33).

It would way too easy to picture the Lord as the “waiting God” and see Him as purely passive up to the point where repentance is manifested. But the complementary picture which Isaiah now presents, of the Lord as the teacher, shows that this is not so. He disciplines His people (v. 20a), reveals Himself to them in their suffering (v. 20b), and gently shows them the way out of it (v. 21). That is, as teacher He actually encourages and makes possible the response for which He waits. His grace is at work before repentance as well as after it. Of course, the Lord had always been Israel’s teacher, but her people, and especially her leaders, had been too blind – willfully so – to recognize Him as such. Verses 20 and 21 of the passage indicate how this situation will be finally reversed. In the midst of the adversity and affliction which He will bring upon them, the Lord will reveal Himself afresh to them as their teacher, and this time they will recognize Him as such and be willing to be taught by Him. The ‘voice behind you’ of verse 21 points to the new, delightful intimacy which will then exist between God and His people and the casting away of idols, in verse 22, is the natural consequence of this. For idols speak of divided loyalties, and there can be no place for that among those who have returned wholeheartedly to the Lord as their teacher. His very first commandment is ‘You shall have no other gods besides me.’

Isaiah then goes on to speak of the restored fruitfulness of their land (vv. 23-26), and it is in this context that he speaks of the Lord as the healer, who binds up the bruises of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted (v. 26b). What is envisioned here is a complete reversal of the situation presented in the opening chapter of the book. There the Lord’s discipline had left Judah devastated, and her land devoured by aliens. Metaphorically she is described as bruised and bleeding, with her wounds unbandaged. Here, in chapter 30, the wounds are bound up and the land restored. Abundant, God-given rain ensures bumper crops and prosperous herds, and working animals that are strong because of their rich fair (vv. 23-24) through God’s grace. But there is something greater, of which the immediate recovery would be but a foretaste. For Isaiah goes on, in verses 25 and 26a, to speak of a transformed cosmos in which streams will flow on the tops of mountains and the sun will be seven times brighter! Clearly, at this point Isaiah leaves the plane of history and fires our imagination with images of paradise – a world too beautiful for words to describe or finite minds to grasp. The same long-range perspective is implied by the ominous reference in verse 25 to the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. Something far more terrible that Sennacherib’s invasion must befall the world before the new, perfect age of God’s blessing can come – a truth which Isaiah constantly holds before us. The world must be purged of its evil by God’s judgment before, finally and forever, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

The third picture, of the Lord as the warrior (vv. 27-33), has the same double focus that we have seen in the previous image. In the foreground stands the coming overthrow of Assyria (v. 31). But in the background stands the final, universal judgment, when the Lord’s wrath will fall on the nations (v. 28). The unit contains a mixture of metaphors but by far the dominant one is that of the warrior. Much of the imagery of water and fire in the present passage is drawn from the exodus background, and the general context here, as there, is the gracious action of God for His people. During their history, the Lord has from time to time had to fight against them in order to discipline them, but finally He will show them His grace again by fighting for them and overthrowing their enemies. The coming defeat of the Assyrians will be a foretaste of that final victory. And just as the Lord’s victory at the Red Sea was celebrated in song, so will His final victory be (v. 29). But is it proper to celebrate something as terrible as what is described here? The unhesitating reply of Isaiah and of the Bible as a whole is, ‘Yes!” The singing, joyful hearts which God’s people will have are, for God’s judgment will be seen to be the absolutely just and right thing that it is. The Lord’s action as warrior is the final expression of His grace to those who have cried out to Him for salvation (v.19). There can be no salvation, however, without judgment, and in the end the choice is ours. The Lord is the warrior, and we must all finally meet Him as either deliverer or destroyer.

Isaiah 30:19-33 Reflection Questions:

How has the Lord been a teacher to you? Did you listen to Him right away or did it take awhile?

Looking back in hind sight do you see how God’s grace has been active in your life?

How have you seen God as a healer in your life?

How do you see God as a warrior?

What idol or idols do you need to get rid of now?

Hebrews 1:4-14 Christ’s Superiority to Angels

 

What are angels? What does God’s Word tell us? Angels are mentioned over 100 times in the Old Testament and more than 160 times in the New Testament. They exist in vast numbers. On one occasion they are described as assembling in great numbers (see Rev. 5:11). In most cases they are invisible, as was the experience of Balaam when the Lord had to open his eyes so he could see the angel blocking his way (Num. 22:31). Or consider Elisha’s servant who had his eyes opened so he could see that he was protected by encircling chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:17). Ordinarily when angels are visible, they have a human-like appearance and are often mistaken for men (see Gen. 18:2; 19:1-2; Mark 16:5). Sometimes they have shined with glorious light (Matt. 28:3; Luke 2:9). Other times they have appeared as fabulous winged creatures – seraphim and cherubim (Exodus 25:20; Isaiah 6:2). The Hebrew word for angel is malak and the Greek angelos. Both mean “messenger,” designating their essential functions as divine message-bearers. As God’s messengers they can wield immense power – for example, staying entire armies (2 Kings 19:35) or delivering captives (Acts 12:7-11).

Regarding angels’ specific function, there are at least four: First, angels continuously worship and praise the God they serve. Second, angels communicate God’s message to man. Third, angels minister to believers. Fourth angels will be God’s agents in the final earthly judgments and Second Coming. But despite all their cosmic excellencies, their significance dwindles in the presence of Christ. Thus, we come to the grand theme of Hebrews 1:4-14, Christ’s superiority to angels. Why does the writer expound it here? Because some of the Jewish believers to whom he was writing were in danger of compromising Jesus’ superiority and lapsing into Judaism. They were tempted to compromise. If they would simply agree that Jesus was an angel, perhaps even the greatest of angels, but not God, they would be accepted into the synagogue and escape the awful pressure. It takes only a little thought to identify with this temptation, because the supremacy of Christ brings tension in everyday life. But the writer of Hebrews is determined that his friends not fall to this.

Christ’s superiority is first adduced because He has a superior name (vv. 4-5). Jesus had the name “Son” from all eternity, and it is the name He will always keep, as the perfect tense of the phrase “the name He has inherited” indicates. No angel ever had the title “Son”.

The next point in the author’s argument for Christ’s superiority over angels is that He is worshiped by angels (v. 6). Here he turns to the final lines of the Song of Moses (Deut. 32:43). The Jews considered these final lines to be messianic. Its obvious application is to the angelic worship that had its first occurrence on earth at the incarnation when all God’s angels worshiped Christ in Luke 2:13-14a).

Next the writer demonstrates the superiority of Christ to angels by contrasting their status: the angels are servants, but the Son is sovereign. Psalm 104:4 is quoted regarding the angels’ being servants: “Of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame if fire’” (v. 7).

For the fourth proof of Christ’s superiority, the writer quotes Psalm 102:25-27, which contains a broken man’s rising awareness and celebration of God’s transcending existence (which of course, describes Christ’s existence by virtue of His creatorship: “through whom also He created the world,” 1:2). Psalm 102 reads as it is recorded here in verses 10-12 of our text.

The clinching argument for Christ’s superiority over angels is vocation: Christ rules; angels serve. That Christ rules supreme is proven by a passage quoted more often in the New Testament than any other (14 times). Jesus even quoted it Himself and applied it to Himself at His trial (Mark 12:36). It is Psalm 110:1 which is quoted here in verse 13. Christ’s absolute rulership is dramatically seen here in that it was the custom for a defeated king to prostrate himself and kiss his conqueror’s feet and for the victor to put his feet on the captive’s neck so that the captive became his footstool. One day every knee will bow before Christ, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. And all the angels will be in that number, both good and evil, for the Son is infinitely their superior. In contrast to Christ’s superior ruling vocation, the angels’ vocation is that of serving (v. 14). This does not mean their serving is a disgraceful vocation. Far from it! It is a sublime privilege. The point here is, however, that it is inferior to the Son’s vocation of ruling the universe.

But there is something more here for the harried church – a double encouragement. First, this supreme Son is their God. Christ’s cosmic superiority, prophetic superiority, priestly superiority, and angelic superiority were all at the believers’ service in a world that was falling apart. Second, in respect to Christ’s angelic superiority, all angels had been sent by Him as “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” The force of the original Greek is that the angels are perpetually being sent out to help God’s people – one after another!

The message to the harried, trembling church of the writer’s day, and to the Church universal, is this: Our superior Christ has assigned His angels to minister to us. And if He wills, He can deliver us anytime and anywhere He wishes. Christ is superior to everything. He is adequate in our hour of need. We must believe it and trust Him with all we are and have.

Hebrews 1:4-14 Reflection Questions:

Have you ever had a personal encounter with an angel?

Have you ever been tempted to compromise on your faith in Jesus?

What part of this study has encouraged you the most?