We come now to part four of Isaiah’s book (chapters 36-39). As we saw in the introduction, these chapters are in effect the pivot on which the book turns, and appear to have been designed to act as a bridge between its two halves. Likewise, the issue that these chapters throw into sharp relief is absolutely central to the book’s total message. It’s the issue of trust and where that trust should ultimately be placed. It is explored first against the backdrop of an Assyrian invasion that brought Judah to the verge of extinction, and then in the context of a diplomatic initiative from Babylon which appeared to offer Judah everything it needed. It was hard to believe, in these circumstances, that Judah’s security was in the Lord alone, and even harder to act on it. Ironically, it was the Assyrian invader who put the issue most succinctly: On whom are you depending? (36:5). It’s a question which the book of Isaiah forces us to ponder again and again, and with good reason, for our response to it will determine the whole shape of our lives.

Chapter 36 bounces us back with a sudden jolt from the glorious vision of the end to the very inglorious and frightening world of the here and now, or at least the here and now that Isaiah and his contemporaries had to wrestle with. True religion is always like that; it leads us not away from reality, but more deeply into it. It arms us with the knowledge of what will be, so that we can confront what is (however frightening it may be) with renewed courage and steadiness of purpose.

The invasion described so concisely and dispassionately in verse 1 was a devastating blow for Judah. Hezekiah had become embroiled in anti-Assyrian activity, and Sennacherib was determined to make him pay for it. He would teach the small states of the region a lesson they would never forget, and establish once for all the unassailable supremacy of Assyria in Palestine. As a key player in the recent unrest, Hezekiah was a special object of Sennacherib’s wrath. And the proud Assyrian arrived at the gates of Jerusalem with abundant proof of his invincibility. He had already swept across the north, down the Mediterranean coast and inland and northwards to Lachish. On his triumphant way he had attacked and captured all fortified cities of Judah (v. 1), and was in the process of doing the same to Lachish, Jerusalem’s last line of defense.

Sennacherib’s field commander presented Hezekiah’s men with powerful arguments for surrender. Egypt is in no position to help (v. 6); it’s no good looking to the Lord, because Hezekiah has destroyed most places where He was worshiped (v. 7); even if the Assyrians themselves were to give little Judah two thousand horses (they are taunting her now), she still could not defend herself (vv. 8-9); and in any case it is the Lord who has sent the Assyrians; they are His instrument to punish Judah, so what point is there in resisting (v. 10)? This speech is a classic study in the satanic art of sowing doubt and unbelief through subtly twisting the truth. Egypt was weak at this time, and in any case, the fall of Lachish would effectively cut off any Egyptian advance. The field commander’s warning about relying on Egypt echoes that of Isaiah himself.

The speech is so persuasive precisely because it contains so much that’s true. But its basic premise is false: namely, that the Lord has forsaken Judah, and therefore that trust is futile. It’s always Satan’s way to make us think that God has abandoned us, and to use logic woven from half-truths to convince us of it. This speech is so subtly devilish in character that it might have been written by Satan himself. The truth is that the Lord had brought Judah to the end of her own resources so that she might learn again what it meant to trust Him utterly. But He had not abandoned and would not abandon her.

Since the leaders appeared to be standing firm (no doubt to the field commander’s surprise), he decided another ploy. He had always meant the bystanders to overhear what he had to say; that was why he had used Hebrew instead of Aramaic. But now he addressed himself directly to them (vv. 13-20), and this time he is less subtle: they should forswear their allegiance to King Hezekiah (who is powerless), and entrust themselves to the great king, the king of Assyria, who will guarantee their prosperity (vv. 13-17). None of the gods of the other nations have been able to save them, so they should not listen any longer to Hezekiah’s lies about the Lord saving Judah (vv. 18-20). But the common people are not as easily swayed as the Assyrian expects them to be: they remain silent, as the king (Hezekiah) had commanded (v. 21). There are times when silence is the most eloquent testimony to whose we are and whom we serve.

So the ball is firmly back inn Hezekiah’s court (v. 22). The people will follow where he leads; in a sense, the lives of them all are in his hands. What will he do, and what resources can he call on at this fateful moment?

Isaiah 36:1-22 Reflection Questions:

In whom do you put your total trust in? If it is the Lord…how has that changed your life?

Has the Lord ever brought you to the end of your own resources so that you might learn again what it meant to trust Him utterly? Journal about it.

What would you do if you were in Hezekiah’s position?

In chapter 35 it is as though a brilliant shaft of light breaks through the clouds and all is bathed in splendor again. Arid wastes burst into bloom as the glory of the Lord comes down like refreshing showers, and the whole earth shouts for joy (vv. 1-2). It’s a vision to steady trembling hands, strengthen weak knees, and lift fearful hearts (vv. 3-4). The people addressed here remember the sights of home, but they are far away, and powerless to return. They have been conquered and brutalized, and their anguished hearts cry out for vengeance, retribution, and deliverance. But they have no strength to right the wrongs they have suffered or to bring those responsible to account. They are blind, deaf, lame, and mute; they have no power to help themselves; only God can save them. And the good news of this chapter is that He will do just that (vv. 5-7). He will raise up a highway for them and bring them home. They will enter Zion with singing…sorrow and sighing will flee away, and they will be overtaken by a joy that will never end (vv. 8-10).

Clearly, a situation of exile and return is in view here, something that will be developed at length in the second half of the book. But just as clearly, this chapter reaches beyond that to something else. The everlasting joy of this chapter corresponds to the everlasting destruction of the previous one. Beyond the judgments and blessings of history lie the final “everlastings” of salvation and damnation. These are the ultimate realities we have to reckon with. There are foreshadowing’s of them within history, but in Scripture something greater always looms up behind.

We of course, would like to have only one of these realities: blessing without curse, salvation without judgment, heaven without hell. And we are always in danger of rewriting the rules, so to speak, to suit our own inclinations. But the biblical revelation has a stubborn shape to it that resists all manipulation of this kind. It forces us to decision: we must have it as it is or not at all; accept it or make up your own religion. No quarter is given, either by biblical writers or by Jesus Himself. On the last day, some will go away to eternal punishment, and some to eternal life.

Let us concentrate for a moment on the highway of verse 8. It is the way to everlasting joy. It is the way to Zion, the city of God, and all that it symbolizes. In New Testament terms it is the highway to heaven. And it’s the Way of Holiness, which puts us in touch again with a major theme of the book. For Isaiah, holiness is the defining characteristic of God Himself. Above all else, God is Holy, so the way of holiness is not just the way to Zion, or the way to heaven; it’s the way to God! It’s not the golden streets or the pearly gates that make heaven what it is, but the presence of God. To be in heaven is to be with God forever, in totally joyous, unspoiled fellowship. And the way to heaven is provided by God Himself. It is for those who have been redeemed, or ransomed (vv. 9-10). These terms refer to powerful and costly deliverance. They have their roots in the exodus from Egypt, and find their final significance in the work of Christ, by which God rescues us from the power of sin and Satan. These acts of judgment and deliverance are the expressions, par excellence, of His holiness. Look at them, and you will see His holiness in action. The way of holiness is the way of salvation that God provides.

But it is also the way we must choose; it is not for the unclean or for the wicked fools (v. 8). It is for those who have chosen holiness as their way of life and renounced other ways. And what a glorious picture of holiness this chapter gives us! The way of holiness is the way of singing, joy and gladness (v. 10). No drabness here! The pursuit of holiness is the pursuit of God Himself, and the face that is set towards God will open to joy and gladness like a flower opening to the sun.

With this we have reached another resting-point in our journey through Isaiah’s vision. And as we pause and catch our breath, where do we find ourselves? At home, joyful and at rest in the presence of God; it’s where we long to be, and the only place where we will ever be totally content to stay. For we too are exiles, and our hearts cry out for home; for we cannot save ourselves, but the way has already been raised up for us, and we have already set out on it. Like the prodigal, we are on the way home, but we know far better than he did the welcome that awaits us. And this part of Isaiah’s vision is like a refreshing oasis on the way, where we can pause and gather strength for what remains of the journey. Joy and gladness and God Himself are up ahead, and with that certain knowledge we can rise above our weariness and set out again.

Isaiah 35:1-10 Reflection Questions:

Are you trying to make up your own religion by picking and choosing what you like from the Bible?

Have you ever found yourself to have no power to help yourself get out of the mess you’re in? How did God save you?

Have you chosen the way of holiness?

Judgment is the natural corollary of the fact that God is king (chapter 33). A king must rule, or he is no king at all, and that means that rebellion must finally be put down. The fact is that God is almost unbelievably patient, but Isaiah is clear that His just anger is a reality to be reckoned with, and we delude ourselves if we think otherwise. Hence the urgent call to listen in verse 1. God has put the world on notice that He will not tolerate insurrection forever.

God’s wrath is expressed every day in a thousand ways. Every morning’s newspaper provides more tragic evidence of the terrible price that the world is even now paying for its rejection of God. But this is nothing compared to what is to come; it is like tremors that precede an earthquake. And it’s the earthquake itself, the final shaking of everything that Isaiah sets before us. The language is concrete and vivid. Divine judgment is no theological abstraction here, but destruction, slaughter, stench, and blood (vv. 2-3). It is the sky rolling up like a scroll, and stars falling from the heavens like leaves from winter trees (v. 4). The end of the world is a reality which we instinctively push to the back of our minds because we find it too difficult to cope with, like the fact of our own approaching death. But the Bible will not allow us to evade these realities; it forces us to face them and live in the light of them.

God is king; that is the bedrock truth on which judgment rests. But He is also a warrior, and in verse 5 we meet His sword. It swings in a mighty arc from heaven to earth and finds its mark in Edom, Judah’s southern neighbor. Edom is representative here then, not of the nations in general, but of the enemies of Israel. And once we grasped that we are in a position to see clearly the purpose of God’s judgment. It is to uphold Zion’s cause (v. 8). The vengeance and retribution which this involves are expressions of God’s commitment to those He has chosen to be His people.

There is no direct correspondence of course, between this and the tragic political and territorial conflicts in the Middle East today. The line between God’s people and their enemies is quite differently drawn this side of the cross, as the rest of the book will make abundantly clear. Zion’s cause in this passage is a quite different thing from modern Zionism. However, there are theological principles which do still apply. From the moment God chose Abraham, the crucial question for others was how they would respond to him. They would be blessed if they blessed him and cursed if they cursed him. Their fate was in their own hands; they could choose their response, but not its outcome. It is the way God has always worked, and still does today. Only the particulars have changed. God now works through Christ and His people, but the same basic choice faces the world as faced ancient Edom.

The judgment on Edom is pictured as a terrible slaughter, but also a sacrifice (v. 6), which alerts us to something very significant about judgment as the Bible understands it. It is not just God acting to vindicate a particular group of people. Sacrifice is about recognizing who God Himself is and giving Him His due. Judgment is not just a judicial or military act; it’s a religious act. It is God acting to claim at last the honor that is due to Him as Creator and Ruler of the world. That is why the Bible ends with a great outburst of praise to God for His righteous judgments, for they mean not only the vindication of His people, but the vindication of God Himself. This is what we ask for when we pray, as Jesus taught us, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” In its most profound sense it is a prayer for the end of the world.

Isaiah will not let us go until he makes one final point, and the time he takes over it is no doubt calculated to impress us with its gravity: there will be no reprieve from that last and terrible judgment. Edom is set before us as a smoldering ruin, gradually overrun by nettles, brambles and wild creatures, and never rebuilt (vv. 9-17). It is a picture of utter finality. Isaiah never shrinks from his responsibility to set this terrible truth before us. In the last analysis, Isaiah’s vision is a missionary vision, and every great missionary movement has derived its urgency from this truth: the world is in rebellion against God, and without the gospel people will be lost, utterly and eternally. Judgment may be necessary and right, but it is not what God delights in or the goal He is working towards!

Isaiah 34:1-17 Reflection Questions:

What could Edom have done to be the object of such fury on God’s part?

Who are some of Israel’s enemies today? What has recently happened at the United Nations against Israel? What was the United States response?

In what ways are you building a current and active relationship with Christ?

These two chapters are unified by their sustained focus on the theme of good government – government which is grounded ultimately in the presence of the Lord among His people and the recognition by them of His kingship. This theme is introduced at once in the opening line of chapter 32 and the climax is reached towards the end of chapter 33. For the most part Isaiah is looking forward in these chapters to a future, ideal situation – the dawning of a new age. But the context from which he speaks is anything but ideal. It’s a situation in which the complacent have to come to terms with stern reality when a destroyer is on the move and when diplomacy has failed and the nation’s leaders are distraught. It’s against this background that Isaiah pointed to the only alternative that could secure the nation’s future: government grounded in the kingship of God.

Isaiah develops his theme in four main movements. The first (32:1-8) sets out the nature of good government and the results that flow from it. The results of such government are spelled out in verses 2-5 of chapter 32. One result is security, conveyed by four images from the natural world in verse 2. Another result is the restoration of sight, hearing, good judgment and clear speech (vv. 3-4). Since Isaiah is apparently speaking here about the reversal of the conditions that prevailed in Judah in his own day, it’s best to take the blindness and deafness of verse 3 as the unresponsiveness to the Word of God, especially among the nation’s leaders. The fool and scoundrel of verse 5 are each described in turn in verses 6 and 7 before the contrast with the noble man is drawn in verse 8. This little discourse undoubtedly reflects what is happening all too often in Judah in Isaiah’s day. But good government will put an end to that.

The second (32:9-20) shows that there is no shortcut to this ideal; it can only come through judgment and the outpouring of God’s Spirit. It’s the men not women who bore the main brunt of Isaiah’s stern preaching. However here, he focuses on women, partly because of their shared responsibility as wives and partly because their demeanor was an indicator of prevailing attitudes. There is another reason also, Isaiah was going to issue a call to mourn and lament and such calls were customarily addressed to women as those who would be touched most deeply by the suffering that was anticipated. In little more than a year harvests would fail (v. 10), once cultivated land would be overgrown with thorns and briers (v. 13a) and Jerusalem would become a joyless city (v. 13b). In short Judah and Jerusalem would experience the full impact of the Assyrian invasion (v. 14). The new age of God’s blessing will be an age of material prosperity (vv. 15, 20) and true and lasting security (vv. 17-18) grounded in justice and righteousness (v. 16 which, as we have seen, are the foundational characteristics of good government. This new age of the Spirit was inaugurated at Pentecost and will be here in its fullness when Jesus the Messiah – who is both Spirit-endowed and the One who bestows the Spirit – returns in power to reign.

The third movement (33:1-6) summarizes in more specific terms the steps by which the new age will be ushered in: the Lord will arise, destroy the destroyer, and establish His rule. There is much in chapter 33 which reflects the last-minute turning to the Lord which took place in Jerusalem, led by Hezekiah, when Sennacherib’s envoys were at the gates. The treachery of the destroyer in verses 1-3 probably refers to Sennacherib’s treachery in accepting Hezekiah’s tribute and then preparing to attack. Isaiah speaks in this chapter of both the immediate blessing of deliverance from the Assyrians and of the final blessedness of Zion when all His purposes for her will be fulfilled.

The fourth and final movement (33:7-24) then fills out this summary by repeating each of its elements, but in a more expansive fashion. In this final movement the theme of divine government receives its most elaborate treatment. The lament in verses 7-9 shows the need for divine government by expressing the total bankruptcy of the human alternative. The answering oracle of verses 10-13 proclaims the Lord’s total adequacy (and intention) to deal with all who challenge His own authority and the welfare of His people. Here is the negative aspect of divine rule: Judgment. But this causes some anxious heart-searching among the people of Jerusalem themselves. Verses 15-16 respond to this by calling for the amendment of life which is the necessary accompaniment of repentance, for ultimately only those who reflect God’s own character can dwell with Him. Verses 17-24 then present the positive aspect of divine rule: the blessings that will flow from God reigning in the midst of His people.

After the climax of verse 22, two final touches complete Isaiah’s vision of the coming age. The first is a reminder to his contemporaries that they are utterly unable of themselves to bring it about. They are like a stricken ship, totally at the mercy of forces beyond their control (v. 23). The second is closely related to this, namely the assertion that the fundamental truth about all who inhabit the ideal world to come is that they will be forgiven people (v. 24). Only grace can get us from where we are to where we need to be. The blessings of God’s rule are for those who know that they are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness more than anything else. That is just as true for us today as it was for Isaiah’s original audience.

Isaiah 32:1-33:24 Reflection Questions:

Who do you think is this king mentioned in chapter 32:1?

Have you come to the realization that you are a stricken ship?

What are some of God’s blessings you are experiencing now?

Have you ever experienced God waiting till the last minute to come to your aid?

What’s the message here?

With the transition to chapter 31, Isaiah is approaching his climactic appeal. But in building to that climax, like a good preacher that he is, he reiterates his two main points: Egypt’s help is worthless and in any case unnecessary, for the Lord Himself will fight for Zion and overthrow the Assyrians. This latter point is then repeated in verses 8-9, after the appeal of verse 6, as if to underline the fact that while grace is promised before repentance, that the same grace can be fully experienced only when repentance has taken place.

The first reason for repentance is the threat of impending judgment. The Woe of verse 1 is the last pronounced on Judah in this part of the book, and may well have been sounded later than the others when Sennacherib was on his final approach to Jerusalem. By then the futility of looking to Egypt for help had become fully apparent and it was clear to all that disaster was imminent. It was no time for mincing words or pulling punches, and Isaiah certainly doesn’t do so by the hard-hitting verses 1-3. It’s clear in verse 3 that it is an unequal contest; human beings cannot fight against God and win. As verses 4-5 immediately makes clear, another possibility still exists; unless there is a radical change on Judah’s part, the Lord will fully implement His threat and nothing that people can do will stop Him. We have to know that God cannot be manipulated before we are ready to throw ourselves upon God’s mercy.

The second reason for repentance is the promise of salvation or more precisely, of a Savior – a true, effective one instead of the false, worthless one that Egypt had proved to be. That Savior is of course the Lord, pictured as a lion in verse 4 and as birds hovering in verse 5 and the two are complementary. As Savior the Lord is both strong and determined (like the lion) and solicitous and protective (like the birds). The logic of verses 1-5 as a whole seems to be as follows: Woe to those who go down to Egypt (vv. 1-3), for the Lord, and He alone, is Jerusalem’s true Savior. What the pictures of verses 4-5 amount to, is a promise that the Lord Himself will fight for and protect Jerusalem. That promise still stood when Sennacherib’s envoys were finally at the gates, and Hezekiah then had, at last, the wisdom and humility to claim it.

Repentance is radical. It is not just giving up this or that sin, but a complete turnabout in our stance towards God, and it goes right to the root of our sinfulness. As for the prodigal son, it is a recognition that we are rebels, and a return to the One we have so deeply offended (v. 6). Its consequences too, are radical: all other gods have to go (v.7) in order to clear the way for the full enjoyment of God’s blessing (vv. 8-9). For Isaiah, idolatry was the ultimate outward sign of rebellion against God. Idolatry had taken hold before the alliance with Egypt was conceived. It was, we may say, the cancer which lay at the root of all the nation’s ills, for it showed that the Lord no longer had His people’s undivided loyalty. Its natural, therefore, that in calling for radical repentance, Isaiah should again point to the casting away of idols as the evidence that will confirm it.

The final two verses (vv. 8-9) put the seal on this call to repentance by reiterating God’s promise to deal decisively with the Assyrians. But now a new element is added: the Assyrians shall be destroyed by a sword…not of man or of mortals (v. 8). That is, the people of Jerusalem will not even have to fight. The Lord will intervene miraculously, and they will receive His promised salvation as a gift. Such is His grace to those who repent.

In view of all this, the expression ‘in that day’ in verse 7 must be allowed to point beyond the events of 701BC (wonderful as they were) to something more distant and more perfect, as it so often does elsewhere in the book. There was no perfect repentance or perfect salvation in 701BC. But God’s gracious goodness to His people when they cried out to Him then was a foretaste of something far greater and more glorious which He has in store for all who turn to Him for salvation.

Isaiah 31:1-9 Reflection Questions:

What lessons do we learn from the timing of verses 1-5?

What is your “Egypt” in your life?

What “other gods” do you need to clear away?

What is in the way of giving God your undivided loyalty?

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?