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Home , Isaiah 31, Isaiah 33

Isaiah 33:1-17 “The King in His Beauty” 5/2/2021

I recall thinking, about ten years after I had become a believer, just before I met Nancy, about the hardness of God. I wrote in my journal; “God is so hard, so rough with us. Why?” “It must be because we need it. We who are so hard-headed, so stubborn, so stupid.” “And God is God. I do not get to change Him to fit my preference.” “So, I had better get used to it.” “God puts us through hard things, and He is perfectly justified in doing so and need not explain Himself.”

C.S. Lewis writes in his Surprised by Joy; “You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words “compelle intrare,” compel them to come in, have been so abused be wicked men that we shudder at them; but, properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”

We have the greatest of news in the worst of times We are nearing the end of the Book of the King in ’s prophesy.

Isaiah has been developing 4 themes, all intertwined and dependent upon one another: 1. He is describing the sin of God’s people: rebellious, covenant violators, corrupted. 2. He tells of the coming judgment of God: over , , all the nations on earth. 3. He reassures a remnant of His people who obey Him and await His salvation. 4. He tells us of a Messianic King who is coming to rescue His people. After chapter after chapter describing God’s sovereign judgment over all the earth (-24) Then comes a song of trust in Yahweh’s deliverance of his people. (-27)

Following this are six sections, each opening with the word “Woe.” :1 The leaders of God’s people are arrogant, wealthy, and drunk. :1 , in her fake religion, listens to false prophets who say all is well. Isaiah 29:15 God’s people think that He doesn’t know what they are doing. :1 Judah is making an alliance with to fight against . :1 God’s people are trusting in their alliance with Egypt rather than in Yahweh. :11-18 Destruction is coming, but then Yahweh, by His spirit, will restore you. :1 Now the “woe” is upon Assyria who dares to assault God’s precious people.

I. Prayer to God amid treachery. Isaiah 33:1-6 The “destroyer” who is yet “undestroyed” is the Assyrian Empire. They were known to be both violent, greedy, and treacherous. You made alliances with these people at your own peril because they would keep their word only as long as it seemed good to them. They had no moral code that guided them other than their own greed.

Instead of saying that God’s people pray in times of trouble, Isaiah inserts a little prayer for His people. (vs. 2) :17-18 Why do I wait for Yahweh? Why do I look to Him in trouble? Isaiah 25:8-9 Are you looking to the Lord? Or to something else? Isaiah 30:18-26 Yahweh disciplines us for our good so that He can heal us.

Verses 3-6 describe the people of God during times of destruction, fear, and treachery. We see in verses 3-4 what the Assyrians will be doing. They will cause people to flee their homes and cities. They will take everything that people own. There will be no legal recourse, no “rights.” This is the situation of people in most times and places. America, for 155 years, has been the exception. But we may now be coming into a time when people will come and burn our homes. It may be that legal protections and “rights” will become a thing of the past. We do not know. We think of savings and IRAs and retirement plans, ownership of property and equipment, as reliable. But these things are only as reliable as the stability of our nation and constitution. We think that the grocery store will always be there and what I want I can go and buy. But it has not always been so, and we have seen over this past year just how vulnerable it all is. Our comfort and security and freedoms can be taken from us just like that… and what will we do?

Verses 5-6 If your wealth is in “salvation, wisdom, and knowledge” it is in the right place, no one can take it. If the “fear of the Lord” is your treasure, then your treasure is in the right place. It will last forever.

II. The Power of God amid disaster. Isaiah 33:7-12 These verses paint a picture of terrible disaster, destruction, and deprivation. Verse 7 depicts the weeping of soldiers and messengers. Verse 8 depicts the lack of travel, broken promises, scorned and scorched cities, no value of human life. This verse describes the annulment of moral teachings, the rejection of truth, followed by destruction. It would look like… last summer in Minneapolis, or any number of other places. Actually, it would be even worse than that, but last summer ought to have been a wake-up call for us. It can happen here. And it didn’t take much! A virus that killed less than 1% of those infected and a touch of police misconduct caught on video. Can you imagine what would happen in our society if we had a plague and a civil war? An invasion by a foreign power? Or an actual unconstitutional takeover of our government? Verse 9 describes the earth dried out and withered, drought, plants wiped away. This will be the work of the Assyrians when they wreck everything and plunder. 90 years ago here we did have a depression and the dust bowl. People still remember. It could happen again. Of course it could. It probably will. I tremble to think what it would do to us… all of our obsession with luxury and entertainment.

But it is in times like this that the Lord shows up and demonstrates His power. We think that we are in control. We think that we can solve our problems. We think that we can make our own rules, write our own history, craft our own future.

What happens amid disaster, destruction, and deprivation? Verse 10. It doesn’t take much for Yahweh to reassert His power, to show His glory. Just… no water. That’ll do it. And all our plans and protests are for nothing. Or just a little virus… that kills one in a thousand, and people are hiding in their homes. Or just the elimination of trust in the society and we are at one another’s throats.

We say, “God, we don’t really need you. Leave us alone.” And God says, “O really? Try a little disaster. Then you will see your need and My glory.”

III. The Peace of God amid terror in the land. Isaiah 33:13-16 Verses 13-14 describe fear, fear because of what God has done in bringing the Assyrians and destruction. They didn’t think that God would actually follow through on His threats. Maybe they didn’t believe God was really there at all, so they would have said they weren’t scared of Him. But now they are filled with fear because of what He has done. Can an entire society be filled with fear? Does that happen? Sure it does. It has. It happened this past year. A year ago, I thought at first that all these media people were conspiring together to make people scared. First it was COVID-19 and then it was all the police injustice and rioting in the cities.

But then I realized after a few conversations with people that what I was seeing was real fear. These people on my TV were truly terrified that they were going to die of this virus. The fears were not completely unfounded. People did die. It has been bad. But the fear controlled them, owned them, made them accuse and shame others. And then they were scared of the mobs in the streets and in places of power. One wrong word and you could lose your job, become anathema to all your friends. Fear is a powerful motivator and a terrible master. It makes you someone you do not want to be.

So, what do God’s people do in a society where fear dominates? And this year has not been nearly as bad as an Assyrian invasion.

Verse 15 gives us a beautiful picture of the response of the righteous in a society filled with fear. First, we have a description of the behavior of the righteous. And I want you not to miss the realization of how challenging it is to live this way in a fear-filled world. Six practices of the person who walks in peace amid a world of fear: 1. “walks righteously” = in the this word means in accord with the Word of God. 2. “speaks sincerely” = A young lady, I think she is 8, asked me a good question. “Pastor, do you practice what you preach?” 3. “rejects the gain of extortion” = Not trying to get other people’s money by unjust means. 4. “shakes hands without a bribe” = Not using money for unjust purposes. 5. “stops his ears from hearing violence” = You refuse to hear gossip, anything that does another wrong. 6. “shuts his eyes from looking upon evil” = You don’t look at porn, some movies, entertainment… This is different. People are going to see that you are different. You may be called strange. You might be hated, but not by God.

What a promise we find in verse 16, a promise to people who walk with God amid a society filled with fear. You will live on the high rock, when all around seems to be swept away by the flood. You will have bread and water, food supplied to you by the Lord. He will care for you. :1-2 The Lord cares for His own. He protects you as you seek Him and cling to Him. I recall hearing a testimony of Ney Bailey, one of the women at a Campus Crusade for Christ retreat… It was late July, and the retreat center was in Colorado, right next to the Big Thompson river. There were 30 women gathered at this little retreat center. YouTube, “The Lord Reigns over the Flood.” The night of July 31, 1976 had been preceded by torrential rains up in the mountains. That night at around 10:30 a wall of water roared down the canyon destroying all in its path. One of the women had managed to climb out of her car that was carried along in the flood. All her clothes had been torn off by the raging waters, but she somehow found a tree. She grabbed ahold of that tree and started to climb and then clung to it until rescuers found her. That is the picture of this passage. The waters rage around us as we cling to the Lord until He comes.

IV. The Promises of God to those in His Kingdom. Isaiah 33:17 The rest of the chapter describe 7 promises of God that He has made to you that He will keep. 1. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. 2. Your eyes will see a vast land. 3. Your eyes will see the wicked no longer. 4. Your eyes will see the New Jerusalem ruled by Yahweh. 5. You will be wealthy. 6. You will be healed. 7. Your sins will be forgiven.

But I want to focus on the first of the promises for it captures all the others. “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.” We live in a nation that was founded upon a rejection of a king, King George III of England. Our founding father did not trust kings because they didn’t trust people because people are selfish sinners. So, we have a government characterized by separation of powers and checks and balances. That is wise. It has worked reasonably well for these 245 years.

But even better than this is a King who is perfectly just, uncorrupted by power, loving, kind, and holy. Someday we will get to see that King, face to face, and we will be transformed. 1 John 3:1-3 Even now this King is working in us, building His Kingdom in this world, making us like Him. But, when He returns in glory and completes the job… well, that is going to be something to see. And, when that day comes, you will be really glad that you lived for Him and not in fear. You will be so glad that you invested in His kingdom and did not follow everyone else in their disaster.