Isaiah 57:12-21
Isa 57:12
I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they
shall not profit thee.
Here God is stating that he will declare their
righteousness which is of their own self and not of the LORD.
He will also declare their works in how
they went opposite the ways of the LORD.
He guarantees that their works and their self-righteousness will not
profit them nor will it save them from the judgment that is to come upon them in
Babylon for seventy years. Just
like today, the self-righteousness and evil works which man deems as good works
will not profit them in the day of judgment.
Isa 57:13
When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the
wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that
putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy
mountain;
Then when the judgment of God falls upon them, let them
cry out to their false gods which they worship and see if they will deliver
them. They will be so far from
saving you that they will even be carried away by the wind, that is, they will
have absolutely no effect or power to deliver in any manner whatsoever.
Vanity will take them like a puff of smoke or even just a little breeze
that will take them away. Then the
LORD states that those who are truly saved and trust in him will inherit the
land which would be the eternal land of Canaan which is Heaven and the holy
mountain which will be the kingdom of God.
The “land” is not referring to the strip of land in the Middle East but
the eternal kingdom of God for the true believers.
Isa 57:14
And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way,
take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.
Then the LORD declares to “cast ye up” which has the
meaning of building a road and since it is mentioned twice in succession, it
means that it is very important and the people hearing it or reading it need to
pay close attention to what follows.
The voice of him that crieth in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)
The way is to be prepared for two things: 1) in this case for the return
of the people to the land after the seventy years of captivity and, 2) for the
coming of the Messiah which John the Baptizer was the forerunner.
Then the stumblingblocks which caused the people to go bad in the first
place will be removed, that is, all the idolatry will be swept from the land and
when that happens they will once again have a clear and sober mind to realize
what they did and return to the LORD.
Isa 57:15
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the
spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
God now speaks to them as the high and exalted one that
inhabits eternity. He tells them
this because unfortunately man has a short memory and Judah had forgotten all
the LORD had done for them. He
wants them to know that he is the true holy One of Israel and the false gods
they adopted couldn’t inhabit a pantry.
The high and holy place is Heaven where the throne of God is reminding
them that he dwells with those who are of contrite and humble spirit, in other
words, those who are truly saved.
The humble are those who are humble of spirit and do not exude a spirit of
arrogance and the contrite are those who are sorrowful for their sins and their
evil lifestyles. To revive the
spirit of the humble is to let them know that in humility is true strength and
is not a doormat for anyone to walk on.
To revive the hearts of the contrite ones is to take them from a point of
sorrow to a point of joyful encouragement in their walk with the LORD.
Thou hast turned for me my
mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with
gladness; (Psalm 30:11)
Isa 57:16
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always
wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have
made.
The contention that God had with Israel will not last
forever and he will not always be angry.
When God disciplines his children, he does so to achieve a goal and that
is to return them to his fold and to reject the false gospels and idols.
When that goal is reached then he withholds his hand of correction and
begins the time of reconciliation with his people.
If he never put aside his anger, then his people will lose their spirits
and fail in their walk because then nothing would ever be correct and that would
lead to a life of futility instead the life of encouragement which the LORD
gives to each of his true children.
The LORD is not out to hurt his people but to give them life eternal and to
guide them through life.
Isa 57:17
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and
smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his
heart.
The people of Judah were guilty of seeking wealth
opposite the ways of the law of God and therefore he struck them with judgment
culminating in being seventy years in captivity.
Then the LORD hid his face from them.
Not that he didn’t know what was going on but he intentionally withheld
his blessings and his active presence in their lives.
God was angry with them and because he did not intervene, they had
followed the evil of their hearts and went deeper into idolatry and the false
religions and the deeper they went, the farther they went from God and his law
thus causing the wrath of God to increase until the time he unleashed it upon
them.
Isa 57:18
I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him
also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
God has seen the way that Israel had taken and that he
took it upon himself to heal or correct them.
Since they had gone astray and it was not in them to correct themselves,
God took it upon himself to initiate the plan to bring them back under his
authority and to reject the false gods.
Then God will personally lead them back from the pits of idolatry and
teach them how to reject the false gods and the following of them as a futile
and ungodly life. Then there were
those in Judah who saw what was happening concerning the false gods and their
hearts were filled with sorrow over what was going on.
And the LORD said unto him, Go
through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark
upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations
that be done in the midst thereof. (Ezekiel 9:4)
Then there was a man who went through the city of Jerusalem and marked
all those out who were sorry for the way Judah was going in its evil ways.
These were no doubt the true believers who had their eyes open were
sorrowing over the conditions caused by those who chose to follow false gods and
religions.
Brethren, be followers together of me,
and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (Philippians 3:17)
The
Apostle Paul encourages the Philippians to take note
of those who were walking according to the way just prescribed by Paul. He wants
to make sure that they note the way they have been obedient and wants them to
hold him and his close associates such as Timothy, Luke, Epaphroditus as
examples of the way they should be walking in the faith. Here were living
examples of how Christians were to be pursuing the high calling of God on their
lives. Then in Revelation 14:1 we read
about those who had the Father’s name written in their foreheads.
And
I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty
and four thousand, having his
Father's name written in their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)
In 14:1, we know
that heaven is in view because once again the 144,000 are mentioned. This is
important because in Revelation 7, where it is first mentioned to this point the
church had faced much persecution and the fact that the same number is in view
tells us that God had not lost one of His children. He is the protector of His
children and has promised that not one will ever be lost, no matter how intense
the persecution.
Then we are told that these 144,000 have their Father’s name written on their
forehead which is symbolic of having the seal of salvation on them. The fact
that they have the name of God on their foreheads is in contrast to chapter 13
where we see the number of the unsaved on their foreheads and in their right
hand, that number being 666 which is the number of the entire unsaved human
population. The name is not physically written on the foreheads but is symbolic
of all the redeemed of God.
Isa 57:19
I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him
that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will
heal him.
Then the LORD speaks about salvation as he states he
creates the fruit of the lips which is praise and thanksgiving plus it is the
preaching of the true gospel which brings the fruit of salvation.
Then peace is guaranteed to him that is far off and one that is near.
The ones who are far off are the Gentile countries who will have peace
with the Father through salvation and the ones who are near in the country of
Judah upon their return from captivity.
He also exalteth the horn of his
people, the praise of all his saints;
even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the
LORD. (Psalm 148:14) God will heal
them from all their idolatry and the false gods.
This would be the healing of the soul by resurrecting it unto newness of
life by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Isa 57:20
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it
cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
The wicked of the world will never know peace because it
is not in them. Their lives are
like the troubled sea which always has waves and crests which could devour a
boat. The word “cannot” is a word
of ability not permission so those who are unsaved cannot rest and that would
refer to their souls because they can sleep but not rest.
The waters churn up all kinds of mire or mud and dirt which is normally
thrown on to the shore and causes the clean beach to become filthy.
This is like the unsaved person who
churns up nothing but evil continually because they have no rest and are not
satisfied until they do evil.
The thoughts of the righteous
are right:
but the counsels of the wicked
are deceit. (Proverbs 12:5)
Isa 57:21
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
This is repeated from Isaiah 48:22 enforcing the fact
that no one will ever have peace apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The wicked, especially those in false religions never have rest for their
souls because they are resting in the counterfeit religions which only mimic the
truth yet can never have the substance of the true gospel. The wicked who have
no peace in their lives are tossed around like the waves of the ocean especially
as Israel kept going to different nations and adopting their way.
The true peace that the believer has is
the eternal peace that their sins have been forgiven and they are now in right
relationship with God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)