Year 9, Day 6: Isaiah 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Isaiah 22 brings the warnings home.  Here we have a judgment against Jerusalem itself.  God’s own holy city falls under the spotlight.

In a bit of a morbid way, I find this chapter comforting.  No, it isn’t comforting to see God’s own people come under judgment.  It is comforting because it shows us that God is fair.  God is after truth and righteousness more than favoritism.  Yes, God will forgive genuine repentance.  But all unrepentant sin will find judgment, even that among God’s own.  This passage is comforting because it dhows us that the key to God’s heart isn’t through bribing Him or coercing Him.  God is won by our obedience and our sincere repentance.  There are no favorites in God’s house, there simply are those who obey and who confess when they don’t. Power, status, wealth, position, or popularity are not things that impress God.

There is something else that is worth diving into in these verses.  Notice Isaiah’s point.  For a prophet, he is fairly subtle about it today.  The Hebrew people lived in sin.  They didn’t obey.  They fell away from His righteousness.  But that’s expected.  In the New Testament, Paul tells us that all have fallen short from the glory of God.

The big idea begins in Isaiah 22:11 and then continues through the next three of four verses.  When judgment came, they did not look to God.  When the time of their sin was revealed, they did not repent.  When it became obvious to some that their choices were bad, they didn’t listen.  God called them to a time of repentance, but the people tried to save themselves.  They tried to fortify their own walls.  They tried to bury the coming judgment and their need for repentance by partying and celebrating instead.  They could have come to know God’s salvation; instead they met their own ineptitude when they tried to save themselves.

There is a huge lesson here for both he individual and the nation.  We must be aware.  As an individual, how do my words and actions affect myself and the greater community around me?  Where am I guilty of sin and how can I repent of it?  As a nation, we need to remember to take stock of situations when it looks like the wheels are falling off.  As a nation, when we find ourselves in a place of judgment – when our country is in hard times and literally fracturing – we need to learn to repent and not try to bury it in fighting or partying.  Communal – national, even! – problems are only solved through repentance and coming together under God, not trying to save ourselves.

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