Isaiah 26:16-21; 27:1. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 7, 2016.
As this song of chapter 26 comes to a close, it focuses on a problem that is universal for people who put their trust in God. People who trust God live with great promises that are future within a context that often seems like those promises will never come true. Countless millions have died waiting for the complete promises of God. Yet, God has incorporated this into His plan. His people must simply wait for His deliverance and the time of jubilation that will follow, even in death. This sets up the key idea that this life is not all there is. There will come a day when all the Righteous of all times will be resurrected and see the completion of God’s promises together. Thus, we will all experience this jubilation as a family of the Redeemed at the same time.
At the same time, this life is still incredibly important. It is the testing ground of where we will stand in the day to come. Will I be swept away by judgment, or will I be singing with the Righteous after the judgment has gone by? The Resurrection is God’s plan to set everything on its head and then set all things in order.
Verse 16 continues the theme of how the righteous are dependent upon God. In verse 13 Isaiah had mentioned that other masters had ruled over Israel. We pointed out then that this was God’s discipline for their disobedience. Here in verse 16 the theme of discipline is picked up again. In the midst of “trouble” (their discipline) they turned towards the Lord in prayer. The word “visited” here is interesting because normally the Scriptures talk about God visiting us. Sometimes He visits in the sense He is showing up to help us (like Israel being delivered from Egypt). Other times, He visits in the sense of bringing discipline. You could say that though God had visited them in discipline, they were visiting God with prayers of mercy. It is easy to get angry and retreat from God in the times of our discipline. But that will not lead to healing and deliverance. We need delivered from our sins and God’s discipline is intended to point us in His direction. Thus the righteous humble themselves and seek God even in times of discipline. They know that they are completely dependent upon Him.
Verse 17 compares their times of “chastening” to labor pains. Israel felt like all their labor pains had been for nothing and had accomplished nothing. In a way this is true. If it was only up to Israel (or us for that matter) nothing would be accomplished. But God always intervenes and does through us what we cannot do on our own, if we will trust Him. Israel had been through many times of not trusting God, being disciplined, repenting, and turning back to God. This cycle seemed to never end. Imagine a woman going through 9 months of pregnancy, a day or more of labor, and then the doctor says, “I’m sorry ma’am but there isn’t a baby. You’ve just given birth to wind.” That is the feeling Isaiah is describing into verse 18. In our attempts at God’s things we are unable to produce any deliverance in the earth without God. Also, the “earth dwellers” are still ruling over the earth. Remember they are those who live without thought for God.
The thing to keep in mind in the midst of all this is that we are not alone. God is with us and He is also for us. Even when it looks like the enemy has completely won, God has promised to stand up on our behalf. The New Testament connects this idea of labor pains to how the earth will be in the Last Days leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus. Things will become increasingly painful and the pains will come faster and faster. This may make us feel like serving God is for nothing. But that is not true. God has not abandoned us. How can we know this?
Verse 19 is the answer. All of this emotion and fear will be overturned by the Resurrection. Those who have perished without seeing God’s ultimate deliverance will be resurrected. Also, that resurrection is not just a spiritual thing; it is a physical thing (“with my dead body”). You can read “my dead body” as referring to Isaiah, which would be true. Isaiah could be saying that they should take comfort because they will all be resurrected. However, all prophets speak what God tells them to speak. Thus the “my dead body” could be a reference to God Himself. This would be pointing forward to a time when God Himself would take on human flesh and die, only to be resurrected. So this could be a reference to what Jesus would later do. He told us that He was the resurrection and the life. Ultimately the resurrection of Jesus gives us the proof of this coming reality and strengthens our faith so that we will never give up even in the face of death.
The phrase “you who dwell in the dust” refers to those who are in the grave. Just as a physical grave is made in the dry ground, the Hebrews pictured the spiritual side of the grave as a dry and dusty place. So we have a poetic picture of the resurrection. The dead will awaken out of a dry and dusty place to sing in the midst of the dew of a new morning. He is basically saying you were dead and your bones were dry. But you will rise with green bones and sing to the Lord. Thus the earth will cast out the dead. Daniel 12 also points to this by saying, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” All has been recorded in the earth, none will be lost.
Verse 20 picks up the idea of the resurrection and gives an instruction and a promise to God’s people. First there is the call to enter your chambers. In the context this must be referring to the death that they fear will rob them of victory. God is in a sense saying, “Don’t see death as a failure. Rather, see it as a time of rest and peace from the struggle. Let Me rise up and struggle for you.” Of course this is not an excuse for suicide. At the proper time, we will all come to the end of our life. We need to be faithful to God in how we live this life. But when the day of death comes, we can enter into it with peace instead of fear. Is it true that death can actually be a “grace” to the believer? Yes. First, death keeps us from living forever in bodies that have been damaged by sin (both ours and others). Second, death gives us rest from the oppression of a world bent on rebellion (imagine how Adam would feel if he were still alive). Third, death was designed to be overcome by God. It is only a temporary condition of a person. Of course the resurrection is connected to the Rapture in the New Testament because when the dead are raised there will still be some believers alive. They too will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye into glorified bodies and caught up to be at the Lord’s side. So death is the refuge of the righteous until the day of deliverance.
Notice the phrase “the indignation.” This is another way of referring to the Wrath of God. Verse 21 makes it clear that there will be a final day of judgment for the whole earth. God Himself will come out of the heavens and judge the earth. In the New Testament it is revealed that this is Jesus. Yes, Jesus loves us and died for us. But He will also come back to judge those who have rejected His offer of grace and mercy. The wrath of God will be poured out on all the earth. Thus the righteous are protected not just from the wicked, but also from the wrath of God. It says that God will “punish the earth dwellers for their iniquity.” The word “punish” is the idea of settling accounts. It reminds me of King Belshazzar in Daniel 5. He is in the middle of throwing a party and using the holy cups and bowls from the Jerusalem Temple. God tells Him, “You have been weighed in the balances and found lacking. Your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.” Thus God will remove the kings and the armies of the earth. They are lacking in any ability to support godliness and righteousness on the earth. Their kingdoms will be taken away and given to the Righteous.
The last phrase is that the Earth will disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain. We are told in the book of Revelation that the raising of the righteous will happen before Christ comes back (or at the same time. It isn’t quite clear). After 1,000 years of reigning with Jesus on this earth, the wicked dead will be raised up for a final judgment. At this point God will create a new heavens and a new earth where no wickedness will ever be. This is God’s promise to those who put their trust in Him.
I believe that the first verse of chapter 27 should really go with this chapter. Regardless, let’s finish with looking at that verse. We are told that the ancient serpent, Satan, will be slain. He is called Leviathan because this is a sea creature the ancients were familiar with. In fact many of the religions had mythologies about a sea creature that ruled the seas. Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 tell us that the ancient serpent that the Bible references is in fact the Devil or Satan. He is pictured as being in the sea because the sea was a metaphor for all the peoples of the earth (thrashing and tossing to and fro). Satan has ruled the seas of mankind like a great sea serpent throughout history. But God will come down and slay Him. Though he is an immortal being, he will be slain as if he were mortal. But the righteous that are mortal, will be raised up with immortal bodies. This is the ultimate victory that God has planned for us all. So let’s trust in God. He will slay our enemy and redeem us from our own frailty because He loves us.