Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 22 Apr 2007
18 And therefore Jehovah will wait - to grace you,
and therefore He will go up - to show mercy to you.
Since Jehovah is a God of justice, happy are all who wait for Him.
19 For a people will dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem.
You will certainly not weep;
He will certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; as He hears, He answers you.
20 And the Lord will give to you bread of adversity and water of affliction,
and your teacher will not be hidden anymore, and it will be that your eyes will see your teacher.
21 And your ears will hear a word from behind you to say, “This is the way, walk in it,”
whether you go right or whether you go left.
22 And you will declare unclean your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated cast image.
You will toss them like an impure thing.
“Get out!” You will say to it.
23 Then He will give
rain for your seed with which you sow the land
and bread which comes from the land.
Then it will be rich and plentiful.
In that day your livestock will graze in a wide pasture.
24 Then the oxen and the donkeys which are working the land will eat a savory mixture
which is winnowed with the shovel and the pitchfork.
25 And upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill
there will be streams of running water
in a day of great slaughter, during the falling of towers.
26 And the light of the moon will become like the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun will become sevenfold, like the light of seven days in a day.
Jehovah is to bind up His shattered people,
and He will heal the wound of His blow.
27 Look, the Name of Jehovah has come from afar:
His anger is burning, and there is heavy smoke rising.
His lips are full of indignation,
and his tongue is like a consuming fire.
28 And His breath
is like an overflowing stream, dividing up to the neck,
To sift the nations in a sieve of desolation,
and a bridle upon the jaws of peoples which leads astray.
29 The song will be for y’all, like a night of consecrating a feast,
and gladness of heart, like marching with the flute to go to the mountain of Jehovah
to the Rock of Israel!
30 Jehovah will cause the majesty of His voice to be heard,
and the descent of His arm to be seen
in raging anger, and flame of consuming fire , and storm-burst , and hail-stone.
31 For from the voice of Jehovah Assyria will be dismayed,
with the rod He will strike.
32 And every passing of the appointed staff
shall be that which Jehovah shall cause to lay upon him.
With tambourines and with guitars and with battle-rhythm He will fight with it.
33 For Tophet has been prepared from days before,
also it was caused to be established for the king.
He has made her pyre deep and wide;
fire and wood He has caused to be abundant.
The breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone incinerates her.
Paula wanted to hug our 2-year-old daughter, so she told Grace to come here. Grace didn’t want to obey Mama; she wanted to play with her toy. Paula eventually had to spank Grace for not coming when she called. All she wanted was to give her a hug and tell Grace that she loved her, but in order for that to happen, Grace had to first be disciplined to want to come!
God does the same thing. He rejoices in His people, as we read in Psalm 149,
18 And therefore Jehovah will wait to grace you, and therefore He will go up to show mercy to you. Since Jehovah is a God of justice, happy are all who wait for Him.
waits-ESV,KJV / longs-NAS,NIV / remains-LXX / waits w. expectation & desire-Yng. /
lit. he will be
high / exalts self-Own, ESV / will be exalted-KJV,LXX / rises-NIV / waits
on high-NAS
Rashi, Abarbanel, Delitzsch & Young interpret this as a threat – God postponing His graciousness until He has punished rebellion. He will withdraw back up into Heaven to hide Himself from them. This is to satisfy His justice.
However, I believe this is an invitation because:
1. Infinitives (to grace, to show mercy) indicate purpose: God’s purpose is to be gracious. Purpose of exaltation is to show mercy.
2. This is an encouragement to “embrace the mercy of God in the midst of miseries, and thus nourish [our] souls by His word. Judgment denotes not only punishment, but also the moderation which is exercised in chastening… thus contrasted with severity” (Calvin) cf. Jer. 10:24 “Chasten me, O Lord, but in judgment, not in your wrath, lest thou crush me.” & Jer. 30:11 “I will not consume you, but will chastise you in judgment.” Because God is a God of this kind of justice in moderation, He waits and He rises in order to be gracious and merciful.
3. God waits for “those who wait.” God is eagerly waiting to respond to our repentance, and He rises up into view after having hidden their teacher in v.20 (cf. Ibn Ezra, Calvin, Young)
4. This is after the dreadful consequences of disobeying God’s covenant outlined in Lev. 26 & Deut. 28 and repeated in the first half of Isaiah 30, when a faithful remnant was left whom God would bless.
5. NT speaks of God waiting patiently: 2 Pet. 3:9&15-“the patience of the Lord is salvation”
How will God show mercy to His people? (v.19)
19 For a people will dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem. You will certainly not weep; He will certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; as He hears, He answers you.
1. He will give them a secure dwelling place in Jerusalem This is addressed to the remnant (Slotki) or the church (Calvin). This is a promise that they will be safe and enter into rest.
2. He will wipe our tears away: shall certainly not weep - change of subject from 2mp to 2ms makes it personal, not just y’all, but you [name]
3. He will answer our prayers
a. complete “answer” indicated by Pf. tense.
b. This indicates a rapid response from God – as [soon as] He hears, he answers.
c. Isa 58:9 “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'”
d. Isa 65:24 “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
e. Mat. 7:7-11 - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened.”
d. Therefore “Cry for help” – repent and look to God! This is “the manner of obtaining pardon… If, therefore we wish that the Church should be gathered together and rescued from destruction…let us cry to God” (Calvin.)
4. Emphasis is on God’s grace! He will certainly be gracious. He eagerly waits to respond immediately! This is what He longs for - to hear us call to Him!
5. Many more blessings follow: teachers (v.19), guidance (v.21), rain (v.23), food (24), heaven and healing (26).
20 The blessing of teachers will come after a difficult time
And the Lord will give to you bread of adversity and water of affliction, and your teacher will not be hidden anymore, and it will be that your eyes will see your teacher.
“adversity / privation / affliction / oppression/ scantiness”
a. This bread and water is a prison diet in 1 Ki. 22:27 (Slotki)
b. Describes the siege of Jerusalem (Ibn Ezra)
c. God later gives “rain”, a form of water, w/o affliction, & bread w/o the “adversity” (v.23)
d. Hardship will surely come to the people, including sieges and captivity. Calvin translates the first vav as “when/after.” Thus, he elaborates, once you have endured hardship, God will send blessing.
“Your teacher(s)”
a. NOT be removed into a corner-Lit,KJV / be hidden-NIV / hide himself-ESV,NAS
b. Debate as to whether this is singular or plural:
c. Kimchi, Ibn Ezra - plural Hezekiah and his nobles won’t be taken into captivity by Assyria
d. Jewish commentators Rashi, AJV say this is singular “God;”
e. Most commentators say the prophets will come back: Fulfilled perhaps initially in Isaiah and prophets up through John the Baptizer,
f. Fulfilled ultimately in the singular incarnation of Jesus, as ESV and ASV’s singular capitalization of Teacher.
21 – The Blessing of the Holy Spirit’s guidance
And your ears will hear a word from behind you to say, “This is the way, walk in it,” whether you go right or whether you go left.
Reverse of the condition of the rebellious
people deafened and blinded by their sin in 6:10.
First your mouth cries in v.19, your eyes see in v. 20 and now
your ears hear in v.21.
“This is the way”
· described in v.15 as “repentance and rest”
“WALK in it”
· Contrast w. v.2 – rebels walking to Egypt away from God.
· This walk is in fellowship with God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
22 This walk means dis-fellowshipping from idols:
And you will declare unclean your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated cast image. You will toss them like an impure thing. “Get out!” You will say to it.
Description of idols:
a. metal-plated-lit. / carved-ESV / graven-NAS / covering-KJV images - constructed with wood and overlaid with silver 2:20; Jer. 10:3-4
b. lit. poured, melted / covered-NIV / metal-ESV / molten-ASV.KJV – i.e. cast in a mold
Three phrases indicate the separation of the people from the sin of idolatry:
1.
recognizing the defiling
nature of idols, that they are unclean
like a bloody menstrual pad-NIV,KJV / unclean-Own,ESV / impure -NAS
2. then getting rid of them - verb pictures strewing them on the ground (Scatter-ESV,ASV / throw away-NIV / cast away-KJV) Like Moses ground up the golden calf and threw it into the river (Deut. 9:21)
3. and verbally renouncing them. – Get out! / Be Gone!-ESV,NAS / get thee hence-KJV / Away with you-NIV “Get out of my life!”
· God reveals more of Himself in response to our repentance, and we destroy our false gods. Are there idols in your life that you are hoarding that you need to declare unclean?
· “Many… see that “gold” or “silver” …and they choose rather to keep their idols than to sustain the smallest loss. Covetousness holds them in its net, so that they are more willing to sin of their own accord, and to pollute themselves with these abominations, than to lose this or that. But we ought to prefer the worship of God to everything else, to set little value on gold, to cast away pearls, and to loathe everything that is accounted precious, rather than defile ourselves with such crimes. In short, nothing can be so valuable that it ought not to be despised & reckoned worthless by us, when it comes into competition w. overturning the kingdom of Satan & restoring the worship of God.” (Calvin)
ILLUSTRATIONS:
· GIDEON (Judges 6-8) People cried out to God, Gideon broke down the Baal, God took away the army he could trust in, then God delivered Israel, and blessed Gideon with 40 peaceful years and 70 sons!
· JESUS: Mat 4:8-11 “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
23-24 God promises to bless you and yours with plenty of food!
Then He will give rain for your seed with which you sow the land and bread which comes from the land. Then it will be rich and plentiful. In that day your livestock will graze in a wide pasture. Then the oxen and the donkeys which are working the land will eat a savory mixture which is winnowed with the shovel and the pitchfork.
· This is a future time: “Then He will…then it will…In that day”
· Not only will you have plenty of produce, even your animals will be blessed!
a. The farmers will have enough land to give their cattle wide pastures (v.23b)
b. and will have enough time and surplus food to winnow their cattle fodder so their livestock will have less straw to eat and more good grain!
c.
salted-NAS / savory-AJV
/ acidic-Slotki/ clean-KJV / seasoned-ESV,Yng / mash-NIV /
fodder/ provender-KJV Slightly-fermented
fodder was regarded as dainty food for cattle, and that the “mixture” was
usually of beans, barley, oats, and vetches (Abarbanel).
d. This is instead of those cattle having to plod through the dangerous desert with burdens on their backs (v.6).
· Your means of making a living comes from God. He provides the rain and ensures that you are able to make food from the work you put into the land!
· Calvin notes that “often it is our own fault that we suffer poverty and want, because by our wickedness we drive away from us the blessing of God.”
· This giving is gracious; “it is not merited or earned… and what God gives is the best.” (Young)
25 The blessing of water
And upon every high mountain and upon every lofty hill there will be streams of running water in a day of great slaughter, during the falling of towers.
· The hills of Judah are pretty dry – no rivers flowing across the tops of them, but this promises regular irrigation canals – lots of water!
· running, flowing brooks-Own,ESV / streams-NAS,NIV / rivers-KJV
· 41:18 – “I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”
· Most commentators say this describes God’s rout of Assyria during Hezekiah’s reign (v.27) – (Towers=generals and officers of the Assyrian hosts), ultimately it is fulfilled in the blessings the Messiah brings (Young).
26 The blessing of light and healing
And the light of the moon will become like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will become sevenfold, like the light of seven days in a day. Jehovah is to bind up His shattered people, and He will heal the wound of His blow.
1. “Light” occurs 4 times. John
picks up on the figurative fulfillment of this light in Jesus:
John 8:12 Jesus said “I am the light of the
world.”
I John: “God is light…walk in the light”
Rev. 22:5 “There will be no need for the light
of lamp or sun, for Lord will be their light”
Why 7 days? – a full week, completeness. The 7th age, the Sabbath of the world is coming. (Del.)
2. It is God’s way to discipline His people with adversity, then heal and bless them.
a. cf. 14 – He did not spare in His blows so they have “wounds/bruises/pain”
b. Why does He chastise His people so severely? Calvin replies, “It produces no good effect on us when he treats us mildly; our vices are deeply rooted…”
c. Then He binds up the shattered pieces / breach-KJV / hurt-Own / brokenness-ESV / fracture-NAS (same word used to describe the shattering in v.14 into pieces too small to be useful anymore) He puts Humpty Dumpty together again!
d. This binding up is reversing the “breach” in the shattered wall (v.13) by addressing their “sin”. God did not send His Son merely to comfort us, but to address the problem of sin which caused our shattering and fall in the first place by taking on Himself the punishment from sin by being separated from God on the cross and enduring the curse for sin. Only through this can the effects of sin in our lives be healed.
e. Hosea 6:1-2 “Come, let us return to the LORD; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up… on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.” – the 3rd day refers to the resurrection of Jesus which opened the way for forgiveness
f. Infinitive “to bind” shows purpose: A reason for God’s existence is to put His people back together after the brokenness of their sin!
g. Isa. 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (2) to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; (3) to grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
27-33 The blessing of judgment against all our enemies
1. “Praying ‘Thy kingdom come’ is beseeching God for the destruction of all that would prevent the coming of Gods kingdom!” (Young)
2. God’s judgment is awesome:
a. like a burning fire (v.27, 33)
b. overwhelming like drowning, His breath like a rushing, overflowing stream/torrent “dividing to the neck” to the top of the neck cutting body from head as it were (v.28, cf 8:8)
c. like shaking until nothing remains (Heb. 12:27),
d. like a horse galloping uncontrollably in the wrong direction (v.28).
e. like a storm (v.30) with a thundering voice and an arm descending like lightening
f.
v.31-32 like a beating
from a rod
The rod He is swinging down upon them is “appointed” - an expression of His
eternal decree coming to pass in the fullness of time.-not a chance event, but
one “long prepared” just as Tophet in v.33 (Young)
3. It is a time of contrast:
a. The stream that well-nigh drowns in v.28 is in contrast to the life-giving rivers in v.25
b. v. 29 Allusion to the Passover meal: Israel feasted while Egypt mourned the death of their firstborn. During Passover there was a sacred assembly (Num. 28:16-25), that started in the evening, included a feast (Mt. 27:15, John 4:45), and ended with singing (Mt.26:30).
c. The storm against the enemies in v. 30 is in contrast to life-giving rain in v.23
d. While Jehovah repeatedly pounds His enemies, His beloved people are playing tambourines and guitars! It’s as if the strokes of Jehovah against His enemies (“brandishing” His weapon) is a conductor giving the tempo for the victory song of His people safe inside the walls of Jerusalem.
e. This is not to say that God’s people were lazy. There was an internal battle in the hearts of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (v.19) against wavering from faith, which was won through worship, and resulted in crying out to God for His deliverance and His coming down hard on Assyria.
f.
Whereas God made a wide
pasture for the repentant (v.23), he makes a wide pit for those who
continue in rebellion.
Tophet -
(lit. burning place), the valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem where human
sacrifices were burnt to Moloch (2 Ki. 23:10, Jer.7:31) and where trash was burned.
It became a symbol of hell.
Young notes the dramatic irony that the valley in which Ahaz started the
downward spiral of sacrificing his children to idols (2 Ki 16:3) and calling
upon Assyria for help would be the same valley where Assyria would suffer the
punishment for idolatry. However, this is not intended to be a precise
description of Sennacherib’s fall, but generally and figuratively of God’s
destruction of the wicked. (Young)
These contrasts show the greatness of God’s love for you!
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. He is gracious and merciful. He promises to answer your prayers, to give you a secure dwelling place, to reveal Himself to you, to guide you with His Holy Spirit, to bless you and yours with plentiful food and water, to make things brighter, to put your broken pieces back together and heal your wounds, to give you a song and gladness of heart, and to destroy your enemies! Keep trusting Him! “Blessed are all who wait for Him!”