Isaiah 57:1-21— Making Peace (pt 2)
Isaiah 56 sets up a comparison between the law-abiding and the lawless. Isaiah 57 carries on in the same thread with a comparison between the righteous who find peace and the wicked idolators who don’t.
Isaiah 57:1-2
The opening verse presents us with a picture of righteous people perishing and merciful people being taken away, but no one considers why.
Even though the righteous perish at the hand of the wicked, the LORD blesses them for having walked in their uprightness. They enter into rest and peace. That particular word for rest carries the sense of sitting down, like a servant on the Sabbath, or like Israel when Joshua gives her an inheritance—a sitting-down place—in her own land. The righteous will experience rest in a bed of the LORD’s making.
Verse 1 has another thought in it, however. When it says ". . . no one considers
that the righteous is taken away [spared] from evil," it is conveys the idea of the righteous being withdrawn from the community to be spared the evil or calamity to come--perhaps judgment against the wicked.
The rapture, prior to the days of the Tribulation. So, what does a community without the merciful and upright (believers) look like? That is the picture in verses 3-13.
While the righteous experience rest in a bed of the LORD’s making, the wicked idolators go about making their own bed.
Isaiah 57:3-13
The LORD describes their idolatrous actions in wincing detail, much like we saw in earlier chapters. They pursue their own lusts with the things they idolize, and He ends with a final warning. Only those that trust in Him will inherit the land and possess it.
Isaiah 57:14-21
We now return to the theme of God's Highway Project with which we began in Isaiah 40. The command to “prepare the way” is repeated. At the end of the Tribulation period, the Messiah-King will come. Prepare the way for the king! Finish the highway! Remove the stumbling stones! This is not a literal highway, of course, but a spiritual highway to the King and way of return for His people.
It is God Himself who creates the fruit of the lips--the heartening, comforting words that speak peace and healing to those who are near and those who are far.
The chapter began with a statement about the righteous who enter into rest and peace. It ends with a contrasting statement about the wicked. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (v21). These will not enter the kingdom, because it is a kingdom of peace. There is no place for them there.
This same statement about there being no peace for the wicked was made at the end of Isaiah 48 which marked the end of Part 1 and led into Part 2 of God’s Highway Project. We have now finished Part 2 on this same statement and theme of what makes for peace. Think back over the pictures we have studied in Part 2 (Chapters 49-57).
For Reflection:
As we go into our week, consider in your own life what makes for peace.
Isaiah 57:1-2
The opening verse presents us with a picture of righteous people perishing and merciful people being taken away, but no one considers why.
Q: Doesn’t the community benefit from having the righteous and merciful in its assembly? Why are they taken away?
Even though the righteous perish at the hand of the wicked, the LORD blesses them for having walked in their uprightness. They enter into rest and peace. That particular word for rest carries the sense of sitting down, like a servant on the Sabbath, or like Israel when Joshua gives her an inheritance—a sitting-down place—in her own land. The righteous will experience rest in a bed of the LORD’s making.
Verse 1 has another thought in it, however. When it says ". . . no one considers
that the righteous is taken away [spared] from evil," it is conveys the idea of the righteous being withdrawn from the community to be spared the evil or calamity to come--perhaps judgment against the wicked.
Q: When we, as Church Age believers, think of a time when believers will be removed from a wicked world that is about to experience a time of calamity, of what is that a picture for us?
The rapture, prior to the days of the Tribulation. So, what does a community without the merciful and upright (believers) look like? That is the picture in verses 3-13.
While the righteous experience rest in a bed of the LORD’s making, the wicked idolators go about making their own bed.
Isaiah 57:3-13
The LORD describes their idolatrous actions in wincing detail, much like we saw in earlier chapters. They pursue their own lusts with the things they idolize, and He ends with a final warning. Only those that trust in Him will inherit the land and possess it.
Q: Does it seem like there is any hope of redemption for these?
Q: If this picture is a picture of the wickedness of the world as it will be during the Tribulation under a future Babylon, will there be redemption for those who turn back to God in those days?
Isaiah 57:14-21
We now return to the theme of God's Highway Project with which we began in Isaiah 40. The command to “prepare the way” is repeated. At the end of the Tribulation period, the Messiah-King will come. Prepare the way for the king! Finish the highway! Remove the stumbling stones! This is not a literal highway, of course, but a spiritual highway to the King and way of return for His people.
Q: Who does the high and lofty God of eternity lift up to dwell with Him?
Q: What hope is there for the backslider?
It is God Himself who creates the fruit of the lips--the heartening, comforting words that speak peace and healing to those who are near and those who are far.
Q: Who is “far off” and who is “near”? (Ephesians 2)
The chapter began with a statement about the righteous who enter into rest and peace. It ends with a contrasting statement about the wicked. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (v21). These will not enter the kingdom, because it is a kingdom of peace. There is no place for them there.
This same statement about there being no peace for the wicked was made at the end of Isaiah 48 which marked the end of Part 1 and led into Part 2 of God’s Highway Project. We have now finished Part 2 on this same statement and theme of what makes for peace. Think back over the pictures we have studied in Part 2 (Chapters 49-57).
For Reflection:
As we go into our week, consider in your own life what makes for peace.
Q: Is there something in your life that is robbing you of peace? If so, why?
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