WWUTT 2009 Behold Yahweh in His Beauty (Isaiah 33:1-24)

The Assyrians came against the Hebrews, and for a time God allowed them to destroy. But they would be destroyed, and those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved and will dwell with Him forever, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. Being Thursday, we're in our study in the book of Isaiah and up to chapter 33 this week. Little bit longer chapters, so let me begin by reading through just the first 12 verses out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

Hear the word of the Lord. Woe to you, O destroyer, while you were not destroyed, and he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed.

As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you. O Yahweh, be gracious to us, we have hoped in you. Be their strength every morning, our salvation also in times of distress.

At the sound of the tumult, peoples flee. At the lifting up of yourself, nations scatter. Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers. As locusts rushing about, men rush about on it. Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high.

He is filled Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is his treasure. Behold their brave men cry in the streets.

The messengers of peace weep bitterly. The highways are desolate. The traveler has ceased. He has broken the covenant. He has rejected the cities. He has no regard for man. The land mourns and languishes.

Lebanon is humiliated and withers. Sharon is like a desert plain, and Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage. Now I will be on high, says Yahweh. Now I will be lifted up. Now I will be lifted up. You have conceived chaff.

You will give birth to stubble. My breath will consume you like a fire. The peoples will be burned to lime, like cut thorns which are burned in the fire. So this is talking about how the Assyrians are going to be destroyed even after they destroy.

God uses them as an instrument to bring punishment against the Israelites, against the Jews, because the Jews did not worship God. They turned to false gods and worshiped them. So God is bringing this judgment even against his own people.

Now he's not going to annihilate his people. They will certainly feel the judgment of God. They will even be exiled from their land. But the promise that we have heard, of course, is that God is going to restore them to the land and he will be faithful to finish, to complete the promises, to fulfill every promise that he said that he was going to do through the Jewish people.

After the Assyrians are used to bring punishment against the Jews, the Babylonians, of course, end up being an instrument that God uses to inflict punishment. Also then after them, the Medes and the Persians.

God will use these instruments, he'll use these tools in order to afflict punishment against his people. But they who destroyed will also be destroyed. And that's what's said here at the very beginning.

Woe to you, oh destroyer, while you were not destroyed. And he who is treacherous while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed. As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

There were others that came against the Assyrians. Well, God brought his own sword against the Assyrians. We've talked about that in previous weeks. With the Babylonians, it was the Medes and the Persians that came against them.

And so then we turn to, or we turn from those who destroyed and about how they are going to be destroyed, where Isaiah now makes this appeal to Yahweh on behalf of his people. There is this intercession for the Jewish people.

Oh Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have hoped in you. Be their strength every morning, our salvation also in time of distress. So certainly we're going to go through this punishment. We're going to go through this judgment, but be our salvation.

Rescue us from this. May your justice come upon those who have dealt unjustly and you show your justice to us, your mercy and your forgiveness. Verse three, at the sound of the tumult, people's flee. At the lifting up of yourself, nations scatter.

So the sound of the tumult is the sound of Yahweh arising. He uses those things. He uses things in the world to execute his judgments. But it's still Yahweh that does it. There is nothing that happens in the world that God's hand has not put forth.

He is in control of all. So in verse four, your spoil is gathered as a caterpillar gathers, as locusts rushing about, men rush about on it. Yahweh is exalted for he dwells on high. He is filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

Now Zion, of course, being that reference to the place where God dwells. He dwells on the temple mount. He dwells in the temple with his people. But when judgment comes upon them, as it is going to, God will not be there in the temple at that time.

If you'll recall from the prophet Ezekiel, when the Babylonians come against the Jews, God's presence has left the temple so that the Babylonians can come against them. But his presence is still in Zion.

He is filled Zion with justice and righteousness. Zion is that place where God dwells. He hasn't vacated his throne. He hasn't left his place on high. Yahweh, as we read in verse five, Yahweh is exalted for he dwells on high, wherever God is, Zion is.

So if you seek justice, if you seek righteousness, then you're seeking that place where God dwells and he will be the stability of your times. It says in verse six, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

The fear of Yahweh is his treasure. Now, this isn't an exact parallel, but I was struck by the similarity between that statement in Isaiah 33, six and the similarity with first Corinthians one 30 by his doing.

You are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. What does it say here in Isaiah 33, six? He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.

The fear of Yahweh is his treasure. I just kind of wonder if maybe Paul had that in mind when he wrote that in first Corinthians one 30, he makes references to Isaiah frequently. So I just assume maybe that's what he was thinking of when he laid out that outline for his letter to the Corinthians, because that's essentially what we're reading there in first Corinthians one 30.

Maybe it's an outline of the rest of the letter. So we have a very similar statement here made in Isaiah 33, six. He is a wealth of salvation and wisdom and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is his treasure.

As we also read in Proverbs one, six, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. And we read in Colossians chapter two, that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In verse seven, behold, their brave men cry in the streets. The messengers of peace weep bitterly. The highways are desolate. The traveler has ceased. He has broken the covenant. He has rejected the cities.

He has no regard for man. This is in reference to Sennacherib, who was the king of the Assyrians. The highways are desolate. The traveler is ceased. Such terror has been brought upon the land that no travelers even go through there.

He has broken the covenant. Sennacherib did not keep the treaty that he had made, that he had made with Hezekiah with the conditions. And of course, Sennacherib did not do that. He did not fear God. He had no regard for man.

End of verse eight. So then verse nine, the land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is humiliated and withers. Sharon is like a desert plain. So remember that the Assyrians are described as locusts. We had that statement come up a little bit earlier as well.

The locusts that devour the land. Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage. And you're seeing that depiction here. When locusts come and devour, there's nothing left, especially the foliage. It's all gone.

But then, though Assyria is allowed to come in and do what they do, God speaks in verse 10, now I will be on high, says Yahweh. Now I will be lifted up. Now I will be lifted up. We see that repeated twice.

I will be on high. I will be lifted up. I'll be lifted up. Really, three times that statement is made. The totality of the fact that God is going to be exalted and He will be higher than any other name.

You have conceived chaff. He says in verse 11, you will give birth to stubble. My breath will consume you like a fire. Sennacherib and the destruction of the Assyrians are going to be as nothing compared to what God brings against them.

The people will be burned to lime like cut thorns which are burned in the fire. So what we really see demonstrated here is that God has allowed the destroyer, the Assyrians, to ascend to the height of this fear that they have afflicted the people with so that God will destroy them.

And great will be their fall and you will know how great Yahweh is. And Yahweh brings the sword himself and strikes down over a hundred thousand Assyrians. And we're going to read about that when we get to chapter 36.

We'll get to that part of the narrative. I've mentioned that in previous weeks, but that's coming up even as we're reading here in Isaiah. So then we go on into verse 13, 13 to 16 starts a new section.

You who are far away, hear what I have done. And you who are near acknowledge my might. Sinners in Zion are in dread. Trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire?

Who among us can sojourn with continual burning? He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly. He who rejects greedy gain of oppression and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe. He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil.

He will dwell on the heights. His refuge will be the strongholds of the cliffs. His bread will be given him. His water will be sure. This is a common question that is asked in the scripture. Who among us can sojourn with the consuming fire?

Who can dwell in God's presence in Psalm 24 verse three, who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh and who may rise in his holy place. He who has innocent hands and a pure heart, who is not lifted up his soul to worthlessness and is not sworn deceitfully.

He shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh and his righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, pay heed, O Jacob, say.

Law.

We also see in the book of Revelation, when the judgment of God comes upon the people, the kings themselves, they will flee to the mountains. They'll beg for the rocks to cover them for the great day of their judgment has come.

And who can stand is the question that's asked. I believe it's at the end of Revelation six. And the answer is those whom God has preserved for himself, those whom he has sealed, those who are his, those who have been given the mark of Christ.

And so it is said here as well, who can sojourn with God, who is a consuming fire. He who walks righteously and speaks up rightly, he who rejects greedy gain of oppression and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe.

He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed, shuts his eyes from looking upon evil. He who is pure, he who is righteous, he who seeks the Lord, he who is, as we might understand it, Christ-like, he who has been clothed with the righteousness of Christ may dwell with the Lord in his house forever.

Verse 17 is the final instruction or the final section here of Isaiah 33, where we're seeing the king in his beauty, he and his majesty, he in his gloriousness, your eyes will behold the king in his beauty.

They will see a far distant land. Your heart will meditate on terror. Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers? You will no longer see a fierce people, a people of unintelligible speech, which no one comprehends of a stammering tongue, which no one understands.

It's this foreign people that have come against the Hebrews. They do not recognize the language that is used, but you will no longer see that people that speak a language that you don't understand. Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times.

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an abode at ease, a tent which will not be folded up. Its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its cords ever be torn apart. But there the mighty one Yahweh will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals on which no boat with oars will go and on which no mighty ship will pass.

For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king. He will save us. Now let me stop right there for a moment. Before we finish this off, we've got two more verses, 23 and 24. So it's being said here that Jerusalem will be great.

You won't see this people of a foreign tongue coming against you anymore. You will live in a land where the words that are spoken will be understood. The city will be established. Behold Zion, the city of our appointed times.

Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an abode at ease. Now get this part, the end of 20, its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its cords ever be torn apart. Now tell me, does that describe the Jerusalem of today?

I'm talking the physical city as it exists in Israel. Is that's what's being talked about here? No, of course not. This doesn't even talk about the Jerusalem that the people will return to after they have been sent into exile.

When they are allowed to return into the land, they don't go back to a Jerusalem which will not be folded and its stakes never pulled up because that happens to that Jerusalem. Again, the Romans come against it and you have the Jewish Roman war.

The, uh, the, the conflict that takes place in Jerusalem, which results in the destruction of the, of the temple in 70 ad. So this is not describing that physical city that exists on earth. This is describing a city that will never be destroyed the new Jerusalem.

And who is that? It's the church. So certainly the Jews are allowed to go back to Jerusalem. They rebuild their city walls, they rebuild the temple, but it's not a city that can never be pulled up and never be torn apart.

That's the church. Jesus saying in Matthew 16, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We are the new Jerusalem in Christ and he is preserving us. He is sanctifying us that we may be presented to him in white and splendor.

That's the way the new Jerusalem is depicted in the book of revelation. When we're perfectly sanctified and the, the bridegroom who is Christ comes back to receive his bride and we will be with the Lord forever.

So this is a promise, not for the people to return back to a physical place. This is a promise of an eternal spiritual kingdom that will never be torn apart by any power on earth. And so the assurance that we have of living in this new Jerusalem in the kingdom of God and of Christ, we know that Yahweh is our judge.

Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us. Verse 23 is speaking to those who live in earthly tents in earthly dwellings, drive earthly vessels. As you'll understand the metaphor here, verse 23, your cords hang slack.

They cannot hold the base of their mast firmly nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided. The lame will take the plunder. The lame can't do anything. The lame can't fight back against an enemy, but this is God saying the enemy will be destroyed so that even the lame will be victorious in the spoil.

And my friends, that's us, that's Christians. We are victorious in the end. We will receive the spoil. As Jesus said in the Beatitudes, blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Verse 24, and no one who dwells there will say, I am sick.

The people who inhabit there will be forgiven their iniquity. And that is all of us who are in Christ. Our sins have been forgiven. We are secure with Christ forever, and we will inherit his kingdom with him.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for these reminders that we have, even with regards to the Assyrians that were coming against the Hebrews. We find even in this a promise that we will be delivered from our enemies.

We will be delivered from our condition. We will be restored. We will be saved. We will dwell with God forever in his perfect kingdom. So teach us, as said in Colossians chapter three, to seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

When Christ who is our life appears, then we also will appear with him in glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.