As we do this study, this is a season of Advent, and in Advent we are learning to wait well. Isaiah 33 also speaks to and helps us to wait. Advent makes clear that Jesus has come. This is true, even to the non-believing, secular world. But one of the questions that is unanswered, is why Jesus came. What do you think? More importantly, what does Isaiah say?
(A) The LORD Anticipated: A weary world awaits paradigm-shifting renewal (Isa 33:1-9)
Isaiah 33:1 begins with the word “Ah”, and it is not an exclamation of shock. Rather, it is one of lament. Isaiah speaks of a destroyer and traitor who has not been destroyed. Who is he speaking of? Probably Assyria. We read of destruction and betrayal not in general, but specifically and at their doorstep. This is detailed in 2 Kings 18:13-17 and also later on in Isaiah 37:3.
What are their causes for lament? We see how “their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly” (Isa 33:7), where their best people are failing and there is a mocking sense of irony here. Their “highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities are despised; there is no regard for man” (Isa 33:8). We see how the things necessary for social functioning break down. Even the very fabric of society, covenants, break down and we see a growing picture of life collapsing. Finally, Isaiah 33:9 speaks of how “the land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away;…”. Places meant to be lush and green appear like a desert. Creation joins in this destruction.
Does this sound familiar to you? It seems like some things haven’t changed that much. Reading this confronts us with reality. Perhaps some of us deal with such destruction and brokenness at work, but it is also easy to crowd it out and distract ourselves with social media. There is a real absurdity to the spaces we inhabit. If the idle mind is the devil’s workshop, surely the overstimulated mind is the devil’s factory. Satan delights in desensitising our minds again and again to the real brokenness outside and within.
Today, pause and thank God that He does not leave us to the excesses of overstimulation and forgetting the realities of life in a fallen world. Thank God that He has given us these pictures that call us to attention to recognise our terrible condition. We all come into Advent bearing these things and it is good for us to be confronted. Only then, can we come to Isaiah 33:2, which shows us the pattern and posture of God’s people in times of lament.
Now, in Isaiah 8 and 26, we see that God’s people are called to wait even in the midst of disaster. Much of the Christian life is a waiting life. Much of the waiting life is a prayerful life (Isa 33:2). Isaiah 33:2 is a prayer and is an everyday petition. It calls out to God to be our arm every morning. It recognises that we need God all the time.
What sort of people pray like this? This is a people that know their God and their responses are anchors in that. (c.f. Isa 30:18) All of our action depends on God’s first action. He is a God who longs to be gracious and this is why we approach Him. They’ve been waiting for a God who appears to act decisively and with might, as we see in Isaiah 33:3-5. He lifts Himself up and nations are scattered (Isa 33:3a). As soon as He rises, the nations are consumed, somewhat in a primal way (c.f. Isa 33:3b).
God’s people wait for God’s promises, and it’s not wishful thinking or positive thinking (like daily affirmations). He will fulfil Isaiah 1:26-27 because He has promised. Perhaps one reason we are so terrible at waiting and slow to prayer, is because we don’t know the rich promises of God. Dwell and cast your eyes and fix your affections on the promises of God. This is what Christian waiting looks like. And we don’t do it on our own strength. Ask God to hep you to wait well. We ask Him because He is a God of abundant blessings.
We continue to read and see in Isaiah 33:6 that God promises to be the stability of their times, “abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; but the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure” (Isa 33:6). We wait for this God because He is a blessing God. All that we long for — security and certainty, functional help and salvation, less anxiety and more safety — He supplies with Himself, and abundantly so. What is the chief of God’s blessing? Don’t miss it out at the end of Isaiah 33:6. It is the fear of the LORD that is Zion’s treasure.
We’ve read earlier in Isaiah 8:13 that God’s people are commanded to fear Him. In Isaiah 11:3, we see that God’s promised King will also delight in this fear of the Lord. God’s people become like God’s king too.
How do you relate or think about the fear of the Lord? What is your treasure? What do you want God to give you more of? We must not be people who think lightly of the fear of the Lord. We must not be people who sneer at sin. We must not be the sort of people that scoff at the largeness of holiness. Do you have a growing hatred of sin? Thank God for it! That is His gift to you. And as you study His Word, may you continue to grow in your reverence of this holy God. Thank God for His treasure in His word too. Without it, we will all fall.
Are there areas of your life that you have hidden from God, where the fear of the LORD doesn’t apply to and where you are chief in the matters? Go to Him in prayer. Petition this God who has this abundant treasure for us!
(B) The LORD Arises: Light and life He brings (Isa 33:10-16)
Notice the repetition and the tone it conveys in Isaiah 33:10. God speaks firmly with a sense of intensity and authority. God declares that He will arise, lift Himself up and be exalted (Isa 33:10). He makes Himself glorious. The use of the word “now” implies that there was a “then” where He didn’t act. But why now? Isaiah 33:7-9 show us that Judah’s effort at self-salvation have failed. One of the consistent patterns in Isaiah and in the Bible is that the good Lord moves to act when we’ve come to an end of ourselves. And often, He does so because we are so slow to go to Him before we reach that point.
See how God’s action is not about God’s becoming, but His revelation (c.f. Isa 33:5a). He is not becoming more exalted or moving to dwell in something higher than that in which He already dwells. It is this theme of revelation that we will unpack in the next set of verses.
In Isaiah 33:11-12, the peoples’ action seems to be futile and the more they work, they seem to destroy themselves. Isaiah 33:11 is also a terrible image — to give birth to stubble. But it is an apt description of sin — it is ultimately futile and self-destructive. It also shows human foolishness to think that it is consuming something better and smarter, and justifiable on our own terms.
Who is being summoned to hear? He speaks to everyone, and they fall into two clear categories. There are those who are far off (Isa 33:13a) and are also described as the godless who are seized with trembling (Isa 33:14a). At the same time, He is also speaking to those who are near and acknowledge His might (Isa 33:13b) and the sinners in Zion who are afraid (Isa 33:14a).
In front of this God, we have no choice but to declare with the people, “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burning?” (Isa 33:14b). Why did Jesus come? He came to reveal the truth of our human condition. That’s how John puts it in John 1:9. This Light that comes is the sort of light that makes it clear immediately who is in darkness. The true light also makes clear which lights are false, and sheds light on who are in darkness. Thus, Isaiah poses a real and searching question: Who can stand before this real and holy God?
Isaiah 33:15-16 answers this for us, by giving us a picture of one whose pattern of life is righteous. It shows in His speech and actions. He hates sin and goes to the extent of not being associated with it at all (Isa 33:15b). He dwells with God and depends on Him for provision.
This is meant to be a picture of the Christian’s life. Yes, we are aware of our sins as Christians, but we need to remember that the fear of the LORD also results in our sanctification and growth in holiness. We are meant to see these signs and when we see it in one another, we are to encourage one another too. As Isaiah 30:19-25 also helps us to see, this righteous person is not just a flash in the pan, but is a result of God’s work. God’s grace transforms His people.
This is how God will act in history. But how? Jesus comes to exalt Himself. In John’s gospel, we see a pattern of Jesus acting in miracles to point to His glory. This is why He heals the lame and blind, multiplies bread to feed the people, raise the dead etc. It is good and right and necessary for us as Christians to think of Jesus’ work on the cross. The person of Christ cannot be separated from His chief work — dying on that cross (c.f. John 12:27-36). But we must not rush to the cross. We must ponder on the glorious Christ and do it this Advent. If the greatness of Christ and His glory is not known, we will also miss out on the weightiness of the cross. Spend some time pondering on the glories of Christ this Advent and don’t rush to the cross.
But let’s not just note His note of sacrifice. He also works for our sanctification. In John 17:4, Jesus speaks of His glory, but He also goes on to pray for the sanctification of His disciples. Our Christ intercedes for us too, that we will be made righteous more and more like our King! The end goal is not just being righteous, but that we will be one with Him, to enjoy communion with Him.
How then shall we live? We live realising that if God is exalted, we are not. We are led to see how there are areas of pride in our life. We keep walking and war with the sin in our life. We continue to wait. What are you waiting for and how do you tend to wait?How do the promises of God speak to the broken realities that you see today? What do you think of when you think of the exalted Christ?