Isaiah 26 Commentary
So central to the Christian belief system is chapter 26 that you feel you are reading one of the Pauline letters.
The LORD is coming from His heavenly place to punish the people of the earth for their sins. But before that, there is the ‘little while’ until God’s anger is over. Let the saint go into his house and shut the door behind him. It is time to hide as trouble circles.
The prophet is speaking directly with less imagery. Murderers and what they represent will be exposed. This is nothing other than judgment day! The LORD will have revived those long dead. Their bodies will have come back to life. Verse 19.
We were in pain and agony. Part of the pain is the saint’s desire for God – for God’s rule in a world of extreme wickedness. “Even in the land of righteousness, people still do wrong.” Regardless, “we follow your will and put our hope in you; you are all that we desire.” Even for his close walk with the LORD, the prophet still needed the completeness that only comes from the LORD’s glorious coming.
While the saint hides, the wicked have it easy. The LORD is kind to the wicked yet they never learn to do what is right. They never know that the LORD will punish them.
The prophet prays that the LORD puts His enemies to shame. Let them see just how much the LORD loves His people. Of course, the day comes when the LORD makes it all clear.
Isaiah toggles between his current circumstances and the extreme future that the LORD allowed him to see. But nothing is confusing anymore. The prophet has spoken plainly and clearly. He has talked about global wickedness in his references to the earth. He has also talked about the suffering of the remnant until the coming of the LORD – the famous ‘little while’ has its first steps in the Old Testament.
The resurrection of the dead, so prominent in the New Testament, is strongly rooted here. The future is here. The LORD will give victory to His people – in installments for ours and Isaiah’s troubling times. But this chapter has also clearly pointed to the final victory when the LORD reigns in glory.
To the ‘Rocky eternal’ be the glory.
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