The Road to Jesus Leads to a Kingdom of Righteousness
We have seen in Isaiah that one major theme is: Do not trust in man! Do we have issues with this today? Do we not seek the approval and accolades of man today instead of seeking to honor Jesus Christ by trusting His word and being simply obedient slaves to His word? Just like today, the issue with Israel was not a weak economy. It was not a weak military. It was not irreligious people. The issue today as it was in Isaiah’s day is commitment to the wrong religion. It is commitment to something else or someone else besides Jesus Christ and His word. Man has not changed.
Frequently Isaiah has critiqued the leaders of his own people. What Israel needs is a new leader, a righteous leader. He has hinted at that and pointed it out clearly several times in earlier chapters. When we come to chapter 32, we see that the nature of the kingdom to be established by the Messiah is one of righteousness.
This first few verses of chapter 32 picture that king that Isaiah saw would come, back in passages like 9:6-7. This king will reign righteously and His people will rule justly. Back in 9:7, righteousness characterized the King’s throne. In 11:5, righteousness characterized the King’s character. Here, it will characterize the King’s administration. He and His people will be a place of refuge for the needy, a shelter from the storm, like water in a dry country and a shade in the heat of day.
We need elders and preachers, to the extent they lead in their preaching and teaching, to follow the King in being leaders who are righteous and just. But if man fails, our ultimate allegiance needs to be to God and His word. False teaching should never enter a congregation of God’s people, if they are following God’s Word. If it comes in through the preacher, it should be stopped by the elders. If it comes it with the elders’ permission, it should be stopped by a biblically knowledgeable congregation.
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They will have no guidance until the Spirit is poured out from above (vs 15). Then the wilderness will become a fertile field. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will be found in the fertile field (vs 16). We are probably most familiar with Joel’s prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit in the kingdom, since it was his prophecy that Peter quotes in Acts 2:14ff. But Ezekiel (36:26-27), Jeremiah (31:33), and others, as Isaiah does here, also predicted the coming of the Spirit of God. “God cannot fill where he does not rule” (Oswalt, 587). That’s why one must obey the Gospel first before he receives the Holy Spirit. One does not receive the Holy Spirit in order to obey the Gospel – Acts 5:32; Galatians 3:2; 4:6. One obeys the Gospel in order to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Isaiah elaborates again on these spiritual virtues in verse 17: the work of righteousness will result in peace and the service of righteousness will result in quietness and confidence forever. What a stark contrast with what the Jews were experiencing at that very moment! Can you have peace in the midst of chaos? Yes, the peace only God can give.
At that point, in the Messiah’s kingdom, His people will live in peace, secure, undisturbed, and restful (vs 18). When the forest comes down and the city is laid low (vs 19), these individuals will be blessed (vs 20). “These claims demonstrate that people cannot produce peace and security on their own through human efforts or political alliance” (Smith, 547).
Yes, if you want to have peace, you must be righteous before God. In order to enjoy that righteousness, you must be in the Kingdom of the Son of God. To be in that kingdom of righteousness (Romans 14:17), you must submit to His righteousness (Acts 10:34-35).
–Paul Holland
