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Context No. 1920 of 4322 · Isaiah

Context · Reflection

Isaiah 33:1-16: in context

1Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed, and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed. 2LORD, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. 3At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered. 4Your plunder will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap. 5The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 6There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is your treasure. 7Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly. 8The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man. 9The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare. 10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted. 11You will conceive chaff. You will give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour you. 12The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire. 13Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.” 14The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning? 15He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil— 16he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.

Isaiah pictures a day when the sinners in Zion are afraid, when trembling seizes the godless, and they ask: who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burning? It is a question about who can stand in the presence of a holy God, who is likened to a consuming fire. And Isaiah answers: he who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises dishonest gain, refuses bribes, and turns his eyes from evil; that person will dwell on high, his refuge a fortress of rock, his bread and water sure.

The question Isaiah raises is a searching one: who can dwell with the devouring fire? God is holy, likened to a consuming fire; who can stand in his presence, dwell securely with such a God? And the answer describes a particular kind of life: the one who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who refuses dishonest gain and bribes, who turns from evil and stops his ears from schemes of violence. It is a life of integrity, justice, and turning from evil, a life whose conduct matches the holiness of the God it would dwell with. Such a person, Isaiah says, will dwell on high, secure, provided for, his bread and water sure. There is a portrait here of the life that can stand securely before a holy God, and it is worth measuring ourselves against. It is not a life of religious performance merely, but of integrity: walking righteously, speaking truthfully, refusing to profit by dishonest or oppressive means, turning the eyes away from evil rather than feeding on it. This is the life that matches the holiness of God, and that can therefore dwell securely in his presence rather than trembling before him. The Psalms ask the same question, who may dwell on your holy hill? and give a similar answer: he who walks blamelessly and does what is right, who has clean hands and a pure heart. The consuming fire of God's holiness is a terror to the godless, who cannot dwell with it; but to the one whose life is marked by integrity and the turning from evil, God's presence is not a terror but a refuge, a fortress of rock, a place of security and sure provision. This calls us to the integrity that can dwell with a holy God: to walk righteously, to deal honestly, to refuse dishonest gain, to turn from evil, so that the presence of God is not a fire we fear but a fortress in which we are secure. Who can dwell with the devouring fire? The one whose life, by grace, is marked by the integrity and holiness that answer to God's own.

Is my life marked by the integrity that can dwell securely with a holy God, walking righteously, dealing honestly, refusing dishonest gain, turning my eyes from evil, or does the question who can dwell with the devouring fire find me among those who tremble, and can I pursue, by grace, the integrity and turning from evil that make God's holy presence a refuge rather than a terror?

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