The Bread of Adversity
Isaiah Chapters 24-31
The Day of the Lord
In the previous lesson we introduced the concept of the “Day of the Lord” and acknowledged the extensive influence of the idea throughout the Old Testament prophets and even into New Testament discussions. In the previous lesson, the concept was introduced to us as a cruel day of wrath and fierce anger (13:9). These words do not fit the idea we have established for ourselves of a God who dispenses wrath with dispassion and with a reluctance we will gratefully accept for ourselves and hatefully reject for others. Yet even when we are calling forth the wrath of God on those we believe most deserve it, we would shy away from the idea that God could be cruel. We began to move towards an understanding of this “cruel day” by acknowledging that descriptions of God in human terms always miss the mark. Just as the power, majesty, and love of God are beyond human description, perhaps our ideas of anger and wrath fail even more.
The Day of the Lord continues as a dominant theme in the chapters we are given for the current lesson. As before, the day is described as completely devastating. The introductory passage of Chapter 24 (24:1-3) tells us quite plainly that the devastation of that day will be for all the inhabitants of the earth, with exception for no one. Introduced in that passage and elaborated in the following verses (24:4-6) is the idea that the earth itself will be stricken This is the first of several connections between our passage and the book of Romans, where Paul tells us that the entirety of creation is afflicted by our sin, and eagerly awaits redemption as we do ourselves (Romans 8:19-22).
The devastation of that day is further described in verses 17-23, which tell of the judgment of God on both heaven and earth. The beginning verses of that section, which describe the dual threat of the pit and the snare, are similar in spirit to the the verse in Amos (Amos 5:19) where the afflicted will escape one danger only to be captured by another.
A Covenant with Death
There are in our passage a number of references to the guilt of the people which justified the wrath of their God. There is, to begin with the “covenant with death” that the people have established by making a lie their refuge (28:15). The explanation of this strange covenant is seen in later verses (31:1-3) where we find that some of the people had put their trust in the wealth and power of Egypt. It is the wisdom of this world to trust the things of this world, but there is only one source of Truth, and one source of Life (John 14:6).
As the people put their faith in the passing things of this world, they continued to “give lip service” to the Lord (29:13-16). While they worshiped the Lord with their mouths, they had their own plans in mind. Though there are those who claim that God is an invention of the human mind, God knows this is not true. It is ridiculous (though not uncommon) for us to raise ourselves to the place of God (Romans 9:20-21) or to lower God to the place of men (Jeremiah 23:23-24).
In words which more plainly denounce the people's trust in the ways of this world, the Lord also establishes an interesting connection between the people's guilt and their punishment (30:12-17). The very oppression and deceit on which the people had relied would be turned upon them. Their punishment for reliance on the things of this world was that they only had the things of this world on which to rely.
To add to this idea, there is the idea of the “precious cornerstone” (28:16). This is the stone that is both the sanctuary and the stumbling block (8:14-15). It is the stone the builders reject, which has become the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22-24). It is the stone that may cause us to stumble or make us secure (Romans 9:32-33). It is the stone we can build upon or be crumbled under (Matthew 21:42-44).
The Bread of Adversity
In much the same way that the sin becomes the reward of the sinner, and the stone is both the stumbling block and the head of the corner, in these chapters the Day of the Lord is both a day of devastation and a day of redemption. The refrain “in that day” introduces both terror and comfort. It is the day when death will be swallowed up in victory (25:6-9; 1 Corinthians 15:54; Revelation 21:4). It is a day when God has heard our murmured prayers and all memory of the former day is gone (26:12-17; Romans 8:26). It is a day when a new song is sung for the vineyard (5:1-7; 27:2-6). It is a day when all of creation will be redeemed (30:23-26). It is not only a day that is to come, but a day that has always been (25:1-4).
Whenever any one of us is separated from God, the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of all the earth and everyone who walks the face of it, that same God longs to be reunited with us. This is the justice of God (30:18-20) who in our adversity gives us the Bread of Life (John 6:51) and in our affliction gives us Living Water (Revelation 7:17).
