Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation, Book 4, part 17

There are many wicked people in the world who do not “perceive the majesty of the Lord” (Isaiah 26:10). This, in fact, is the reason why they do not “learn righteousness,” for if the veil were removed from their eyes so that they could see God clearly, they would instantly fall to their knees and acknowledge Him.

The veil, the prophet says (Isaiah 25:7) is the earth’s big problem, must be removed in order to change the hearts of men. Paul adds (2 Corinthians 3:16-18) that when the veil is removed, men may see Him face to face and are changed into His image. Yet for the veil to be removed, men must turn to Christ.

Hence, the prophet Jeremiah prayed, “Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned” (Lamentations 5:21 KJV). He acknowledged the sovereignty of God, knowing that the New Covenant was based upon the promise of God to save us and upon His ability to write the law upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

Likewise, Psalm 80:19 tells us,

¹⁹ O Lord God of hosts, restore [shuwb, “turn”] us; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

In other words, when God’s “face” (paniym, “face, presence”) shines upon us in all of His majesty, “we will be saved.” Only God can do this, and indeed He will do so at the Great White Throne judgment, when all men see the glory of His majesty.

In this present age God has revealed His face to a few, and the result is that the majority do not “learn righteousness” nor are their hearts turned to conform to the image of Christ.

The Zeal of God

Isaiah 26:11 continues,

¹¹ O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it. They see Your zeal [cana] for the people and are put to shame; indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.

God’s “hand is lifted up” to judge the people, “yet they do not see it.” When God judges the nations, they see only disaster and think it is “natural” or “man-made.” They have no understanding of the Scriptures, and they are ignorant of the laws of God, where God promised to bring “curses” upon the disobedient for sin. In their pride, they think God ought to indulge their sin and bless their right to live according to their own will and desire.

All they see, the prophet says, is “Your zeal for the people.” Here “zeal” refers to the works of God that spring from His “zeal” (cana). The zeal of God is an interesting concept, especially when it is set forth in the second chapter of John’s gospel.

Jesus performed His first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana (“zeal”). John’s commentary on this miraculous “sign” was set forth in the manner in which Jesus cleansed the temple, for we read in John 2:17,

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”

The zeal of Christ is thus expressed in terms of cleansing the temple of its merchandising. The Hebrew word for Canaanite is a merchant banker. Hence, the entire scenario was built upon the Hebrew word cana, which is also the root word for a Canaanite (canaaniy). Yet when Jesus’ hand was lifted up against these merchants in the temple, they did not see or understand it as divine judgment. They were only shamed or embarrassed by Jesus’ “zeal,” as Isaiah says.

The result of His “zeal” is “fire will devour Your enemies.” Jesus did not burn down the temple or even their tables, yet He brought judgment upon them according to the “fiery law.” The law’s “fire” is manifested in all of its judgments, whether it is a beating, restitution, or even the death penalty. The fire is not literal but metaphorical, because the law was given at Sinai out of the midst of the fire and because God Himself is pictured as a consuming fire.

The Sovereignty of God

Isaiah 26:12 says,

¹² Lord, You will establish peace [shalom] for us, since You have also performed for us all our works.

The prophet confesses that God is the only One who can “establish peace for us.” In Paul’s writings, the apostle saw this as God’s plan to reconcile the world to Himself. Both Paul and Isaiah understood the sovereignty of God. Isaiah says clearly that God is the One who is working through us. He has “performed for us all our works,” and we cannot take credit for it.

The Emphasized Bible  (Rotherham) renders it, “For even all our works hast thou wrought for us.” Paul agrees with the prophet, saying in Galatians 2:20, 21,

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.

Thus Paul sets forth his understanding of the sovereignty of God. Not only does Christ work His will through Paul’s body, but Paul says, “I do not nullify the grace of God.” God’s grace is rooted in His sovereign acts apart from the will of man. Hence, he writes in Romans 9:11, 12,

¹¹ for though the twins [Jacob and Esau] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, ¹² it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”

In expounding further on God’s choices in Romans 11:5, 6,

⁵ In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. ⁶ But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

That which man does by his own will or choice is not grace. What man wills to do “comes through the Law,” because one’s so-called “righteousness” is established by his own will. However, God’s choices are based on grace, because He does it apart from the will of man. Hence, if salvation is obtained by the will of man, man’s decisions, and his own good intentions, then his salvation is “no longer grace.” It is instead an attempt to be saved through the Old Covenant, which is man’s vow to God.

For this reason, we must understand that whatever we do in life is Christ living through us and exercising His sovereign will through those that He has chosen at this present time. This is what Isaiah meant by saying, “You have also performed for us all our works.” Our works are actually His works in us.

Other Masters

Isaiah 26:13 says,

¹³ O Lord our God, other masters [adonim] besides You have ruled us; but through You alone we confess Your name.

The prophet was probably speaking generally of the nation of Judah that was being ruled by kings who had essentially usurped the throne by ruling according to their own will and laws. The statement also extends to all false gods whose laws inevitably put men into bondage to sin. False gods confuse licentiousness for freedom. By promising the people freedom, they enslave the people (2 Peter 2:19). So it is to this day.

The prophet had confessed his allegiance to the true God of Israel, but even then, he set forth his confession within the parameters of the sovereignty of God, saying, “through You alone we confess Your name.” In saying this, he recognized that if God had not removed the veil from his eyes, he would have remained among those whose eyes were yet veiled.

Raising the Dead

Isaiah 26:14 (NASB) continues,

¹⁴ The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise; therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and You have wiped out all remembrance of them.

The Emphasized Bible read this way:

¹⁴ The dead come not to life again, the shades do not arise—therefore thou hast visited and destroyed them and caused to perish every memorial of them.

This verse is sometimes used to prove the Annihilationist view, which claims that the unsaved simply remain dead and cease to exist. But the fact is that the dead do indeed come back to life, because, as Jesus said in John 5:28, “an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice.” The next verse includes both the righteous and the wicked.

This is confirmed in Revelation 20:12, where the apostle “saw the dead, the great and the small standing before the throne.” This obviously includes the unbelievers, because they must be raised for judgment.

Isaiah was not speaking of the great day of resurrection and judgment when he says, “the dead will not live.” The context shows that he was speaking of a more local situation. When divine judgment hits, these wicked "masters" (ungodly rulers who enslave men) are destroyed and no man can reverse this by raising them up again. In time of war, the massive slaughter often meant that the dead remained unburied and forgotten with no tomb to memorialize their name for future generations.

We cannot apply Isaiah’s statement to the final resurrection of the dead, where the dead are indeed raised and summoned to the throne of God to give account for their deeds which they have done during their lifetime. The only way to interpret it correctly is to see the prophet’s statement in a more restricted sense.