Isaiah 51, Part 2 - God's Justice
Isaiah 51v4-8
5th October 2013
Last week, we looked at Isaiah 51v1-3. Let's read on:
Isaiah 51:4-5
"Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to
the nations.
My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.
As our government continues to pass laws that are contrary to God's law, we who love Him can be tempted to despair. But this period of ungodly government and ungodly society will pass. God promises that His law will be re-asserted. He says "The law will go out from me". And He promises that the day will come when governments and societies welcome God's law, "my justice will become a light to the nations". The fulfilment to these promises seems so far off that they remind us that this is not something the church can achieve by itself; we need the Holy Spirit. I don't know how bad things will have to get, how clearly our nation and others will need to see it demonstrated that ungodly laws do more harm than good, but I believe the promises of God.
People cry out for justice. But what is justice? Surely we can agree that:
Justice is whatever God says it is
To put that another way:
Justice is obedience to Biblical law
By that, I don't mean we should return to the Old Covenant. I mean we should see what God requires of us in the Bible, and do what it says.
You'll remember Micah's prophesy (Micah 6v8): He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Acting justly is inseparable from walking humbly with God. And walking humbly with God means reading the scriptures and doing what they say. People disagree about what God's law requires, because we're all imperfect and we're all prejudiced by at least one worldly philosophical system (even if we don't think we are). But the least God requires is that we try to understand His Holy Scriptures and put them into practice.
Isaiah 51:6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will
wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last for ever, my
righteousness will never fail.
Whatever ecological disaster strikes, God will continue to save those who repent and trust in Him. And even after the end of the world, His salvation will hold firm, His personal righteousness will always be perfect, and the righteousness He imputes to those who believe His word will never fail.
Isaiah 51:7-8
"Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of
men or be terrified by their insults.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will
last for ever, my salvation through all generations."
The church in the UK (at least that part of the church that's faithful to the word of God) suffers reproach and insults from those who would prefer to ignore God's instructions. And some British Christians can be afraid to "stick their heads above the parapet". And some can compromise God's word, either out of a desire for a quiet life, or because their thinking has been tainted by worldly ideas. But if we've received His Holy Spirit, and if we read and accept the Holy Scriptures, even when we don't like what we read, then we know what is right (increasingly, though imperfectly) because we have God's law in our hearts.
God requires us not to allow fear of reproach, insults or worse, to deter us from speaking the truth and standing up for justice, as God defines justice.
All those who oppose God's law - God's justice - will perish. But all those who repent and believe will live for ever. And, as Jesus taught us, the meek will inherit the earth.