ISAIAH 32: 1-8
GOD’S FUTURE SOCIETY
God’s people were turning to Egypt, to the way of the world, for help during their hard times. Thus their society and economy would go from bad to worst. Yet in the worst of times, God continues to promise a way of salvation for society and for His people through His Messiah’s righteousness.
This time, or these times of deliverance, will come about when leaders begin to perform their God given functions and responsibilities for society. The promises are for a time when leaders no longer suck the people dry but become a source of protection and refreshing as God intended. God promises He will then grant clarity and discernment to the people these leaders govern. This clarity and discernment will bring about a time when people will be seen for what they truly are, and not what they want you to think they are.
Here we find what true civil and political leaders should be and how God blesses the people they govern (CIT). A society is transformed by people, especially their leaders, becoming righteous and practicing justice.
[God promises that there is coming a time when Israel will be secure in a society created and sustained by a godly king and rulers, (possibly by the One who would occupy David’s throne.) It will be a time when righteousness and justice will abound. Better times are coming for God’s people in respect both of piety and peace (v. 15–20), which may look as far forward as the days of the Messiah.]
I. WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS RULE, 1-2.
II. THE BLESSINGS OF RIGHTEOUS RULE, 3-5.
III. THE GRIP OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS, 6-8.
Behold, a king will reign righteously, and princes will rule justly.
Having suffered much injustice from foolish evil rulers, many in Judah were hungry for a king strong enough to be just in His decisions and actions. The problem was that in order for one to be just he must first be righteous.
The mark of a good king or government official is in his willingness to discover right and to do it (Prov. 16:10; 20:8, 26, 28; 29:4, 14). Isaiah looks for a day when government leaders will be divinely enabled to do what people through the ages have known they should do. How do we instinctive know what leaders should be and do? Is it a concept imbedded by God in our consciousness?
[In the Millennium the King (33:17), the Messiah, will reign in righteousness (11:1-5; Jer. 23:5), and the rulers under Him (2 Tim. 2:2; Rev. 5:10; 20:6; 22:5) will be just. Evil will be banished and righteousness will reign because the Righteous King will reign!]
Verse 2 tells us what God’s plan for rulers is. And each will be like a refuge from the wind, and a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.
There exists the possibility that leaders will no longer be predators from whom the people seek relief. Rather the leaders will be sources of protection and support as they ought to be (Isaiah, Oswalt, p 580). The redeemed leaders of the Lord who reflect Him are sources of great blessings for others. Each one will be protective of others like a shelter from the wind and will refresh others like . . . water in the desert and a rock that gives shade from the desert heat.
Notice the four vivid similes that paint the picture of refuge and refreshing. If you have ever been in a violent desert wind, you know to look for the protection offered by a large rock. In an open and unprotected landscape windstorms sand blast travelers mercilessly. Godly leaders will be that protective rock from the flagellating blasts of oppression as their people journey through life.
They are also said to be like streams of water in a dry country. Where dryness of life had previously existed, abundance of renewing, refreshing moving streams of water will be experienced.
Oppressive burning heat brings fatigue and weariness. In a land thirsting because of lack of water, each will be like a huge rock formation which cast a long shadow to protect from the burning heat of the sun.
Since these figures are all taken from nature and not from allusions to man or war as an enemy, the thought is a refuge in natural or daily life which could include the onslaught of man which we are otherwise helpless against.
The happinesses of life are far too few when the foolish or wicked are in charge. When the godly rule refuge and refreshing from the oppressions of life are found.
According to Isaiah these conditions can exist and will one day exist. When there are such leaders of society God gives a great promise.
II. THE BLESSINGS OF RIGHTEOUS RULE, 3-5.
Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
Things will be as they actually should be. In the day of righteous rulers, people will see and hear spiritual things clearly (29:18; 35:5; 42:7) [in contrast with Judah’s spiritual insensitivity (29:10-12). ] When rulers are righteous and provide protection and refreshing for God’s people, God begins a spiritual transformation within society where blindness, deafness, and stammering are taken away.
Verse 4 continues describing the blessings godly civil and political leaders bring to their people. And the mind of the hasty will discern the truth, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly. No longer will the fool be called noble,
The heart of those who are reckless or confused will understand true knowledge. People will understand God’s Word and will speak the truth clearly even the stammerer or inarticulate. Fools and scoundrels will no longer be respected. As in the Book of Proverbs the fool (senseless) is one who is evil (Isa. 32:6). He teaches falsehood and disregards the needs of others. Verses 6-8 expand on this thought.
Spiritual clarity and perception follow one’s submission to God’s ways. Refusal to submit is the surest prescription for an ultimate inability to discern any difference between good and evil (5:18-23; Prov. 4:14-19; John 7:17). Thus it is appropriate that here spiritual clarity is a result of faithful leaders who themselves submit to God and to whom their people thus have no difficulty submitting. (Isaiah, Oswalt, p 581)
Verse 5 provides a transition from the previous thought to the following one. Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.
Another blessing flowing from godly rulers is that a man will be seen for what he actually is and not for what he appears to be. When minds are blinded they do not see the true character of other men, but merely judge appearances. The redeemed will no longer be among the undiscerning and society’s perception will no longer be turned upside down. One result of that clarity which comes from walking in God’s ways is the ability to evaluate persons on the basis of character. People’s hidden motives and character fool many today.
III. THE NONSENSE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS, 6-8.
Verses 6-8 describe at length what sets the fool apart from the noble person. For a fool speaks nonsense, and his heart inclines toward wickedness, to practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord, To keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty. (7) As for a rogue, his weapons are evil; He devises wicked schemes to destroy the afflicted with slander, Even though the needy one speaks what is right.
Fool is one of the strongest negative words in the OT because it depicts the person who has consciously rejected the ways of God, which are the road to life, and has chosen the ways of death. His folly is disastrous because its short-term results may make God’s way and God’s word appear wrong (9:16-17; Ps. 14:1; 53:1). As that folly is depicted here, it involves a pattern of life which is concretely opposed to God in principle and deed. As a result, the helpless are oppressed; left hungering and thirsting for lack of godly example. If God cannot be relied upon to supply my needs, and if supply of my needs as I understand them is paramount, then those weaker than I had better take care.
Calvin points out that in bad government the covetous are honored because possessions are everything. In every society those who have managed to gain power are treated as great, deserving persons regardless of their true character, because others are afraid of their power. In the ideal setting which Isaiah envisions, the genuine qualities of the leaders will make it impossible to mistake a fool or a rogue (scoundrel, womanizer, degenerate) no matter how rich and powerful they may be.
Verse 8 gives the ideal man. But the noble man devises noble plans; and by noble plans he stands.
Whatever else may be said of the world’s way, it is not "noble." In contrast with the scoundrel who wickedly plots to take advantage of the poor and the needy. . . . the noble person plans in order to do good to others. Because he is righteous he stands; he will continue to do what is right. To be truly noble you must be noble in what you plan and where you take your stands or in what you rise to defend.
"Noble," [ ndb] may refer to social standing, but the root meaning refers to character, someone who is generous and big- hearted, someone who knows that an all-wise God supplies his needs therefore he can afford to be generous to those less fortunate than he. The noble person is generous and his good work will deepen his nobility.
CONCLUSION
Isaiah proclaim a future time when "a king will reign in righteousness. Though the ultimate fulfillment will be established in the Reign of Christ in His millennial kingdom, it is a promise and a principle for us today also.
Leaders who trust in God bring justice, clarity, integrity and spiritual life back into society. Those who trust in human resources bring injustice, blindness, corruption and eventually destruction into society.
