I started writing this, and it turned into a longer study than I anticipated, so I’ll post it in three parts.Part1: God’s Judgments
The chapter starts out prophesying the fall of the Assyrians (the destroyer destroyed, the betrayer betrayed), and exalting the power of the Lord to do it at His leisure. It goes on to talk about the restoration of Jerusalem and eventually the reign of our King. Praise God!
The part of this chapter that caught my attention and got me thinking was verse 22: “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.”
In the U.S. we have the executive, legislative, and judicial branches complete with checks and balances in order that no one branch would become so powerful as to overshadow the other branches. Historically, one branch or the other certainly overstepped their respective areas and took a little more power than allotted, usually to the detriment of the populace, but such is the nature of our fallen human government.
However, Isaiah assures us that God’s system of government is a means to salvation. So, let’s look at that a little more closely.
Why are his judgments a means to salvation? Reverlations 19:1-2 answers that question: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.” Truth and justice are the two ways that God’s judgments lead to salvation:
The truth will set you free. (John 8:32)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26)
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