“Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you
(Jerusalem). Even to the death.” (v.14)
Here in chapter 22 we find the prophet Isaiah (after relating
his vision of the destruction of Jerusalem) basically mocking their physical
preparations to stave off the coming invasion by the Assyrians. The gathering
of water, the fortification of the city walls, the digging of a ditch between
the two walls (vv.9-11). They did all these things, but they did not look to
the LORD. They did not call upon Him with weeping and morning, with shaved
heads and the girding of sackcloth (v. 12).
God has said, "If
My people, called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My
face, then will I hear from heaven" ( 2 Chronicles 7:14). But
rather than humbling themselves and praying and seeking God, they were taking
every natural precaution that they could, instead of looking to the supernatural.
God does expect us to use wisdom and to take natural
precautions. But He also wants us to look to Him and to trust in Him. The
wisdom of God is well beyond the knowledge of man. And when God is calling us
to times of fasting and prayer and waiting upon Him, then it is manifestly
wrong that we seek our own resources for our deliverance. And so when they
should have been weeping and mourning, and girding themselves with sackcloth,
they were having parties. Therefore, Isaiah voices God’s coming judgment against Jerusalem
(v.14) for their error in obedience, in seeking Him first.
The Truth: "Yet you
say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' O house of Israel, I will judge each
of you according to his ways." (Ezekiel 33:20)
