Isaiah 22 NUMBERED WITH THE UNGODLY It is not uncommon for some people to think because they have been associated with believers in some way, family connections, church attendance, etc.; that they are immune from the judgment that will fall on those without that link to God’s people. What an awakening it will be when they find they are not only under the same condemnation, but are more responsible than those who did not have any real understanding of God’s way of salvation. Privileged people are as liable to be dealt with because of their sin, as any other people.
The people of Jerusalem may have thought they were above God’s judgment because of the covenant the Lord had with the Jews. The worldly-minded people of Jerusalem were warned by Isaiah who actually wept as he looked ahead to when the city would be destroyed and all that would happen to those people. The Assyrian army under Sennacherib had come right to Jerusalem when Hezekiah earnestly and urgently called on the Lord for deliverance and they Assyrians were recalled to their own country. Instead of rejoicing and praising the Lord for what He had done on their behalf, they went up on their rooftops and partied, indulging themselves in self-congratulation and wild parties.
Unfortunately, some who claim to be Christians often respond in similar ways when God in mercy and grace has removed some serious matter confronting us. Instead of going in humility and sincere repentance and thanksgiving to the Lord, the response is a bunch of “high-fives” and “going out” to celebrate. Whenever God in His sovereign will, acts on our behalf, it is incumbent on us to make sure we are back in good fellowship with the Lord, and there is nothing in our lives and attitude that would cause the necessity of righteous judgment to come upon us. Even though we may plan, scheme, prepare defenses and do what we can in our own strength, it will fail when divine justice is carried out. Unless we are directed by the Lord and work under His divine authority and guidance, we cannot stop the leaven of evil from spreading. When people forget God, and ignore Him as insignificant; failure and misery will follow.
With the wisdom and understanding God gave to him, Isaiah warned of what was going to happen, not just at that time, but also in the near future. Instead of repentance, there was wild unrestrained pleasure-seeking. Instead of humility and gratefulness, there was sinful self-indulgence. Isaiah saw it all through the spiritual vision of a prophet. He could see what was yet to take place and “wept bitterly” and could not be comforted. He could see the resulting tragedy yet to come upon those people. For some things such as the sin of deliberately rejecting Christ, deliberately ignoring the word of God as our source of information given by the Holy Spirit, and for deliberately not “taking everything to God in prayer;” there is no place of repentance as Esau found out long before Isaiah’s day.
This historical account of Judah being attacked by the Assyrians, illustrates what will happen in the future. When our Lord Jesus was here, He wept over the city of Jerusalem because they “knew not the time of their visitation.” God intervened and the Assyrians turned away for a time when Hezekiah was king. The descriptions of the siege include reinforcing the walls; guarding the water supply and making a way for water to be in the city even when surrounded by enemies. But all of this was useless because the Jews refused to look to the Lord for their deliverance and defense.
Human ingenuity, weapons of war and large armies are limited, even when they seem unbeatable. Wise people know that victory is in the hands of the Lord. We don’t know all the reasons why God allows wars and atrocities, but we do know He must deal with sin, and punish sin, or there would be no way for mankind to survive its attacks against itself. In all of these uncertain times and terrible actions of humanity, real Christians still care for the unsaved people and want them rescued from the wrath to come. We mourn their loss when they die without Christ. It is not wrong for us to do that because grief is a way of expressing concern. We can’t help being concerned when we are involved in the lives of people. We may have to suffer with them for awhile like Isaiah did with the people of his day, but that is to be expected.
Isaiah also looked ahead and saw that even though the Assyrians were turned away, the time was coming when the Babylonians would come. Nebuchadnezzar would conquer both the Assyrians and Judah. The call for repentance was ignored, treated with cynicism and blatant disregard. The Jews refused to repent of their sins, and they refused the call to return to the Lord and renew their commitment to Him. Their response was rather, “eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Even for us, it is possible after an obvious, divine rescue, for us to take credit to ourselves for the outcome.
An illustration of what was happening in Jerusalem, is the story of two men. One was selfish, greedy and ambitious. He exalted himself and wanted his name preserved in perpetuity by making an extravagant tomb for himself. Shebna was an obviously self-exalting person like the antichrist will be. Instead of being entombed in his private mausoleum, he died in captivity in a far country. He was exposed for who he was, and Hezekiah replaced him with Eliakim, who followed the Lord and became Hezekiah’s prime minister. He was a loyal man who could be trusted by the king. He was a statesman, not a mere politician. He was an example of what our Lord Jesus Christ is like - “A nail in a sure place.” All that is hung on a nail in a sure place will not fall. Our Lord is the same yesterday, and today, and forever – like a nail in a sure place. He is the One who will take open authority over everything when He comes to take the throne on earth.
When we are called upon to stand up for the truth and step out with the Gospel, like Isaiah did. We have to tell the bad with the good. “He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” We need to be sure we are working as faithful servants of God; not as independent contractors who think they can do what they want. When difficulties arise that we must face, we need to go forward in faith in the Lord, and take action as we know God would want.