| Home | Our Hope | |
| Bible Study |
|
October 10, 2026 |
| Isaiah 57 | ||
Chapter 57 of Isaiah is not strongly tied to any specific period. Verse 16 is the only place where we can see a connection.
Instead this chapter contains general statements about believers and unbelievers such as:
The righteous man perishes, and no man puts it upon his heart;
And men of lovingkindness are gathered away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is gathered away from evil,
2He enters into peace;
They rest in their beds (deathbeds),
Each one who walked in his upright way. (Isaiah 57:1-2)
This translation uses "beds," as most translations do, but that is obviously not the point of these verses, which comes with the 4th word: "perishes." We also get a hint of that point from "gathered away from evil."
The Hebrew word can refer to an ordinary bed, but it gets used in many other ways such as a marriage bed, sick bed, deathbed, and in the sense of consequences, that is, "you've made your bed, now lie in it."
This translation also uses the word "lovingkindness," which isn't a modern word. A better word would be "mercy."
I've always preferred the NIV's translation of these two verses. I think it catches the significance better.
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. (Isaiah 57:1-2 NIV)
The question that remains is: who is being referred to? It is about righteous men and merciful men, who are upright men, being killed. But it says "no one takes it to heart," which means no one thinks about it seriously, and "no one understands."
So, righteous people are being killed, but none of them understands that their deaths take them away from the evil people. The people who lack understanding would not be their executioners; the executioners don't care either way. They just want them dead. The verse must be referring to the brothers of the righteous being those who don't understand.
This idea that it is better to be dead than to be constantly persecuted by evil people is estranged from modern Churchianity, though the early church understood it. This message doesn't advocate for suicide, of course.
There was never a point in Biblical times when a situation existed where righteous Jews were being killed. The killing of Jews came from them turning away from righteousness. Hitler's murder of Jews comes close but, again, the Jews were not righteous people. Early Christians were murdered, but they became Christians during persecution, did not love their lives, and would have understood that death is their escape from the wicked.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood this when they told the king he does not control them. He could not force them to worship him, and if he killed them, he would definitely have no control over them.
"But draw near, you sons of a soothsayer,
Seed of an adulterer and a prostitute.
4Against whom do you jest?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
Seed of lying,
5Who inflame yourselves among the oaks,
Under every green tree,
Who slaughter the children in the ravines,
Under the clefts of the cliffs?
6Among the smooth stones of the ravine
Is your portion, they are your lot;
Even to them you have poured out a drink offering;
You have made a grain offering.
Shall I relent concerning these things?
7Upon a mountain lofty and lifted up
You have made your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your memorial;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide,
And you have cut a covenant for yourself with them;
You have loved their bed;
You have looked on their manhood.
9You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have sent your envoys a great distance
And made them go down to Sheol.
10You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, 'It is hopeless.'
You found renewed strength;
Therefore you did not faint. (Isaiah 57:3-10)
God is speaking to the people of Israel. We don't have a specific time period yet, but the accusations are given in metaphor or figuratively and could apply to any time.
There are references to "bed," which are really about spiritual adultery, as are the words "wide bed," which is one with room for many others. Spiritual adultery is better known as idolatry. It says, "You have looked on their manhood," meaning looked on the promises that are made about these gods. It also says they made sacrifices to these gods, even to gods as silly as river stones, and they have entered into covenants with these false gods.
They love to go to different places to worship these gods, from mountains to valleys, under trees and in exotic locations.
It speaks of sending envoys great distances and thereby making them go to Sheol. This is probably a reference to sacrificing people, commonly children, in order that those sacrificed would carry a plea to the false god.
The "journey to the king" speaks to how hard they have worked to appease these false gods. It also says that no matter how tired they became of this effort, they did not give up. Instead they found ways to renew their strength, implying they had done something for these idols that they had never done for God.
"Of whom were you anxious and fearful
When you lied and did not remember Me,
Nor even put Me upon your heart?
Was I not silent even for a long time
So you do not fear Me?
12I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not profit you.
13When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.
But the wind will lift all of them up,
And a breath will take them away.
But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land
And will possess My holy mountain." (Isaiah 57:11-13)
The focus changes, but the message is the same. God says he wasn't silent, not even for a long time, that they would have a reason to wander off. The problem is that they don't fear God anymore.
Everyone misses the meaning behind "lied" and "remember." It is a statement that they have stopped keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath Commandment, the 4th, is paired with the 9th Commandment about lying. The point of the pairing is that failing to remember God and what he has done is lying.
Then God says he would declare the great things that they had done, but that would do them no good in what is coming. When it comes, they will see if their gods will save them. What is coming will take them out of the land of Israel. But then God throws in the idea that those who trust in him will inherit the land.
With this, God is leading into verse 16, which will give us a unique period in history. So far we've only seen Israel being driven out of the land, which has happened in the past and will happen in the future.
And it will be said,
"Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every stumbling block out of the way of My people."
15For thus says the One high and lifted up
Who dwells forever, whose name is Holy,
"I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the crushed and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the crushed.
16For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the breath of those whom I have made. (Isaiah 57:14-21)
Now we see God's people returning, with a command to clear the way for them. That could be said to have happened for the return from Medo-Persian captivity, but it wouldn't be a good match. This describes a triumphant return, which only happens in the future return, where the troops arrayed against them on the road home are destroyed.
In verse 15, he says he dwells with the crushed and lowly of spirit (humble). When they were conquered by the Babylonians, they were crushed, but they were not humbled. This describes the future event where his people were crushed when they realized their false Messiah had betrayed them, and they were forced to flee Israel. God's purpose in this will be to revive them. During the time that they will be out of Israel, they will become humble.
Then in verse 16, it says "not contend forever" and "not always be angry." This tells us about a very long time. The time in Babylon and Medo-Persia was 70 years. The time from the crucifixion of Jesus and the following exile to their return to Jerusalem will have been about 2000 years.
That verse also makes the point that, if God had been away from them for too long, they would have abandoned God and died out as a distinct people.
17Because of the iniquity of his greedy gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.
18I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him and pay him and his mourners in full with comfort,
19Creating the praise (fruit) of the lips.
Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,"
Says Yahweh, "and I will heal him."
20But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
21"There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." (Isaiah 57:14-21)
Now God begins referring to Israel as "his" and "him." He says he hid his face, but instead of turning back, Israel kept turning away. But then he says he has seen all of this but will still heal Israel and comfort them. Then they will begin to praise him and peace will rule.
Then God says that the wicked people are unable to find peace and are always in motion, trying to do something. All they achieve though, is to bring up confusion and worthless things. Through all time, there has been no peace for them. There will also be no rest for them.
One source says that Ephesians 2:17 is directly referencing Isaiah 57:19, saying Paul is using the quote as a prophecy about Jesus preaching peace to those who were far away and peace to those who were near. In truth, Paul doesn't give any indication that he is quoting or referencing something, though he sometimes doesn't give any indication. If Isaiah 57:19 is about Jesus, then Isaiah 57:17-18 must also be because they are part of the same sentence. Then Jesus would have been an evil person who angered God, causing God to strike him. That doesn't make any sense.
Similarly, this source finds Jesus in other words of this passage, saying things like Romans 3:17 cites the sentiment of Isaiah 57:7, which means the source sees a vague similarity. The source also finds that 1 Peter 2:22 alludes to the character of the righteous described in Isaiah 57. This is seeing figures in clouds.
Jude 1:13 does reuse the metaphor of the troubled sea from Isaiah 57:20 to describe the unrest and evil deeds of the wicked, but there is no basis to claim that he is getting that from Isaiah. The idea may have become a saying of Jude's time.
There are many statements in this prophecy that have been true at many times and will be true again, though we have found a specific time that it refers to.
Even in our time, God's people are idolaters, though not with the gods made of wood, stone, and metal, as in previous times. Now they worship Rabbis and their writings, the idea that they can understand God through their own efforts, the rituals that they have added, and the god they have created by modifying the scriptures.
A time will come, though, when they will be driven out of the land again. They will be forced to look at themselves and ask, "Why has our God abandoned us? We thought we were pleasing him." In that time, with that heart, they will be able to find him.
May we never be so far from God and so hardened that he needs to break us like that.