Isa 32:1

Isa 32:1  Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.  Isaiah 32 prophesied a time when a King shall reign in Righteousness (v.1). The prophecy is speaking of the coming Messiah. Jeremiah spoke also of this King whom we know is Christ the Lord: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth " (Jeremiah 23:5). What will the King be like? “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (v.2). Indeed, Christ is as a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, a great Rock in a weary land, and as rivers of water in a dry place. The first three refer to His protection and salvation. The “rivers of water in a dry place” refers to Christ as the source of life, the fountain of living waters. When the Messiah comes, the spiritual blindness and deafness of the former times will be taken away; many will listen and give attention to His words (v.3). The result is a change in their lives (v.4). And, those who remain hardened in their evil ways will not be tolerated (v.5-8). The prophet charges the women with being at ease and careless: “Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech” (v.9). They are called to repent. Before the righteous King would come, they are to prepare themselves and get ready for His arrival. This reminds us of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). Five careless women were not prepared for the Bridegroom’s arrival and were shut out from the feast.                                Obviously, the women represent the attitude of the whole nation and not just women only. What does it mean by they are “at ease” and “careless”. In a nutshell, it means they are care-free and care-less. It is an attitude of complacency and apathy. Apathy is a state of indifference; it is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, and concern. Complacency is a feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble. Kingdoms rise because of enthusiasm. One person wanted to be master of the world and went about conquering lands. Well, his empire grew big and strong. And, kingdoms fell because of complacency. His children and grandchildren had too much of good life. They became soft and not the warrior type. They didn’t care about state affairs. They knew only to enjoy life. They fought within themselves who should be king. Another kingdom took over instead. Perhaps the two greatest evils in the church are apathy and complacency. Churches are guilty of the sins of indifference and complacency; Christians just don't care anymore about the church. God said to the church of Laodicea: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). Jesus foretold in Matthew 24:12 that because iniquity would abound, the love of many would grow cold. SIN is the cause! When Christians become self-centred rather than God-centred, they serve self; they stop serving God. They see things have been going smoothly and the programmes have been carried out well and good, so they believe the church is doing fine (complacency). They don’t care since they don’t participate in any of the church activities (apathy). They die spiritually. The church died with them; it ceased to exist. Churches grow when members are busy working for the Lord and not at ease (1 Corinthians 15:58). Are you busy serving God or are you at ease in His church? Think about it.