Isa 57:2

Isa 57:2  He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.  What was the world in Isaiah’s time? It was filled with wickedness and idolatries. Isaiah 57 was addressing a nation that had become wicked and idolatrous. After the righteous king Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh became king in Judah. Manasseh was an exceeding wicked king. How wicked was he? Read 2 Kings 21:16: “Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.” Manasseh killed many innocent people. He filled Jerusalem from one end to another with blood. God wasn’t going to sit there and do nothing about it. God was going to punish them and send them into exile in Babylon. He said: “Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle” (2 Kings 21:12). Whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle – it means anyone who hears it will get a shock. The punishment would be so severe that those who heard it would be filled with terror. Today, we know what happened to that idolatrous nation. God sent the Babylonians and completely destroyed the holy city, killed the people and deported the rest into Babylon. Blessed are those who did not live to see those days when evil dawned on their wicked nation. Isaiah said: “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness” (v.1, 2). In a world filled with wickedness and idolatries, no one is aroused by it, is concerned about it, when a righteous man or a merciful man passed on to the next realm. Isaiah said these righteous and merciful men were “taken away from the evil to come” (v.1). The “evil” refers to the evil that would soon come to Jerusalem. God delivered them from that evil and gave them eternal peace. I love this statement in verse 2: “He shall enter into peace.” Job,  speaking of the grave, says: “There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary be at rest” (Job 3:17). It is language which beautifully expresses the condition of the dead: Whatever things happen on earth does not concern them anymore. In this context of Isaiah 57, the righteous people shall be received into rest and safety, where they shall be out of the reach of the approaching miseries. It reminds me of Revelation 14:13: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.” What comforting words: He shall enter into peace. I love peace; but I could not find it in this world. I am troubled. I am losing sleep. I wake up at three in the morning and am unable to get back to sleep. I envy those folks that didn’t live to see the evil days that befell Jerusalem. Those were the days of fear, bloodshed, famines, and death. I envy them because they were enjoying peace while their earth was in turmoil. I find comfort in these words: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). I know I must trust God. God sees the ending of the story; He tells me to trust Him. Hence, trust I must; and so must you – when you are troubled. When things look gloomy, trust God! You will find peace.