Isaiah 27:7-9 -Mercy in Judgement
We’ve been looking at glorious promises for the people of God. But the fact remains That, although the true Israel of God had and still has these promises, a time of threshing and winnowing had to come first. Even in the time of Isaiah there was to be terrible warfare. But even beyond that, there would be exile and the destruction of the Temple. The anguish, the hurt, the terror that false professors and hypocrites and fake Israel suffered were shared in so many ways by believers as well.
Why would this happen to the people of God? Here in verse 9, there’s a reason for it. They built up altars to false gods. There was sin in those who called themselves the people of God. And it needed judgment. It needed affliction. It needed difficulty. It needed discipline. Those who were circumcised in the body but uncircumcised in heart, they needed to be removed, just like chaff from the wheat. And even those who were the true Israel of God needed sanctifying discipline to make them more holy and more like the One in Whom they trusted and to Whom they looked, Who would come someday to take away their sin.
Not everybody who claims to be a Christian really is one. Sometimes that’s obvious, but sometimes it isn’t so. They may outwardly look, and act, and talk like one. But over the course of time, it becomes obvious that they never really were. They were putting on an act. They maybe really thought they were for a little while, but the truth comes out. There are many people today like that, and there were many in Isaiah’s time. They were marked with the sign of the covenant, but inwardly their hearts were not changed. That is what God is doing – getting rid of the chaff of fake believers, getting rid of the hypocrites, and what is left will be purified through a time of difficulty.
This judgment that’s spoken of is not something that is just for the people of God in Isaiah’s time. It is for the people of God in all times, because even now there are still false believers. Even now there is sin within the true people of God. Even now, the Church of Jesus Christ still has spots and blemishes that need to be cleansed. And even now there are those who would seek to distress us. But all things are in the hand of Christ. He still loves and always shall love His bride. He shall be making her clean, spotless, pure, and shall deal with the wicked who hate His people.
Questions
- What does affliction do to fake Christians?
- What does affliction do to real Christians?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for Christ’s love of His Church.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.