Articles
Peace Like a River
Peace Like a River
Isaiah 48:18-19
In these chapters of Isaiah (44-48) God had proclaimed His hatred of idolatry. He had declared that He would chastise the people by raising up the Babylonians to destroy their country and take them captive for 70 years. He then declared that He would raise up Cyrus to restore the people to their land. Can He do it? "I am the LORD. The LORD of Hosts" (48:1). He is the first and the last (i.e., the eternal one) (48:12). He laid the foundation of the earth and spread out the heavens (48:13). He not only CAN do it, He DID it.
The whole cycle of this however is due to the sin and unfaithfulness of Israel. There would have been no need of Cyrus if they had not been in Babylon. They would not have been in Babylon if they had listened to the LORD. God was not happy to have to punish them. He states: "Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.”
God desires and offers peace unto His people. God's commandments are for the good of His people. God desires to have His people walk with him in righteousness and holiness. He has taught in His word how to live this way. Even today, though we live under a different covenant, God offers unto us peace. He offers to reconcile us and to restore us to a right relationship with Him. He has provided us with the light of His word and has instructed us to walk in the light of such teaching. He has promised to bless us abundantly with all spiritual blessings. Oh that God's people would pay attention to His commandments. They would yet find peace as a river in their lives.
This great chapter ends with THIS warning: "There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked" (Isa. 48:22).
