Rest in the Wilderness

This year for the season of lent I want us to consider a particular theme that the Old Testament prophets invoke when making reference to the promised Messiah who would come from God. We probably most commonly think of the Messiah as the one who brings salvation for God’s people. This, of course, is not wrong. Salvation for God’s people does come from God—it always has. Yet, the prophets had many ways of talking about that salvation, what it looks like.

Our own particular development of American evangelicalism tends to almost exclusively highlight the afterlife as the product of God’s salvation; meaning, salvation equals eternal life in heaven with Jesus. This, again, is not entirely wrong. (Our creeds and confessions point to an eternal life that is the result of resurrection and a recreated earth, not an eternal existence as spiritual beings in heaven.) Either way, the Old Testament prophets had something more in mind when they wrote about God’s salvation. It was more than just an afterlife. The prophets spoke of a salvation that God puts into effect already right now. This idea is not lost in the New Testament. The apostle Paul often writes in his letters to the churches that we have been saved by grace through faith. Have been saved, as in we already experience glimpses of God’s salvation right here and right now in this life.

Shalom (“peace”) also refers to a condition of thriving, flourishing, wellbeing

The Old Testament prophets had a word for describing what the world would look like as a feature of God’s salvation, and it’s a word I use often around here too. Shalom. It mostly translates in the Old Testament into English as “peace.” But shalom carries a meaning that goes beyond simply an absence of conflict or violence. Shalom also refers to a condition of thriving and flourishing. It is an active advancement of the wellbeing of God’s created world to exist and be the way that God created and intends for it to be. For the Old Testament prophets, God’s Messiah would bring back a restoration of this condition of shalom in the world. They describe features of what that shalom looks like.

In the coming weeks of lent leading up to Easter this year, let’s spend some time journeying through a few of these Old Testament passages that talk about the way God’s Messiah brings about a restoration of shalom as a feature of God’s salvation. We begin today in Isaiah 32.

Isaiah 32:1–8 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:1–8 NIV

1 See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. 2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. 5 No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. 6 For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. 7 Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. 8 But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.

Isaiah 32:14–18 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:14–18 NIV

14 The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, 15 till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. 16 The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field. 17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

prophets are already telling the people of God in the Old Testament that the coming Messiah will be different from their expectations

Let me set the scene for what is going on here in Isaiah. Remember that Isaiah is giving prophecy in the kingdom of Judah about the coming Babylonian exile. Yet all throughout Isaiah’s writing there are glimpses of hope that God would provide salvation for his people. Often these passages of hope in the prophets which point towards God’s Messiah do so in ways that distinguish God’s salvation apart from what the people have ever known or experienced as salvation before—in ways that show the nature of God’s salvation in contrast to what the world thinks of as salvation. In other words, the prophets are already telling the people of God in the Old Testament that the coming Messiah will be different from their expectations.

Chapter 32 probes these differences of expectation. It is Isaiah’s way of saying to be ready for something you didn’t see coming—both the calamity that results as consequences for their own sin, and the salvation which will come from God as the restoration of his shalom. There is a wordplay going on in the Hebrew language of verses 1-8. We can see in our English translations that these verses provide a contrast between what is foolish and what is noble. Isaiah is saying that the current human leaders in Judah and in the surrounding nations are foolish. And in contrast Isaiah is pointing to the Messiah (identified in verse 1 as the king who is characterized by righteousness and justice) as one who is noble.

vs 1-8 provide contrast between foolish and noble | often these get confused

In Hebrew the word for fool and the word for noble are nearly identical—only one letter is different. The words are so similar that it might be easy to confuse them or mix them up. Isaiah notes this in verse 5.

Isaiah 32:5 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:5 NIV

5 No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

We can see as well that it is not just a close language which makes these two words confusing. The broader point to which Isaiah is pointing notes that the world in general also has the tendency to elevate things that are foolish to positions of nobility. And the world also tends to pass by what is truly noble and dismiss it as foolishness. Look again at the ways in which humanity elevates foolishness and calls it noble.

Isaiah 32:6–7 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:6–7 NIV

6 For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. 7 Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.

foolish ruler characterized by ignoring and exploiting those who are most vulnerable

Isaiah is identifying foolishness with those who use positions of power and influence to ignore and exploit the needs of those who are most vulnerable. But it is exactly that kind of behavior which the world identifies as noble leadership. By contrast, nobility of the Messiah is characterized with righteousness and justice. Isaiah speaks of it this way in verse 2.

Isaiah 32:2 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:2 NIV

2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

noble ruler characterized by righteousness and justice

These are poetic descriptions of shalom in the world. The prophet is declaring that you will know and recognize God’s Messiah when you see a ruler who produces this kind of result for the people who need it most.

vs 9-13 — the expected places of thriving and flourishing in this world fall short

vs 14-18 — unexpected places which will become the places of shalom

The place where this restoration of shalom shows up is also surprising and unexpected. In verses 9-13 (which we did not read in today’s passage) Isaiah talks about the way in which the expected places of thriving and flourishing in this world fall short. Then starting in verse 15 through the end of the chapter, Isaiah points to the completely unexpected places which will become the places of shalom. It is the desert and wilderness places where God’s shalom will come to be experienced.

Isaiah 32:15–16 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:15–16 NIV

15 till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. 16 The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field.

shalom in the wilderness | no possible way for this to come from anywhere except by God

Verse 16 connects all the way back to the king in verse 1 with the mention of righteousness and justice. With the Messiah, these things will come forth in places where there is no possible human way for anything to thrive and flourish any other way. And how will the people experience this restored shalom for God’s Messiah in these wilderness places?

Isaiah 32:17–18 (NIV)

Isaiah 32:17–18 NIV

17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. 18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

salvation is NOT an escape plan to pull us out of the wilderness | salvation is God’s shalom in the wilderness

What is it that hits differently about the shalom that comes from God’s Messiah? It comes in the deserted wilderness places of life. The restoration of shalom in God’s world which comes from his salvation is not an escape plan to pull God’s people out of the wilderness. Rather it is God’s plan shalom restoration to bring his salvation right into the middle of the wilderness. And for those who experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (verse 15) in these wilderness places of life, the effect will be quietness, confidence, security, and undisturbed places of rest.

fruit of shalom in the wilderness — peace, quietness, confidence, security, undisturbed rest

I think it is safe to say that we all would like to experience those things. Yes, we would all love to experience a little more confidence, security, and undisturbed places of rest. Yet at the same time I think our automatic expectation of salvation is that God will remove us from the wilderness places of life so that we can experience quietness, confidence, security, and undisturbed places of rest. But that is exactly the place in which Isaiah tells us we are missing the point. The point is that God’s Messiah brings all those things into the wilderness.

Jesus comes into the wilderness of a sinful and broken world

Isaiah (as well as the other prophets) are pointing forward to Jesus as the promised Messiah. It is Jesus who comes into the wilderness of a lost and broken world stained in the sinfulness of our fallen human nature. It is Jesus who always seems to be placing himself into the most desolate and marginalized places of Jewish society in the world at that time. It is Jesus who walks with his perfect righteousness and his perfect justice right into the heart of our most broken sinful guilt. Jesus journeys all the way to the cross where he gives himself in our place to take the guilt of our sin away. Jesus—the Messiah of perfect righteousness and perfect justice—goes to the most desolate and forsaken wilderness imaginable by going alone to the cross. Jesus brings shalom into the wilderness of our world.

the Holy Spirit produces in God’s people the fruit of God’s shalom which gives his people rest, security, and confidence even in those places of wilderness

we do not have to live as those who are overcome by the brokenness of this world because Jesus has already overcome the brokenness of this world.

And it is in those places of wilderness where the Messiah enables us to experience rest in his shalom yet today. In a world we all go out into which is filled with so much anxiety and stress which confronts us every week, the Holy Spirit produces in God’s people the fruit of God’s shalom which gives his people rest, security, and confidence even in those places of wilderness. We do not have to live as those who are overcome by the brokenness of this world because Jesus has already overcome the brokenness of this world. We do not have to live in a futile and unwinnable battle to find or fabricate peace and security on our own because Jesus has already fought and won the battle to bring peace and security into our world.

recognize and experience the saving presence of God’s Messiah already here and available to us

You and I have access to all these things right now through the Holy Spirit. When you and I make room in our lives to listen and respond to the Holy Spirit, we recognize and experience the saving presence of God’s Messiah already here and available to us. As we journey through this season of lent, let the shalom of God bring you rest even in the places of wilderness.