Two Cities - Isaiah 24-27

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens begins with these words,

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going the other way.

St. Augustine wrote about two cities long before Dickens. His work was titled, The City of God. It is a classic theological text that depicts two different cities: the city of men and the city of God or you could say, “the city of the earth and the city of Heaven.”

Augustine argued that from the first rebellion of the fallen angels against God “two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly love of God, even to the contempt of self.” [1]

But long before Augustine, Isaiah conveyed these same concepts in chapters 24-27. He goes back and forth contrasting these two different approaches to life, truth, trials, and eternity.

We will examine these two cities today in Isaiah 24-27. There are two different ways of looking at the world. Two different approaches to truth, God, and life after death. This contrast is our focus today. There is the secular approach (life without God) and the sacred (life built on the foundation of God).

We see this division first in the lives of Cain and Abel. Cain made an offering to God of what he deemed best, Abel brought what the Lord said should be brought for sacrifice. There are two groups in the world, those who do what they want to do and those who try to do what God wants them to do. Cain went off to build a city of his own and Abel was dead. He was replaced by Seth who followed the way of the Lord (the City of God).

The City of Man

In Isaiah 24 we read,

10 The city writhes in chaos;

every home is locked to keep out intruders.

11 Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.

Joy has turned to gloom.

Gladness has been banished from the land.

12 The city is left in ruins,

its gates battered down.

13 Throughout the earth the story is the same—

only a remnant is left,

like the stray olives left on the tree

or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.

The city of man is chaotic. As you read these words in Isaiah, they might sound a great deal like a recent newscast. The city of the earth (or the city of man) is all around us. Character has given way to insults and a mindset that tries to “get what you can get.” The city of man is indulgent. The citizens are discontent and often angry at the world. Many of the current movements so prominent today are angry movements; people who feel cheated and taken advantage of. They have many to blame but often see no responsibility on their end to make any changes.

Most of the human race (many Christians too) is working to build its own world on its own terms. Though many of the groups and cultures disagree with each other, they are all on the same path: the path of hostility toward God.

Much of what takes place in the city of man is wildly inconsistent. This is because it is not rational, it is emotional. For example, people don’t like a speaker because they believe he/she is prejudiced, divisive, or mean-spirited. So, they protest, disrupt the meeting, and hurl invectives at the speaker. In other words, they see no disconnect between charging people with cruel beliefs while they bully those who disagree with them! In the city of man people proclaim the absolute necessity of freedom of choice while taking that choice away from babies, infants, people with special needs, the elderly, or anyone with whom they disagree. It is an incoherent belief system. It is anchored to personal preference over everything else. You can believe whatever you want if it doesn’t violate beliefs that I hold dear. You can have freedom of speech as long as you are saying things I agree with.

The city of man is controlled by those who have the most power. Those with the power, get to choose which of their preferences are imposed upon others. We see this played out around the world. There are countries where those who do not agree with those in power are killed in mass. In other countries (like ours) things are much more subtle. They whittle away at the freedoms of those who disagree a little at a time. They serve less because they are concerned with the good of the people and more concerned with what will enable them to retain power.

The world’s philosophy or religion is easy to articulate - human beings are basically good, no one is ever really lost and condemned to Hell, and Jesus is not necessary for someone to be saved. You can have whatever religious beliefs you want if you don’t say it is the ONLY way of salvation.

The end of the city of man is destruction. In chapter 27:1 we read,

In that day the Lord will take his terrible, swift sword and punish Leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent, the coiling, writhing serpent. He will kill the dragon of the sea.

People like to have fun with this verse and have Leviathan representing all sorts of things. It is an allusion to a mythological creature that represents the evils of society. It is really (I think) a personification (or “dragonification?”) of evil. Evil is a destructive monster, but it will be destroyed. The citizens of the earth follow the path of Satan.

The city of the earth, like the city of God is made up of all kinds of people: Doctors, lawyers, professors, rich people, poor people, office workers, farmers etc. just like the city of God. It is hard to distinguish who resides in what city. However, the important thing is to see which city you belong to.

The City of God

The city of God is seen in these verses,

In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

will spread a wonderful feast

for all the people of the world.

It will be a delicious banquet

with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.

7 There he will remove the cloud of gloom,

the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.

8 He will swallow up death forever!

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.

He will remove forever all insults and mockery

against his land and people.

The Lord has spoken!

9 In that day the people will proclaim,

“This is our God!

We trusted in him, and he saved us!

This is the Lord, in whom we trusted.

Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”

10 For the Lord’s hand of blessing will rest on Jerusalem.

In chapter 26 we read,

Our city is strong!

We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation.

2 Open the gates to all who are righteous;

allow the faithful to enter.

3 You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

4 Trust in the Lord always,

for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

19But those who die in the Lordwill live;

their bodies will rise again!

Those who sleep in the earth

will rise up and sing for joy!

For your life-giving light will fall like dew

on your people in the place of the dead!

The city of God is made up of those who have received God’s salvation. This salvation is gained by putting one’s trust in Christ alone as a payment for our sin and being convinced He rose from the dead. This trust includes a desire to follow Him to a new life which is empowered by the Holy Spirit, changing us from the inside out.

It is important for us to define what salvation entails because many people believe they are going to Heaven. They believe they are going to Heaven because they attend church, got baptized, helped people, were a nice person, or studied Jesus. . . and even liked and admired Jesus. However, true salvation involves recognizing our inability to do anything to earn our own salvation. Salvation is through Christ ALONE.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians,

20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. (2:20-21)

The city of God will never fall. It was not built with human hands but fashioned by the hands of God. God has invited us to move to His city. The people in this city are like Abraham who Hebrews 11 says “looked for a city with foundations.”

The people of the city of God see life as only the beginning of the story. Isaiah gives us these wonderful verses:

3 You will keep in perfect peace

all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

4 Trust in the Lord always,

for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. (26:3-4)

Even during upheaval in the world, the citizens of the city of God remain at peace. We trust in God rather than the schemes of men. We trust His truth rather than the revisions of the city of man. We remain at peace (shalom) even when the world around us is falling apart. Shalom is a feeling of well-being. It does not mean everything is going well. It does not mean life is easy. This peace comes from the fact that our eyes are not fixed on the circumstances of life – they are fixed on the Lord.

You can turn this around. Do you want to know peace? Do you want rest from the endless churning? Do you want to stop worrying about the things going on around you? Then you must fix your thoughts on Him. You must seek FIRST His kingdom. When we remind ourselves of God’s sovereignty and power, when we meditate on His love; when we think about the inheritance that awaits us, we will begin to find rest and peace. It is about perspective.

The instruction is simple: “trust in the Lord always.” This isn’t just sometimes; it is always! We are to trust Him when life is easy and when it is not. We trust Him when we don’t have any idea what He is doing and when we begin to catch glimpse of His plan. The city of God is a worry-free zone. We must anchor to His character and His track record.

The citizen of God’s city will live again.

19But those who die in the Lordwill live;

their bodies will rise again!

Those who sleep in the earth

will rise up and sing for joy!

For your life-giving light will fall like dew

on your people in the place of the dead!

This is a remarkable passage because it is an Old Testament passage! In the New Testament we are told a great deal about living after we die. There are not many places that affirm eternal life in the Old Testament. But this is one of them.

Those from the city of man will die and then face judgment. For those who are citizens of the City of God, we will be raised to a new life on God’s New Earth. This takes the sting out of the hard things in life. The circumstances and people of this life can’t defeat us because the worst they can do is take our life. But, when we die, we will live again.

The resident of the City of God is a person who thinks God’s thoughts. They are increasingly working to align their thinking with that of the Lord God. They do this through their devotion to the Word of God and their commitment to prayer. All decisions, all viewpoints are first examined by God’s Word. If the Bible speaks to our situation, then we should do what the Bible says! In prayer we must continue to seek His will above our own.

Building the City of God

We are living in a very divided world. Though we are citizens of the city of God, we still have to live and work in the city of the earth and those who are citizens of that city. No one said this was going to be easy. If we stand with the Lord we will find ourselves in disagreement with much of the rest of the world. And if we compromise to get along better with the world, we are no longer standing with the Lord.

We have two weapons that are vital to our work: we have the Word of God and prayer. It is our job to try to persuade people that there is a right course and a wrong course of action. It is our job to share with people what God has shown us. We must pray that God would use what we share to impact the lives of those around us.

At times these two cities will intersect and we will need to work hand in hand with those who are doing things God has commanded. We cannot merely stand on the sidelines and criticize others who are trying to make a difference in things that matter to God. This causes us to lose credibility. Christians should be involved in the political process (without adopting worldly political tactics). We should be involved in city government, school boards, and humanitarian efforts. However, as we do these things, we must never think that these things are the answers to the bigger problems related to the different cities to which we belong. That change needed comes from The LORD and our willingness to submit to Him.

Dr. Boice gave some excellent “necessary guidelines” for working even with those who do not agree with us. Boice was thinking about people who are not believers, but it would be nice if we practice by applying these principles to Christians with whom we disagree.

1. We must stand for what is right rather than contend only for our personal advantage or preference.

2. We must be guided by truth rather than from mere pragmatism (or what works)

3. We must work for the well-being of all people and not just our own group.

4. We must be humble in our struggles because others may be right, and we may be wrong. We cannot assume that we have the only enlightened conscience.[2]

We are left with two questions: The first question is simple: where have you placed your citizenship? Are you pursing the “fleeting pleasures of sin” (Heb 11:25) or the enduring pleasures that comes from God’s right hand (Psalm 16:11). Are you camped in the city of man living for the moment or are you living as a citizen of the city of God, looking for that coming day when evil will be purged and God’s glory will shine without hindrance?

The second question is: “What kind of a citizen are you?” Are you one who contributes or one who only wants to take? Are you serving or merely critiquing others? Are your eyes fixed on the Lord or are you distracted trying to be maintain a dual citizenship? Which city gets priority in your decision making?

These two cities are in conflict and the conflict is increasing. We must be sure of where we stand now because it will determine where we will be standing in the end.

[1]City of God 2:282-83 [2] James Montgomery Boice, Two Cities, two Loves p. 158-161