The Perfect Paradise (Isaiah 33:21-24).
In this chapter His people are to mount level by level into the presence of the Holy One. Firstly it has happened by their response to an awareness of God's holiness which draws them to obedient and holy living, and results in their mounting into the heavenly places with Him where they are safe and fully supplied with all they need (Isaiah 33:13-16). Secondly by their recognising and responding to the King in His beauty, so that they see and enter the Jerusalem which is above, the eternal Tabernacle, which is permanent and everlasting, freed from all the terrors of the world (Isaiah 33:17-20). And now thirdly by recognising that they are to enjoy Paradise itself. This is described as the place where Yahweh is in His majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams (compare Revelation 22:1-5), but free from all earthly contamination. And there Yahweh will be their Judge, their Lawgiver, and their King. He will be their Saviour.
But none of this will be because of their deserving. They have in themselves no means of mobility. Rather it is as the lame that they will take the prey. And there the inhabitants will know nothing of sickness. Those who dwell there have been forgiven all their iniquity.
Analysis.
a But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, nor will any gallant ship pass by it.
b For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king, He will save us.
b Your tackle is loosed, it could not strengthen the foot of your mast, it could not spread the sail. Then was the prey of a great spoil divided, the lame took the prey.
a And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”. The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity
In ‘a' they will be with Yahweh in His majesty in great rivers unsullied by man's enterprises, and in the parallel they will be there as those who have been made whole, as forgiven sinners, which alone has fitted them for this place. In ‘b' Yahweh is their Judge, their Lawgiver, and their King, providing all that is necessary for good governance, and in the parallel their own insufficiency is brought out. They are like loose tackle which is unable to launch the ship or drive it along. But they need not be concerned. For they will share between them a great spoil as their prey, and it is the lame who will take the prey. Thus is the goodness and grace of Yahweh made clear to His own.
But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty,
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no galley with oars will go,
Nor will any gallant ship pass by it.'
There in the new Zion, the heavenly Tabernacle, Yahweh will be with them in majesty. The place is pictured as a place of broad rivers and streams, the agriculturalist's ideal, for it is self-sufficient in water whose sole purpose is to provide for their needs. No ships will pass along them, for there will be no trafficking, no laborious rowing, no trading, nothing to spoil its calm and serenity.
‘A place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, nor will any gallant ship pass by it.' Its heavenly nature is confirmed by this description. No earthly river could lack ships and boats, but this is in a different realm of thought and existence. The streams and rivers are waters of life, symbols of overflowing life, (compare Psalms 45:4-5; Isaiah 30:25; Isaiah 55:1-3; Ezekiel 47:1-12), not vehicles for carrying people about and hubs of world trade. They provide for the sustenance and life of the people (compare Revelation 22:1-5). Man's glory, as revealed in his great ships, will have no place there. All will be of God. We should remember here that Israel did not like the sea, and would see ships as an indication of what was unwelcome. They were not into deep sea sailing.
Note the final implication behind all this. All that man glories in, both by land, his great cities, and by sea, his great ships and galleys, will have gone. The glory of man will be replaced by the glory of God. God will be all sufficient.
‘For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver,
Yahweh is our king, He will save us.'
And in that place they will be under the perfect rule of Yahweh. They will be able to declare in truth, ‘Yahweh reigns'. The threefold phrases emphasise the completeness of His rule. All the righteous are here seen as having entered under the Kingly Rule of God and therefore as confident of final salvation. Note that Yahweh is all that they need, He passes judgment, He proclaims the Instruction (Law), He rules in might. No other authority is needed when Yahweh rules. He is all in all. He is the final Deliverer, the final Saviour of His own.
‘Your tackle is loosed, it could not strengthen the foot of your mast,
It could not spread the sail.
Then was the prey of a great spoil divided,
The lame took the prey.
And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”.
The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.'
But Isaiah is aware of what God's people are like, even those who are His true people. In contrast with Yahweh they were not glorious in holiness, rather they were like a stranded ship, and when we consider that there would be no ships there we can see that this reveals them as very much connected with earth. So Isaiah completes his description of the heavenly city and the coming salvation by reminding the earthly people of God of their own present true condition. The splendid vision has only brought home their sinful state. They are like a ship with loose tackle. The tackle neither holds the mast steady, nor manoeuvres the sail adequately. They are like a lame and limping ship striving to reach harbour, floating helplessly and seemingly with none to help. But those who are His true people need not fear, for when the prey consisting of a great spoil is divided up it is the lame, not the mighty, who will take the prey. That is the result of God's grace. Weak and helpless they may be, but all that God has for them will be theirs. And they will not need then to say, “I am sick”. For those who dwell in the new Jerusalem will be forgiven sinners, made right in Him, never to be sick again in any way, for they have partaken of the Tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).
Note. It is an interesting fact that the major Isaianic scroll (Is.a) discovered at Qumran contains at this point a short break of three lines, prior to chapter 34 (there is no break prior to Isaiah 40:1, even though the opening of that verse is on the last line of a column). It is of especial interest because the appeal in Isaiah 34:1, ‘Come near you nations to hear and hearken, let the earth hear, and its fullness, the world and all things that come forth from it', (speaking about the nations), can easily be seen as paralleled with the appeal in Isaiah 1:2, ‘Hear O heavens, and give ear O earth, for Yahweh has spoken', (speaking concerning the situation of Israel/Judah). Thus it might appear that Isaiah's prophecy may not only have split into two at this point so as to fit onto two equal scrolls, but have been designed to do so, with each section having its own emphasis. This would then tend to confirm that Isaiah 1:1 was to be seen as opening the whole prophecy in its two sections.
The first section 1-33 might then be seen as very much describing Yahweh's appeal concerning Israel and Judah, resulting in the coming of their everlasting King (Isaiah 33:7-11) and judgment on the nations who have failed her (Isaiah 33:13-23), and ending in the picture of final fulfilment in chapter 33, with the everlasting Tabernacle of Jerusalem being established in a place of broad rivers and streams (Isaiah 33:20-21), with the people healed and forgiven (Isaiah 33:24; contrast Isaiah 1:4-9). While the second section, commencing with chapter 34 onwards, might then be seen as Yahweh's appeal concerning the nations, resulting in the coming of the Servant of Yahweh on behalf of the nations, and judgment on Babylon (46-47) and Edom (Isaiah 63:1-4), (as representing all that is worst in the nations), and ending with the picture of final fulfilment described in 65-66, with the ideal Jerusalem being established (Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:10) in a place where peace is extended to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an ever-flowing stream (Isaiah 66:12), with all nations restored and worshipping Yahweh. If that is so then chapter 34 can be seen as introductory to all that follows, in the same way as Chapter s 1-2 were to the first section.
End of note.