A SOLEMN DISCLAIMER
Isaiah 27:4-5. Fury is not in me, &c.
The figurative language in Isaiah 27:1 sets forth some powerful and terrible enemies of Israel—cruel, crafty, and bloodthirsty oppressors. But, terrible as they were to Israel, they were no more than “briers and thorns” in the way of Israel’s God. He would “march against them and go through them,” just as soldiers on their march tread down and crush so frail a barrier as these would be against them. His own people the while should be the object of His special and necessary care (Isaiah 27:2-3). And if they should so offend as to draw down His judgments upon them, still He would not deal with them as adversaries. He would be ready to make peace with them again on their humbling themselves before Him. The solemn disclaimer of our text should be borne in mind by us when we study—
I. GOD’S THREATENINGS AGAINST THE WICKED. Many of these are very terrible, and a certain class of religionists would have us believe that these alarming texts of Holy Scripture are metaphors that mean nothing, and that we dishonour “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” if we associate His name with anything that savours of wrath, vengeance, and severity. But this is taking a meagre and one-sided view of the Divine character. In God there is not only love, but also holiness, which “cannot look upon iniquity;” justice, which “will by no means clear the guilty;” and truth, which forewarns and will not fail to punish the transgressors of law and order. Let us not mistake the character of such punishment. A furious man acts on the passionate impulse of the moment. He strikes blindly and without consideration; does many things which, when the excitement is over, he will be sorry for and try to undo. But nothing like this is there with God. His threatenings are not uttered in blind and inconsiderate wrath, but in awful calmness of judgment, and in vindication of His essential and eternal holiness; and thus, too, they will be executed. This it is that will make the judgment-day so awful, and that then will reduce the condemned to despair. The son who sees his father’s anger so stirred against him, that vain attempt were it to reason with him, vain to offer a word of explanation or excuse, does well to keep out of his father’s way, and hope for a better time to stand before him and ask to be forgiven. But no such hope is there, when the offender sees that his aggrieved parent—not furiously, but “of very faithfulness”—is about to administer a threatened punishment; ay, and that his heart is heavy, and his eye dim with tears, even while he punishes! And this, allowing for the inevitable weakness of any illustration of such a matter, may serve to convey the idea which I would impress upon you. “The Father of mercies and God of all comfort” will certainly execute His threatenings against impenitent transgressors. Not in passionate haste, not on sudden impulse of which He might afterwards repent, will the Lord make “a way for His anger” against sin.
II. THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. Not a few earnest men becloud and all but explain away this fundamental doctrine, because (they tell us) they cannot endure the thought of sin being punished in the person of the Sinless One. They do not like to hear of the Father’s “wrath” being averted and (as it is said) “appeased” by the death of His Son; of God looking out (as it were) for a victim, and fastening upon the One found guiltless as a substitute for the guilty mass! But this mistaken representation arises from attributing to God a passion which in men would be indignation and wrath. But what does our text say? “Fury is not in Me.” We may not think of our heavenly Father as an angry Being, furiously raging against those whom the devil has proved too strong for, and not to be appeased till He found a victim on which to wreak His vengeance! But no unwillingness on our part to hear it can alter that which is written (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 4:18; Isaiah 53:5-6). If we study this great subject aright, we shall find in the Atonement the result of the co-working of the calmest (and therefore most inflexible) justice and the tenderest love.—T. W. Peile, D.D.: Sermons, pp. 101–112.
The text expresses the preference of God for forgiveness rather than for punishment, and the conditions of that forgiveness; but, at the same time, the utter overthrow of all who continue in opposition to His will. It suggests—
I. A blessed absence in the nature of God. “Fury is not in me.” Fury seems to be uncontrolled and uncontrollable anger, such as that with which the storm seems to beat upon the dismasted, helmless vessel; such as that which inspires the hungry lion that has been for some hours disappointed of its prey. When a man is so under the influence of anger that no consideration from within or intercession from without can pacify him, he is in a state of fury. But no such state is possible to our God. His anger is always under control, He is always the Lord God, abundant in goodness and truth; and we have also plentiful evidence that, in the height of His displeasure, He is accessible to intercession on behalf of His creatures. See how the Son of God ends His woes against “Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites,” with “O Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered,” &c. Recall the effect of Abram’s pleading for Sodom, and that of Moses for unbelieving Israel (Numbers 14) The declaration of the text has been abundantly verified in all ages. Nevertheless,
II. This blessed absence in the nature of God is compatible with contention with the unrepenting. “Who would set the briers,” &c. Imagine a father and a son at variance, the father being in the right, and the son in the wrong. There are two ways of reconciliation: either the son must comply with the conditions of the father, or the father must lower his standard to the level of the son. But what a wrong would the father do himself, his family, and society, if he were to adopt this course! He ought not, will not. If the son resolves to fight it out, reconciliation is impossible. This is the relative position of God and the ungodly man. God says, “I am Jehovah, I change not.” It is a blessed impossibility. But the unrepentant man ought, can, must! If not, the fire of goodness must be set against the briers of wickedness, a contest as hopeless, and of which the issue is as certain, as that of the devouring flame with briers and thorns.
Conclusion.—The absence of fury in God leads Him to prefer pardon to punishment, and to provide means for the former. “Let him take hold of my strength,” &c. Men, churches, and nations are lovers of peace in proportion as they are righteous (Psalms 72:3). The preference of God for peace depends upon the very attribute of which the ungodly would rob Him, His righteousness. What is God’s strength? How take hold of it? When a man falls overboard at sea, the appointed means of rescue is the life-belt which is thrown to him. Seizing that, he lays hold of the strength of the vessel to save him. When the man-slayer, fleeing from the avenger of blood, entered the city of refuge, He took hold of God’s appointed means of shelter. God’s strength is His pardoning prerogative, exercised to us through Christ, the “arm” or “strength” of the Lord. See how Moses takes hold of it (Numbers 14:19). And the prodigal (Luke 15:21; Romans 5:1).—Horace Bushnell, D.D.
TAKING HOLD OF GOD’S STRENGTH
Isaiah 27:5. Or let him take hold of My strength, &c. [1087]
[1087] Cheyne translates and comments: “Or else.… A truly evangelical belief that God is willing to be reconciled even to His enemies.… Seize upon my fortress—Let him take sanctuary in the Name of Jehovah (Proverbs 18:10); in short, let him become a believing servant of Jehovah. ‘Fortress,’ a symbolical name for a protecting deity, as Isaiah 17:10, Psalms 52:7 (9).” Kay: “Or, ‘Let a man lay hold of My strong refuge;’ let him flee to my altar of reconciliation (cf. 1 Kings 1:50).”
I. IN WHAT GOD’S STRENGTH CONSISTS. First, we think of Almightiness, that irresistible power which created the world, &c. We are apt to forget those other and higher sources of strength which belong to God (1 Kings 19:12). Wisdom is strength (Ecclesiastes 9:15-16). Truthfulness is strength. Justice is power. Mercy to the weak is often the manifestation of the highest strength. England has often put forth her power; her soldiers have crushed the most appalling rebellions; her guns have sunk the mightiest navies; but history will perhaps record it as the highest display of her power when, under a sense of justice, she withdrew her forces when she might have crushed her foes (as in the late Transvaal war, 1881). Now, this element of mercy, as manifest in the work of Christ, is God’s strength (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:24). God’s fatherly love is the essence of His power (H. E. I., 3206). Christ is the expression of that love. Christ is God’s strength. “And let him take hold of My strength.”
II. HOW MAY MAN TAKE HOLD OF GOD’S STRENGTH?
(1.) By submission. (Romans 6:13; Psalms 2:10). As nothing is so reasonable, so nothing is so wise as submission to God.
(2.) By prayer. Prayer is the hand of the child stretching out in the dark and anxious to feel itself under that father’s protecting power. Prayer takes hold of God’s strength.
(3.) By obedience (1 Peter 1:14). When Saul of Tarsus, after asking, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” went straightway and did God’s will, then there came to him a moral power mightier than he had ever wielded before.
(4.) By implicit trust in God’s mercy [1090]
[1090] “I think I can convey the meaning of this passage so that every one may understand it, by what took place in my own family within these few days. One of my children committed a fault for which I thought it to be my duty to chastise him. I called him to me, explained to him the evil of what he had done, and told him how grieved I was that I must punish him for it. He heard me in silence, then rushed into my arms, and burst into tears. I could sooner have cut off my arm than have then struck him for his fault; he had taken hold of my strength—he had made peace with me.”—Toller.
III. THE RESULT OF THUS TAKING HOLD OF GOD’S STRENGTH. The result is that Divine strength is infused into our minds. We become “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” Trust is the medium through which God’s power is transmitted to man’s weakness (Hebrews 6:19). We can only really know those whom we love and trust (Daniel 11:32). The most invincible and lasting institution in the world is the Church of Christ, because composed of those who are “partakers of the Divine nature,” and whom God has made strong.—William Parkes, F.R.G.S.