Isaiah 57:1

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:1, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” We are reminded of a couple of important spiritual truths in this verse. First we are reminded of the attitude of unbelievers towards believers in this world. It is talking about the unbelievers when it says “no man layeth it to heart” and “none considering.” Even when they are not antagonistic towards believers, unbelievers look down on and dismiss the believers. Unbelievers do not even consider believers to be worthy of their thoughts or their consideration. Unbelievers often are not mindful of believers. They put them out of their mind. That is because we are of a different spirit. After all, we have nothing in common spiritually speaking. They are of the world, but we are of God and of Christ. They are man-centered, but we strive to be Christ-centered. They are sinful, but we seek after righteousness. They live only for this life, but we live with one eye on the heavens waiting for the return of the Savior.

What is there in relation to unbelievers and believers: nothing. As it says in Second Corinthians 6:14-16, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jesus spoke of the fact that unbelievers would disregard and reject believers. Jesus said in Luke 6:22-23, “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”

Of course, we know that God is involved in all things, and He is in control of all things in this world: even the bad things. God even uses the evil deeds of evil people to work into His plan for all things. God uses new life, even when that life comes into the world in less than ideal circumstances. God uses death, even when that death is caused by cruel and godless people. That is what Isaiah 57:1 is talking about when it says “The righteous perisheth” and “the righteous is taken away.” The unbelievers hardly give a thought to the hatred and the persecution and the murder of Christians, but God uses even those things to accomplish His good will for His children. It says, “the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” When a Christian dies and leaves this earth, God has a purpose in allowing it to happen. One purpose is so that the Christian can finally go to heaven and enjoy the peace and the blessedness and the goodness that can only be found in heaven. When death comes to a believer in Christ, one more person gets to leave this world of woe and enter into the Kingdom of Christ. It says in First Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

When Isaiah 57:1 says, “the righteous is taken away from the evil to come,” it is important to notice that there is “evil to come.” As bad as some of the periods of time have been in the history of the human race, there is a time that is coming that will be worse than all the others. When the righteous people are taken away (the true believers in Jesus Christ), a time of iniquity and evil will break loose that will rattle the entire world and cause the world to enter into ungodliness in a way that it has never seen. That is when the antichrist comes on the scene. Speaking of the start, and the ending of the wicked days, and its characterization, the Bible says in Second Thessalonians 2:6-12, “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The wicked time will start when God permits it to start: “only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” This time of wickedness will be characterized by “all deceivableness of unrighteousness.” It will happen this way because “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” But the time of wickedness will end quickly “that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” It will happen just like Isaiah said it would happen: “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:2, “He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” This verse is talking about the heavenly existence of believers after they have left this earth. It uses three words to describe our future existence: “peace,” “rest,” and “uprightness.” As we walk with the Lord in this life, we often find wars, and difficulties, and struggles, and challenges for our own lives; and we find wickedness on every hand around us. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Second Corinthians 7:5, “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.” But the Lord is making very clear to us in Isaiah chapter 57 that these troubles of the believers and of the servants of Christ will be of short duration compared to the eternal peace of heaven. In contrast to what believers face sometimes in this life, the unbelievers appear to have it made in this world. They appear to enjoy the fruits of sin for a season, but their end will be filled with bitterness and wormword and worse, both in this life and forever. It says in Isaiah 57:20-21, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”

The Bible says in Isaiah 57:3-10, “But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.”

This part of Isaiah chapter 53 is really about intimacy in marriage, and it tells us something very important about it: the absolute imperative of fidelity in marriage. Notice that Isaiah 57:3 calls the children of Israel, “the seed of the adulterer and the whore.” This strong language is being used for a reason in this passage. To turn away from Christ and worship someone or something else is idolatry, and idolatry is infidelity in regards to your relationship with the Lord. Concerning the Israelites, they were involved in idolatry and sexual misconduct mixed together. Speaking of the Israelites, it says in Isaiah 57:5, “Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree.” And it says in Isaiah 57:7, “Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed.” Isaiah 57:8 mentions a “bed” two more times and nakedness. It says, “for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.” The ancient pagan religions often had cult prostitutes as a part of the religious ceremonies, and that very thing is what the Israelites were getting involved with.

God designed the man and the woman, and therefore God designed intimacy in marriage. Everything that God designed in the world, He designed for a reason. There is a symbolism behind the things that we see and the things that exist in this world. The material things that we see represent spiritual truth, because the spiritual truth that exists in the mind of God brought forth the material things. The love of a woman for a man and a man for a woman was created by God to represent God’s love for each of us. The unity of a man and a woman in marriage was meant to represent the spiritual unity of Christ with each believer. When your love shows you love, that is really God loving you through them. That is why it says in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” God is love. To be unfaithful to your spouse destroys the symbolism that God established for marriage. Infidelity is the same as idolatry. The marriage bond is meant to be the strongest of all human bonds. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 19:8-12, “He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.”

Of course, this is the ideal life and the ideal marriage. Maybe you cannot have the ideal in regards to your past, but you can always have it in regards to your future. If your marriage did not work out, then make sure, if you marry again, that God’s ideal plan for marriage becomes your goal for the rest of your life. Jesus will lead you and show you what to do, as you live in the grace of God by faith, and as He leads you in the footsteps of Christ.

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