Isaiah 18-22

Sin has consequences. It's easy to overlook--or choose to ignore--the ramifications of our rebellion against God, but this will neither delay nor prevent them. Many passages of Scripture speak to God's patience, mercy, and forgiveness, and these are indeed wonderful traits for which God deserves praise and glory. But in the absence of judgment, grace is cheap. It is only against the backdrop of sin and the destruction it engenders that grace takes on any meaning at all. God, who is perfect in holiness, cannot allow sin to dwell in His presence (the brief audiences He grants Satan in Job 1-2 are exceptions that prove the rule). Unfortunately for us, we are sinful creatures to a one (Romans 3:23). As a result, if you fast-forward to the end of time, only two outcomes are possible: Either our sin is paid for and we get to spend eternity with God, or we remain unredeemed and we are consigned to an eternity apart from God.

The terror of this reality is that it's inescapable (renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens famously compared Christianity to a "cosmic North Korea"). In Chapters 18-22, Isaiah issues a clarion call to Cush, Egypt, Babylon, and other cities that destruction is nigh. These prophecies against ancient cities are a temporal reminder of what awaits us all if we do not have an intercessor. It doesn't matter to whom else we turn for redemption; if it is not God, then we will someday find ourselves cowering as Isaiah's words are realized. "Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away, you mighty man" (Isaiah 22:17).

The beauty, however, is that we do have a Savior, God's own Son (Matthew 3:17). If we turn from our sin and put our trust in Jesus, we can wrap ourselves in his imputed righteousness and so be restored to relationship with God. A firm grasp of what would otherwise be in store for us--and why we would receive such a fate--will only serve to deepen our awe at this "free gift" God has given us (Revelation 22:17). Perhaps the greatest lesson we can take away from Isaiah is what God has saved us from. By deepening our understanding of the destruction that will be visited upon those who choose to reject God, we deepen our understanding of the vast dimensions of God's mercy and grace and of His limitless worthiness of our worship.