Knowing the Times
4/28/26 Bible Thought (Isaiah 22)
Main Idea: Times for repentance are not times for celebration.
A Look at the Text:
In the midst of judgment oracles upon many nations in Isaiah 13 through 23, the Lord issued a decree through Isaiah against Jerusalem.
The historical context is one of partial victory for Jerusalem, where their enemies were fleeing. It might refer to the siege they faced under the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, which we will see later in chapters 36 and 37 of Isaiah.[1]
Regardless of the specific historical backdrop, the problems in Judah were pretty clear. The people celebrated deliverance (Isa. 22:2), even though it didn’t come through their military might. Many people had died shamefully. Isaiah saw no cause for celebration and concluded, “Do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people” (Isa. 22:4).
Isaiah knew that their problems weren’t actually resolved at all.
They still stood under God’s judgment. The Lord of Hosts had a day of “tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision [Jerusalem]” (Isa. 22:5). It was He who took away their covering (Isa. 22:8).
The problem for the people of Judah wasn’t Assyrians, it wasn’t Babylonians, it wasn’t any other enemy nation. Their problem was actually their God, who was disciplining them for their sins.
God called for repentance. He wanted to see His people sorry for their rebellion. He sought weeping, mourning, baldness, sackcloth, really anything that showcased the people were sorry (Isa. 22:12). Instead, the people were partying (Isa. 22:13). They didn’t see that this deliverance was merely a delay in their inevitable judgment if they wouldn’t turn back to God.
The Judeans didn’t know what time it was. They didn’t see that it was a time to seek God and to come before Him with sackcloth and ashes and true heartfelt repentance.
Instead, they relied on themselves. They relied on the water storage that Hezekiah implemented. They strengthened the city walls with the homes of its citizens. They did everything they could to avert coming destruction, not knowing that it was purposed by Yahweh (Isa. 22:11). He alone could fix it.
Bringing it Home:
The Teacher in Ecclesiastes famously noted that there is a time for everything (see Ecc. 3:1-8). There are times that are appropriate for celebration, and there are times that are appropriate for mourning.
In Jerusalem, it was time to repent. It was time to turn back to God. It wasn’t the time to celebrate. Judgment was still on their doorstep.
The surety of death is not a reason to party; it’s a reason to get right with God.
Their conclusion was, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (Isa. 22:13). Yet the knowledge of our end ought to cause us to live wisely, not foolishly. The knowledge that one day we will stand before our Maker on the grand day of resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15:32-34) should shape the way we live in the present.
No matter what “time” it is, it’s always the right time to get right with God. As Paul once concluded, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
Challenge:
How do I live in response to the understanding that “tomorrow we die?”
[1] Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1071.