THE WORKING OF LOVE AND JUDGEMENT

By Adesoji Fasanya

The prophet Isaiah began to prophesy in Isaiah 32 and he spoke of a king, who we know to be Christ in retrospect, and his rulers who will rule justly. It is important to note that the rulers are many and when we compare with Psalms 149:6–9, we know that the saints are partners with Christ in His reign. This is why Paul wrote to the Romans calling believers, “coheir with Christ”. Verse 2 proceeds to talk about the responsibility of each of the rulers/princes who reign albeit subserviently to the King.

When these rulers go about apportioned responsibility faithfully, verses 3 to 5 begin to expatiate what would become of the people of the other kingdoms; their eyes will see and they will harken/obey and their minds will be filled with knowledge and they will speak with wisdom and fluency. Fools will not be rewarded with nobility; neither will a churl person have enough to be considered important. Verses 6 and 7 describe the hallmark of folly and churlishness; how they set up their words and instruments to work and perpetuate evil and wickedness.

If we compare the above scripture to Ecclesiastes 10:5–7, we see a contrast. Here, fools are rewarded with great heights and slaves are treated with dignity. But the Preacher started that this anomaly is an evil that is caused by the rulers/princes who abandoned their duty or misappropriated their responsibilities.

Hence, what is set before us are two kingdoms; one operates under right protocols and the other operates under evil and anomalies. As you go back and reread Isaiah 32, you soon see that as judgment rests on this kingdom of anomalies, the kingdom of right protocols is established and it flourishes because of the Spirit poured out upon it. Her inhabitants will dwell in safety and peace will spring forth because of the righteous acts of the rulers.

More so, a closer examination of Isaiah 32 shows that when divine justice begins to emerge, it will first go for the instruments or systems that sustain the work of iniquity before prevailing over the workers of iniquity. This will give ample time to the workers of iniquity to see judgment from afar and repent accordingly. This is consistent in Genesis 3 and also concerning the Children of Israel (Haggai 1:5–8). This is the balance of divine loving-kindness and judgment.

In addition to the above character of divine judgment, God judges by exalting the humble while at the same time debasing the proud. This simultaneous outworking of divine justice is a complete cycle. This is because if the humble/righteous isn’t exalted as the wicked/proud is brought low, there will not be a witness or standard for the workers of iniquity to look up to or for them to be judged by. This can be corroborated with Psalms 75:6.

This above commentary-like exposition on Isaiah 32 is to give more insight into the November 2023 Prophetic Newsletter as one of the most prominent themes in the newsletter is an individualized responsibility towards knowledge and a call for the Church to do righteousness valiantly and remain unified to the Kingdom of Christ. Read more about the newsletter here.

NB: Image sourced from the internet