Kept in Perfect Peace
Isaiah 26:1–3 NKJV
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
We now come to the Second Sunday in Advent in which we emphasize the theme of peace as we prepare for the return of the Prince of Peace which was prophesied in Isaiah 9:6-7. This ancient prophecy was partially fulfilled at the first Christmas. A Son was indeed born and given unto us. Israel and the world waited a long day for this day to come. We see in Luke 2 that both Simeon the Priest and Anna the Widow spent their entire lives in the hope of seeing the LORD’s Christ. And their hopes were fulfilled.
But the government was not placed upon His shoulders at this point as this prophecy also stated. We still wait for the never ending kingdom to come to us in its fullness. So during Advent, we remember that the rest of this promise is to be fulfilled. There is war everywhere on earth today. Earthly Jerusalem has hardly ever seen a moment of peace, even though “peace” is part of its name. We hope in this promise which is sure to be fulfilled. Hope was last week’s theme. So let us not look at “peace.”
The text we read came from the Book of Isaiah which is a long book containing numerous prophecies. Some of these prophecies were fulfilled in Isaiah’s day, some were fulfilled at Jesus’ birth, some in the earthly ministry of our Lord, and yet others in the suffering and death of our LORD Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb for our sins. The Book contains numerous prophecies of the establishment of the eternal kingdom and the restoration of all things. There are also many pronouncements of judgment. Overall, the Book of Isaiah is a very complex book.
In Chapter 26 which we read this morning, Isaiah makes a prophecy whose ultimate fulfillment will come at the end of this age and the introduction of the earthly kingdom. This does not mean that it may also have referred in part to events in Isaiah’s day. For example, the end of Chapter 25 talks about the judgment upon Moab. There is no Moab today. But we should emphasize the universal implications of what it means for today and for ever. The chapter begins with the words “in that day.” We might ask what day the prophet is talking about. The use of the demonstrative pronoun “that” has the idea of something remote in time or else the pronoun “this” would be used. Isaiah says that in that day a new song will be sung in Judah. When Isaiah lived, the spiritual condition of Judah was deplorable. Isaiah brings out the desperate. Even though the beginning of his ministry began in the reign of Uzziah who is recorded as being a good king for the most part, excepting the disobedience for which he became a leper. Jotham, his son also seems to have been a good king. But even in these times, Judah was complacent, and the Kingdom of Israel was wicked. Hezekiah was a good king for the most part, and Isaiah records the faith of Hezekiah and the deliverance of Judah from the Assyrians. But the rich were exploiting the poor and the hearts of Judah were lukewarm to God. We see in the blistering commission of Isaiah in the sixth chapter in which the LORD said that Judah would hear and not understand and see and not perceive the message of Isaiah. Even Isaiah had to have his lips purged with coals from God’s holy altar. There simply wasn’t much to rejoice about in song.
But the day will indeed come in which the swords will be beaten into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks. We will learn war no more. (Isaiah 2:4) (Micah 4:3) This will be the day in which the prophecy we read this morning from Isaiah will be fulfilled. In that day a new song will be sung in the new Judah and Jerusalem. The righteous shall enter in a strong city. The earthly Jerusalem was built on a hill. Later in Isaiah we read of the mighty Assyrian army coming up to Jerusalem to lay siege to it. It was on the verge of starvation. It would not have survived except by the LORD’s intervention in response to the prayer of Hezekiah. But it would not be long before the Babylonians would come, the very Babylonians that Hezekiah showed the entire city to including its treasures. The bulwarks would fail in that day, and the Judaeans carried away captive to Babylon. Even though that city would be restored, it never became the city of peace. Poor earthly Jerusalem of which the “salem” means peace. How many wars have come to it even to this day!
But Jerusalem will come to a perfect peace along with its inhabitants will dwell in perfect peace. The Hebrew construction “perfect peace” is interesting. The Hebrew text simply says “shalom shalom.” The original text was written without the vowels, so the reader had to supply the vowels. This means that the consonants can be read as either “shalom” (peace) pr “sholem” (perfect). The words for perfection and peace are closely linked in meaning in Hebrew. Also, when a word is repeated, it is to be read as a comparative adjective in the way we use big, bigger, and. The comparative adjective means more of something. The triple repetition of a word in Hebrew is the superlative adjective which means “most.” This only occurs once in the Old Testament where the seraphims cried “Holy, Holy, Holy” in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah sees a vision of the LORD so dazzling that he file undone. In this context, we have three possibilities in translating from the original Hebrew text. It could be as it is commonly translated “perfect peace” where the first instance of “sh-l-m is translated “sholem” and the second “shalom.” It could also be translated by “sholem sholem” giving the idea of more perfect. Or it could be read “shalom shalom” or a better peace. As the alternative readings would not chance the general meaning of the text, I thing “perfect peace” is a good translation. When we come to perfection when the LORD returns we shall also be in peace as well. This is the perfect peace we long for.
In that day — it seems so remote us us in the world we live in. There is no peace in this world. WE come to the Christmas season where the message seems to be “war on earth, ill will toward men. The message of Satan is this. Those who willingly or ignorantly follow Satan’s Christmas wishes have forgotten the message which God wills which is “Peace on Earth, Good will toward men.” The poet Longfellow lamented about this in his Christmas song “I heard the bells on Christmas Day.” He wrote this song for Christmas in 1864, during the Civil War. 1864 was especially brutal and violent. It was a time of grinding attrition of the Confederacy. Thousands of lives, North and South were lost in Grant’s Sherman’s and Thomas’ campaigns. So, Longfellow who had heard the Christian message all his life and its message of “Peace on Earth” was at odds with the grim reality and brutality of war. In the first two stanzas, he reflects on the message of Christmas sounded by the tolling of the Christmas bells. Then he goes on in verse 3:
And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
The good news is that upon further reflection, Longfellow realized that this time of despair was only temporary. The bell tooled again. Longfellow realized that God was not dead, nor was He asleep. The wrong might seems strong. But it would fail and the good shall prevail, The final word will be “peace on earth, good will to men.
This is the time we live in today. We are all too aware of the strength of the wrong. Can we have this perfect peace in this day? I think this passage in Isaiah addresses this. What follows the verse on perfect peace are the words “whose mind is stayed on thee.” This seems to be the secret of how we can appropriate the peace which shall be realized in full in the future. The way to keep one’s mind on the Lord is to engage in the disciples or prayer. Bible reading and study, worship, gathering with other Christians, and the like. This is what Longfellow did. He was troubled by the times he lived in. These troubles affect us as well. It is not an easy world to live in, But when we reflect on the long term, we realize that our troubles, though grievous, are also transitory. King David did likewise. When he was in the greatest of dangers, he encouraged himself in the LORD. (1 Samuel 30:6). The Lord Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He was troubled about what was about to happen to Him, sought solace in prayer. He was about to be betrayed and arrested. His disciples were terrified and fled, the priests and leaders of Israel were enraged. Pilate was afraid to either condemn Jesus or to release Him. The crowds were agitated and called for the crucifixion of Jesus. Yet we see that Jesus remained at peace in the storm. Even though He knew how He was about to die could discuss the matter rationally with Pilate and even witnessed to Him! People who were crucified cursed and screamed in agony— but not Jesus. Jesus instead forgave, calmly gave instructions to John about the care of His mother, and bowed His head when it was finished, This is perfect peace. He knew He would be raised and ascend back to the Father. His mind was stayed on God.
No one has ever suffered to the extent that Jesus suffered. We don’t know what will happen to us in this day. But that day of perfect peace is coming. Then the troubles we suffered in this life will be remote. It will be those days and that day will become this day.
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