The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath surprised the hypocrites Who among us shall dwell with the consuming fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting flames?
Isaiah 33 shows God acting in judgment, and His fire exposes what is really in people's hearts — inside Jerusalem as much as outside it. Here the chapter asks its sharpest question — who can live with a God like this? — and Scripture answers it.
The judgment that scatters the enemy also sifts God's own people, and the terror described here belongs to those who were counted as insiders. One writer traces the movement of the chapter to this point.
Next, verse 13 draws attention to the striking display of God's ways, and to the effect of these trials in showing up the true character of men even in Zion: "Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might." Then comes the most vivid description of the alarm of the ungodly, and of God's assurances to those who fear His name and walk in righteousness.
The people seized with fear are religious people. Older translations call them "hypocrites"; the ESV calls them "the godless." The state of Judah, with an enemy army on the way, explains the word.
On the outside, Judah "still walked with God" (Hosea 11:12). But its ruin had long been plain. While keeping up this outward show, Judah was far from God in heart. Isaiah describes that state: "This people draw near with their mouth and honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men" (Isa. 29:13). And these words about the sinners in Zion came on the eve of Sennacherib's invasion.
What is this fire? One writer answers in a line.
How is fire living holiness? It is judicial holiness — killing holiness, therefore. Our God is a consuming fire. The fire tests every man's work, to show what it is.
Verses 15 to 17 reply to the panic with a description of a man who walks straight, refuses dishonest gain, and turns away from violence — and that man is safe.
"The sinners in Zion are afraid… Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? … He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppression, who shakes his hands free of bribes… he will dwell on high. His place of defence will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be given him; his water will be sure. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty," vv. 14-17. Here the righteous remnant in Zion, in her last day of trouble, comes into view as clearly as possible. Their security rests on this very ground: they walk righteously.
The same pattern of question and answer appears elsewhere in Scripture, and it ends in sight rather than fear.
In Psalm 24:3 the question was asked, "Who shall ascend into the mount of Jehovah? and who shall stand in His holy place?" The answer is, "He that has blameless hands and a pure heart…". In Isaiah 33:14-16 similar questions are asked and also answered. But then verse 17 says, "Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is far off."
Belonging to the religious community saves nobody. One word names the alternative to dwelling with God.
There is no heavier doom in Scripture than the one pronounced against "sinners in Zion." This must be the terrible end, and the awful eternity, of those who are not "the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus." They must be outside His presence for ever, and that sums up all misery. To be outside the presence of God is to be in the forsaken place. A thousand images could describe its desolation, but one stroke of the divine pen sums it all up in that word "forsaken." What heart would not sink there? We learn something of how terrible it is from Him who was there in love for us.
The trembling is right. But it is not the end of the matter.
Such Scriptures describe a God of holiness, before whom the sinner may well tremble. But out of His own resources that same God has devised a way. By it the sinner can be not only recovered, but brought to dwell with Himself, in a nature and state suited to Himself — to dwell indeed with everlasting burnings.
That way runs through the cross.
If sin is in question, God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). Does this not show us why the cross was needed? There the fire fell upon the Holy One, judging and condemning our sinful state. That work has been so effective that God has cleared us of everything offensive to Himself. So He now brings us before Himself holy and blameless, for His pleasure. We are fitted not only to dwell in the love of God, but in the God who is love.
- Fire — the burning is God's holiness in action: "judicial holiness," and "our God is a consuming fire."
- Fear — it grips people inside Zion, whose religion was outward while the heart was far from God.
- Question — asked in panic, it is not left hanging: the verses that follow answer it.
- Answer — the one who walks righteously dwells on high, secure, fed, and finally seeing the King in His beauty.
- Way — at the cross the fire fell on the Holy One. Now the sinner who once trembled can dwell with everlasting burnings. Outside that way, one word is left: "forsaken."
-- He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil
Isaiah 33 pictures Zion under threat, and verse 14 asks who could live in the presence of a devouring fire. Verse 15 answers with a portrait: a man known by his walk, his speech, his hands, his ears and his eyes.
The question of verse 14 rises out of who God is:
The holiness of God, in the very nature of things, is bound to call forth punishment for sin. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). "Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly…" (Isa. 33:14-15)… In His mercy sinners are forgiven, but sin is not condoned.
This is not a portrait of everyone in Jerusalem. One writer places it among a faithful few in Zion's worst hour:
"The sinners in Zion are afraid," says the Lord, speaking of the last days of Zion, "trembling has seized the godless…" Here we see the righteous remnant in Zion, in her last day of trouble, as clearly as anyone could. Their security is announced on this very ground: they walk righteously.
Verse 15 looks like a list of conditions a sinner must meet before God will accept him. One commentator reads it the other way round:
It is not the sinner's title to the kingdom which is here discussed. That would be treated very differently. It is the Remnant, as manifesting themselves in righteousness, in contrast with the evildoers of Psalm 14. See the same thing in Isaiah 33:15-16.
The verse begins with a whole way of living and speaking, then narrows to the hands. Two marks concern money: profit squeezed out of other people, and bribes that bend a judgment. The same test faced Israel's judges, and one of them passed it:
Covetousness is a sin to which administrators are especially exposed… Isaiah, on the other hand, tells of the blessedness of the man "who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe" (Isa. 33:15). Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, describes the men Moses should pick to judge the people at all times: "able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe" (Ex. 18:21). Samuel fulfilled all these conditions.
The last two marks are refusals, and the eye is one of them:
With the eye it is possible to look either at what is good or at what is evil, and the heart is affected accordingly. So avoid looking at improper sights. The psalmist prayed, "Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things." He feared the effect. The righteous person deliberately shuts his eyes so that he may not see what is evil (Isa. 33:15). If evil enters through the eye-gate, it has a clear passage to the heart.
The ear needs the same guard, and the test is the honour of God:
What enters the ear finds a dwelling place in the memory. If it is evil, its influence spreads through the whole life. The enemy comes to ear-gate with his lies in a plausible disguise. Be watchful and refuse to listen to anything unholy. Do someone's words take away from the honour of God, the glory of Christ, or the integrity of His word? The watchful hearer will close his ears at once.
One writer answers verse 14 by pointing to where that fire has already fallen:
If sin is in question, God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). Does this bring home to us the need for the Cross? There that fire fell upon the Holy One, judging and condemning our sinful state. That work has been so effective that God has cleared us of everything that was offensive to Himself. So He now brings us before Himself holy and blameless for His pleasure. We are fitted not only to dwell in the love of God, but in the God who is love.
- Fire — God's holiness must punish sin. Verse 14 asks who can live near such a God, and verse 15 answers by describing a character, not a claim.
- Hands — the test reaches the wallet: no profit from oppression, no bribe in the hand — the standard Jethro set for Israel's judges.
- Senses — the ear and the eye shut on purpose, because what gets in reaches the heart and stays in the memory.
- Cross — that same fire fell on the Holy One, and God has cleared believers of all that offended Him.
- Security — God keeps this remnant in Zion safe in the day of trouble on this very ground: they walk righteously.