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by Kevin Pauley
The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the ungodly: "Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?" The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil-- he will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the rocky fortresses, his food provided, his water assured. – Isaiah 33:14-16 HCSB
Isaiah rhetorically asked, “Who can live with a consuming fire?”, referring to Kadosh Yisra’el, the Holy One of Israel[1] who is also known as Akal Esh or “the Consuming Fire.”[2] This particular name or view of God stems from Moses’ encounter with the burning bush. So Isaiah asked how does one approach Akal Esh and not get burnt? How does a sinner live with a holy God?
This might have stemmed from an earlier vision he had had involving the throne room and a visitation of the Son of God that resulted in Isaiah crying out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”[3]
With the help of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah came up with five principles for living in d’vekut with God. 1 – righteous living. 2 – rightly speaking. 3 – integrity. 4 – separation from sinful injustice. 5 – avoidance of temptation.
Interestingly, there is another man who struggled with the same issue and who came up with the same five principles. David, in his vow of holiness, enumerated the same things! Isaiah listed righteous living and David said he would favor the righteous and destroy the wicked.[4] Isaiah enjoined rightly speaking and David began by singing of faithful love and justice and singing praise to the Lord.[5] Isaiah found dishonesty in the form of extortion abhorrent just as David hated transgression and vowed that a devious, deceitful heart would be far from him.[6] Isaiah said God seeks those who will refuse to participate in injustice and David said that he would not merely remain uninvolved with evil but that he would seek ways to destroy it.[7] Isaiah said that it was important to shut our eyes to avoid endorsing evil, and David agreed saying, “I will not set anything godless before my eyes.”[8]
So Isaiah and David gave us five basic principles for living at peace with God. However, notice that there is an order to Isaiah’s list. If we will avoid even temptation, we may find it easier to remain separated from injustice and sin. If we can do that, we will be marked by integrity, not only on the outside but on the inside which results in being able to rightly speak, for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”[9] The result – a righteous life; a holy sacrifice pleasing to God.[10]
[1] 2 Kings 19:22; Psalm 71:22; 78:41; 89:18; Isaiah 1:4; 5:19; 5:24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11-12,15; 31:1; 37:23; 41:14,16, 20; 43:3,14; 48:17
[2] Deuteronomy 4:24; 9:3 cp Hebrews 12:29
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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