Season 6, Podcast 116, Isaiah 57:1-21, “There is no Peace to the Wicked.”Isaiah 57 addresses the time just prior to the Millennium and the Second Coming of Christ. It is designed in antithetical parallelism. It divides the righteous and the wicked. It pronounces good on the righteous and evil on the wicked. Isaiah 57 particularly condemns idol worship.Verse 1 of Isaiah 57 is unique. It begins with a paradox and ends with the explanation of the paradox.Isaiah 57:11 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.The paradox is that “the righteous perisheth.” That is generally a curse pronounced only upon the wicked. Isaiah explains, however, that the righteous are taken from them to be spared the calamities that are about to fall upon the wicked. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-1716 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.Paul further teaches that the righteous are not appointed unto the wrath of God.1 Thessalonians 5:8-108 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.Speaking of the resurrection Paul says.1 Corinthians 15:51-5251 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.Earlier Isaiah prophesied.Isaiah 26:19-2119 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.Isaiah further prophesies that the righteous shall rest in their own beds during the calamities.Isaiah 57:22 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.Bed has two meanings, the one literal, the other figurative. Literally the righteous will be safe in their own homes when the calamities come. Their homes will be a sanctuary. In addition, they shall share their habitation with the Lord and those who follow Christ.The wicked, however, are not spared. They share their bed with idols. In irony familiar to Isaiah, the visionary prophet said the wicked will not sleep in their own bed but in the bed of another. Isaiah 57:3-83 But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,5 Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?6 Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these?

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