Scripture Reading: Isa. 28:5, 16; 32:1-2; 33:22; Rom. 9:33; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11-12; Psa. 118:22-24, 26; Matt. 23:39
This is the final message on the first section of Isaiah concerning the all-inclusive Christ. The book of Isaiah may be divided into two sections. The first section is composed of the first thirty-nine chapters, and the second section is composed of the next twenty-seven chapters, from chapters forty through sixty-six. This is similar to the division of the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament has thirty-nine books, and the New Testament has twenty-seven books. At the end of the first section of Isaiah, from chapters thirty-six through thirty-nine, there is the account concerning Hezekiah. Thus, this last message on the first part of Isaiah covers the aspects of the all-inclusive Christ up through chapter thirty-five. In the next message we will begin to see the aspects of Christ in chapter forty, the first chapter of the second section of Isaiah.
In this message we want to see Christ as a crown, a stone, and a King. He is a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty; He is a stone as a foundation, a tested stone, and a precious cornerstone; and He is a King as a man to be a refuge, a covering, streams of water, and the shadow of a massive rock. These items of Christ will all eventually be completely fulfilled in the age of restoration after God will have completed His governmental dealing with Israel.
Today the nation of Israel is confined to a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. Without God's sovereign arrangement to have a nation such as the United States to protect Israel, Israel would have already been more diminished. The recent crisis in the Middle East was the exercise of God's sovereignty for the uplifting of Israel and the putting down of the opposing Arab countries. Although Israel has been uplifted, it is still suffering. The day will come, however, when Israel will be fully restored. The landmark of that day will be the second coming of Christ in His glory.
Deuteronomy 11:24 speaks of the boundaries of the territory of Israel — "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads will be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even unto the farmost sea will be your border." The farmost sea is the Mediterranean Sea. The territory of Israel will stretch from the Mediterranean Sea all the way to the Euphrates within Iraq. Today the nations are debating about what land should belong to Israel and what land should belong to the Palestinians. But the Lord set the boundaries of the land of Israel in Deuteronomy, and He promised that He would cut off and drive out others who possessed this land (Exo. 23:23, 28, 31). What the nations of the world feel about Israel does not matter. The Lord's feeling and decision regarding the situation of Israel mean everything.
Isaiah 28:5 says, "In that day Jehovah of hosts / Will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people." In this verse Christ is revealed as a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty. We need to consider the difference between a crown and a diadem. We may think that these are the same, but these items are not in apposition in verse 5. There is a conjunction between them — a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty. This is Isaiah's marvelous writing. A crown is like a hat or turban, whereas the diadem is the most beautiful, glorious part of the crown. It is the headband. Generally speaking, a crown signifies glory, but its beauty is in its diadem, which may be full of jewels and precious stones. The diadem is the beauty of the glorious crown.
Christ will be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of Israel, God's chosen people, in the age of restoration after all the dealings of God. He will be His chosen people's glorification. Glory and beauty are two distinct things. Something may be very glorious but not that beautiful. Christ will be both glory and beauty to His elect people.
We need to remember that the age of grace is a miniature and a foretaste of the coming age of restoration. Today we enjoy a foretaste of Christ as our crown and diadem. Regretfully, many do not feel glorious to tell people that they are Christians. Some Christians may talk about other persons or things in a glorious way, but when they come to the subject of Christ, they may feel shameful. This is not right. When we talk about Christ and when we tell people that we are Christians, we should consider that Christ is our crown and diadem, our glory and beauty.
I experienced Christ in this way about fifty years ago when Japan invaded China and I was imprisoned by the Japanese army. On the one hand, they shamed me, judged me, and tortured me. On the other hand, they respected and regarded me because I behaved as a Christian. Paul said in the book of Philippians, while he was imprisoned in Rome, that he had the earnest expectation and hope not to be put to shame but to magnify Christ (1:20). Paul magnified Christ to such an extent that even some in Caesar's household became believers in Christ (4:22). In Paul's experience, he had Christ as a crown with a diadem. We should feel glorious that we are Christians. When we are defeated, we feel ashamed, but when we repent and receive the dispensing Christ in a fresh way, we feel glorious.
Isaiah 28:16 says, "Therefore thus says / The Lord Jehovah: / Behold, I lay a stone in Zion as a foundation, / A tested stone, / A precious cornerstone as a foundation firmly established; / He who believes will not hasten away." Christ, who is our glory and our beauty, is also a stone in many aspects. He is a stone laid by God in Zion.
This stone is a foundation firmly established for God's building in Israel. We can enjoy Christ as such a firmly established foundation today. With the worldly people who do not believe in Christ, everything is fading. This is because they do not have Christ as a stone, a foundation, on which to stand. As Christians, we have Christ as a crown upon our heads and as a rock under our feet. This rock is firmly established for God's building among His people.
Christ is a tested stone which has been tried and which is trustworthy. Christ as a stone was tested during the thirty-three and a half years of His human life. From the time that He became a man, He was tested every day of His earthly life, and He had no failure. He is perfect, complete, solid, and strong. He is fully qualified to be our foundation because He has been tested.
According to Isaiah 28:16, he who believes in this tried and trustworthy stone "will not hasten away." The King James Version renders this portion as "shall not make haste." Darby says in a note that this can be translated as "shall not hasten with fear." This can also mean "will not hurry in panic." Christ is a trustworthy stone, and we believe in Him. Whatever happens to us, we do not need to be in haste or in panic. We can be at peace. The worldly people, even including Christians who do not trust the Lord so much, are always in haste, in panic, whenever something happens to them. In their haste they do not know what they should do.
I would like to share a little more about my experience of the Lord as the tested stone when the invading Japanese army arrested me about fifty years ago. Two men from the Japanese military police came to the meeting hall to see me early on Monday morning. I had been there only a few minutes. They came to know that I always went to the hall to do my work from eight to noon. I welcomed them to my study room, which was upstairs in the meeting hall. I was not hastening away in panic, in fear. Instead, I was steady. They told me that they wanted me to come to their headquarters. I agreed to go with them and presented them a small pocket version of the entire Bible. That Bible became a help to me when they interrogated me later. When I went with them, I asked a brother in the hall to please tell my wife that I was going to the military police headquarters. I was imprisoned by them for thirty days. They examined me twice a day, and each session lasted about three hours. I was always under their threatening.
One day one of them asked me why we called our conferences "revival conferences." I replied that we did this because our church does everything according to the Bible. He asked me this because they suspected that I was doing a work for the Nationalist government to revive the Chinese people. In China at that time, those in Christianity used a word meaning endeavoring; only we used the word revival. After I told him that we do everything according to the Bible, he asked me if the matter of revival was in the Bible. When I said "yes," he took the small Bible I had given them as a gift, threw it to me, and said, "Show me where it is." Under the Lord's sovereignty, I opened the Bible to the very page of Habakkuk 3:2, where Habakkuk prays, "O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years."
The book of Habakkuk is one of the twelve minor books in the Old Testament. It is very difficult to remember the order of these books in the Bible. But that day I opened the Bible to the very page where this verse concerning revival is. It was a miracle for me to turn directly to this verse and point out the word "revive" to him. This showed him that our practice was according to the Bible. If I had been in haste, I might have fully forgotten where the verse concerning revival is, and I might have turned to another place in the Bible. This is a testimony that "he who believes will not hasten away."
We should not forget that we are believers in Christ. Christ is our foundation, and this foundation has been tested. He is trustworthy, so we should put our trust in Him. We should not be in haste, in panic. In my study of this portion of the Word, one reference book quoted a proverb which said that haste is of the devil. When we are in haste, in panic, we should not forget that this is of the devil. We do not have to be in haste because we have Christ as a tested stone to be our foundation.
This stone is also a precious cornerstone for the joint of God's building. Whereas the foundation stone holds the entire building, the cornerstone joins two parts of the building. The New Testament tells us, based upon Psalm 118:22-24, that Christ is the chief cornerstone (Rom. 9:33; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11-12; Eph. 2:20). According to the New Testament, Christ as the cornerstone joins together the two walls, one of the Jewish believers and the other of the Gentile believers. Because Christ took the lead to join together the Jews and the Gentiles, He is the first cornerstone. Even today we are not only held by Him as our foundation stone but also joined together by Him as our cornerstone. I am joined to you, and you are joined to me. We are joined together by Christ. Without Him, we are separate and detached. Today's Christianity is lacking in the experience of Christ as the joining cornerstone. We need to experience Christ as the tested, trustworthy stone to be the firmly established foundation holding us and the cornerstone joining us together. This issues in God's building, the Body of Christ.
This item of Christ has been fulfilled as a foretaste in today's age of grace. When Paul spoke of the righteousness of faith in Romans 9, he quoted Isaiah 28:16 by saying that whoever believes on this stone, Christ, will not be put to shame (v. 33). We can experience Christ as the stone today. He is our cornerstone, our foundation stone, our tested stone. In Him we trust. The complete fulfillment of Christ as the stone will be in the next age, the age of restoration.
The Lord Jesus' word to the Jewish leaders in Matthew 21:42 indicates that they were the builders, but they did not have the discernment to see that they were rejecting the cornerstone of God's building, Christ. The Lord Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 by saying that the stone which the builders rejected was made the cornerstone by God. Peter quoted the Lord's word in Acts 4:11-12. In verse 11 he mentioned Christ as the cornerstone, and in verse 12 he indicated that today this cornerstone is our Savior. Very few Christians know that Jesus Christ, their Savior, is the cornerstone. Our Savior, Jesus, saves us into God's building and joins us to God's building.
In the age of restoration, all these items of Christ will be completely fulfilled. Psalm 118:22-24 will definitely be fulfilled in the time of the restoration, because verse 26 of this psalm was quoted by the Lord in Matthew 23:38-39 when He told the Jews, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, You shall by no means see Me henceforth until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." This will be the day of restoration at the Lord's second coming, when all the remnant of Israel will turn to believe in Christ and be saved (Rom. 11:23, 26).
Christ is not only a crown and a stone, but also a King (Isa. 32:1-2; 33:22). Isaiah reveals Him as a King for supplying us, caring for us, and covering us. Christ as the King is Jehovah, God, and He is also a man. Our King is very human and even lowly. The presidents of the United States may try their best to lower themselves down to be among the people, but no one can compare with the Lord Jesus. He is a King, yet He is very human and lowly.
Isaiah 32:1 says, "Behold, a King will reign according to righteousness, / And the rulers will rule according to justice." He does not rule directly by Himself but indirectly through the rulers according to justice. We need to consider the difference between righteousness and justice. Righteousness is to be right, whereas justice is righteousness with a judgment. Without judgment, there is no possibility of justice. Justice comes from the judgment according to a person's righteousness, and it declares his righteousness. When judgment is exercised on someone according to what he is and has done, that verdict, that judgment, is justice. This is why justice is carried out by the rulers who judge. Christ will reign according to righteousness, and He will rule through His helpers, the rulers, to judge the people according to justice. The entire earth is lacking in righteousness, and nearly all the governments are short of justice.
This One who reigns and rules through the rulers according to righteousness and justice is not only God but also a lowly man. In Isaiah 32:1 this King is a man, and this Man-king is a refuge to us from the wind (v. 2). "Wind" always comes to us in the course of our human life. The husbands have to admit that their wives are the source of much wind. The wives "blow upon" their husbands much of the time. To be a proper husband is not easy because the wind from the wife always comes. The husbands need to take Jesus as their refuge from the wind. Whenever the wind blows, we need to run to this man, taking Him as our refuge. Then we are protected.
As a man, He is also a covering from the tempest (v. 2). We have seen the difference between a crown and a diadem and between righteousness and justice. Now we need to see the difference between the wind and the tempest. Regardless of how strong the wind is, in itself it is not a tempest. A tempest is a turmoil, a tumult. It is much stronger and more troublesome than just wind. A tempest is much harder to face than wind. The man Jesus is not only a refuge from the wind but also a covering from the tempest. Because He is our covering, the tempest, the turmoil, cannot bother us or damage us. We should learn to experience the Lord in these aspects. Especially in the past three years, the tempest came to me. I took the Lord as a covering from this tempest.
This man is also streams of water in a dry place (v. 2). These streams of water are our supply, comfort, and satisfaction. Today whose situation is not a dry place? Whose marriage is not a dry place? Married life always dries people up. Some husbands are so capable in drying up their wives. Some wives are the same. Our businesses and jobs are also very dry places. In these dry places, we need to take a drink. Instead of taking a cup of coffee, we should "take a cup of Jesus." Then we will be watered in a dry place. He is not merely a small amount of water, but He is streams of water. We Christians should be able to testify of this.
He is also the shadow of a massive rock in a wasted land (v. 2). A wasted land is a desert, but not a natural desert. A natural desert was not made that way by human hands, but a wasted land has been touched by some, wasted by some. Because this wasted land is full of heat, there is the need of a shadow. This shadow in a land full of heat functions like today's air conditioner. We need Christ as such a shadow to be a canopy over us. Our Christ is wonderful! As the man Jesus, He is our King, our refuge, our covering, our streams of water, and our shadow, our shade. He is so practical to us in our daily life.
Isaiah 33:22 says that He is our Judge, our Lawmaker, and our King to save us. In His divine government, He is such a person of three aspects. The United States government is divided into three sections in a similar way. This government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In the past I thought that the United States invented such a marvelous government with the balance of powers. Eventually, I found out that according to Isaiah 33:22, God had already practiced this. Christ as the King is the executive branch of the divine government. He is also the Lawmaker, the Legislator, as the legislative branch. Finally, He is our Judge as the judicial branch. He is in these three aspects to exercise His divine government in saving His people. In the United States government these three branches are always balancing one another, but many times they fight against one another. The Lord Jesus in His divine government, however, is perfectly balanced in every way. The three sections of the divine government are one person. Our Jesus is the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in His divine government.
Whatever is in the Bible is much superior to man's invention. The system of communism was formulated by Karl Marx according to the biblical practice in Acts 2 of the believers having all things common (v. 44). But history has shown that the practice of communism does not work. God gave the children of Israel a way to balance the wealth in the Old Testament, and He does this in a spiritual way in the New Testament (2 Cor. 8:14-15), but fallen man has no way of practicing this in the flesh. Nothing in human culture can exceed what is mentioned in the Bible. Nothing can compete with the divine revelation in the Bible because the Bible is the writing of our God, who knows everything.
The Bible shows us all the riches of the all-inclusive Christ. Isaiah tells us that our Savior, Christ, is a King to reign according to righteousness and to rule according to justice. He is also a man as a refuge, a covering, streams of water, and a shadow. Furthermore, He is the judicial, legislative, and executive branches in His divine government. He is everything. In addition to these items, He is the stone. He is also our glory as a crown and our beauty as a diadem. He is our wonderful, all-inclusive Christ.
