“Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.” ( Isaiah 11:5 )
When I read the
word “righteousness” I immediately tie all kinds of definitions
to it. I often think about our 'righteous in Christ.' However,
there is actually more than one Hebrew word that is translated in
English as 'righteous.' There are several and all of them have
different meanings.[a]
Righteousness
is the Hebrew word sedeq here,
Strongs #6664. It means to rule in justice, righteous cause, and/or
justice. The first usage of sedeq
is: ““You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be
partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness
[sedeq, fairness
of heart] shall you judge your
neighbor.”
This again comes back to
seeing with eyes of discernment from the heart what is most true and
operating out of it rather than by sight. This place of perception
from the Spirit in delightful anticipation of His
will and purposes coming forth for another rather than by judgment
and assuming the worst of others.
Commentary
on the prior verse in Isaiah 11:4 notes, “In this context, judge
does not mean to bring people to
account, but to act on their behalf. As the judge of His people, God
sentences the wicked and offers protection and defense for the
innocent and oppressed. [1]
Commentary
goes on to note that this kind of righteousness is the basis upon
which Jesus establishes His rule on earth – His millennial reign.
[2] Psalm 89:14 says, “Your throne is built on righteousness
[sedeq,
Strongs #6664] and justice; loyal love and faithfulness stand in
front of you.
Isaiah
11:5-9 follows by painting a beautiful poetic picture of harmony and
unity under His millennial reign where,
“The
wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will
neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.”
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.”
While this
picture is speaking of animals, I would presume it would also relate
to people. It speaks of opposites in a picture of an aggressor and a
victim. Perhaps a world where the kid who always gets in trouble
and bullies other kids is friends with the kid with mental
disabilities who doesn't have any friends. And the kid who is into
sports and popular is friends with the intelligent kid who lacks
social skills and spends too much time on the computer because he is
lonely.
With
these kind of relationships happening, there needs to be
understanding from the heart. People are no longer judging by what
they see and hear about others, but deciding with their hearts to be
for others. Kind of reminds me of a movie I saw years ago called,
“The Breakfast Club” where these kids with different backgrounds
and stereotypes end up in detention together. They pour their
hearts out to each other as they begin to understand and care for
each other.
Also reminds me
of a conversation I had with a young man with autism about a year
ago. I was asking him what it meant to him to go to his school (a
special school for kids with autism). He told me, “They
understand me here.”
I nodded
my head and he could tell I really didn't get what he was saying. So
he went on to tell me a story of how he was beat up all the time at
his old school and no one understood him, even the teachers. He
didn't have a single friend, felt all alone and wanted to die every
day. He thought seriously about committing suicide. Then he came to
this special school and they 'understood' him. Because they
understood him, they could help him and he was no longer alone. In
this school he was able to begin to succeed in classes and also make
friends. With a bursting smile on his face he told me that his life
was not the same anymore.
I finally
got what he meant by feeling 'understood' as I could barely choke
back tears. Inside of us all, we have a need to be understood and
received by others. We were not created to be alone (Genesis 2:18)
but we all need people in our lives who really see and understand us.
Isaiah 32:1-3
also speaks of a reign of righteousness, “Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness [sedeq], and princes shall rule in
judgment [mishpâṭ,
justice, just verdict]. And a man shall be as an hiding
place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them
that hear shall listen…”
Young
(II, p. 385) notes that a messianic government where righteousness
and judgment
(justice) are in the foreground is in view here. Young states:
“Isaiah is not talking about a government that is only partially
righteous; he is speaking of one that is completely righteous.” [3]
One
commentary concludes, “Thus, the prophecy goes beyond merely the
king himself, but is a reference to his entire governing body.”
[4] As the body of Christ, we are to reign with Him on the earth
now through Christ (Romans 5:17) and in the kingdom to come (2
Timothy 2:12).
This
commentary notes that Isaiah is speaking of a time that “the blind
shall see, the deaf hear and the ignorant shall understand knowledge
(da˓at,
moral cognition or personal discernment, not doctrine). Thus, the
prophet sees a day when people will not only know the teaching about
God (for that was true in the prophet’s own time), but when
morality shall be based upon spiritual knowledge. It will also be a
time when all immoral societal evaluations shall be reversed.” [5]
What is
interesting is that the day that the 'blind see and the deaf hear' is
associated with a day of just judgment where people are seen for
their hearts and truly understood rather than judged.
I would
argue that we do not need to wait for the millennial kingdom where
God wipes away “all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away. “(Rev. 21:4).
As the body of Christ, we are to living out now
our reign with Christ.
Isaiah
29:17-19 prophesied about the body of Christ who would receive
salvation, “Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be
turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be
esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words
of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity,
and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the
LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of
Israel.”
Jesus
says about Himself in His first coming, “The
blind receive sight, the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the
good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Matthew 11:5)
He goes
on to say in John 14:12 about the body of Christ, “Very truly I
tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing,
and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going
to the Father.”
Wouldn't
you love to have someone say about you: “You were a hiding place
from the wind and storm of accusation that I felt upon me. Your
thoughtful and understanding words felt like rivers of water in the
desert and shade from the scorching heat.”?
As an
inspiration to all that walk by, there is a sign in the lunch room of
a crisis hotline with words of a caller who was explaining how it
felt to talk to a counselor on the line when they were going through
an emotional crisis. The words say, “It felt like shelter to me.”
When
someone feels really understood from the heart, they are open to
receive. And as they feel understood and seen, they are in a place
to begin to recognize there is a God who sees them and understands
them. Through demonstration of genuine understanding and love by
Christians, those on the outside begin to see a God is not judgmental
and harsh, counting their sin, but compassionate, kind and merciful.
Coming
back around all the way to Isaiah 11:4, “Righteousness will be his
belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
The
second part of this verse also translates that faithfulness is girded
around His loins or “seat of vigor” which implies a deep longing
or travail. Jer. 30:6 says, “Ask ye now, and see whether a man
doth travail with child? wherefore do I see
every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all
faces are turned into paleness?"
Faithfulness
here is the Hebrew word ˒emunah,
Strongs
#530, and means to remain in one place, stability of thy times, or
enduring office. [6] In context, it demonstrates a deep longing for
and commitment from Jesus to this righteousness [sedeq]
and just judgment for the poor and needy coming forth as something
that is established and enduring.
Lord, I
believe you have this for us today. Let Your Kingdom come and Your
will be done. We long to see the fullness of it right here, right
now, as it is in heaven.
a. Righteous
in the word tsaddiyq,
Strongs #6662 means to be righteous in character and standing before
God. [7] And example is Gen. 20:4: “… And he said, Lord, wilt
thou slay also a righteous [right standing, tsaddiyq]
nation?”
Righteous
as in the word tsadaq,
Strongs
#6663, means to be cleansed, cleared and justified. [7] An example
is Genesis
44:16: "what shall we speak? or how shall we clear
[make righteous, sadaq]
ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity"
Righteous
as in the word tsidqah,
Strongs #6665 means to do what is right, right doing,. [7] It has to
do with the rightness or wrongness of behavior. An example is
Daniel 4:27, “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to
you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness [doing right,
tsidqah],
and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may
perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
Righteous
as in the word tsâdaqah,
Strongs #6666 means righteous acts or righteousness as attributed to
God. [7] An example is Gen.
15:6, “And
he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness
[attributed righteousness, tsâdaqah].”
1. Radmacher, Earl D. ;
Allen, Ronald Barclay ; House, H. Wayne: The Nelson Study Bible :
New King James Version. Nashville : T. Nelson Publishers, 1997,
S. Is 11:4
6. Vine, W. E. ; Unger, Merrill F. ; White,
William: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New
Testament Words. Nashville : T. Nelson, 1996, S. 1:16
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