Isaiah 26

Isaiah 26 belongs to chapters 24–27, a section commonly called the "Isaiah Apocalypse." It follows Isaiah 25, which praises God for swallowing up death, and opens with a song to be sung "in that day" in the land of Judah.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 A song is to be sung in that day in the land of Judah. The righteous nation enters a strong city for which the LORD has appointed salvation for walls and bulwarks. Those who trust in the Lord are kept in peace, and the LORD is called the everlasting rock.
• Verses 5–6 Those who dwell on high and the lofty city are brought low and trodden underfoot by the poor and the needy.
• Verses 7–11 The people wait for the Lord, who makes level the path of the just, in the way of His judgments, and they long for Him even in the night. The wicked, though shown favor, do not learn righteousness, and fire devours the Lord's enemies.
• Verses 12–15 The people confess that other lords have ruled over them, but that they trust in the Lord alone. Those lords are dead and will not rise again, and the Lord has enlarged the nation.
• Verses 16–18 In distress the people prayed and writhed like a woman in labor. Yet they lament that they brought forth, as it were, only wind and did not work deliverance in the earth.
• Verse 19 The Lord's dead will live, and the earth will cast out its dead.
• Verses 20–21 The people are told to enter their chambers, shut the doors, and hide until the indignation is past. The LORD then comes out of His place to punish the iniquity of the earth, and the earth will disclose the blood shed upon it.

Key Verses

• Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee" — This verse celebrates the peace of one who trusts the Lord without wavering and is widely memorized (Isaiah 26:3).
• Isaiah 26:19 "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise" — This is regarded as one of the principal Old Testament texts that speak of the dead coming back to life.
• Isaiah 26:20 "Enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee" — This verse depicts God protecting His people in the time of judgment; its interpretation and application vary.

Figures and Places

• The LORD: The one to whom the song and prayer are addressed. He is called the salvation of the city and the everlasting rock.
• The land of Judah: The place where the song is sung. Neither the strong city nor the "lofty city" that falls is named.
• The book is traditionally received as the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah.

Points for Reflection

• Readings of verse 19 fall into two main groups. One takes it as a promise of the bodily resurrection of individuals. The other reads it as a figure for the restoration of a ruined nation, like the vision of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:11–14. Either way, the verse contrasts with verse 14, which says the "other lords" will not live again.
• Views differ on the date of chapters 24–27. The traditional view regards them as prophecy from Isaiah's own time, while some critical scholars hold that they were written later.
• Some dispensationalist interpreters connect verse 20 with a pre-tribulation rapture. Others see it as a promise of protection recalling how the Israelites shut the doors of their houses and escaped the plague at the Exodus.
• The Septuagint wording of verse 20 resembles "enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door" in Matthew 6:6. Many also hold that the phrase "a little while" in Hebrews 10:37 is borrowed from this verse.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, verse 3 is frequently used as a New Year's motto or memory verse, and verse 19 is sometimes used as a sermon text for Easter and funeral services.