Thy Strong Word - Isaiah 26: Remembrance Reversal, Earth Gives Birth to the Dead

Rev. John Lukomski, retired pastor in Northfield, Minnesota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 26.

“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!” This bold resurrection language in Isaiah 26 only comes after extensive lamentation and somber reflection. It still builds on the death-of-death idea, but it’s very different from the hymn of praise in the previous chapter. On one hand, death is the ultimate enemy, but on the other, it is necessary for resurrection.

God doesn’t bring death frivolously. He only does so to protect His people from being ruled by idols. He takes evil rulers like Babylon down to the shades to cut off the remembrance of idolatry and ruthlessness (Isaiah 14). Yet by His mercy, the earth will give up the shades as it gives birth to a new creation, just as Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead. On that day, the poor and needy will no longer be trampled and oppressed, although the faithful often suffer in this life, buried with Christ.

Lutheran Heritage Foundation - Underwriter of Thy Strong Word — Underwriter of Thy Strong Word

Thy Strong Word is a daily in-depth study of the books of the Bible with host Rev. AJ Espinosa and guest pastors from across the country. Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and produced by the LCMS Office of National Mission.

Isaiah 26

You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
²Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
³You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
⁴Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
⁵For he has humbled
    the inhabitants of the height,
    the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
    casts it to the dust.
⁶The foot tramples it,
    the feet of the poor,
    the steps of the needy.”

⁷The path of the righteous is level;
    you make level the way of the righteous.
⁸In the path of your judgments,
    O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
    are the desire of our soul.
⁹My soul yearns for you in the night;
    my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
For when your judgments are in the earth,
    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
¹⁰If favor is shown to the wicked,
    he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
    and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
¹¹O Lord, your hand is lifted up,
    but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
    Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.
¹²O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
    for you have indeed done for us all our works.
¹³O Lord our God,
    other lords besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
¹⁴They are dead, they will not live;
    they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
    and wiped out all remembrance of them.
¹⁵But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
    you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
    you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

¹⁶O Lord, in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a whispered prayer
    when your discipline was upon them.
¹⁷Like a pregnant woman
    who writhes and cries out in her pangs
    when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
¹⁸    we were pregnant, we writhed,
    but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
    and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
¹⁹Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead.

²⁰Come, my people, enter your chambers,
    and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
    until the fury has passed by.
²¹For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
    to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
    and will no more cover its slain.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org

Rev. AJ Espinosa

It’s no coincidence that the favorite hymn for Rev. AJ Espinosa, host of Thy Strong Word, is Thy Strong Word. Working on his PhD from Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Pastor Espinosa takes breaks from his studies by beating the competition in his favorite video and board games, reading “Mere Christianity,” or getting some quality sleep. When he’s not mixing curries or whipping up a fresh flan for dessert, you may find him researching cryptocurrency, watching Star Trek Discovery, or jamming out to the Coco and Moana Spanish-language soundtracks (with his daughter, of course). Pastor Espinosa lives in California, where he enjoys time at the beach with his wife, Gaby, precious little girls Ellie and Natalie, and exceptionally friendly black cat Heike.