The Conclusion of the Song (Part 3)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Isaiah 26:20

²⁰Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past.

Come, my people - This is actually an epilogue in which the prophet addresses the people, and entreats them to be tranquil during that time of upheaval in which their oppressors would be punished, and the way made for their deliverance. The image is taken from seeking a shelter when a storm rages, until its fury is spent. The address is to the captive Jews in Babylon. The tempest that would rage would be the wars and commotions by which Babylon was to be overthrown. While that storm raged, they were exhorted to be calm and serene.

Enter your chambers, and shut your door behind you - Into places of retirement, where the storm of indignation on your enemies shall not reach or affect you. He invites them into their chambers: "Come, my people, come to me, come with me’’ (he calls them nowhere but where he himself will accompany them); "let the storm that disperses others bring you nearer together. Come, and enter into thy chambers; stay not abroad, lest you be caught in the storm, as the Egyptians in the hail,’’ (Ex. 9:21).

"Come into chambers of distinction; come into your own apartments, and continue not any longer mixed with the children of Babylon. Come out from among them, and be you separate,’’ (2 Co. 6:17; Rev. 18:4). If God has set apart those that are godly for himself, they ought to set themselves apart.

We might also think of this as an invitation "into chambers of defense, in which by the secrecy or the strength of them you may be safe in the worst of times.’’ The attributes of God are the secret of his tabernacle, (Ps. 27:5). His name is a strong tower, into which we may run for shelter, (Prov. 18:10). We must be faith find a way into these chambers, and there hide ourselves; that is, with a holy security and serenity of mind, we must put ourselves under the divine protection. Come, as Noah into the ark, for he shut the doors about him. When dangers are threatening it is good to retire, and lie hid, as Elijah did by the brook Cherith.

It is also helpful to think of this as an invitation into chambers of devotion. "Enter into thy closet, and shut thy door, (Mt. 6:6). Be private with God: Enter into thy chamber, to examine thyself, and commune with thy own heart, to pray, and humble thyself before God.’’ This work is to be done in times of distress and danger; and thus we hide ourselves, that is, we recommend ourselves to God to hide us, and he will hide us either under heaven or in heaven. Israel must keep within doors when the destroying angel is slaying the first-born of Egypt, else the blood on the door-posts will not secure them. So must Rahab and her family when Jericho is being destroyed. Those are most safe that are least seen.

Hide yourself as it were … - Do not mingle in the scenes of battle, lest you should partake of the general calamity.

For a little moment - Implying that the war would not rage long. Babylon was taken in a single night (see the notes at Isa. 13; 14), and the call here is for the people of God to be calm while this battle should rage in which the city should be taken. He assures them that the trouble would be over in a very short time, that they should not long be in any fright or peril: "Hide thyself for a moment, the smallest part of time we can conceive, like an atom of matter; may, if you can imagine one moment shorter than another, it is but for a little moment, and that with a quasi too, as it were for a little moment, less than you think of. When it is over it will seem as nothing to you; you will wonder how soon it is gone. You shall not need to lie long in confinement, long in concealment. The indignation will presently be over-past; that is, the indignation of the enemies against you, their persecuting power and rage, which force you to abscond. When the wicked rise, a man is hid. This will soon be over; God will cut them off, will break their power, defeat their purposes, and find a way for your enlargement.’’ When Athanasius was banished from Alexandria by an edict of Julian, and his friends greatly lamented it, he bade them be of good cheer saying “It is a little cloud, that will soon blow over”. This enables God’s suffering people to call their afflictions light, that they are but for a moment.

Until the indignation is past - Not, as Lowth supposes, the indignation of God against his people, but the storm of his indignation against their enemies the Babylonians. That would be soon ‘overpast,’ the city would be taken, the storms of war would cease to rage, and then they would be delivered, and might safely return to their own land.