Isaiah 26:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.

NIV: Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.

NASB: Come, my people, enter your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course.

CSB: Go, my people, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.

NLT: Go home, my people, and lock your doors! Hide yourselves for a little while until the Lord’s anger has passed.

KJV: Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

NKJV: Come, 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.

The previous verse (Isaiah 26:19) gives the reader a glimpse into an astonishing moment. In the end times, after the Lord has secured His victory, He will raise His people who have died back to life. They will rejoice in their Lord. Death is not the end of the story for the people of God.

This next part of the chapter shows Isaiah telling his people to hide for a while. Why? The storm of the Lord's fury in judgment against all the wickedness in the world is about to hit with enormous force. It is not the Lord's intent to hammer His own people in His fury. Instead, the Lord will punish the people of the earth for their sin (Isaiah 26:21).

Some read this verse as instruction to future believers to hide when the time of the Lord's judgment comes. One interpretation is that those believers are to trust God to spare them from His punishment bestowed on those who rejected Christ. Another possible reading is that Isaiah is telling the Israelites of his time that it is acceptable to enter their tombs, their "chambers," and hide away during the time of the Lord's fury. This would suggest that the people of His time can hide with full confidence that they will be resurrected in the end, after the judgment has passed.

Isaiah 26:16–21 recalls the distress of the Lord's discipline. When Israel sinned, God sent them consequences to inspire repentance. Despite the struggles and trials of life on earth, human effort eventually comes to nothing. And yet, for those who trust in God, there will be a resurrection of the dead. Isaiah calls for the people of the Lord to take shelter while the fury of God's judgment passes over the earth.

Chapter 26 is a song to be sung in the land of Judah during the time of the Lord's reign as king over the earth. The towering city of wickedness has been replaced by the strong city of salvation. Isaiah waits, longing for the Lord to come and judge the sinfulness of the world. The Lord will bring peace to Israel for good. Their other rulers are dead and not worthy of remembering. The Lord's discipline has caused His people to turn back to Him. The dead among them will be resurrected after the fury of His judgment.

Chapter 26 is part of a larger section that includes chapters 24–27. The section of the book follows the descriptions of the Lord's judgment on the earth and the beginning of His kingdom through a song to be sung in Judah during that time. The wicked city of the world has been replaced with the city of salvation. Isaiah longs for the Lord to come and judge the earth. The prophet wants all to see the Lord's zeal for His own people by destroying His enemies. Isaiah remembers God's discipline and looks forward to the resurrection of the dead among His people.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).