Our Strong City

The 26th chapter of Isaiah presents a vision of two cities: one, the strong city of God, and two, the proud city of the wicked that shall be brought down. This chapter may well have furnished the great Christian writer Augustine with his concepts of the two cities which he develops in his monumental work, The City of God.

In the next few weeks, we shall examine this beautiful chapter in the prophecy of Isaiah. Remember that Isaiah gives us more information about the coming of Christ and his Kingdom than any other single Old Testament writer, so much that the work is often referred to as the "Gospel of the Old Testament."

The chapter contrasts these two cities. Isaiah begins by describing the city of God as a strong city, made strong by an omnipotent God. It is good for us as Christians to realize that the Kingdom of God is eternally and supernaturally strong, though it may appear weak when the forces of evil are arrayed against it.

Second, Isaiah says that God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. We do not make the Kingdom of God; God does. Christ said that he would build his church and that the gates of Hades would not prevent it (Matthew 16:18). And God has chosen that the walls of the city, that which shapes and defines it, that which gives it protection for its inhabitants, that which becomes its defining characteristic, will be salvation.

Today many who profess Christ have the idea that the Kingdom is about social causes, about everyone feeling good about themselves, about meeting everyone's felt needs, about having a good time, about laws and regulations, and some even think it is about condemning other people.

Isaiah said the walls are salvation. What we are about as a people is salvation: the proclamation of the message of salvation, the experiencing of salvation, the rejoicing in and thanking God for salvation, and the explanation of what salvation means to the saved in this strong city.

May God help us to keep a clear vision of the true walls and ramparts of our strong city ever before us!