Isaiah on Tuesday - What a Man Should Be

I know it's Wednesday but, hey, at least it's a post. I've been stuck for a while on Isaiah 32 - I've read it several times and I have to say it's jam packed with goodness; so much so that I'm going to divide my posts on it into a few sections.

Isaiah has many visions about the future, both his immediate and the Future (capital 'F') In previous chapters he has used the term "In that day" to indicate that something big and final is going to happen. In chapter 32, he just flows from 31 and says:

1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.

2 Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

This is Isaiah's vision of what those "Days of the Lord" will be like and they are instructive as to how we should be. This is the ideal, this is what authority and men, in particular, should look like. I hope this doesn't come across as sexist, but what I see here is a message of what a man looks like in that ideal kingdom. A king reigns in righteousness, justice is the guiding principle of the rulers and each man is a servant, providing protection, sustenance, refuge and peace.

Let's go back to chapter 1 - what does Isaiah exhort the nation to do?

17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed. ^[a]
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Does this sound like a shelter from the wind? A stream in the desert? A shadow from the oppressive heat? I think so. And while I think everyone, men and women are called to this, I think the onus falls most heavily on men.

What if men actually took this role upon themselves? What if they were willing to sacrafice for justice and righteousness? What if a husband or father were truly a refuge for his wife and children? I think that would be a good day.