The Goodness of Judgment

God often compares His judgment to the reaping of a field. He does this here in Isaiah 17. 

Isaiah 17:4–5 (ESV) And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. 5 And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

Why does God use this imagery? Because reaping is a very apt picture. Not all things in the reaping are bad, the grain is gathered and the stalks, flax, and tares are wiped out. The image of a threshed field looks totally destroyed. Nothing there but leftover refuse from the work. But the image is marring reality. From that devastation will soon sprout new buds and stalks of grain to bring a new season of development and growth. 

Perhaps this is why God favors this image when referring to judgment. Judgment is not the end, it is a new beginning. It is a picture that God will begin something new in the aftermath of something terrible. And our faith is in His goodness to take even the sins of humanity and the corruption of culture to bring a new season into existence for the world. 

The hint of such things in Isaiah 17 is in the next verse:

Isaiah 17:6 (ESV) Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the LORD God of Israel.

The image here is further devastation. Where will the gleanings be left? Out of reach of man. The reason? They have fouled things up enough. God in His time will let those gleanings fall to the Earth and take root in the ground. Sometimes when heaven wants to get something done, it eliminates the possibility of man's effort altogether. 

Isaiah 17:7–8 (ESV) In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

Another reality of God's judgment is the elimination of man's self-confidence. He no longer looks to himself, He looks to His creator. When judgment comes and that's our posture, we can be thankful for the judgment. 

Isaiah is more forthright in the coming verses:

Isaiah 17:10–11 (ESV) For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.

This image of planting for strangers is important. God had blessed Israel. Their blessings were to bring nations in but they used those blessings in idolatrous economic commerce to build up their pagan ways. God is cutting that option out of their lives. They will not contribute to the revelry of the pagans. They will be unique unto God once again. 

Perhaps God is bringing you through a judgment season. Or the better word might be discipline or punishment. This is not the end, it's the beginning of something new that He wants to do for you and through you. The reason it hurts may be because you've trusted in something other than Him and forgotten to build your life on Him. 

The goodness of God is revealed when He rips away the false hopes of our lives so that we can come to the end of our self-seeking ambitions and find the planting of new life in our souls from the God who makes all things beautiful in His time.