“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
God's long argument with His people over their idols does not end with the return from Babylon. It ends with a warning, and the same sentence comes back twice more before the book closes. Why does a chapter full of redemption and singing finish on a shut door, and who is shut out?
Where the Words Fall
This line marks a boundary. The prophecy from chapter 40 onward falls into parts, and each part closes with this sentence. One commentator sets out those parts. Where the ESV reads "the LORD," the Hebrew name is Jehovah. Notice how the second part changes that title to "my God":
William KellyIsaiah 40 to 48 are the first. There Jehovah redeemed His servant Jacob. This was pictured beforehand when Cyrus overthrew Babylon and proclaimed liberty and return for the captive Jew. "There is no peace, says Jehovah, to the wicked" — which only One far greater than Cyrus will bring about. The second consists of Isaiah 49 to 57, where it is no longer a question of idols judged in Babylon... but the still more ungodly and unbelieving guilt of the Jew in rejecting Jehovah-Messiah, with "no peace, says my God, to the wicked." That evil lies deeper. It strikes at God Himself.
Cyrus was the king who overthrew Babylon and let the captives go home.
A Refrain Three Times Over
The refrain also splits the prophecy into equal parts. That division puts something at the centre:
F. B. HoleThe 27 chapters are divided into three groups of nine, each ending with a solemn statement that there is no peace for the wicked. (See Isaiah 48:22; 57:21; 66:24). The centre section of the three is therefore chapters 49-57; and the centre chapter of that centre section is Isaiah 53... So the prophecy of the One who is Jehovah's Servant, who goes even into death for the transgressions of God's people and comes out in resurrection, lies at the heart of everything.
The Peace That Was Refused
Just before this warning, God speaks of the blessing His people missed:
J. N. DarbyHe reminds them in a moving way of the blessing they would have enjoyed had they kept His commandments. Even so, it is now declared to them that Jehovah has redeemed His people. But as for the wicked, there is no peace for them.
Redemption Announced, Yet a Line Drawn
The warning follows a call to leave Babylon and spread the news of redemption:
H. J. VineGod rightly looks for true separation to Himself, and lasting joy and happiness are only found in that path, then as now. God no sooner says, "Go out from Babylon" (Isaiah 48:20), than He adds, "With a voice of singing declare it, tell this, send it out to the end of the earth; say, The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob." But here, as in the next section, this ends by saying to the lawless among the people of God, "There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked (lawless)."
The wicked here are the lawless, and they are found among God's own people.
Why There Cannot Be Peace
The reason lies in God's own character:
F. B. HoleNotice that purity comes first on the list, before even peace. If we think about it we will see at once that this must be so, since all is of God. He never compromises with evil, and so there can be no peace except in purity. Again and again this was the burden of the prophets. See for instance Isaiah 48:22; Isaiah 57:21; Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10, 16.
No Exemption for the Wicked
No blessing God gives makes an exception:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe declaration is solemn. Whatever Jehovah does, whatever comfort and peace He gives, however grand and glorious the blessings of the future are, the wicked are forever excluded. There is no peace to the wicked.
Where Peace Is Found
The warning is not the last word. One writer traces what God has announced since:
The Bible TreasuryWe had nothing to do with it once, for "the way of peace they have not known" (Romans 3:17). That was no surprise while we were in unbelief, for "there is no peace, says my God, to the wicked." But God has since sent the word "preaching peace by Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36)... So now we know, even at a time when everything is confusion, uncertainty and unrest, that we are entitled to it. Why? "For He made peace through the blood of His cross."
Summary
- Placement. The line closes the section on Israel's idolatry. It returns at 57:21 and at the end of the book — once for each of the three divisions.
- Centre. The refrain marks off three groups of nine chapters. That puts Isaiah 53 at the very middle: the Servant who dies for transgressions and rises.
- Cause. God never compromises with evil, so purity comes before peace; peace apart from purity is not on offer.
- Reach. Whatever comfort God gives, the wicked stay outside it — even the lawless inside His own people.
- Answer. The peace refused here was later made "through the blood of His cross" and preached by Jesus Christ.