A CROWN OF GLORY AND A DIADEM OF BEAUTY

Of all the cities in the land, none compared with Samaria, the capital city of the ten northern tribes. Often called Israel or Ephraim after the division of the kingdom, it was the ‘crown of pride’ in which every Israelite boasted, vv. 1,3. It offered security and prosperity and the beauty of glorious vistas. What more could a nation ask for in its capital city? Isaiah brings to them an answer to that question from Jehovah Himself. Because of their sin they were to learn that their city was not the secure fortress they imagined it to be and their fertile valleys would be destroyed. Theirs was a fading beauty, vv. 1, 4.

Where, then, should they look? Their proud boast is about to wither before their eyes, as the king of Assyria would take their city. Again, there is a word from the Lord. It does not direct them to another city, although to other eyes Jerusalem was ‘beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth’, Ps. 48. 2. Later in the chapter Isaiah describes the state of Israel’s southern neighbour Judah. The scornful men who ruled Jerusalem were no more pleasing to God than the drunkards of Ephraim, vv. 1, 3, 14. The word by which God would teach knowledge through His prophet instructed those of child-like trust that there is a beauty that is spiritual and lasting, a beauty that does not fade, vv. 5, 9-10.

Have we not noted in others a dignity that owes nothing to human rank or achievement, that does not lessen with age, that does not deteriorate with time? When the Lord Himself crowns their ways with the seal of His approval and presence, He is to them ‘a crown of glory and ... a diadem of beauty’. Men do not bequeath that distinction and they cannot take it away. Spiritual dignity and power accounts for the accuracy of their judgement and their courage under attack, v. 6. Today, that portion is available to every saint who will walk humbly with their Lord, for we have all been crowned with ‘the spirit ...of power, and of love, and of a sound mind’, 2 Tim. 1. 7. Are we wearing our crown as of right, or a crown of pride, a crown of fading beauty? Our chapter will challenge Israel after the rapture; it should challenge us now.