The Nearness of the Unapproachable Text: Isaiah 46:12-13
Introduction: The Delusion of Distance
We live in an age that prides itself on its cynicism, its hard-headed realism. Men imagine themselves to be clear-eyed assessors of the world, free from the delusions of their forefathers. But in reality, modern man is the most deluded creature of all. His central delusion is the delusion of distance. He believes that God, if He exists at all, is a very long way off. He imagines that righteousness is a distant, unachievable ideal, a star on the horizon that one might steer by but never reach. And he thinks that salvation is something for the sweet by-and-by, a matter for deathbeds and last-minute negotiations.
This is the essence of what Isaiah is confronting here. He is speaking to a people who, in their hearts, had pushed God away. They were "far from righteousness," not just in their behavior, but in their basic operating assumptions. They were stubborn, stiff-necked, and convinced of the gap between heaven and earth, between God's holiness and their own lives. They had accepted the devil's lie that God is not to be trusted, that His ways are not our ways in the sense that they are utterly alien and disconnected from our present reality.
Into this self-imposed exile, this spiritual quarantine, God speaks a shocking word. He declares that the distance is a mirage. He announces that He is closing the gap Himself. This passage is a divine declaration against all forms of practical deism. It is a promise that God is not passive, He is not remote, and His salvation is not a future, abstract concept. It is an imminent, invasive, and glorious reality. God is about to do something, right here, right now, for His people. And in this, we see the very heart of the gospel message, which is God drawing near to a people who were determined to keep their distance.
The Text
"Hear Me, you stubborn of heart, Who are far from righteousness. I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel."
(Isaiah 46:12-13 LSB)
The Diagnosis of the Heart (v. 12)
God begins with a direct and unvarnished address to His audience. He does not soften the blow.
"Hear Me, you stubborn of heart, Who are far from righteousness." (Isaiah 46:12)
The first command is to "Hear Me." This is the fundamental requirement of faith. The tragedy of Israel, and the tragedy of fallen man, is not a lack of evidence but a refusal to listen. The ears are stopped with the wax of pride and self-reliance. God is speaking, but they are not hearing. And who is He speaking to? Not to the sensitive and seeking, but to the "stubborn of heart." The Hebrew here paints a picture of being mighty or stout of heart. This isn't a compliment. It's a diagnosis of spiritual sclerosis. Their hearts were hardened, inflexible, and resistant to the Word of God. They were proud, self-willed, and unteachable.
This stubbornness is the root of their condition: they are "far from righteousness." Notice the connection. It is not that they are far from righteousness, and therefore have become stubborn. It is that they are stubborn of heart, and this has created the distance. They have actively pushed righteousness away. This is not about a simple failure to keep the rules. This is about a fundamental collision of two kinds of righteousness. They were, like the Pharisees Paul would later describe, "ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness" (Rom. 10:3). They were far from God's righteousness because they were entirely too close to their own. Their own righteousness, their own sense of what was right and fitting, was a fortress they had built to keep God's righteousness out.
Men are not truly converted until the day their virtues humiliate them. The problem for these people was not their long list of vices, but rather the things they were proud of. Their stubbornness was a function of their self-righteousness. They believed they knew how the world worked, and in their system, God was a manageable deity who kept a respectable distance. They were far from righteousness because, in their hearts, they wanted it that way.
The Divine Invasion (v. 13a)
Having diagnosed the problem, God announces the shocking, unilateral solution. He does not wait for them to fix their stubborn hearts or to begin the long journey back toward righteousness. He takes the initiative.
"I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay." (Isaiah 46:13a)
This is the gospel in miniature. To the people who are "far from righteousness," God says, "I bring near My righteousness." He doesn't offer them a map. He doesn't give them a self-help program for a thousand-mile journey. He picks up His righteousness and carries it to them. This is the doctrine of imputation. God's righteousness is not something we achieve; it is something we receive. It is a gift, brought to us while we are still a great way off, stubborn and resistant.
The apostle Paul picks up this very theme. He quotes Deuteronomy, saying, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down) or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'" (Rom. 10:6-8). The righteousness of God is not distant; it has been brought near in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the righteousness of God, made available to stubborn-hearted sinners.
And with this righteousness comes salvation, and it "will not delay." God's timing is not like our timing. When He decides to act, there are no postponements, no committee meetings, no logistical hurdles. His Word accomplishes what He sends it to do. This was a word of immense comfort to the exiles in Babylon who felt that God's salvation had been delayed indefinitely. And it is a word of comfort to us. God is not slow concerning His promises. The work of Christ is a finished work. The salvation He accomplished is not in a holding pattern; it is an active, present reality that God is applying to His people in His perfect time.
The Covenant Location (v. 13b)
God then specifies the location and the ultimate purpose of this swift and decisive action.
"And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel." (Isaiah 46:13b)
Salvation is not an abstract, free-floating concept. It is covenantal, and therefore it has a location. He will grant salvation "in Zion." Zion, Jerusalem, was the heart of God's covenant dealings with His people. It was the place of the temple, the place of sacrifice, the place where God had put His name. This is not a promise of salvation to individuals in isolation, but to a corporate people in a particular place. This points forward, of course, to the true Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church of the living God (Heb. 12:22). God saves individuals, but He saves them into a people, into a city.
And what is the ultimate goal of this salvation? It is "My glory for Israel." God's purpose in salvation is not ultimately about us. It is about Him. He saves His people in order to put His glory on display through them. Israel was chosen to be the theater of God's glory, the showcase of His redemptive power to the nations. When God brings near His righteousness to stubborn sinners, when He grants salvation that does not delay, the end result is that His own glory is magnified.
This is why our salvation is so secure. It is not grounded in our worthiness or our ability to hold on. It is grounded in God's unshakeable commitment to His own glory. He has attached His name and His reputation to this people, Israel. And in the new covenant, He has attached His name to the Church, the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). He will save us, He will keep us, and He will glorify us, because to fail to do so would be to diminish His own glory. He acts for His own name's sake.
Conclusion: The God Who Closes the Distance
So what does this mean for us? It means that the central lie of our age, the delusion of distance, is shattered by the Word of God. If you are here today and you feel that you are "far from righteousness," you have diagnosed your condition correctly. But you have likely misdiagnosed the solution. The solution is not for you to begin a frantic, guilt-ridden scramble toward God.
The good news is that while you were standing stubbornly still, convinced of the great distance between you and God, God was already on the move. He has brought His righteousness near. He has brought it to your very doorstep in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the righteousness of God, and He came to seek and to save the lost, the stubborn, and those who are far off.
The command to you is the same as it was to Israel: "Hear Me." Stop listening to the internal monologue of your own self-righteousness or your own despair. Stop measuring the distance. Look up and see that God, in His sovereign grace, has already closed it. His salvation is not delayed. It is here. It is now. And the invitation is to abandon your own stubborn claims to righteousness and to submit to the righteousness of God that is found in Christ Jesus alone. When you do, you will find that you have been brought into Zion, the city of God, and that your life has become a theater for a glory that is not your own, but His.