Titles of God || Isaiah 33:22 || Manna for the Mind #91

Welcome to Day 90 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is Isaiah 33:22, where we’ll examine how God is a judge, lawgiver, and king.

Isaiah 33:22

AMP	22 For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Ruler, and The Lord is our King; He will save us.
NLT	22 For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.
MSG	22 For God makes all the decisions here. God is our king. God runs this place and he’ll keep us safe.

The MSG translation encapsulates it perfectly: God makes all the decisions, runs this place, and keeps us safe. That’s the final word on the matter.

I want to examine the words “judge,” “lawgiver,” and “king” to understand Isaiah’s context and reveal the different ways God can care for and save us.

The term ‘Judge’ is the Hebrew verb shaphat (shaw-fat’), which means to judge or govern. In Isaiah’s context, this can only refer to God. (Genesis 18:25 has the same meaning). It refers to someone who can pronounce a sentence (for or against) by implication. It means to either vindicate or punish someone or something.

“Lawgiver” is the Hebrew verb chaqaq (khaw-kak’), which means to cut in, inscribe, and decree. In Isaiah’s context, it refers to cutting, inscribing, and decreeing a law or someone who cuts, inscribing, and decrees a law. It refers to engraving (simply being a scribe), enacting (laws were cut in stone or metal tablets in primitive times), or generally prescribing.

“King” is the Hebrew word melek (meh’lek), which means king. It comes from the Hebrew word malak (maw-lak’), which means to be or become a king or queen. It means to reign by ascending the throne or induction into royalty.

God provides both our freedom and our consequences. God sets out the rules for us to follow. God reigns over us and our lives. How does the Bible discuss these concepts?

Isaiah says this later on in Isaiah 49:25-26.

Isaiah 49:25-26

AMP	25 Indeed, this is what the Lord says, “Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the tyrant’s spoils of war will be rescued; For I will contend with your opponent, And I will save your children. 26 “I will make those who oppress you consume their own flesh [in mutually destructive wars] And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine; And all mankind will know [with a knowledge grounded in personal experience] that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
NLT	25 But the Lord says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. 26 I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.”
MSG	25-26 But God says, “Even if a giant grips the plunder and a tyrant holds my people prisoner, I’m the one who’s on your side, defending your cause, rescuing your children. And your enemies, crazed and desperate, will turn on themselves, killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction. Then everyone will know that I, God, have saved you – I, the mighty One of Jacob.

So much to unpack here, but let me share with you what I see:

• No matter what happens to us, God will fight our battles and rescue us and our future generations.
• God will turn our enemies on themselves and drive themselves to self-destruction. Our enemies will learn from this experience that God is our Savior and Redeemer.

God could prove to the world that he is who he says he is by doing the impossible—causing warriors to release their captives and return the loot they stocked up on. God did this with the Egyptians following the Israelites’ exodus and would do it again when the exiles returned to Israel. The lesson is that we should never doubt that God will fulfill his promises. He can do the impossible to make sure that it happens.

I’m curious if there’s a time when that’s happened in my life. The first thing that came up was what I thought my life would be like after I was terminated from my last job. In January 2023, I had this plan: “Submit two weeks in July, apply for a call center position, work there, save up to move out, etc.” It turned out to be: “Termination in June, another church job in July, a Kroger job that was overwhelming, and a tax job that I really enjoyed.” I believe that I will still get to a position with a stable income that’s enough for me to live off on my own, but until then, God’s doing work. I’m learning different facets of financial responsibilities, continuing my education in the tax world to improve my status, diving into my work with the blog/podcasts/social media, and more. God’s doing something, and I don’t know the long-term goal, but I know I want to stay on the path.

God is a powerful person, as shown in Zechariah 9:9.

Zechariah 9:9

AMP	9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a donkey, Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.
NLT	9 Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey – riding on a donkey’s colt.
MSG	9 Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion! Raise your voice, Daughter Jerusalem! Your king is coming! A good king who makes all things right, a humble king riding, a donkey a mere colt of a donkey.

The triumphal entry (what we talk about on Palm Sunday)—Jesus riding into Jerusalem—was predicted here more than 500 years before it happened. It happened. The righteous person, endowed with salvation, victorious, humble, and unassuming, makes everything suitable and is a king. He came to earth to die a sacrificial death so that we can have a right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

I leave with this question, giving our conversation about the different titles of God. Who is God to you? I encourage you to sit and reflect on that question. Until next time, stay blessed!