Besides giving us an intriguing description of the LORD Himself, the prophet Isaiah also tells us something about His way of doing things in the world. The LORD adopts a certain strategy of action, a style of working characterized by the simile, "clear heat in sunshine." But what is it that the LORD will do, and what is said about His way of doing things here?

Our own experience aids us in gathering clues. Everyone has at one time or another experienced those moments when everything appears very still – too still, one could say. As quiet as it may be, there is also uncertainty in the air. One somehow senses that what is there cannot last. And sure enough, often a period of still heat is only the sign of the unleashing of a good storm.

So it is with "a cloud of dew" on a hot day in late summer. Cool, damp gusts of winds which seem to be out of place in the heat of the day are a sure sign that rapid changes are coming, changes often accompanied by lightning and thunder. Again, one can perceive these occurrences as signs before the storm.

That this is also what is meant in the passage is evident from the context. Messengers of Ethiopia have traveled to Judah and Israel in order to consolidate forces and make alliances against the threat of Assyrian invasion. The whole world is in a state of unease. The threat of destruction looms, and nations no longer feel safe. A spirit of hustle and bustle rules, and a climate of conflict, mobilization, and impending disaster fills the air. And Israel and Judah join forces in this uneasy climate.

But what does the LORD say of it all? "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision" Psalm 2:4. The LORD sits in His temple, and watches the busy troop movements below. He sits at rest, as one completely above and in control of the situation. Yet He is not aloof, as if He only has a mild interest in the situation. Rather, He is intensely involved, watching every movement. It is as if He, as a participant, also watches the battle in order to choose the exact moment of His offensive. Sitting above the turmoil, He can choose the perfect moment to act. Perfect timing is on His side.

And when does He enter the scene? Precisely at the unexpected moment, that is, the moment when the enemy almost has victory in view. He lets the planning of men coming to its point of harvest, and then, as He says, "before the blossom is over" He comes with the force of His mighty judgment. He lets the man who has rejected Him climb to the apex of his aims and goals – only to swiftly bring him to ruin just before the climax of his objectives.

Such is the way the LORD works, not simply in the days of Isaiah, but all the time. Today, too, He often seems to have forsaken the world. Some speak of His absence from the world, others hold that man has murdered Him. And as the Preacher says, when judgment is delayed, "the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil", Ecclesiastes 8:11. Many find it hard to accept a God who allows Auschwitz and Hiroshima. And so they say, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers have fallen asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation," 2 Peter 3:4. Why should one expect any change in patterns that he sees as being thousands and even millions of years old?

But the LORD is still present today, and His presence is like "clear heat in sunshine." The climate of uncertainty which He allows apostate man to build is also a tool in His hand for the testing of His own, and the gathering of His Church. And we may be sure that He will intervene at the right time. So He did when He sent His only Son in the world; so He did when He had Him crucified for us.

While we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.Romans 5:6

He reaches in at the critical moment, and effects His judgment, proving His justice and mercy, His longsuffering, kindness and love to all the world.

But all this tells us how we must live. We know that the church will be spared through judgment, as John also witnessed in his visions on Patmos. He saw that the church was saved, but "only as through fire," 1 Corinthians 3:15. For all those becoming impatient, and joining hands with the reckless and inhuman unbelief of the world will be cut off. "But those who endure to the end will be saved."

So He enjoins upon us all to cultivate constant hope, and to look forward in eager anticipation for the day of His coming, the day when all wrongs will be set right, and the cause of Christ will be announced and proclaimed as the only way of truth in the world. Then the tower of godless culture – having come to the point of near-completion – will be broken down and destroyed. And the new life will begin in which we may see Him, our sovereign God, who has all things in His hand, and who as "clear heat in sunshine" always does the right thing for His own – at the right time.