Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, please touch my heart through the Word in ways that will give me greater determination to live and speak God’s truth before others today.
Read ISAIAH 30:1–18
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Woe to the Obstinate Nation
30 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”
6 A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of hardship and distress,
of lions and lionesses,
of adders and darting snakes,
the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs,
their treasures on the humps of camels,
to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless.
Therefore I call her
Rahab the Do-Nothing.
8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,
inscribe it on a scroll,
that for the days to come
it may be an everlasting witness.
9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.”
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’1 Do you have a confident faith?
Think Further
I’m very familiar with verse 15 in the King James Version, ‘… in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.’ That’s because, when I was growing up, we had a small, framed calligraphy of the verse in our home. As a kid, I always thought it meant Christians have inner peace. Ah, what a nice thought! The only problem is, I completely missed the point! That’s because Isaiah 30 is not about sitting peacefully in an easy chair listening to Christian music. The context is danger and pressure: the powerful Assyrian army was threatening to destroy Israel.
The real question that emerges from our reading is: ‘How should God’s people respond to situations where pressure is on and the stakes are high?’ Israel’s answer was an alliance with a stronger neighbor, Egypt, a move which God condemns. Why? Because it revealed that their first instinct under pressure was to turn away from God to their own solution (vv. 1–5).
That’s where verse 15 fits. God wants us to have a quiet confidence that trusting him is the best way to face any threat, to handle any pressure, no matter how high the stakes. He wants us to turn to him first when the pressure is on. It’s easy to say, ‘Just let go and let God!’ when commenting on someone else’s problems, but a mature faith involves consulting God in prayer and waiting for the prompting of the Holy Spirit (vv. 1, 2). Perhaps the most amazing thing is that, like the waiting father,2 the God of the universe is ‘waiting to show how kind he is’ and to bless ‘those who trust him’ (v, 18, CEV). Despite our human tendency to go our own way, God’s intent is always to be gracious and merciful. That’s the storyline of the whole Bible.
Apply
Where are you experiencing the greatest pressure with the highest stakes? Meditate on verse 15 and ask God for a quiet confidence to face it.
Closing prayer
Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you are always eager to meet my need and show me your loving kindness whenever I look to you for help.
Last Updated on November 25, 2024 by kingstar
