Isaiah 30:1-33

The relationship between God and the children of Israel is a very interesting one.  Like any relationship it has its highs and its lows.  God is unchanging in His character but He does respond to the attitudes and actions of men.  In these responses we learn valuable lessons about who God is and how He relates to His children.

GOD IS A JEALOUS FATHER: Israel was under threat of attack from the Assyrians.  Humanly speaking there is no way that Israel could come away from this confrontation victoriously.  However, God had demonstrated time and time again that He is not limited to that which is humanly possible.  Time after time God has delivered the children of Israel using supernatural means.  God’s expectation is that they would trust Him in the midst of this threat and cry out to Him for deliverance or at least for direction as to what He would have them do.  Instead, Israel turned to the nation of Egypt and sought to form an alliance with Egypt so that she would fight the Assyrian invaders.  This decision made God very jealous.  He had delivered Israel from the Egyptians generations ago and now they were going back and trusting in Egypt instead of trusting God.  Isaiah warns Israel that this misplaced trust is absolutely worthless.  Egypt may have and impressive army and vast lands with many riches but God is greater than any nation.  We must always learn to put our trust in the Lord.  We may be tempted to place our trust in our resources or our leaders but God must be the focus of our hope and faith.

GOD IS A GRACIOUS LEADER: Despite Israel’s constant and repeated failures throughout her history God has consistently promised to restore her and return her to her former greatness.  God is gracious in all that He does and He is willing to forgive those who repent.  He does not turn His back on those who have failed Him but graciously works through the circumstances of life in order to help His people restore their trust in Him.  Isaiah speaks of a day when Israel truly will trust the Lord.  Israel will once again dwell in the land securely, there will be abundance of rain and the nation will once again prosper.  However, the prosperity will not only be a physical prosperity but a spiritual prosperity because the Lord will send godly guides who will instruct the nation as so how they should live and warn the nation when she begins to stray from the path that He has deemed best.  God is full of grace and mercy and longs to see His children restored into fellowship with Himself.  He is loving and forgiving and has always revealed Himself to men in a way that has helped them to be able to follow Him and His ways.


GOD IS A RIGHTEOUS JUDGE: Even though God is gracious and merciful, there are those who do not repent and continue to rebel against His will.  The nations of the world are before Him and He has used many evil nations as instruments of His justice but that does not mean that He condones their actions.  One day every nation and every individual will face the Lords judgment.  God is righteous and know everything about everyone.  Nothing can be hidden from the Lord.  The Assyrian army may be large and powerful at the time of Isaiah’s writing but one day she and every other nation in the world will face the Lord as judge.  God will bring every nation to its knees so that all the rebellious nations that refuse to repent will be destroyed and the remaining repentant people and nations will rejoice in the worship of God and God alone.  God knows the hearts of men and He is the righteous judge of all mankind.

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