Isaiah 33:1-24

God is never surprised because He always knows what will happen.  There are many things that worry us and cause us stress because we do not know how the circumstances of our lives will play out.  God has chosen to reveal certain things about the future to us in His Word so that we do not become over anxious.  However, there are many things about the future that have not been revealed and that is where trusting God is essential.  Israel is under the threat of invasion from Assyria, the people and the leaders are stricken with fear.  God sends Isaiah to reveal God’s plans for the future in order to help the people find relief and place their faith in the Lord.  We too face many distresses in our lives and must remember to go to the Scriptures so that our hopes can be anchored in the promises of God instead of our hearts being troubled by the circumstances of life.

THE DEFEAT OF ASSYRIA: The Lord has determined that He will deliver Israel from the Assyrian invasion.  They have been plundering the nations all around the region but they are about to be plundered themselves.  God will often use defeat and danger in our lives in order to motivate us to look to Him for deliverance.  Israel had lived under a false security that was based on her own might and power.  It was necessary for God to strip away that pride in order to bring about faith and confidence in the salvation of the Lord.  Prior to God’s deliverance there would be much pain and suffering and the people would mourn the condition of the land in which they live.  God does not promise that we will not face devastation but He does promise to deliver those who trust in Him.  Often God will use devastation to create desperation in the hearts of men so they will then express devotion to Him.  God promised to step in with His sovereign power and set things right.  We do not know when this will happen but we can rest assured in the certainty of the promises of God.


THE DELIGHT OF ISRAEL: The Lord Himself will become the delight of the people’s hearts.  The nation will see the hand of God at work in their midst and they will find great joy in His gracious deliverance.  When God chooses to reveal Himself to man in a clear and obvious way the only right reaction is to bow down to Him in worship and to marvel at His wonderful works.  At the present Israel is sick with stress and worry but Isaiah speaks of a day when they will look back to this time and wonder what all the fuss was about.  God’s deliverance will make the past sufferings seem small, short-lived and in many ways silly.  There is a time of peace and tranquility God has promised which should fill our hearts with hope.  God’s promises always come true and they have been revealed to us so that we will trust in Him instead of being worried about out circumstances.  The riches of Assyrian were about to be brought to the nation of Israel, but God has promised even greater riches to those who trust Him in the form of freedom from and the forgiveness of sin.

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