Isaiah 30 WHERE YOU PLACE YOUR CONFIDENCE There are principles of Christian living that are not only common sense but are tried and proven by people of faith. And yet, many people will not accept as true or real anything they have not done themselves. Thousands of believers in Christ have passed on what they have learned and experienced, and we have the written word of God as our source of information, plus the Holy Spirit as our divine Teacher. But still, because of the independent of natural man, those people think they have to learn by themselves what they could learn from others. Consequently, the same mistakes and sins are done over and over again.
When we place our confidence on human counsel instead of divine wisdom and counsel, that is an affront to God. In this chapter a “woe” is pronounced on those people who are not willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Instead they turn to the wisdom of this world (Egypt). Such counsel and the worldly alliance they made was futile and deceptive. Those who promote that kind of attitude and action are condemned by the Lord.
Often in times of stress we look for human solutions rather than relying on our Lord. Because of its “shadowless” light, truth makes some people uncomfortable. We are better to be uncomfortable instead of deceived. God does things in His time and ways, and He will give us the needed grace to go through trials and testing times with dignity and faith. In grace, He is waiting for us to come to Him. In faithfulness, He is ready and willing to forgive and cleanse us when we confess our sins and forsake them.
The prophet Isaiah wrote that those who should be leading the people of God needed to be aware of the fact that the ways of the world are not only deceptive, but they are sinful, even though they may seem to be advantageous at the time. Often compromises are made by those who would rather do nothing instead of taking the responsibility God gave them to make wise and godly decisions. Such decisions may be unpopular at the time, but when we place our confidence in God, we can rest in faith that the outcome will be right.
Isaiah was charged by God to make it a matter of public record that he was displeased with the people of Judah who rejected God’s word and willfully displeased the Lord. For that attitude and the fact that they put their confidence in the alliance they made with the Egyptians, divine justice would crush them. The writing on the tablet and on the scroll would record the fact they had brought justice down on themselves. The humiliation divine chastening would bring was because of the sinful actions of God’s people. In this age of lawlessness and adapting national laws to the will of the people, toleration of evil and open wickedness becomes the vogue. Resentment against the righteous standards of conduct leads to open rebellion and chaos because to many, sin is what they say it is rather than what God says.
The people of Judah did not want to hear “right things.” They did not want to hear about the God of the Bible. They did not want to admit to their own helplessness. They did not want to face the outcome of their failed alliance and schemes to deal with the ungodly around them. They did not want to be disturbed by the truth. They wanted an unrighteous love that made them feel good about themselves and did not condemn anything they did. The same attitude is prevalent today in modern society, and particularly in this country.
When we despise and reject God’s word, life will be shattered like a wall that breaks and falls, or a piece of pottery that is broken into small pieces that are impossible to be put together again. By nature, human beings want to do their own thing in their own way and in their own time. To repent of our own sin is not how people deal with the consequences of sin when it catches up with them. They blame their environment, their friends, their parents, their church, the Bible teaching they received when young – anything they can think of to excuse themselves from the consequences of their own choices. Real repentance faces personal sin and guilt before God, and deliberately turns away from it. When that happens and the sin and wrong actions are rejected, they will find it easy to put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. An easy “believeism” has made many people think they are Christians because of the words that say, rather than the work of Christ on behalf of a guilty person who knows they deserve the just judgment of God.
The Lord called His people through the prophets to “return” to Him in repentance and they would be saved. Then the rest, quietness and confidence He gives would save them from defeat and disaster. But no, they put their trust in the Egyptians and the horses of the Egyptian army instead of in the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel. Because of that choice, they would not be able to resist the enemy that would come even if the balance was one thousand to one in their favor. Very few would even survive the coming disaster that would befall them. How foolish it is to think that we can overcome the world, the flesh and the devil by our own strength. Our Lord is near unto all that call upon Him out of a pure heart.
In this chapter the prophecy changes from the futility of placing confidence in man and national alliances, to the faithfulness of God as He waits for the repentant remnant to return to Him. Our God is a God of justice, but He is also a God of all grace. The faithful remnant would experience His kindness and grace, even though they will be persecuted and afflicted. God will never fail and those who wait in faith. They will be blessed. When we look to God in child-like faith, and refuse to look to the world for strength to deal with trials, we, like the people of Judah, will find rest in our souls, quietness in our lives and confidence as we look ahead. Self-confidence and self-effort of any kind will fail to overcome enemies that are greater than us. When we “resist the devil,” the Lord gives the victory that makes him flee. When we live in faith, God gives “the victory that overcomes the world.” When we “crucify the flesh and the lusts thereof,” God empowers us to “live in the Spirit.” Disobedience on our part will only bring us to ruin. Anything that sidetracks us needs to be confessed as sin and forsaken permanently.
When God blesses His people in the future, the day of great slaughter will be passed, and the kingdom peace will be real. Zion will be a place of blessing, safety, security and peace. The teaching and learning times of trials and troubles will have done their work. Those who learned to wait on the Lord will be given guidance and instruction from the Lord who says, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” The false teachers and blind guides will never save them, nor will the worldly gods of idolatry. Millennial blessings will come to the Jews, and like them, we too will forever find our joy in God.
The rebellious nations of the world will experience the wrath of God poured out upon them to a far greater extent than even the Assyrians did to Israel in the north. The Lord stopped the Assyrians at the gates of Jerusalem in one night, and He will stop that united nations of the world that will be arrayed against the Jews, and the Lord, with a great and terrible victory. Blessings will come on the Jews and those who assisted them when the day of the Lord comes. The wicked will be cast into outer darkness (Tophet) and man’s day will be over.