We are in a series in the book of Isaiah, and this part of the series is “in God we trust”. In the earlier portions of today’s chapter, we’ve seen how God warned Judah against trusting Egypt, and urging them to trust in him instead. Today in our text we look at God’s surprising response to Judah’s stubbornness despite God’s call to repentance
(A) A Cry in the Darkness: The Sovereign Lord Waits to be Gracious to His People (ISa 30:18-26)
Judah has rejected God and stubbornly chosen to trust in Egypt instead, despite God’s call for them to repent and trust. God has given the people warnings in Isaiah 30. Directed to Judah in the south, in Isaiah 30:1-7, we’ve see how trusting in Egypt in response to the Assyrian threat adds sin to sin. Egypt will be of no help and the result would be that Judah would come to shame. In Isaiah 30:8-17, we read of how Judah was evil and rebellious, refusing to listen to God and his truth. They insisted on trusting in Egypt and deluding themselves that their plans would work. The result would be that Judah would become desolate, fearful of threat, and become a warning and a signal to others
Thus, because they have trusted in Egypt and added sin to sin; and because they refused to listen to truth and insisted on rejecting God’s offer for salvation in repentance, therefore, they shall be desolate and over-taken, and the object of their trust shall prove futile and of no profit.
What does God reveal about himself in response to this stubborn, evil, and rebellious people? The Lord waits to be gracious to Judah and exalts himself to show mercy to them (Isa 30:18). Isn’t that crazy? It says because Judah is rebellious, “therefore” God waits. He is patient. He is gracious. He is merciful. He intends to show His grace and mercy. God’s grace and mercy is already there, and it is waiting for them.
But why does God wait? Could there be a purpose for God to wait and to allow Judah to continue in their rebellion and to suffer the consequences? We see here that He is a God of justice, and blessed are all those who wait for Him. He will not let evil go unpunished. Not the evil of the Assyrians, and not the evil of the Judahites (if they do not repent and turn to him). So those who wait can trust that God is just and they will be blessed. Do you also notice that God exalts himself to show mercy to them? To be exalted is to be spoken highly of, to be glorified. God lets himself be seen as great and glorified, to show mercy to Judah! God’s glory is connected with Judah being shown mercy, Judah receiving salvation.
Here, we are presented with our God who is not only just, but is gracious, merciful, and patient. Even though Judah refuses to listen to God’s warnings, He still perseveres in sending His Word to them, calling them to repentance, and even promising to bless them when they turn and wait on him! What patience!
We worship a God who is patient with us despite our sin against him. How much do you model that patience toward others around you? Are you impatient toward people who hurt you, who turn a blind eye to your efforts, who sin against you? Or are you impatient toward sheep under your care, who seem to be blind to their own sinful ways and refusing to see the light? Let us follow our Father and persevere in loving, correcting, and calling our friends toward repentance and faith in Him.
If you’ve been attending these studies consistently, you have probably been hearing this constant refrain — don’t trust in earthly powers, don’t trust in your strength, don’t trust in armies, don’t trust in horses. Trust in the Lord your God. Perhaps that message has yet to sink in for you; perhaps there is that thing which you still cling to for earthly security. The Lord waits to be gracious to you, to show mercy to you. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion (Heb 3:8, 15). God is waiting for your repentance and turning.
Perhaps you’ve taken to heart those messages to trust God. Yet amidst the trials of life, you’ve started to feel shaken. The sin that so easily entangles clings to you and tempts you to despair. The Lord is a God of justice – He will not let evil go unpunished. Hear this encouragement – blessed are all those who wait for Him. Trust in Him!
Isaiah then tells of what the Lord will do, and how the people respond. Firstly, we read of God’s promise to Judah in Isaiah 30:19a. He promises that a people will dwell in Mount Zion and the city Jerusalem and they will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to them. This is a promise of security and safety, away from the suffering of war. The promise that they will weep no more also echoes Isaiah 25:7-8, where God promises to swallow up death forever and wipe away tears from all faces.
When will the promise will be fulfilled? What starts off these things is the sound of the cry of Judah to the LORD — as soon as He hears it, He answers you (Isa 30:19b). This is similar to Exodus 2:23-25, where we are told that God heard Israel’s groaning. It says that God saw the people of Israel – and God knew.
Isaiah 30:20b-21 also show us what God will do. He will reveal himself and guide them. The Lord shall not hide himself, but guide Judah in the way at every step of the way (even as he gives them suffering and adversity). Even though they are still eating the bread of suffering, God is there with them and guiding them. It’s also striking that God refers to himself as their “Teacher”.
He will provide bountifully (Isa 30:23-25a). He will give rain for the seed (for sowing, and producing more seed) and bread (made from grain and seed). He will also give produce of the ground (fruit, vegetables, grain etc). Even the livestock will live in luxury and abundance! They will have large pastures (not cramped spaces), which means the people will have lots of land! And they have so much food that even the animals eat seasoned fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork (to winnow is to remove chaff and dirt). The lofty mountains and high hills will run with life-giving water.
Next, we read of how He will destroy Judah’s enemies and idolatrous pride (Isa 30:25b). There will be a great slaughter, likely of Judah’s enemies, as part of the day of the Lord. The mountains and high hills were also a symbol of idolatry and pride – because often idol worship was done on altars set up on high places. Towers are a symbol of human pride and security – remember that image of the high wall which is breached? Those will be torn down. This is a picture of God destroying not only Judah’s enemies, but tearing down the idols and fortresses that they had trusted in instead of God.
The exaggerated language here (and above) indicates that this is of the poetic genre. The intensity of the light points us to how God himself, who is light, will dwell with his people. He will dwell with his people (Isa 30:26a, c.f Rev 21:23).
God will dwell with the people and bless them plentifully. He will destroy their enemies and tear down their old idols, and He himself will dwell with them in light. How will the people respond?
The people will defile their carved idols overlaid with silver, and gold-plated metal images, and treat them as unclean things (Isa 30:22). The descriptions here point us to how the idols are man-made, and how they are cheap imitations. They’re not even pure silver or gold! Most importantly, they are mute and lifeless, they cannot guide or deliver.
The people’s response is not just to follow God, but to completely discard the useless things that they previously trusted in. They treat them as rubbish, as disgusting, as detestable.
God’s blessings point to how He is our provider and our true source of security and comfort. Friends, if you were to taste and see how good the Lord is and know the richness of his grace that he has for you, you would no longer desire or trust your worthless idols for satisfaction. You would not trust money, you would not trust career advancement or satisfaction, you would not trust your works or accomplishments, whether in the workplace, at home, or even in the church! You would not trust earthly wisdom peddled on the media, you would not trust in strong and stable governments, you would not trust in military might or prowess. Many of these are good things, but they are not worthy of your trust. No, you would cast all these aside as rubbish, as unclean things, “be gone!” Instead, you would trust him and treasure his presence with you.
What else does the Lord say about Judah’s affliction? In Isaiah 30:20a, we see that the Lord gives them the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. The Lord binds up the brokenness of his people and heals their wounds, which he inflicted by his blow.
How many of you find this odd? This means that God is the actor responsible for his people’s suffering. Assyria, as an invading nation, with its pillaging armies, play a part in the suffering, yes. But they are God’s agents, God’s tool and instrument to discipline Judah. Friends, God in his word tells us that he is the one who inflicts blows on his people, who gives them the bread of adversity and water of affliction. God is sovereign over our suffering, and He is responsible for it. This is one of the hard and difficult truths of the Bible.
This may make us uncomfortable and we may try to soften this truth to try to make it palatable. We may say things like God allows for suffering to happen. Or we may focus on the pleasant aspects of God, like how God is gracious, merciful, and gives us blessings. Some may even flat out deny that God has any part in suffering at all — that if you suffer, then it must be that God is not working in your life, or that some part of your faith in God is deficient. If you examine your heart, perhaps you do this as well.
But my friends, God’s word is clear – He himself says that the brokenness of his people was inflicted by His blow (Isa 30:26b). God is sovereign over suffering, and he causes us to go through suffering for His purposes. We must take God at his word.
So what? I’d like to read a quote for you from a podcast by RC Sproul on suffering. “If there is a God who is sovereign over all of life, over all of death, and over all pain, and over all disease, and over all illness, and over all sorrow, then what that means is that it is flat out impossible that any pain should ever be without purpose.” (R.C. Sproul, Trials and Suffering)
At least in the case of Judah, we know that their suffering is likely God’s discipline on their lives, to shake up their lives and help them see the futility of their ways. Friends, God disciplines those He loves, so that they will turn back to Him, who is the true giver of life.
Have you gone through suffering in your life? Or perhaps, are you going through a period of suffering right now? Now, in our season of suffering, we may not know or perceive the purpose of God for that season. After all, His Ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts. Now, it may not be because of your sin or anything you have done. It may be even because of another’s sin on you. Hear this – God will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as He hears it, He answers you! He is not deaf to your prayers or blind to your affliction.
But be clear, His answer may not be to remove your suffering immediately. Rather, His assurance to you is that He is sovereign over your suffering, and that He himself will guide you and teach you and be with you and dwell with you. Though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
(B) A Song in the Night: The Almighty Lord Fights for His People (ISa 30:27-33)
After prophesying the healing and restoration of Jerusalem, Isaiah breaks out into battle song. God is described as coming with fury and anger (Isa 30:27-28). This is an image of wrath and power. The images of “thick rising smoke” “devouring fire” “overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck” are all pictures of uncontrollable forces of nature with great destructive power. God’s anger and power is closely associated with his mouth (“lips”, “tongue”, “breath”).
God comes to judge and destroy the nations. He’s so much mightier that they are insignificant, and they are within his complete control. He sifts the nations (like flour) and places on their jaws a bridle that leads astray (like an animal / beast of burden).
We read on to find out what happen when the Lord battles His enemies in Isaiah 30:29-33. The Lord will cause his voice to be heard and descending blow (from above) to be seen. God will make it obvious to Judah and to the surrounding peoples that He is delivering them. He will battle for his people against their enemies and terrorise, destroy, and burn up their enemies. Note the imagery of nature to depict His might, and the imagery of rod and staff — and not a bow, not arrow, not sword — as His weapons against the Assyrians.
In response, God’s people will celebrate. The people will sing and dance and make music (Isa 30:29, 32), as when they have the holy pilgrimage feasts (e.g. the Feast of Weeks, the Passover meal, the Feast of Booths etc). This is the kind of singing and dancing that will go on.
In contrast, their enemies, the Assyrians will be terror-stricken (Isa 30:31). They will burn like trash at Topheth, the burning place (Isa 30:33).
How does this contrast with Egypt, whom Judah trusted in? Whereas Egypt was bought with much riches and did nothing (Isa 30:5,7), the LORD fights Israel’s enemies. Whereas Egypt brought Judah shame and disgrace, the Lord brings them joy, dancing, and celebration.
We see clearly an image of God, mighty in battle, subjecting Assyria and the nations to judgment. When God comes in battle, His people celebrate and dance and sing and worship, while His enemies quake in fear and perish.
What image of God do you have in your head? Do you think of God as aloof and uninvolved, indifferent to the injustice and evil that is on earth, indifferent to the suffering of the poor and the downtrodden? No, God comes from afar but He comes near and fights personally for His people.
Or have you ‘domesticated’ God in your head, painting him as benevolent, gentle, kind, meek, and harmless? Yes, God is good gentle and kind, but He also is the Mighty Lord God of Hosts, who strikes blows with furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with cloudburst and storm and hailstones. God is a God of justice and of power, he will not be mocked, and he will one day come in wrath and judgment on the nations, and he will fight for his people.
What response does the image of the LORD coming in wrath and judgment invoke in you – rejoicing or terror? The Lord fights for his people, but fights against his enemies. There is a clear divide, and we fall on either side. If you have believed in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross and confess it, then you are part of His people, you can be assured and rejoice that He fights for you. But if you have spurned his correction and refuse to submit to Him, then you will count yourselves amongst the enemies of the Lord.
If you want to be part of his people today, there is good news. God sent Jesus, His only begotten son, to take on flesh and live a perfect sinless life. He perfectly obeyed God’s standards and was tempted but did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Though we all deserved God’s wrath and fury for our sin and rebellion, Jesus took the blame for our sin and bore God’s wrath on the cross for us. After Jesus rose, He sent the Holy Spirit to be our teacher and our guide, and to attest to our hearts that we have become His children and His people. And when you become His people, you will celebrate and rejoice with songs in the night when Almighty God comes.
This Sovereign and Almighty God reveals himself to be patient, waiting to be gracious to His people, as soon as they cry to him, He will answer. And when He comes, God will fight for His people and crush their enemies, and His people shall rejoice. And then, at the end of the ages, the words of Rev 21:1-4 shall be fulfilled:
“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Blessed indeed, are all those who wait for him!
As we close, what encouragement have you received from knowing that this God waits to show you grace, and guides you amidst your suffering? How can you help yourself and others to wait for the Lord?
Have you ‘domesticated’ Almighty God in your mind? What response does the image of the Lord coming in wrath and judgment invoke in you – rejoicing or terror? Have you put your trust in Christ, through whom you become the Lord’s people?