Prediction of the Failure of The Alliance
May 16, 2021
Commentary
The people did not want to listen to God’s instruction through Isaiah. So, God told him to write down His message so they could not claim they had never heard it (vv 8-9). Rejecting Isaiah’s message (vv. 9-11) and relying on oppression (plans to avoid God’s counsel) and deceit, they would undergo judgment. They were like rebellious … children (v. 10), unwilling to listen to the Lord, to receive messages from His prophets. It was not bad enough that Judah rebelled against God, by trusting Egypt instead of trusting Jehovah and depending on money instead of on God’s power, but they even went so far as to reject the Word of God. Immediately after that, they said they did not want to be confronted by the Holy One of Israel (v. 11).
Isaiah told the people what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem because they were trusting in lies. Their wall of protection would suddenly collapse, shattered to pieces like a clay vessel (vv 12-14). They did not want to be confronted with the truth from God. Isaiah did confront them with more words from the Holy One of Israel. The Lord said, only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved (v. 15). This does not mean that God did not want them to work hard for his kingdom (I Thess. 5:12) but to seek the empowering of His Spirit. Instead they depended on military might (v. 16). But if they were to rely on horses, God said they would be forced to flee (v. 17).
Application
Does truth ever make me uncomfortable? Do I ever prefer lies when they will make me feel more secure? It is better to face reality than to live a lie. I must never settle for something that makes me feel comfortable but is not true.
Isaiah 30:8– 17 (NET)
8 Now go, write it down on a tablet in their presence, inscribe it on a scroll, so that it might be preserved for a future time as an enduring witness.
9 For these are rebellious people— they are lying children, children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law.
10 They say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!” and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! Tell us nice things; relate deceptive messages.
11 Turn aside from the way; stray off the path. Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.”
12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “You have rejected this message; you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, and rely on that kind of behavior.
13 So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.
14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar, so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough to scoop a hot coal from a fire or to skim off water from a cistern.”
15 For this is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: “If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me, you would find strength, but you are unwilling.
16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’ so you will indeed flee. You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’ so your pursuers will be fast.
17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, until the remaining few are as isolated as a flagpole on a mountaintop or a signal flag on a hill.”