Isaiah 30:18-33 Be Gone!
Isaiah is sharing the wonderous time still to come. A time when the people turn to God wholly and tell their false gods, BE GONE! Then the Lord will pay back the oppressors.
I have to confess that I got excited yesterday by the good things I was reading for Israel’s future, so I read ahead. The ‘child no more’, Israel will lay a true foundation with the Lord. She will chase after false gods no longer. She will have grown up hearing the truth and seeing God’s hand moving in the world around her. Her heart truly belongs to the Lord and she IS a chosen child of God.
As with any good earthly father, God does NOT enjoy doling out discipline. Israel received her fair share of it over the centuries. Those that God used as His instruments of discipline against Israel will learn of the pain it brought Him. They will learn that they took it a step too far in lording it over Israel when she was in the throes of her lessons. They will become the fallen instead of the conqueror.
God avenged Israel and Judah partially with the conquest of the nations that once oppressed her by other nations. God sent Persia to destroy Babylon and gave Cyrus the Great a heart for God’s people. Persia could have tried to oppress Israel just as cruelly as Babylon and later the Romans, but they didn’t. Cyrus let God’s people return to their homes AND sent money to help them rebuild the Temple.
In the final battle, God will be standing with ALL His children and warring against Satan’s people on earth. Those who would try to destroy God’s children. At that time, Satan will not be satisfied with ‘making things difficult’ for anyone believing in Jesus as their Savior. He will try and rid the entire earth of those who call upon the name of the Lord. But Satan will be the one who is wiped off the face of the earth! In that battle, Satan’s forces will feel the FULL wrath of the Lord for all he has done throughout ALL the ages!
For every chain and fetter. For every imprisonment. For every derisive word. For EVERY life lost in the defense of the gospel. GOD WILL REPAY!!! Any that stand with Satan will receive the same end as he does.
Once that battle is over, God will fill the world with HIS children once again. We will have a thousand years of peace with our Lord. Life will be as He has promised it. Where Jesus will rule from a throne in the City of David. He will rule in perfect righteousness. There will be NO war. NO oppression of one another. NO other gods. And Jerusalem will be the “flagstaff on the top of a mountain” (verse 17b).
To us today, the Holy Spirit is saying “Take comfort. KNOW that God sees you. He knows your struggles. He knows your victories. He knows you more intimately than even you know yourself. He knows your future. And ALL He has promised WILL be done! Do NOT live in fear but trust in the Lord your God with all your heart.”
Father God, thank You for the future You have promised me. Not just me, but ALL who trust in You. Thank You that You are my safety, even in the most unsafe places. I have no fear because of You. I will hold tight to Your hand. If I EVER start to loosen my grip, squeeze a little tighter to remind me to tighten my grip.
I do NOT know exactly what the future looks like. All I NEED to know is I belong to You. With You in the lead, I have nothing to fear. And whatever it looks like, with YOU it will be wonderful!!!
