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Day 327 (Isaiah 30:1-33) “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. Who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore, the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt will be your humiliation. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, or be help or benefit, but a shame and a reproach.” The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from which came the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who will not profit; for the Egyptians will help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore, I called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth. Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD; who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, and cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perversity, and rely on them, therefore, this iniquity will be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. And He will break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, which is broken in pieces; He will not spare. So, there will not be found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water from the cistern.” For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you will be saved. In quietness and confidence will be your strength.” But you would not, and you said, “No, for we will flee on horses” —Therefore you will flee! And “We will ride on swift horses” —Therefore those who pursue you will be swift! One thousand will flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you will flee, till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill. Therefore, the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore, He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. For people will dwell in Zion in Jerusalem; you will weep no more. He will be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers. Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. You will also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing. You will say to them, “Get away!” Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; it will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures. Likewise, the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan. There will be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams of waters, on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, on the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound. Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire. His breath is like an overflowing stream, which reaches up to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of futility; and there will be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. You will have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel. The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod. And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the LORD lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps; and in battles of brandishing, He will fight with it. For Tophet was established of old, yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it. People are born rebellious. It’s in every heart. People need to learn right from wrong. People will turn every way but the right way. They will surround themselves with people who lead them farther from the truth and what is right until everything they do is right in their own eyes. They refuse to listen. This is why you can turn on the news every day and hear the horror stories of what people do to their neighbors, and even those leaders you depend on to lead have their own agendas and refuse to listen to the people who voted for them because the people who voted for them are like them. God knows the rebellious heart of His people. He allowed them to do what they wanted, with consequences for their wrong behavior. Isaiah showed the people God’s compassionate heart as He waited for them to return to Him so He could bless them and show them His mercy. As Christians, God shows you mercy and grace. When you turn your hearts to obey Him, He will bless you. Then you will hear His voice and walk in His way. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. You learn God’s way when you open your Bibles, read, and study His Word, then act on it. When you do, God will bless you abundantly far more than you could ask or think. You will know what He wants from you because you will hear His voice. Let’s pray: Father, take rebellion out of my heart so I can hear You when You speak to me. Bless me because I trust You to lead me in the way I should go. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 5 June 2023 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay