A woe and a promise....
“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace." (Isa 30:1-3 NIV)
Woe to those obstinate children who do not listen to the word of the LORD given through the prophet. Those who trust Pharaoh to protect them are going to be very sorry, indeed... God tells Isaiah:
"For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
(Isa 30:9-11, 15)
They are in trouble. They are in fear for their futures, their lives. Rather than turn to God, they turn to Egypt. They run, they flee, to Egypt when all it really would take to be helped is to repent and rest in the assurance of their salvation.
Isaiah 30 provides those who trust in the LORD a promise as well as a great woe for those obstinate children who won't and don't.
Are you in trouble? When you are, what is it that you do? Do you turn (repent) to the LORD and follow in the Way or do you attempt to make a way out of the trouble for yourself? Sometimes, I find that we attempt to do both, carve a path for ourselves while begging God to keep us safe. Isaiah reminds us that there is only one way to salvation... You cannot travel on both ways. May God keep you in His Way.
God's Peace - Pr. J
P.S. I am posting much of Isaiah 30 as a reminder that the point of this blog is that you read scripture. Please, open your Bible and read it...
“Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the Lord,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace." (Isa 30:1-3 NIV)
Woe to those obstinate children who do not listen to the word of the LORD given through the prophet. Those who trust Pharaoh to protect them are going to be very sorry, indeed... God tells Isaiah:
"For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."
They are in trouble. They are in fear for their futures, their lives. Rather than turn to God, they turn to Egypt. They run, they flee, to Egypt when all it really would take to be helped is to repent and rest in the assurance of their salvation.
Isaiah 30 provides those who trust in the LORD a promise as well as a great woe for those obstinate children who won't and don't.
"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted."
(Isa 30:18-26)
Are you in trouble? When you are, what is it that you do? Do you turn (repent) to the LORD and follow in the Way or do you attempt to make a way out of the trouble for yourself? Sometimes, I find that we attempt to do both, carve a path for ourselves while begging God to keep us safe. Isaiah reminds us that there is only one way to salvation... You cannot travel on both ways. May God keep you in His Way.
God's Peace - Pr. J
P.S. I am posting much of Isaiah 30 as a reminder that the point of this blog is that you read scripture. Please, open your Bible and read it...
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