July 18 - Isaiah 30:1-33:24

Good morning everyone,

The prophecy in chapter 30 was given at the time when Assyria was attacking Israel and Judah. To refresh our memories, when Rehoboam, son of Solomon, became king, he ruled with a very heavy hand creating an uprise which caused the nation of Israel to split in two. The ten tribes of the north would be ruled by Jeroboam while Rehoboam (no relation) would continue to rule over Judah and Benjamin in the south. The northern kingdom of Israel would, in fact, be conquered by Assyria, the people, as I mentioned before, would be taken into exile using fish hooks and rope to lead them out. The Assyrians would then try to come against the southern kingdom of Judah, and because of this threat the leaders of Judah looked to Egypt for protection against the Assyrian invasion instead of looking to God.

In verses 8-30 God wants the rejection of his message documented. Hooking up with Egypt, which remember is a metaphor for the world, looked good on paper. They had a strong army which could easily conquer Assyria, but in doing this they would also be subjecting themselves to the Egyptian’s way of life, their lack of morals, their loose women, false gods and so many other corrupt temptations. But instead of putting their faith in God to see them through, they relied on their own resources to come up with a solution to their imminent danger. It was a bad choice and so God had it journaled which would allow them to look back and see that they could of and can, trust in God, that what He says is true and reliable.

This sounds all too familiar to me. You too? How many times does the Lord say, “I’ve got this honey, not to worry” and yet, and yet ….. we continue to be impatient believing God’s not working quickly enough or feel as though God is not handling it the way we see fit so we push forward and in our own power take care of it ourselves which ultimately leads us into bondage of some sort, just like Judah, deprived of what could have been an incredible blessing from Yahweh.

It is my prayer, to our Abba, our dear Father God, that I would and that we all would live as we are encouraged to in Proverbs 3. That we would trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding; that in all our ways we would submit to Yahweh, believing He will make our paths straight. I pray we would not be wise in our own eyes but that we would fear the Lord and shun evil, knowing that we absolutely do belong to God, that we are His dear children and that His Spirit, the Spirit who lives in us is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. So go before us Lord, give us the wisdom, the desire and the discipline to have the faith of a child, to rely on You in all things, in every given situation. Your love is amazing! Amen?

I love the words of a song by Joseph M. Scriven, I know you all know it. He wrote, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!” ~ Amen??

Have a good day and to God be the glory!

God bless you all …..