The Incomparable God

 Isaiah 40:

25 To whom then will you compare me,
    that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is missing.

Having heard so much about the great nations which would come up against Israel and Judah, things could seem pretty overwhelming.  What hope is there against such foes? This chapter is a great turnaround for the follower of God to cling to.  Though we may feel like grasshoppers, even the great kings and generals of the greatest armies and nations are as nothing before Him. They come and go, but God watches over them all, and us as well.  He is not idol who can do nothing. He is great enough to be over and see us all, yet at the same time none of us are insignificant in His sight. We never disappear from His sight. He sees us.

Do You Know Who You're Dealing with?

Isaiah 37:26 “‘Have you not heard that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops, blighted before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in,
    and your raging against me.

29 Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come to my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,

and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.’

Sennacherib and the Assyrians had laid siege to Jerusalem, prompting King Hezekiah to call out to God in repentance. God responded with a message to the proud Assyrians, correcting their false impression that they had accomplished all their victories by their own power. They were about to be sent packing and shown Who was really in charge. Here God gives one of those "I know what you've done, and I know where you live" kind of statements. Whenever anyone begins to think they are in charge and all-powerful, think again.

Binding Up Brokenness...

 Isaiah 30:23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

When we are in the midst of being chastised and corrected, it is easy for us to miss the big picture and run to our old stomping grounds.  Such was the case for Israel as they were going through their time of exile due to their rebellion.  One of their first thoughts was to return to Egypt, where they had felt "safe" in their bondage. They often did this when life got tough. At the beginning of this chapter, God warned them to not think that way, but to keep their eyes on the future. He would return them to the Promised Land and return the waters and plenteous pastures filled with food, flocks and herds. Life would be bright again. Why? Because God is gracious and He binds up the brokenness of His people. He still does.

After Things Are Leveled...

 

Isaiah 28:23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
    give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
    Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
    does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place,
    and emmer as the border?
26 For he is rightly instructed;
    his God teaches him. 

After chapter after chapter of judgment against nation after nation, and the whole world, God turns now to the rebuilding process, beginning with the setting of the Cornerstone, and even going down to the planting of the smallest seeds. His leveling of the land and nations will not continue forever. He will rebuild and replant, planning every detail, for things not only to be functional and plentiful, but beautiful and glorious.  They will once again reflect God's glory. While man often dwells on the exciting(?) destruction to come, God's heart is on the final picture reflecting His character: He is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

The Purposes of the Lord of Hosts

 

Isaiah 14:24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned, so shall it be,
and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land,
    and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
and his yoke shall depart from them,
    and his burden from their shoulder.”
26 This is the purpose that is purposed
    concerning the whole earth,
and this is the hand that is stretched out
    over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
    and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
    and who will turn it back?

As Isaiah spoke for the Lord, there was a lot of bad news - especially concerning how the Assyrians would treat the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God was going to work out His purposes to chastise Israel, but it was not going to stop there. The tool of His chastisement, Assyria, would be dealt with, and there was still a future for the reunited people of Jacob. God's purposes will not be thwarted. Do we believe the promise of His completed purposes?

The Whip and the Staff

Isaiah 10:24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.

As the God continues to unfold and warn His people about coming judgment, we get a clearer picture of what He was going to do and how He would do so. The Assyrians would be his way to bring judgment on the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but only a temporary chastisement on those who dwell in Zion, the people of Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom. He would drive the Assyrians away with His whip, making them leave their siege. They would be turned away just as the Egyptians were turned away when they chased Israel after going through the sea. God uses His whip to drive the wicked as He uses them for correction-forcing them when to attack and withdraw, and He uses His staff to lead and provide for His people, just as He did in parting the waters and bringing water from the rock. Which one does He need to use for you?

Dark Days Ahead?

Isaiah 5: 26 He will raise a signal for nations far away,
and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 None is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose, not a sandal strap broken;
28 their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion, like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey; they carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day, like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.

The chapter begins with God pronouncing woes against the wickedness of those who claim to be His people. He had planted them in the Promised Land and given them His law to live by, only to have them reject Him and His law. The list of violations is long. As a result, He was going to do what He has often done - use those who do not claim to be his people to bring swift judgment upon them. Afterwards, all there will be is a cloud of very dark dust.