RETURN TO THE ONE YOU REVOLTED AGAINST

Isaiah 30:27-31:9 / Keywords 31:6

Return to him you have so greatly revolted against, O Israelites.

30:27 See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar,

    with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;

his lips are full of wrath,

    and his tongue is a consuming fire.

28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,

    rising up to the neck.

He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction;

    he places in the jaws of the peoples

    a bit that leads them astray.

29 And you will sing

    as on the night you celebrate a holy festival;

your hearts will rejoice

    as when people playing pipes go up

to the mountain of the Lord,

    to the Rock of Israel.

30 The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice

    and will make them see his arm coming down

with raging anger and consuming fire,

    with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.

31 The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria;

    with his rod he will strike them down.

32 Every stroke the Lord lays on them

    with his punishing club

will be to the music of timbrels and harps,

    as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.

33 Topheth has long been prepared;

    it has been made ready for the king.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,

    with an abundance of fire and wood;

the breath of the Lord,

    like a stream of burning sulfur,

    sets it ablaze.

 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,

    who rely on horses,

who trust in the multitude of their chariots

    and in the great strength of their horsemen,

but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,

    or seek help from the Lord.

2 Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster;

    he does not take back his words.

He will rise up against that wicked nation,

    against those who help evildoers.

3 But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God;

    their horses are flesh and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,

    those who help will stumble,

    those who are helped will fall;

    all will perish together.

4 This is what the Lord says to me:

“As a lion growls,

    a great lion over its prey—

and though a whole band of shepherds

    is called together against it,

it is not frightened by their shouts

    or disturbed by their clamor—

so the Lord Almighty will come down

    to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.

5 Like birds hovering overhead,

    the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;

he will shield it and deliver it,

    he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”

6 Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. 7 For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.

8 “Assyria will fall by no human sword;

    a sword, not of mortals, will devour them.

They will flee before the sword

    and their young men will be put to forced labor.

9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror;

    at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,”

declares the Lord,

    whose fire is in Zion,

    whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

1. The LORD is coming again. He will come to judge the enemies of his people. His lips will be full of wrath. He will shake the nations. They will be led away with bits in their mouths like captives in war. But for God’s people, it will be a day of celebration and rejoicing. People will be free to worship God. They will sing with praise. They will hear his majestic voice and see the LORD shatter their enemies. God’s people will be vindicated.

 

2. The LORD’s victorious vision should have inspired the people in Isaiah’s time to depend on God. Instead, they depended on Egypt. They foolishly hoped that political and economic alliances could save them from the Assyrians. But the LORD warned that those who were helped by and who helped the Egyptians would all perish. The Assyrians would also fall without any sword being raised. God fulfilled this promise in Isaiah 37.

 

3. The LORD invited the Israelites to return to him despite their rebellion. He invites us, too. Our sin is great, but God’s grace is greater. Will you depend on worldly ideas and values or on the sure promises of God? Jesus is with us to the end and will surely come again.

Prayer Lord, please forgive my rebellion against you. I surrender my fears to you and will completely depend on you alone.

One Word Return to the LORD