In today’s section, we read about:
Further warnings for Jerusalem, tempered by promises of future blessings (ch29-31)
Israel’s ultimate deliverance (ch 32) and the downfall of Assyria foretold(ch33-35)
A narrative section on Sennacherib’s invasion (ch36-39)
A message of comfort and hope
Some thoughts that struck me today:
We get three different styles in today’s section – the culmination of God’s warning against the nations, the narrative of the Assyrian invasion that we also read in 2 Ki 18 and 19, and then the passages of future blessing, looking ahead to God’s chosen servant (ch 42, 49, 50, 52-53, 61)
Ch 29 is a rebuke again for the stupidity and self-delusion of Judah – v9 “go ahead and be blind. / You are stupid, but not from wine! / You stagger, but not from liquor.” v13 “These people say they are mine. / They honour me with their lips, /but their hearts are far from me. / And their worship of me / is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” Then will come the judgment “Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites / with amazing wonders. / The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.” In the end, God will be acknowledged as the king over all.
Ch 30 takes up the theme of the madness of trusting other nations instead of trusting God. I like the way the complete moral bankruptcy is shown in all its ludicrousness in v10—1! “They tell the seers, / “Stop seeing visions!” / They tell the prophets, / “Don’t tell us what is right. / Tell us nice things. / Tell us lies. / Forget all this gloom. / Get off your narrow path. / Stop telling us about your / “Holy One of Israel”.” It reminds me of the truth of 1 Cor 1:18 “the message of the cross s foolish to those who are headed for destruction!”
v21 is a wonderful promise. Having been disciplined and punished, God will be their teacher, and “your own ears will hear him. / Right behind you a voice will say, / “This is the way you should go”, whether to the right or left.” v26 The times of blessings will roll “when the Lord begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.”
31:6-7 reminds us of God’s heart of love for his people and how he longs for us to be restored to him.
32:1 ”A righteous king is coming!” – and what a kingdom he will establish!
Ch33 tells of the destruction of Assyria, but God’s people, although they have been punished will be restored and kept safe (v15-16). But this is the sideshow – the main event is the King in all his splendour (v17).
There are fantastic names for God in this passage – a river of protection, judge, lawgiver, king. v20 underlines that though our human fortunes constantly shift, God is a fixed, unshakable point.
34:16 – “The Lord has promised this. / His Spirit will make it all come true.”
As ch 35 wraps up the section of the judgment on the nations, the context which never changes is stressed again in 35:2 “There the Lord will display his glory, / the splendour of our God.”
I like some of the great names given – Rahab the Dragon (30:7), although this is also Rahab the Do-Nothing ; the Land of Nothing (34:12); the Highway of Holiness (35:8)
Ch 36-39 tells the story of 2 Ki 18:13-20:20, with the addition of Hezekiah’s prayer of thanks in Is 38. 2 Ki 18:5 says that “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.” I find his response to his miraculous healing all too believable. He is initially very grateful, but once he realises that he will die within a few (15) years, and that judgment will come later, he says to himself in 39:8 “at least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.”
Then we come to one of the great chapters of the whole bible. Chapter 40 sees the focus shift from God dispensing justice to the nations to what this justice will mean for his chosen people. It starts with words of comfort and the promise that “the glory of the Lord will be revealed”. Then as the chapter progresses, we see the type of God who is coming to us – eternal and enduring (8,28), sovereign (10), gentle and caring (11) incomparable in power as Creator (12), wise beyond compare (13), enthroned beyond the limits of our worlds and minds (22), judge (23), and all-provident (26). Then we have the amazing promises of 28-31 “Have you never heard? / Have you never understood? / The Lord is the everlasting God, / the Creator of all the earth. / He never grows weak or weary. / No one can measure the depths of his understanding. / He gives power to the weak / and strength to the powerless. / Even youths will become weak and tired, / and young men will fall in exhaustion./ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. / They will soar high on wings like eagles. / They will run and not grow weary. / They will walk and not faint.”
41:4 “It is I, the Lord, the First and the Last. I alone am he.” Cf Rev 1:8 ““I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”” Rev 1:17-81 “I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” 41:9 “I have called you back from the ends of the earth, / saying, ‘You are my servant.’ / For I have chosen you / and will not throw you away.” 41:13 “For I hold you by your right hand— / I, the Lord your God. / And I say to you, / ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.” 41:14 “I am the Lord, your Redeemer. / I am the Holy One of Israel.”
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