Isaiah 31 challenges us to consider in whom we trust. Here God is again finding fault with His people because they look to Egypt for help in times of distress instead of seeking His help. His going on and on about it could seem tiresome to us, or it could communicate to us that God truly and deeply takes offense at the refusal of His people to seek refuge in Him. The result of their seeking help from elsewhere will be that the men in whom they trust will stumble, and God’s people themselves will fall. For God can make the strong man panic, and terrify the many warriors. Although Isaiah doesn’t mention it, we must also consider that God can also make investments fail and jobs end and abilities fade. What we’re trusting in can stumble in its own fashion, causing us to fall.
Chapter 34 talks about God’s judgment on the nations, and yet He keeps referring to Edom. Recall that prophets we have read previously foretold complete destruction of Edom. In a previous post commenting on one of those prophecies, I provided links to photos of the land that was once Edom. Burning pitch may be an exaggeration of the desolation of that land, but it is certainly dry, and one can imagine from the pictures the heat of that dry land. No one except wildlife is living in those impressive structures or enjoying the luxuries their extraordinary innovation and industry gained them. As God has fulfilled His word to Edom, He can fulfill His word to bring utter destruction on any nation, and on all nations.
These chapters switch between pronouncements of judgement and images of what restoration will be like. It makes for difficult reading for us, but that organization effectively reveals to us that God is not all about judgment. For in the midst of His pronouncements of judgment He can’t help but break in with the encouraging promise of restoration to follow. It’s almost as if He can’t stand to speak too long about judgment without looking past it to what He intends for it to accomplish. The only way He can bear to talk about the destruction is to relieve it with periodic descriptions of the building up made possible by the tearing down. Rather than be annoyed or confused by the organization of these chapters, let’s rejoice in the hope with which the bad news of judgment is interspersed.
So in between the woes God pronounces in these chapters are descriptions of the day when a King will reign righteously…. I encourage you to make a list of all the characteristics of that rule. Which of them means the most to you? Verse 33:6 is precious to me. In the midst of big changes in my life, changes I have dreaded, changes that have me living like I never dreamed I’d live, God is the stability of my times. In the midst of lean times, He is a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. Surely there are descriptions in here to feed your soul in your present situation; if they are not clearly evident to you, please seek what God has for you today in these words meant to give hope.