Isaiah 30 - 31

Good evening. I hope you guys are doing well. I'm doing well. Looking forward to being in

God's Word this evening. Amen. We continue in the book of Isaiah in chapter 30 where

we left off last week. And in chapter 30, chapters 30 and 31 deal with God pronouncing

judgment on apostate Judah, that is the people within Judah that weren't trusting him. That

is, they were not looking to God for deliverance. They were not asking God to save them. But

it's also a judgment against Assyria who were the enemies of God's people. So within any

circumstance concerning a nation, you have faithful people who trust God. You have people

who are not faithful and not trusting God. And then you have enemies of God. And it's

interesting.

Because if you look at our world today, even our nation, everybody pretty much breaks into

one of those three categories somewhat. You have people who are faithful, Christians who

are praying for our nation and trusting God. And you have those within our nation who aren't

necessarily the enemies of our nation, but they certainly aren't trusting God. And then

you have those who are enemies of our nation, would like to see us destroyed, enchant death

to America. I mean, so you have people in the world who are enemies, people who are

just not following God. And then those of us,

hopefully, who are trusting God. God has a message through Isaiah's chapters 30 and 31

to each of these groups of people. And the idea is he allows difficulty and suffering to come

into a nation so that those who are apostates, those who are not trusting God, will learn to

trust God. Those who are trusting God will be encouraged to continue to trust God. But of course

the enemies will be judged. So that's what we're going to see. We'll go through it this evening in

chapter one.

30 and 31 of the book of Isaiah. And let's open in a word of prayer.

Lord, heavenly father, we thank you because we know that you're faithful and we want to be

counted among that category of individuals who are trusting you, looking at the world and the

things that need to change and knowing that our nation indeed is being judged in some ways,

but chastised, experiencing the circumstances of apostasy and rebellion. And we're okay with that

because we know as your faithful people were to pray that those in that category would respond

to your gospel. And we're okay with that because we know as your faithful people were to pray

that those in that category would respond to your grace and your mercy. And even the difficulty

would cause them to cry out to you. And then Lord, may you deal with our enemies. We know that you

deal with your enemies. You deal with the enemies of your people according to your timing, your

grace and your mercy and your justice. So we trust you with the times in which we live. And now as we

study about the nation of Judah and the circumstances that Isaiah was dealing with, Lord, may we be

encouraged to know that you work in your own way. And we're okay with that because we know as your

faithful people, we know that you work in your own way. And we're okay with that because we know as your

ancient and current, and you are the same God again yesterday, today, and forever. We pray these

things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, let's start by looking at verses one through five. And the Lord

would allow apostate Judah to realize the folly of trusting in other nations like Egypt and not

in him. See, until you realize the foolishness of trusting in anyone or anything other than God,

you're not going to cry out to God. There are people who are counting on all kinds of people,

ungodly and otherwise in our world today, and they need to be looking to God. So in chapter 30

in verses one through five, we read, woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, to those

who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my spirit, heaping sin upon

sin, who go down to Egypt without consulting me, who look for help to Pharaoh's protection,

to Egypt's shade for refuge.

But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame. Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace. Though they

have officials in Zon, which is a city in Egypt, and their envoys have arrived in Hans, everyone

will be put to shame because of a people useless to them who bring neither help nor advantage,

but only shame and disgrace. Now, Egypt is a nation that Israel or Judah at this time were

looking to for help. But there are many nations and things that we don't know about. And there

we look to in today's world for help. And it's fruitless if it's not God leading us. And you may,

as an individual, be putting your hope in things other than God and thinking, well, if this doesn't

work out for me, I have this to rely on, like my 401k or my social security. That's something I

wouldn't put much trust in. I've been hearing for years, you know, how will it be around when you

need it? Well, I can't answer that question, but I'm not counting on it. Let's put it that way.

We look to these other things. We even look to ourselves and we think, well, I can take care of

myself. No, you can't. If you could take care of yourself, you wouldn't be a Christian, would you?

I mean, Christians admit that they're weak and made strong by their faith in God.

The children of Israel or the nation of Judah at this time should have been looking to God,

but instead they were looking to Egypt. But their alliance with Egypt would only bring them

disgrace. They would seek this alliance in defiance of God's will. Now remember,

this is not a sin. It's not a sin. It's a sin. It's a sin. It's a sin. It's a sin. It's a sin.

the same nation, not the same group of people, because by this time the peoples who were ruling

in Egypt were different than the peoples who were ruling in the time of Joseph and Moses. But this

is the same nation that once enslaved Israel, and the Lord had miraculously delivered them from

Egypt, and now they're going back to Egypt. And in the scriptures, going back to Egypt always

represents a return to sin and to bondage. And so many of us, all of us, are so willing to climb

back to the place we were before Christ delivered us when we need comfort, when we need encouragement.

We look to those things that we were involved in in the past to bring those things to us,

and of course they cannot. They will only plunge you further away from God and his blessings. But

the Lord had miraculously delivered them, now they're going back, and they would look to Pharaoh

to deliver them from the threat of the nation of this, or the empire of Assyria. We've talked a lot

about this, so I'm not going to go into much detail, but Assyria was this mighty empire,

that was oppressing and conquering all of the nations in the area of the Middle East.

Judah had not yet been conquered. God was going to allow the Assyrians to come into the land of

Judah and surround the city of Jerusalem. Assyria had already destroyed the northern kingdom of

Israel, and their neighbor to the north, Syria, and many of the other nations. And it seemed as

if Assyria was going to take over the known world, and that Jerusalem was going to take over the

world. And that Jerusalem was just a small bump in the road. But God is going to inform his people

that he's going to allow them to suffer, he's going to allow them to experience the consequences

of their not trusting him and their sin, but he's not going to abandon them. In fact, all of those

things will work towards them being delivered by the mighty hand of God. And so Egypt had absolutely

no strength or ability to resist the Assyrian army, and yet they were looking to Egypt.

Now that's kind of interesting, because we looked at other things, and yet only God can truly deliver

us. Only God has the power to do all things and to save us, and he's promised to never leave us nor

forsake us. And yet, how many of us turn to God first when we're facing a crisis? We often turn

to our friends and our family, other things, but we don't generally turn to God first.

So what they would do is they would actually pay for Egypt's

to protect them. So they would send tribute across the desert to pay for protection that

would never come. Look at verses 6 and 7. An oracle concerning the animals of the Negev. The

Negev is the desert, so the animal life in the desert. Through a land of hardship and distress

of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys'

backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable,

unprofitable nation, to Egypt whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab,

the do-nothing. And God here is being very sarcastic. He's calling out Egypt as a useless

nation, a nation that cannot save Judah from the Assyrians. Yet, they would send this money

through the desert, and it's interesting how he describes it. He's speaking to or about the

animals of the desert. He's speaking about the animals of the desert. He's speaking about the

desert. But he's not really speaking to or about the animals. He's speaking to the people,

and he's putting the perspective of the animals, looking at these caravans traveling through the

desert, bringing money to Egypt to pay them for protection that would never come. And it's kind

of supposed to be as sarcastic as it sounds. It is delivered in somewhat of a mocking tone,

because these people were putting their trust in silly things, things that would never materialize,

and not in him. God is disappointed. He does,

want them to cry out to him. But Rahab, he uses the term Rahab. It means pride or insolence,

and this is all Egypt could provide, is pride. They really couldn't provide any true protection.

In the end, Egypt could do nothing to actually offer assistance to Judah, and yet they were

paying for this. I think of all of the things we, in our world today, pay for, that actually,

in the end, really, really can't help us. I think about insurance policy,

because, quite frankly, I worked in the insurance industry for 20 years.

And it's true, you need to have insurance, especially liability insurance, maybe physical

damage on your car, if it's a newer car. On your home, you certainly need to have insurance in

case you have a fire or something. But it's interesting how there are events that could

take place that, you know, like floods, for example. And we've seen a lot of this. Generally,

unless you're in a known floodplain and you have government insurance, you're not covered.

For a flood. So you buy the insurance, you pay for all this insurance, but one of the

exclusions of your policy is generally flood, unless, again, you have separate flood insurance.

The most important thing that you're insured against is fire, because fire is almost always

a complete loss. Now, I know we didn't come here to talk insurance, but I do know this,

it's important to have insurance. And yet, and yet, there are some things you're not covered for.

Nuclear war, for example. I don't know if you know that, but generally,

you have an exclusion. You're not covered for that. Like, you'd want to be covered for that,

but you're not. You know, flood, you're not covered for that. There's a lot of things you're

actually not covered for, unless you have separate earthquake or earth movement insurance. And until

recently, I've always said no, and I still don't have it. But like, I thought to myself, why would

I need earthquake insurance? And then within the last year, we had a few earthquakes, and I thought,

you know, think about that. If you suffered damage in that earthquake, it wasn't,

generally, unless you had that coverage, it wasn't covered. Why do I say all this? Because

we put our trust in things, and many times we think those things are going to save us or help

us. And the truth is, even an insurance policy doesn't fully protect your home. Only God can

protect you and your family and your blessings and your possessions if you commit them to him.

There comes a point where you have to just say, God, take care of me and my family,

the things you've blessed me with. And now, again, I don't say that you shouldn't have things

like insurance or protection, identity theft protection. Those things are important, but just

understand, they can marginally help you, and sometimes they make sense. But if your faith and

your trust isn't in God, none of those things can really fully indemnify you or protect you

from life. Only God has a 100% guaranteed protection plan on you, because he loves you.

He is going to care for you. He's going to protect you. He's going to protect you. He's going to

take care of you. It doesn't mean you won't suffer loss, but it means that all things will

work together for your good. So what he's trying to communicate to his people is, don't put your

faith in these other things. Put your faith in me. And if you don't, listen, God is going to bring

about consequences that will cause you to cry out to him. That's how much he loves you. Look at

verses 8 through 14. We're told they would be judged for their rebellion against God. It's

actually rebellion against God, not to trust God.

You can't say, oh, I believe in God, and then not trust in God. Because what you're saying is,

I believe there's an all-powerful God who loves me and has promised to take care of me. I'm just

not trusting in him. That's rebellion, right? So look at this, verses 8 through 14. We'll read

the whole section in chapter 30. Go now, the Lord says through Isaiah, write it on a tablet for

them. Inscribe it on a scroll that for the days to come, it may be an everlasting witness.

For rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord's

instruction. They say to the seers, see no more visions. To the prophets, give us no more visions

of what is right. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this

path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel. In other words, we don't want to hear it.

Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says. Because you have rejected,

this message, relied on oppression, and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a

high wall cracked and bulging that collapses suddenly in an instant. It will break in pieces

like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking

coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern. It's just going to be shattered. That's

the point. You see, God has to allow,

our false gods to be shattered. The things we put our trust in other than him,

they must be destroyed. And God is merciful in destroying them. Putting your hope in things

other than him will lead to no good. It will lead to disaster. So the sooner you realize you can't

rely on them, it's the better for you. And God loves you so much that he's going to show you,

you can't put your faith in the world, in politics, you can't put your faith in people,

or even in the world. And God loves you so much that he's going to show you,

even in churches. You don't put your faith in a church, you put your faith in God. A church is just

a gathering of a bunch of people who put their faith in God. But you don't put your faith in

a church or a denomination or pastors or leaders because we'll fail. We wouldn't even tell you to

put your faith in us, but to put your faith in God and in his word. And God wants them to live

that way. But they would resist the Lord's instruction. They would reject his word. They

would reject his word. And God says, here's the truth. There are many people out there who believe

what the media tells them about individuals and candidates and political parties and even our

nation and legislation. People just out there lying and saying things that aren't true. And

many people just gobble it up because they're either not thinking or they really don't want

the truth. They don't want the truth or the bad news, as they might call it. They want to imagine

it's different than it actually is and live in an alternate reality. And when you do that,

eventually, you have to wake up. You know, if you keep saying, well, that wall in my backyard,

that retaining wall is fine, and it's bulging, and the water's starting to pour through,

and it's starting to buckle, and you say, it'll be fine. I'm sure it'll. You know what?

I'm claiming in the name of Jesus, it's going to be fine.

And let me tell you something. At one point, that wall gives way. It's not God's fault.

What were you putting your faith in? A fantasy, an illusion. And there's so many people today.

They've been taught.

incorrectly by pastors who use the word to manipulate and control people. And they believe

that if they just believe a thing or claim a thing, that it's going to happen. If you have a

wall on your property like that, a retaining wall that's about to come down, assume it's coming down.

Right? Don't assume it's going to be okay. Well, the same is with life. Right? I mean, if you look

at the things that are going on in our world, and it looks like things are going to happen in a bad

way, don't walk around putting, you know, put your head in the sand and walk around with your head in

the clouds thinking,

Well, you know, I'm just going to hope for the best and believe that Jesus is going to take care

of everything. That's not really trusting God. That's avoiding the truth. That's living in an

alternate reality, a fantasy. A Christian realizes things can happen and prepares as much as they can

for the future, but ultimately not putting your faith in those things, putting your faith in God.

God may give you wisdom. He may tell you, you know, you might want to move. You're living very

close to the river. And if you stay there in the house, you're not going to be able to move. You're

gets flooded, don't blame God. God gives us wisdom, wisdom, like staying off the highway after three

o'clock in New Jersey. If you don't want to be in traffic and you don't want to potentially get run

off the road by the maniacs that are driving out there, try not to drive between three and five,

three and 530, I would say. So I have like tried to do that. I planned my whole day around, am I

going to have to be on the highway at that time? Because quite frankly, I'm fearing for my life

half the time. So you use wisdom, you apply wisdom to your life in your everyday life. Like, do you

give your kids chocolate at seven o'clock at night? No, because you know what will happen. Do you drink

a cup of coffee at 10 o'clock at night? Well, if you do, it's going to be a long night. You're going

to be up late. Look, there's so many areas of our life we exercise very simple common sense. That's

what I guess I'm preaching today. Common sense. God gives us common sense. We

call it wisdom and if you don't use it you can't blame god and and so i guess at the end of the day

use common sense do the things you know are right but don't think that all of your common sense and

your wisdom can somehow because of wishful thinking prevent tragedy and difficulty from

coming into your life which is why you don't put your faith in those things you put your faith in

god because when those things happen i didn't say if when they happen your faith does not fail

because your trust is in him the immovable god amen it's so easy for us in an affluent society

to think whatever happens i'm good but the truth is we're not good only god is good as jesus said

so i love that he encourages us to and and the people of judah to listen to the word of god not

reject it

not reject it

not to listen to fantasy and illusion uh they would experience because of their unwillingness

to listen the devastation of an assyrian invasion into judah they would experience that devastation

the city of jerusalem and the countryside of judah would be uh filled uh with these armies

and they would surround the city of jerusalem so you have to understand this was going to happen

and so god tells them it's going to happen and of course they would later experience

the destruction of jerusalem at the hands of the babylonians this would come in the future

this is around 700 bc it would be about 586 bc when ultimately because they wouldn't repent

the city was destroyed by the babylonians but for now we're not looking at that time period

we're looking at a time when this city did repent and they were spared as we'll get to

so their plan to defend judah in their own strength which is what i'm trying to encourage

you not to do in this life. Don't rely on your own wisdom, your own plans. Not, again, I've already

made the point that you don't use common sense, not that you don't make plans and do things right,

but that your reliance is on God. They plan to defend Judah in their own strength with the help

of Egypt, and that plan would fail miserably. And your plans, my plans, our plans will fail miserably

if they don't primarily, and with a priority, look to God first and foremost. So let's read

verses 15 through 16 in chapter 30. We read there, this is what the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of

Israel, says, in repentance and rest is your salvation. That is a beautiful, beautiful

sentence. In repentance, that's a change of mind, and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust

is your strength. But you would have none of it. You said, no, we will flee on horses.

Therefore, you will flee. You said, we will ride off on swift horses. Therefore, your pursuers

will be swift. A thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee away.

You will all flee away till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a

hill. You see the choice they had? They could have put their trust in God, but instead they put their

trust in Egypt. I want you to look at those words.

Those words are very important to me, because in my life, at this point in my life, I'm trying to

cultivate a life of peace, centeredness, quietness, stillness. I find myself avoiding, like the plague,

any situation that causes stress. Now listen, stress is a part of life. You can be saying,

you know, namaste, and walking around, I'm being somewhat facetious, and walking around, you know,

in your mind on a cloud, and you get a flat tire on the way.

I mean, things happen. Stressful things happen, but you can do your best to avoid much of that.

Like, if you know a potentially stressful situation can be avoided, why wouldn't you avoid it? So if

you're thinking, here's my choice. I have to get all worked up to figure out a way out of a situation,

or I can pray to God and trust God. Again, using common sense, trust God with the outcome and look

to Him.

Everyone has more stress. I mean, look at the description of what they should have done

in repentance, okay, that is being humble before God and asking for forgiveness and

changing your mind to the things that God teaches us to obey, and rest. How is that stressful,

repentance and rest? It doesn't require anything except to trust God. It's your salvation,

your deliverance comes through that, that centeredness, that, notice, in quietness.

And trust is your strength. So you want to be strong, you want to be saved, you want to be

delivered, but running around like a chicken without your head is not going to get it done.

And I think many Christians haven't gotten that memo yet. See, the person who's trusting God is

the person that's in a place of stillness, quietness, rest, peace, commitment to God,

repentance, and they're ready for whatever comes their way, because their hope is not in this world

of this world or their own ingenuity, their hope is in God. And I love that description. So they

said, no, no, no, we got a plan. We're going to flee on horses. And he said, what? You are going

to flee. Didn't have to be that way. Oh, we're going to ride off on swift horses. That's our

plan. We're going to get away from the enemy. Yeah, you are. And that's not what God wanted

for them, but that's what they chose for themselves. Notice, therefore, your pursuers will

be swift, and they're going to flee, and they're going to be left all alone because they didn't

look to God. So that's the warning, and that would happen.

Until they ultimately turned to God. They only needed to trust in God to be delivered from their

enemies. That's all they needed to do. The horses and chariots of Egypt would only assist them in

their retreat to Jerusalem. So in that regard, you know, they fled. Where did they go? They

went to the walled city to be saved from the Assyrians, and maybe the Egyptians helped them

to evacuate. But is that really what they needed? Did they want to be evacuated to Jerusalem,

or did they want to be saved? Well, they settled for so much less. This is the real truth. They

settled for so much less than God had for them, and that's the Christian that doesn't trust God.

God still loves them. They might love God, but they settled for less than God's best.

See, I want God's best in my life, and it starts with trusting him. The city would then be besieged,

and Judah surrounded by the Assyrian army, and of course, this prophetic theme would be repeated

once again in the future by the Babylonian army. But for now, they're about to be delivered. This

is a lesson.

One they should have learned, which is, if God said he can deliver you, he can deliver you.

I claim this in my prayers for our nation. Right now, I pray for our society, because we may need

to suffer a little bit in order to get to the point where we as a people cry out to God.

But I know if we do, God will save us. I'm not sure we will as a people cry out to God. That

I can't control, but I know I am crying out to God on behalf of our people, on behalf of our nation.

That I know. And what else can I do? Oh, I could watch the news 24 hours a day, bite my fingernails,

and, you know, send out prayer lists, make signs, go onto social media and voice my opinion to

everyone thinking that somehow that's going to help. But that's not going to help. What's going

to help is trusting God. So, the Lord would then graciously and miraculously deliver them from

Assyria. But what was the trigger?

What was the point at which they would go from being oppressed to being delivered?

They had to ask God to deliver them. They had to cry out to God for help.

See, our nation is a proud nation, and we don't like to ask for help, and many people don't like

to ask for help. But God considers that to be pride, the kind of pride that he resists.

And crying out for help, that's the kind of humility

that causes us to cry out to God. And that's the kind of humility that causes us to cry out to God.

It causes us to be lifted up. He resists the proud, but what does he do? He exalts or lifts up

the humble. By the way, in a nutshell, this is how we're going to be saved from the current

situation in our nation. This is the only way. It can help to have the right politicians in the

right positions, capable people, all those things, again, common sense. But until we as Americans,

until we as a nation cry out to God and put our trust in God,

say on our money, in God we trust, but until we do that, I don't know that there is any hope for us.

But there is hope as long as we have the opportunity as a people to cry out to him for help.

So I'm hopeful, I am, but I do know that that really needs to happen. And God says it here to

his people, Judah, that he would graciously and miraculously deliver them from Assyria.

I'm going to read verses 18 through 22, because what God does is he uses this dire situation

and their desperation.

To reveal himself to them. And that's what God can do in the day and age in which we live. Look at

verse 18. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord,

Jehovah, is a God of justice, and blessed are all who wait for him. See, that's the God he wants to

be for us, individually and as a nation. And the only thing preventing that

is that God can be gracious to us. That's what's sad. I really do believe that as a nation if we

cried out in repentance and looked to God, the things we're going through in our nation would be

over in a blink. But we haven't figured that out yet. We still think that we can figure out a way

to fix everything on our own. I don't really think we can at this point. But God can do all things.

So let's continue. O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem,

you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help. As soon as he hears,

he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,

your teachers will be hidden no more. With your own eyes, you will see them. Whether you turn to

the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in

it. And when you defile your idols, overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold,

you will throw them away like menstrual cloth and say to them, away with you. Very, very graphic

language. He's saying you got to get rid of the junk in your heart and in your life. You got to

get rid of it. You can't trust in these things. He is constantly looking for opportunities to show

his grace and his compassion toward his people. Do you know that? We are the only thing standing

in the way. We as a people, but as individuals as well in our own lives.

God promises them he would surely deliver them despite their foolish rebellion.

They only needed to do one thing, to cry out to God in their time of need, and he would immediately

respond. Of course, they would see God mightily working in their lives. Once again, they would

hear God's voice as it says, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk

in it. They would hear God's voice. They would see God working. God's voice clearly guiding them

in direction of their lives. They would see God working. They would see God working. They would

see God directing them forward. They only needed to cry out to him for these things to take place.

They would respond to God's grace by obediently rejecting their idolatrous and rebellious ways.

Now, this is important because the scripture says that if his people are, if my people were called

by my name, will seek my face, cry out, right? Cry out and seek my face, humble themselves.

And what does it also say? It talks about them repenting of the wickedness, turn from wickedness,

then I will come and heal their land. So all those things need to be in place. Now, I think there

are people praying, but as a nation, we still need to do some of those things. Turn our face toward

him, seek his face. We need to repent, that is, turn from wickedness. There are things that need

to happen, not just cry out to him. Because you can cry out, but there needs to be that element

of repentance, and that's what's being referred to here with the idols. That is, if you're putting

your trust in other things, you need to get rid of those things.

Cry out to God. So they would respond to God's grace again by obediently rejecting their idolatrous

and rebellious ways. And of course, the prophetic theme will be repeated in the future when Christ

returns and Israel repents. That day will come. Now, he would use, that is, God would use this

opportunity and their necessity to abundantly bless them. God wants to bless you. He desires

to bless us.

And he will do what's ever necessary to bring you to your knees so that you can humbly cry out

to him so you can be blessed. That's the goal. So you can be blessed. That's the kind of God we

serve, bounding in mercy, long-suffering, overflowing with compassion toward us, not

willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Look at verses 23 through 26.

He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground and the food that comes from the land

will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your cattle will graze in broad meadows. The oxen and

donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash and spread out, spread out with fork and

shovel. In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every

high mountain and every lofty hill. The moon will shine like the sun and the sunlight will be seven

times brighter.

Like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the

wounds he inflicted. Now, some of that won't be fulfilled until the millennial kingdom, until the

thousand-year reign of Christ. But it speaks of what happens when a people cry out to him, how

they'll be restored. And reading those verses makes it clear to us, again, he is constantly looking for

opportunity and opportunities to meet the needs of his people, to bless them. These blessings would

follow their miraculous deliverance from the enemy. God wasn't going to hold back. And so, and I

want you to hear this, because if you're going through tough and difficult times, remember this

principle, God lovingly inflicts his people with the express purpose of healing them completely.

Of course, that's going the hard way, but still God is faithful to, I'm going to say it again,

lovingly inflict his people with the express purpose of healing them completely.

Like the idea of what happened with Jacob, where Jacob was brought to a place of being crippled

so that he could be healed. See, Jacob couldn't become Israel until he walked with a limp. And I'm

not sure whether he always walked with a limp, whether it healed completely or not, but I know

that he, as a person of character, changed after that moment. And that's what God is doing with us.

I hope that that's what he's doing with our nation. That's what he ultimately did with Judah.

He would use this impossible circumstance to show himself strong on their behalf.

Look at verses 27 through 33. 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. 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 people a bit

leads them astray. And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival. Your hearts

will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord, to the rock of Israel,

the Lord will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down

with raging anger and consuming fire. With cloudbursts, thunderstorm, and hail, the voice

of the Lord will shatter Assyria. See, there it is.

He's going to deal with their enemies. The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria with his scepter.

He will strike them down. Every stroke the Lord lays on them with his punishing rod will be to

the music of tambourines and harps as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.

Topheth, and I'll explain what Topheth is in just a minute, 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.

He's talking about hellfire, essentially. He's talking about the judgment of the enemies of God

and his people. So in those verses, this is what the people of God are being told. When they cry

out to him, he's going to immediately get involved and deal with their enemies. He will unleash his

justice and his righteous anger against the Assyrians. And his powerful intervention will

cause the people of Judah to rejoice. Now, some of this was fulfilled in Isaiah's time. Some of this

will be fulfilled in the future when Christ comes again. But I think this can be fulfilled

personally in our own lives when we finally learn to cry out to God and to trust in him,

and possibly in our own nation, if we as a nation do likewise. But God will wait until this very

moment to bring his promised judgment against Assyria. He's not going to move or intervene

until they act. And he's going to do it. And he's going to do it. And he's going to do it. And he's

going to ask him to. It's interesting. You know, God doesn't impose his will on you. He waits for

you to obey his will. That's a very big difference. Now, Topheth was mentioned there. Topheth was the

place of burning in the valley of Hinnom, just outside Jerusalem. Essentially, it's a garbage

dump. And it's a place where they would burn refuse and they would burn things there. So

the valley later supplied the

name that Jesus used for hell in Greek, Gehenna. It was the place of burning. Now, hell wasn't right

outside Jerusalem. It was used as a metaphor. It was used as an analogy to describe hell as a place

of burning. But what he's saying is hell awaits the enemies of God and his people. He was going

to bring his judgment. That was a promise. Of course, this also speaks of judgment against

the enemies of Christ when he returns, talked about in Revelation 19, when?

The beast and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire. It's the same idea. God is

going to deal with his enemies. That is why I have such confidence that God is in control of

everything that's going on in our world today. Because God sees those things. And you might be

thinking, well, why hasn't he gotten involved? Well, you should be able to answer that question

by now. Because you see, God will wait and he'll wait. He's a patient God. He'll wait until a people

cry out and ask for him to deliver them. And then he will. So keep that in mind as we pray. That's

what we're looking for. Now, he's already pronounced judgment against Assyria for their

sins. I'm not going to go there. But back in Isaiah chapter 10, we looked at this. There was

a promise of God's judgment. And this whole section of the book of Isaiah, going all the way up to

like chapter 39, is pretty much about Judah and the nation surrounding Judah. And the message is

the Assyrians were threatening Judah, but God was going to intervene when they cried out to him.

That's pretty much the message. And then when we get to chapter 36, all the way through 39,

we actually have the historical count of how he did intervene. Isaiah gives us that as well. And so

the whole section, if you're going to boil it down to a theme, God brought his judgment against

those of his people that refused to submit to him. But he delivered his people who cried out to him

for enemies. And he was faithful to do it. And that's a truth we can hold on to today. But Assyria

was warned after destroying Syria and Israel to the north. God used this cruel and evil empire

to judge his rebellious people, Israel. They never repented, and so they were destroyed.

Their being used by God did not justify their actions before God, though. See, though God

worked through the Assyrians, it didn't justify their actions.

They now desired to destroy Jerusalem as well. And God wasn't going to allow that to happen.

Assyria would be punished for their pride. God would allow them to attack Jerusalem without

conquering the city. And he would judge them for failing to see that God had allowed their

victories. God had worked through Assyria, but they never gave any credit to God. They would

be judged by God as well. In fact, they would be humbled by God. They were nothing more than a

blunt instrument, as described by God in Assyria. And they were not going to allow that to happen.

Isaiah chapter 10, a blunt instrument in God's chastening hand. Their armies would be

supernaturally destroyed in a single night. It's recorded for us also in 2 Kings chapter 19.

And they are poetically described in the scripture as a forest that will be nearly destroyed by fire.

So if you would have looked out from the walls of Jerusalem, the armies would have looked like a

forest surrounding the city. And of course, if someone burned down the forest, it would no longer

be there. So they would have been destroyed by fire. And they would have been destroyed by fire.

Well, that was what was going to happen. God was going to send a plague. And we'll get to this in a

few weeks. And he'll destroy all the enemies surrounding the city. Finally, the Lord once

again, you know, he patiently warned them not to trust in Egypt to deliver them from Assyria. So

he's saying, you're putting your trust in the wrong place. I'm going to allow them to judge

you until you cry out to me. And then I'm going to deliver you. And now he goes on and reminds

them again, do not put your trust in the wrong place. I'm going to allow them to judge you until

you cry out to me. And then he goes on and reminds them again, do not put your trust in the wrong place.

In Egypt or anything other than me, that's the message. That's the message they should have

remembered. And ultimately they do, but it takes a while. So we look at verses one through three

of chapter 31. It's a brief chapter. We'll go through it quickly. He warns them that their

rebellious plans will only bring disaster upon them and upon all Judah. Woe in verse one,

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. Yet he too is wise and can

bring disaster. He does not take back his words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked,

against those who help evildoers. But the Egyptians are men and not God. Their horses are flesh and

not spirit.

And when the Lord stretches out his hand, he who helps will stumble. He who has helped will fall

and both will perish together. And there you have that encouragement. He's going to bring judgment

against those wicked people who put their trust in Egypt and not in God and led Judah astray.

So there are people in our culture today, in our nation, leading people astray. God sees that and

he will deal with it. You know, you need to know that.

And then in verses four through five, he promises them that they will surely,

that they'll be delivered. He will surely deliver the city of Jerusalem in his great strength and

power. So after they exhaust all that they have, looking to everything other than God,

God will step in and deliver them. Look what it says in verses four through five.

It says,

This is what the Lord says,

To me, as a lion growls, a great lion over his prey, and though a whole band of shepherds is

called together against him, that is that lion, he 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.

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.

Now you have a reference to the Passover. You know, God passed over the children of Israel and

the plague did not fall on them because they put the blood on the doorposts of their home.

God did not bring that plague against them. Well, that language is used to remind them of that,

but also to say, I'm going to bring judgment against your enemies. I will pass over you.

You are not going to be judged. You're going to be rescued. What an encouraging word, right?

And I don't know to what degree these words of Isaiah,

inspired people to cry out to God, but I suspect there was a point at which they realized,

why are we putting our trust in anything other than God? Or maybe they got to the place where

they realized we've got no one else to turn to, which you would hope wouldn't be your last resort.

But even if it is, it's better than just continuing to despair. At some point,

they cried out to God and they were delivered. And so he goes on to plead with them to repent

and to respond. And so he goes on to plead with them to repent and to respond. And so he goes on to

plead with them to repent and to respond. And so he goes on to plead with them to repent and to respond.

And so he goes on to plead with them to repent and to respond. And so he goes on to plead with them to

experience the miraculous deliverance of God Almighty. In verse six,

return to him. You have so greatly revolted against the Israelites. For in that day,

every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold, your sinful hands have made. So there

you have that repentance. Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man. A sword, not of mortals,

will devour them.

They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor.

Their stronghold will fail or fall, excuse me, their stronghold will fall because of terror.

At sight of the battle standard, their commanders will panic, declares the Lord who is, or excuse me,

declares the Lord whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem. So he's promising judgment

against their enemies, pleading with them to repent, that they might experience this miraculous

deliverance. Notice he's not saying, I'll allow you to deliver yourselves. He's saying, if you cry

out to me, I'm going to miraculously deliver you, supernaturally deliver you. He's lovingly calling

out to them to reject their idols and to return to him. And he hints at the angelic destruction

that surely awaits the Assyrian invaders. Now, I'm not going to get ahead of myself,

but it's true. God sends an angel to wipe them out. So what's your faith like?

Like, when you look at our nation and our culture and the things we're going through as a people,

do you think we're lost? Nothing that we have the hope, nothing we can do will make a difference?

Because if you're thinking that way, you're missing the one thing we can do that will make

all the difference in the world. It's to cry out to God. It really is. A national day of

repentance would be a good start. Would you agree? You know, imagine this administration,

even admitting something's true, let alone wrong. You know, you have to admit things. You

have to be honest if God is going to save you. You have to humble yourself. And we may come to

a place where those leading our nation are willing to do that. But that really should be day one of

the new administration. Crying out to God in repentance. I think of Abraham Lincoln, who

established a day of repentance. I mean, there were times in the past where President,

some leaders did that. They recognized we needed to cry out to Almighty God.

I mean, as far as I know, there's only one candidate in this election that even acknowledges

God exists. Really. So I'm thinking to myself, we need to pray that we as a nation find ourselves

humbled. There's nothing wrong with that. Because the Bible says he resists the proud,

he exalts the humble. May we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord that he might lift us up.

Amen. Let's pray for that.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for blessing us with a wonderful nation and a culture

that has lost its way. But this account of what happened in Judah 700 years before

you sent your son encourages us to cry out to you and to pray and to do so, but also how to pray.

So many times we pray, oh Lord, may we not experience the circumstances of our rebellion.

And yet that's the very thing we need to experience.

Our nation needs to experience the circumstances and really the consequences of our rebellion

against you so that there's hope, so that we can cry out in humility for you to deliver us from

our sins and to deliver us from our enemies. Lord God, may we reach that place. And it might take

some awful circumstances to do it. I pray not that those things would happen, but that in those

things, if and when they should happen, we would respond appropriately that we might be saved.

Give us leaders who are willing to humble themselves,

before you and cry out to you and to lead us as a nation in repentance. And Lord, may you deliver us

and make us great again. May you truly make us a great nation because Lord, you can work through

a great nation that honors you. And you have in our nation in the past. And we never really have

been a perfect nation, but Lord, there was a time in our nation where we stood for things

that honored you. We've lost our way. We really truly have as a people. We need for you to

intervene.

To save us from ourselves. May we humble ourselves, Lord. And may we be lifted up by your mighty hand.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.