Isaiah 33

Isaiah 33
Distress and Help

1 Woe to you, O destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, O traitor, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.

Probably referring to Assryia, destroyer of Israel. The evil will receive judgement in God's time. No one will escape, though they might seem to be rampant now.

2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

Let us pray to the Lord every morning. He is our renewed strength to meet the day's challenges ahead.
And of course, our salvation in times of distress, when we have no one to go to, when we will we are disappointed by everyone, with everything, God is our salvation.

3 At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it.
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.

Principle: The Lord is to be exalted. Fullstop. If man depends on their materials, their materials will one day disappear into nothingness, like a harvest swamped by locusts.

6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. [a]
7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses [b] are despised, no one is respected.
9 The land mourns [c] and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

A picture of devastation.

10 "Now will I arise," says the LORD. "Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned as if to lime; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze."
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!

Whatever man has done, has come to meaningless. Chaff is unwanted harvest. Man's own breath consumes him. All resulting because we are far away from God. God commands us to hear, acknowledge His doing, His power.

Principle: God's doing and power has to be acknowledged. His doing and power in our own personal lives, how He helped us in times of need, His graces, we have to acknowledge Him!

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"
15 He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil-
16 this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him.

The terrifying result of sin is exemplified. Who can withstand unquenching fire?
But the man who
1. acts righteously
2. considers his speech
3. withstands corruption
4. runs away from evil
will enjoy refuge in the Lord, with his needs provided, and dangers not overcoming him.
What a promise from the Lord!

17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: "Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?"

A picture of destruction again. No one to hold roles.

19 You will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.

The Lord judges us by the Laws that He has revealed to us. But it doesn't stop there, for He knows we do not meet the benchmark of God. God 's love manifests now. He is our King, He SAVES us by grace.

23 Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 No one living in Zion will say, "I am ill"; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.

Blessings overflow from the Lord, and the ultimate blessing to man, the forgiveness of man's sin.