“The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria. In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures. In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.” Isaiah 7:17-20
Devotional Thought For The Day
The children of Israel who heard this dire prophecy regarding the punishment of Israel for its grotesque sins of impenitence, idolatry, immorality, and abuse of the poor, must have been utterly struck with incredulity. The Assyrians were considered a particularly brutal and wicked empire, utterly godless and completely unfit for any purpose of God. Yet, through the prophet Isaiah God speaks of using this King as His own “razor” to utterly humiliate the land of Israel. Such prophecy must not only have struck terror into their hearts, but also a great deal of mental and spiritual agitation as to how God could turn such judgment upon His own people. They probably thought that Isaiah must have gone insane.
It is also remarkably challenging for us to grasp such dynamics of God’s work in the history of mankind. Part of our difficulty is that we fail to recognize just how wretched the sin of Israel actually was, particularly the influence of adopting the idolatry of the surrounding peoples. They didn’t recognize it either – in their minds they were living a great life, affluent, “blessed,” happy, with many privileges, partying, secure, very sophisticated and advanced. But the wickedness of such smug arrogance and carnal security of living not only without regard for God, but in actual opposition to His love and His good and gracious will for human life was staggering – even though in their minds they were quite civil. The forces that were about to descend upon them were anything but civil, and the result would be a total desolation and humiliation.
Like these ancient Israelites, we also think of our way of life as quite civil and “blessed.” We have abundance. Perhaps we are not affluent like the wealthiest people – Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, professional athletes, and popular performers, but we have more than enough to create carnal security, disregard for God, lack of need to trust in Him, indulgence in much of the immorality of our times, drink, partying, lurid entertainment, no real concern about the sexual sins around us, both heterosexual and homosexual, abortion, euthanasia, legalization of drugs, and utter disregard for the plight of those who are struggling just to survive, the poor, upon whose labor our life of ease and enjoyment is balanced. And we are not that concerned – we can retreat to our homes, occupy our minds with other things, and presume that the impending judgments will not touch us. But God does not consider these things relatively harmless; and just as He punished Israel He will punish all who have no regard for Him, who live in opposition to His will, and who harm those whom He dearly loves. Stop to consider just how much of this exists in our modern and sophisticated world today.
So it may seem incredulous to us that God would summon peoples and forces that we consider utterly decadent, delusional, insane, wicked, and even demonic to plague, pester, bite, and perhaps even devour us. Many people thought the same when Hitler began his demonic ambitions, or when Pearl Harbor was bombed. America was to a large degree spared, the homeland, but at the cost of thousands of American soldiers. Western Europe was decimated. Ultimately, the forces of great evil were defeated. The good news is that the Assyrians were themselves punished for their brutality, by the Babylonians. The Babylonians were also punished for their barbarity by the Persians, who were subsequently punished by the Greeks, whose decadence was punished by the Romans, who ultimately paid for their wickedness at the hands of “barbarians.” Perhaps there is still time for the people of our time to repent and to humbly return to God and His ways. If not, God is fully capable of grabbing other “razors” for this era, as unthinkable as that might seem to us. But it is real, just as surely as God is real.
The prophecy of Isaiah came after countless prophetic calls to repentance, and was itself another call to repentance. Even if people of God have to suffer His judgments along with the rest, it is far better to do so in repentance and the peace and blessedness of His forgiveness, mercy, and salvation. God always left behind a “stump” in the land, a remnant, to continue bearing the light of His love. [Is. 6:13] It may not be glorious or what we would prefer, but it is the only salvation available, and in the life to come, after this present evil age, it will be glorious. But if we are that light we are called to shine in the darkness, and though we have to compete with the neon lure of sin and wickedness, we should still shine the real light. This is the blessedness to which God has called us; may we find humble but confident delight in His gracious love.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, we pray that You would grant repentance and humility to those caught in the arrogance and smugness of affluence and sin. We pray that You would indeed shave the wicked, those who bring utter misery, agonizing pain, and death to people. We pray that we might never be among these. Help us to embrace our role as Your lights in the world, that whatever storms come we may be found standing at the end. Amen.