10/2/24 “A Sure, Future Hope”

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Passage Reading: Isaiah 33-36

In today’s reading, we’ll see a close to the initial more poetic writing of Isaiah with a narrative portion beginning in chapters 36-39 that gives us some insight into the historical setting of Isaiah’s prophecy which will in turn help us to interpret chapters 33-35 in our reading today. Again, this takes place during the time of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah after Israel was conquered by Assyria in 722 B.C. With a new Assyrian king, Sennacherib taking the throne, Hezekiah the king of Judah rebels against him, and is then basically forced to pay tribute because they are losing cities (You can read the entire historical account in 2 Kings 18-19 if you’re interested). Yet, after receiving tribute from Hezekiah, the king of Assyria turns and comes against Judah again leaving the people of Judah and Jerusalem especially in dire straits. This is essentially the historical backdrop of the prophecy today. There’s a pronouncement upon the destroyer who is a traitor, most likely Assyria (33:1) which gives us a bit of the setting. To this, Isaiah prays. ” Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble” (33:2). To this prayer and the hardship they’re suffering, God responds that He will arise (33:10) and there is a future hope for Zion/Jerusalem (33:20-24). This comes with judgment on Edom, here most likely symbolic for all nations in rebellion against God (34:1-17). The message here is essentially that their land will become desolate (34:13-17) when surely they were presently enjoying prosperity, and the subsequent message for God’s people is that though they were presently in a wilderness state, this will turn around (35:1). There is a day coming where the anxious of heart will be encouraged, the blind eyes will be opened, the lame will leap, and the desert will be turned to pools (35:2-7).

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7  the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes."

Isaiah 35:5-7 ESV

These chapters today, although they might be confusing at first, should be incredibly encouraging to us. To an original audience undergoing hardship, who surely looked upon the prosperity of the wicked and their own troubles and wondered what it was all about, God has a message of an incredible reversal. A helpful analogy on a personal level might be that of the rich man and Lazarus, you can read about that in Luke 16:19-31. What matters most is the end of the story. Though it might be a barren wasteland for God’s people in the present, the end of the story is what truly matters. Things would turn for Jerusalem, God would be their King and their salvation. Lazarus, though experiencing pain and suffering in this life, experienced blessedness in the life to come.

And so when we look at a world that in so many ways is hopeless, and we see those who hate God prospering and we probably at various points have questions as to what in the world God is doing, we just have to keep the end of the story in mind. The beautiful turnaround passage in chapter 35 with the blind seeing and the lame walking and all of that was first inaugurated when the Messianic King, Jesus Christ first walked this earth, and we know some day He will come back in glory to consummate the Kingdom and then we who are part of that Kingdom will enjoy eternal blessedness.

In the present, we pray like Isaiah, “O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble” (33:2). He is our only hope.