I always assumed that Isaiah 30:21 had something to do with directions. My understanding was, if I stood at a crossroads and veered one way or the other, the Holy Spirit would let me know if I was going the right way. God would alert me if I was heading into trouble or beginning to venture outside of His will.
While I still believe that Isaiah 30 has application for steps we should or shouldn’t take in life, after digging deeper I now have a better grasp of what Isaiah was communicating. In this passage, the prophet was speaking to the wayward tribe of Judah, which had foolishly entered into a treaty with Egypt. “Without consulting Me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection” (Isaiah 30:2). In so doing, Judah had:
• Made plans that were against God’s
• Made alliances not directed by the Lord
• Gone down to Egypt for help without first consulting God
• Put their trust in Pharaoh’s protection
It was Isaiah’s role as a prophet to warn God’s “rebellious children” (Isaiah 30:1) of the subsequent outcome that awaited them: humiliation, shame, disgrace, loneliness, and calamity (Isaiah 30:3-5). Isaiah also plainly stated that despite what they had done, God was waiting for His stubborn people to repent and return to Him. He longed to shower them with love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness (Isaiah 30:18-19).
Through Isaiah, we learn the very essence of God’s heart: to draw His beloved people close so that—despite their hideous sins—they could repent and receive His infinite blessings. Our God is so loving that when Judah strayed— and when we stray—God provides “a voice” to show us the way back to the Lord’s protection and eternal riches.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Samuel 17:32-58
More:
Read Isaiah 30:23-26 to see the blessings God promised to shower on Israel if they would turn and “come to Him” (v.18).
Next:
How has God’s voice been calling you back to Him? How have you been pursuing God and His way?
will77 on March 28, 2011 at 4:43 am
Gods ways and thoughts are higher than ours…I am very grateful for that, and His patience that He measures out to me regularly amazes me when I see my own lack of patience with others and myself I am convicted to follow in His way…
God is Good…All the time
GChoo on March 28, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Yes, God is good and gracious all the time.
I can remember in my younger days that whenever i strayed from God, somehow He will direct me back to His path whether i had called out to him or not.
It is so wonderful to be reminded in Isaiah 30 of God’s love and compassion for us especially in this uncertain times and happenings around the world.
May we continue to pray for obedience and trust in our creator and Almighty God because He knows what is best for us.
daisymarygoldr on March 28, 2011 at 3:26 pm
Thanks for another good one, roxanne robbins! Back then it was the prophets who heard God’s voice. Today every believer has the privilege to hear His voice. We must be really careful though about the “voice”. There is much confusion in the Church due to the dangerous fallacy of being enticed by so-called prophetic uttering. Both newbie and veteran Christians who claim to be led by the voice of the Holy Spirit have ended up going astray.
It must be clearly known that God’s Spirit does not speak to us through feelings, emotions, intuitions or impressions of our deceitful hearts. Don’t be fooled by staring into nature or looking for signs in chasing butterflies and sighting deer on the street. God’s voice is also not heard in the fantasies of a movie or through the inner urges of our faulty thinking. The Spirit of God guides us only—only through the truth revealed in His written Word.
Sadly, I have seen many who have spurned the Bible. And in desperation some have now resorted to depending on dreams—to live disillusioned and defeated lives. Let us not be misguided by the dreams or visions of ours or others. God did not leave us as orphans to be misled by strange voices in vague dreams—to stagger like drunks, stumble in the dark and eventually fall down to our spiritual death. Surely we walk by faith but it is not a blind, fatalistic kind of faith. We walk with our spiritual sight and have ears that precisely hear and perceive God’s eternal Word.
The time is short and the days are evil. Every child of God must pay close attention as we pursue God’s way and be sensitive to His voice speaking to us through His Word. We can walk wisely, morally and victoriously provided we are open to His instruction. The Holy Spirit will never prompt us to walk in the way that contradicts with what He has already recorded in the Bible—which is God’s time-tested Truth.
Are we willing to hear God’s voice and walk in His way? Then may we pray for a teachable spirit that listens and follows His voice which clearly directs our footsteps saying: this is the way, walk in it.
vikki fr Philippines on March 29, 2011 at 10:03 am
This really gives me comfort, “we need to pray because God, who sees the future, has our best interest at heart and that means we dontm”
Cowgurl on April 3, 2011 at 5:30 pm
I believe that GOD needs to keep constantly and continually in our hearts and his praise and worship on our lips. Who would want to live in any existance without love and protection? Why would anyone turn from the love of our creator?