During the final 25 years of Israel’s history Assyria strengthened themselves looking to conquer their adversaries to the south. They proved to be quite the imposing foe with their military strength and their impending invasion – and the Israelite people were scared to death. But their leaders did not abate their fears. Their kings proved to be even less confident in their prospects against the armies from the north.
The result was the kings seeking alliances with heathen kings in hopes of warding off the invasion. In other words, the people were building their hopes on physical warfare. They believed instruments of battle would give them the security they needed as a people. But Isaiah knew that these alliances were but broken staffs and would not bring the safety to the people that they so desperately wanted.
Instead the people needed to be seeking the security that only God could provide, but how could they do that? Isaiah addressed that in Isaiah 30:12-15 and provided three principles for how they could, and how in principle we can as well.
Title: Seeking the Security that God can Provide
Text: Isaiah 30:12-15
Discussion Points:
- Silence– How much do we really know about quiet? We are far too busy, always in a hurry and on the go. How much time do we spend in quiet when during the course of the day we have noise all around us? We are inundated with phone calls, emails, workplace conversations, deadlines, and even at home we have some noisemakers constantly in the background. At times we need to stop and remember what our priorities are and reflect on the majesty of God. One of the problems Israel found themselves in was they were too wrapped up in the events of the time. There was too much noise present in their lives. So much, in fact, that they forgot Who was in control. It was with that purpose that Isaiah first told Israel that they needed to slow down and remember that they belonged to God and if they would only turn back to Him they could bypass their terrible demise. That is also indicative of what David wrote in Psalm 46:8-11. We need to, like Israel, at times slow down, be quiet, and solemnly reflect on the presence of God in our lives.
- Surety – The second suggestion that Isaiah offered to Israel was that they needed to be sure. We walk a very fine line of confidence in our lives. We want to have confidence because of the assurance that it provides, but we do not want to be over confident to the extent that we are prideful or egotistic. However, it is important to remember that it is not to be in ourselves. It is to be in the One to Whom we belong. At the heart of Israel’s problem was that they did not trust God. God’s promise to the people had been consistent since the beginning (Joshua 1:6-7). Why then were the northern tribes on the precipice of destruction? Because they did not have confidence in God. Instead they placed their trust in their foreign alliances to save them, but they would prove to fail. Israel needed to turn their attention back to the God of Israel and place their trust in Him to deliver them. We, too, need to remember the promise Paul made to the Philippians – “But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
- Strength – The result of incorporating silence and surety into our lives is that we will be empowered to do right and enjoy the security that God can provide (Isaiah 30:15). Silencing themselves and finding surety strengthened them in the power of God. When Paul began concluding his epistle to the Ephesian church he wanted to remind them to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). We have no inherent strength on which we can rely. We are weak people without any sense of eternal self-reliance. We should be comforted, then, that we do not have to rely solely on self to find the security that we need. We can rely on God.
Have we submitted our lives in complete reliance to God? We will at some point find ourselves in the same position as ancient Israel, weak and vulnerable to the powers of outside forces. However, by silencing ourselves and regaining surety in God we will be strengthened by the security that only God can provide.
-Andy Brewer