7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, [j]have they been slain?
8 You contended with them [k]by banishing them, by driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven;
And this will be [l]the full price of the [m]pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When [n]Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
10 For the fortified city is isolated,
A [o]homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert;
There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and [p]feed on its branches.
11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of discernment,
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.12 In that day the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
We return to that which seems hopeless and forlorn as the judgment of God is poured out. In v. 9 we find that “through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven”, and Jacob of course being another term for Israel. How will their sins be forgiven? By the destruction of cities, and pulverizing their idols. The land will be desolate, as those remaining can hardly find fuel for a fire.
Yet it never seems to be a finality. Though the coming judgment would be the most severe yet, and most would be carried into captivity, it is not the end. Rather, God is burning away the chaff, and He will gather the sons of Israel, “one by one”. Those who were perishing and scattered, will return and worship at Jerusalem.
I was thinking this morning how amazing it is that we even have the writings of Isaiah, as the prophets were not terribly popular. Though Uzziah, Jotham and Hezekiah followed God, it wasn’t until Hezekiah’s days that they destroyed any idols, and his father Ahaz was not a good king at all. Another prophet, Jeremiah, was thrown in a cistern to die (he was later rescued).
That Isaiah’s writing survived tells us that not all were given over to wickedness, but there was a remnant who still served God, even in the worst of times. It is a reminder to us, no matter what happens, that wicked folks are not really the ones in charge. And though there is plenty of evil in our country, it pales compared to what believers in other countries endure, even unto death.
Rather, God is still on the throne, the one and only, and His decrees will come to pass, despite the ravings of mankind. We must put our hope and trust in Him alone, for even those in whom we might trust for a little while do not have control either. Our hope is not in earthly positions of power, not presidents or kings, prime ministers or otherwise. There is One faithful, who holds us each in His hands, and He will not let us go. Stand strong then, and do not bow to the whims of this world, but serve God alone each and every day.