27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a [ae]remote place;
Burning is His anger and [af]dense is His [ag]smoke;
His lips are filled with indignation
And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which reaches to the neck,
To shake the nations back and forth in a [ah]sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which [ai]leads to ruin.
29 You will have [aj]songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Lord will cause [ak]His voice of authority to be heard,
And the [al]descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the rod.
32 And every [am]blow of the [an]rod of punishment,
Which the Lord will lay on him,
Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For [ao]Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
[ap]A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.
Well, that’s quite the contrast! This last section of chapter 30 begins with anger and indignation. God’s very tongue is a consuming fire, and he shakes the nations back and forth in a sieve–literally a “sifting of the worthless”. Then all of a sudden in v. 29 we read, “You will have songs… and gladness of heart…” Yet v. 30 is right back to the consuming fire and anger, hailstones, etc.
Rightfully so, in v. 31, “Assyria will be terrified…”, which definitely doesn’t lend itself to gladness and singing. So who in the world will be going to the mountain of the Lord, marching to the sound of the flute? That would be God’s people, those who make it through the sifting. For if God is sifting the worthless, then He is also saving something too. Otherwise, He might as well just throw it all on the fire, like in the days of Noah.
Except even then, God rescued Noah and his family, for they were the only ones who still followed God. Assyria was indeed destroyed, and at least some of this prophecy fulfilled, but it is not unlike what God is still doing in our lives. He is still a consuming fire, still sifting out the worthless parts of our lives, and burning away the chaff.
It doesn’t seem much fun at times, but the result is worth it. Rather than wallow in our misery, we should go to God, and sing songs, as at a festival. We should remember with gladness, that “the Lord disciplines those He loves.” March to His song, to His beat, and follow in His steps with the joy and peace that only God can give, as He “creates in us a clean heart”, just like David sang after one of his biggest mistakes (Psalm 51):
“Create [j]in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew [k]a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.”