The STAR Has Fallen

Isaiah 30

[selected passages]

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

1 "Woe to the obstinate children,"

declares the LORD,

"to those who carry out plans that are not Mine,

forming an alliance, but not by My Spirit,

heaping sin upon sin;
4 Though they have officials in Zoan

and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame

because of a people useless to them,

who bring neither help nor advantage,

but only shame and disgrace."
8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them,

inscribe it on a scroll,

that for the days to come

it may be an everlasting witness.
9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD's instruction.
10 They say to the seers,

"See no more visions!"

and to the prophets,

"Give us no more visions of what is right!

Tell us pleasant things,

prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,

get off this path,

and stop confronting us

with the Holy One of Israel!"
12 Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

"Because you have rejected this message,

relied on oppression

and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you

like a high wall, cracked and bulging,

that collapses suddenly, in an instant.

15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it.
16 You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.'

Therefore you will flee!

You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.'

Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee

at the threat of one;

at the threat of five you will all flee away,

till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,

like a banner on a hill."
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

He rises to show you compassion.

For the LORD is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for Him!

21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left,

your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,

"This is the way; walk in it."

22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver

and your images covered with gold; you will throw

them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them,

"Away with you!"

27 See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar,

with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke;

His lips are full of wrath,

and His tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent,

rising up to the neck.

He shakes the nations

in the sieve of destruction;
He places in the jaws of the peoples

a bit that leads them astray.

33 Topheth has long been prepared;

it has been made ready for the king.

Its fire pit has been made deep and wide,

with an abundance of fire and wood;

the breath of the LORD,

like a stream of burning sulfur,

sets it ablaze.

[emphasis added]

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God is loving and compassionate.

But He will not be mocked.

Our God is also a consuming Fire!

Any nation that defiles His ways will be judged.

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I will win no awards for this post.

Good thing this is an award-free blog. ;-)

Most people will leave no comment here.

I pray you are not most people.

We close our ears to things like this.

We want to know only a loving God, not one who is angered by sin.

Some will label me a 'radical' or 'controversial ' for speaking the truth because it is harsh. Do they think I like writing this? These are not my words - they are God's Word! I believe the whole counsel of the Word of God. I can't pick and choose to throw out the parts that make me queasy!

His Word stands firm and true.

Jesus was a radical. Label me what you will. I follow Him.

His Name along brings controversy.

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May we come back to the Prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9:4-19 and pray this for all the nations of the earth who have closed their eyes and ears to the LORD's instructions. May we cling tightly to the God who loves us and Who alone can save us from our 'national' iniquities for WE have sinned greatly against a Holy God.

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Choosing JOY in the wake,

Stephanie

JESUS ONLY in 2010