Isaiah 33:1-4 NLT
“1 What sorrow awaits you Assyrians, who have destroyed others
but have never been destroyed yourselves.
You betray others,
but you have never been betrayed.
When you are done destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you are done betraying,
you will be betrayed.
2 But Lord, be merciful to us,
for we have waited for you.
Be our strong arm each day
and our salvation in times of trouble.
3 The enemy runs at the sound of your voice.
When you stand up, the nations flee!
4 Just as caterpillars and locusts strip the fields and vines,
so the fallen army of Assyria will be stripped!”
Isaiah is still writing down what is happening in his nation, Judah. “What sorrow awaits” is translated “Woe to you” in other Bible versions, and it is the sixth “Woe” that occurs between chapters 28 and 33. We have discovered woes spoken out against Ephraim’s pride with their drunkenness and fading glory (Chapter 28), followed by Jerusalem (called Ariel in Chapter 29), warning the people there of their hypocritical worship. There was another woe declared in Chapter 29, against the Judeans who were trying to hide their plans from the Lord. Isaiah 30 commences with a woe declared against the people who were trusting Egypt instead of God, a woe repeated in Chapter 31, for relying on military alliances. We finally arrive at today’s “Woe” declared against the “Destroyer”, assumed to be Assyria in the NLT version. Isaiah could see what the people apparently couldn’t, and as history tells us, they ignored most of what he said. Thankfully, Isaiah wrote down his oracles and prophecies for peoples and nations everywhere to consider and take note of. Have they followed his advice throughout history? Sadly not, and even today there is not a nation, even Israel, that has trusted wholly in the Lord for their salvation and protection from their enemies. David knew that, and he wrote Psalm 20:7-8, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm”.
Assyria had conquered nation after nation, breaking treaties and showing little mercy. Yet Isaiah declared that their apparent power would not last. As we read on in the verse, we see that after their campaign of destruction has ceased, they themselves would be destroyed. We remember that God allows evil to operate for a time, but He ultimately holds the destroyer accountable. The Assyrians had been used by God as an instrument of judgment against other nations, but that did not put them beyond God’s judgment themselves, as we know, because the Assyrian empire, with its capital Nineveh, was finally overcome by an alliance of the Medes, Babylonians, and Scythians in 612 BC and Nineveh was so completely destroyed that even its location was forgotten until it was uncovered in the nineteenth century. Thus, as the Babylonian Empire ascended, the Assyrian Empire declined. Although Assyrians still exist today, as a people group, they have never reacquired the power and influence they once held. So, we pilgrims might be alarmed today by world events with a belligerent Russia, and other totalitarian states rattling their swords, but we need to remember that although they talk big, it is God who has the final word.
Isaiah went on to record a prayer in Isaiah 33:2: “LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress“. The tone suddenly changes from judgment in verse 1 to prayer in verse 2. Isaiah took the initiative by leading the Judeans with three prayer points, starting with the prayer for the Lord to be gracious and merciful to them. David knew the reality of that and he wrote in Psalm 103, “the LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love”. Throughout the Bible, God’s grace and mercy emerge into His peoples’ lives, without measure, blessing upon blessing. But Isaiah continues, “… Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress”. The phrase “every morning” is particularly significant. God’s help is not merely something needed at the end of a crisis. His people need His strength day by day. Jeremiah wrote “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness“. Isaiah also prayed, “for we have waited for You”, a timely reminder that we must trust God’s timing, not our own. Practically, when tomorrow’s problems appear overwhelming, we ask God for strength tomorrow rather than trying to carry tomorrow today. Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:33-34).
We notice something else about God in Isaiah 33:3: “The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee!” Isaiah pictures God simply rising to act. What appeared to be an overwhelming enemy suddenly becomes powerless. The important point is not the strength of God’s people but the authority of God Himself. The enemy does not flee because Judah has become stronger. The enemy flees because God has intervened. Paul wrote, “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31). The Judeans were facing potential trouble: the cruel and seemingly unstoppable Assyrian army. We pilgrims might be facing all sorts of trouble as well; perhaps sickness or mobility issues. Perhaps a family or relationship problem. But we must remember that through our faith in God, trouble does not have the final authority over those who belong to Him. Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Our position is part of Jesus’ prayer for His disciples: “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do” (John 17:15-16). And we have Paul’s assurance of our security in God, as he wrote in the last two verses of Romans 8: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
The Assyrian problem was never going to be too much for God to deal with, and neither will our problems be. We praise and thank Him today for His blessings.
Dear Father God. We can never thank You enough for all that You have done for us. There is an old song “Count My Blessings” and we do so today. And we know that as soon as we think we have counted them all, we remember even more. What a wonderful God You are, Amen.
