Chapters of His Heart: Isaiah 18

Read Isaiah 18 here.
I'm not ashamed to say I had some help with this chapter. That is the purpose of all this isn't it, to grow and to learn together? If you read the chapter (which I hope you do every week) then you know how abstract and....different this chapter was. I began digging through some bible commentaries and I found out that I wasn't the only one who thought this chapter was difficult to comprehend. Commentators have been calling Isaiah 18 "One of the most obscure prophecies in Isaiah." (-Homer Hailey pg. 156) since the seventeen hundreds. One modern preacher/theologian coined this "the most difficult chapter encountered thus far." (-Robert Lowth's Commentary pg. 234).  Well that made me feel a little bit better. So this is how chapter eighteen translates; The people of Ethiopia approached the Israelites with the offer of an alliance. The major power of the time was, as we've read, the Assyrians. An alliance between Israel and Ethiopia would mean Assyria would no longer pose as a threat to either country. As you can imagine this was an immensely attractive offer. So why does Isaiah advise the Israelites to tun it down?

I want you to pay close attention to verse 4, which is God's response to the Ethiopian's offer.

For the LORD has told me this:
“I will watch quietly from my dwelling place—
as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day,
or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.”

God doesn't need allies. He looks from His place in heaven and sees all the plans being made but He does't need to run out and seek an alliance to be sure of His future. He calmly looks on and waits. God will protect His people and He will do it Himself. He will cut down the threat before it has time to mature. Those threatening Israel will be left to be feasted on by the birds of prey.

We are so quick to panic when faced with threats. We feel the need to search out the best plan, the best ally, the best escape from our trouble. We forget that with God on our side, we need no other ally. God does not panic when threats arise, He looks calmly on and waits for the perfect time to step in. When a threat arises in your life, to your job, your health, your pocket, or maybe your relationships, don't panic. Look calmly on and wait in faith for God's perfect timing. Trust Him, the 'perfect timing', it's kind of His thing.

God's heart is for His people, we know that. God's heart has a plan and that plan is steadfast and unchanging, we know that too. In this chapter we learn that God's heart does not fear the enemy in times of trouble, so, neither should ours.