Context for Isaiah 30:18-32:20
The people of Jerusalem were doing everything but what they should have been- calling on the name of the Lord. That fact was what God was judging them for, and even in the face of that judgment, they continued to call on every source for help but their God.
Israel’s sin was rejecting God in favor of earthly things. Even when they were faced with the looming threat of invasion by the Assyrians, they looked for help from Egypt instead of God. The irony of that earthly help is that history tells us that every one of those peoples were eventually overrun- Jerusalem, Egypt, Assyria, even Babylon that came later. There was no salvation to be found in the works of men, only the continuation of the destruction wrought by their own hands.
Our modern times have a similar parallel. Too many people who call themselves Christians expend most of their effort trying to use earthly means to force people to behave morally, never realizing that no earthly method will ever separate sinful mankind from its sin. All the laws in the world will never end abortion, sexual promiscuity of every variety, and the degradation of family.
What can succeed then? Calling on the name of our God, keeping in His word, and proclaiming His Gospel wherever it may be found. It was when the Jews in exile finally called on God for redemption that they were freed, and it is when we follow our commission as God’s children that we can save our nation from the sinfulness that it seems determined to plunge headlong into. There is no other solution- out rescue lies with our God.
DLH
What’s the solution to every problem on the planet? The Gospel.
Preach the Word!
Amen.