The Cure for Fear - Conclusion

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. 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! 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.’ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:15‭-‬18 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.30.15-18.NIVUK If only Israel had trusted God. If only they had found their salvation in repentance and rest and their strength in quietness and trust. You see, these verses are followed with seven of the most terrible words in Scripture: "But you would have none of it." The next verses show the depths to which they had fallen: 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! 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.’ Isaiah 30:16‭-‬17 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.30.16-17.NIVUK Maybe you're wondering, "Why is it so wrong for them to ride fast horses? Is the Lord declaring that the Grand National is a sin?" No, not at all! But we need to understand the context here. Egypt was famous for her fast horses. In the book of Deuteronomy, in teaching specifically designed for the king, he was specifically banned from going back to Egypt to buy these horses (Deuteronomy 17:14‭-‬16). Do you know who was the first king to break this rule? Wise King Solomon (2 Chronicles 1:16)! But why did God tell the Israelites not to go to Egypt and buy horses? Really simple. They had been slaves in Egypt for four hundred years. If they depended on Egypt to provide them with a key part of their army's equipment, then in a way they would end up as their subjects again. The situation was far worse. By buying horses from Egypt, they were breaking the treaty they had made with the Assyrians. And even worse, in buying horses they were actually demonstrating their lack of faith in God to fight for them (Isaiah 31:1‭-‬3). Think about this: who could afford a horse? The rich and powerful, right? And who could not? Most of the population! In the verses we are studying, the Israelite leaders of the Northern Kingdom are not using the horses to fight. No, they are using them to flee! To run away! They are abandoning the poor and needy to save themselves! And you know what is even worse than all this? Despite all this that had happened, the Southern Kingdom of Judah went on to do precisely the same thing (Ezekiel 17:11‭-‬21)! All these verses tell us one scary truth: the costs of trying to escape our situation and leaving our loved ones behind is far too high to pay. Abdicating our responsibilities to each other is never something we will get away with. So if you're tempted to run away and leave everyone behind, think on this: you might out-run Coronavirus, but you will never outrun God. Isaiah finishes his prophecy by saying these words: Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.30.18.NIVUK Blessed are those who do what? Who hoard? Who panic? Who connive? Who run away? No! Those who wait on Him! Who repent of their sin! Who rest calmly in His grace! Who are quiet and don't add to the noise! Who trust Him to lead them through it! You know, being in the workplace in the run up to this crisis has been a unique opportunity. I once heard a senior boss say, "We really need to plan for this, because three of my team already have it... in their heads!" They had actually got themselves in such a mess over the situation that they might as well already have been ill with it! Our Prime Minister was criticised for saying that lots of people will die. Now, I don't think it was a very inspiring thing to say. I do think his speech-writer could have some room to improve. But he is right. People will die. And some of them may be close to us. This is a disaster. This event will have a bigger impact than anything any of us have been through before. But our God stands as the cure for our fear, when every human means of getting through this crisis. Listen to the closing words of the passage: Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.30.18.NIVUK The Lord longs to show compassion. The Bible tells us that He does not willingly afflict us (Lamentations 3:33). If we trust in people to get us through this, then ultimately we will fail. God is our only answer. God is our only hope. Will you reach out to him today?