Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Isaiah 13-17
Isaiah 17:10
Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, …
Beginning in Isaiah chapter thirteen there is a roll call of sorts of the mighty Gentile nations. For each of these thirteen or so nations there are prophecies from the Lord God given to Isaiah and spoken against them. Babylon, Assyria, and Egypt are the three most prominent of these. Yet, none are insignificant.
In chapter thirteen the “burden of Babylon” is given. In fourteen the burden of Philistia. In fifteen and sixteen the “burden of Moab.” In seventeen the “burden of Damascus” coupled with the judgment of Israel. Which brings us to today’s verse and thought.
Why was Israel judged of God? Why was His anger kindled against them? Why did they suffer so great an ordeal? Why the coming Babylonian captivity? Because of God’s indictment against them in today’s verse. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and has not been mindful of the rock of thy strength… While reading about Israel’s complicated relationship with their God, remember this. On one hand God gave their nation great promises. On the other hand they were to remember Him, trust in Him, yield to Him, and keep His laws. They failed repeatedly to keep their part.
Way back in the very first chapter of Isaiah this proposition was put before the nation: If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 1:19-20 All Israel had to do was to be willing and obedient to their God. Yet they refused.
One of the things that Israel forgot was …the rock of thy strength… Since Deuteronomy 32:15 the Lord God was designated as their Rock of salvation. Their great king David remembered this rock, in II Samuel 22:47 he is recorded as saying, The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. The entire history of Israel portrays a nation that is in bondage, rescued miraculously by the Lord, lived in prosperity, slipped into idolatry, then fell again into bondage. This cycle happened continually.
This was the cause: they forgot their God. They forgot that He was the Rock of their strength. Deuteronomy 32:18 testifies this, Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. However, they couldn’t see it. Like so many they were deluded, blinded of their own sin to the point of even blaming God for forgetting them. In fact, they sang about it, in one of their psalms, Psalm 42:9 the nation sang, I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? God did not forget Israel. They forgot Him.
All that befell Israel was a direct result of their forgetting Him. May we learn from their example and not fall into the same condition.
Dr. William T. Howe
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