Isa 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
Verse seventeen is often preached or quoted as a promise of victory and it might have been had they done what God had asked them to do in verse 15, but they would not do it. They were being a disobedient people if you read from verse 1 of the chapter and indeed nearly all of Isaiah speaks of judgment on Israel.
Thus verse 17 is a verse of victory for the enemies of Israel, not Israel. Indeed, if you are having that much victory it is not the mercy of God you need in verse 18 for you are experiencing His grace, favor and blessing. You need His mercy after you blew it and they had.
Whether you are looking for a fortified position or in full retreat you seek the high ground because it is easier to defend and you have full view of the enemy. Israel was going to be in that full retreat and even last ditch defense mode on the mountain. Hence a beacon and banner on a hill. While it is better to be on high ground it is also a detriment because once there the enemy knows where you are there is usually no way to get down and run as the enemy will surround the mountain or hill if they can.
In our times, the only escape would be by helicopter and they did not have that. They could look up like a trooper awaiting a dust off to find their help in God. This is an example of nowhere to go, but to the Lord. Thankfully, God was was still offering mercy and blessing to them if they would wait upon him. He was waiting to be gracious to them and be exalted in His mercy. A God of judgment, but also mercy and grace or there would be no hope for them or us.
Thus, we need to keep verse 17 in context. This is the problem of much preaching in our culture today. We are quick to grab a verse out of context because we have a point to prove or twist it for our theology. We like pithy sayings. Hence we have much bad theology and unsound doctrine. We take things that are literal and make them symbolic or we take something symbolic and make it literal. In this case, we do not want verse 17 to be in our lives because it means God is allowing our enemy to defeat us and put us in a no win or hold out to the last man scenario.
When Israel returned in repentance to wait on the Lord then He would change it. The word wait comes from a word to pierce or adhere to and when you think of a screw you have to pierce before you can adhere something and if you want it to be strong you have to go deep. God was adhered deeply to Israel and hence waited for them to be adhered to Him in their heart and not just lips. God is adhered to His people now through the piercing of His Son. There can be nothing deeper than that nor a more secure adherence. Hallelujah!
Will you return to the Lord in rest to be saved/delivered in quietness and in confidence find your strength or will you run until you have nowhere else to run and are exposed and trapped by the enemy forcing you to finally come to place of full trust and adherence to God? You can be embattled and beleaguered on the hill or a city on a hill. Don’t run unless you are running into His arms of mercy and grace! Maranatha!
