Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
Isaiah has a tall task. As a prophet of God he is being asked to deliver message after message (call “oracles” in his line of work) to the surrounding nations and to the nation of Israel (northern tribes) and Judah (southern tribes). He is God’s mouthpiece for both doom and gloom and destruction as well as blessing and good tidings of great joy. But Isaiah does not get to determine which message he delivers. He is being instructed by God concerning who gets what message. He knows it will either be cursing or blessing, but not who gets which one.
In the above passage we read about the character of God behind these message Isaiah is to deliver. God will send blessings to those who are oppressed, downtrodden and who have faith in Him. God will send cursing on the oppressor, the captor, and those who reject Him. We must let the poetic langue of the above verses diminish the power they portray. God is going to destroy “ruthless nations.” Like a shelter from the storm and the shade on a hot day God is going to be a “stronghold for the poor” and a “stronghold for the needy in his distress.” God, like heat that is subdued by the covering of a cloud, is going to reduce those who are experiencing the hot breath of the oppressor. God subdues the “noise of the foreigner” (those who reject God). Their “song” will be put down.
This is Isaiah’s message. As hard as it must have been to deliver, it is still good to be Isaiah and not the oppressor receiving that message!!
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