Isaiah 30:8-18, Waiting! On the LORD!! (2)

The Little Apocalypse (Isa. 24-27) tells us Israel will wait on the LORD for at least 4000 years (Abraham to today).  Doesn’t that seem like a long time?  Doesn’t that seem like a lot of generations who “did not receive the promise” (Heb. 11:39). 

Well, one answer to that seeming problem is that there is a lot that has to happen.  We are talking about the submission of a nation of stubborn and rebellious people.  And also, the submission of the rest of the nations that “rage” and “plot a vain thing” against the LORD and His Anointed (Ps. 2:1-3).  It turns out that the righteous are not the only ones waiting; God also waits while we wait (Isa. 30:18):

Therefore the LORD will wait that He may be gracious to you;

And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. 

For the LORD is a God of justice;

Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

If the only “variable” was the sovereign faithfulness of God then He could have fulfilled His promise while Abraham was still alive.  But God worked out the fulfillment in history with people who were permitted to be rebellious and raging.  The end result is greater honor to God.  How is that you ask?  It is because while we are “waiting” He is being “patient” with those He loves.  And as the number of the righteous continues to grow, so does the honor given to His Name!

On this matter of God’s glory in all of this, let me refer to Isa. 26:8, where the saved nation of Israel is saying these words:

Yes, in the way of Your judgments,

O LORD we have waited for You;

The desire of our soul is for Your name

And for the remembrance of You.

What characterizes the righteous when they are waiting on the LORD is that their heart’s desire is that God’s name be honored.  In other words, their focus is not on their trial or complaint or wondering, “How long?”  Meanwhile, what is the LORD waiting for?  He is waiting for faith!  In the context of Isa. 30 (it’s no longer the “Little Apocalypse”) God waited because Israel did not trust Him and instead sought for help from Egypt.  This had to run its course.  Israel had to realize that Egypt was a mere “shadow” and not anything substantial (Isa. 30:2).  God’s plan is not an arbitrary plan.  He waits for a reason.

Meditate on these two final passages related to Israel’s waiting.  First, a prayer; then a promise.

O LORD, be gracious to us; We have waited for You. 

Be their arm every morning, Our salvation also in time of trouble. (Isa. 33:2)

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:31)

There is much we can learn from Israel’s waiting.  The LORD will strengthen us for our time of waiting.