Isaiah 7:18-25: a reflection

18It will happen in that day that the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures. 20In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard. 21It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep. 22It shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter, for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left within the land. 23It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, will be for briers and thorns. 24People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns. 25All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of oxen, and for sheep to tread on.”

In this passage, Isaiah describes the desolation that judgment will bring on the land. Places that were once carefully cultivated, vineyards worth a fortune, hills worked with the hoe, will be overrun with briers and thorns, given over to wildness, no longer fruitful. What had been tended and fruitful becomes a tangle of thorns; the cultivated land returns to wilderness under the weight of judgment.

Notice the picture of fruitfulness laid waste: cultivated vineyards becoming briers and thorns. This is what sin and its consequences can do, turning what was fruitful and carefully tended into a wasteland of thorns. The vineyard that was worth a fortune, the hill that was worked and productive, becomes wild and useless. It is a sober picture of the desolation that turning from God can bring, laying waste what was once fruitful.

Yet even in this passage of desolation, God does not leave his people without provision; a remnant is kept alive, and there is curds and honey for those who remain. Even amid the thorns, God's mercy provides. So this passage sobers and reassures at once. It sobers us: turning from God can lay waste what was fruitful in our lives, leaving thorns where there was fruit; sin has real, desolating consequences. And it reassures us: even in the desolation, God's mercy still provides for those who remain his. Take seriously the desolation that turning from God can bring, and do not sow the thorns of sin where God would grow fruit. But trust, too, that even amid desolation, God's mercy provides for his own; he does not utterly abandon those who are his, even when much has been laid waste.

Lord, in this passage Isaiah describes cultivated vineyards and worked hills becoming briers and thorns under judgment, what was fruitful laid waste, the tended land returning to wilderness. Sober me with that picture. This is what sin and its consequences can do, turning what was fruitful and carefully tended in my life into a wasteland of thorns; sin has real, desolating consequences. Keep me from sowing the thorns of sin where you would grow fruit. Yet thank you that even in this passage of desolation, you did not leave your people without provision; a remnant was kept alive, and there was food for those who remained. Even amid the thorns, your mercy provides. Help me take seriously the desolation that turning from you can bring, and trust, too, that even amid desolation, your mercy provides for those who are yours. You do not utterly abandon your own, even when much has been laid waste; help me turn from what lays waste, and rest in your mercy that still provides.