BREAD AND WATER ROSS SMITH
ALL REFERENCES FROM AMPLIFIED VERSION UNLESS NOTED
I would like to introduce my comments by referring to a previous verse in Isaiah 30 simply to establish the environment before looking at verse 20.
Isaiah 30:18 AND THEREFORE THE LORD [EARNESTLY] WAITS [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and THEREFORE He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!
We sometimes feel like we are under attack due to the pressure being applied to “CONFORM” and that all we get is bad news, more demands, no encouragement and myriad other excuses. However, if we understand the first sentence of verse 18, we will begin to appreciate that which follows.
Isaiah 30:20 AND THOUGH THE LORD (The same Lord as in verse 18 .. comments mine) gives you the BREAD OF ADVERSITY and the WATER OF AFFLICTION, yet your TEACHER will not hide Himself any more, but your eyes will constantly behold your Teacher. (It is called “AWARENESS”)
The “and though” in verse 20 can be replaced by “Despite, Notwithstanding, Although, When”. Sometimes the expansion makes it more understandable.
God’s graciousness in giving us the “Bread of Adversity and the Water of Affliction” should be cause for excitement, not fear, for His whole intention is to be gracious to us. The “bread and water” are lessons to turn our experience into understanding leading to conformity.
The word “TEACHER” here is of great importance. Whilst sentiments expressed here were directed to the Jews in Sennacherib’s time, God’s principles don’t change with the passage of time, so the directions to the Jews carry the same intent for us today. Let us not lose the “INTENT” by dismissing the principle because it applied in the context in which Isaiah lived.
We may wish to confine Isaiah 30: 22 some hearer back in BC, but the apostle Paul was quick to identify its relevance in,
2 Timothy 4:3 – 4, “For the time is coming (I suggest it is already here!!!) when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one Teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold, And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.
“Chosen to satisfy their own liking” points up that they do not understand or appreciate the enormity of Gods providence in the “Bread and Water”.
Verse nine sets the scene stating, “ Isaiah 30:9 For this is a rebellious (Read “Protestors, dissidents, scoffers” .. comments mine) people, faithless and lying sons, children who will not hear the law and instruction of the Lord;”
Nothing has changed from the time of Judges, for in chapter 17 and chapter 21, it states, “every man doing what was right in his own eyes”. This is spiritual myopia or shortsightedness.
Suppose we are unwilling to listen for God’s guidance. In that case, we will be forced to listen to His judgement, which, although not necessarily doom, but may comprise God’s “PROVIDENTIAL PREPARATION” regarding the “BREAD AND WATER” of verse 20. We don’t get to choose if we will have the “bread” or the “water”, for often the “adversity” is easier to handle than an “affliction”, but Father knows best what remedy is required. But we do get to rejoice!
God is Almighty )
All merciful ) Together they mean “METICULOUS”.
All methodical )
In Jeremiah, the Lord spoke, indicating he had a plan for Jeremiah, and He applies the same principle to us. “BREAD and WATER” are the necessities of life, and in the context of verse 20, the same applies to our spiritual life, and without them, we will not survive. Do we realise when we pray the Lord’s prayer, asking for our “daily bread”, we approve not just our victuals but also our “adversity”?
Job chastened his wife’s misconception in Job 2:10, “Shall we accept only good of the hand of God, and shall we not also accept misfortune and what is of bad nature?” Job saw the providence of his condition, and we are also beginning to learn this principle.
Disobedience, whether blatant, neglect or ambivalence, can never result in true “BELIEF”, that is, adherence, trust and reliance regardless of outward conditions.
The Jews, in verse 16, “trust in horses”, simply means, for us, things or methods or rights that we use for our own purposes. This often applies when we are given “BREAD and WATER” when we want COFFEE AND CROISSANTS. We are not so attentive to the demands of scriptural conformity when we are comfortable. Our evils are generally hidden from us until they are discovered to us by some kind of trial or adversity.
We may not like the message Isaiah brings in this chapter 30, but it requires that we “cut through and make firm and plain smooth and straight paths”. (Hebrews 12:13) so that there are no detours or sightseeing excursions.
Lamentations 3:33 For He does not willingly and from His heart afflict or grieve the children of men.
The fact is He wants “to be gracious to you”.
If that is the case, and Father must have a definite purpose in His chastening, that’s why we need to be “AWARE”. (See Ezekiel 18:23 and Hebrews 12: 5-10, principles we well know)
Verse 21 says, “and your ears shall hear a word behind you”. This verse suggests that some/many, due to their lack of “AWARENESS”, will deviate because of the “BREAD and WATER”, either complaining about their lot, or even more strenuously objecting. Do we harbour any “resident complaints”? Because the “Word” is “behind you”, it suggests that we are inclined to try and run ahead of the Lord, reverting to our own resources and reasoning.
Psalm 143:8 CAUSE ME TO HEAR Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You.
Nothing will “CAUSE US” more than an awareness that the adversity and affliction we are encountering is intended for our CONFORMITY and HIS GLORY.
The words “behind you” also suggest the individual has their back to the speaker and may be going in the wrong direction. The “WORD” we hear should be measured by at least four things, and you can expand this list.
- The “Word” within is to be compared with the Word without; that is, the Word of God must accord with what we hear. (Isaiah 8:20 [Direct such people] to the teaching and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is surely because there is no dawn and no morning for them. )
- The “Word” we hear should bring order, not being disruptive in the manner of life the Bible promotes. (Peace internal and external)
- They will not be wild dreams or schemes that qualify as “vain imaginings and stupid speculations.” (Romans 1:21)
- the “Word” from God will “achieve the purpose for which it was sent”(Isaiah 55:11)
This “Word behind you” can be a sermon you hear, a study you conduct, a proven counsellor, an individual who may not be Christian but employed by God (e.g. Pharaoh). It does not and is not limited to an impression but will inevitably lead to a “CONFESSION”, to REPENT and TURN AROUND.
We must note the source of Isaiah 30:20, And though THE LORD (The same Lord as in verse 18 .. comments mine) GIVES YOU the BREAD OF ADVERSITY and the WATER OF AFFLICTION. What is it going to take to hone my “AWARENESS” so that I may become conscious that this “BREAD and WATER” is being providentially supplied to open my eyes? That is precisely what verse 20 is stating, “but your eyes will CONSTANTLY behold your Teacher. “
It is utter futility to presume or propose what the “BREAD of Adversity” or “WATER of Affliction” will consist of because Isaiah said it could be either “ADVERSITY or AFFLICTION”. Neither proposition will be palatable to those whose “BELIEVE” is simply mental assent and not that strenuous, unquestionable, indescribable, and absolutely necessary ability to “adhere, trust and rely”.
The “BREAD and WATER are the elements of “EXPERIENCE”. which leads to “UNDERSTANDING”. As often mentioned we have an abundance of knowledge and are now being offered the opportunity to convert that to “UNDERSTANDING”. This, however, introduces again the necessity to recognise and acknowledge the “BREAD and WATER” and I have purposely avoided using the terms describing “circumstances” to avoid distraction.
I need, however, to alert you to the implications. The Psalmist stated in Psalm 119:34, “GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING, that I may keep Your law; yes, I will observe it with my whole heart.”
If you will grant me the liberty of paraphrasing the Psalmist, here is actually saying “put me through experiences” or “sock it to me Lord” so that I will relish and enjoy Your provision of “the bread of adversity and water of affliction” because these experiences will ensure that my motivation is in accordance with Your will and is done wholeheartedly.
If we are discerning and intelligent enough to appropriate that which we have explored above, then we well may avoid that which Isaiah stated, realising that the context is different to our time, but the remedy will always be applicable.
Isaiah 28:19 As often as it passes through, it [the enemy’s scourge] will take you; for morning by morning will it pass through, by day and by night. And it will be utter terror merely to hear and comprehend the report and the message of it [but only hard treatment and dispersion will make you understand God’s instruction].
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Ross Smith 