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Day 11
Wednesday in the Second week of Lent
Isaiah 33:21
But there the LORD in majesty will be for us
….a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
….nor stately ship can pass.
Isaiah 33 begins as a prayer calling upon God to see the nation’s distress and come to their aid:
O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
….Be our arm every morning,
….our salvation in the time of trouble.
It then becomes an oracle of judgment upon the nations that assaulted Judah, as well as the corrupt within the nation. And, finally, it becomes a song of salvation. God will save. Peace will come.
Hiking with my daughter along the Lost Coast of Norther California in the summer, we came across nicely spaced small streams feeding the ocean where we could camp and draw fresh water. But those streams were always placed within a large wash of boulders and tree trunks that made it quite clear that winter storms turned these gentle streams into roaring rivers. As much as I would love to live in a cabin in the woods alongside a stream, I wouldn’t trust it. I would want to build on high ground.
The Vikings were skilled at sailing up stream in their long boats to plunder and pillage villages and cities – reaching even to Rome and Constantinople. That is the other danger of rivers. In ancient times they were potential highways of destruction.
In an arid land, water is life. But broad rivers are also a danger, allowing access to plundering ships and armies. So the prophet makes clear that God will be the kind of river that poses no threat. God will be a river of peace.
Mighty Rock, Wondrous Redeemer
grant us wise and grateful hearts
to live your peace.
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Image:. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albizia_saman_trunk_leaning_over_the_water_on_a_Mekong_bank_in_sunshine_at_golden_hour_(2).jpg; Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
© David K Bonde, 2021, All rights reserved