Isaiah 14:30
30 And the firstborn [bakowr] of the poor [dal] shall
feed [ra`ah], and the needy ['ebyown] shall lie down [rabats] in
safety [betach]: and I will kill [muwth] thy root [sheresh] with
famine [ra`ab], and he shall slay [harag] thy remnant [sha'eriyth]. KJV-Interlinear
30 "And those who are most
helpless will eat, And the needy will lie down in security; I will destroy your
root with famine, And it will kill off your survivors. NASB
Philistia, being along
the border of Judah, constantly harassed those border villages and residents of
Judah.
Consequently, people
who lived along those border territories were in a constant state of danger and
unrest. They would never know if or when
a raiding party might happen along, whether this month or next month, whether
this year of next year, and so forth.
Since no one really
knows when danger is lurking until the raiders are seen advancing on them, they
have no time, or very little time, to get prepared and/or to safety.
Anyone who was poor was
never prepared, nor able to prepare themselves for any sort of life difficulty,
let alone raiders. Life is full of
difficulties, from weather, injuries, accidents, lack of money or resources, pressures
from laws and regulations and such, and it is the poor who suffer the most from
life's circumstances.
When you add in the
threat of random and spontaneous raids from enemies that care nothing for you,
then life becomes downright unbearable and always uncetain.
Now, this verse
emphasized the infants of the poor.
Since the poor are
typically the most at risk in any situation, then the mention of their babies
indicates younglings that are even more at risk, as babies cannot take care of themselves,
and are dependent on their poor parents, who themselves cannot take care of
themselves nor keep themselves safe.
The infants then, are
the most poor of the poor, the most at risk of those at risk.
And yet, when God is
finished with cleaning up the evil enemies from all corners, then the picture
changes.
Shall feed and lay down
in safety, means total and complete safety and comfort and security.
And their safety is due
to the promise made here, that God will not only stop the raiders, but God will
totally remove their existence from the earth.
The word for kill, ‘muwth,’
means just that. God will destroy the
enemies by killing them, resulting in their death, needless to say. The dead pose no more threats.
The root, is a
reference to that posterity that grows up out of a stump. The stump referring to the parent who starts
the next generation, the root. But when
the stump is killed, then the root or off spring is starved, as it were, and
thus dies due to the lack of any form of support mechanism. No parents, no offspring. No prior generation, then no subsequent
generation. Nothing to sustain or perpetuate
the old ways of evil.
And the remnant, of the
enemy, or anyone left over, simply dies or fades away from history by default.
The intent here is
that, at the end of history, when Christ is finished with His work of
eliminating all evil from the earth, and this certainty is made clear, then
even the poorest and most vulnerable will now be safe for the remainder of their
lives.
All risks and threats
and dangers from any and all enemies as the world has known, will cease to
exist.
And even though this is
stated as a warning against all would-be enemies of Gods people, it is intended
to be a comfort to all of Gods people, that no matter what you face in life,
and even though you do not live in that final generation of history, you are
always under His protection and safety.
The world will try as
it may, to destroy you, to keep you in a state of fear, to push you into a
depression wanting you to give up on life or worse, just so the world can
defeat you. But God is always there and
your destiny is always there, and doctrine is always there, so that you can
know that no matter what befalls you in life, you will end up a winner if you
simply persevere.
Know this, that raiders
are always out there in life. Your raiders
may be economic or health issues, or whatever, and God will allow them to come
and go at will, but no matter what the world throws your way, God is always
there and your spiritual growth process is always there, for you to achieve the
spiritual self-completion that God intends for you, and when it is all said and
done, you will be a hero of the angelic conflict, and there is nothing that
Satan, or demons, or life's difficulties can do to change or prevent that.
Life has to go to great
lengths to destroy you.
All you need do is
study doctrine, remain in fellowship, and in effect do nothing by comparison,
and you will be the winner. God does all
of the work.
