So far we've made a whirlwind trip from creation to rebellion to mercy to hope and back to rebellion again. At this point of the story, we find ourselves hearing from the prophet Isaiah. He prophesied in Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah, in the the time when Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The people of God had been in exile and the northern Kingdom of Israel had been decimated. Once again we see the same cycle we've seen since the beginning; sin, judgment, mercy, and promise.

The previous chapter, Isaiah 53, went into great detail about the suffering servant and the suffering the Messiah would endure to bring life to a dying humanity. A chapter where we read the difficult words "the Lord was pleased to crush Him severely" then that the hopeful ones, "After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied."

That is the context in which Isaiah speaks to a people broken by exile and certain God's patience has been utterly exhausted. The prophet reaches back to the flood, not hold a threat over their head, but as reassurance of His ultimate mercy and commitment to see His plan through.

It's easy for us to look back on the flood as a reference point for anger, but God Himself declared it as a boundary He would never cross again. In doing so, the flood becomes a reference point instead of restraint, not rage. He says, "For this is like the days of Noah to me: when I swore that the water of Noah would never flood the earth again,  so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you."

It is important for us to see God's judgment in the same light Isaiah did, as discipline and having restraint, realizing it has limits, purpose, and an endpoint. Once His purpose is accomplished, God binds Himself to us by covenant love.

Isaiah paints us a beautiful tapestry of contrast; mountains may move, hills may shake, creation itself is unstable and yet  God's faithful love will not be removed. What we often see as proof of God's harshness is transformed into proof of His reliability in Isaiah's Spirit-filled hands.

The flood doesn't reveal a God who can't tolerate failure, it reveals a God who will go to great lengths to intervene to keep that failure from becoming final.

Let's be honest, there are stories we read in scripture that make us think God was "too harsh" there. What biblical stories have you read or heard that make it hard for you to reconcile God's goodness with His judgment? How can Isaiah's words of promise invite you to revisit them through the lens of faithfulness instead?

Father, clarify my vision of You and your goodness. When the world is shaking and feels unstable, anchor my heart in the truth that Your faithful love never moves. Teach me to trust in the promise Isaiah shared with us in this passage. In Jesus name, Amen.