Isaiah 30:20

Isaiah 30:20 says, And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:  Even though God had promised that they would not be destroyed because His grace was still with them, they would still eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction  Matthew Henry says this refers to prisoners fare.  God has already graciously saved us if we put our faith in Jesus Christ, but that doesn’t mean that we will never suffer persecution, and maybe even death, in this lifetime.  Isaiah also told them that in that day that their teachers would still be teaching and that now they would hear them.  If we are persecuted as Christians today, if we are a teacher of God’s word, we need to still teach and if we aren’t, we need to listen to what those who are teaching say, as long as we know that it is consistent with God’s word. 

Verse twenty-one adds, And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.  Isaiah said that the people of Isreal would have their teachers, but they would also have Someone behind them correcting them when they got off of God’s path for their life. Matthew Henry says this is their conscience, but I believe it is the Holy Spirit, Who should be behind all the decisions that we make.

Verse twenty-two continues, Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.  Isaiah also said that in that day that they would destroy all their idols and cast them away.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we must remove all the idols in our lives and cast them away as contemptuous things.  We should never remove idols, those things that stand between God and us, with remorse, but we should cast them away in gladness. 

Verse twenty-three states, Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.  Isaiah offered the people hope of a better day with his next prophesy from God.  When the people repented and began to sincerely worship God again, He would once more bless them with plenty to eat.  Rain would once more fall on the crops when it was needed and the pastures would be green once more.  When we repent and turn to God for the first time or after we have strayed away after we become a Christian, our spiritual blessings will abound, and materially we will have all that we need to do what God calls us to do.  This doesn’t mean we will be rich materially but spiritually. 

Verse twenty-four adds, The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.  The animals that were kept for work would also be fed better.  They would be fed corn or wheat instead of the chaff that they had been fed at times.  The people were even going to be able to share their abundance with their work animals.  I don’t believe that they were to consider the animals to be worth as much as people, nor are we to do so, but we are given the task of caring for them to the best of our ability. 

Verse twenty-five continues, And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.  Isaiah said God promised that the rivers and streams would flow full and freely.  This included the tops of the mountains which had often been barren.  We as followers of Christ may not always have everything we want materially, but we should never be spiritually thirsty, since we have access to the Living Water.