Isa 33:6

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.  Isaiah 33 opens with a rebuke to the king of Assyria: “Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee” (v.1). The language in today’s English means: “You attack others when you have not been attacked. You turn against others when no one has turned against you. So when you stop your attacks, you will be attacked. When you stop turning against others, they will turn against you.” It is the practice of the great oppressors of the world to make war upon their neighbours without any just provocation, or having received any real injury from them. God says that after Assyria has finished its conquests and settled down to enjoy its victory, others will attack them. One word that came into my mind when I read verse 1 is this word: Unprovoked. Something that's unprovoked is done for no good reason, with no real cause. If someone makes an unprovoked attack, he attacks someone who has not tried to harm him in any way. An historical example I can think of is the bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese. The United States was at peace on the morning of December 7, 1941. Japan had been at war for years on the East Asia side of the globe. Europe was already at war with Germany. America was minding its own business. Then, Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbour. President Franklin Roosevelt said the attack on Pearl Harbor was unprovoked and dastardly and called on Congress to declare war on Japan Empire. America joined in the conflict. Japan announced surrendered on 15 August 1945. The Chinese has this idiom: Don’t disturb a sleeping tiger; you might get hurt when it wakes up. The English says: Let sleeping dogs lie. The proverbs mean: Do not instigate trouble; leave something alone if it might cause trouble. Solomon says: “He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears” (Proverbs 26:17). A Christian should not be one who goes round looking for trouble. Don’t provoke anyone to anger; live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18). Paul exhorts: “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands,” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). To do your own business – It means, to mind your own business. Be at peace; be quiet! He says to do this, we must keep ourselves busy: “to work with your own hands.” He warns about the young widows: “And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not” (1 Timothy 5:13). Unprovoked actions can come in the form of words too. Gossips, slanders, and spreading rumours, are unprovoked words. Someone didn’t do anything wrong to you but you talk evil about him behind his back. Remember what Isaiah 33:1 implies: What goes around, comes around. Another way of saying is: “As you sow, so shall you reap” (Galatians 6:7). We have this great advice from the apostle Peter: “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it” (1 Peter 3:10, 11). If you love your life and want to see good days ahead, don’t go round looking for trouble – seek PEACE!