Egypt!? (Isaiah 30,31)
Isaiah fleshes out the prophetic and “theoretical” realities with the real-world example Judah was facing in the moment. Many of the prophetic passages in scripture (and in Isaiah) look ahead to the ultimate, but some are fulfilled in the short-term. Ahaz had become a vassal of Assyria in fear, rather than trusting God. Now, years had passed, Hezekiah was on the throne, and things in Egypt had changed. Egypt was ready to rebel, and some in Judah thought that was a good opportunity. Again, not looking to God for protection nor leadership, they entered into an alliance with their ancient enemy! In fact, Hezekiah seems to have been an instigator in all the nations of Palestine rebelling against Assyria.
Isaiah could not be more disdainful. Assyria was not the threat people imagined, Egypt was nowhere near the help Judah thought. The people should trust in YHWH and not fear either nation!
Assyria swept in and defeated all the allied nations with ease. Leaving Judah for last, Assyria invaded and defeated 46 fortified Judean cities, deporting their population. Jerusalem was left all alone and had to bow to Assyria again. A second rebellion faired much the same, and history does not tell us what spared Jerusalem, but it seems to have been an act of God in some form.
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
How similar is the church today to Israel in those days! We have been convinced that our responsibility is to act, to engage in the powers of the day, to protect our interest, rather than trust God. It is not seen as a strange thing today for Christians to see their political responsibility as level with their witness responsibility, maybe even as more of a priority. In so doing, we regularly justify embracing evil men and making alliances with evil systems, all in the name of our “safety” and “rights.”
What would Isaiah say?
Isaiah could not be more disdainful. Assyria was not the threat people imagined, Egypt was nowhere near the help Judah thought. The people should trust in YHWH and not fear either nation!
Assyria swept in and defeated all the allied nations with ease. Leaving Judah for last, Assyria invaded and defeated 46 fortified Judean cities, deporting their population. Jerusalem was left all alone and had to bow to Assyria again. A second rebellion faired much the same, and history does not tell us what spared Jerusalem, but it seems to have been an act of God in some form.
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
How similar is the church today to Israel in those days! We have been convinced that our responsibility is to act, to engage in the powers of the day, to protect our interest, rather than trust God. It is not seen as a strange thing today for Christians to see their political responsibility as level with their witness responsibility, maybe even as more of a priority. In so doing, we regularly justify embracing evil men and making alliances with evil systems, all in the name of our “safety” and “rights.”
What would Isaiah say?
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