Seeking shelter in the shadow of Egypt will only lead to disappointment and bondage. Isaiah 31:1 warns, "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek help from the LORD."
Hezekiah was a godly man, the opposite of his father, Ahaz. "He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah." II Kings18:4. "He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him." II Kings 18:4 "He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him." II Kings 18:7
"In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
Hezekiah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold." II Kings18:14 However, the Assyrian agreement was worthless, because the Assyrian army was soon at the gates of Jerusalem again. Their spokesman, a gifted military commander, Rabshakeh addressed Hezekiah at the time of the siege and asked, "On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it." II K.18:20–21
Egypt's reputation was well-known. The Assyrians knew that Egypt would rather duck than fight. So, Isaiah, the prophet of God, and Assyria, Israel's mortal enemy, speak the same word, "don't rely on Egypt". But Hezekiah evidently had not resisted the temptation and so Isaiah's word was to him as well as his people.
There are times in our lives when doing nothing is the right thing to do and in doing nothing, we are actually trusting God. Desperate situations provoke desperate reactions. How do we know whether to flee, or fight, or sit tight? Providentially, the answer comes to us in this passage, "Your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher [in the flesh. And your ears shall hear a word behind you (the Holy Spirit), saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." Isa.30:20–21
Many of us have had the experience of God's direct guidance in unusual circumstances. The goal, however, is to be under His guidance at all times. The tribe of Judah sinned and invited trouble by trusting in military might and not the Lord.
In the book of Isaiah, the prophet confronts Judah with 2 sins, the sin of trusting in Egypt and their military might and the sin of not looking to their God, the holy one of Israel. The people of Judah felt they had a reason to trust in chariots because there were many of them, and they felt that they had a reason to trust in their horsemen, because they were very strong.
However, they could not seem to find a reason to trust in the Lord. The one who in past time delivered them and gave them victory. Judah was not trusting God at that time for the same reason that we do not trust God in our times of trouble. They were looking around with their fleshly eyes and not their spiritual eyes and their fear overcame their faith.
It's like having a wayward child that you see is living in the "far away country" making the most grievous of mistakes over and over again. You struggle to give them to God, but in the process of doing so, you take your spiritual eyes off of God's ability and allow your fleshy eyes to focus on your child's "lack of ability" in making better choices, and those thoughts if not repented of will carry you off to a baron place of doubt and disturbance.
What about you sweet friend? When you are faced with a situation that requires your faith in difficult situations, have you set your spiritual default to turn to God and remain true to Him in doing so? Or, do you find it easier to give up and look to other places for help, only to find in the end that only God could really help!
"God can make the stoutest heart to tremble. God can, when he pleases, make the stoutest heart to tremble; and as for those who will not fear God, he can make them fear at the shaking of a leaf." 2 Kings 7:3-11
His strong hand can humble the hardest of hearts. Man brings destruction on himself. It is God that comes to his rescue when he humbles himself before God.
Hold fast,
-Bren
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