Contributor: Ayomide Oladipo

INTRODUCTION

Isaiah 30 was an account of a situation the nation of Judah went through, how they handled it and the result of their actions. Judah was facing threat of invasion from Assyrian army, and out of fear and distrust in the Lord they sort help from Egypt. Though Judah knew rightly that it was sinful for them to seek help from Egypt and not from God, yet they did due to bad counsel. 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Evil communication corrupts good manners”, God had encouraged Judah to trust in Him, but due to bad counsel, they disobeyed God and worshipped an idol “Egypt”. The result of their decision according to Isaiah 30:3-5 was shame, humiliation, and disgrace. Isaiah 30: 31 “For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” Prophet Isaiah prophesied how Assyrians would be destroyed. Today’s study will look at God’s characterisation of the actions of Judah, His call for them to repent and the result of their repentance as it pertains to their current predicament.

The Lord will Defend (Isaiah 31: 1-9)
Verse 1: “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!”

This is telling us the reason why Judah turned to Egypt for help. Egypt was a strong nation, they had chariots and horses with a great army, so when the invasion from Assyrian was imminent, the leaders of Judah weighed their options, did consultations, they knew they were at war and its obvious they needed war equipments. This led to their decision to go to Egypt.

Proverbs 3 :5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Looking at Judah’s antecedents, they are not unbelievers that we may say they did not know to trust in the Lord. In proverbs 3: 5-6, king Solomon gave us what we should and should not do when we are faced with decisions or challenges of life. First, trust in the Lord, second, don’t lean on your own understanding, third before you do anything, acknowledge the Lord and the result of that principle is direction from the Lord. Judah despised this principle by taking counsel from unbelievers, leaning on their own understanding of how to fight the war, which lead to their sinful decision.

Why do we call their act sinful? Luke 9: 42 says: “But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

It was sinful because it is an act of rebellion, they knew the truth, Psalm 20:7 (Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.) but decided to go against the truth they already know.

Lesson: It is not just disobedient for us as believers to turn to other things for help and not God, it is a sin. And the Bible says we cannot be in sin and ask grace to abound. We despise the Lord when we allow fear to push us out of trusting in Him.

Verse 2-3: “2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. (3) Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.”

Though the leaders of Judah had their obvious justification for seeking help from Egypt and not from the Lord prophet Isaiah here was calling them to remember the reasons why they should trust the Lord over the Egyptians.

Vs 3: Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit.

God is superior to the chariots and horses of Egypt because He is not a man. (3b): “When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.”

All it takes is for God to stretch fort His hands and the helper (Egyptians) and those that sort for their help (Judah) will fall together. Prophet Isaiah here was telling them how futile their trust in the Egyptians army is.

Recall our study last week, Isaiah 30:3-5, the trust in Egypt shall end in shame, humiliation, and disgrace.

Lesson: Let us always remember that God is superior to all in every of our decisions. Putting trust in any other thing or man other than God is unreliable. If we can only think a little deeper that if God created all that were made by His word, what can He not unmake by His Word? This includes our challenges Isaiah 30:31 “For through the voice of the Lord, Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod.”

Promise of God to Defend His People.
Verse 4-5: “For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. (5) As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it."

Though Judah made a sinful decision to seek help from Egypt rather than looking unto the help that is already available to them (The Lord), God here, according to prophet Isaiah stood by His commitment to defend mount Zion and Jerusalem which are the cities of His people.

Lesson: God is committed to His promise to defend His own people, if we seek His help or not, His help is always there to defend us, and come through for us if only we can trust in Him.

Call to Repentance.
Verse 6- 7: “Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.”

Prophet Isaiah here was admonishing the people to turn back to God. Vs 7: “For in that day” What day? The day people turn away from the idols they have built for themselves. Prophet Isaiah referred to the actions of Judah as idolatry because they put Egyptians in the place of God.

Verse 8-9: “Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor. (9) He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the banner, Says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.”

In that day, when the people turn back to God, destroy their Idols, then will the Assyrians be destroyed. This will not happen by sword of any man, but by the great fire of the Lord as recorded in 2 Kings 19:35 God sent his angel and killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. When the people woke up, there were 185,000 dead Assyrian soldiers. That is God defending His people when they turn to Him and turn away from Idols.

Lesson: Last week we were asked “What can represent idols in our lives today?”, anything we put in God's place in our lives is an idol.

Psalm 110: 1 “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.””

The Lord is committed to defending us, but not when we have our eyes set on other source of help in place of God. God is committed to all those that have absolute trust in Him, according to the psalmist, God wants us to win without fighting and the only way to live this victorious life is to trust in the Lord.

CONCLUSION
Psalm 91 tells us about they that dwell in the secret place of the Most-High. The secret place of the Most-High, is the everlasting arm of God and in the everlasting arm of God, we have guaranteed everlasting protection, help and provision. Not on the arms of any man or thing. God wants us to honor men, psalm 115: 6 “The heaven, even the heavens, is the Lord’s, But the earth He has given to the children of men.” As long as we remain on earth, we will always need men because God himself gave the earth to men, but we despise God when we put our trust in men. Whatever you trust in, you will worship and the moment our trust is not God we become idol worshippers, and this will end in disgrace, humiliation, and defeat.

Isaiah 51:1-2 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. (2) But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”

The Lord is always committed to His children, but idol worshipping will sabotage our victory as His children. Turn to the Lord today for help, turn away from idols and watch Him make your enemies your footstool while you hold your peace.