"Woe unto the rebellious children, says Jehovah; Who form counsels, but not from me; Who ratify covenants, but not by my Spirit: That they may add sin to sin. Who set forward to go down to Egypt; But have not enquired at my mouth: To strengthen themselves with the strength of Pharaoh; And to trust in the shadow of Egypt. But the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame; And your trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. Their princes were at Tsoan; And their ambassadors arrived at Hanes: 5 They were all ashamed of a people, that profited them not; Who were of no help, and of no profit; But proved even a shame, and a reproach unto them. The burden of the beasts traveling southward, Through a land of distress and difficulty: Whence come forth the lioness, and the fierce lion; The viper, and the flying fiery serpent: They carry on the shoulders of the young cattle their wealth; And on the bunch of the camel their treasures: To a people, that will not profit them. For Egypt is a mere vapor; in vain shall they help:Wherefore have I called her, Rahab the inactive. Go now, write it before them on a tablet;And record it in letters upon a book: That it may be for future times; For a testimony for ever. For there is a rebellious people, lying children; Children who choose not to hear the law of Jehovah: Who say to the seers, See not; And to the prophets, Prophesy not right things: Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Turn aside from the way; decline from the straight path; Remove from our sight the Holy One of Israel. Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you have rejected this word; And have trusted in obliquity, and perversion; And have leaned entirely upon it: Therefore shall this offense be unto you, Like a breach threatening ruin; a swelling in a high wall; Whose destruction comes suddenly, in an instant. It shall be broken, as when one breaks a potter's vessel: He dashes it to pieces, and spares it not; So that there shall not be found a sherd among its fragments, To take up fire from the hearth, Or to dip up water from the cistern. Verily thus says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel: By turning from your ways, and by abiding quiet, you shall be saved; In silence, and in pious confidence, shall be your strength: But you would not hearken." (Isaiah 30:1-15,Lowth)
One of the earliest things taught by the prophet Isaiah is that the name of the Mighty God,--the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, on whose shoulder the Government rests, and in whom alone there is stability and everlasting dominion,--is Wonderful, Counsellor. (Isaiah 9:6-7) He only is "wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." (Isaiah 28:29)
Therefore it is easy to understand the woe pronounced upon those who do indeed take counsel, but not of the Lord. "Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:" (Isaiah 30:1)
It is not an arbitrary curse captiously uttered, as though the Lord were angry because He has been slighted, but the simple statement of the inevitable result to those who despise the counsel of the Lord. There is no real counsel except from Him. "That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them." (Isaiah 30:2-6)
The text itself gives us the picture of the circumstances that called it forth. The Israelites, threatened by the Assyrians, were seeking help from Egypt, their ancient house of bondage. The Egyptians had evidently promised them assistance, which the prophet assured them would never be rendered. This is seemingly the sum of the transaction, but the case was not an ordinary one, and it has lessons for God's people to the end of time.
What is Egypt?
In the first place, we must consider what Egypt really is. We will not take time and space here to go into it in detail, but we find a key in Revelation 11, where we read that the dead bodies of God's "two witnesses," who are slain for the true testimony that they give, shall lie in the street of "the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Revelation 11:8)
Now it was "this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4) that crucified Christ, because "it knew Him not." (1 John 3:1; Acts 13:27) "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:7-8) "These things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time comes, that whosoever kills you will think that he does God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me." (John 16:1-3)
The cross of Jesus is that by which we are crucified unto the world, and since we are to be crucified with Him, it is that by which He was crucified unto the world. "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
By it we are delivered from this present evil world. "Who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." (Galatians 1:4)
We may therefore set it down as a fact that Egypt represents the world, as opposed to Christ. Christ as a little child went down into Egypt, that the saying might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt have I called my Son." (Matthew 2:15)
Israel was brought out of Egypt in order that they might keep God's commandments: "And He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen withgladness: And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; That they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws." (Psalm 105:43-45)
All the children of God,--therefore, all Christians,--must come out of Egypt; so long as they remain in Egypt they cannot render God the service due Him, for Egypt is "the house of bondage." (Exodus 20:2)
The recognition of God as the one, true God, to the exclusion of all false gods, means coming out of Egypt. Think what a marvelous change had taken place when the children of Israel could think of making the alliance with Egypt, and could deliberately seek help against their enemies, from the people who had made them "serve with rigor," (Exodus 1:13) and had "made their lives bitter with hard bondage ... all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor." (Exodus 1:14) "And the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried," (Exodus 2:23) for the Egyptians "evil entreated" (Deuteronomy 26:6) them, "so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live." (Acts 7:19)
Turning to Human Power
Yet to this same people the Israelites were now turning for assistance in their time of need. What a change time had wrought. What and in whom was this change? Had the Egyptians become converted? Did they now acknowledge and worship the true God? Not at all. They were heathens the same as of old, and were as much opposed to God as their fathers ever were. They had crucified Christ in the days of Moses, for Moses esteemed it great riches to share "the reproach of Christ," (Hebrews 11:26) and that reproach is the cross. "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." (Hebrews 13:12-13) "Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. ... For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached You are fallen upon me. ... Reproach has broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Psalm 69:7,9,20-21)
What then did it mean when the people of Israel turned to Egypt for deliverance? It meant that they had forsaken God, the Rock of their salvation. The change was in the Israelites, not in the Egyptians. What blindness was there manifested! to go to the house of bondage to find deliverance! Listen to the talk of some of the "progressive" leaders of the people on those days: "Why shouldn't we make an alliance with the Egyptians, for mutual help? Why should we always keep in memory the ancient differences? The Egyptians are very good fellows, when you come to know them; in fact, they are not so very much different from us. The world has made much progress in the last thousand years, and we ought to be liberal-minded enough to make some concessions to it. It's all very fine to talk about trusting in the Lord, but it isn't practical; 'God helps those who help themselves,' and common sense should teach us that our only hope of existence as a people is in joining our forces with the Egyptians. On some things we will 'agree to disagree,' and so we shall gain influence with them at the same time that they afford us material aid."
Ah yes, we have all heard them talk. What says the Lord? "The strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and your trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion." (Isaiah 30:3) "For Egypt is a mere vapor; in vain shall they help: wherefore have I called her, Rahab the inactive." (Isaiah 30:7,Lowth)
The help of the world is in vain, for, "The world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides for ever." (1 John 2:17) "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes." (Psalm 118:9)
Notice the various readings of the 7th verse. The common version has it, "Their strength is to sit still." (Isaiah 30:7)
That expresses the idea very well, but we need to know the meaning of the word "Rahab," in order to appreciate the text. In Job 9:23 the word occurs, and is rendered "proud helpers;" and in Job 26:12 it occurs in the sentence rendered, "He smites through the proud." (Job 26:12)
In two or three other places in the Bible it is to be found, as in Psalm 89:10, and Isaiah 51:9, but always as something hateful to God. The idea, it is plain to be seen, is that of proud boasting. "Rahab" is connected with Babylon in Psalm 87:4, and we know that Babylon originated in pride, and boasting was its ruin. So Egypt is called the people which make great promises and boasts, but do nothing. So their strength of which they boast, is nothing but emptiness.
Recall the history of Pharaoh's haughty opposition to God in the days of Moses, and think how empty it was, and you will understand the force of this text, and will also better see the folly of Israel's going to the Egyptians for help. They say, and do not.
Going back to the first verse, we notice that where our version has "cover with a covering," Lowth has it, "ratify covenants." The margin of our Bibles has, however, "weave a web," or "make a league." In some versions it is rendered, "pour out a drink offering," which was a common way of ratifying a league, and which is perpetuated to this day in the custom which many have of pledging friendship with a glass of wine.
The covenant which the Israelites were making with the Egyptians was designed as a covering, a protection; but the trouble was, it was not the covering of the Spirit of God. It was a flimsy web that they were weaving.
A Covenant People
Why was it wrong for Israel to make a covenant with the Egyptians or with any other people? Because such a covenant would have been a rejection of God, who had chosen them as His special people. He had made a covenant with them, to be their God, and to take them for His people. It was not because these people were better than others, that they were called God's people, but because they bore the name "Israel," and gloried in it. "Israel" means "a prince of God," a Christian, for all followers of Christ are kings and priests of God. "And has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:6)
Whenever a people bear that name,--no matter what the form, whether Christian or Israelite,--they thereby proclaim that Jehovah is their God and their protector; for such to make any alliance with the world is to be untrue to God, for: "The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4)
The children of Israel were expressly warned, on going into the land of Canaan, not to make any league with the inhabitants of the land. God's plan for them was this: "The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." (Numbers 23:9)
Yet this did not mean that they should be exclusive and misanthropic. On the contrary, they were to be exponents of God's unselfishness and loving kindness to mankind. Any people might join them, and share the blessings God had for them, but in so doing these other peoples were to give up their distinct nationality, and become simply Christians; for in Christ. "There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all." (Colossians 3:11)
Christians are a peculiar people, a nation with an invisible Ruler. They have everything to give "to all people," (Luke 2:10) but no other people have anything to give them. For them therefore to make any alliance whatever with the world, is to deny their King and their profession. It is the same as saying that they do not receive all they need from the Lord, and to put the world in His place. It is to weaken the force of the Gospel to those other people, by conveying the idea that to be a citizen of any earthly country is as good or the same as being a Christian.
Rejecting the Law of God
All that is said in this chapter applies to us as much as to the people who lived when it was written, because it was written "for a testimony for ever. For this is a rebellious people, lying children; children who choose not to hear the law of Jehovah." (Isaiah 30:8-9,Lowth)
The rebellious people are those who do not choose to hear the law of Jehovah; they are not willing to hear the law. Jehovah is the rightful King of all the earth; all who do not regard His law are rebels and outlaws, no matter though they rank as kings on earth.
For Israel to make an alliance with Egypt,--for the professed Church of Christ to enter into any sort of alliance with the world,--is to declare that "the rudiments of the world" (Colossians 2:8) are as good as the law of God. God's law is the only law for all mankind; whatever is contrary to that law is rebellion and idolatry.
But the church has taken upon itself to make laws, calling them God's laws. "After their own lusts [have men] heaped to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they have turned their ears from the truth, ... unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4) "[They] say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not right things: speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits." (Isaiah 30:10,Lowth)
Men choose their own teachers--those who will say the things that they like to hear--and then will quote the sayings of those teachers as authority, in opposition to the law of God. This is identical with the course of the heathen, who makes his own god, and then says, "Deliver me, for you are my god." (Isaiah 44:17)
Yet these professed people of God will not believe that what the Bible says of the heathen applies to them. What will be the result of all this? Because men reject the word of the Lord, even "the Holy One of Israel," (Isaiah 30:11) "sudden destruction shall come upon them, ... and they shall not escape;" (1 Thessalonians 5:3) "They shall be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel," (Psalm 2:9) and their destruction will be complete.
Trust in God Alone
"Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant. And He shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; He shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit." (Isaiah 30:12-14)
Compare verses 12, 14 with 1 Thessalonians 5:3 and Psalm 2. They who put their trust in men will come to nothing, while "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abides for ever." (Psalm 125:1)
"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." (Isaiah 30:15)
This, coming in the connection that it does, shows that the Lord affords practical, material aid. The Israelites were in great danger: the Assyrians were threatening their destruction; according to all human calculations they needed just such help as the Egyptians could afford,--men and horses and munitions of war. But God said, "No; they will be your ruin; your strength is in quietly trusting in me, in returning to me, and in absolute rest on my word, you will find complete deliverance."
They did not believe Him, and people do not believe it now. We know as a fact that they preferred to trust in men, whom they could see, rather than in God, whom they could not see, and that the Assyrians took them captive.
Why should we not learn the lesson? It is for each individual, as well as for the whole church. It is recorded for the purpose of teaching the church that its strength lies in strict adherence to the Word of God, and in departing from the world. Conformity to the world, whether for the avowed purpose of winning worldlings to the church, or to induce the world to lend the church material aid, is ruin. The world can do nothing for the church, except to corrupt it, but it cannot do that as long as the church trusts in God alone.
But the individual lesson is the one that concerns us most; for if the individuals are faithful, the church must be right. Each person has troubles of various kinds; in the Lord alone there is help. "Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5)
We all know the ways of the world:
• Self-assertion,
• Insisting on one's rights,
• Bitterness,
• Revenge.
Everybody who does not know the Lord, shows how he acts when he is in difficulty, when he is tempted, and when people irritate or injure him; and everybody who does know the Lord, can remember how he once did and how he is still tempted to do. Well, that is the way not to do; that is the way of the world; that is going down into Egypt for help--to the house of bondage for freedom. It is all in vain. "God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1)
There is infinite strength in quietly giving up one's self, and resting in the Lord. "Trust in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." (Isaiah 26:4)--Present Truth, June 8, 1899--Isaiah 30:1-15.