“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!” (Isaiah 31:1)
Our verse starts with a pronouncement of woe. Woe is more of a groaning expression than an actual word; it is the cry of lamentation. It is the prolonged-expression “Oh,” imagine a man wailing and crying oooooooohhhhhhhh, oooooohhhhhh!!! That is what comes to men who live out the foolishness of this verse. This is the end of trusting in man rather than God. Many men have trusted in their own good works instead of God; their end has been wailing and gnashing of teeth for eternity. In this life, many men have trusted the arm of flesh, and the end of their decision was weeping and wailing and woe. It seems that men can either weep before the battle to their God, crying out to Him for help, or do it afterward when the damage is done.

I remember Joshua at Ai; he ran to the battle foolhardily trusting in the numbers and strength of Israel over such a small city. Many men lost their lives that day, Israel was defeated, and then Joshua experienced this woe, of weeping cry and calling on God when the damage was done. Dear reader, do your weeping before God before the battle and you can do your rejoicing afterward, but trusting in the strength of man always leads to woe.
I thought about Ezra on his treacherous journey to Jerusalem. He told us “I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way.” He had made his boast in God, “We had spoken unto the king saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him.” So instead of seeking the king's help, he proclaimed a fast and sought The King of kings' help. Someone today might say, “Don’t be so spiritually minded that you are no earthly good,” but this wasn’t foolishness on behalf of Ezra but faithfulness. Consider Abram before the King of Sodom; he wouldn’t take so much as a shoe latchet from that king. Not only did he not pursue the help of men but he rejected it when it could have been a blight on their testimony and robbed God of his glory. The life of faith forces us into hard situations as it did for these men, and in those situations, we begin to devise, plan, and scheme a way out. “Woe to them who go to Egypt for help,” God saved us from that world, don't let it be the place we run to for help.
The world has finances, it has positions, and many other "Strengths", as Egypt had its horses, chariots, and strengths but none of these things are where our help comes from. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Psalms 121:1-2). Instead of going down to Egypt, why don’t we go up, boldly, to the throne of God "To obtain mercy and find grace to help in our times of need.” Pharaoh is man, not God, his horses are for hire, not a gift of his goodness, his chariots are crafted in man's wisdom but God has chariots of fire crafted by God’s wisdom, manned by flaming spirits that swords cannot pierce nor arrows stop. God’s help is from a heart of love and given freely, Egypt’s help is expensive and weak to boot, so if it is help that you need, “Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” If you run to Egypt now you’ll cry before God later, Look to the Holy One of Israel, seek the LORD, and in the days to come you can rejoice in his deliverance instead of experiencing the woe of trusting in the failing arm of flesh.
Comments