“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord! " Isaiah 31:1
A certain British wedding didn’t quite, go according to plan when a trained owl refused to fly down from the rafters in the church with the wedding rings. The bird had done well during the rehearsals but simply refused to cooperate on the big day leaving everyone a little puzzled as to how they would retrieve the rings. Perhaps they managed to finally coax the owl down or perhaps they had to shoot the poor bird, but one lesson learned from this story is that one shouldn't trust an owl to do a humans job.
Isaiah confronts Judah with two sins: the sin of trusting in Egypt and their military might, and the sin of not looking to the Holy One of Israel. Judah felt they had a reason to trust in chariots (because they were many). Judah felt they had a reason to trust in horsemen (because they were very strong). But they couldn’t seem to find a reason to trust in the Lord!
The issue here was that the Assyrian army was about to attack Judah and the people decided to trust Egypt with a job only God could do.
Over the years I have often been guilty of rushing to today's equivalent of "horses & chariots" only to find that they fail to come through for me in my time of need. When it really mattered, my "owl' didn't come down from the rafters. God who created this ever expanding universe by just speaking it into being, is more than able to transform our situations and meet any need. I have to be deliberate in reminding myself of this truth every day. Not trusting Him is not an option, its sin.
A certain British wedding didn’t quite, go according to plan when a trained owl refused to fly down from the rafters in the church with the wedding rings. The bird had done well during the rehearsals but simply refused to cooperate on the big day leaving everyone a little puzzled as to how they would retrieve the rings. Perhaps they managed to finally coax the owl down or perhaps they had to shoot the poor bird, but one lesson learned from this story is that one shouldn't trust an owl to do a humans job.
Isaiah confronts Judah with two sins: the sin of trusting in Egypt and their military might, and the sin of not looking to the Holy One of Israel. Judah felt they had a reason to trust in chariots (because they were many). Judah felt they had a reason to trust in horsemen (because they were very strong). But they couldn’t seem to find a reason to trust in the Lord!
The issue here was that the Assyrian army was about to attack Judah and the people decided to trust Egypt with a job only God could do.
Over the years I have often been guilty of rushing to today's equivalent of "horses & chariots" only to find that they fail to come through for me in my time of need. When it really mattered, my "owl' didn't come down from the rafters. God who created this ever expanding universe by just speaking it into being, is more than able to transform our situations and meet any need. I have to be deliberate in reminding myself of this truth every day. Not trusting Him is not an option, its sin.