Do Not Go Back to Egypt for Help (Isaiah 31)

Isaiah 31 pronounces a woe upon those who were going down to Egypt to get help.  All you have to do is reflect on the history of Israel to see that this was a foolish decision.  The plagues themselves demonstrated the defeat of the idols of Egypt by the true and living God.  But we too can go back to Egypt for help.  We do so when we want to go back and live in sin even though we have been delivered from slavery to sin, we do so when we fear man rather than God, we do so when we trust in a strong military rather than looking to the army of God in the heavens above.  The folly of this Isaiah shows by appealing to the Creator-creature distinction.  We worship the creation or things made by creatures rather than the Creator who is to be forever praised.  This is just as true for us as materialistic Americans as it was for those who fashioned household gods in the ancient world.  Going back to Egypt for help might look like going to the marketplace for us.

New audio link.