WOW - The Big Picture 6/2

June 2

Don't Look to Egypt for Help

Isaiah 30; Psalms 66:16-20; Proverbs 14:14

"Woe to the rebellious children," says the LORD, "Who take counsel, but not of Me,

And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,

That they may add sin to sin;

Who walk to go down to Egypt,

And have not asked My advice,

To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,

And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

Therefore the strength of Pharaoh

Shall be your shame,

And trust in the shadow of Egypt

Shall be your humiliation.

For his princes were at Zoan,

And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them, Or be help or benefit,

But a shame and also a reproach."

Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

"Because you despise this word,

And trust in oppression and perversity,

And rely on them,

Therefore this iniquity shall be to you

Like a breach ready to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.

And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel, Which is broken in pieces;

He shall not spare.

So there shall not be found among its fragments

A shard to take fire from the hearth,

Or to take water from the cistern."

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

"In returning and rest you shall be saved;

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

But you would not,

And you said, "No, for we will flee on horses"-

Therefore you shall flee!

And, "We will ride on swift horses"-

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,

At the threat of five you shall flee,

Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain

And as a banner on a hill.

Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice;

Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;

You shall weep no more.

He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;

When He hears it, He will answer you.

And though the Lord gives you

The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,

Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,

But your eyes shall see your teachers.

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,

"This is the way, walk in it,"

Whenever you turn to the right hand

Or whenever you turn to the left.

You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold.

You will throw them away as an unclean thing;

You will say to them, "Get away!"

Then He will give the rain for your seed

With which you sow the ground,

And bread of the increase of the earth;

It will be fat and plentiful.

In that day your cattle will feed

In large pastures.

Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground Will eat cured fodder,

Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.

There will be on every high mountain

And on every high hill

Rivers and streams of waters,

In the day of the great slaughter,

When the towers fall.

Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,

As the light of seven days,

In the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people

And heals the stroke of their wound.

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!

Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,

And will not call back His words,

But will arise against the house of evildoers,

And against the help of those who work iniquity.

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;

And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.

When the LORD stretches out His hand,

Both he who helps will fall,

And he who is helped will fall down;

They all will perish together.

For thus the LORD has spoken to me:

"As a lion roars,

And a young lion over his prey

(When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him,

He will not be afraid of their voice

Nor be disturbed by their noise),

So the LORD of hosts will come down

To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.

Like birds flying about,

So will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem.

Defending, He will also deliver it;

Passing over, He will preserve it."

Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold-sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. "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.

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.

Isaiah 30:1-5, 12-26; 31:1-9

WORSHIP

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

And I will declare what He has done for my soul.