Are you “in the shadow of Egypt?”
Is this how you are living your life?
What do I mean by this? The first two questions, you simply must answer yourself, but the last one, I can answer for you. In answering this question, let us look back to the days of Isaiah. This great Prophet of God lived in the Eighth Century B. C. He exercised his role as a Prophet during the days of four rulers of the Southern Kingdom of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). The Kingdom of Judah had gone into moral decay. They attempted to serve God, but not with their hearts (Isaiah 1:11-15). Though God had commanded them to offer animal sacrifices with their hearts, and He wanted them to offer in this way (Deuteronomy 12:10-12), He did not want them to do these things without doing them with their hearts. God did not delight in them “going through the motions” outwardly. He wanted them to offer out of love from the heart. Their assemblies had become sin unto them. Their prayers, He had determined not to hear with the intent of answering. He wanted them to be made clean, and so through Isaiah, the Lord commanded them to be made clean. Isaiah 1:16-17 says, “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
The people of Judah had become “rebellious children” (Isaiah 30:1). They had stopped trusting in God and decided to trust in Egypt. Isaiah warns them that through sinfulness they will be brought into Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 1-39). They will be delivered out of that captivity if they return to God (Isaiah 40-66). Isaiah would also tell them about Jesus coming to the earth. It is the case then that Isaiah 30:1-2 says, “Woe to the rebellious children, saith 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: 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!” They failed to trust in the Very One, Who could save them.
Proverbs 3:5 still says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” I Timothy 6:17-19 tells us to trust in God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Do you trust “in the shadow of Egypt”? Anything that comes before your God is your “Egypt” (Matthew 6:33). It could be that our “Egypt” is ourselves, that we would rather worry about our challenges than pray to God about them (Philippians 4:6-7). It could be that our “Egypt” is our money if we do not give as we ought (I Timothy 6:17-19). Our “Egypt” could be our friends or anyone who we allow to influence us to do wrong (I Corinthians 15:33). Our “Egypt” could be the television or the radio, if we allow our minds to be filled with filth through those (Philippians 4:8). Our “Egypt” could be anything we put before God. Put God first. Put your trust in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 36:7).
-Jason Gann, TBC Online Instructor