Unbelief: The Real Enemy

“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and they do not seek the Lord. But he also is wise and brings disaster. He does not go back on what he says; he will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers. Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the Lord raises his hand to strike, the helper will stumble and the one who is helped will fall; both will perish together. For this is what the Lord said to me: As a lion or young lion growls over its prey when a band of shepherds is called out against it, and it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their noise, so the Lord of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Like hovering birds, so the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem; by protecting it, he will rescue it; by passing over it, he will deliver it. Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against. For on that day, every one of you will reject the worthless idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made. Then Assyria will fall, but not by human sword; a sword will devour him, but not one made by man. He will flee from the sword; his young men will be put to forced labor. His rock will pass away because of fear, and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag. This is the Lord’s declaration — whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 31:1-9 CSB)

Last week I wrote a short piece about what it means to have faith and to rest in the quiet confidence of that faith in almighty God. That is really the theme for this section of Isaiah, simple, quiet confidence and trust in God. This week carries that theme a step further as Isaiah prepares to show us how God will bring this to pass for all mankind.

As we’ve already seen, the epitome of Judah’s lack of faith and the embedded cultural idolatry is their willingness to fall back on Egypt as their “savior” from Assyria. But rather than just rehash what he has already said, Isaiah draws a distinct contrast between the physical and the spiritual realities of life. So, the issue we face today is one of faith in the physical (un)certainties we tend to rely upon or faith in the spiritual certainties we often doubt and question. Which is more real? Which is more powerful? Which is worthy of our trust? Which one do we embrace and default to?

The focus of the opening verse is how much trust God’s people have placed in human schemes, political alliances and military might and how little they truly trust God. They “depend on horses” and they trust in “the abundance of chariots” and in the “large number of horsemen” but they “do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and they do not seek the LORD.” The great commandment calls upon God’s people to love Him above anything and everything in life and to do so with their whole self: heart, soul, mind and strength. And yet, in a moment of crisis they do not look to Him for help or counsel. That is a crystal clear indication of where their love loyalties lie.

In verse 2, they are reminded that God is wise and does not “go back on what He says.” In His wisdom and in fulfillment of His Word, He will rise up against the “house of the wicked” and bring disaster against the allies of “evildoers”. You’ll miss Isaiah’s real point if you overlook the fact that the “house of the wicked” and the “allies of evildoers” is really pointing the finger at Judah and not at Egypt. God will cause Egypt’s armies to fail in their attempt to help Judah, but the focus of judgement here is against God’s people, not her allies.

Now watch Isaiah draw his contrast: “Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit.” He goes on to tell how the LORD will raise His hand in judgment and the “helper will stumble” and “the one helped will fall” as both perish together. The Egyptians and their incredible chariot force are mere flesh and not God. THAT’S the main point! Not just for Judah but for us, too. Why do we depend on these things to give us what they can never really give us? Judah puts her trust in Egypt and their chariots and turns her back on the Holy One of Israel, the very One who delivered her from Egypt and called her into an everlasting covenant with Him.

So, the question we must all face is whether we place our trust in the physical reality of the world or the spiritual reality of God?

Do you trust God more than you trust man? Do you believe God and trust His Word more than you believe and trust in the promises of men? That’s a hard enough question to wrestle with, but let’s make this even more personal and an even tougher issue to face. Do you believe God and trust His Word more than you believe yourself and trust your own feelings? Judah had not stopped believing in the reality of God, they had simply begun to trust their own judgment, their own thoughts, their own reasoning, their own feelings and desires more than they trusted God. They trusted the physical world, what they could see and know through experience, more than they trusted what they couldn’t see and had to trust by faith.

This issue plays itself out in multiple ways every day in our lives. Do you trust the promises of politicians more than you trust the promises of God? Do you trust the outcome of financial markets more than your trust the Word of God? Do you trust your personal understanding and interpretation of scripture more than you trust the teaching, prodding and leading of the Holy Spirit? Please, don’t misunderstand me here. I trust God’s Word, but my understanding and interpretation of it is often skewed or just wrong. Like Judah in this passage and the Pharisees in the Gospels, my view and understanding of God’s Word and will is often biased and based on my desires, assumptions and expectations instead of the revealed and demonstrated will of God as demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

We often allow political leaders, cultural trends and personal desires to influence our trust in God and our obedience to His Word. You may not recognize it, but we are often guilty of falling back into our old ways of seeking victory over our enemies. Instead of trusting God to deliver us through obedience to His will and word, we make unholy alliances with the world. These often take on a political nature like Judah did with Egypt or the modern church has done with some political leader. But we also do the same when we live our lives shackled to the world’s trends, desires and economic influences.

So, let me say this very directly and unapologetically: Christians must never grovel at the feet of any political leader or party and we must never be indebted to anyone or anything in service to our God. We submit only to the King of kings and kneel only before the LORD of lords.

“So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” (Matthew 6:31-33 CSB)

Now, we need to take a close look at the two analogies Isaiah gives. The LORD of Hosts is: 1) like a lion who growls over its prey when a band of shepherds comes against it and attempts to scare it away; 2) like birds who cover and protect their young when threatened. Notice the way in which each of these illustrations end; 1) the LORD “fights” on behalf of or for His people; 2) and He protects and rescues them by “passing over” them and “delivering” them. We would be wise to remember that the ways in which God fights for us and rescues us is not always the way we want or expect. Jesus was rejected by many of the Jews of His day because the way in which God was fighting for, protecting and rescuing them didn’t match up with their expectations.

If that was true for them, it is true for us. People today often reject the message of the Gospel because God presents Himself as their protector and savior in a manner that doesn’t match their desires or expectations. God doesn’t bend or bow to our expectations, assumptions and demands but to experience His protection, deliverance and salvation we must bow to Him! God doesn’t give us what we want, He gives us what we need – Himself. We don’t need bigger, fancier facilities, more dynamic programs, trendy sermons and sound bites, cooler music or amazing media presentations to experience God’s presence. We ONLY need Him!

Notice how He tells Judah this very thing: “Return to the One the Israelites have greatly rebelled against. For on that day, every one of you will reject worthless idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made. THEN Assyria will fall, but not by human sword; a sword WILL devour him, but not one made by man (Is. 31:6-8).” Victory will come, but not in a way they expect. They will be rescued, but not by Egypt. Assyria will fall, but not by human strength and power.

Real repentance is radical, like the prodigal who sees himself as a rebel against a gracious father and seeks to be treated like a hired hand and not like his older brother who sees himself as the victim of a stingy, vindictive father.

Listen to me carefully: You will never know God’s saving power until you recognize yourself in this passage. Until we see ourselves as rebels towards our loving Father, we will never turn back towards home. Until we recognize the mess our choices have made of our lives, we will never repent and seek our Father’s mercy. Until we view ourselves as unworthy of being called His child, we will never experience the grace of His restoration. Until we stand in fear of His holy and righteous judgment, we will never cast ourselves at the foot of His cross. And finally, until we cast ourselves at the foot of His blood-soaked cross we will never experience the power of His forgiveness and resurrection.

But when we do our Assyria (sin, the real enemy in our life) will fall, too.

“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:7-10 CSB)

Finally, God declares that SWORD not made by human hands will cause their enemy (and ours) to fall. He describes him [their enemy] here as a “rock” that will pass away out of fear. This is probably referencing the human king of Assyria, but could also be referencing the citadel or seat of Assyria’s government. Ultimately, our enemy will be destroyed by that supernatural SWORD – the living Word of God, Jesus. God declares these things, which means He wills them to come to pass. His declaration rests upon His own power “whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.” This “fire” is a reference back to Ariel from a few weeks ago – the hearth of altar.

This ties deeply into the rest of this passage, the way in which God will judge Judah’s sin and deliver her from her enemies is through the sacrifice God will make at Ariel, on the altar – He will sacrifice Himself on their behalf. He will bring victory over the enemy and salvation to His people in a way that defies their understanding of Him and their understanding of themselves. Their sacrifices are but a shadow of what He would sacrifice. Their understanding of themselves as the people of God is but a shadow of what He intended. He would use them as a means of calling all men to worship at that fire or altar hearth in Zion.

In the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Lewis reveals to the children the character of God and work of Jesus in the lion, Aslan. In the story of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, young Lucy asks Mr. Beaver whether Aslan is safe. Mr. Beaver replies: “Course He isn’t safe, but He is good. He is the King, I tell you.” We often want a God who is safe and who makes us feel comfortable and self-confident. But that’s NOT the kind of God we serve. We serve almighty God, the lion who growls over His prey and refuses to be terrified by our shouting or subdued by our demands. He will walk with us when we are willing to walk in His ways, not our own. He will lead us into victory when we are willing to depend upon His strength and not ours. He will devour our enemies when we are willing to walk alongside the fearsome Lion of Judah. He will protect us when we are willing to abide in His shadow, under His wing.

And He will save us, but only when we submit ourselves to Him, to His Savior – His Son that was sacrificed on our behalf. “Jesus told him [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/jhn.14.6.CSB) God doesn’t do things our way, He does them His way because His ways are right, just and good. The world will tell you that there are many ways to God, many ways to heaven, many paths up the mountain but God says there’s only one – Jesus. Who will you believe, man or God?