Never Return to Egypt

"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

God delivered the children of Israel from hundreds of years of bondage and slavery in Egypt.  With miraculous signs and a mighty hand God brought forth the Jewish nation and gave them His Law.  Centuries later, a day came when Israel faced the threat of the Babylonian nation.  Desperate to save themselves from occupation, captivity, or annihilation, some Jews decided to take refuge in Egypt from the advancing army.  God pronounced woe on those who looked to Egypt for help rather than look to the Holy God of Israel in faith.  It was folly to return to the "iron furnace" from which God had delivered them. (Deut. 4:20, Jer. 11:4)  How quickly we can forget how horrible our bondage was!

God proved His power and authority over all Egyptian gods through miraculous plagues before the exodus.  After the tenth plague, the children of Israel were released by Pharaoh.  Not long after they departed from his lands, he and his princes had second thoughts.  So hard were their hearts they decided to pursue the freed slaves with chariots and horsemen.  God protected His people and caused the Red Sea to part so the people could pass through on dry land.  When the Egyptian armies attempted a pursuit, it was to their destruction.  The entire army perished, for God fought for his people.  As the people saw the corpses of their enemies washing up on the shore, Exodus 15:1 tells us:  "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: "I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!"

The Jews going to Egypt was far more significant than traveling to a distant city to avoid conflict:  it was telling of the people's hearts before God.  They had forsaken the God who delivered them and returned to a place of bondage.  They hoped for safety from those who had oppressed them, and trusted horses and chariots to save them - the same horses and chariots God had vanquished in the depths of the Red Sea.  The people had departed from serving the living God and did not trust Him to save them.  Israelite kings were given victory by the power of God, but foolishly gathered up the idols of the kings they destroyed and worshiped them instead.  Jeremiah 2:12-13 says, "Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate," says the LORD. ¹³ "For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Having been given salvation freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, it is possible for Christians to do the same thing:  to seek deliverance and salvation from current conflict by returning to a life of bondage which could not save at all.  When we lean on our own understanding, walking by sight and not by faith in God, the old ways of thinking and living prove alluring.  But we should never be duped to return to Egypt.  It is God who has saved us and He is our God and King.  He is the One who fights for us.  It is He who vanquishes our enemies and provides rest for our souls.  Consider the wisdom of David in Psalm 20:6-9:  "Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. ⁸ They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright. ⁹ Save, LORD! May the King answer us when we call."  Do you trust the One in whom you have believed?  Let us seek our Saviour who provides living water, and refuse to hew for ourselves broken cisterns.