Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, who take counsel, but not of me, and who make leagues, but not by my Spirit, that they may heap sin upon sin;
Isaiah opens a new woe. It falls not on a foreign empire but on God's own people, who plan their survival without asking Him. Their turn toward Egypt raises a question for every reader: when trouble comes, whose counsel do we take?
The sting of the verse is in the words "stubborn children" — "rebellious children" in older translations. These are God's own people. They hold His promises. That is what makes the trip to Egypt so grievous.
The first mark of their evil that draws out God's indignation is this: His people go down into Egypt. They were a people blessed by God. They held promises of still better blessings than they had ever tasted, blessings God's own grace will yet give them in the last days — the best blessings possible for a people on earth. That such a people should go down to Egypt for help was not only degrading to themselves, but especially dishonouring to God.
Egypt was more than a convenient ally. It stood for a whole way of thinking.
For Israel it was going down into Egypt. For us it is taking counsel from natural wisdom instead of from God in any difficulty. It was the same fleshly wisdom that Israel sought, and Egypt is its symbol in the ancient world. No country in the early history of men was so distinguished for the wisdom of nature as Egypt... Egypt depended mainly on good counsel, as if there were no living God. It leaned on the counsel of man sharpened by long experience, for it was one of the oldest powers to rise to greatness.
The charge is not that they made no plans. It is that the plans were their own. Commentators say the same danger reaches sincere Christians.
Jehovah pronounces woe on the rebellious children. They act on their own prudence, and Jehovah does not counsel them (vv. 1-7). This happens too often even with the Christian. It is folly, even with the best intentions, to take counsel of oneself. Often we have to run back along the road to return to the place we left. All that is time lost.
Notice the order: they act first and ask afterwards. The order itself is the sin, and prayer offered later cannot repair it.
To go down into Egypt was to give up God for man. If they had asked counsel, they knew well that God would never send them down to Egypt, out of which He had brought them. But they did not seek counsel; they act before they ask, and may have prayed about it afterwards. But what is it to pray for God to bless what we are doing in self-will? Let us ask Him what He would have us do before we act. It may be that God would have us do nothing, or He may give us counsel through one of His children.
God told them in advance what the alliance would earn them.
But at that moment God had to call the people "rebellious children" (Isa. 30:1), and the prophet returns to what they were doing at the time. He said of them, "who take counsel, but not of Me, and who make leagues, but not by My Spirit" (older translation). They were relying on Egypt instead of turning to the Lord. And they hear plainly that Egypt would be a shame and a reproach to them instead of any profit.
The verse is not only history. The same pull works on us when trouble comes from the world.
The tendency is immense to meet a worldly trial in a worldly way. One is apt to think that spiritual means cannot meet the world's efforts against you. So there is the danger of turning to earthly means to escape... Be sure that if we do not feel the danger, it is because we are ourselves under the world's influence. God uses the felt danger, the dread in our own spirits, and the fear that we would meet flesh with flesh. He uses it all to make us look to Himself. God will never put His seal on self-dependence.
One king of that era shows what the opposite choice looks like in practice.
"He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel" (2 Kings 18:5). This is the striking mark of Hezekiah, and of the revival that came with his reign. It is trust in God. That trust made him reject all human help. Unlike other kings, he does not seek Egypt's help to escape Assyria (Isa. 30:1-5; 31:1-3).
- Rebellion. God aims this woe at His own children. They hold His promises and choose Egypt anyway. That degrades them and dishonours Him.
- Counsel. The sin is not making plans. It is making them alone. Taking counsel of oneself is folly, even with the best intentions.
- Order. They act before they ask. Praying for God to bless what self-will has already decided is not consulting Him.
- Shame. The alliance that looked wise would bring shame and reproach, not profit. Every step back over the same road is time lost.
- Trust. Hezekiah shows the other way. Real trust in God rejects human help instead of adding it. God never puts His seal on self-dependence.
who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked of my mouth, -- to take refuge under the protection of Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt!
God's people faced a threat and made their plans: go down to Egypt, buy Pharaoh's protection, and tell God afterwards. The woe here falls not on a bad policy but on a habit: decide first, and never ask God.
The charge sits in one phrase: "without asking for my direction." One writer reads the chapter's opening as a warning against settling a matter in your own mind first:
Woe falls on the rebellious children. They act on their own prudence, and not on the counsel of Jehovah (vv. 1-7). This is found too often even with the Christian. It is folly, even with the best intentions, to take counsel of oneself… For the Christian, is it taking counsel of God to form a plan first and then pray for a blessing on it? Often we have to run back along the road so as to return to the place we had left. All that is time lost.
God has opened His ear to us, so refusing to ask Him is an outrage. One writer traces that failure to impulse:
Where we often fail is by acting on impulse. If we plan instead of praying in real subjection to God, we have reason to fear for ourselves… We can speak to Him openly and personally about everything. Through the one Mediator we know Him as a Saviour-God, who first spoke to us in grace. Is it not, then, an outrage against the God who has opened His ear to us in this way, if we look to fleshly means? And yet who does not know that this is the very thing to which the wise and prudent are most prone?
Pharaoh's army was strength you could see and hire. Human strength appeals because it leaves pride untouched:
It is no longer only taking counsel without God; it is leaning on the flesh. We all tend not to turn to God until we are forced to… God took Israel out of Egypt, and they were later carried to Babylon. Called out of the world, one falls into corruption. Egypt is a picture of the natural strength of the world, Babylon of the world's corruption. Israel seeks support in the natural strength of man. That does not irritate pride, nor unveil what we are. One cannot lean on God without the pride of the flesh being beaten down and learning that we are nothing.
Why Egypt in particular? Its fame was for wisdom — the counsel of an old and experienced nation:
What going down into Egypt was for Israel is, for us, taking counsel not of God but of natural wisdom in any difficulty. It was the same fleshly wisdom that Israel sought, and Egypt is the symbol of it in the ancient world… Egypt depended above all on good counsel, as if there were no living God. It relied on the counsel of man, sharpened by long experience.
The same pull comes back in every trial:
The tendency is immense to meet a worldly trial in a worldly way. We are apt to think that spiritual means cannot meet the world's attacks on us. So comes the danger of turning to earthly means to escape… If we do not feel the danger, it is because we are ourselves under the world's influence. The feeling of the danger, the dread of our own spirits, the fear that we should meet flesh with flesh — this is what God uses to make us look to Himself. God will never put His seal on self-dependence.
There is a further edge to this shelter-seeking. Egypt was the one place God had already rescued His people out of:
This reliance on Egypt was especially offensive to God. He had delivered them from that very people by His judgments at the start of their national history. It is just as offensive to God if a Christian goes back to the world-system. God has delivered him from it and from the judgment coming on it. Yet he leans on its power or its wisdom, instead of finding his resource in God as emergencies arise.
- Ask. The sin here is not a wrong answer but a missing question. A plan made first and prayed over later is still counsel taken from oneself.
- Backtrack. The wrong turn costs time. Often we have to run back along the road to the place we left, and all that time is lost.
- Lean. Human strength attracts because leaning on it costs no pride. Leaning on God means learning that we are nothing.
- Shadow. Egypt stands for the world's wisdom and power offered as shelter. If we do not feel the danger of it, we are already under the world's influence.
- Offence. Running back to Egypt offends God most of all, because Egypt is the place He rescued His people out of.
For to you the protection of Pharaoh shall be a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt a confusion.
Under pressure, God's people looked to Egypt for cover. This verse is God's verdict on that plan: the shelter they bought would become the very thing that shamed them.
The woe here does not fall on people who walked away from God. It falls on people who made a sensible plan and never asked Him. One commentator warns that Christians fall into the same folly, and that it costs them time:
A woe is pronounced on the rebellious children who act on their own good sense, and are not counselled by the Lord (vv. 1-7). This happens far too often even with the Christian. It is folly, even with the best intentions, to take counsel of yourself. Is it really taking counsel of God if we form a plan, and then pray for a blessing on it? Often we have to run back along the road to return to the place we left. All that is time lost.
"Shadow" is the word the verse uses for what they were buying. Scripture keeps using that picture, and usually for cover of a different kind:
Shadow is often used as a figure in Scripture. Its meaning varies slightly from place to place, but in general it pictures the relief and protection God gives to those who trust in Him.
That is what makes the choice so pointed. They went to Pharaoh for the shelter only God gives.
Egypt looked strong. One writer weighs what leaning on it always cost God's people:
Egypt had been a breaking staff to Israel; a staff of reed, which offered much, but never kept its promises, bringing only ruin to everyone who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. This was so even though He had brought them out of that land, and they had seen His judgment on it in their own rescue. Sadly, it is an inconsistency that not one of us who knows himself can be a stranger to.
The verse promises humiliation. That sounds like pure punishment, but one commentator reads it as a sign of God's love:
Our strength, we are told, is in quiet confidence. Christians have a right to expect God to appear for us; He has given us the title to count on it. Where He now puts to shame, it is our self-will. His putting such people to shame is not proof that He does not love them. It is exactly the proof that He does.
The same instinct works in us. Under pressure we reach for whatever the world reaches for, and one commentator names the warning sign:
The tendency is enormous to meet a worldly trial in a worldly way. We are apt to think that spiritual means cannot meet the world's efforts against us. So there is the danger of turning to earthly means to escape. What is this but the very same thing we find here? And yet who that cares for the children of God and for the truth does not know the danger of it? Be sure of this: if we do not feel the danger, it is because we are ourselves under the world's influence.
There was another option, and they turned it down:
The Lord said they would be saved by returning to Him and resting in Him. He said their strength would then be found in quietness and confidence in Him. They said, No. They preferred to flee on horses — for which Egypt was famous. As a result, judgment would fall.
- Counsel — The woe begins with a plan made without asking God. Praying for a blessing on a decision already taken is not the same as taking counsel of Him.
- Shadow — In Scripture a shadow pictures the relief and protection God gives those who trust Him. They went to Pharaoh for what only God supplies.
- Reed — Egypt offered much and kept nothing. A staff of reed ruins everyone who leans on it. Commentators admit that none of us is a stranger to that failure.
- Shame — The humiliation is aimed at self-will. Being put to shame here is not evidence that God has stopped loving His people; it is evidence that He has not.
- Rest — The offer stood all along: salvation in returning to God, strength in quietness and confidence. They chose Egypt's horses instead, and judgment followed.
For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
Judah's leaders sent envoys deep into Egypt for help instead of asking God what to do. This verse names the two stops on their journey.
answer:
Hanes is the harder of the two names to place.
A city in Egypt where Israel sent her ambassadors when she trusted in Egypt instead of in the Lord. Isaiah 30:4. For a long time people identified it with Tahpanhes on the eastern frontier. Now it is thought to be the ancient Heracleopolis Magna, identified with Ahnas el Medeeneh, about seventy miles south-west of Cairo.
Zoan came with a history of its own:
A city in Lower Egypt, built seven years after Hebron. It was the capital of the Hyksos or shepherd kings of Egypt. It was here that Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh and here the plagues took place... God denounced the place, and He said its princes had become fools.
Kelly's older rendering calls them "princes", and he settles whose they are from the flow of the prophecy.
Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me... They shall all be ashamed of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor a profit, but a shame, and also a reproach (vv. 1-5). His princes means those of God's people, as the next chapter proves decisively. This is how the prophet's irony comes out.
Why Egypt? Kelly names what the country stood for, and what the same move looks like for us.
Israel went down into Egypt; for us the same thing is taking counsel from natural wisdom instead of from God in any difficulty. Israel sought that same fleshly wisdom, and Egypt is its symbol in the ancient world. No country in early human history was so famous for natural wisdom as Egypt... Egypt depended mainly on good counsel, as if there were no living God. It relied on the counsel of man sharpened by long experience, for it was one of the oldest powers to rise to greatness. They knew the statecraft of the ancient world, so they had a huge reputation for knowing how to handle national troubles, peace, plenty, and so on.
Kelly locates the real offence in who was doing it.
A people blessed by God, holding promises of still better blessings than they had ever tasted, went down into Egypt for help. That was not only degrading to themselves. It was especially dishonouring to God.
Kelly follows the loaded caravan into the next two verses.
They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit. For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose: therefore I have called her Rahab (or, Arrogance) that sits still (vv. 6, 7). Not man's pride, but God's guidance is what avails for His people.
Hole notes the same word from a different translation, along with the plain result of the alliance:
They were relying on Egypt, instead of turning to the Lord, and they are plainly told that Egypt would be a shame and a reproach instead of any profit to them. In the New Translation the latter part of verse 7 runs, "therefore have I named her, Arrogance, that does nothing;" with a note that the word used is "Rahab," which has that meaning.
Darby turns this into a question about the order of our own decisions.
God pronounces woe on the rebellious children who act on their own prudence, and not on His counsel (vv. 1-7). This happens too often even with the Christian. It is folly, even with the best intentions, to take counsel of oneself... For the Christian, is it not taking counsel of God, if one forms a plan and then prays for a blessing on it? Often we need to run back along the road so as to return to the place we had left. All that is time lost.
Kelly names the pressure behind every trip to Egypt.
The tendency is immense to meet a worldly trial in a worldly way. One is apt to think that you cannot meet the world's efforts against you by spiritual means. So comes the danger of turning to earthly means to escape... If we do not feel that danger, it is because we are ourselves under the world's influence. The feeling of the danger, the dread of our own spirits, the fear that we should meet flesh with flesh, is what God uses to make us look to Himself.
- Counsel — the chapter's root sin is taking counsel, but not of God. Making the plan first and praying over it later is still counsel taken from yourself.
- Journey — officials reach Zoan, envoys reach Hanes, seventy miles south-west of Cairo. The distance shows how far people will travel rather than ask God.
- Wisdom — Egypt knew how to handle national troubles, and it offered that skill "as if there were no living God."
- Dishonour — a people who held God's promises went to Egypt for help. That degraded them, and it dishonoured Him.
- Nothing — the treasure arrives, the help never does. God calls Egypt Arrogance that sits still, and only His guidance helps His people.
They were all ashamed of a people [that] did not profit them, nor were a help or profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
Judah turned to Egypt for protection, and God's verdict came before the deal was done: everyone involved would come away ashamed. The verse raises one question — where do you turn when trouble comes?
The failure here was not just a bad political move. One writer points to the moral lesson under it, and to what God then did with Egypt.
Here we can see the moral lesson of this chapter — it is taking counsel, but not of Jehovah. So God caused the land of Egypt to become the very thing that made their evil worse… His princes mean those of God's people, as the next chapter proves decisively. This is how the prophet expresses his irony.
Good intentions do not save a plan made this way. You still have to walk the wrong road back.
It is folly, even with the best intentions, to take counsel of oneself… For the Christian, is it really taking counsel of God to form a plan first and then pray for a blessing? Often we have to run back down the road to reach the place we left. All that is time lost.
Why could Egypt bring "neither help nor profit"? Egypt promised much and gave nothing. And Israel had more reason than any nation to know it.
Egypt has been a staff that breaks under Israel — a staff of reed. It offered much, but never kept its promises, and brought only ruin to all who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of God's people. Yet God had rescued them from that land, and in their rescue they had seen His judgment fall on it. Yet they could turn back to it again and again. Sadly, no one who knows his own heart is a stranger to that same inconsistency!
The verse promises more than disappointment. It ends in shame and disgrace, and the chosen escape route becomes the trap.
The flesh is habitually deceitful and perverse. But God judges it in His own. It is always restless and pretends to something. It may look impressive, but it is ready to crumble from top to bottom, and God has doomed it… God would make them a striking example. The resources they trusted would prove to be nothing but nets to trap them. Had they sought to flee? They should flee in terror. Had they sought help to escape quickly? Swift should be the vengeance of their foes. God constantly makes the earthly object of trust into the rod for the fool's back.
Notice the direction of travel. Israel goes down into Egypt. The cure was never a better ally.
When God visits us in His faithfulness with trial, the first thing man seeks is to escape. Israel goes down into Egypt, instead of looking up in the confidence that God is the giver of wisdom and of power. They go down to the land of human wisdom and ability. If there were no God, if they were not His people, it would have been understandable; but as it is, what folly! Yet it is the folly of our own hearts… Their strength is quiet confidence instead of hurrying down into Egypt.
One writer sets Israel's folly beside the church's own, and calls the church's folly greater.
This was Israel's folly, to turn from God and His Spirit to trust in Egypt and in an arm of flesh, because they walked as men. But what is this compared to the folly of the church? She is joined to her Head in heaven. She has God for her, and the infinite treasures of His grace as her resource. Yet she is found seeking the world's friendship, and in practice trusting the flesh and human wisdom for her guidance and help!… Nothing is more certain than this: every degree of confidence a believer places in man, or in himself, takes that much trust away from "the living God."
- Counsel — The sin here is not weakness but self-direction: taking counsel, but not of the Lord. Forming the plan first and praying for a blessing afterwards is the same mistake today.
- Shadow — What looked like shelter was a staff of reed. Egypt "offered much, but never fulfilled its promises." Israel, of all people, had watched God judge that land.
- Shame — The trusted resource becomes the punishment. God "makes the earthly object of trust into the rod for the fool's back," so the escape route turns into the net.
- Return — Wrong trust has to be retraced. The road run in the wrong direction is "time lost," and nothing moves forward until you go back to the place you left.
- Rest — The strength Israel refused was quiet confidence — looking up, not going down. Every degree of trust placed in man is that much withdrawn from the living God.