ISAIAH 30 Lesson 20: God will protect you, not Egypt I. MAIN IDEA A. Setting The mighty Assyrians, led by Sennacherib, had conquered the northern tribes of Israel, now they are about to attack the southern tribes of Judah. The Assyrian army was much more powerful than Judah so instead of trusting God they chose to try forming an alliance with Egypt. Chapter 30 describes the foolishness of this strategy instead of trusting God. Ordinarily it would make good sense to form an alliance with Egypt to withstand the onslaughts of the Assyrian army, but in this case, Isaiah conveyed God’s message that Judah was to trust in God for full protection. Judah disagreed and experienced the consequences. B. Timeline • 740 BC: Isaiah becomes a prophet. • 722 BC: Assyria conquers the northern tribes of Israel. • 715 BC: Hezekiah becomes king of Judah. • 701 BC: Isaiah Chapter 30. Judah seeks an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. Assyria (Sennacherib) defeats the Egyptians and surrounds Jerusalem. An angel of the Lord protects Judah by killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. In defeat, Sennacherib returns to Nineveh (Isa. 37:36-37). • 681 BC: Sennacherib assassinated by his two sons (Isa. 37:38). • 681 BC: Isaiah’s ministry ends. 1 II. SUMMARY A. Judah chooses to trust Egypt instead of God (30:1-7) 1. (30:1) Hezekiah’s advisors urged him to turn to the Egyptians, not to God, for help against the invading Assyrians. Isaiah denounced this reliance on Egypt rather than God who had forbidden such alliances. 2. (30:2) Judah’s leaders had failed to consult God’s prophet, Isaiah. 3. (30:3) The Assyrians had already defeated the Egyptian army only 100 miles from the Egyptian border (Eltekeh). 4. (30:4) Zoan and Hanes were cities in Egypt where Judah had sent emissaries to make a deal with Egypt. 5. (30:5) The ambassadors of Egypt came to Judah, and saw that Judah had nothing to "give" them. It was foolish for the leaders of Judah to trust in a nation that looked at them this way! 6. (30:6-7) Isaiah proclaims a burden against the pack animals of Judah, which will carry the riches of Judah down to Egypt, through the wilderness, in a foolish attempt to purchase protection against the Assyrians. “Rahab the Do-Nothing.” Rahab is a name, but it is also the Hebrew word for pride, and is sometimes used as a title for Egypt (Psalm 87:4). Egypt will sit idly by as the Assyrians trouble Judah. B. Judah chooses to be a rebellious people (30:8-17) 1. (30:8-9) God tells Judah this before it happens, and wants it documented. This is so when it all unfolds exactly as the LORD had spoken, Judah can have greater trust in the LORD. God wanted Judah's rejection of His message, and His messengers, to be documented. Judah wanted to hear from the prophets and God's messengers, but they did not want to hear the truth from them. They want religion, but they don't want the living God of heaven to be real in their life. 2. (30:15) God offered to Judah the promise of protection from Assyria. They didn't need to look to Egypt to help at all. They could have trusted God for His promise. 3. (30:16-17) Because Judah rejected God's promise, and trusted in horses and other such things instead, they would need to flee! If they would have trusted God's promise instead, they would never had reason to flee, and would have seen the LORD's salvation and strength instead. C. The Lord chooses to be gracious to Judah (30:18-33) 1. (Isa 30:18) A call to trust in God's timing. In return, God promises: • (Isa 30:19) To bless His people by responding to their cry. • (Isa 30:20-21) To bless His people with guidance. • (Isa 30:22) To bless His people with the desire for purity. • (Isa 30:23-26) To bless nature with abundance. • (Isa 30:27-29) His people will have gladness in the day of judgment. 2. (Isa 30:30-33) God’s fulfilled promises will bring him glory. [“Tophet” means a place of abomination. Later it became known as Gehenna, or Hell]. 2 .