Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Opening Scripture

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD. Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers. 

But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together. Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made. Isaiah 31:1-3,6-7

Opening Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for rest and the promise of a new day. I praise You for Your loving kindness, Your thoughtful provision, and Your comforting presence. Help my hope and security be in You today, not in what I do, or what I have, or what others think. May Your Spirit guide me in the way I should go. Help me to appreciate Your blessings and see You at work around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Isaiah 30:1-11

“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.

Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.”

A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing.

Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction. They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”

Reflection  

Chapter 31 (Opening Scripture) and Chapter 30 (Daily Reading) must be taken together. The prophet is rebuking the nation’s leaders for turning to Egypt for help in warding off the Assyrian threat, rather than trusting in the Holy One of Israel.

Throughout the book of Isaiah, the prophet repeatedly declares God’s desire to live in loving relationship with His people. All that is required is their honest confession and humble repentance, turning away from their rampant sin and returning fully to God by delighting in His will and walking in His ways.

“This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (Isaiah 30:15,18).

Sadly, they are a nation of obstinate children, heaping sin upon sin. Rather than seeking protection from Yahweh, the leaders of Judah prefer to forge an alliance with Egypt. “But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.”

Today’s passage begins with “Woe!” That Hebrew word (howy) appears fifty-one times in the Old Testament. It is a stinging exclamation intended to awaken the senses and call people to repentance. It conveys anguish, alarm, or approaching doom. Isaiah uses this word more than any other writer. “Woe” is God’s gracious attempt to expose sin, announce judgment, and invite penance.

Ultimately, even Assyria will be defeated by God. “‘Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor. Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,’ declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 31:8-9).

The final statement in today’s passage reflects the desire of all people to hear what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. “They say to the seers, ‘See no more visions!’ and to the prophets, ‘Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

From the beginning, pride and selfishness have been the basis of our sin. Rebellion against God’s rightful sovereignty and rejection of God’s divine authority are the results. Humanity has individually and collectively exercised our God-given free will by choosing to turn away from our Maker and ignore His righteous dominion over all things. The created has denied the Creator’s superiority. The “art” has rejected the supremacy of the “Artist.”

This is Isaiah’s charge against the Israelites. “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘You did not make me’? Can the pot say to the potter, ‘You know nothing’?” (Isaiah 29:16).

The prophet Jeremiah offered the same accusation. “Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the LORD. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel’” (Jeremiah 18:5-6).

Paul issues the same indictment. “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Romans 9:20).

Empty religion can serve as an expression of this heresy. Religious rituals – or “good deeds” of any kind – can take on a transactional purpose that seeks to obligate God on our behalf. This flawed reasoning imagines that, if we “do the right things,” then God is somehow under our control, required to do our bidding, rather than our being continually gripped by the reality of His supreme authority over us.

Isaiah identifies the problem as God’s people being in a spiritual stupor. Their collective souls are blind, drunk, and stunned. In Chapter 29, Isaiah restates the diagnosis of their condition from Chapter 6: “ever hearing, but never understanding; ever seeing, but never perceiving; calloused hearts; dull ears; closed eyes.”

They are aware of God’s presence, but foolish and devious enough to try to sneak around without Him knowing. “Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” (Isaiah 29:15).

In all of this, do we not wonder where the godly and righteous are? Besides the prophet, who among the people is calling out sin? Who is pleading with family and friends to repent? Who desperately desires to know and please the Lord?

What would you and I be doing? What are we doing?

This week’s collective prayer: Father, please place someone in my path who needs to know you truly love them and are seeking after them. Amen.

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!