Isaiah 30:6-7 NLT
6 This message came to me concerning the animals in the Negev:
The caravan moves slowly
across the terrible desert to Egypt—
donkeys weighed down with riches
and camels loaded with treasure—
all to pay for Egypt’s protection.
They travel through the wilderness,
a place of lionesses and lions,
a place where vipers and poisonous snakes live.
All this, and Egypt will give you nothing in return.
7 Egypt’s promises are worthless!
Therefore, I call her Rahab—
the Harmless Dragon.
This is a strange couple of verses. As verse 6 commences, it’s all about the animals in the Negev. The Negev is a hot, dry region in southern Israel that receives less than eight inches of rainfall each year. The Negev Desert is mentioned in the events of Abraham’s life and during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. Today, the Negev is the largest region in the modern state of Israel and covers more territory than it did in ancient times. The total area of the Negev Desert is about 4,700 square miles, occupying almost half of Palestine west of the Jordan River. So it is not a place that is ideal for travelling on donkeys or camels. But it had to be crossed to reach Egypt, and, to buy protection from the Egyptians, the Judeans were sending their wealth there in payment for the services they required. It was a dangerous journey, as the territory was occupied by lions, vipers and poisonous spiders. What was the point? When the Assyrian attack came, the Egyptians failed to get involved, sitting on the sidelines just watching what was happening. But instead of turning to God, Judah turned to Egypt for protection.
Fast-forward to 21st-century Europe, and we find a modern equivalent of Assyria rattling sabres on its eastern borders, threatening to attack Western nations. Russia is increasingly engaging in a “hybrid” war, probing defences and responses to gauge how successful a campaign against Western nations would be. Yes, a defensive alliance exists, but its members are woefully unprepared for such a conflict. Government messages instead encourage people to stock up on tinned food, candles and bottled water. But instead of turning to God, nations turn to their “Egypts” for help. They turn to each other for protection but lack the leadership and commitment to be united, politically or defensively. And they place an over-reliance further west on an unpredictable US president. An “Egypt” too far?
But let us now consider any spiritual significance in our reading today. It is true that here in the West, there is a spiritual desert. References to God in society are rare and usually appear as expletives. Instead of turning to God, people look for personal “Egypts” that can provide some assurance in times of trouble. The irony is that Judah was willing to endure considerable danger and expense to obtain Egypt’s help, while neglecting the God who had already promised to protect His people. The people in our land can work extremely hard to obtain security from human sources while neglecting the security God offers. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” That, dear fellow pilgrims, is a promise of God that we should cherish and treasure, and fully embrace through our faith in the One who made it. But it is no good paying lip service to this promise. We need to believe it. God has clearly said through His Word who He is, but if we don’t believe this, then we are deluded. Paul argued with some who believed there was no resurrection of the dead, and we read in 1 Corinthians 15:14-17, “And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.” Our faith is not useless, and we need to find our refuge in Him in times of trouble, whatever they are. But this faith is an active faith, not one in which we passively hunker down, waiting for help from an “Egypt” somewhere. Help will only come from God, and through our faith in Him we need to tell everyone else about it.
We may despair about the godless society in which we apparently live, but there are encouraging signs that God is on the move, bringing something new. A new report recently published and referenced by the Evangelical Alliance has estimated that around 8% of the population, 5.5 million people, are evangelical Christians who both identify as an evangelical and share evangelical beliefs. In particular, it shows that the evangelical church is far younger and more diverse than people have previously thought. Is revival coming to this land? We must pray, and keep praying, that God will once again bring a spiritual move that will lead to the UK once again becoming a Christian nation. God has done it before, but do we dare to believe that he will do it again?
In Genesis 18, we find the remarkable passage in which Abraham intercedes for Sodom, arguing directly with God. Abraham asks, “Would God destroy Sodom if there were any righteous people to be found there?” In the subsequent conversation, we read, “Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?” And the LORD replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten’” (Genesis 18:32). At that time, Sodom was estimated to have up to 3000 inhabitants, so God would not have destroyed it if He had found even a small pocket of righteous people, a small percentage comparable to the 8% of the population who are Christians here in the UK. But that does not mean we must be complacent. Instead, we must pray for God to move in this nation and across the world, that He will bring peace and security where there is nothing but uncertainty and efforts to replace Him with yet another “Egypt”.
Dear Heavenly Father. Bring revival once again to this land, when people will call upon the name of the Lord. If there was ever a time in history when Your protection is required, it is today. Lead us, we pray, in Your ways, this day and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
