THE TEMPTATION TO GO BACK

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.” —Isaiah 30:15

Many times during Israel’s wilderness wanderings, the people complained about their circumstances and revolted against the leadership of Moses.

Remembering the fish, cucumbers, melons, and onions that they enjoyed amid their slavery (see Numbers 11:5), their temptation was to turn back toward Egypt rather than relying on God’s protection and provision as He had led them.

So strong was this impulse based on their selective memories that Moses gave the people a specific commandment that they were never to go back to Egypt (see Deuteronomy 17:16). In the understanding of the people of Israel and Judah, Egypt was a symbol of a faithless empire, similar to the symbolic role that Babylon and then Rome have come to occupy in the minds of God’s people in subsequent centuries.

All of these powerful empires oppressed the people of God and sought to replace the worship of God with the worship of their gods.

So, for the people of Judah to seek to make an alliance with Egypt to protect them from the threats of Assyria was a serious betrayal of their national identity—and their trust in God. “But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace” (Isaiah 30:3). Fear tempted them to go back to Egypt to seek safety in the protection of that human empire. Isaiah warned that their turn to Egypt would not end well. As do most responses driven by fear, it would actually exacerbate their fears (see Isaiah 30:16, 17).

But he also offered an alternative, calling them back instead to “the Holy One of Israel.” In the face of an advancing Assyrian army, “repentance and rest . . . quietness and trust” might not sound like strength, but it was the invitation and promise of God.