Who do you turn to in trouble - Isaiah 29-33

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!" (Isaiah 31:1). In this very powerful verse we have the essence of these four chapters of Isaiah. This is a "big idea" of Isaiah as he relates God's mind to us. God was not only concerned with the sin of the people of Israel (as He is of ours) but He was concerned primarily where they turned to find relief for their sin and freedom from the pain of their sin. The nation of Israel, during Isaiah's day was threatened by the Babylonians and then the Assyrians, who were God's tools for punishing them for their open sin of rejecting Him. Yet, rather than turn to God for salvation and forgiveness (for God does forgive ... 33:24) they decided to find help from the world ... by running to the King of Egypt. Egypt had horses. Egypt had chariots. They had lots of chariots. Their thought process was that the world had power and they could find help and relief in the world's power. We do the same thing today. We run to unbelievers for counsel. We run to failed banks for loans. We run to bad government for vindication and handouts. We run to our saving accounts for security. We run to our jobs for fulfillment. We run to our OWN WORKS for our salvation! Yet, all this time the God of Israel, the Holy God of Israel, awaits us to run to Him. He is our source of salvation. He saves and provides and enables and excites and secures and ...