worshiping power

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD! 

Isaiah 31:1

When the invading army of Assyria came against Israel, a vain attempt at Egyptian diplomacy failed miserably. Egypt was powerless against the brutal military of Assyria. And Israel was chided by God for trusting human power over God's covenant. It was the last way they turned against The Lord.

This is a telling observation on human behavior. What is it about us that looks to self-reliance and our own wits to deal with the spiritual needs that are beyond us? God had warned Israel that Assyria would bring them to nothing for their idolatry and rejection of Him. And yet, at the last chance to turn to God, they looked instead to mankind for deliverance. They trusted the temporal over the eternal in the face of impossible odds. Sadly, we will all default to doing just that. We are creatures of the here and now blinded to spiritual truth by our overcommitment to our empirical senses.

These prophetic warnings show us the unchanging tendence of the human heart. We will bind ourselves to the material world. We will place our hope in political saviors. We will worship our own power even as it fails us. This is how much we need God.