Do Not Trust in "Egypt"

[Christsdaughter]

Do Not Trust in “Egypt”!
Thursday March 24, 2011

“8Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
I will destroy cities and their people.’
9Charge, O horses!
Drive furiously, O charioteers!
March on, O warriors—
men of Cush£ and Put who carry shields,
men of Lydia who draw the bow.
10But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty—
a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour till it is satisfied,
till it has quenched its thirst with blood.
For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice
in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
11“Go up to Gilead and get balm,
O Virgin Daughter of Egypt.
But you multiply remedies in vain;
there is no healing for you.
12The nations will hear of your shame;
your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
both will fall down together.”
13This is the message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt:
14“Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
proclaim it also in Memphis£ and Tahpanhes:
‘Take your positions and get ready,
for the sword devours those around you.’
15Why will your warriors be laid low?
They cannot stand, for the LORD will push them down.
16They will stumble repeatedly;
they will fall over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
to our own people and our native lands,
away from the sword of the oppressor.’
17There they will exclaim,
‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;
he has missed his opportunity.’
18“As surely as I live,” declares the King,
whose name is the LORD Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains,
like Carmel by the sea.
19Pack your belongings for exile,
you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis will be laid waste
and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
20“Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
but a gadfly is coming
against her from the north.
21The mercenaries in her ranks
are like fattened calves.
They too will turn and flee together,
they will not stand their ground,
for the day of disaster is coming upon them,
the time for them to be punished.
22Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
like men who cut down trees.
23They will chop down her forest,”
declares the LORD,
“dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,
they cannot be counted.
24The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame,
handed over to the people of the north.”
25The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes,£ on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. 26I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,” declares the LORD.” (Jer 46:8-26)

Many Judites and Israelites fled Babylon hoping to escape the judgment of the Lord. They thought that they would be safe and would prosper in Egypt who was another world power at the time. God encouraged them by saying that if they surrendered to the Babylonians and stayed in Babylon, the Lord would still bring judgment on them, but their lives would be spared, He would provide for their needs, and He would later restore them to the land. He also warned them that if they fled to Egypt hoping to escape His judgment, that they would die by the sword or famine.

Jer Ch. 46 is a prophecy against Egypt. Egypt may have been powerful and prosperous at the time (“a beautiful heifer&#8221, but she was going to be brought down and handed over to the people of the north. God said that He was going to bring punishment on her gods, on Pharoah, her kings, and on those who rely on Pharoah. He planned to hand them all over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Those who escaped to Egypt from Babylon acted in disobedience to God. They thought that they knew what was best for them and decided to trust in Egypt to provide what they thought that they needed rather than trusting God to provide for their true needs.

We should daily examine our lives before the Lord to make sure that we are trusting in Him and not on anything else to meet our “needs”. The very thing that we decide to put our trust in (our Egypt) will be the very thing that God will use to judge us in order to remind us of who He is (the one and only God) and to draw us back to Himself. Even if it does not look like it to us at the time, what God has for us is always what is best. Let us not turn to another option that would provide what we think that we need. Let us submit to what God has for us because He always knows what is best! When we have a need, we should present it to the Lord in prayer and seek His wisdom and guidance so that we will make the best decisions.

“Lord, I pray that you will search my heart and show me if I am trusting in an “Egypt” and what my “Egypt” might be. Help me to trust only in You to provide for my needs as well as the needs of my family and to not rely on another source. You are truly all that we will every need! I love you so much! Amen!”

 

[wayfaring man]

Reminds of -

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. <-----> Jeremiah 17:5-10

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. <-----> Proverbs 3:5-8

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. <-----> Ecclesiastes 12:13+14

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have. <-----> Luke 8:17+18

And

...God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. <-----> Philippians 4:19

May The Lord Be Magnified !

wm

 

[Christsdaughter]

Reminds of -

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. <-----> Jeremiah 17:5-10

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. <-----> Proverbs 3:5-8

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. <-----> Ecclesiastes 12:13+14

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have. <-----> Luke 8:17+18

And

...God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. <-----> Philippians 4:19

May The Lord Be Magnified !

wm

Amen! Thanks for sharing those great verses!