Isaiah 30:1,2
Author: Steve Amato
Keywords: bible study,bible, isaiah

Translations: 简体中文 繁體中文

## Plans

Isaiah 30:1,2
"Woe to the obstinate children," declares the LORD, "to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge."

God holds his people accountable to carrying out his plans and formulating plans in accordance with his Spirit; in accordance with his consultation. Where do we look for help?

Asa king of Judah was an example of a man who did not rely on God:

> 2Chron 16:7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand."

> 2Chron 16:12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians.

When problems arise in life we should consult God through a prayerful study of the Bible, and by the Spirit inferring applications. Why even make plans if God is not included in them? Such plans often end up useless and self-defeating. Through His Word God gave specific instructions to Israel when to go down to Egypt and when not to go.

> The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live." Genesis 26:2

But He told Jacob his son:

> "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there." Genesis 46:3

Or consider the issue of doing business here or there.

> Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16

These are amoral cases. That is, since at times going to a certain place is God's will and at other times not God's will, it is not the going or not going which is of itself sinful. Rather what is important is to follow the Lord's will. Sometimes that will is revealed in which case it becomes a matter of obedience. But at other times as is implied in James 4 it is not revealed, in which case we have to leave the results in God's hands and be flexible to change those plans if God so directs. For often it is not so important what happens, but rather how we react to what happens.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources