DCLM Daily Manna 7 March 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — No Help Elsewhere!
TOPIC: No Help Elsewhere! (DCLM Daily Manna 7 March 2023)
KEY VERSE: “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not”(Isaiah 30:15).
TEXT: Isaiah 30:1-17 (KJV)
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
MESSAGE:
It is conventional in international relations for embattled nations to enter into alliances with strong powers to fight the enemy. The Second World War from 1939 to 1945 recorded such alliances that made the hostilities a conflict between the Allies and the Axis forces. When these pacts are in force, an attack on a member, or a threat to one, becomes an attack or threat to all.
When Israel, 713 years before the coming of Jesus Christ, struck such a military deal with Egypt in the face of Assyrian aggression, the Lord frowned at the move. He said Israel, as a theocratic state depending upon Him for protection, did not need to seek help from Egypt, a heathen nation. Devising their own means of deliverance without recourse to Him amounted to rebellion and a departure from the law of the Lord. God was sufficient for Israel and they did not need help from anyone for survival or protection.
Genuine Christians who have been redeemed by the Lord have a solemn bond with Him that does not give them room to seek help outside God, regardless of the assaults of the adversary. It is like the contract between a husband and his wife. The woman is bonded to the man in love and submission to his authority until they are parted by death. The man reciprocates by lovingly defending his spouse against any danger to her moral and physical integrity.
This compelling conjugal fidelity subsists in the relationship between the Church of Christ and her Groom. Having espoused us, the Lord desires that we rest in Him for all our supplies, spiritual and material. On no account must we arrange any affinity with ‘Egypt’ on the pretext that we are endangered by lack, fear, or intimidation from the enemy.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
He who has found the Redeemer needs look no further.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Numbers 1-2
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
