Isaiah 18 THE DOWNFALL OF ETHIOPIA The boundaries of nations change as years and centuries pass. Even the names of countries are sometimes changed. In my lifetime, the country of Ethiopia was Abyssinia, but was changed back to the name it was known by in Bible times. Cush was an area of the upper reaches of the Nile where the Blue Nile joins the White Nile. Empire building was a big part of Middle East history, with each new empire wanting to expand farther than the one they conquered. When Assyria was expanding to the south, Ethiopia and Egypt were in its sights. The Ethiopians were seeking to make alliances with other nations to join together and stop the Assyrian advance. Judah was asked to help them by joining an alliance with them. This likely happened when Hezekiah was king. Isaiah told the messengers to return home, because Judah was committed to the Lord only for protection.
The principles of separation from unequal yokes apply to many areas of life in nations as well as in individuals. Alliances are a form of yoke, and when entered into, are to be kept in the same way we are to keep promises and vows. Nations form alliances with each other for economic reasons, security from foreign domination and to maintain a cultural benefit that is often associated with similar languages. English Common Law with its basis being the biblical commandments, formed the basis of the legal standards of this country. However, morality can’t really be legislated by the government. It begins in the hearts of the people and what they base their fundamental beliefs on. Christians know God’s word is the authority and basis of belief and practice of moral living. Unfortunately, in this nation we have come to the place where we look to the government, and especially to the body of legislators to protect the morality of the nation.
Water only rises to its own level, and the same is true of people. It doesn’t make any difference to the next generation as a whole, if the past generation has been immoral, and society adapted to the low standards of human opinion and practice. Those who follow will be like them or worse. Immoral legislators who do not have enough respect for God’s word to base the laws they pass on basic Bible principles; will not lead the people they represent to higher moral standards. In reality, it works just the opposite. Immoral people lower moral standards because the laws of governments do not change the hearts of people. And yet, God’s word tells us they are “ministers of righteousness,” and we are to obey them as long as they do not contradict the will of God for us.
The education of our young people is another form of an alliance. Parents turn their children over to other people, many who are unknown to them, to teach them what the parents don’t feel they can, or don’t have time to. Seventy years ago, a local community of people who knew each other, set the standard of education for the school and those children living in that area. A teacher was hired to teach what their parents wanted taught to their children. But that was taken away by “Consolidated School Districts” and they put the alliance of education into the hands of a few people, most of whom were unknown to the parents. Then came the “Amalgamated School Districts” run by local governments, and soon followed by the state governments who took control of not only the school system, but the accepted curriculum according to secular leadership that was “suitable to the majority.” Now there is interest in the federal government controlling education so that our children are “more adaptable to the national interests.” The problem with this alliance is that those who teach, and those whole control the educational system do not want God, and what He stands for and His standards to be the foundation of education. They want our children to look at everything only through human eyes and a humanist frame of reference.
A medical alliance is set up so that we can live as long as possible. In this alliance, we submit our life and its length into the hands of skilled intelligent people who are capable of doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We are responsible to ourselves, our family and the Lord, to commit to moral living including what we eat and drink, and the lifestyle we choose. There are consequences if we don’t do that, for which we need the medical professionals to do what we should have done if it was possible. The Christian lifestyle of faith in God who heals and answers prayer, is consistent with the fact that there are those people He uses to do His will for us. However, He holds the keys of life and death, and that overrides any medical decisions or alliance that we make.
When it comes to finances; this present day is far different than a few years ago. In the past it took all of our finances plus much of our spare time to simply provide for the needs of our families. Now, many form alliances with financial groups like banks and investment companies and trust them to use what we have in a way to bring the most profit to us. Alliances are a form of contract between two parties in which each has to trust the other with enough confidence to enable a specific need to be met. When such yokes are unequal, especially in a moral sense, there is a fundamental problem regarding what is right and wrong.
A lesson we can learn from the prophecy of Isaiah is that our trust and our basic alliance-yoke, should be with our Lord. He knows the end from the beginning of everything that goes on in our lives. If we put our trust in mere mortal man, we need to be sure it is under the direction of divine guidance, not personal preference. In quietness and patience, with confidence in God, we need to learn of Him by taking His yoke upon us. In that way our trials and difficulties are shared by Him upon whom we can cast all our cares with full confidence. Simple trust and unwavering dependence upon the Lord will give us the rest of soul we need when the dark waters of life are deep. He promises to be with us even there.
The end of chapter eighteen gives us another look ahead when Israel, the land the “rivers” of foreign powers have spoiled, will be “the place of the name of the Lord of hosts” again. The promises of God will be fulfilled, but there is much left of prophecy to be fulfilled that will happen before that time comes.