No Help

Isaiah 47:14-15

¹⁴ Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

¹⁵ Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

All the idols of Babylon will be destroyed by fire when the city falls. It won’t be a fire to warm one’s hands over, nor a comfortable fire for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

All the wise men, astrologers, magicians and sages of Babylon would be useless. None of them would stand for the people. They would all slink off into their own lairs. No one would save the city from destruction.

No Alliance

Isaiah 30:3-5. “Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. 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.”

The results of Judah’s false trust in man would be shame, confusion, lack of profitable relationship, reproach, vain hopes, purposeless.  Egypt had no interest in helping Judah. They certainly did not want to be considered Judah’s ally when enemy troops came thundering through the land.  They were ashamed at the possibility of being allied with a people who could be no profit to them, and would only bring them reproach.

When we turn our backs on God, we tend to think we’ll be accepted by the world. Usually, just the opposite is true. Even godless people have no respect for those who desert the God they say they serve.