Isaiah 19:10: “And its foundations will be broken. / All who make wages will be troubled of soul.”

August 13th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

When Assyria swallowed up Syria in 732 BC and then the northern ten tribes of Israel in 722 BC, many of the southern Judeans began looking south to Egypt for help. Isaiah had warned them in the past against putting their confidence in foreign powers. In Isaiah 17:10 he said: “Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, / And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold” the work of their hands would not prosper. In this verse, Isaiah was warning his countrymen again against seeking help from men (Egypt) instead of God. The “foundations will be broken” was literally speaking here of the foundations of Egypt. The lesson was, and still is today, that whatever thing or country the people of God place their trust in, instead of God, it will eventually let them down, turn on them, and destroy them. How believers in every generation need to be “mindful of the Rock.” 300 years before Isaiah, King David wrote of God: “He alone is my rock and my salvation, / He is my fortress; / I will never be shaken” (Ps 62:2).

God alone is the only firm foundation a person can truly rely upon in this life and on into eternity. More than 400 years ago in Nagasaki, Japan, on Nizhizaka Hill, 26 martyrs were executed on February 15, 1597. They went to their deaths singing a psalm. Among them was a young boy, Thomas Kosaki, who was crucified, along with his father, for being a Christian. He wrote his mother a letter before his martyrdom:

Mother, we are supposed to be crucified tomorrow in Nagasaki. Please do not worry about anything because we will be waiting for you to come to heaven. Everything in the world vanishes like a dream, be sure that you never lose the happiness of heaven. Be patient and show love to many people. most of all, about my little brothers, Mansho and Philipo, please see to it that they are not delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. Mother, I commit you to the Lord.

Thomas Kosaki had built his brief life on a firm foundation.

“LORD, we look to You alone to hold us in Your hand today and keep us on Your path for us.”