In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’” – Isaiah 20:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 23, 2013): Isaiah 19 & 20

There seems to have been a dramatic increase in the desire and need of networking in recent years. The increase is probably directly a result of the increased contact that we have with people through networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. I know that the contacts that I have built through both of those networks have been a significant help to me during some of my darker times. Just finding the voice – or printed lines that magically appear on my computer screen – of someone who has walked the path that I am needing to walk has been of immense help. Some of my Twitter contacts offered me a lifeline exactly when I needed it. And they reassured me that I was not the first to have to walk the path that I was now needing to travel.

But not all of my networking contacts have been of equal importance. Some even wanted to take me down a different path – one that did not seem to me to be beneficial. But when two people that I am networking with seem to want to pull me in different directions, that situation leads me to another question that needs to be addressed. How do I know which one is right?

One of the realities that we need to be aware of as we read Scripture is that the primary audience for the Bible is has always the people of God. Isaiah may address portions of his writing to the Assyrians, or Babylonians, or to Cush and Egypt, but the reality is that very few of those people groups would ever get to read the words that Isaiah was writing. By a vast margin, the audience for Isaiah was the people of Judah. Later the words would be read by people that were attracted by Judaism, and even later by Christians who desperately wanted to gain an understanding of the Bible that Jesus read. But primarily, the original intent of the Bible is for the edification of the Jewish people. So the lesson that Isaiah is directing at an outside nation, is actually meant for his brothers and sisters inside of Judah and Israel.

And in this case, the warning is really about the dangers of networking – or more precisely, with networking with the wrong people or people who will take them in the wrong direction. Specifically, this warning is about the Kingdom of Judah putting their trust and faith in Cush and Egypt so that they can stand in their dark time against the forces of Assyria. Isaiah’s warning is that Egypt and Cush would not escape the horrors of the Assyrian Army. In fact, they were going to be defeated. And if Judah was going to place their trust in these nations, instead of trusting in God, then they would also have to be prepared to share their fate.

And there lies the real danger of networking. At any time when we begin to trust in people rather than God, we have made a serious misstep. God is the only with whom we can rely and network. And any good earthly networking partners that we find will always lead us in the direction of him.

 Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 21