Context No. 2627 of 4322 · Isaiah

Isaiah 19:11-18: in context

11The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings”? 12Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what the LORD of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. 13The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, those who are the cornerstone of her tribes. 14The LORD has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 15Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do. 16In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of the LORD of Armies’s hand, which he shakes over them. 17The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of the LORD of Armies, which he determines against it. 18In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of Armies. One will be called “The city of destruction.”

Isaiah aims a stinging word at Egypt's famed wise men, the celebrated counselors of Pharaoh. The princes of Zoan are utter fools, he says; the wisest advisers give stupid counsel. Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you what the LORD has purposed against Egypt. The very cornerstone of Egyptian wisdom, its pedigree of learning stretching back to ancient kings, is exposed as helpless to discern what God is doing.

The point is not that wisdom or expertise is worthless, but that it has a ceiling. Egypt's celebrated minds, with all their learning and prestige, could not perceive God's purpose, and without that they were fools with impressive credentials. It is a caution for any age that trusts its experts to have the final word. Human wisdom can map the visible world with real skill and still be blind to what God is doing in it. To lean on expertise and pedigree as though they could substitute for discerning God's purpose is to be, like the princes of Zoan, clever and lost at the same time. The wise counselor who cannot read God's hand is not as wise as he looks.

Do I lean on human expertise and credentials as if they could substitute for discerning what God is actually doing?

Sources

Isaiah 19:11: The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid.
Isaiah 19:12: Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what the LORD of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt.
1 Corinthians 3:19: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.