Isaiah 36:6, commentary and pictures

To trust Egypt and Pharaoh for protection is to lean on a staff made of broken reed that gives way under weight, fails to support, and pierces the hand that leans on it. The same picture holds for every support apart from God, for His people cannot afford to lean on any human prop for support. Safety is found only in trusting Christ and God, who bind up the brokenhearted, understand suffering, and give refuge, strength, help, peace, and joy. Depending on human strength and influence, human wisdom and judgment, and human sympathy and approval instead of carrying burdens to the Lord in prayer is leaning on that broken reed. Human help so leaned on brings disappointment rather than dependable support, gives Satan an opening to mislead and ensnare, and weakens spiritual life by loosening the hold on Christ and losing dependence on God.

Meaning of the Image

Trusting Egypt and Pharaoh for protection is like leaning on a staff made of broken reed that gives way under weight, fails to support, and goes into the hand and pierces it, exposing the folly of seeking human strength instead of looking to God. The same unsafe reed pictures seeking other sources for peace and contentment apart from Christ, in whom alone peace and joy are found. It pictures relying on human help instead of looking to God for guidance, a dependence that fails and wounds those who trust in it. It pictures seeking help from human sources to bear deepest burdens they cannot carry, when true help is found in God and in Jesus Christ, who understands suffering.

The picture reaches beyond Egypt to every support apart from God and to any human prop leaned on for support, for every such support will fail and injure rather than help. Relying on anything other than God is leaning on a broken support that is dangerous and brings harm, and God's people cannot afford to lean on a broken staff. Safety lies in making God one's support instead of relying on people.

Human beings as supports are finite and fallible and cannot safely bear the trust placed in them or carry another person. Putting people where God should be and placing trust and dependence in human help is leaning on the broken reed. The person trusted may fail, leaving those who depended on him to see the folly of misplaced confidence, and trusting in a person injures rather than bears the weight. Others may be respected and counseled with, but they must not be made one's trust, and no person is to be depended on to carry another; each is to look to God for himself.

Human strength and human wisdom are as unsafe as the broken reed and cannot bear the weight placed on them. Relying on human help instead of God fails and brings harm to the one who depends on it. Relying on human wisdom for security fails those who depend on it, and it is useless to depend on, so workers serving God are to trust the Lord's wisdom instead.

Trust in God Alone

Safety is found only in trusting Christ and God, for human strength cannot provide real safety and human friends fail as supports when leaned upon. In contrast with seeking help from human friends in times of trouble, looking to God and Christ brings true help, for Christ can bind up the brokenhearted and comfort those who mourn. Peace and joy are found in Christ rather than in other sources sought for peace and contentment, and refuge, strength, and help are to be drawn from Christ by those who place faith and confidence in God rather than depending too much on people. Jesus Christ understands suffering and can bear the deepest burdens that human sources cannot bear.

Security comes from trusting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him, rather than depending on one's own strength or on human strength and help that cannot support and instead causes harm. Such trust and patient waiting magnifies His name and brings honor to His name.

Those who need wisdom and guidance are to trust wholly in the Lord, seek His wisdom, and follow His wisdom rather than be led by human judgment or depend on human minds. They are to rely on divine wisdom and the Holy Spirit rather than on human policy, influence, or backing from people who lack spiritual understanding and do not know God's work. God leads and blesses those who look to Him for guidance instead of seeking guidance from human agents influenced by the enemy, and depending on human wisdom and guidance proves a snare.

Burdens, cares, and perplexities are to be carried to the Lord in prayer rather than seeking human sympathy and approval or depending on human advice. Parents especially should take their cares and perplexities to Christ, since human advice can burden them and lead them into temptation. Even one prayer offered in faith has greater power than human intellect, and true strength comes from God.

Trust and dependence belong in God and not in people put in God's place, for like Egypt human beings are finite and fallible and can fail when relied on. Human help is as unreliable as a broken reed that gives way and hurts anyone who leans on it, so God's people are not to depend on human aid. His strength is everlasting, and He has promised to strengthen and uphold His workers who rely on Him rather than depending on human aid.

False Supports People Trust

Depending on one's own strength and on human strength and influence from people is leaning on the broken reed, for such reliance cannot support the one who trusts in it and instead gives way and pierces the hand. Security is not found in seeking strength and influence from men or in depending on human power instead of God, but in trusting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him so that His name is magnified.

Relying on human wisdom is equally as unsafe as leaning on a broken reed, since it cannot bear the weight placed on it and brings harm to those who depend on it. This is especially true of leaders who trust their own fickle and prideful judgment instead of relying wholly on the Lord, seeking His wisdom, and following His wisdom rather than being led by human judgment.

Seeking help from human friends in times of trouble, depending on human advice, sympathy and approval, and relying on neighbors' opinions or custom instead of carrying burdens, cares and perplexities to the Lord and to Christ is leaning on the broken reed. Like Egypt, such human help fails those who lean on it and wounds them, it cannot safely guide, it burdens and leads into temptation, and it may lead people to sacrifice truth to avoid ridicule, whereas help, binding up for the brokenhearted, and comfort for mourners are found in God and Christ. Leaning on a minister because he draws a crowd or is praised for his preaching is the same misplaced dependence, and ministers should be careful not to encourage believers to bear such trust toward them but to rely on God. Trusting in men and in human strength, leaning on people who do not honor God, on people who resist His counsel, and seeking guidance from human agents influenced by the enemy instead of seeking God for guidance is leaning on a broken reed that gives way and causes injury, while the safe course is to trust in the Lord and to look to Him, for He leads and blesses those who look to Him for guidance.

Institutions that surrender their God-given responsibility to human control lean on the broken reed, and each institution should remain true to its founding principles rather than depend on or be controlled by another. Servants of God who seek backing, support and influence from worldly powers and from people who lack spiritual understanding and do not know God's work lean on the broken reed, for instead of sustaining them it fails and harms them, and they should rely on divine wisdom and the Holy Spirit rather than on human policy or influence. Trusting a particular untrustworthy person is leaning on the broken reed, as seen when Dr. Burke's confidence in Baker was misplaced because Baker was weak and unfit to be relied on. Human beings cannot safely bear such trust or carry another person, so others may be respected and consulted with, but no person is to be made one's trust and no one is to be depended on to carry another; each is to look to God for himself.

Excuses, good deeds, or mostly obeying God do not make disobedience safe, and trusting in worldly customs or one's own record rather than obeying God is leaning on an inadequate substitute that cannot support and leaves a person on an insecure foundation and ultimately lost. Seeking other sources for peace and contentment is leaning on the broken reed that pierces the hand, for peace and joy are found in Christ instead. Choosing false principles and wrong theories instead of holding fast to Christ is choosing the broken reed, which loosens the hold on Christ, leaves people caught in Satan's snare without lessening their obligation to God, and escape requires rejecting those principles and theories, learning from Christ, and finding strength and holy aspirations in Christ alone. Trusting secret societies for future security is trusting a human power that cannot sustain those who trust in it, like leaning on a broken reed that wounds the dependent, rather than trusting in the Lord, and money invested in them is diverted from God's work and the salvation of others.

Harm from Misplaced Trust

Leaning on human help in time of trial brings disappointment rather than dependable support. When the person trusted fails, those who depended on him are left to see the folly of their misplaced confidence. Turning to people instead of trusting Christ leaves a person vulnerable to deception and can awaken distrust and suspicion. Putting fallible people in God's place gives an opening to mislead and leaves people caught in a snare.

Such dependence weakens spiritual life and loosens the hold on Christ. It causes people to lose their dependence on God, yet being caught in that snare does not lessen their obligation to God. Escape requires rejecting false principles and wrong theories and holding fast to Christ alone, learning from Him and finding strength and holy aspirations in Him. It also harms the people trusted by encouraging them to become proud and self-important, and leads people to presume authority over others.

Relying on human sympathy, neighbors' opinions, or custom instead of carrying burdens to God cannot safely guide, and may lead to sacrificing truth to avoid ridicule. Depending on human advice for cares and perplexities rather than taking them to Christ burdens and leads into temptation. Money put into secret societies trusted for future security is diverted from God's work and the salvation of others. Trusting in excuses, good deeds, mostly obeying God, worldly customs, or one's own record rather than obeying God leaves a person on an insecure foundation and ultimately lost.