Isaiah 31:1-9
Isa 31:1
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on
horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen,
because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel,
neither seek the LORD!
The great sin here is that the war party under Hezekiah
had gone to Egypt to seek protection and they thought they would receive better
protection by those who worship false gods than if they would have went to God.
Judah was trusting the fact that Egypt had a strong army and would make a
great ally to fight the Assyrians.
We previously saw that the Assyrians had destroyed the Egyptian army was
defeated by Sennacherib at Eltekeh which was located 10 miles (16 KM) northwest
of Ekron. Judah had placed their
trust in the arm of flesh instead of seeking God for protection and help.
Their adoption of false religions would eventually become their undoing.
Isa 31:2
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will
not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and
against the help of them that work iniquity.
The politicians who sought the alliance with Egypt
thought they were being very wise as they sought the alliance.
Here God is saying that he is also wise and because of the sin of Judah,
he will determine evil against them and he will not recall his words.
This means that when he decrees the action against them there will be no
turning back. He will arise at the house
of the evildoers which in this case was the house of Judah and he will not only
come against them but will also come against the Egyptians and will show Judah
that they are not the strong people they thought they were.
Isa 31:3
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their
horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he
that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all
shall fail together.
God emphasizes the fact that the Egyptians are men
meaning only flesh and blood. As
with all men, their power is limited only to what their flesh and blood can
accomplish. The horses which they
rode upon were only flesh and blood and could be easily killed by a spear or an
arrow and that would mean their strength is finished.
Then God tells them that the men are not God and the horses are not
spirit which tells the fact that God has unlimited power and the fact that the
horses are not spirit means they have only limited life and strength unlike God
who is spirit and has unlimited power and cannot be killed.
He will show this unlimited power by causing Egypt to fall from their
exalted position in which the children of Judah placed them and Judah herself
will fall as a defeated nation and they shall both fail together.
The deliverance that Judah sought from Egypt will not come to pass.
Isa 31:4
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion
and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called
forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase
himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for
mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
Then Isaiah relays a message that he received from the
LORD. Just as a lion or a young
lion that roars over their prey which in this instant would be a lamb or a
sheep. Even though a multitude of
shepherds will come out against him and try to force him away from his catch, he
will not lose his prey nor will he run from them just because they are
attempting to get back the sheep.
To abase himself for the noise of the shepherds means he will not cower nor pay
any attention to their noise but will take his prey without fear.
In like manner, the LORD will fight for mount Zion against the Assyrian
army and just like the lion, he will pay no attention to their strength which is
only limited by their flesh and blood.
He will fight against them and they will go down in defeat.
The hill would be Mount Moriah where the Temple was built.
Isa 31:5
As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend
Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will
preserve it.
At this time it was not God’s purpose to destroy
Jerusalem but just as a bird flies overhead and is able to see down and have a
large view of what is beneath him, so the LORD is like that bird who sees
everything which pertains to Jerusalem.
As a bird who sees danger to its nest and will attack the offender, the
LORD will defend Jerusalem and the temple when he sees that it is in danger of
being attacked or destroyed by any enemies.
He will preserve the temple and Jerusalem because eventually the Messiah
will come through Judah and if Satan’s forcers are allowed to destroy it, then
the Scriptures would be broken.
Once the Messiah comes into the world, then Jerusalem and the temple will be
destroyed by God himself because there will be no need for a physical temple as
the Mosaic era is over.
Isa 31:6
Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel
have deeply revolted.
If the children of Judah would return to the LORD from
whom they have deeply revolted against, then the LORD would protect them and
fight for them. The term “deeply
revolted” reveals that their apostasy was not just a passing thing or some type
of surface obedience but their apostasy had deepened to the point that they
sacrificed their children to false gods.
Their apostasy was so deep rooted that they completely removed themselves
from the God who saved them and ignored him and placed their faith in the world
such as Egypt. In other words, they
were fully dedicated to their false gods and would obey them in all things.
Isa 31:7
For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of
silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for
a sin.
Then Isaiah looks to the day when Judah will destroy all
the idols of the false gods and will see them as a sin against the LORD and no
longer will have any intentions on obeying the dictates of the false religions.
At this point they did not see the idols as a sin but something to be
embraced but the day would come when idols would be a thing of the past.
Isa 31:8
Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a
mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall
flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
Here Isaiah prophesies the end of the Assyrian army.
They shall fall by the sword but not the sword of the mighty man because
there is no army strong enough to oppose them.
It will not be the sword of any man who will devour or consume the army
of Sennacherib. The army will flee
from the sword but it will not be from a human sword but the judgment of the
LORD.
Then the angel of the LORD went forth,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five
thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
were all dead corpses. (Isaiah
37:36) 185,000 of the Assyrian
army will lose their life as a result of the judgment of the LORD and with that
loss Sennacherib never mounted another campaign.
This also spelled the doom of Assyria as they could no longer be a world
power. The young men being
discomfited meant they were eventually taken into forced labor or slavery
especially after Assyria was destroyed by the Babylonians.
Isa 31:9
And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and
his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is
in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.