The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 31
Chapter XXXI · Vol. III, pp. 1183–1184
1 The prophet showeth the cursed folly of trusting in Egypt, and forsaking of God. 6 He exhorteth to conversion. 8 He showeth the fall of Assyria.
1 Woe toa 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: bbut they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
a ch.30.1-7,16; 57.9. Ps.20.7,8; 33.16,17, with De.17.18; 28.68. Ho.11.5.
b 2 Ch.16.7,8. Je.17.5; 2.13. Ho.7.7,10,16; 11.7. ch.22.11; 17.7,8.
2 Yet che also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back1 his words: but will darise against the house of the evil-doers, and against ethe help of them that work iniquity.
c 1 Ti.1.17. Ro.11.33,34. ch.40.12,13. Job 5.12,13. Am.3.6. ch.30.13,14. Zec.1.6.
1 Heb. remove.
e ver.3; ch.30.3,7; xix. xx.
3 Now the Egyptians are gmen, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD hshall stretch out his hand, iboth he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Likej 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 noise2 of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
5 Ask birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it, and passing over he will preserve it.
6 Turnl ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have ndeeply revolted.3
l Je.3.1,4,12,14,22; 31.18-20. Eze.18.30; 33.11. Ho.14.1-3,8; 9.9,15. Joel 2.12,13. ch.44.22; 55.6,7.
n 2 Ki.17.7-17. ch.i. iii. v. ix. lix. Mi.ii. iii. Ho.iv.-xii. Am.ii.-iv.
3 Not merely in external, but in the very depths of their hearts—not merely in unpremediated folly, but down through the depths of the most deliberate guilt.—C.
7 For in that day4 every man shall ocast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold,5 which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
8 Thenp 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 from6 the sword, and his young men shall be 7discomfited.8
9 And he shall pass over to his stronghold9 for fear,1 and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose qfire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.2
9 Or, his strength, ch.37.37.
1 Heb. his rock shall pass away for fear.
q Le.6.13, or Ps.21.9. ch.10.16-19; 30.27-33; 29.2; 33.14. Zec.2.5. Mal.4.1; 3.2,3.
2 See note * in second column.
* 'And his (the Assyrian's) rock (i.e. his strength) from fear shall pass away, and his chiefs shall be afraid of a standard (or signal, as denoting the presence of an enemy). saith Jehovah, to whom there is a fire in Zion and a furnace in Jerusalem. The true explanation of the last clause seems to be that which supposes an allusion both to the sacred fire on the altar, and to the consuming fire of God's presence, whose altar flames in Zion and whose wrath shall thence flame to destroy his enemies' (Alexander).—P.
Notes
Ver. 2, 3. As wise as you think yourselves, God will countermine all your subtle contrivances, and bring effectual ruin upon both you and your Egyptian helpers. 4, 5. Undismayed by all the noise, boasting, and blasphemy of the Assyrians, God shall, with almighty force, furiously encounter and devour them; but tenderly defend Jerusalem, as a bird doth its nest, or as the angel did the Israelites when he destroyed the Egyptians. 8, 9. By the immediate judgment of God shall the Assyrian army be generally destroyed; and Sennacherib himself, with the poor remains, terrified by the visible tokens of God's wrath, shall flee home to Nineveh his capital.—God had his sanctuary and altar in Jerusalem, and there he appeared, like a fire, to defend his people, and consume his enemies.
Ver. 1. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. To go to Egypt for help was a direct and wilful breach of the divine law, De. 28. 68, but the prophecy virtually denounces every unlawful means of seeking deliverance from danger—especially seeking the assistance of wicked men, upon the ground of any adoption of their principles or countenance of their practices. C.
Ver. 5. 'As the mother-birds fluttering over their brood, so shall Jehovah of hosts defend Jerusalem, protecting and delivering—springing over to her rescue.' And whoever has actually witnessed the courage of a mother-bird, whether domestic or wild, when called to the defence of her young, will not fail to admire the beauty and power of the image. C.
Ver. 9. The Lord, whose fire is in Zion, &c. Whose fire of the Spirit is in Zion, the seat of ordinances—and whose furnace of judgment is in Jerusalem, the seat of government. C.
Reflections.—Many wickedly go far for human help, and to no purpose, when they might have help from God at hand to infinite advantage. But the more we know of men we shall trust them the less; and the more we know of God we shall trust him the more. It is an atheistical disbelief of his all-sufficiency that ever makes us depart from him to depend on a creature: and when we do so, we may expect to have it ruined along with ourselves. But happy are believers whom God defends with infinite compassion and almighty power. His promises are an infallible ground of faith; his goodness ought to lead the greatest rebels against him to a kindly repentance; and every remarkable deliverance should be attended with remarkable reformation. But great is the ruin and the terror which await his implacable foes!