Isaiah 31
Notes
Transcript
Woe to Those Going Down to Egypt.
Woe to Those Going Down to Egypt.
This evening we come back to the book of Isaiah, we have been here a while, it takes a little bit of time walking through these major prophets like Isaiah.
But time isn’t the issue, it is looking at the word of God and learning from the lessons God taught to past generations.
If you remember that God has been warning Judah not to turn to Egypt for help, instead they should turn to the Lord their God.
Remember there were those who in fear of Assyria attacking them thought the only solution was to make agreements with other nations for help.
But it is faulty in reasoning, the reason is only the Lord can walk with a nation and help them.
This is a rather short chapter but that will not matter, lets see what the Lord is doing here.
So lets begin by opening the word… verse 1
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
So there we start with that word, “Woe.” Woe oracles express the displeasure of God in what his people, here the nation of Judah decides they need to do since there are threatened with defeat.
They are foolish in trusting in horses or chariots. They are foolish in trusting in others since God is truly their only hope.
God says woe to those representatives who travel from Judah all the way down to Egypt to make this sort of a military alliance with Pharoah of Egypt.
These people were hoping to secure the army of the Egyptians to protect them from Assyria.
The idea of horses and chariots, is they are faster than foot soldiers, they thought these fast portions of the army could disrupt the invading attack of these Assyrians who have already destroyed a portion of Judah and are on their way to the capital, Jerusalem.
God says woe to these who do not even consult me first...
My friends that speaks a world of volumes doesn’t it?
Our first response should be God, right? Yes!
But how often does man think, I know what to do, lets just go and do it… But that is faulty since we are leaning on our own wisdom and not our heavenly Father’s wisdom.
Listen to Ps 20:7
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
And even more importantly, Solomon taught man this in Proverbs 21:31
31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the Lord.
So who do we want to trust, do we want to trust in ourselves and others, or do we want to bless and trust the Lord.
Now lets look at verse 2-3 Isa 31:2-3
2 And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
Judah’s diplomats believe they are wise in enlisting the help of the Egyptians to aid them in this time of disaster. What they don’t realize is that God is wise enough to use their plans against them to bring chastisement.
God is wise enough that he doesn’t have to call people back or change plans. No! His plans are always right and accurate to the present need.
But again it tells us how far the people of Judah have fell. You know in times past, the King would seek out the priest and ask them what the Lord says about this or that situation. But not anymore.
We should always seek the Lord’s wisdom and judgment in our times of need.
But Judah has trusted in those who are men verse 3. God says to them, the Egyptians are men and not God, the horses are flesh and not spirit.
The Lord our God is powerful, more so than any man or army and He will decide the fate of people and nations.
He controls the destiny of all mankind.
Now lets look at verses 4-5 Isa 31:4-5
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
God is described as a lion, a lion that is standing over it prey.
Some think that imagery of God is to harsh. But He is one who devours His enemy and the enemy of the people.
While the Assyrians have destroyed most of the fortified cities in their march to Jerusalem and the people there.
The Lord is there and he is not turned away by the shouting of others, who present maybe the Egyptians…As the Assyrians come to defeat the city, God stands over them as a lion devouring its prey.
As a bird hovers over the nest of his little ones who the Lord stands over his people to protect and to deliver them from any danger.
He will rescue them and keep them
IN fact the Lord says that he will protect and deliver them. Just like the Lord delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians, so the Lord will deliver them from the land of the Assyrians.
Their response should be to trust God..
So think of this… in all that God has done for us in our past, we remember these things right?
Then why do we have difficulty trusting him for today or our future.
Now lets look at verses 6-7
6 Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
The call changes, the call is for Judah to turn back to him, you who have deeply revolted.
To turn back to him, it is the idea of repentance. They should repent and turn back to God.
No difference for us today.. have we (mankind, us and those around us) been in rebellion to God? So just as God called his people to repent, so today those who hear his call need to repent.
Verse 7 carries a different tone. It is a future, prophetic tone to it. When the Lord comes in His splendor the people will see the worthlessness of their gold and silver idols, those things they made and cherished.
They are focused on the future and cannot even think about their future.
We do the same, we left our present day sadness control our lives and we forget the future joy that awaits each of us in Christ Jesus.
Now lets look at the last two verses.. vv 8-9 Isa 31:8-9
8 “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
9 His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
This oracle ends with Isaiah telling us that Assyria will be defeated. Since God will protect Jerusalem, then Assyria will have to fail…
And verse 8 tells us plainly that it will happen not by man’s efforts, not throw even a battle with men.
The Lord’s fight will even cause the men to flee from the battle field, the will try and escape the coming disaster that is upon them, but to no avail. They will suffer loss....
God is a mighty warrior who will attack and fight for his people, and He always wins...
Verse 9 says their rock shall pass away.. literally what Assyrai put their faith in, well that has failed them and they have fled from it, no longer trusting even in it.
On the other hand the Lord is a dependable rock,
Psalm 18:3 says
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Salvation in sure, God is the victor and He is trustworthy!
The question for us today is simple, what do we put our trust in? In things, in ourselves or our God?
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
and then
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
I do believe we have trust him...
