Isaiah study & commentary

Isaiah 31:1-3 

Both Egypt and Judah would fall because of their arrogance.  Judah trusted Egypt to guard against the Assyrian rather than trust God.  Deuteronomy 17:16 says they were never to go back that way again.  Egypt was behind, it was history and we shouldn't return there.  Instead they should look forward seeking God.  Isaiah's warning was for those people in that time. 

For us, this also is a far prophecy.  Egypt is an idiom of the world and the Assyrian is the evil ruler to come.   Do we look to God or Egypt for our deliverance?  Do we trust in our own knowledge and the worldly power to protect us from this coming evil ruler? 

Isaiah 31:4-5

When your faith is in the things of the world and when your hope is in chariots, horses and great armies, then the things that threaten you will also come from the world.  There will always be a bigger and stronger army come along.  Something will always threaten your security if it is found in the simple and perishable things of the world and not the Lord.  When our trust is in the Lord, there is nothing that harm us or get to us.  There is no threat that can get past the guard of His eyes.  He is like the lion over His prey, unafraid of those coming against him.  He is like the mother bird flying about looking, guarding and defending at all cost.  There is another day coming when God will come down to fight on Mt. Zion for Jerusalem.

Isaiah 31:6-9
Isaiah calls for repentance; for in this coming day every man will throw away his idols.  In that day, the idols will be shown to be worthless trinkets with no power or authority.  God promises the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man.  See 2 Kings 19:34-35.  The angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrians in one night.  The Assyrian stronghold will fall because of terror.  What was this great terror?  It may well be that God showed them the army of the Lord, the multitudes that battle for the Lord.  Take a look at 2 Kings 6 where Elisha is surrounded by the Syrian army and Elisha prayed for God to show his servant the army of God.

We create our idols; they often look like us, act like us and are very forgiving of the sins that exist in our life.  Sometimes we name our idols; often we even call it 'god' or 'the lord' or 'Jesus', but the names are meaningless if the understanding is our fabrication.  Our idols seem like they might lead us to fulfillment or happiness, in the end we are slaves to them.  The idols do nothing but create bondage. 

©2018 Doug Ford