Many Israelites had been seriously unfaithful to the Lord, and Isaiah appealed to those of them in Judah to return to Him with their heart, not just because he had announced coming judgment. read more
Another call for repentance 31:6-9The prophet now called his audience to repent with the prospect of salvation that lay in the future. read more
"In that day" points to the eschatological revival of Israel (cf. Isaiah 2:20). The Judahites of Isaiah’s day needed to return to the Lord, because in the future, Israel as a whole would do so. The time for decisive action was now. read more
The immediate situation also called for Judah to repent. Since the Lord promised to defeat Assyria Himself, His people needed to get into a right relationship with Him. To say that the Assyrian young men would become forced laborers was to say that Assyria would herself be overcome. read more
The rock of Assyria, her king (cf. Isaiah 30:29), would panic, and her princes would tremble at the evidence of divine intervention. The Assyrians would face a fire in Jerusalem that they could not endure. The Lord’s judgment on Sennacherib’s army at Jerusalem in 701 B.C. was the beginning of the demise of the Assyrian Empire."A friend of mine kept a card in his office desk that read: Faith Is Living Without Scheming. In one statement, that is what Isaiah was saying to Judah and Jerusalem, and... read more
1-5. Judah should trust not in Egypt, but in Jehovah. 6-9. The wonderful deliverance from the Assyrian.1. See Isaiah 30:16. 2. Somewhat sarcastic; Jehovah is wise, as well as the politicians of Judah. Evil] i.e. calamity. 5. Flying] i.e. hovering over the nest to protect it. Passing over] an allusion to the Passover, the same word being used.6. The children, etc.] RV ’ye have deeply revolted, O children of Israel.’8. The Assyrian’s fall will be brought about by no human agency. For the... read more
XXXI.(1) Woe to them that go down . . .—The Egyptian alliance was, of course, the absorbing topic of the time, and Isaiah returns to it yet again. As in Isaiah 30:16, the princes of Judah were attracted by the prospect of strengthening themselves in their weakest point, and reinforcing the cavalry of Judah, which could hardly be mentioned by an Assyrian ambassador without a smile (Isaiah 36:9), with an Egyptian contingent. Isaiah once more condemns this as trusting in an “arm of flesh “instead... read more
(2) Yet he also is wise.—The words have a ring of sarcasm in them. Isaiah admits ironically that the counsellors of Hezekiah were wise in their generation. He reminds them that there might be some little wisdom in Jehovah, and in the prophet by whom He spake.And will not call back his words.—Such words, e.g., as those of the preceding chapter (Isaiah 30:12-13; Isaiah 30:16-17). read more
(3) The Egyptians are men . . .—We hear again the key-note of Isaiah’s teaching. The true strength of a nation lay in its spiritual, not in its material, greatness: in seeking the Holy One of Israel by practising holiness. Without that condition the alliance with Egypt would be fatal both to those that sought for help and those who gave it. read more
Get a Bible verse delivered to your inbox every day!
Read on Mobile
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 31:4-5
The Lord had told Isaiah that He would be as a lion and as a bird to Judah. As a lion attacks its prey with focused purposefulness, He would decimate the Judahites, and the shouts of the Egyptian shepherds that the Judahites had hired to protect them would not scare Him off. As a bird that protects its young from other animals, the Lord would protect Judah from its predator, Assyria (cf. Exodus 12)."He who protects is He who is strong as a lion to accomplish His purposes." [Note: Young, 2:379.] read more