Isaiah 31:9

The *Lord is like a fierce fire. He is protecting *Jerusalem. Any who dare to attack *Jerusalem will suffer terrible burns. That is, they will suffer greatly.

• Fire frequently shows that God is present (see Exodus 3:2).

Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
woe ~ a very sad cry because there is much pain to come.
chariot ~ box (on wheels) that horses pull to carry soldiers into battle.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s name ‘Lord’ means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
Egyptian ~ a person from the country called Egypt; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Egypt.
destroy ~ to kill or to punish completely.'Mount Zion ~ the mountain in Jerusalem where God’s holy Temple was.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 tribes (large families) of Israel.
Assyrian ~ a person from the country called Assyria; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Assyria.
Zion ~ the mountain in Jerusalem where God’s holy Temple was.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 tribes (large families) of Israel.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

The Sad People

Isaiah Chapter s 28 to 33

Gordon Churchyard

This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

Tap the * before a word to show an explanation.

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 31

People that trust Egypt’s army will be sad, like Assyria’s army

v1 [It will be] a sad [day] for those people that go down to Egypt. They depend [on Egypt’s leaders] for help and horses. Those people trust in chariots (special carts that soldiers ride in) because there are very many chariots [in Egypt]. And [they trust in] men that ride on horses. [They do that] because those [men] are very strong. And those people do not depend on the Holy [God] of Israel. And they do not ask for advice from the *LORD.

v2 But [the *LORD] is wise. Also, he can *destroy people. He does not call back his words. And he will do something against the people that do evil things. [And he will do something against] those people that help them. [Those people help] the people that do evil things.

v3 Now the [soldiers] from Egypt are men. They are not God. Their horses are animals. [Their horses are] not spirits. When the *LORD puts out his hand, the helper will fall down. The person whom [the helper] helps will also [fall down]. They will all come to an end together.

v4 Because this is what the *LORD said to me. ‘The *LORD of Everything will come down to fight. [He will fight] on the mountain of Zion (Jerusalem). And [he will fight] on its hill. [The *LORD] will roar like a lion or young lion. It makes a low, angry noise over what it has caught. The group of shepherds (people that look after sheep) [will] come out [to fight] against [the lion]. [But] when [they come, the lion] will not be afraid of their shouts. And the loud noises that they make will not disturb [the lion].’

v5 The *LORD of Everything will protect Jerusalem. He will fly round it like a bird. [The *LORD] will protect it, and he will make it free. He will pass over it and he will rescue it.

v6 People in Israel, start to trust [the *LORD] again. You have opposed him very badly.

v7 [Trust him] for this reason. In those days, everyone must throw away their images [that they have made] from silver. And [they must throw away their] images [that they have made] from gold. [You] made them for yourselves [with] your hands. That was wrong.

v8 ‘A sword will kill [the army of people from] Assyria. A man will not do it. And a sword, which a man is not holding, will *destroy them. And [the people from Assyria] will run away from the sword. And their young men will have to do hard labour.

v9 The rock [of Assyria’s people] will die in terror. And the officers [in] his [army] will run away. [They will run away] for this reason. They are all afraid of the flag [that people have raised for] battle.’ That is what the *LORD says. His fire is in Zion (Jerusalem) and his furnace (very hot fire) is in Jerusalem.

Notes

We must study Chapter s 31 and 32 together. Isaiah 31:1-5 shows the subject of these Chapter s. It deals with this problem. The leaders of Judah’s government wanted to ask for help from Egypt’s army. But that was not a good idea. Isaiah 31:6-9 deals with the problem about Assyria’s army. Then in chapter 32, Isaiah talks about the future ideal king. The ideal king will be the *Messiah.

Verse 1 The word for ‘sad’ here is ‘hoy’ in the *Hebrew Bible. The note about Isaiah 29:1 explains that. The ‘people that go down to Egypt’ are the leaders of Judah. King Hezekiah was the ruler of Judah. Egypt was famous for its horses. Horses bring power and chariots bring military strength. ‘Chariots’ were special carts that horses pulled. Soldiers rode in the chariots. Hezekiah wanted to benefit from that power and military strength. So Hezekiah preferred to trust in Egypt’s army. He preferred to do that rather than to trust in the *LORD. Notice that this verse has the words ‘go down’. And verse 4 has ‘come down’. Those words link verses 1-5 together.

Verse 2 Judah’s leaders thought that they were wise to ask Egypt for help. But the *LORD is wise also. He is wiser than men! He has his plans, and he does not ‘call back his words’. That means that he will not change his plans. The ‘people that help’ means Egypt’s people. The ‘people that do evil things’ means the people in Judah. Actually, the *Hebrew words for that mean ‘the house that does evil things’. There is a *Hebrew word for ‘family’ which actually means ‘house’. So ‘the people’ here may mean just the leaders from the royal ‘house’ (family). Here we read that God would ‘do something’ against the people. The actual *Hebrew words mean ‘rise up’ against the people.

Verse 3 Here Isaiah is emphasising that Judah’s people should have asked God for help. They should not have asked Egypt’s leaders for help. They are acting as if Egypt’s leaders are ‘God’. Here the *Hebrew word for God is ‘El’. It means ‘most powerful and wonderful king’.

Verse 4 Here is a special description of the *LORD as if he was a lion. He catches Zion (Jerusalem)! Nobody can take it from him. A ‘shepherd’ is someone that looks after sheep. But the ‘shepherds’ here mean the helpers from Egypt. They can do nothing! This is a special description of the *LORD when he fights for Jerusalem. He fights to defend what belongs to him. And so he helps the people that obey him.

Verse 5 The *LORD will do everything to help the people that obey him. He will fly round them to protect them. He will do that like a bird that protects its nest. In this verse, the *Hebrew Bible has 4 actions in the same sentence. When that happens, it often means ‘on all sides’. Here God would fight for his people ‘on all sides’. The important *Hebrew word here means ‘pass over’. It is the same word as in Exodus 12:13; Exodus 12:23 and Exodus 12:27. It became the word that the *Jews used for the *Passover. God will *destroy his enemies. However, the people that trust in God will live!

Verse 6 Isaiah tells his people that they must start to trust the *LORD again. They must be sorry for what they have done. Then, they must obey the *LORD in the future. They must not do bad things again.

Verse 7 People had made images out of gold and silver. The note for Isaiah 30:22 explains about such images. They represented false gods. But there must be no false gods after the people start to trust the *LORD again. Those were gods that people had made with their own hands. Even as Egypt’s army was not God, so those images were not God.

Verse 8 In this note, ‘B.C.’ means ‘years Before Christ came to the Earth’. After Assyria’s army suffered defeat in 701 B.C., it became weaker and weaker. In 612 B.C., Babylon’s army defeated Assyria’s army. In Isaiah Chapter s 36 to 37, we read how Assyria’s leaders wanted to take control of Jerusalem. But in Isaiah 37:36, we learn that the *LORD’s angel killed 185 000 soldiers from Assyria’s army. An ‘angel’ is a servant of God from heaven. The ‘young men’ were the men from Assyria’s army whom the angel did not kill. They would have to work as slaves.

Verse 9 ‘The rock [of Assyria’s people]’ means the king of Assyria. God is the ‘Rock of Israel’ (Isaiah 30:29). For ‘die’, the *Hebrew Bible has ‘pass away’. That is another way to say ‘die’ in English. Here it means that the king will pass away from this Earth. Nobody will see him again. It is possible to translate the next part of the verse like this. ‘His officers will run away from their flag [that they have raised for] battle. [They will run away] because they are afraid.’ A ‘furnace’ is like a huge box with a very hot fire inside. Read the note for Isaiah 29:1 about ‘Ariel’ (a special name for Jerusalem city that means a place with a fire).

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean where God lives and the skies above us.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
lord ~ someone with authority. With a capital L, it is a name for God.
LORD ~ a special name for God that only his servants should use. It is not a translation. It represents the Hebrew word YHWH. It probably means that God is always alive.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
destroy ~ to punish in a severe manner, usually by death or exile.
exile ~ people that an enemy takes to another country are ‘in exile’. They are away from home. We also call these people ‘exiles’. They have gone ‘into exile’.
messiah ~ a leader such as a king. With a capital M, it means Jesus for Christians.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.
Passover ~ annual ceremony to remember God’s rescue of the Jews from Egypt.
Jews ~ God’s people that lived in Judah and Israel.