INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 31 This chapter denounces woe to those that trusted in the Egyptians; assures the Jews of God's care and protection of them; calls them to repentance, and foretells the destruction of the Assyrian army. The sin of those that trusted in Egypt, with the reasons of their trust,... [ Continue Reading ]
WOE TO THEM THAT GO DOWN TO EGYPT FOR HELP,.... Or, "O ye that go down", c. what poor foolish creatures are you! And in the end what miserable and wretched ones will ye be! Such were the Jewish rulers and people, who either went themselves, or sent ambassadors to the king of Egypt, to supply them wi... [ Continue Reading ]
YET HE ALSO [IS] WISE,.... That is, God, the Holy One of Israel, is, whom they disregarded; and wiser too than the Egyptians, to whom they sought for help, and who were thought to be a wise and political people; and wiser than themselves, who imagined they acted a prudent part, in applying to them;... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE EGYPTIANS [ARE] MEN, AND NOT GOD,.... Be it that they are mighty, they are not mighty, as God is; and indeed they are but frail, feeble, mortal, and mutable men, and therefore not to be trusted in, and depended on; or to be put upon an equality with God, and even to be preferred to him, as t... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THUS HATH THE LORD SPOKEN UNTO ME,.... The prophet Isaiah, who had heard and received what follows from the Lord, and therefore it might be depended upon; and they are words of grace and mercy, promising preservation and deliverance; and therefore it was a foolish thing to send to Egypt for help... [ Continue Reading ]
AS BIRDS FLYING, SO WILL THE LORD OF HOSTS DEFEND JERUSALEM,.... As the preceding metaphor expresses the mighty power of God, this his tenderness and affection, as well as his speed and swiftness in the deliverance of his people. As birds in the air, at a distance, especially the eagle, have their e... [ Continue Reading ]
TURN YE UNTO [HIM],.... From the Egyptians, to whom they sought for help, unto the Lord, they had neglected; from evil ways and practices, idolatry and impiety, by repentance and reformation; to the true worship of God, to his word and ordinances, statutes and commands. The Targum is, "turn to the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IN THAT DAY,.... When deliverance shall be wrought; when men shall be convinced of the vanity and insufficiency of their idols to help them, and of their sin in worshipping them; when they shall be brought to repentance for it, and turn to the Lord as an evidence of it: EVERY MAN SHALL CAST AWA... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL THE ASSYRIAN FALL WITH THE SWORD, NOT OF A MIGHTY MAN,.... That is, the Assyrian army under Sennacherib their king, which besieged Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time; which, as soon as the people were brought to a sense of their sin, and repentance for it, and cast away their idols as a proof o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL PASS OVER TO HIS STRONG HOLD FOR FEAR,.... This is said of the king of Assyria, departing in haste from the siege of Jerusalem, to some strong hold in his own country, particularly his strong city Nineveh, for fear of the angel, and destruction following him; nor could he think himself... [ Continue Reading ]