Isaiah 31
Sunday Morning Bible Study
October 3, 1999
Introduction
Isaiah 31 picks up where we left off in chapter 30. The nation of Judah is facing the inevitable invasion from the mighty Assyrian army. There were some counselors in King Hezekiah’s court who were trying to get Hezekiah to get help from the Egyptians. They had already sent an entourage of camels bearing gifts to beg help from the Egyptians. Yet God was desiring that the people would look to Him for help.
:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots
stay – sha`an – to lean on, trust in, support
chariots – in Assyrian sculptures, their chariots were typically pulled by teams of three horses, and each chariot carried three warrior. Egypt was historically a place to get the best horses and chariots, and it made sense to go there for help against the Assyrian threat.
Lesson #1
Human help is not always wrong.
After reading passages like the one we’re looking at today, you can get the idea that God doesn’t want us to ever be helped by a person who is wearing skin. But that’s not really the case.
There were plenty of times in Israel’s history when God used the armies of Israel to defeat their enemies.
Moses and the Amalekites.
(Exo 17:8-13 KJV) Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. {9} And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. {10} So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. {11} And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Don’t think that Moses is controlling the action on the playing field by playing some sort of game like "red light, green light". It’s when he has his hands up in prayer that Joshua prevails.
{12} But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. {13} And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
There are two forces involved in fighting for Israel. There is the spiritual side where Moses must have his hands up in prayer for the victory to come. But there is also a physical side as well. Joshua had an army of real men who swung real swords. Yet even here, the physical part of the victory was dependent upon the spiritual side.
This is such a great story because it shows how sometimes God will use human means, like Joshua’s army, to win a battle, but it’s also important to see the spiritual side as well.
Lesson #2
Don’t trust in ungodly things.
The problem with trusting in Egypt was simply that God was not in it. In fact, "Egypt" can often be a picture of the flesh in Scripture. God had even made a specific command for kings that they were not to cause the people to return to Egypt.
(Deu 17:16 KJV) But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
There are some ways of doing things that God simply doesn’t want for His people. We are to be different. We are to do it God’s way. Last week I mentioned the danger of going to a non-Christian for counseling. There are other things we can do to avoid going to God for help.
How do you deal with anxiety?
We have lots of ways to deal with anxiety and worry.
Some of us eat. Some go shopping. Some exercise or play sports. Others go to their friends and talk and complain. Some of us try to escape by going to the movies, Disneyland, or playing video games. Some escape with alcohol, drugs, or sex. Some of us escape simply by sleeping. Some of these are not very healthy ways of dealing with our problems, some don’t seem too bad, but none of them are God’s way of dealing with our anxiety.
How does God want us to deal with anxiety? Paul writes,
(Phil 4:6-7 NASB) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. {7} And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I say this not to load lots of guilt on you, but to come and admit to you that I’m not much different. I’m amazed at how I find myself dealing with anxiety. I have my ways of escaping. But God wants me to pray.
Warren Wiersbe writes,
"Think of the money Judah would have saved and the distress they would have avoided had they only rested in the Lord their God and obeyed His will. All their political negotiations were futile and their treaties worthless. They could trust the words of the Egyptians but not the Word of God!"
Lesson #3
Sometimes God wants to help you all by Himself.
Though there are going to be times when God will help you through another person, just as Joshua swung his sword against the Amalekites, there are also going to be times when God wants to help you all by Himself.
When the nation of Israel had been in Egypt for four hundred years, and they cried out to God for deliverance from their slavery, who delivered them?
It wasn’t Moses. It was all God. Moses didn’t bring the plagues on Egypt, God did. Moses didn’t part the Red Sea, God did.
When the nation of Judah was being attacked by the Ammonites and Moabites, it looked hopeless. King Jehoshaphat gathered all the people together and they prayed:
(2 Chr 20:12-22 KJV) O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. {13} And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. {14} Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; {15} And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. {16} To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. {17} Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
For some of you, God is speaking this same thing to you. He wants you to know that He will be with you. You don’t need to fight, you just need to stand still and see what God will do.
{18} And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. {19} And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. {20} And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. {21} And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. {22} And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
Because God said that He would fight the battle, the most natural way to respond to a promise like that is to praise Him. It was while they were praising the Lord that the victory was won.
Lesson #4
Express your trust through praising Him.
For some of you, every little thing that comes up against you discourages you. It seems like everything is against you. And you feel like you want to quit.
That is exactly where the enemy wants you. He wants you to quit.
But if, on the other hand, God is faithful and will actually be helping you, there’s no need to quit. In fact you too can just stand still and see what God is going to do. You too can start to praise Him for His faithfulness. For some of you, all that’s been keeping you from victory has been your discouragement, and when you turn your attitude around and begin to praise Him, you will find that there never was much of a battle for you to fight. The battle has always been the Lord’s.
:2 Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil
wise – chakam – wise; shrewd, crafty, cunning
evil – ra` – evil, distress, misery, calamity. Better translated, "He will bring calamity".
The Egyptians aren’t the only wise guys on the block. God is pretty awesome too.
:2 and will not call back his words
When God promises to do something, He keeps His word.
:3 When the LORD shall stretch out his hand …
When God stretches out His hand, both the Egyptians and those who are trusting in the Egyptians shall fall.
:4 Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey …
The picture is of a lion attacking a lamb, and a whole group of shepherds come to fight off the lion. The lion isn’t scared of the shepherds at all, so the Lord isn’t scared of the Assyrians.
Lesson
The enemy doesn’t scare the Lord.
You may be terrified by your enemies, but God isn’t scared. He’s got His eye on you and He intends to fight for you.
Illustration
When I see some of these Japanese martial arts movies, I get the feeling that part of the art of fighting is learning to intimidate your enemies. You watch these guys psyche themselves up, grunting and striking poses, trying to unnerve their opponents.
God isn’t impressed. God says,
(Psa 91:14-15 KJV) Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. {15} He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
:5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;
(Isa 31:5 NLT) The LORD Almighty will hover over Jerusalem as a bird hovers around its nest.
Interesting secondary fulfillment: In 1917 the Turks held Jerusalem. It was preserved from destruction when the British reconnaissance planes flew over and frightened the Turks, who fled without battle.
:5 passing over he will preserve it
passing over – the same verb (pacach) that is used to describe what the Lord did at the first Passover. This was when God delivered Israel by having the angel of death go through all the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn children. But the Jews would be safe because they were to put lamb’s blood on the door posts of their houses and the angel would "pass over" and spare their house.
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye [are]: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy [you], when I smite the land of Egypt.
There’s a little bit of irony here. God had delivered Israel at the first "pass over" and He’s now promising to do it again. But what was Israel delivered from at the first Passover? They were delivered from four hundred years of bondage to Egypt.
Yet now God’s people are wanting to go back to Egypt in order to be delivered from Assyria.
:7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver
When these people see God’s great hand of deliverance, they will get rid of their idols.
:7 which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.
People today are still making their own "gods".
From yesterday’s (10-2-99) Orange County Register, and I’m not making this up:
All-woman congregation finds home
By CAROL McGRAW
The Orange County Register
Crystal Bujol is looking for a few good candle lighters at her church — women who can light the world on fire with their spirituality. And maybe a few drummers, too, to make a "joyful noise."
The 62-year-old Costa Mesa woman has started what she thinks might be the only all-woman church in the county: the First Woman's Church of Costa Mesa/Newport Beach.
It is the fourth church that she has founded; others are in Los Angeles and Berkeley.
It's a church where members write their own bibles to fit their spiritual needs. It's a place where women chant and sing and dance and drum to show their joy for creation. It is a church lit by candles representing the stages of a woman's life. It is a safe haven, where there is no preaching about sin and shame, where everyone can talk intimately about their sorrows and joys.
There is even a mythological twin sister for Jesus, playfully called Jessie Mae Chris(t) — an African-American goddess who represents feminine spirituality.
For me I have to admit I’m slightly amused at this. But it’s also kind of troubling too. People have this idea that "religion" is important, but what you actually believe in doesn’t really matter, just as long as you believe in something and you find "fulfillment" in it. I remember non-Christian professors in high school and college who used to talk cynically about religion, that man simply makes "god" in his own image. The sad part is that there’s a lot of truth to this. There are a lot of people who do this exact same thing, just as this pastor of the "all woman church". From the article:
Her own theology is a cafeteria of rituals from many faiths — including elements of Religious Science mixed with aspects of Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism and Indian rituals.
Lesson
Don’t be playing at religion.
My point is, this approach to religion is all good and well as long as there really isn’t a real God in heaven. But if there really isn’t a God in heaven, why are we playing at religion at all? And if there really truly is a God in heaven, shouldn’t we be paying attention to what He says about Himself? Where do we come off trying to make up stuff just to make ourselves more comfortable?
There is a God in heaven, and He hasn’t hidden Himself from mankind, but has very carefully revealed Himself to us:
(Heb 1:1-3 NLT) Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. {2} But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. {3} The Son reflects God's own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.
God has spoken very clearly to us about how we are to relate to Him. It is through His Son, Jesus. Jesus Christ died on a cross in order to pay the penalty for our sins. I’m sorry if mentioning "sin" makes you uncomfortable, but God has a problem with your sin. And God wants to take care of your sins by forgiving them. But He can only forgive sins that have been paid for. It’s only when you come to put your trust in Jesus and the truth that He paid for your sins, that you can come to have a relationship with the God who created you.
:8 shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man
The Assyrians are going to fall from a sword, but not a sword belonging to a human being. The Bible says:
Psalms 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
This is just what happened.
(Isa 37:36 KJV) Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
:9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear,
Those that were not killed by the angel that night would flee in terror.
:9 whose fire is in Zion
fire – this could be a reference to the fire on the altar of burnt offering at the temple, which was kept burning continually.
:9 and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD,
ensign – nec – something lifted up, standard, signal, banner, sign
Lesson
The enemy trembles before Jesus
Though this may be referring to how the Assyrians would tremble at the sight of anything Jewish, Isaiah has already given us something as to what or who this "ensign" might be:
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
It’s not uncommon for us to get this point backward. We are often the ones trembling at what our enemy is threatening us with. But we shouldn’t be the ones who are afraid. After all, it’s the demons who tremble before God (James 2:19).
Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm. He said, "This is my psalm". Whenever he heard any discouraging news, he would say, "Come let us sing the forty-sixth psalm". It was the basis for his "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe -
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing,
Were not the right man on our side,
The man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He -
Lord Sabaoth His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And though this world with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him -
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure:
One little word shall fell him.
John writes,
(1 John 4:4 KJV) Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Come and find rest in the One who is not afraid. He’ll fight for you.