Reflections on Isaiah 31

Isaiah 31 (Contemporary English Version)
1. You are in for trouble if you go to Egypt for help, or if you depend on an army of chariots or a powerful cavalry. Instead you should depend on and trust the holy LORD God of Israel.
   
2. The LORD isn't stupid! He does what he promises, and he can bring doom. If you are cruel yourself, or help those who are evil, you will be destroyed.
   
3. The Egyptians are mere humans. They aren't God. Their horses are made of flesh; they can't live forever. When the LORD shows his power, he will destroy the Egyptians and all who depend on them. Together they will fall.
   
4. The LORD All-Powerful said to me, "I will roar and attack like a fearless lion not frightened by the shouts of shepherds trying to protect their sheep. That's how I will come down and fight on Mount Zion.
   
5. I, the LORD All-Powerful, will protect Jerusalem like a mother bird circling over her nest."
   
6. People of Israel, come back! You have completely turned from the LORD.
   
7. The time is coming when you will throw away your idols of silver and gold, made by your sinful hands.
   
8. The Assyrians will be killed, but not by the swords of humans. Their young men will try to escape, but they will be captured and forced into slavery.
   
9. Their fortress will fall when terror strikes; their army officers will be frightened and run from the battle. This is what the LORD has said, the LORD whose fiery furnace is built on Mount Zion.

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As in chapter 30, this chapter has another woe against an alliance with Egypt. Though it had not yet taken place, there were some in Judah who were intent on such an alliance. So verse one states, "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses!" The obvious problem was that they were not depending on God, the "Holy One of Israel." By comparison, the Egyptians were only men, not God, and their horses were only flesh, and not spirit. Physical things are no match for spiritual things, and if Judah pursues this alliance, "the helper will stumble and the helped will fall." (31:3) So the alliance is detrimental to Egypt as well as to Judah. Besides, it is unnecessary. If Judah will rely on God, He will be as a lion on their behalf that is not terrified by the noise of those who try to run it off. Instead, He will fight for Judah and will protect Jerusalem, sparing it the coming destruction.

Then comes a plea for Judah to return to the One against whom she has rebelled. There will come a day, possibly at the Millenium, when Judah will reject her silver and gold idols and turn back to the Lord. The unstated question is, why wait until that day? Why not turn back to Him now and be spared, for Assyria will not fall by human sword, but by the sword of the Lord.

Our best source of help in time of difficulty is the one we most often have the greatest difficultly relying on.  Not that there is anything complicated about it, but because we find it so hard to simply wait on God. We feel that if we are not doing something about the situation nothing is being done, or we live by the unbiblical saying that, "God helps those who help themselves." If this saying were biblical, God would not be denouncing Judah for trying to help herself with an alliance with Egypt. Helping ourselves is not depending on God. It is depending on ourselves and hoping God will bless our plans. Depending on God may involve nothing more than waiting for His deliverance, or it may involve waiting until He shows us what we need to do. In the history of Israel when the nation was threatened by overwhelming odds, there were times when God told the leaders to do nothing only to watch what He was going to do. On other occasions He gave them specifici instructions as to what they were to do and then their meager actions were amplified by God's mighty actions and deliverance came. Whether we wait for God to bring the deliverance or wait for Him to give us our instructions for deliverance, depending on God involves waiting on Him, for waiting demonstrates our trust and reliance on Him. Yet waiting seems to be more difficult than many can handle.