Isaiah Chapter 31
Isaiah 31, The LORD Will Give Victory, Not Egypt
Isaiah 31 continues the same burden from Isaiah 30. Judah was tempted to trust Egypt’s military strength against Assyria instead of trusting the Lord. The issue was not merely foreign policy. It was spiritual rebellion. Judah looked at horses, chariots, and horsemen, but did not look to the Holy One of Israel. The chapter exposes the foolishness of trusting flesh, declares that the Lord is wiser and stronger than Egypt, promises that the Lord will defend Mount Zion and Jerusalem, and calls Israel to return to the God against whom they had deeply revolted. The notes provided cover Isaiah 31:1-9, including the folly of trusting Egypt, the Lord’s superiority over human power, His defense of Jerusalem as both lion and bird, the call to repent from idols, and the supernatural fall of Assyria by a sword not of man.
Isaiah 31:1
Isaiah 31:1, KJV, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because many; and in horsemen, because they very strong; but they look not unto Holy One of Israel, neither seek LORD!”
Isaiah begins with a direct woe against those who go down to Egypt for help. Judah was facing the terrifying threat of Assyria, and from a human perspective, Egypt looked like a reasonable ally. Egypt had horses, chariots, military history, and visible strength. Judah’s leaders could point to Egypt’s resources and say that their plan made sense. Yet God calls it sin.
The problem was not that Judah recognized danger. Assyria was dangerous. The problem was that Judah sought salvation in Egypt instead of seeking the Lord. They “stay on horses,” meaning they leaned their confidence on military resources. They trusted in chariots “because they are many,” and in horsemen “because they are very strong.” Their trust was based on what they could count and see.
This is one of the great temptations of God’s people. Visible strength often feels more reliable than invisible faithfulness. A man may say he believes in God, but in crisis his first instinct reveals where his trust truly rests. Judah saw Egypt’s horses and chariots, but did not look to the Holy One of Israel.
The phrase “but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD” gives the heart of the rebuke. Judah had faith, but it was misplaced faith. Every man lives by some kind of trust. Some trust money, political power, weapons, health, reputation, education, technology, government, or personal ability. Judah trusted Egypt. But faith in the wrong object is still unbelief toward God.
Psalm 20:7, KJV, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember name of LORD our God.”
That is the right posture. The issue is not whether horses and chariots exist. The issue is whether the people of God remember the name of the Lord above all visible strength.
Judah’s sin was divided trust. They wanted God in name, but Egypt in crisis. They wanted covenant identity, but worldly security. That is spiritually deadly. A man cannot stand with one foot on the rock and one foot in quicksand. If his weight rests on the quicksand, he will sink.
Matthew 6:24, KJV, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate one, and love other; or else he will hold to one, and despise other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
The principle applies beyond money. No man can finally serve the Lord and Egypt. Judah had to choose whether her confidence was in the Holy One of Israel or in Pharaoh’s military power.
Isaiah 31:2-3
Isaiah 31:2-3, KJV, “Yet he also wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against house of evildoers, and against help of them that work iniquity. Now Egyptians men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.”
Isaiah answers Judah’s false calculation by reminding them who the Lord is. “Yet he also is wise.” Judah treated Egypt as wise and God as impractical. They acted as though political realism required Egyptian help and as though trusting the Lord was unrealistic. Isaiah says the Lord is also wise. In truth, He is infinitely wise.
The Lord’s wisdom is not passive. He “will bring evil,” meaning disaster or judgment, and “will not call back his words.” God’s word is not empty. When He speaks judgment, He does not fail to perform it. Judah’s leaders might revise treaties, negotiate alliances, and alter political strategy, but God’s decree stands.
The Lord will arise “against the house of evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.” This means God will judge both the wicked and the help they rely upon. Judah’s alliance with Egypt did not place Egypt outside God’s reach. If Judah sought help from evildoers, then both the helper and the helped would come under judgment.
Verse 3 brings the matter down to its simplest truth, “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit.” Egypt may be impressive, but Egypt is still human. Horses may be powerful, but they are still flesh. God is God. He is Spirit. Judah confused flesh with ultimate power.
This remains one of the great errors of unbelief. Man exaggerates the power of flesh and minimizes the power of God. He fears armies, markets, governments, diseases, enemies, and circumstances more than he fears the Lord. Isaiah corrects that thinking. Egypt is man, not God. Horses are flesh, not spirit.
Jeremiah 17:5-8, KJV, “Thus saith LORD; Cursed man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from LORD. For he shall like heath in desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit parched places in wilderness, in salt land and not inhabited. Blessed man that trusteth in LORD, and whose hope LORD is. For he shall as tree planted by waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall green; and shall not careful in year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
Trusting flesh brings curse and barrenness. Trusting the Lord brings stability and fruitfulness.
Isaiah says, “When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down.” God does not need to strain Himself. He only stretches out His hand, and both Egypt and Judah’s false confidence fall. The helper and the helped fail together.
This is why false refuge is so dangerous. It does not merely fail to save. It falls under God’s judgment and brings down those who trusted in it. Judah did not need Egypt. Judah needed repentance and faith.
Isaiah 31:4-5
Isaiah 31:4-5, KJV, “For thus hath LORD spoken unto me, Like as lion and young lion roaring on his prey, when multitude of shepherds called forth against him, he will not afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for noise of them: so shall LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for hill thereof. As birds flying, so will LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.”
The Lord now gives two powerful pictures of His defense of Jerusalem. First, He compares Himself to a lion. “Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey,” even if many shepherds are called against him, the lion is not afraid of their voices and does not humble himself because of their noise. So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion.
The point is strength, fearlessness, and unshakable possession. A lion over its prey is not intimidated by shouting shepherds. The Lord is not intimidated by Assyria, Egypt, Judah’s panic, or the noise of nations. He is the Lord of hosts. He commands heavenly armies. He does not need Egypt’s chariots.
This image rebukes Judah’s fear. If the Lord is the lion fighting for Zion, then Egypt is unnecessary. No human ally can add to God’s strength. The Lord’s defense is sufficient.
The second image is tender, “As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem.” The picture is of birds hovering protectively over their young. The Lord defends Jerusalem not only with lionlike power, but with mother bird care. He is fierce toward enemies and tender toward His people.
This combination matters. God’s defense is not cold power. It is covenant love. He fights like a lion and shelters like a bird.
Jesus used similar imagery when lamenting over Jerusalem.
Matthew 23:37, KJV, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I gathered thy children together, even as hen gathereth her chickens under wings, and ye would not!”
The Lord’s heart toward Jerusalem includes protective compassion. Yet Jerusalem often refused that protection.
Isaiah says the Lord will defend, deliver, pass over, and preserve. The wording “passing over” echoes the Passover idea. The Lord would preserve Jerusalem from destruction, not because Judah deserved it, but because of His covenant purpose and mercy.
Exodus 12:13, KJV, “And blood shall to you for token upon houses where ye are: and when I see blood, I will pass over you, and plague shall not upon you to destroy you, when I smite land of Egypt.”
In the Exodus, the Lord passed over His people in judgment because of the blood. In Isaiah’s day, the Lord would preserve Jerusalem from Assyria by His power. In the ultimate sense, God’s people are preserved only through the blood of Christ.
Judah’s problem was that she looked to Egypt when the Lord Himself had promised to defend Jerusalem. Their fear was real, but their solution was wrong. The Lord was enough.
Isaiah 31:6-7
Isaiah 31:6-7, KJV, “Turn ye unto him from whom children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for sin.”
The promise of God’s defense leads to a call for repentance. “Turn ye unto him.” The proper response to the Lord’s greatness is not mere admiration. It is return. Judah must turn back to the God against whom Israel had deeply revolted.
The phrase “deeply revolted” is strong. Judah’s problem was not a slight mistake. It was deep rebellion. They had rebelled in policy, worship, trust, and heart. They needed more than adjustment. They needed repentance.
Repentance means turning toward God and away from whatever has taken His place. In this context, that includes Egypt and idols. Judah had trusted foreign power, and they had also made idols of silver and gold. Isaiah says that in the day of restoration, “every man shall cast away his idols.”
This is the fruit of true repentance. A man does not merely add God to his idols. He throws the idols away. He does not keep them polished and hidden for later. He casts them away as sin.
Isaiah is direct, these idols are “which your own hands have made unto you for sin.” Idols are human constructions that become spiritual traps. Men make them, then bow before them. They form them, then fear them. They create them, then trust them. This is absurd, but sin makes men foolish.
Isaiah 44:14-17, KJV, “He heweth him down cedars, and taketh cypress and oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among trees of forest: he planteth ash, and rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh god, and worshippeth it; he maketh graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I warm, I have seen fire: And residue thereof he maketh god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou my god.”
Idolatry is irrational. A man uses part of the wood for fire and food, then worships the rest as god. Judah’s silver and gold idols were no better. They were made by human hands and became sin.
The same principle applies today. Anything made, managed, controlled, desired, or trusted more than God becomes an idol. Money, career, politics, pleasure, sex, reputation, weapons, comfort, influence, and even ministry can become idols if they take the place of the Lord.
True restoration includes casting idols away.
1 Thessalonians 1:9, KJV, “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve living and true God.”
The biblical order is clear, turn to God, turn from idols, serve the living and true God.
Isaiah 31:8-9
Isaiah 31:8-9, KJV, “Then shall Assyrian fall with sword, not of mighty man; and sword, not of mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from sword, and his young men shall discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall afraid of ensign, saith LORD, whose fire in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.”
The Lord now declares the fall of Assyria. “Then shall the Assyrian fall with a sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him.” Assyria would fall, but not by ordinary human military power. Judah did not need Egypt to defeat Assyria. The Lord would do it by His own hand.
This was fulfilled historically when the angel of the Lord struck the Assyrian camp.
2 Kings 19:35, KJV, “And it came to pass that night, that angel of LORD went out, and smote in camp of Assyrians hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
This was not Egypt’s victory. It was not Judah’s military genius. It was not the sword of a mighty man or a common man. It was the Lord’s supernatural deliverance. One angel of the Lord destroyed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. Judah’s fear of Assyria was understandable, but her trust in Egypt was unnecessary and sinful.
Isaiah says the Assyrian will flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. His stronghold will become a place of fear. His princes will be afraid of the ensign. The empire that terrified nations would itself be terrified by the Lord’s judgment.
This also points to Sennacherib’s personal humiliation.
2 Kings 19:36-37, KJV, “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with sword: and they escaped into land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.”
The king who mocked the Lord and threatened Jerusalem returned home in shame and was killed while worshipping his false god. Assyria’s strength failed. Egypt’s help was unnecessary. The Lord alone delivered.
The chapter closes with the Lord described as the One “whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.” God’s presence in Zion is not weak or sentimental. His fire burns there. His furnace is in Jerusalem. This speaks of His holiness, judgment, purification, and protective presence. Jerusalem’s safety is not in Egypt’s shadow, but in the Lord’s holy fire.
Zechariah 2:5, KJV, “For I, saith LORD, will be unto her wall of fire round about, and will be glory in midst of her.”
That is the true defense of Zion. The Lord Himself is the wall of fire and the glory in the midst.
Isaiah 31 therefore presses the same lesson with clarity. Egypt is man, not God. Horses are flesh, not spirit. Chariots may be many, and horsemen may be strong, but the Lord is wiser, stronger, and sovereign. He defends like a lion, shelters like a bird, calls His people to repent, demands that idols be cast away, and defeats Assyria by a sword not of man.
