이사야 Chapter 31

Translation: ESV

1

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!

Key Message

Seeking God rather than military power or great-power alliances is true security.

▸A woe is pronounced on those who rely on Egypt's military power (horses, chariots, horsemen) without seeking the Holy One of Israel.

A woe is pronounced on those who rely on Egypt's military power (horses, chariots, horsemen) without seeking the Holy One of Israel. The core is the opposition between reliance on military power and reliance on God.

Related Verses

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
2

And he is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.

Key Message

God's wisdom surpasses all human wisdom, and his word will surely come to pass.

▸God is also wise—not merely powerful, but wise.

3

The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together.

Key Message

Knowing the clear difference between human power (flesh) and God's power (spirit) and relying on God is essential.

▸The essential contrast: Egypt is man, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit.

4

For thus the LORD said to me, 'As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.'

Key Message

God fights for his people and nothing can halt his resolve.

▸A lion is not afraid of shepherds' shouts when protecting its prey.

5

Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.

Key Message

God protects and delivers his people as tenderly as a mother bird hovering over her young.

▸Just as a bird protects its young, the LORD protects Jerusalem.

6

Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel.

Key Message

To receive God's protection, repentance—turning back to him—is first required.

▸After the promise of God's protection, a call to repentance follows.

7

For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

Key Message

True repentance is shown by casting away idols, and this is the evidence of returning to God.

▸The concrete evidence of repentance: casting away their idols.

8

Then Assyria shall fall by a sword, not of man; and a sword, not of man, shall devour him; and he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be put to forced labor.

Key Message

Assyria's downfall comes not by human military power but by God's direct intervention.

▸Assyria falls by a sword that is not of man.

9

His rock shall pass away in terror, and his officers desert the standard in panic, declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Key Message

Zion, where God's presence dwells, is the true stronghold of power.

▸Assyria's rock (its king, or stronghold) passes away.