Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD. Sermons
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. Egypt is used in Scripture as a symbol of all foreign worldly powers. It represented carnal force - "trusting in chariots, horses, and horsemen, because they are very strong." "Looking," as the same verse says, "to them," and not looking unto the Holy One of Israel. I. WOE, BECAUSE GOD HAS SAID IT. He is wise, and knows the end from the beginning. We are dazzled with the show of power. The neighing of the war-horse and the glitter of the golden chariot and the flashing steel of the warriors, all look like strength. But God says to Israel, "This is not your strength. This may succeed for a time, but it is an empire held by the throat, not by the heart." II. WOE, BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN IT. The facts of history are on our side. When Israel was pure and pious she prospered. Deliverance from Egypt was wrought out in the face of superior force; and an undisciplined band of slaves were too mighty for the cohorts of Pharaoh. So have we seen in history ever since. In the end it is "righteousness that exalteth a nation;" but shame, reproach, and defeat come to those who forsake God. Woe! Yes; the fires of London had to hum out its profligacies. The plague followed its debaucheries. III. WOE, BECAUSE DIVINE LAWS ARE IMMUTABLE. It is not only said and seen, it is sure. For to find true help in Egypt would be like reversing the law of gravitation, or making the stars change their courses, or water forsake its level. "God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent." There are many Egypts - force, fashion, fraud; these have empire at times; but woe to those who, forsaking the simplicities and spiritualities of the gospel, seek "help" therefrom! - W.M.S. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. is attested, not only in other parts of Scripture, but by profane writers. Homer describes Thebes as having a hundred gates, out of each of which two hundred warriors went forth with chariots and horses. Diodorns speaks of the whole country between Thebes and Memphis as filled with royal stables. The horses of Solomon are expressly said to have been brought out of Egypt. This kind of military force was more highly valued, in comparison with infantry, by the ancients than the moderns, and especially by those who, like the Hebrews, were almost entirely deprived of it themselves. Hence their reliance upon foreign aid is frequently identified with confidence in horses and contrasted with simple trust in God ( Psalm 20:7). () To "seek Jehovah" is not merely to consult Him, but to seek His aid, resort to Him, implying the strongest confidence. () () : —I. THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE which the Jewish people formed with Egypt. God had promised to be their Protector; He had also prohibited alliances with heathen nations (Exodus 23:32; Deuteronomy 7:2). This alliance with Egypt was a violation of this command. 1. This unholy alliance is an old sin. They could see and feel the horses and chariots of Egypt. They allowed their senses to be their sovereigns, instead of making them their servants. Has not this been the ruin of the race? Fleshly lusts "war against the soul." History is crowded with examples. Eve in Eden; Esau; the Israelites in the wilderness; David. 2. This unholy alliance is marked by peculiar features.(1) It was a wretched choice. "Egypt." What good thing had Egypt ever done for them? Not one. Yet they chose Egypt in preference to God.(2) They were influenced by sensuous motives. They were carried away by the strength of the horses and the beauty of the chariots of Egypt.(3) It led them to reject God. 3. This unholy alliance incurred severe punishment. "Woe," &c. Sin leads to punishment. The safety of a nation does not consist in the strength of her army, nor in the extent of her commerce, but in her loyalty to God (Proverbs 14:34; Isaiah 60:12). II. This unholy alliance is COMMON IN THE PRESENT DAY. This unholy alliance is formed — 1. When relief is looked for from wrong sources in the day of trouble. God is a refuge and helper to all true souls in trouble who trust in Him. Yet how. common it is for many in the day of trouble to enter into a league with sin and make a covenant with death! A woe follows such, and sooner or later will overtake them. 2. When happiness is sought in wrong paths. True happiness is obtained when our will is brought into harmony with God's will. Many look for it in other directions. E.g., the miser, the sensuous, the ambitious, the worldling. 3. When salvation is expected in any other way than through Christ. 4. When unworthy means are employed to spread the Gospel. Conclusion: — True loyalty to God will bring safety, happiness, heaven. Horses may be strong, numerous, and swift; but they shall die and be forgotten. Chariots shall become lighter than dust; but they who do the will of God abide for ever. "Some trust in chariots," &c. ()
People Egyptians, Isaiah, Israelites, JeremiahPlaces Egypt, Jerusalem, Mount Zion, ZionTopics Chariots, Confide, Consult, Cursed, Depend, Egypt, Exceeding, Faith, Hearts, Holy, Horsemen, Horses, Lean, Mighty, Multitude, Numbers, Rely, Salvation, Seek, Sought, Stay, Strength, Strong, Trust, Turning, War-carriages, Wo, WoeOutline 1. The prophet shows the folly and danger of trusting Egypt, and forsaking God
6. He exhorts to conversion
8. He shows the fall of Assyria
Dictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 31:1 1346 covenants, nature of
4657 horse
5205 alliance
5252 chariots
5292 defence, divine
5612 weapons
5811 compromise
5956 strength, human
5973 unreliability
7735 leaders, political
8032 trust, lack of
8160 seeking God
8224 dependence
8354 trustworthiness
8616 prayerlessness
8723 doubt, results of
8744 faithlessness, as disobedience
8848 worldliness Isaiah 31:1-2 4155 divination Isaiah 31:1-3 5003 human race, and God
5864 futility
8463 priority, of faith, hope and love Library Three Pictures of one Reality
'As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it'--ISAIAH xxxi. 5. The immediate occasion of this very remarkable promise is, of course, the peril in which Jerusalem was placed by Sennacherib's invasion; and the fulfilment of the promise was the destruction of his army before its gates. But the promise here, like all God's promises, is eternal in substance, and applies to a community only because it applies to each …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Lord's Furnace
'The Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.'-- ISAIAH xxxi. 9. This very remarkable characterisation of God stands here as a kind of seal, set upon the preceding prophecy. It is the reason why that will certainly be fulfilled. And what precedes is mainly a promise of a deliverance for Israel, which was to be a destruction for Israel's enemies. It is put in very graphic and remarkable metaphors: 'Like as a lion roareth on his prey when a multitude of shepherds is called forth …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture What God Is
John iv. 24.--"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." We have here something of the nature of God pointed out to us, and something of our duty towards him. "God is a Spirit," that is his nature, and "man must worship him," that is his duty, and that "in spirit and in truth," that is the right manner of the duty. If these three were well pondered till they did sink into the bottom of our spirits, they would make us indeed Christians, not in the letter, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Of Conversion
Of Conversion "Be ye truly converted unto that God from whom ye have so deeply revolted" (Isa. xxxi. 6). To be truly converted is to avert wholly from the creature, and turn wholly unto God. For the attainment of salvation it is absolutely necessary that we should forsake outward sin and turn unto righteousness: but this alone is not perfect conversion, which consists in a total change of the whole man from an outward to an inward life. When the soul is once turned to God a wonderful facility is …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Of Perfect Conversion, which is an Effect of this Method of Prayer --Two of Its Aids, the Attraction of God, and the Central Inclination of The
"Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted" (Isa. xxxi. 6). Conversion is nothing else but a turning from the creature to God. Conversion is not perfect, though it is necessary for salvation, when it is merely a turning from sin to grace. To be complete, it must be a turning from without to within. The soul, being turned in the direction of God, has a great facility for remaining converted to Him. The longer it is converted, the nearer it approaches to God, and attaches …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents That it is not Lawful for the Well Affected Subjects to Concur in Such an Engagement in War, and Associate with the Malignant Party.
That It Is Not Lawful For The Well Affected Subjects To Concur In Such An Engagement In War, And Associate With The Malignant Party. Some convinced of the unlawfulness of the public resolutions and proceedings, in reference to the employing of the malignant party, yet do not find such clearness and satisfaction in their own consciences as to forbid the subjects to concur in this war, and associate with the army so constituted. Therefore it is needful to speak something to this point, That it is …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning But Though Prayer is Properly Confined to Vows and Supplications...
But though prayer is properly confined to vows and supplications, yet so strong is the affinity between petition and thanksgiving, that both may be conveniently comprehended under one name. For the forms which Paul enumerates (1 Tim. 2:1) fall under the first member of this division. By prayer and supplication we pour out our desires before God, asking as well those things which tend to promote his glory and display his name, as the benefits which contribute to our advantage. By thanksgiving we duly …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 31:1 NIV
Isaiah 31:1 NLT
Isaiah 31:1 ESV
Isaiah 31:1 NASB
Isaiah 31:1 KJV
Isaiah 31:1 Bible Apps
Isaiah 31:1 Parallel
Isaiah 31:1 Biblia Paralela
Isaiah 31:1 Chinese Bible
Isaiah 31:1 French Bible
Isaiah 31:1 German Bible
Isaiah 31:1 Commentaries
Bible Hub
|
