45 lines
7.8 KiB
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45 lines
7.8 KiB
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Isa',31,'1-');">Isa 31</a> - The <span class="c6">Lord</span> Will Give Victory, Not Egypt</h2>
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<p>A. The folly of trusting in Egypt.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',31,1);">1</a>) Woe to those who look to Egypt, not the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c2">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 who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the <span class="c6">Lord</span>!</p>
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<p class="c4">a. Isaiah confronts Judah with two sins: the sin of trusting in Egypt and their military might, and the sin of not looking <b><span class="c3">to the Holy One of Israel</span></b>. Judah felt they had a <i>reason</i> to trust in chariots (<b><span class="c3">because they are many</span></b>). Judah felt they had a <i>reason</i> to trust in horsemen (<b><span class="c3">because they are very strong</span></b>). But they couldn’t seem to find a <i>reason</i> to trust in the <span class="c6">Lord</span>!</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “They did not, of course, abandon faith <i>per se</i>. Everybody lives by faith. It is part of the human condition. Financiers trust market forces, militarists trust bombs, scientists trust nature’s regularities. Jerusalem’s leaders trusted Egypt.” (Motyer)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. How much better to have the heart of the Psalmist in <a onclick="return mV('Psa',20,7);">Psa 20:7</a>: <i>Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> our God</i>. And our trust should <i>only</i> be in the <span class="c6">Lord</span>; “He that stands with one foot on a rock, and another foot upon a quicksand, will sink and perish as certainly as he that stands with both feet on a quicksand.” (Trapp)</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',31,'2-3');">2-3</a>) The <span class="c6">Lord</span> is mightier than the Egyptians.</p>
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<p class="c2">Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, and will not call back His words, but will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the <span class="c6">Lord</span> stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; they all will perish together.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster</span></b>: Though Judah couldn’t seem to find a reason to trust God, the reasons were there, and Isaiah calls them to remember the reasons. They should trust God more than the Egyptians or their armies because <b><span class="c3">He also is wise and will bring disaster . . . </span></b>He <b><span class="c3">will arise against the house of evildoers</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit</span></b>: Judah was also wrong about their trust in Egypt. The Egyptians and their armies were not as mighty as they seemed to be. All the <span class="c6">Lord</span> must do to topple them, along with all who trust in them, is to stretch <b><span class="c3">out His hand</span></b>.</p>
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<p>B. The <span class="c6">Lord</span> will defend Judah and Jerusalem.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',31,'4-5');">4-5</a>) The <span class="c6">Lord</span> defends Mount Zion.</p>
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<p class="c2">For thus the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has spoken to me: “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise), so the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it.”</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">As a lion roars . . . So the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion</span></b>: Again, their trust in Egypt for protection against the Assyrian invasion was <i>both</i> foolish and unnecessary. God would protect <b><span class="c3">Mount Zion</span></b> if Judah trusted Him or not!</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Like birds flying about, so will the <span class="c6">Lord</span> of hosts defend Jerusalem</span></b>: The picture is of a mother bird protecting her young. So, God will defend Jerusalem with the ferocity of a lion, and also with the tender care of a bird. The combination of the two images is powerful.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “<i>As birds flying</i>; which come from above, and so cannot be kept off; which fly swiftly and engage themselves valiantly and resolutely, when they perceive that their young ones are in eminent danger.” (Poole)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “The Lord of Hosts will be strong as the lion that growls over his prey . . . and He will be sweet and soft and gentle as a mother-bird.” (Meyer)</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',31,'6-9');">6-9</a>) An invitation to repent to the God who will deliver.</p>
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<p class="c2">Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold; sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. “Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of mankind shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall become forced labor. He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the banner,” says the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Return to Him</span></b>: Because of how great God is, because of how terrible the alternatives to serving Him are, we should feel compelled to <b><span class="c3">return to Him</span></b>. Repentance means turning towards God, and away from anything we have put in God’s place (<b><span class="c3">idols of silver and idols of gold - sin, which your own hands have made</span></b>).</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Then Assyria shall fall by sword not of man</span></b>: This was fulfilled exactly. The Assyrian army devastated almost the entire land of Judah, and camped on the outskirts of Jerusalem, waiting to conquer the nation by defeating the capital city. But <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',19,35);">2Ki 19:35</a> describes how God simply sent the angel of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, and killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. When the people woke up, there were 185,000 dead Assyrian soldiers. It was a victory that had nothing to do with the <b><span class="c3">sword . . . of man</span></b>. God was more than able to protect Judah and Jerusalem.</p>
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