1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,relying on horses,putting their trust in immense numbersof chariots and vast forces of horsemen,but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,nor inquire of Jehovah!
2 Yet he too is shrewdand will bring disaster upon them,and not retract his words.He will rise up against the brood of miscreantsand allies of evildoers.
3 The Egyptians are human, not divine;their horses are flesh, not spirit:when Jehovah stretches out his hand,those who help them will stumbleand those helped will fall;both shall come to an end together.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
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4 For thus said Jehovah to me:As a lion or a young lion growls over the preywhen the shepherds muster in full force against him,and is not dismayed at the sound of their voicenor daunted by their numbers,so shall Jehovah of Hosts be when he descendsto wage war upon Mount Zion and upon its heights.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the voice or spokesman of the wicked, who rails against Jehovah and his people and rallies an alliance of nations to invade and destroy them.
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5 As birds hover over [the nest],aso will Jehovah of Hosts guard Jerusalem;by protecting it he will deliver it,by passing over it, preserve it.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the voice or spokesman of the wicked, who rails against Jehovah and his people and rallies an alliance of nations to invade and destroy them.
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6 Return to him from whom you have contrived to go far astray, O children of Israel.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the voice or spokesman of the wicked, who rails against Jehovah and his people and rallies an alliance of nations to invade and destroy them.
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7 For in that day every one of you will despise your idolatrous silver and gold by which your hands have incurred guilt.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the voice or spokesman of the wicked, who rails against Jehovah and his people and rallies an alliance of nations to invade and destroy them.
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8 And Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man;a sword not of mortals shall devour them:before that sword they shall waste awayand their young men melt;
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the voice or spokesman of the wicked, who rails against Jehovah and his people and rallies an alliance of nations to invade and destroy them.
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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who typifies the sword Jehovah empowers to slay the Assyrian alliance when it has served Jehovah's purpose of slaying the wicked of the world.
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9 their captainb shall expire in terrorand their officers shrink from the ensign,says Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion,whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy his apostate people and nation of Egypt, the world's corrupt superpower, in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the voice or spokesman of the wicked, who rails against Jehovah and his people and rallies an alliance of nations to invade and destroy them.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who typifies the sword Jehovah empowers to slay the Assyrian alliance when it has served Jehovah's purpose of slaying the wicked of the world.
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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who stands for an ensign to Jehovah's people, who rallies them to Jehovah's standard and defeats the invading Assyrian alliance.
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A chaos motif and pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who typifies the fire Jehovah empowers that devours the Assyrian alliance when it threatens Jehovah's elect in his Day of Judgment.
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Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 31
A twin covenant curse to Isaiah 30:1-5, this repeats Jehovah’s condemnation of those who rely on Egypt’s military might—on an arm of flesh (v 3)—instead of on him. Were they to “look to” Jehovah or “inquire of” him, he would reveal his will to them. Now he is compelled to bring “disaster” or “evil” (ra‘) on them as a result of their ill-advised actions. In his Day of Judgment, Jehovah “rises up” against the “brood of miscreants”—the Egyptians—and against the “allies of evildoers”—the Egyptians’ confederates—as he rises up against all the wicked (Isaiah 2:19, 21; 3:13; 14:22; 28:21; 33:10; 42:13-15).
Because of Egypt’s reputation as an invincible world power, people look up to Egypt as more than human. Jehovah disabuses their minds when he stretches out his hand over them as did Moses when Pharaoh’s armies who pursued the Israelites drowned in the depths of the sea (Exodus 14:21-28). Jehovah’s hand—in this instance, the king of Assyria/Babylon—invades Egypt and takes captive many of its inhabitants (Isaiah 20:4-5; 37:25). Like all the wicked in that day, the Egyptians and their allies “stumble” and “fall” and “come to an end” (Isaiah 3:8; 8:14-15; 10:4; 13:15; 21:9; 28:13; 59:10).
A verse similar to Isaiah 29:7-8—in which “the nations that amass to fight against Mount Zion” come away empty—this depicts Jehovah’s descent on the mount in a great display of power as he did anciently on Mount Sinai (cf. Exodus 19:16-20). When enemy herders or shepherds think to deal the death blow to Jehovah’s people by destroying his elect, Jehovah descends to wage war upon them (Isaiah 30:30-32; 64:1-3). While many may be “dismayed” by the enemy’s voice—the king of Assyria/Babylon—or “daunted” by his formidable forces, none can withstand the divine power of Jehovah.
Jehovah “guards” or defends his elect against Assyria’s assault in a new Passover. The words “by protecting it he will deliver it, by passing over it, preserve it” create word links to other instances of Jehovah’s delivering his people: “I will protect this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (Isaiah 37:35); “I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will protect this city” (Isaiah 38:6); “Those whose minds are steadfast, [O Jehovah,] you preserve in perfect peace, for in you they are secure” (Isaiah 26:3; cf. 1:8; 41:11-12; 51:22-23; 54:15-17).
Similar to Isaiah 30:22 in its censure of idolatry, this appeal to Jehovah’s people to abandon their culture of materialism ends the homiletic theme of chapters 28-31. What more proof do his people want of Jehovah’s desire to deliver them from destruction in his Day of Judgment? Or what additional evidence do they need that their idolatry brings covenant curses? Parallel verses show that his people’s giving up the things they covet that money can buy defines repentance itself. Repenting of worshiping idols, in other words, constitutes an integral part of returning to God (cf. Isaiah 42:17-23; 55:2, 7).
Assyria’s “fall”—like the fall of all entities comprising Greater Babylon—concludes Jehovah’s Day of Judgment on a wicked world. Besides being “fought in mortal combat” (Isaiah 30:32), Assyria perishes by a heavenly sword—Jehovah’s secret weapon (Isaiah 49:2). Unlike physical human weapons, this manifestation of Jehovah’s power is divine. As the king of Assyria/Babylon personifies Jehovah’s sword, ensign, and fire to destroy the wicked, so Jehovah’s servant, his divinely appointed opponent, personifies Jehovah’s sword, ensign, and fire to deliver Jehovah’s elect and to destroy Assyria.