Isaiah 31

Isaiah 31:1

Isaiah: God controls the nations God defends *Jerusalem An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 31 to 39 www.easyenglish.info Norman Hillyer This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 31 Numbers are not everything v1 *Woe to people who are appealing to Egypt for help! They are putting their trust in Egypt’s horses. They are putting their trust in Egypt’s *chariots because Egypt possesses vast numbers of them. And they are putting their trust in Egypt’s horsemen because they are so strong. But my people do not trust the Holy God of Israel. They will not ask him to help them. v2 You people think that you are very clever.

And that what you are doing is right. But the *Lord is wiser than you are. He knows what it is best to do. If his people refuse to listen to him, the *Lord will bring great trouble. He will carry out his promise to punish evil people. And he will punish those who may help evil people. v3 *Egyptians are only people.

They are not gods. Their horses have ordinary physical bodies. They have not come from another world. The *Lord’s action will *destroy both the human helper and the person who receives help.

Verse 1

Isaiah intends his list (‘horses, *chariots, horsemen’) to emphasise Egypt’s great military strength.

 The ‘horsemen’ are the skilled soldiers who drive the *chariots.

Verses 2-3

‘Those who may help’ refers to the *Egyptians. ‘Evil people’ here describes the people of God, because they are refusing to obey the *Lord. God will defend *Jerusalem v4 (The *Lord gave Isaiah this message.) People could call for a whole crowd of shepherds to shout very loudly. But a hungry lion will not leave a sheep that it has killed to eat. Their cries will never force the lion to leave that meat behind. In the same manner, nothing can stop what the *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies) intends to do. He will come down to fight on behalf of *Mount Zion. He will protect *Jerusalem from the *Assyrian army’s attack. v5 Just as a bird flies above its nest to protect its young birds, so the *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies) will defend *Jerusalem. He will be over it. He will rescue it from the enemy.

v6 People in Israel, return to the *Lord. You have seriously offended him by your wicked practices. v7 The time is coming when you will throw away all your evil images of silver and gold. You made them with your own hands. That was a wicked thing to do.

v8 The *Assyrian soldiers will die by the sword. But it will not be by a sword that any man holds. The enemy will try to escape from this danger. But it will be in vain. The soldiers will become prisoners. And they will become slaves. v9 Their king will run away in terror. His officers will be so afraid that they will abandon (leave behind) their army’s flags. The *Lord has declared this. The *Lord himself will act like a fierce fire in *Zion and in *Jerusalem.

Verse 8

The ‘sword’ here does not refer to a soldier’s metal weapon (tool of war). Instead, the word ‘sword’ here means any agent that God will use to kill.

For the sudden death of thousands of *Assyrian soldiers, see Isaiah 37:36. No human hand was responsible.

Verse 9

The *Lord is like a fierce fire. He is protecting *Jerusalem. Any who dare to attack *Jerusalem will suffer terrible burns. That is, they will suffer greatly.

 Fire frequently shows that God is present (see Exodus 3:2).

© 2007, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

February 2007

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