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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Isaiah 31-34
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Woe to those who go down to Egypt (Isaiah 31)
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 who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
Nor seek the LORD!
2 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.
3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the LORD stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish together.
4 ¶ For thus the LORD 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 LORD of hosts will come down
To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.
5 Like birds flying about,
So will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem.
Defending, He will also deliver it;
Passing over, He will preserve it.”
6 ¶ Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
7 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.
8 “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.
9 He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear,
And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,”
Says the LORD,
Whose fire is in Zion
And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
Here's the essence of chapter 31 from Isaiah: So, Israel, you're scared of those Assyrians, huh? Need a little protection? Well...you won't get it from Egypt; they're too weak. Notice verse 3, "Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together." The only help Jerusalem needs is God himself.
This message continues from Isaiah 30 (see notes). That chapter is an oracle against those going to call upon Egypt for help. In fact, Egypt fell to the Assyrians along with all of Jerusalem's neighbors, but God did, in fact, protect Jerusalem from falling - at least to the Assyrians. And no...Jerusalem did not turn to God; only King Hezekiah. But that was enough for God to spare them.
Verses 7-9 prophesy the supernatural deliverance of Jerusalem that occurs in II Kings 18:13-19:37; II Chronicles 32:9-22; Isaiah 36-37 (see notes). The rest of Judah, along with Israel, did fall. Isaiah, in this passage, correctly prophesies the deliverance of Jerusalem by God from the Assyrians in the face of insurmountable odds.
But there's coming a day... (Isaiah 32:1-8)
1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.
5 The foolish person will no longer be called generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
6 For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the LORD,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
8 But a generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.
Israel will look and see devastation by the Assyrians everywhere. But there's coming a day when the righteous Messiah will rule over all, as we see in verse 1, "Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, And princes will rule with justice." Based upon verse 1, these verses must look to the Messianic Kingdom - a time yet future...even to us. We see also in these verses that those who exploit the poor will not be available to do so during this rule. As a matter of fact, verses 2-8 deal with the human inequities which will be remedied at the outset of this period. That understanding is set up by the mention of the "foolish person" in verse 5 - that he will not practice his foolishness during the Messianic rule. Verses 6-8 describe the attributes of a foolish person. Both the KJV and NKJV translations of the verbs there in the future tense are a little confusing. The foolish person "will" practice his foolishness as a matter of his foolish character, but not during the Messianic rule.
A warning to the women (Isaiah 32:9-14)
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease,
Hear my voice;
You complacent daughters,
Give ear to my speech.
10 In a year and some days
You will be troubled, you complacent women;
For the vintage will fail,
The gathering will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
Be troubled, you complacent ones;
Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare,
And gird sackcloth on your waists.
12 People shall mourn upon their breasts
For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers,
Yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city;
14 Because the palaces will be forsaken,
The bustling city will be deserted.
The forts and towers will become lairs forever,
A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—
And for those women who were complacent in their attitudes about the coming siege by the Assyrians, they had better watch out! The devastation of Judah (not the city of Jerusalem) is imminent. The other cities of Judah will suffer devastation.
Love that Kingdom living (Isaiah 32:15-20)
15 Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
18 My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
19 Though hail comes down on the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.
20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey.
The first 14 verses of chapter 32 talk about the contrast between the righteous rule of the Messiah (verse 1) and the corruption otherwise. How will it all be made better? Verse 15 says, "Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high." That sounds like the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34 (see notes). After the event of verse 15, notice what is said of life from that point forward in verse 17, "The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." Again, the prophet must have the Messianic rule in view here. These conditions did not exist during any historical period after the issuance of this oracle. Therefore, it must be a Messianic proposition that looks to the yet-future millennium.
The destruction of the enemy - those Assyrians (Isaiah 33:1-16)
1 Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
When you cease plundering,
You will be plundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.
2 O LORD, be gracious to us;
We have waited for You.
Be their arm every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult the people shall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
4 And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.
5 The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the LORD is His treasure.
7 Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside,
The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
He has broken the covenant,
He has despised the cities,
He regards no man.
9 The earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
10 “Now I will rise,” says the LORD;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
11 You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
16 He will dwell on high;
His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks;
Bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.
Verse 1 takes off with a description of the attitude of the Assyrians in their boastfulness of their power, but the verse quickly turns on them, prophesying their defeat. In verses 2-4 we see the prayers of the righteous remnant in Judah who call out to the Lord followed by a Messianic promise in verses 5-6. Verses 7-12 speak of the conditions as Jerusalem is surrounded by the Assyrian army. In verses 13-16 Isaiah commends those righteous in Jerusalem who will stand firm in their faith toward God.
One day it'll be all better! (Isaiah 33:17-24)
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will see the land that is very far off.
18 Your heart will meditate on terror:
“Where is the scribe?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 You will not see a fierce people,
A people of obscure speech, beyond perception,
Of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home,
A tabernacle that will not be taken down;
Not one of its stakes will ever be removed,
Nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the majestic LORD will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
In which no galley with oars will sail,
Nor majestic ships pass by
22 (For the LORD is our Judge,
The LORD is our Lawgiver,
The LORD is our King;
He will save us);
23 Your tackle is loosed,
They could not strengthen their mast,
They could not spread the sail.
Then the prey of great plunder is divided;
The lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”;
The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.
Here are some more verses describing life on the earth when the Messiah, the King of Kings, reigns over the land. Verse 17 says, "Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see the land that is very far off." That's the Messiah. We then see a contrast between the terror of the Assyrian officials and the righteous rule of the Messiah in verses 18-19. We further see a description of the Messiah in verse 22, "For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us"
A little premillennial destruction (Isaiah 34)
1 Come near, you nations, to hear;
And heed, you people!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
The world and all things that come forth from it.
2 For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations,
And His fury against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to the slaughter.
3 Also their slain shall be thrown out;
Their stench shall rise from their corpses,
And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;
All their host shall fall down
As the leaf falls from the vine,
And as fruit falling from a fig tree.
5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven;
Indeed it shall come down on Edom,
And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood,
It is made overflowing with fatness,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 The wild oxen shall come down with them,
And the young bulls with the mighty bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
And their dust saturated with fatness.”
8 For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance,
The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9 Its streams shall be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone;
Its land shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke shall ascend forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
No one shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it,
Also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
And He shall stretch out over it
The line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.
12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom,
But none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces,
Nettles and brambles in its fortresses;
It shall be a habitation of jackals,
A courtyard for ostriches.
14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the jackals,
And the wild goat shall bleat to its companion;
Also the night creature shall rest there,
And find for herself a place of rest.
15 There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs
And hatch, and gather them under her shadow;
There also shall the hawks be gathered,
Every one with her mate.
16 “Search from the book of the LORD, and read:
Not one of these shall fail;
Not one shall lack her mate.
For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”
Actually, the destruction is quite significant according to verse 2, "For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, And His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter." All the enemies of God will be destroyed prior to the millennium at the end of the tribulation at the last battle we know as Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21, see notes). That's the event to which Isaiah is looking in this chapter; nothing else fits the specifications.
Edom here was a very small neighbor nation of Israel and was continually hostile toward Israel/Judah. They are to become a showplace of God's destruction - a museum, so to speak. They'll probably call it the "They-Rejected-God Museum." Edom is probably used here in the context of being the epitome of Judah/Israel's enemy - representative of the hostility of the surrounding nations toward Israel in that age and through the centuries.