Sunday School Lesson 6 - Isa. 31:1-9 - GOD PROTECTS
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Isa. 25:1-10a, we covered part of a chapter in the section of Isaiah (Chaps. 24-27) know as the "Isaian Apocalypse," because it was a prophecy of the end-times that foretold a time of final judgment of all creation when God would devastate the land and eliminate all evil, host an eschatological banquet for the redeemed on God's Mountain (Zion), and give them the final victory over death. It paralleled the time reported much later and in more detail by the apostle John in the Book of Revelation when Jesus Christ returns to reign over His Millennial Kingdom from Jerusalem. The main point of application was that like the faithful people of Isaiah's time, we can call the LORD God of Israel "my God" because, in Christ, we also have a personal relationship with Him, and because of this, we are assured of eternal life in His heavenly kingdom. As explained by the apostle Paul, "for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16b), which is a metaphor for "all peoples" (Isa. 15:9).
This week, in Isa. 31:1-9, we join the prophet much later, in about 705 B.C., during the reign of Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.), who is described one of the good kings of Judah. By this time, the Assyrian empire has completely defeated the Northern Kingdom of Israel and taken its people into captivity, leaving the kingdom of Judah to fend for itself against the warring nations of the Near East. When Hezekiah became king of Judah, he initiated a widespread program of revival that included removal and destruction of all the pagan idols (baals) brought in during Ahaz' time and restoration of Temple worship of the LORD God of Israel (YHWH). Even so, Judah had essentially been bankrupted by its earlier obligation to pay protection money (tribute) to Assyria, when Ahaz decided to trust human alliances rather than trust God for protection (see Isaiah 7 generally). Now, Judah is ripe for conquest by the Assyrians. Faced with what seems to be certain defeat, we come into today's lesson as Judah is preparing to enter a defense pact with Egypt, its old arch-enemy.
Read Isa. 31:1-3 - WOE TO THOSE WHO GO DOWN TO EGYPT
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! 2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of the workers of injustice. 3 Now the Egyptians are human and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit; So the LORD will stretch out His hand, And any helper will stumble, And one who is helped will fall. And all of them will come to an end together.
v. 1a: "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong" - Beginning with The term "woe" (= misery and suffering are forthcoming), Isaiah signals a pronouncement of God's judgment.
v. 1b: "But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!" - Here, Isaiah identifies the major issue of the section: that the people had not sought out God to meet their needs. In fact, they had turned to about every other option, even to the point of seeking an alliance with foreign nations instead of trusting God. Seeking foreign alliances was worse than just ignoring God; it was the equivalent of turning their backs on him. Judah was attracted to alliance with Egypt because they possessed a large force of horse-drawn chariots, which gave them great speed and mobility on a battlefield-something that Judah totally lacked. Also, given Israel's history, embedded in this was the sense that returning to Egypt was the same as returning to the bondage of sin after being freed.
v. 2: "Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of the workers of injustice" - This verse is tinged with prophetic irony. To paraphrase, Isaiah is telling the Judean leadership that this proposed Egyptian alliance is not only unwise; but that they would be complete fools to place trust in Egypt of all nations! Although God is all-wise, they didn't trouble to ask Him. As a consequence of this, God, who always honors his Word, will bring "disaster" on the "evildoers" (the Judean leaders) and their "help" (the Egyptians.) When the Egyptians see this happening, they will see it as a losing proposition, cut their losses, and abandon their new Judean allies in a eyeblink.
v. 3a: "Now the Egyptians are human and not God, And their horses are flesh and not spirit" - Although Pharaoh is regarded as a 'god' by his people, he's just a mortal human like his soldiers, and all his mighty horses are just mortal flesh, too. In short, all of them were vulnerable and no match for the spiritual power of God Almighty-not even close.
v. 3b: "So the LORD will stretch out His hand, And any helper will stumble, And one who is helped will fall. And all of them will come to an end together" - The term "domino effect" comes to mind here. God's "hand"-a symbol of His mighty power-is unstoppable: they are predestined to doom.
Read Isa. 31:4-5 - HE WILL PROTECT AND SAVE JERUSALEM
4 For this is what the LORD says to me: "As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, Against which a band of shepherds is called out, And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise, So will the LORD of armies come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill." 5 Like flying birds so the LORD of armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and save it; He will pass over and rescue it.
v. 4a: "For this is what the LORD says to me: "As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey, Against which a band of shepherds is called out, And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise" - Here the prophet contrasts the faithless behavior of Judah in vv. 1-3 with God's unbending faithfulness with two images: the first pictures God as a lion, calmly and fearlessly standing over his prey while completely ignoring all the screaming and hand-waving of the frenzied shepherds. The prey, an image of Judah, is never abandoned. The key premise is that like the lion, no human army is able threaten or scare away the LORD GOD. Impossible.
v. 4b: "So will the LORD of armies come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill" - Notice this is the "LORD of armies, the mightiest power in the entire universe," who will take His stand on "Mount Zion" and fight all who may dare to challenge Him. And this is a promise, not just a threat.
v. 5a: "Like flying birds so the LORD of armies will protect Jerusalem. He will protect and save it; He will pass over and rescue it" - This is the second image: it pictures a mother (or father?) bird hovering over its nest, protecting its brood (Jerusalem). Whereas the lion in the earlier scene expresses raw offensive power, the flying birds evoke sense of affection as well as protection and care for the young birds.
v. 5b: "He will protect and save it; He will pass over and rescue it " - Notice the language used here stating that the LORD of armies will "pass over and rescue" Judah in manner similar to way He spared the Israelite firstborn from the angel of death at the start of the exodus. (Ex. 12:23).
Read Isa. 31:6-9 - RETURN TO HIM YOU SONS OF ISRAEL!
6 Return to Him against whom you have been profoundly obstinate, you sons of Israel. 7 For on that day every person will reject his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you as a sin. 8 And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not wielded by a man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, And his young men will become forced laborers. 9 "His rock will pass away because of panic, And his officers will be terrified by the flag," Declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
v. 6: "Return to Him against whom you have been profoundly obstinate, you sons of Israel" - Based upon the warnings of vv. 1-3 and the assurances God gave them in vv. 4-5, this is Isaiah's exhortation to the people of Judah and their leaders. They have been "profoundly obstinate," which translates to out and out rebellion on their part. A "Return" to God requires true repentance of their sin: (1) conviction-agree God is right and they are wrong, (2) contrition and confession-they are honestly sorry for having grieved God and seek His forgiveness, and (3) change-approach God and submit to Him with obedient hearts.
v. 7: "For on that day every person will reject his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you as a sin" - "that day" refers to the start of Assyrian invasion, when they would see first-hand the complete worthlessness of gold and silver idols as a defense against a military force-lumps of powerless metal made by human "hands." But Isaiah is probably pointing to more than physical idols here: connected to the physical idols is the idol of individual control-being your own lord and controlling your own destiny. This is pure self-righteousness, which is totally at odds with submitting to God and admitting His sovereign control of all things. Being your own lord and master is a key premise of modern secular human thinking and a key reason why so many reject God.
v. 8: "And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not wielded by a man, And a sword not of man will devour him. So he will not escape the sword, And his young men will become forced laborers." - This prophecy was fulfilled perfectly. In 701 B.C., the Assyrian army attacked and devastated the entire countryside of Judah, then camped on the outskirts of Jerusalem and began preparing to lay a siege campaign. 2 Kings 19:35 describes how the God of armies very simply sent His angel down and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. When the people of Jerusalem woke up the next day, they discovered 185,000 dead Assyrians scattered around their walls. It was a victory that had nothing to do with "a sword wielded by a man." The sovereign God had acted as promised.
v. 9: "'His rock will pass away because of panic, And his officers will be terrified by the flag,' Declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem." - The "rock" is a metaphor for the supposed power and military might of the Assyrian army, while the "flag," Judah's battle standard, represented the power and might of YHWH, the God of armies. Again, 2 Kings 19 describes how, after God killed 185,000 Assyrians in one stroke, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and his officers, fled the scene and returned to their capitol at Nineveh. The association of "fire" with God runs throughout Scripture (e.g., the pillar of fire in the exodus and wilderness wanderings). God's "furnace" is a metaphor that symbolized His presence within the holy of holies in the Temple.
APPLICATION-One General Principle: Are you ready to believe that God Still in Control?
The realities of the temporal world can tempt us to doubt that God is still in control. In today's text, when the leaders of Judah were faced with the military might of Assyria, they completely ignored God and looked instead to Egypt, their historical enemy, for protection. For Christians in this day and time, we aren't typically faced with life or death decisions on a national scale, but we are still required to make many decisions, large and small, that affect our future. First and foremost, in making any kind of decision, we should adopt a biblically-based decision-model. God's Word is an inexhaustible source of wisdom and truth about the various aspects of human life and relationships. Second, our decisions need to include God and we need to approach Him with the understanding that He is in control; that is, to decide not only according to what we see but also according to what we do not see and do not know. By faith, we acknowledge our own limitations and choose to trust God's wisdom for the outcome. This level of faith often involves takings risks that will stretch us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Prov. 3:5-6).
