Season 6, Podcast 86, Isaiah 31:1-9, “Seek the Lord.”

Season 6, Podcast 86, Isaiah 31:1-9, “Seek the Lord.”Again, Isaiah speaks of the present and the future. It is a very difficult time for the southern tribes which comprise of the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin. The Tribe of Benjamin has virtually lost its identity for they are absorbed in the tribe of Judah. The Ten Tribes have divided. The Northern tribes, called Ephraim, have been attacked by Assyria and carried into captivity. Apparently many adopt the culture of the Assyrians. During the Assyrian captivity Ephraim, also called Israel, scatter to parts of the world unknown and become known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Judah is vulnerable. No longer the power they were under Saul, David, and Solomon they are subject to the Assyrians and the Babylonians and others. They decide to make an alliance with Egypt, their former enemy.The Lord who led them out of Egypt is very displeased because they do not look to him as their protector. What happens when Judah relies on foreign nations? They begin to adopt the religious practices of those nations, even worshiping their idols. Isaiah is sent to warn them of the dangers.Isaiah 31:1Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!The term ‘woe’ has a double meaning. On the one hand it means sorrow or suffering. On the other hand, it could mean a curse which brings greater sorrow and suffering. The prophetic woe can always be avoided simply by turning back to God and seeking the Lord.Isaiah 31:2Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.If Judah repents they can still avoid the calamities. If they don’t repent, the Lord cannot call back his words. Notice, however, that not only will Judah suffer, but the Egyptians will also suffer. Both are wicked. We have learned in earlier chapters of Isaiah that the Lord uses other nations to punish Israel just as he used Israel to punish other nations such as the Philistines. The other nations are blessed until they too refuse to give God the credit. As a result, they too are destroyed such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. One strong message of Isaiah is that God is no respecter of persons. Christ clearly taught that the chosen cannot rely on birthright or genealogy. They can rely only upon personal righteousness. Because of widespread evil, every nation involved—Ephraim, Judah, Syria, Moab, Assyria, Babylon—is destroyed. Even the temple of Solomon is not spared. That is the message of the Holy Bible.Isaiah 31:3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.But Isaiah is a prophet, seer, and revelator. He sees the future. Isaiah 31:4For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.The lion image is very prevalent in Jewish History. Genesis 49:9 – Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?Numbers 23:24 – Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.