Isaiah 31:1

The Bible says in Isaiah 31:1-3, “Woe 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! Yet 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. Now 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.” Everyone trusts in someone or something. Some people trust in themselves, and in their own ability and wisdom. That is egotism. Some people trust in money and what money can do for them. That is materialism. Some people trust in the wisdom and knowledge and help that other people can give them. That is humanism. When the Israelites were attacked by the Assyrians, the Israelites turned to the Egyptians for help, instead of turning to the Lord. The Egyptians had many strong horses and chariots. From a human standpoint it would appear to be a wise thing to ask for help from the Egyptians in that situation. There is only one problem: believers should trust in the Lord. Also, the Egyptians were unbelievers.

What will be the result of going to the world instead of going to the Lord? One word in Isaiah 31:1 describes the result: “woe.” It will not work. It will backfire. It is very obvious what the problem is in trusting in people instead of trusting in God: “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God.” God is omnipotent. He can do anything. He can solve any problem. He can defeat any enemy. He can heal from any disease. He can raise from the dead. The Bible says in Mark 10:27, “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”

But no matter what people do or do not do, God still has His plans and His purposes; and God will fulfill His plans for all things. The Bible says in Isaiah 31:4-9, “For 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. As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.” In the Old Testament God chose the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem to be His people. Once God makes a choice like that, God fulfills His promises to the chosen ones. In the New Testament times the chosen ones are the believers in Jesus Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles. It says in Romans 8:29, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” God does not change His mind. That is why a believer is never removed from the love of Christ. The Bible says in Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is why it says in Isaiah 31:5, “so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.” God does not cast away His people. He will never do that. He did not cast away the Israelites even when they failed miserably, and He will not cast away the true believers in Jesus: no, not even if they fail just as much as the Israelites failed. That is where the believer’s security lies: in the faithfulness of God and of Christ.

The Bible says in Isaiah 32:1-8, “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.” Once again the Lord has given us great promises about the future. What better way to tell us how good things will one day be than to tell us that “a king shall reign in righteousness.” Notice that God’s perfect government will not be a democracy, but will be a monarchy. Eventual failure is an inherent part of democracy because a democracy can only be as good as the people of a given nation. This is what Jesus said about the masses of people on this earth in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

The king who will reign in righteousness is Jesus Christ. Jesus is called King of kings in Revelation 17:14. It says, “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” It is important to notice that Jesus will share His Messianic rule with others. Isaiah wrote that in addition to the king, “princes shall rule in judgment.” The apostles knew that believers would be given such a privilege. Their conversation with Jesus on this subject is recorded in Mark 10:37-40, “They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.” Also, it says in First Corinthians 6:2-3, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” There might be unjust, deceitful, unwise, and dishonest rulers and judges in the world now, but it is only temporary. God has a plan, and His plan will bring Jesus Christ as King and all of the believers with Him to rule. The plan was revealed to the prophet Isaiah by the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 32:1, “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.”

After Isaiah 32:1, the next several verses in Isaiah are great promises about Jesus Christ. Isaiah 32:2 says, “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” The “man” who is spoken of in these verses is Jesus Christ. Jesus called Himself “Son of man.” If you come to Jesus, He will protect you. Jesus Himself is “an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest.” Perhaps the disciples of Christ were reminded of this truth when Jesus calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee. The Bible says in Mark 4:37-40, “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” I hope you see the symbolism in this truth. Storms may come into your life, but if you come to Jesus, He will protect you, and He will calm the storm.

Jesus will also refresh your spirit. He will be “as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Man is made of body and spirit. It will never be sufficient to take care of the body, but to do nothing for the spirit. The body dies, but the spirit lives forever. Jesus touched on this subject of the difference between the outward man (the body) and the inner man (the spirit) in Matthew 23:27 where Jesus said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.” But even once a person becomes born again through faith in Christ, that person needs times of revival and spiritual refreshment or reenergizing. David wrote in Psalm 51:10-12, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” If you need spiritual refreshment or spiritual revival, make sure that you go to Jesus for it. You will find that Jesus will be for you just like Isaiah said. Jesus will be “as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

Jesus is a miracle worker. If you need a miracle in your life, when you come to Jesus with your need, you have come to the right One. Isaiah wrote about Jesus in Isaiah 32:3, “And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.” Of course, this verse is talking about much more than just the physical eyes and ears. Yes, Jesus healed the blind, opened the ears of the deaf, and loosened the tongues of those who could not speak. Concerning the life of Christ on this earth, it says in Matthew 15:30-31, “And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.” Of course, the physical healing that Jesus did was symbolic of something that He does that is even more important: spiritual healing. Who you are and what you know inside your spirit is much more important than even your physical health. The problem is that people need a spiritual awakening. They need to know things that they do not yet know about God and about Christ.

Thank God that what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 32:5-8 will truly come to pass. He wrote, “The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.” In this passage the word “liberal” is used in a good sense. Someone who is liberal is someone who gives abundantly out of a generous heart. Someone who is not liberal is a stingy and miserly person. Of course, there is a difference between a liberal person who gives freely of his own possessions compared to one who gives freely of other people’s possessions. At any rate God wants all people to be liberal. Proverbs 11:25 says, “The liberal soul shall be made fat.” Second Corinthians 9:7 says, “God loveth a cheerful giver.” The world is very confused in this age. They call evil good, and good evil. Because of Jesus this hypocrisy will one day come to an end. That is why it says in Isaiah 32:5, “The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.” Make sure that you know Jesus as your Savior so that you can be a part of that wonderful kingdom that He is establishing.

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