HORSES: Sym human warfare: Job 39:18...; Jer 4:13; Joel
2:4. But such "weapons" do no good when God is not with the army: Psa 20:7; Psa
147:10.
WHO TRUST IN... CHARIOTS: Sennacherib knew of Judah's
plan to rely on Egyptian chariots (Isa 36:6-9). Surely it was not Hezekiah, but
his counselors in his "absence", who made such plans (Deu 17:16; Psa
20:7).
BUT DO NOT LOOK TO THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL: Who had His
own "chariots" -- the cherubim of Glory (Eze 1; Zec 6:1-8; Deu 20:1).
Isa 31:2
YET HE TOO IS WISE: A sarcastic tone. The royal
advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the
LORD possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
Isa 31:4
AS A LION... SO THE LORD ALMIGHTY: The "Ariel" (Isa
29:1)! And typ of Christ, the Lion of Judah: Gen 49:9,10; Rev 5:5.
WILL COME DOWN: The language of theophany: Isa 64:1;
Exo 19:20; Gen 11:5; 18:21.
Isa 31:5
PASS OVER: The only other occurrence of this verb is in
Exo 12:13,23,27, where the LORD "passes over" (ie, 'spares') the Israelite
households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun for
"Passover' is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is prob an
intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the LORD will
spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies. Passover was the time of
Sennacherib's overthrow: Isa 30:29; 26:20,21; 29:1; 52:12; 37:36; Psa 102:13;
Isa 36:10; Joel 2:23. Cp Christ's words in Mat 23:37, and the mother eagle in
Deu 32:11.
Isa 31:6
Vv 6,7: "Whilst the zeal of Hezekiah had brought about a
substantial repentance among his people, the nation as a whole still held with
strong inclination to the corruptions initiated in the time of Ahaz" (WIsa 318).
Are these vv out of place, in what is otherwise an unrelieved judgment upon
Assyria? No! "There is no mistaking the plain intention of the Almighty, as now
set out here, to destroy the might of Assyria at Jerusalem AND to scare out of
their wits those who might survive" (WIsa 318).
Isa 31:7
// Isa 2:20; 30:22; Deu 9:21.
Isa 31:8
The sword of the LORD: see Num 22:23; Jos 5:13; Jdg 7:20; Jer
5:16,27; Eze 38:21; Isa 34:6; 66:16.
THAT IS NOT OF MAN: Or, "no one born of man!"
(WK).