Isaiah 31: Woe to those who rely on Egypt

      This chapter deals with the sin and folly of Judah looking to form an alliance with Egypt rather than turning to God for help.  The sin was that they looked to human beings for help and, in doing so, turned their back on God. No matter how powerful a nation Judah formed an alliance with, there was none more powerful than God. It was an arrogant act by both Judah and Egypt, and it violated the stipulation regarding Egypt that God made. Deuteronomy 17:16 says:  'The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.' It is always a good thing to seek help when we have problems, but we should always go to God first in seeking that help. He will direct us to those whose help we can trust.
      There's no escape from God's judgement, and evil pursues sinners. The Lord will come down to fight for Mount Zion for the protection of His church. Just as birds hover near or above their young to ward off unwelcome visitors and protect them from attack, so the Lord will protect Jerusalem and deliver her from her enemies.
      The time will come when Judah casts away the assortment of idols that deflect them from God, and that will be the time when God defends His people and causes the fall of Assyria. The lesson that we draw from this in our world today is that we should identify the idols that we worship such as cars, property, TV, and the various modern things to which we have become enslaved to some degree or another, and put them in their proper place. These are things that may improve our lives, but we must never allow them to possess us in any way, for then we will have become slaves to them. Many people today are slaves to money or to seeking instant fame, and these, like all other things, only serve to detract us from giving God the worship and allegiance that He commands of us. It is important that we recognise the worthlessness of such things before we become enslaved by them.
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¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, 
   who rely on horses, 
who trust in the multitude of their chariots 
   and in the great strength of their horsemen, 
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, 
   or seek help from the Lord. 
² Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; 
   he does not take back his words. 
He will rise up against that wicked nation, 
   against those who help evildoers. 
³ But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; 
   their horses are flesh and not spirit. 
When the Lord stretches out his hand, 
   those who help will stumble, 
   those who are helped will fall; 
   all will perish together.

⁴ This is what the Lord says to me:

   “As a lion growls,
   a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds
   is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
   or disturbed by their clamor—
so the Lord Almighty will come down
   to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
⁵ Like birds hovering overhead,
   the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem;
he will shield it and deliver it,
   he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.”

⁶ Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.

⁷ For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.

⁸ “Assyria will fall by no human sword;
   a sword, not of mortals, will devour them.
They will flee before the sword
   and their young men will be put to forced labor.
⁹ Their stronghold will fall because of terror;
   at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,”
declares the Lord,
   whose fire is in Zion,
   whose furnace is in Jerusalem.