But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together. But the Egyptians are men, not God;Egypt’s military reputation could not make it equal to the Lord. Judah’s leaders were tempted to seek protection through an alliance with Egypt rather than depend on God’s promised care.
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man,…
Hos 11:9 I will not execute the full fury of My anger;…
Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man…
their horses are flesh, not spirit. Egypt’s horses and chariots represented formidable military force, yet they remained limited, mortal resources. God’s power is not confined by human strength or battlefield advantage.
Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses…
Psa 33:17 A horse is a vain hope for salvation; …
Zec 4:6 Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,…
When the LORD stretches out His hand, The Lord’s intervention brings judgment upon those who oppose His purposes and exposes the weakness of every human plan formed apart from Him.
Exo 7:5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD,…
Isa 5:25 Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people…
Isa 10:4 Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives…
the helper will stumble, Egypt, the nation Judah looked to for support, would prove unable to secure either itself or its allies when confronted by God.
Jer 37:7 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says…
Ezk 30:6 For this is what the LORD says: The allies of Egypt…
Isa 20:5 Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast…
and the one he helps will fall; Judah would share in Egypt’s collapse because it had placed confidence in foreign power rather than in the Lord.
2Ki 18:21 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt…
Isa 36:6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt…
Ezk 29:7 When Israel took hold of you, you splintered…
both will perish together. Neither Egypt nor Judah could escape the consequences of trusting in military alliances instead of God.
Exo 14:28 The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen…
Psa 106:11 The waters covered their foes; not one of them remained.
Ezk 30:8 Then they will know that I am the LORD when I set fire…
Persons / Places / Events 1. EgyptiansA powerful nation known for its military strength and reliance on horses and chariots. In the context of Isaiah, they represent human reliance on worldly power rather than divine support. 2. The LORD (Yahweh)The God of Israel, who is sovereign and all-powerful. He contrasts with the Egyptians, emphasizing divine power over human strength. 3. HorsesSymbolic of military might and human strength. In ancient times, horses were a key component of warfare, representing reliance on physical power. 4. IsraelThe people of God, who are being warned against seeking alliances with Egypt instead of trusting in the LORD. 5. IsaiahThe prophet delivering God's message, warning Israel of the futility of relying on Egypt for protection. Teaching Points Reliance on God vs. Human StrengthTrusting in human power, like the Egyptians' military might, is ultimately futile. True security comes from reliance on God, who is spirit and not limited by physical constraints. The Consequences of Misplaced TrustWhen we place our trust in worldly powers or alliances, we risk stumbling and falling. God's sovereignty means that He alone is the source of true help and protection. The Sovereignty of GodGod's ability to stretch out His hand and cause both the helper and the helped to fall underscores His ultimate control over all nations and powers. Spiritual vs. Physical RealitiesThe contrast between flesh and spirit in this verse invites believers to consider the spiritual realities that underpin physical circumstances. Our battles are not merely physical but spiritual. Faith in ActionThis passage challenges believers to examine where they place their trust and encourages a shift from reliance on human solutions to faith in God's provision and protection. Bible Study Questions 1. What are some modern-day "Egypts" that people might be tempted to rely on instead of God? 2. How does the contrast between "flesh" and "spirit" in this verse challenge your current understanding of where true strength lies? 3. In what ways can you actively shift your trust from human solutions to God's sovereignty in your daily life? 4. How does the theme of God's sovereignty in Isaiah 31:3 connect with the deliverance of Israel in Exodus 15? 5. Reflect on a time when you relied on human strength rather than God's provision. What was the outcome, and what did you learn from that experience? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 20:7This verse contrasts trust in chariots and horses with trust in the name of the LORD, reinforcing the theme of reliance on God rather than human strength. Jeremiah 17:5This passage warns against trusting in man and making flesh one's strength, similar to the warning in Isaiah 31:3. Exodus 15:1-21The Song of Moses celebrates God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt, highlighting God's power over human armies. People Egyptians, Isaiah, Israelites, JeremiahPlaces Egypt, Jerusalem, Mount Zion, ZionTopics Consumed, Egyptians, Fail, Fall, Fallen, Flesh, Forth, Helped, Helper, Helpeth, Helps, Holpen, Horses, Lord's, Perish, Spirit, Stretch, Stretched, Stretches, Stretcheth, Stumble, StumbledDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 31:3 1225 God, as Spirit
5186 stumbling
5205 alliance
6166 flesh, sinful nature
8032 trust, lack of
8224 dependence Isaiah 31:1-3 5003 human race, and God
5864 futility
8463 priority, of faith, hope and love Library Three Pictures of one Reality
'As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it'--ISAIAH xxxi. 5. The immediate occasion of this very remarkable promise is, of course, the peril in which Jerusalem was placed by Sennacherib's invasion; and the fulfilment of the promise was the destruction of his army before its gates. But the promise here, like all God's promises, is eternal in substance, and applies to a community only because it applies to each …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Lord's Furnace
'The Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.'-- ISAIAH xxxi. 9. This very remarkable characterisation of God stands here as a kind of seal, set upon the preceding prophecy. It is the reason why that will certainly be fulfilled. And what precedes is mainly a promise of a deliverance for Israel, which was to be a destruction for Israel's enemies. It is put in very graphic and remarkable metaphors: 'Like as a lion roareth on his prey when a multitude of shepherds is called forth …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture What God Is
John iv. 24.--"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." We have here something of the nature of God pointed out to us, and something of our duty towards him. "God is a Spirit," that is his nature, and "man must worship him," that is his duty, and that "in spirit and in truth," that is the right manner of the duty. If these three were well pondered till they did sink into the bottom of our spirits, they would make us indeed Christians, not in the letter, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Of Conversion
Of Conversion "Be ye truly converted unto that God from whom ye have so deeply revolted" (Isa. xxxi. 6). To be truly converted is to avert wholly from the creature, and turn wholly unto God. For the attainment of salvation it is absolutely necessary that we should forsake outward sin and turn unto righteousness: but this alone is not perfect conversion, which consists in a total change of the whole man from an outward to an inward life. When the soul is once turned to God a wonderful facility is …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer Of Perfect Conversion, which is an Effect of this Method of Prayer --Two of Its Aids, the Attraction of God, and the Central Inclination of The
"Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted" (Isa. xxxi. 6). Conversion is nothing else but a turning from the creature to God. Conversion is not perfect, though it is necessary for salvation, when it is merely a turning from sin to grace. To be complete, it must be a turning from without to within. The soul, being turned in the direction of God, has a great facility for remaining converted to Him. The longer it is converted, the nearer it approaches to God, and attaches …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents That it is not Lawful for the Well Affected Subjects to Concur in Such an Engagement in War, and Associate with the Malignant Party.
That It Is Not Lawful For The Well Affected Subjects To Concur In Such An Engagement In War, And Associate With The Malignant Party. Some convinced of the unlawfulness of the public resolutions and proceedings, in reference to the employing of the malignant party, yet do not find such clearness and satisfaction in their own consciences as to forbid the subjects to concur in this war, and associate with the army so constituted. Therefore it is needful to speak something to this point, That it is …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning But Though Prayer is Properly Confined to Vows and Supplications...
But though prayer is properly confined to vows and supplications, yet so strong is the affinity between petition and thanksgiving, that both may be conveniently comprehended under one name. For the forms which Paul enumerates (1 Tim. 2:1) fall under the first member of this division. By prayer and supplication we pour out our desires before God, asking as well those things which tend to promote his glory and display his name, as the benefits which contribute to our advantage. By thanksgiving we duly …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith Scriptures Showing the Sin and Danger of Joining with Wicked and Ungodly Men.
Scriptures Showing The Sin And Danger Of Joining With Wicked And Ungodly Men. When the Lord is punishing such a people against whom he hath a controversy, and a notable controversy, every one that is found shall be thrust through: and every one joined with them shall fall, Isa. xiii. 15. They partake in their judgment, not only because in a common calamity all shares, (as in Ezek. xxi. 3.) but chiefly because joined with and partakers with these whom God is pursuing; even as the strangers that join …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 31:3 NIVIsaiah 31:3 NLTIsaiah 31:3 ESVIsaiah 31:3 NASBIsaiah 31:3 KJV
Isaiah 31:3 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
