Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 31:9

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Egypt cannot save Judah (31:1-9)

Isaiah again condemns the Judeans for relying on Egypt instead of on God. The Judeans think they are wise, but actually they are foolish. Real wisdom rests with God, and he knows best how to overthrow Assyria. As for Egypt, it will be defeated, and when it falls, Judah also will fall (31:1-3).
Judah should learn to trust in God. A lion is not terrified by the shouts of shepherds, and God is not terrified by the threats of the Assyrians. He will protect Jerusalem as a mother bird protects her young (4-5). God desires that this whole experience will lead the people of Judah to repent of their sins and throw away their idols (6-7). They will see that victory over the Assyrians comes neither from Egypt nor from idols, but from the living God. He will act against the Assyrians and they will be miraculously defeated (8-9).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“And his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace is in Jerusalem.”

Cheyne was of the opinion that word “rock” as it appears here must mean “a person.”T. K. Cheyne’s Commentary, p. 184. Banes seemed to be just as confident that it referred to certain fortifications by which Sennacherib had protected his line of March (and return) from Egypt, writing: “Perhaps the Assyrian monarch had many such places which he regarded as perfectly secure, both in the limits of his own kingdom, and on the line of march to Judaea.”Albert Barnes’ Commentary, p. 467. Hailey preferred the view that “the rock” was the king of Assyria, or the pagan gods of Assyria.Homer Hailey, p. 266. We think it makes little or no difference what it was; the big point is that: whatever the Assyrians relied upon, it was of no avail whatever, when the lightning stroke of God’s judgment fell upon them.

The reference to furnace and fire in the last part of Isaiah 31:9, “Suggests that any nation that dares attack Jerusalem will perish in the Lord’s fiery furnace.”Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 282.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And he shall pass over - Margin, ‘His rock shall pass away for fear.’ The Hebrew would bear this, but it does not convey a clear idea. The sense seems to be this. The word rendered ‘stronghold’ (Hebrew, ‘His rock’) denotes his fortifications, or the places of strength in which he trusted. Probably the Assyrian monarch had many such places which he regarded as perfectly secure, both in the limits of his own kingdom, and on the line of his march toward Judea. Those places would naturally be made strong, in order to afford a refuge in case of a defeat. The idea here is, that so great would be his alarm at the sudden destruction of his army and the failure of his plans, that in his flight he would “pass over” or “beyond” these strong places; he would not even stop to take refuge there and reorganize his scattered forces, but would flee with alarm “beyond” them, and make his way to his own capital. This appears to have been most strikingly fulfilled (see Isaiah 37:37).

And his princes - Those, perhaps, that ruled over his dependent provinces.

Shall be afraid of the ensign - That is, of any standard or banner that they saw. They would suppose that it was the standard of an enemy. This denotes a state of great consternation, when all the princes and nobles under the command of the Assyrian would be completely dismayed.

Whose fire is in Zion ... - That is, whose altar is there, and always burns there. That was the place where he was worshipped, and it was a place, therefore, which he would defend. The meaning is, that they would be as certainly destroyed as the God whose altar was in Jerusalem was a God of truth, and would defend the place where he was worshipped.

And his furnace ... - (see the note at Isaiah 29:1). Where his altar continually burns. The word rendered ‘furnace’ (תנור tannûr) means properly a baking oven Exodus 8:3; Leviticus 2:4; Leviticus 7:9; Leviticus 11:35. This was either a large conical pot which was heated, in which the cakes were baked at the sides; or an excavation made in the earth which was heated by putting wood in it, and when that was removed, the dough was put in it. Perhaps the whole idea here is, that Yahweh had a home in Jerusalem, with the usual appendages of a house; that his fire and his oven were there, an expression descriptive of a dwelling-place. If so, then the meaning is, that he would defend his own home, and that the Assyrian could not expect to prevail against it.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

9.He shall pass to his stronghold for fear. ⁽³²⁷⁾ He now speaks of Sennacherib himself, who, trembling, shall betake himself in base and shameful flight to his “stronghold” or fortress, Nineveh, as to his nest. (2 Kings 19:36.) The Prophet adds that “his princes,” or military officers, whose duty it is to encourage the rest of the soldiers, will be so timid that they shall not venture to join the ranks or await the battle, but shall “flee away from the standard.”

Saith Jehovah, who hath a fire in Zion. At length he declares that he is God’s herald in making this proclamation, that the Jews may not, as they are accustomed to do, dispute or hesitate as to the accomplishment of it, or afterwards forget so great a blessing, and ascribe it to fortune. If we read, as some do, Whose fire is in Zion, the meaning will be, that God has abundance of fiery power to consume his enemies. But I think that the relative אשר (ăshĕr) is redundant, or that it should be rendered in the nominative case, “Who shall be to him a fire;” for God is justly called “a fire,” in reference to the Assyrians, whom he will consume.

When the Prophet calls him “a fire,” some consider it to refer to sacrifices; but such an interpretation appears to me to be feeble and unnatural. I have no doubt that he says either that “the Lord has a fire” to consume the Assyrian, or that “God himself is a fire,” and that he thus makes an implied comparison of the Assyrian to straw or chaff. He says that this “fire” is kindled and kept alive “in Zion and Jerusalem,” that is, in the midst of his people, in order to intimate that the persecution of the Church of God by wicked men shall not pass unpunished; for they shall one day feel that he is their Judge, and shall know by experience that he assists his people, who thought that they had been left without all assistance.

In a word, against wicked men, who have maintained unceasing hostility against the Church, vengeance is prepared; and the Lord will not only avenge himself, but will also avenge his people. Let us therefore enjoy this consolation; and though it may appear as if we were defenceless and exposed to every danger, yet let us be fully convinced that the Lord will be “a fire” to our adversaries.

(327) Bogus footnote

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn in our Bibles to Isaiah 31:1-9 .

Now as a backdrop to these scriptures in Isaiah 31:1-9 is the impending invasion of Assyria. Assyria is the world-conquering power at the moment. Assyria has destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Assyria has destroyed Syria; has conquered over Babylon. And now the Assyrian troops are moving in a massive invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Having taken some of the cities of Judah already. And there is pressure against Hezekiah and the pressure groups are seeking to have him to make an alliance with Egypt and to go down to Egypt and seek the help of the Egyptians against this Assyrian invasion. And so Isaiah is saying, "No, your strength is in standing still and doing nothing. God is going to deliver you from the hand of the Assyrian. Don't trust in the arm of flesh; trust in the Lord." And so as a backdrop to this is this pressure group that is moving towards an alliance with Egypt to withstand this Assyrian invasion. So Isaiah says,

Woe unto them that go down to Egypt for help; who would trust on horses, and in chariots [for help], because they have many of them; and in the horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! ( Isaiah 31:1 )

So he is pronouncing a woe upon them that would be seeking the help from men and not seeking the help of God. Now for some strange reason, it seems that we always turn to God as a last resort. It seems like the very natural thing for us to do in a crisis is to turn to the arm of flesh. To try to figure out how to work things up and turning to the arm of flesh, turning to our friends and all, trying to get support for our cause, instead of turning to the Lord and seeking the help of the Lord. So he pronounces woe on them who are ready to look to Egypt for help, to depend and trust in their chariots and in their horsemen, who do not look to the Lord for their help.

May that be a real lesson to us. May we learn to trust in the Lord. For, "It's better to put your trust in the Lord than your confidence in man. It's better to put your trust in the Lord than your confidence in princes" ( Psalms 118:8-9 ).

Yet he also is wise, he will bring evil, he 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, they're not God; their horses are flesh, they're not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helps shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall down, and they shall fail together ( Isaiah 31:2-3 ).

Don't trust in the arm of Egypt. They're only flesh. They're not God. They're only men. Their horses are flesh, not spirit. The greater strength, the greater help is in the Spirit of God, for God is able when He stretches out His hand to do the job completely.

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 ( Isaiah 31:4 ).

Now, trust in the Lord; don't trust in the Egyptians. Put your trust in God. For God is going to come down. And like a crouching lion on his prey.

Now when a lion would grab one of the sheep out of the flock, it would crouch upon its prey and the shepherds would, all of them, come around and they would start yelling and making a lot of noise and all and they would try to scare the lion off. They would try to get the thing all frightened and scared off by just yelling, make a lot of noise and all. But the Lord said, "Like a lion that is on his prey, and though the multitude of shepherds make a lot of racket, he's not going to move. He's going to hang on to it." So the Lord is going to come down. And He's going to fight for Zion. God is going to defend the people. You don't have to depend upon the arm of flesh. We sing the song, "The arm of flesh will fail you. Ye dare not trust your own. Put on the royal armor."

Now here is an interesting little verse, verse Isaiah 31:5 . And as we have noticed in prophecy, so many times there is a dual fulfillment of prophecy, or so many times there'll just be... He'll be talking about a local situation, and this particular situation is the impending invasion of Assyria and don't go to Egypt. Trust in the Lord for your help. And he's talking about the local situation. But now we get this interesting little verse, verse Isaiah 31:5 . And this is typical of so many prophecies. Suddenly it will jump way on out and be speaking of a future event that is totally unrelated to the particular local scene.

Or it could be relating to the local scene and yet have a fulfillment in the future. And you'll notice this many places through the prophecies of the Old Testament, because these men wrote things that they did not understand. In the New Testament it said that these prophets really desired earnestly to look into these things but they were hid from their eyes. They didn't really understand. They only wrote as God inspired them. Not always understanding what they were saying.

Now when in the New Testament you have many times an exposition from a remote prophecy of the Old Testament. There is a psalm that talks about "He shall fall and let another take his bishopric," and it goes on. And Peter picked up this one little verse of this psalm and he says it was referring to Judas Iscariot. That he by transgression would fall and it would be necessary for another one to take his bishopric. So let's choose one to take the place of Judas Iscariot. And yet, if you would read the psalm, in just reading the psalm you wouldn't see where that related.

Reading in the scriptures, the prophecy concerning, "he shall bring him out of Egypt." In the New Testament, Matthew said that that was referring to the flight of Joseph and Mary to Egypt. Now you read that in the Old Testament and it's hard to pick out. But yet, inspired by the Holy Spirit the commentaries of the New Testament help us to understand the prophecies of old. I believe that this is possibly one of those little prophecies that are just nuggets here; that they're just thrown in and had a future fulfillment.

For in 1917, when the Turks were holding the city of Jerusalem, General Allenby came with the British troops and they had set up their artillery around Jerusalem and were planning an artillery barrage to weaken the defenses of the Turks within the city before they made their assault against Jerusalem. Because there were many holy sites in the old city of Jerusalem, General Allenby wanted to be careful in the directing of the artillery that he would only direct it as much as possible against the Turkish positions. He did not want to just a wholesale destruction of the old city because you would lose priceless monuments, buildings and all of the past. So he ordered some planes to fly over Jerusalem to observe where the Turkish military locations were in order that they might direct their artillery against the Turkish defenses. When these planes came over, the Turkish captain who was in charge of the garrison ordered that Jerusalem be evacuated by the Turkish troops. He thought that Allenby was going to actually begin to bomb their positions in the city. And so they evacuated from Jerusalem and Allenby was able to go in and take the city of Jerusalem without firing any artillery rounds, without destroying any of the ancient sites, and the city was spared the artillery bombardment as the result of these airplane, the reconnaissance planes that he sent overhead.

Now in the light of that historic background from 1917, you read this particular verse in Isaiah and it stands out very interesting.

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 31:5 ).

The city of Jerusalem was preserved from the destruction of the artillery bombardment of the British troops in 1917 because of these planes, the reconnaissance planes that struck actually terror and fear in the heart of the Turkish garrison leader. So it's interesting how that here in the midst of his prophecy concerning Assyria that he puts in this little nugget and that in 1917, whether or not it was intended to be a prophecy concerning that, yet it was so aptly fulfilled in 1917 when General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Turks.

Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted ( Isaiah 31:6 ).

Now the cry of the prophet to turn to God. "You've revolted against God, but He will defend. He will be your defense."

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 ( Isaiah 31:7 ).

They had created their own little gods. They have turned to idolatry. The thing that God had forbidden they indulged in. So it speaks of the reformation of the people.

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 stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace is in Jerusalem ( Isaiah 31:8-9 ).

So here Isaiah is, of course, predicting that God is going to destroy these Assyrians and that they don't need to go down to Egypt or to depend upon the Egyptians for help. But that in reality, the Lord will destroy them. But not with the sword of man, but God Himself is going to destroy them.

Now it is important for understanding of the prophecy of Isaiah to really put it in its historic setting. And so as a background to this area, you should be reading Second Kings again beginning with chapter 17 probably, which begins with the destruction of the Northern Kingdom by Assyria. And then eighteen which begins with the reign of Hezekiah. And then the threats from the Assyrians, Sennacherib sending his threats against Hezekiah and so forth.

In the nineteenth chapter, verse 2 Kings 19:35 of Second Kings we read, "And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000: and when the people in Jerusalem arose early in the morning, behold, they looked out and they were all dead corpses. And Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed, and he returned, and he dwelt in Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead" ( 2 Kings 19:35-37 ).

So here the prophecy of Isaiah before it happened. And, of course, then in Second Kings you can read of how this prophecy was fulfilled. The Assyrians fell, but not with the sword of a mighty man but with the sword of an angel of the Lord who in the one night destroyed 185,000.

Now brings up the subject of angels, which were created before man, which are a special class of creation. They are spiritual beings. They have the capacity of taking on a physical form. And in the Old Testament many times angels would take on physical forms. And we read where Abraham talked to the angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord appeared unto Gideon at the threshingfloor. The angel of the Lord appeared unto Samson's mother. And many times the angels appeared to people in the Old Testament.

Also in the New Testament. When Peter was in prison, about midnight an angel of the Lord woke him up and said, "Put your sandals on and follow me." And Peter tied his sandals on his feet and followed the angels as the doors of the prison opened of their own accord. And the angel led Peter out of the prison and then disappeared. Paul the apostle spoke to the people, "Be of good cheer," when they were on a boat and were expecting to be shipwrecked and were soon to be shipwrecked. "Be of good cheer, for last night an angel of the Lord stood by me and assured me that though the boat was going to be destroyed, there wouldn't be a loss of life" ( Acts 27:22-23 ).

And so the Old Testament speaks of the angels and said, "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all of thy ways. To bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against the stone" ( Psalms 91:11-12 ).

So some way God has placed angels and given them the responsibility of watching over you as a child of God. In Hebrews we read concerning the angels, "Are they not all of them ministering spirits who have been sent for to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation?" ( Hebrews 1:14 ) Satan at one time was an angel of God. He rebelled against the authority of God. There are indications that when Satan rebelled, that a third of the angels in heaven rebelled with him. In Revelation chapter 13 or chapter 12, he saw the dragon, and with his tail he drew a third part of the stars of heaven. The stars of heaven is an appellation for angels many times. So there is the concept that Satan drew a third part of the angels in his rebellion against God.

They are spirit beings. They remain to us today much of a mystery. But many otherwise unaccountable phenomena can be explained by the presence or power of angels. Things that we cannot understand. Interesting type of phenomena. I think that much of the psychic phenomena is in the realm of spiritism and is in the realm of angels, not necessarily the angels of God but those that have fallen with Satan from God. Now when the angels fell, because they rebelled against the authority of God and followed Satan, God prepared a place where they are ultimately to be incarcerated.

There is also a place of temporary incarceration known as the abusso in Greek, translated many times "the pit" or "the bottomless pit." But their place of final incarceration is Gehenna, which Jesus described as being outer darkness. Probably out in space beyond the light of the farthest galaxy. And Jesus declares that in the day when He comes back to the earth to judge the earth, He will say to certain of those who are upon the earth, those who have received the mark of the beast, those who have worshipped the false messiah, He will say unto them, "Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity." Into Gehenna that was prepared for Satan and his angels. And so Gehenna, even though it was prepared by God for Satan and his angels, those who have chosen to follow Satan will also be consigned to that same place of judgment.

And so, "The angel of the Lord," the Bible says, "encamps about the righteous" ( Psalms 34:7 ). "His ear is open to their cry" ( Psalms 34:15 ). And yet, we are not to pray to angels. Let no man deceive you concerning a false sense of humility by praying to angels. We are not to worship angels. When John tried to bow down to the angel that was giving him the revelation, he said, "Stand up, I'm a man just like you are. I'm in the same class as you are. I'm just a servant of God. Don't worship me, worship God."

Most of the time at the appearance of the angels to men, the effect upon men was that of fear. And so they were always saying, "Fear not." Two of the extraordinary angels seem to be Gabriel and Michael. Michael is called that strong prince. Gabriel it seems was in charge of the arrangements for the birth of Christ. Gabriel appeared to John the Baptist's father Zacharias. He also appeared to Mary to announce to Mary the fact that she was to be the mother of the Christ child. He appeared 600 years earlier to Daniel. Gave unto Daniel the prophecy by which the day that the Messiah would come was prophesied.

So they are interesting beings. They surround the throne of God. There is one class of angels known as the cherubim who surround the throne of God, cease not day or night saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty." It will be very interesting and fascinating for us to discover the facets of these angels when we get to heaven. Our knowledge of them at the present time is very limited. But yet the Bible speaks of them and even tells us to be careful to entertain strangers. You never know but what you might be entertaining an angel without knowing it.

So the Assyrians were destroyed by one angel. A hundred and eighty-five thousand of them. So they are very powerful beings in ratio to man. Who can withstand a spirit being? An angel of the Lord. Brings up an interesting thought. When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and Peter pulled out his sword and began to swing away, cutting off the ear of Malchus the servant of the high priest, and Jesus picked up the ear and put it back on and said to Peter, "Put your sword away, Peter." He said, "Don't you realize that if I wanted to at this moment I could call for ten thousand angels to deliver Me out of their hands? I don't need your help, Peter."

So oftentimes we think God needs our help, don't we? Now let's help out the Lord. The Lord says, "Hey, Peter, I don't need your help. I could call for ten thousand angels to deliver Me." Now if one angel smote 185,000 Assyrians in one night, can you imagine what a legion, ten thousand angels, could do? Now that's why when God speaks of this coming situation with Russia and you think, "Oh, how could Israel ever withstand Russia and all," you don't have to worry about Israel, because God is going to set His forces and His power to work against the invaders. And it's just... it will be a time of great awakening as people awake to the realization of God. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Another call for repentance 31:6-9

The prophet now called his audience to repent with the prospect of salvation that lay in the future.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The rock of Assyria, her king (cf. Isaiah 30:29), would panic, and her princes would tremble at the evidence of divine intervention. The Assyrians would face a fire in Jerusalem that they could not endure. The Lord’s judgment on Sennacherib’s army at Jerusalem in 701 B.C. was the beginning of the demise of the Assyrian Empire.

"A friend of mine kept a card in his office desk that read: Faith Is Living Without Scheming. In one statement, that is what Isaiah was saying to Judah and Jerusalem, and that is what he is saying to us today." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 38.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear,.... This is said of the king of Assyria, departing in haste from the siege of Jerusalem, to some strong hold in his own country, particularly his strong city Nineveh, for fear of the angel, and destruction following him; nor could he think himself safe, until he had got there. Some render it (and the original will bear it), "and his rock shall pass over for fear" a; his mighty men, his men of valour, in whom he trusted, and put his confidence, who were his strength, on which he depended; these, as many as were left of them, fled away. So the Targum,

"his princes shall flee for fear;''

though these are expressed in the next clause:

and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign; any ensign or standard they saw, supposing it to be a detachment of the Jews in pursuit of them; or not daring afterwards to face any enemy with their banners displayed: or rather were terrified at the sight of the standard erected by the angel in the air, and at the slaughter of their companies under them in the camp:

saith the Lord, whose fire [is] in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem; who keeps house there, and therefore will defend it. Some, as Aben Ezra and others, think reference is had to the altar of the Lord, where the fire was kept continually burning, and sacrifices were offered up to him, and therefore being the place of his worship, he would take care of it; but rather it seems to denote the fire of God's wrath, to defend his people, and destroy his enemies, Zechariah 2:5. The Targum is,

"whose lustre is in Zion to them that do the law, and a burning furnace of fire to them that transgress his word.''

The Jews, in their Talmud b, interpret the "fire" of hell, and the "furnace" of the gate of hell.

a וסלעו ממגור יעבור "et rupes ejus prae pavoro transibit", Forerius. So Cocceius and Ben Melech; with which the version of Junius and Tremellius agrees. b T. Bab. Erubim, fol. 19. 1.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.   7 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.   8 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.   9 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.

      This explains the foregoing promise of the deliverance of Jerusalem; she shall be fitted for deliverance, and then it shall be wrought for her; for in that method God delivers.

      I. Jerusalem shall be reformed, and so she shall be delivered from her enemies within her walls, Isaiah 31:6; Isaiah 31:7. Here is, 1. A gracious call to repentance. This was the Lord's voice crying in the city, the voice of the rod, the voice of the sword, and the voice of the prophets interpreting the judgment: "Turn you, O turn you now, from your evil ways, unto God, return to your allegiance to him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted, from whom you, O children of Israel! have revolted." He reminds them of their birth and parentage, that they were children of Israel, and therefore under the highest obligations imaginable to the God of Israel, as an aggravation of their revolt from him and as an encouragement to them to return to him. "They have been backsliding children, yet children; therefore let them return, and their backslidings shall be healed. They have deeply revolted, with great address as they supposed (the revolters are profound,Hosea 5:2); but the issue will prove that they have revolted dangerously. The stain of their sins has gone deeply into their nature, not to be easily got out, like the blackness of the Ethiopian. They have deeply corrupted themselves (Hosea 9:9); they have sunk deep into misery, and cannot easily recover themselves; therefore you have need to hasten your return to God." 2. A gracious promise of the good success of this call (Isaiah 31:7; Isaiah 31:7): In that day every man shall cast away his idols, in obedience to Hezekiah's orders, which, till they were alarmed by the Assyrian invasion, many refused to do. That is a happy fright which frightens us from our sins. (1.) It shall be a general reformation: every man shall cast away his own idols, shall begin with them before he undertakes to demolish other people's idols, which there will be no need of when every man reforms himself. (2.) It shall be a thorough reformation; for they shall part with their idolatry, their beloved sin, with their idols of silver and gold, their idols that they are most fond of. Many make an idol of their silver and gold, and by the love of that idol are drawn to revolt from God; but those that turn to God cast that away out of their hearts and will be ready to part with it when God calls. (3.) It shall be a reformation upon a right principle, a principle of piety, not of politics. They shall cast away their idols, because they have been unto them for a sin, an occasion of sin; therefore they will have nothing to do with them, though they had been the work of their own hands, and upon that account they had a particular fondness for them. Sin is the work of our own hands, but in working it we have been working our own ruin, and therefore we must cast it away; and those are strangely wedded to it who will not be prevailed upon to cast it away when they see that otherwise they themselves will be castaways. Some make this to be only a prediction that those who trust in idols, when they find they stand them in no stead, will cast them away in indignation. But it agrees so exactly with Isaiah 30:22; Isaiah 30:22 that I rather take it as a promise of a sincere reformation.

      II. Jerusalem's besiegers shall be routed, and so she shall be delivered from the enemies about her walls. The former makes way for this. If a people return to God, they may leave it to him to plead their cause against their enemies. When they have cast away their idols, then shall the Assyrian fall,Isaiah 31:8; Isaiah 31:9. 1. The army of the Assyrians shall be laid dead upon the spot by the sword, not of a mighty man, nor of a mean man, not of any man at all, either Israelite or Egyptian, not forcibly by the sword of a mighty man nor surreptitiously by the sword of a mean man, but by the sword of an angel, who strikes more strongly than a mighty man and yet more secretly than a mean man, by the sword of the Lord, and his power and wrath in the hand of the angel. Thus the young men of the army shall melt, and be discomfited, and become tributaries to death. When God has work to do against the enemies of his church we expect it must be done by mighty men and mean men, officers and common soldiers; whereas God can, if he please, do it without either. He needs not armies of men who has legions of angels at command, Matthew 26:53. 2. The king of Assyria shall flee for the same, shall flee from that invisible sword, hoping to get out of the reach of it; and he shall make the best of his way to his own dominions, shall pass over to some strong-hold of his own, for fear lest the Jews should pursue him now that his army was routed. Sennacherib had been very confident that he should make himself master of Jerusalem, and in the most insolent manner had set both God and Hezekiah at defiance; yet now he is made to tremble for fear of both. God can strike a terror into the proudest of men, and make the stoutest heart to tremble. See Job 18:11; Job 20:24. His princes that accompany him shall be afraid of the ensign, shall be in a continual fright at the remembrance of the ensign in the air, which perhaps the destroying angel displayed before he gave the fatal bow. Or they shall be afraid of every ensign they see, suspecting it is a party of the Jews pursuing them. The banner that God displays for the encouragement of his people (Psalms 60:4) will be a terror to his and their enemies. Thus he cuts off the spirit of princes and is terrible to the kings of the earth. But who will do this? It is the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. (1.) Whose residence is there, and who there keeps house, as a man does where his fire and his oven are. It is the city of the great King, and let not the Assyrians think to turn him out of the possession of his own house. (2.) Who is there a consuming fire to all his enemies and will make them as a fiery oven in the day of his wrath, Psalms 21:9. He is himself a wall of fire round about Jerusalem, so that whoever assaults her does so at his peril, Zechariah 2:5; Revelation 11:5. (3.) Who has his altar there, on which the holy fire is continually kept burning and sacrifices are daily offered to his honour, and with which he is well pleased; and therefore he will defend this city, especially having an eye to the great sacrifice which was there also to be offered, of which all the sacrifices were types. If we keep up the fire of holy love and devotion in our hearts and houses, we may depend upon God to be a protection to us and them.