Isaiah 31:6

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, Isa 31:6, Isa 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, Hos 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 (Hos 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 (Isa 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 Isa 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, Isa 31:8, Isa 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, Mat 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 (Psa 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, Psa 21:9. He is himself a wall of fire round about Jerusalem, so that whoever assaults her does so at his peril, Zac 2:5; Rev 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.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Isa 31:6 Turn ye unto [him from] whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

Ver. 6. Turn ye unto him.] Vos apostatae Iudaei. You apostate Jews. He runs far that never turneth again, we say; ye have revolted and run away from God with all your hearts, doing evil as ye could. Oh turn again to him, ex profundo imoque corde ad illum redite, let there be a proportion between your sin and your repentance. Turn ye unto me, usque ad me, all out as far as to me, give not the half turn only; with all your heart. {Joe 2:12} "Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God." {Heb 3:12} ‘Aπιστια parit αποστοισαν

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 31:6-7. Turn ye unto him, &c. — Let the consideration of this gracious promise engage you to repent of all your sins, and among the rest, of your carnal policies in seeking and trusting to Egypt for help, and sincerely to return to God. From whom the children of Israel — From whom not only the Israelites, strictly so called, those of the ten tribes, but from whom you of the two tribes, you Jews, who are also the children of Israel, and therefore are under very great obligations to God, have deeply revolted — In your hearts and lives, your affections being alienated from him, and set upon your sins and idols, and your actions a scene of disobedience to his laws. For in that day — When the Assyrian shall invade your land; every man shall cast away his idols — You shall find the vanity of those idols to which you have trusted; and therefore shall cast them away with indignation, and be forced to seek to Jehovah for help; which your hands have made unto you for sin — That is, as instruments of your sin of idolatry, and of many other sins connected therewith.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A CALL TO THE REVOLTED

Isa_31:6. Turn ye unto Him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.

Had mankind adhered to the divine idea, no such word as this would have been necessary. Divine communications would have consisted probably of counsels, directions, predictions, progressive revelations of truth. The demand that man turn shows that he has gone astray. All divine communications suppose the existence of sin and the need of salvation. Happily for us, they show the way in which salvation may be obtained. The parts of the human race are as the whole. The people God distinguished by separating them from the nations, with special connection to Himself, followed the universal tendency to wander from Him. They forsook His law. When trouble came, they sought help anywhere. At the time of this prophecy they were looking to Egypt instead of to the Lord. The prophet remonstrates, and invites them to make a friend of God against Assyria. The text may be addressed to sinners now. Here is—

I. A SERIOUS ACCUSATION.

God was the King of Israel. Departure from His laws was a national revolt. Man’s revolt from God consists in—

1. Disaffection. When love to the sovereign departs, the way is prepared for any act of hostility circumstances may favour. The disaffection of man to God is inbred. From the original fall man derives a mysterious tendency to depart from God (H.E.I., 3390–3397). Human nature dislikes the divine holiness; dislike of the divine holiness is the root from which grow men’s evil deeds. So deep is the revolt that man has no desire to return.

2. Disobedience. You may say it is natural to sin, and we cannot be held responsible for it. Do you judge of, and deal with your fellow-men in that way as to their conduct to you? If they injure, defraud you, do you say they have a natural inclination to fraud and wrongdoing, and therefore are not responsible? When a son who has been carefully trained develops tendencies and inclinations to evil, attaches himself to bad companions, &c., do you exonerate him from blame because it is his nature? You say he ought to have resisted the evil inclinations and cultivated such as were good. You are right. But why should there be a difference when the object of the wrongdoing is God? The dislike of God’s holiness inherent in human nature develops itself in the indulgence of sinful passions and disobedience to God’s commands. Does the fact that it was your nature free you from responsibility? Are you not possessed of reason and conscience? Do not these constitute responsibility? Is not the fact that you decline the help God offers for the subjugation of evil sufficient to throw on you the entire blame of your continued revolt?

3. Distrust. A large part of the revolt of ancient Israel from God consisted in distrust. When man withdraws his love from God and abandons himself to disobedience, he is sure to lose faith. You will soon cease to trust the friend whom you persistently wrong and disregard. Is not this the explanation of much of the unbelief among men? They are unhappy in their severance from God, yet unwilling to return. Then they expunge from their beliefs His declarations concerning sin and its punishment. Truth after truth disappears. Then Himself disappears. They persuade themselves that there is no need of Him, then that He does not exist. The wish is father to the thought. Because the heart and life have revolted from Him, the intellect labours to sweep Him out of the world which He has made.

II. AN EARNEST CALL.

“Turn ye unto Him.” From the folly of the intellect; from the perversity of the heart; from the disobedience of the life in which your revolt has manifested itself. God is. He is a living person, with all the feelings of one, as well as a supreme ruler clothed with governmental authority. He is worth turning to.

2. In the gospel, He invites you to repent, to turn. It is a complete change of your heart and life. You can examine and reflect upon the truth. You can consider the righteousness of His claim. You can consider the motive that is furnished by His offer of a free pardon and a full salvation procured for you by the death of His Song of Solomon 3. Do you feel yourself weak? He will help you to turn.

4. Turn from the wrong path to the right one.

(1.) Turn to the trust which He encourages. Bring your sin and need to Jesus.

(2.) Turn to the obedience He demands. There must be a complete surrender. All sin must be relinquished, even the dearest. Choose the way of holiness.

(3.) Turn to the love He deserves. It comes indeed into the heart with submission and faith.

5. Think of the danger of continued revolt; of the wrongfulness of revolt; of the blessedness of return.—J. Rawlinson.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

He toucheth their conscience, that they might earnestly feel their grievous sins, and so truly repent, forasmuch as now they are almost drowned and past recovery.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The power and love of Jehovah, just mentioned, are the strongest incentives for returning to Him (Eze 16:62-63; Hos 6:1).

ye . . . Israel--The change of person marks that when they return to the Lord, He will address them in more direct terms of communion in the second person; so long as they were revolters, God speaks of them, as more at a distance, in the third person, rather than to them.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Have deeply revolted - "Have so deeply engaged in revolt."] All the ancient Versions read תעמיקו taamiku, in the second person, instead of העמיקו heemiku, they have deeply revolted, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) Turn ye unto him.—Then, as ever, this was the sum and substance of the prophet’s teaching, conversion; with that, all was hope; without it, all was fear. (Comp. 2Ch_30:6.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Turn ye unto him,.... From the Egyptians, to whom they sought for help, unto the Lord, they had neglected; from evil ways and practices, idolatry and impiety, by repentance and reformation; to the true worship of God, to his word and ordinances, statutes and commands. The Targum is,

"turn to the law;''

which they had rejected and broken. These are the words of the prophet, a call of his to the people to repentance, to which they might be induced by the gracious declaration of the Lord unto them, in the preceding verses, promising them preservation and safety:

from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted: or, "made deep a revolt" (u); had gone very far back from God, and deep into sin and ruin, that their recovery was difficult; and yet their return was absolutely necessary, which ought to be done both speedily and heartily. Some think reference is had to the deep schemes they had laid, those political ones, at least, which they thought were such, in applying to Egypt for help, when they, as it is said, Isa 29:15 sought "deep to hide their counsel front the Lord"; in doing which they deeply departed from him, and are here called to return to him. This is said not of the ten tribes, that were gone into captivity, but of the Jews, who were the posterity of Israel also; which is mentioned, to put them in mind of their descent, as an aggravation of their sin, and as an argument for their return.

(u) Heb. "profundam fecerunt recessionem", Piscator; "profundaverunt defevtionem", Montanus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Turn ye unto him - In view of the fact that he will assuredly defend Jerusalem, commit yourselves unto him rather than seek the aid of Egypt.

Have deeply revolted - For the meaning of this phrase, see the note at Isa 29:15.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Revolted. Let your conversion bear proportion (Calmet) with your sins. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Turn ye unto him; let the consideration of this gracious promise engage you to repent of your carnal policies, in seeking and trusting to Egypt for help, and sincerely to return to God.

The children of Israel; either,

1. The Israelites, strictly so called, who are now utterly destroyed for their apostacy; and therefore take heed that you do not follow their example. Or,

2. You Jews, who are the children of Israel; which title he here gives them, partly to admonish them of their great and many obligations to God, and partly to aggravate the sin of their apostacy.

Have deeply revolted, in neglecting and forsaking him, and seeking to Egypt for help; which he calls a deep revolt, partly because it was a heinous sin, being contrary to God’s express command, and highly dishonourable to God; and partly because it was carried on with deep dissimulation, and with a public profession of cleaving to God, and with a design of seeking deep to hide this their counsel from the Lord, wherewith he charged this people, Isa 29:15.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. The children of Israel have deeply revolted — The remarks to be made here are: 1) Monotheism was the fundamental idea of their religion. 2) A covenant between Israel and their God was a covenant which the latter never broke. 3) Priests and prophets held the whole nation solemnly and organically bound to that covenant. Based on these facts, the prophets, when they spoke, spoke to the whole nation. None was to be excused. The part of the people who broke the covenant could not be exonerated. They determined the external, national destinies of all. The fate of all hung on them. The external theocracy was overthrown by them. Hence the few who, as individuals, were true to God — who never broke covenant — constituted the theocracy, the remnant, the true Israel, the only Church in Israel. (See Rom_9:11.) The protection implied in these verses implies a return to God of the revolted children of Israel of the sixth verse. The condition then made, “Turn ye unto him” is responded to. Doubtless the prophet was sure the casting away of idolatry was never likely to take place till the utter overthrow of the nation, and the great trial of the people in captivity. Idolatry never appeared after the great captivity.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Turn ye unto him. Then, at any rate, if not before, turn to him who will have delivered you from so great a peril. "Turn to him, O children of Israel, from whom men have so deeply revolted." The third person is used instead of the second, out of tenderness, not to hurt their feelings by mingling with promise an open rebuke.

Vers. 6, 7. Deep disloyalty.

The children of Israel had "deeply revolted" from God by preferring Egyptian cavalry to the defense of almighty power. This preference of the human and the material to the Divine is only too common everywhere.

I THE DISLOYAL ATTITUDE OF MANKIND TOWARDS GOD. Mankind is in revolt against the Divine rule. We have all said in our hearts, "We will not have this One to reign over us.

1. God righteously claims our allegiance the homage of our hearts, the subjection of our will, the obedience of our life.

2. We have deliberately refused it, we have practically disallowed his claim; we have retained our power for our own enjoyment, to be spent according to our own tastes and choices. Amid various forms of iniquity there is one which is common to the race-we have all withheld from the Divine Father of our spirits the willing and practical allegiance for which he has looked.

II HUMAN DISLOYALTY IN ITS DEPTH There are many degrees of rebelliousness. Only he who searches the hearts and knows the real nature of righteousness and iniquity can accurately measure them, but we can form an approximate idea. Men may be deeply disloyal by going far in the direction of

(1) open and flagrant transgression the commission of baneful vices or cruel and devastating crimes;

(2) distinct and formal denial of God"s existence the avowal and advocacy of blank atheism;

(3) the public denial of the Divine claims the representation of the cardinal error that God is indifferent to the character of his human children, and does not ask for their worship or service;

(4) deliberate and persistent disregard of his will as revealed in his Word the turning a deaf ear to his inviting voice.

III THE DIVINE SUMMONS TO RETURN. "Turn ye unto him.

1. God"s message through inspired men. At sundry times God spake by the prophets. Then and thus he spoke in very clear and in very gracious tones; he said emphatically and repeatedly, "Return unto me". (see text; Isa_1:16-18 Isa_55:6-9 Jer_3:12-16 Eze_18:30-32 Hos_14:1, Hos_14:2, etc.)

2. God"s invitation through his Son, our Savior.

(1) That the disloyal hearts of men should return to their allegiance and become the holy and rejoicing citizens of his heavenly kingdom was the very end, for which Jesus came.

(2) To accomplish this he lived, wrought, spoke, suffered, died.

(3) This is the spirit and the scope of the message he has left behind him, and of the work in which he is now engaged.

(4) The way of return through Christ is the heart"s acceptance of him as its Divine Lord and Redeemer. The voice which comes from the Man of sorrows, from the ascended Lord, is "Come unto me;" Believe in me;" "Abide in me.

IV THE SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCE OF RETURN. "In that day every man shall cast away his idols." Return to the service of Jehovah and to a sincere trust in him certainly meant the utter abandonment of idolatry. Our restoration to the favor and friendship of God in Jesus Christ must also mean the putting away of every form of idolatry; e.g.

(1) the worship of pleasure or indulgence in any unholy or injurious gratification;

(2) covetousness, "which is idolatry"; (Col_3:5)

(3) the worship of mammon, or absorption in the struggles and ambitions of this earthly life. (Mat_6:24)

(4) Such a devotion to any human object of love as leaves no room, or no sufficient room, for attention to the highest duties and the most sacred claims. It may be that not once nor twice, but again and again, the Christian man may find himself called on to cast away his idols," to put them out of his heart, and therefore out of his life. C.

Turning to God in giving up sin.

Connect with ver. 7. Here is indicated one essential characteristic of a genuine conversion or reformation. Two kinds of turning" are suggested.

I TURNING TO GOD AS A VOICELESS SENTIMENT. Merely good sentiments, revivalistic emotions, gushing fervors, temporary excitements, have no voice that can reach to God.

II TURNING TO GOD SPEAKING THROUGH ACTS. Putting away idols God can hear that. He knows what that means. Giving up sins God can hear that. Cutting off right hands God can hear that. Plucking out right eyes God can hear that. This is the voice for which God asks, and to which he so graciously responds. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On the ground of this half terrible, half comforting picture of the future, the call to repentance is now addressed to the people of the prophet's own time. "Then turn, O sons of Israel, to Him from whom men have so deeply departed." Strictly speaking, "to Him with regard to whom (אשׁר) ye are deeply fallen away" (he‛ĕmı̄q, as in Hos 9:9, and sârâh, that which is alienated, alienation, as in Isa 1:5); the transition to the third person is like the reverse in Isa 1:29. This call to repentance the prophet strengthens by two powerful motives drawn from the future.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“Since you need no protection but Jehovah’s, therefore, return unto him from whom (or with respect to whom) the children of Israel have deeply revolted (literally, have deepened revolt).” The last words may also be read, ‘from whom they (i.e., men indefinitely) have deeply revolted, oh ye children of Israel.’ ‘Deep’ may be here used to convey the specific idea of debasement, or the more general one of distance, or still more generally, as a mere intensive, like our common phrases ‘deeply grieved’ or ‘deeply injured’. The analogy of Isa 29:15, however, would suggest the idea of deep contrivance or design, which is equally appropriate.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Return To the One about Whom you have thought deeply how to turn away from Him, now return to Him.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Turn ye unto him, etc. The prophet, addressing Israel, says: Return, ye Israelites, to God, from whom you have deeply revolted. סרה is derived from סרר to revolt. Comp. סורר rebellious (Deut. 21:18)

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.