Catholic Commentary on Isaiah 31

“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.” (Isaiah 31:5)

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

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. The Egyptians are humans and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. 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. Return to him you have so greatly revolted against, O Israelites.

The Catechism identifies the contrast between horses (flesh) and the Spirit of God as the foundational distinction between human power and divine power: all human military strength is flesh; the Spirit of the LORD is the only ultimate security (CCC 272).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, horses are flesh and not spirit. The Egyptian alliance, the military calculation, the insurance policy, none of them wrong in themselves, but all catastrophically wrong as the ultimate security. Trust the one who hovers over Jerusalem like protective birds. He shields; he delivers; he passes over; he rescues.

Prayer

Lord God, hover over us like the birds who shield Jerusalem. Deliver us and rescue us. We return to you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

31
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in their abundance of chariots
and in their multitude of horsemen.
They do not look to the Holy One of Israel;
they do not seek the LORD.
2 Yet He too is wise and brings disaster;
He does not call back His words.
He will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against the allies of evildoers.
3 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.
 
4 For this is what the LORD has said to me:
 
“Like a lion roaring
or a young lion over its prey-
and though a band of shepherds is called out against it,
it is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their clamor-
so the LORD of Hosts will come down
to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights.
5 Like birds hovering overhead,
so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem.
He will shield it and deliver it;
He will pass over it and preserve it.”
 
6 Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel. 7 For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
 
8 “Then Assyria will fall,
but not by the sword of man;
a sword will devour them,
but not one made by mortals.
They will flee before the sword,
and their young men will be put to forced labor.
9 Their rock will pass away for fear,
and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,”
declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion,
whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

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