Isaiah 31 and 32 questions

Trusting Egypt Doesn't Work (Isaiah 31:1-9); Woe Against Reliance on Egypt rather than God

1. Why does God pronounce a woe (Isa 31:1; 22:11)? Why was it foolish for the people to trust in Egypt and her chariots (1-2; Ps 20:7; 33:17; Prov 21:31)? Why could Egypt not be trusted (3)?
2. Who would fight for Zion and defend her? How is He described (4; Am 1:2; 3:8)? To what is God's defense compared (5)?
3. How should the people respond to God's promise of deliverance (Isa 31:6-7; 2:20; 30:22)? Is repentance and returning to God and forsaking idols a prerequisite of divine deliverance?
4. What would happen to Assyria, and what would the people learn (8-9)? How would Assyria fall (Isa 31:8; 37:36-38; 14:24-27; 29:5-8; 30:27-33)?
5. What lessons should we learn from the mistake the people made in trusting Egypt without consulting God (Isa 2:22; 51:12-13; Jer 17:5; Ps 146:3)?

Repentance and Rest are Inseparable (Isaiah 30:15)

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it'" (Isa 30:15, NIV).

"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it'" (Isa 30:15, NLT).

The Connection between Repentance and Rest (John Oswalt, Isaiah, the NIV Application Commentary, 2003):

Isaiah's Cry of Woe and Doom

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty" (Isa 6:5, NIV).

When Isaiah cried out (Isa 6:5), it was a cry of pain. It was the revealing cry of conscious uncleanness.

In genuine conversion, in the transaction of the new birth, there ought to be that real and genuine cry of pain. There should be the terror of seeing ourselves in violent contrast to the holy, holy, holy God (Isa 6:3).

Unless we come into this place of conviction and pain, I am not sure how deep or real our repentance or regeneration is.