When you understand who the author of any book was speaking to at the time of its writing; when you know the culture of the people in whom a book was written to; when you do a little background study, it brings to life the words of the prophets and why they said what they said to the people in whom they were speaking.

Whether Hebrew idioms, cultural realities, or spiritual entities they worshipped or feared. When this information is understood, it does not diminish the reality of the truth, nor does it deny the power of the prophet who is speaking, it actually adds value to it.

If someone read something written to Americans and it said, “It’s raining cats and dogs”, if they took it literally, they would think what a sight that would have been to see. But we as Americans know very well that is not a literal statement, it is an American idiom. The same is true in Hebrew.

When Isaiah is speaking to the Jews who were in Babylonian exile, he spoke to a people who knew what he was talking about for they all lived in the same culture. Their culture had a spirtitual understanding of Egyptian gods and saw their horses as spiritual forces.

When Isaiah says “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit” (Isaiah 31:3), Israel knew the prophet was demystifying their fear of Egypt. Not to scare them but to liberate them from a narrative that was not true. Men are not gods and horses are not spirits.

To this day Egyptian deities are worshipped and feared around the world, so the words of Isaiah are important for us to hear as well. Men are not gods and horses are not spirits. And the verse ends by saying, “When the Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall and he who is helped with fall down; they will all perish together.”

God is the only God; the Holy Spirit is the only Spirit; and Jesus is the God Man who walked on earth, died, was buried, rose again and is current present reality seated in heaven at the right hand of His Father. We have nothing to fear. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org