Isaiah 30:1-33
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Summary
- Because Israel trusts in humans, rather than in God, they will bring judgment upon themselves. However, restoration of blessings is offered, if they repent. The chapter ends with the anticipation of a future day of deliverance for Israel, and judgment against God's enemies.
- The deliverance and judgment, described in the later part of this chapter, have many similarities to other prophecies related to the Third World Judgment. Even the earlier parts of the chapter, related to Israel's trust in humans (instead of God), may have parallels to various end-time prophecies found elsewhere.
Details and/or Comments
- As with many prophecies in Isaiah, some aspects of this prophecy appear to have been fulfilled (such as when the nation returned from their captivity in Babylon); but other aspects haven't. We must remember that, taken as a whole, the prophecies in this book cover a wide range of events, extending from the days of Isaiah to the end of the age.
- In v. 31, Assyria is mentioned as being the recipient of God's judgment. Historically, God did strike down the Assyrian army, without the help of humans (Isaiah 37:36). However, not everything that is mentioned in ch. 30 occurred at that time (such as the burning of bodies in the "burning place").
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- The question is this: Does this passage (at the end of the chapter) refer only to the Assyrians and the judgment that occurred in Isaiah's day (in which case much of the passage must be understood figuratively)? Or does Assyria, the main threat in Isaiah's day, represent all of Israel's enemies during the end times (in which case there could be symbolism, but the symbolism would represent "literal" - non-figurative - events that are to come)? Or does the prophet intend to include both situations in this prophecy?
- Because many of the events described in this passage have parallels in other end-time prophecies, yet many end-time prophecies were partially fulfilled in "near time" events, the third option is used as the basis for the following descriptions.
- The message of chapter 31 parallels this chapter.
Scripture
Isaiah 30 – judgment and blessing, depending on which you choose. (Your choice is determined by your actions.)
Rain after repentance (v. 19+).
Their problem – idolatry, trusting humans rather than God; rejecting God's “harsh” word and wanting to hear “positive” things, instead!
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links | |||
| Isa 30:1 "Woe to the rebellious children," says Yahweh, "who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
Isa 30:2 who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! Isa 30:3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. Isa 30:4 For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors have come to Hanes. Isa 30:5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can't profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach." |
A stubborn people (Israel) who trusts in others (Egypt), rather than in God - they will be brought to disgrace.
The issue: They valued the help and advice that comes from humans more than the guidance and protection that comes from God. This is an act of adding "sin to sin"; and the end result will be shame and disgrace. According to ch. 29, their words expressed devotion to God. However, their actions didn't.
The very act of not trusting God is an act of rebellion. | |||
| Isa 30:6 The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people.
Isa 30:7 For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her Rahab who sits still [or: "who does nothing"]. |
"Beasts of burden" will travel on the dangerous wilderness paths toward Egypt (apparently to avoid detection by the Assyrians). they will be loaded with treasures, intended for bribing the Egyptians for help. They travel in vain, for though Egypt may happily take the riches that are offered, the help that is desired will never materialize. (Today, nations use money, weapons, or other types of "treasure"; and they might call it something else, such as "foreign aid.")
"Flying" serpents - Though the word "flying" is normally used to describe the way birds travel through the air, it also is used to describe the quick back-and-forth motion of a sword (Ezekiel 32:10, "brandish"), or the darting motion of a snake (here, and in Isaiah 14:29). The snakes described in this passage are venomous ("fiery"). At that time, lions were present in the land. "Rahab" - a mythical sea creature; used here to symbolize Egypt, but described as "sitting powerless." (Also the name of a person, Joshua 2.) |
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Isa 30:8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. | Write a permanent record about this evil people - probably what is recorded here! |
| Isa 30:9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh;
Isa 30:10 who tell the seers, "Don't see!" and to the prophets, "Don't prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits. Isa 30:11 Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." |
A rebellious people, who prefer nice-sounding “political correctness” (lies), rather than "prophetic confrontation" (truth from God).
The sin/rebellion referred to here is the one described in the previous verses: They choose to trust in people, rather than in God. They add to this sin another sin: They don't want to hear what the prophets have to say (a message or warning from God). |
| Isa 30:12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it;
Isa 30:13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant. Isa 30:14 He will break it as a potter's vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won't be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." |
Because you prefer sin instead of truth, your sin will utterly destroy you.
Breach (a large crack in the wall, making it ready to fall down at any moment) - The destruction will come without warning. Broken vessel - The devastation will be complete. |
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Isa 30:15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, "You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence." You refused, | Your only strength and salvation is in repentance and trust in God. |
| Isa 30:16 but you said, "No, for we will flee on horses;" therefore you will flee; and, "We will ride on the swift;" therefore those who pursue you will be swift.
Isa 30:17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill. |
But you chose to rely on human strength and salvation by human means. Because of this, human strength will destroy you.
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| Isa 30:18 Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. | Nevertheless, God still extends mercy to you! Because God is a God of justice, he is willing to have mercy on those who put their trust in him. Justice and mercy are not incompatible opposites! |
Anticipation of a future day of deliverance for Israel.
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Isa 30:19 For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you.
Isa 30:20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won't be hidden anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers; Isa 30:21 and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it." Isa 30:22 You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, "Go away!" |
There is coming a day in which tears will be brought to an end. This may have had a fulfillment when the Jews returned from captivity. But some of the statements given in later verses do not appear to have been fulfilled... suggesting that this passage also has a future application.
When they return to God and abandon their idols, God will restore them with blessings! In their rebellion, God refused to listen to them; in their repentance, he will guide them. Adversity will come (v. 20); but this time, they will be willing to listen to God (through the prophets, etc.), and they will do what God instructs them to do. They will walk in his ways. (This is the opposite of what they did in v. 9-11.)
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| Isa 30:23 He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures.
Isa 30:24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork. Isa 30:25 There shall be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Isa 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of his people, and heals the wound they were struck with. |
There is a coming Day of Judgment, in which "towers" will fall (v. 25; see also 2:15 and context). But this time of darkness will give way to the light of blessing from God, for all who follow him.
There is coming a day of healing. The results of their repentance: God will send rain and bountiful blessings. The very ecosystem will be affected.
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Anticipation of a future day of judgment against God's enemies.
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire.
Isa 30:28 His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; and a bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples. |
The coming judgment of God.
Assyria is mentioned in v. 31. However, the wording of this passage is quite reminiscent of the descriptions of the end-times judgment described in other Scriptures. Also, v. 28 refers to "nations" and "peoples," which suggests more than one nation. |
| Isa 30:29 You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh's mountain, to Israel's Rock. | For God's people (i.e., those who trust him, the emphasis being on the nation of Israel), this time of judgment will be a time of joy. |
| Isa 30:30 Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones.
Isa 30:31 For through the voice of Yahweh the Assyrian will be dismayed. He [God] will strike him [the Assyrian] with his rod. |
Judgment and fire for his enemies. Fire from heaven and hailstones are mentioned in the book of Revelation. (Example - Revelation 8:7.)
This may include God's use of weather to judge the people.
"Assyria" could refer to the nation that threatened Israel in Isaiah's day. Or it could be representative of all nations at the time of the final judgment. More likely, both of these are in mind. |
| Isa 30:32 Every stroke of the rod of punishment, which Yahweh will lay on him, will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He [God] will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons. | The judgment of the wicked - those who despise God - will be a time of celebration for the righteous - those who desire to see God honored.
God's judgment will also be an expression of his justice, something that the righteous delight in. |
| Isa 30:33 For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is made ready. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh's breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it. | The "burning place" (called "Topheth" in some translations) - a reference to an area outside the city of Jerusalem, in the Valley of Hinnom. Historically, it was a place of human sacrifice to the false god, Molech. In the New Testament, this place is called "Gehenna," a place where garbage was continually burning. Ultimately it would be a picture (or symbol) of eternal fire.
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Scripture Passages
(Only books that have relevance to this study have active links. The others are in italics.)
Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • 1 Samuel • 2 Samuel • 1 Kings • 2 Kings • 1 Chronicles • 2 Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther • Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel • Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi Matthew • Mark • Luke • John • Acts • Romans • 1 Corinthians • 2 Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians • 1 Timothy • 2 Timothy • Titus • Philemon • Hebrews • James • 1 Peter • 2 Peter • 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Jude • Revelation |
—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——
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The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.
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Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.
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