Isaiah Chapter 30

PROPHECY AGAINST REBELS

This oracle and the next one (chapter 31) center on the foolishness of attempting to make an alliance with Egypt to ward off the Assyrian threat. At this time Egypt was declining as a world power and could be of no real assistance to Israel and Judah in their fight against the strong Assyrian Empire. But a strong faction in Judah, rather than turning to God for protection, wanted to seek aid from Egypt.[fn] Half of this chapter pronounces a woe and a prophecy to those who ignore God. The other half of this chapter talks of God’s graciousness and His desire to bless His people, along with His promise to deliver them from Assyria.

Isaiah 30:1,2 NAS:
1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord, “Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;
2 Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

This woe (see Isaiah 3:9) was pronounced against those in Judah who wanted to form an alliance with Egypt. The prophet spoke to those people as if they were obstinate children. Like children, they did not have the proper perspective to know what was best for them. They had forgotten King David’s words, Psalm 20:7, NIV:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Floundering in their desire to save themselves and their nation, they were forming plans but they weren’t God’s plans. Actually their plans were sinful because they weren’t what God wanted them to do.[fn] Isaiah condemned this reliance on Egypt because God had forbidden such alliances in Deuteronomy 17:16.

Isaiah 30:3 NAS:
3 “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.

Anyone with two brain cells would have known that the Egyptians could not be of any help to Israel. The Assyrians had recently defeated the army of Egypt not more that 100 miles from the Egyptian border.

Isaiah 30:4,5 NAS:
4 “For their princes are at Zoan And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5 “Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them, Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

An alliance with Egypt, made without consulting the Lord, would put Judah to shame as Isaiah mentions in verses 3 and 5. The Jews even sent a delegation to two Egyptian cities, Zoan and Hanes, to talk about an alliance, but the talks were doomed to fail. The Egyptian officials were incapable of helping as we were told back in Isaiah 19:11.

The Lord had already said many times through Isaiah that He would use Assyria to wipe out the Northern Kingdom and to punish the Southern Kingdom. So to look to a crumbling empire like Egypt for help was useless and could only result in disgrace.[fn] Can we today learn the lesson? Any time we look for deliverance from something or someone other than God, we are going to be disappointed.

Isaiah 30:6,7 NAS:
6 The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev. Through a land of distress and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,[fn] They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys And their treasures on camels’ humps, To a people who cannot profit them;
7 Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her “Rahab who has been exterminated.”

Isaiah then uttered an oracle (burden) concerning the caravan that was then traveling from Jerusalem to Egypt with treasures to buy protection against Assyria. He saw the burdened animals making their way through the difficult and dangerous terrain of the Negev (the south), and he cried, “It is all to no profit! It is useless! The Egyptians will help in vain!” In verse 7 Isaiah gives a nickname to Egypt: “Rahab-hem-shebeth,” which means “Rahab the do-nothing.” (Rahab is one of the names for Egypt in the Old Testament.).[fn]

Isaiah 30:8-11 NAS:
8 Now go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll, That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever.
9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.
11 “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

It was bad enough that Judah rebelled against God by trusting Egypt instead of trusting Him, and depending on money instead of on God’s power, but they even went so far as to completely reject the Word of God. God told Isaiah to make a placard that said, “This is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the Law of the Lord.” Isaiah carried this sign as he walked around Jerusalem, and no doubt most of the people laughed at him.

The leaders did not want to hear God’s truth; they wanted “pleasant words” from the false prophets (teachers), sermons that would not disturb their  comfortable way of life. Is the situation much different today?[fn]

Isaiah 30:12-14, NAS:
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Since you have rejected this word, and have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant.
14 "And whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar; so ruthlessly shattered that a sherd[fn] will not be found among its pieces to take fire from a hearth, or to scoop water from a cistern."

Immediately after they said they did not want to be confronted by the Holy One of Israel, ironically Isaiah did confront them with more words from the Holy One of Israel. Rejecting Isaiah’s message and relying on fraud and plans to avoid God’s counsel, and relying on deceit, they would undergo judgment.[fn] That judgment would come suddenly, like a cracked wall that would collapse on them. And it would be so severe that it would be like a pot so shattered that the pieces cannot be used for anything.[fn]

 

Isaiah 30:15-17 NAS:
15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.

Though the Lord had called for repentance and trust so that the Judahites might have salvation and strength, they did not want any of it. Instead they depended on military might. But if for any reason they just might have to make a run for it, they believed they could depend on the fast horses they would get from Egypt. God said that because of that attitude they would be forced to flee, being easily alarmed by the enemy. They would stand alone like a banner on a hill as a warning to others not to count on military strength.[fn] During Assyria’s invasion of Judah, the Jews were indeed not able to flee on their horses imported from Egypt (Deuteronomy 17:16), and one enemy soldier was able to send a thousand Jews running for their lives! What humiliation! (See Deuteronomy 32:30.)[fn]

Isaiah 30:18: NAS:
18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

Isaiah then turns from the subject of rebellion to the subject of restoration. God’s grace is His favor toward those who do not deserve it, and it is only because of His grace that we have any blessings at all. Isaiah here describes that day, far in the future when the remnant of people in Israel who accept Christ as Savior will be restored to their land to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom along with all the people of the world who share that faith.

Isaiah 30:19-22 NAS:
19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He (God)[fn] will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.
20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.
21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

Though the people had turned from the Lord, He longed to be gracious and compassionate to them.  In the Millennium Israel will again be faithful to the Lord. And when she calls on Him and not on some other nation for help, He will answer. God will always answer anyone who calls upon Him (Matthew 7:7-12). Though Israel experienced difficulties, eventually God will bless her. At that time the Israelites will readily listen to the Word of God through the writings of the prophets and priests in contrast with rejecting them as they did in verse 10. The people will be sensitive to God’s Word, as if He were saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” They will be conscious of God’s leading at all times, as He wants us all to be. When they obey His instructions they will then get rid of their idols,[fn] those things that are repulsive to God. And if you would like a clear definition of what an idol is, it is anything that becomes more important in a person’s life than God. That means it could be a statue made of stone or wood, or it could also be money, power, sex, etc. If God is not number One in your life, than you are guilty of idolatry.

Isaiah 30:23-26 NAS: 
23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture.
24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork.
25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

Isaiah then described what times will be like when the people live according to God’s Word and are obedient to Him. In the Millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, God will send rain, and crops will be plentiful (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Even the animals will have plenty to eat. The day of the great slaughter may refer to the Battle of Armageddon,[fn] in which the army of Christ will destroy all the forces of evil in the world. After Israel’s and God’s enemies are defeated, Israel will enjoy great peace and an abundance in the land.

Also light will be increased, for the moon will be like the sun and the sun will be seven times brighter than normal. Perhaps this is figurative language but it’s difficult to know for sure. At that time the Lord will heal His people of the wounds (Isaiah 1:5) He inflicted, that is, He will restore them to the place of blessing.[fn]

Isaiah 30:27-33 NAS:
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.
29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival, And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute, To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the rod.
32 And every blow of the rod of punishment, Which the Lord will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres; And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

Isaiah’s final theme in this “woe” is retribution,  the announcement that God will defeat the Assyrians. In the year 701 A.D. God used Assyria to discipline Judah, but He would not permit the Assyrians to take the city of David. Isaiah used several images to describe God’s judgment of Assyria: a storm of fire and hail, a flood, the sifting of grain (see Amos 9:9), and the harnessing of a horse so that the enemy is led off like a farm animal.

Just as Sheol was prepared for the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:9ff), so Topheth was prepared for the king of Assyria. Topheth was a site outside Jerusalem where the worshipers of Molech sacrificed their children.[fn] It was defiled by Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), turned into a garbage dump, and named “Gehenna,” meaning “valley of the son of Hinnom.” “Gehenna” is the New Testament word for “Hell.” The funeral pyre for the great king of Assyria would be a garbage dump. How humiliating, and yet how appropriate.

The Jews would  rejoice at the defeat of Assyria, similar to their rejoicing at Passover to commemorate the defeat of Egypt. When the Jews celebrate Passover, they still have “a song in the night” (Matthew 26:30); and the “tambourines and harps”  remind us of the songs of Miriam and the Jewish women at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20–21).[fn]

Again we have seen that although God punishes and chastens those who disobey Him, He is rich in mercy and grace to all those who love Him, accept Christ as their Savior, and live in accordance with His will. God will fulfill His promises to Israel as He originally promised, but those promises will only be fulfilled to those who accept Christ as their Savior. These promises are not intended for those who continue to reject Christ. And of course the promises apply as well to those who are not Jews and also accept Christ as their Savior. There is a great time coming for all believers during the thousand year millennial kingdom and what follows for eternity in Heaven. Let’s all make certain that we’ll be there, and then let’s share the message of salvation with as many people as we can so that they might be there as well.

Isaiah

John

Romans

1 Peter


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