Isaiah 30:1-33 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
There is so much we can learn from today’s passage in Isaiah 30:1-33. Let’s go!
Remember that Isaiah chapters 28-33 represent a new section in the book of Isaiah. Scholars believe that this section relates to the time when Judah was considering forming an alliance with Egypt in order to help defend against the threat of Assyria. The ongoing message from Isaiah is that this alliance will only hurt Judah and that Judah’s only true hope is trusting in the LORD.
Isaiah 30:1-5 (NIV)
1 “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.”
On verses 1-5: Fresh off the heels of the glorious, redemptive, hope-filled vision that Isaiah casts of Jerusalem’s deliverance in Isaiah 29, Isaiah 30 begins with a completely opposite tone: with a “woe” to Jerusalem and Judah. God rebukes Jerusalem and Judah for forming an alliance with Egypt without consulting Him. God warns that this alliance will “be to your shame” and “bring you disgrace” (v3). For despite all of Egypt’s apparent power, they will bring no help or advantage to Judah (v4-5).
How could God go from giving Judah the hope-filled vision in Isaiah 29 to rebuking Judah in Isaiah 30? That’s because situations can sometimes be complicated. Sometimes one situation can give rise to both hope and encouragement as well as rebuke and warning. God is an expert at recognizing both. Since God understands situations from every angle, God can declare hope to Judah in Isaiah 29 and at the same time rebuke and warn Judah in Isaiah 30.
What can we learn from this? Since God sees situations from far more perspectives than we do, God invites us to consult Him when we are making important decisions. To not consult God about major decisions is to ignore the greatest Counselour that you have and to risk making regrettable decisions.
Isaiah 30:6-7 (NIV)
6 An oracle concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation,
7 to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing.
On verses 6-7: Judah had sent messengers (“envoys”) with riches and treasures to give to Egypt in the hope that an alliance with Egypt would protect them against Assyria (v6). But here Isaiah says that Egypt’s help is “utterly useless” (v7). To emphasize how useless Egypt’s help will be to Judah, Isaiah gives Egypt the nickname “Rahab the Do-Nothing” (or, as one scholar puts it, “Rahab the dead one”) (v7). Apparently “Rahab” was the name of a legendary sea monster that appeared in popular legends from the ancient Near East. The people of Judah thought that Egypt was like Rahab the sea monster, who will help them fight the Godzilla-like threat of Assyria. But this “Rahab” will do nothing and just sit there.
By the way, why does Isaiah call this part an oracle about “the animals of the Negev” (v6)? It’s because Isaiah is warning the officials of Judah that to get to Egypt they must travel through a treacherous desert-like region of the Negev which teems with dangerous animals (like lions and snakes). Ironically they go through all that trouble to recruit the help of a “Rahab” called Egypt who will be less dangerous than the wild animals that Judah’s officials are meeting along the way. Here is yet another example of the masterful communicator and wordsmith Isaiah is. Isaiah is using images that are very immediate to the people of Judah (such as tales from ancient Near Eastern pop culture like about Rahab) to communicate a timeless truth to Judah about trusting in Him.
Isaiah 30:8-14 (NIV)
8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.
9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”
12 Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”
On verses 8-14: Any time a true prophet would prophesy to Judah, Judah would push that prophet away (v10). Isaiah knew this first hand. Judah would do this as a defensive mechanism, trying to keep anything from interfering with their plans. This habit of pushing God away became for Judah a high, defensive wall, built to keep God out. But Isaiah says that this wall will collapse suddenly, in an instant (v13), when God’s promises catch up to Judah’s situation.
What can we learn from this? We can run but we can’t hide from God. God’s Word will always end up catching up to us in the end. We can push God away as much as we want, but we will never be able to withstand Him. Any wall we build against God is bound to come down. The question is simply when and who will take it down – us willingly and humbly, or God forcibly?
Isaiah 30:15-17 (NIV)
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.
16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”
On verses 15-17: To repent, to rest in God’s character and presence, to be still (“quiet”) before God and to trust in Him – that was God’s prescription for the people of Judah. God promised that by taking this approach they would experience salvation and strength (v15). But rather than repent, rest, be still and trust in God (v15), the people of Judah preferred to have Egypt and all the horses and cavalry they wielded, thinking that Egypt was their true salvation and strength (v16). So God is going to show the people of Judah that what they thought would bring them salvation and strength will not bring them salvation and strength at all, that despite allying themselves with Egypt, Judah and Egypt together will still flee before Assyria (v17).
What can we learn from this? Every day God wants us to know a strength that comes from the inside out – one that comes from repenting, resting, being still before God and trusting in Him – rather than a strength that depends on our external circumstances.
Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
On verse 18: Even after being as stubborn, rebellious, and resistant as Judah was, God still cares for Judah and longs to help her. God’s intention was never to harm Judah. God loves Judah like a father loves his child. That’s the pursuing, relentless love of God for all of us. God’s love for us is not based on our performance. He loves us despite all of our failures.
Isaiah 30:19-22 (NIV)
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
On verses 19-22: Isaiah once again paints a hope-filled vision for Jerusalem, saying that the people of Jerusalem will weep no more, for God will hear them when they cry to Him for help (v19). Even in the adversity that they are in (v20), Isaiah says that Judah will finally hear the Word of God and see the wisdom behind the prophet’s teaching (v20-21). And upon them hearing God’s Word it will produce faith and courage in them to finally get rid of their idols (v22).
What can we learn from this? Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. If you want to do the things God calls you to do, you need the faith that comes from hearing God’s Word with a humble and open heart.
Isaiah 30:23-26 (NIV)
23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows.
24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel.
25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill.
26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
On verses 23-26: Isaiah says that with God’s deliverance will come God’s provision (v23-25) and God’s healing (v26). Life will be sweeter and brighter than before.
Isaiah 30:27-28 (NIV)
27 See, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.
On verses 27-28: With these images in verses 27-28 Isaiah shows that it is not Assyria they should fear; it is the Lord. The truly fearsome one is God, not Assyria.
Isaiah 30:29-33 (NIV)
29 And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
30 The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.
31 The voice of the LORD will shatter Assyria; with his scepter he will strike them down.
32 Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.
33 Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
On verses 29-33: Here God says God will speak and as a result Assyria will be shattered (v31). Verse 32 describes how God’s way of defeating Assyria will be like poetic justice put to music, a form of divine martial art.
Notice that whereas the voice of God would bring strength and courage to Judah (v21-22), hearing the voice of God would bring destruction to Assyria (v29-33).
Tophet (v33) was a place used for burning garbage in the Bin Hinnom valley on the south side of Jerusalem. Isaiah is saying that Tophet would soon be used to cremate the bodies of many dead Assyrian soldiers.
What can we learn from this?
– God is incredibly gracious and merciful to His people. Although Judah had pushed God to the side so many times, God decides that He is still going to come to Judah’s aid.
– God is the One we ought to fear. Neither the help of Egypt nor the threat of Assyria can compare with Him.
– Just as our tongues have the power of life and death, even more so God’s voice can build us up or tear us down. Whether God’s Word builds us up or tears us down depends very much on our attitude toward God. If we come to God with a humble heart, He will build us up with His Word. If we resist God with a prideful heart, His Word will eventually bring us down.
Father I am amazed at the mercy and grace You show to Judah. It’s the same kind of mercy and grace You show to me – how despite all my waywardness and all the ways I have looked to other people and things instead of You, You still are willing to come to my defense in my time of need. Thank You that my strength comes from repenting, resting in You, being still before You and trusting in You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
