1.
Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2.
That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3.
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
Isaiah 30:3. Therefore, &c.— The prophet here foretels the unfortunate event of their enterprize; namely, that their reliance on the strength of So, the Pharaoh or king of Egypt, should avail them nothing, but turn out to their confusion. See 2 Kings 17:4. This is more fully set forth in the subsequent verses.
4.
For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5.
They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6.
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7.
For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8.
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9.
That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
10.
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11.
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12.
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13.
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14.
And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15.
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16.
But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17.
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
18.
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19.
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
Isaiah 30:19. For the people shall dwell— The consolatory part of this discourse begins here, which is connected with the preceding part by the last clause of the former verse, Blessed are all they that wait for him: here follows, therefore, a series of excellent blessings, to be conferred by God upon his church, after these judgments. The prophet has so ordered his style in setting forth these benefits, that when he seems to promise only temporal blessings to the church, he would be understood mystically under these figurative emblems. The first of these is the restoration of the state, upon the repentance and earnest prayers of the people, who are promised that they shall dwell again at Jerusalem, the seat of their religion, and the metropolis of the people of God. This prophesy refers to the restoration of the people from Babylon, when the tears which they had shed in banishment were wiped away, and God heard the prayers and vows of his people after the time of his indignation was expired. See Psalms 137:1; Psalms 137:9. Daniel 9:20-21; Dan 9:27 and Vitringa.
20.
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21.
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
22.
Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
Isaiah 30:22. Ye shall defile also the covering, &c.— The meaning of these words is, that the people, at the period of time here marked out, should refrain from idolatry; not public only, but private and domestic also, which seems here particularly to be described; for the Jews, prone to idolatry even when it was publicly prohibited, did not fail to retain in their houses those little images of divination, which the Latins called Penates, and the Hebrews anciently תרפים Teraphim. It is remarkable, as we have before observed, that after their return from Babylon they never relapsed into idolatry. The beginning of this verse might be rendered, And you shall deem unclean, every one of you, the covering of his graven images, &c.
23.
Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
24.
The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
25.
And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26.
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
Isaiah 30:26. Moreover, the light of the moon, &c.— The images of light and darkness are made use of in almost all languages, to represent prosperity and adversity; but the Hebrews make use of them more frequently than any other nation, insomuch that they scarce ever omit them when the subject will bear them. They may thereby be referred to the parabolic style, wherein they are used with greater boldness and luxuriance than in any other: for the Hebrews do not confine themselves to the images of the spring, of the day-break, or of a cloudy night; but describe the sun and stars, rising as it were out of a new creation, with re-doubled splendor, or immerged a second time into chaos and primeval darkness. Does the prophet promise a renewal of the divine favours, and a revival of every kind of felicity to his people? With what dazzling colours does he paint the event, which no version can convey, nor indeed any totally obscure! The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, &c. There is nothing difficult in the literal meaning of these words, which informs us of the fifth illustrious benefit to be conferred upon the church, together with the sign of the time in which it should be conferred. The emblem made use of by the prophet is singly designed to express the great and exuberant plenty of light with which the people of God should be blessed at that time; and the sum of what he says is, that God would copiously and gloriously illuminate his church by his Spirit, and that the church should be sanctified and rejoiced by his glory, Exo 29:43 insomuch that if the former times were compared, its measure and abundance should be as much more as seven exceeds one, or as the collected light of seven days exceeds the light of one day, or as the light of the sun exceeds that of the moon. See Zechariah 12:8. The sign of the time in which this event should happen, is said to be in the day when the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, &c. that is to say, when he restores the Jews, utterly ruined and overthrown, and with them the church, miserably afflicted and fallen by its idolatry, vices, and hypocrisy, and gives again to religion its honour and beauty. Compare Isa 30:13-14 and ch. Isaiah 1:5-6. The time here pointed out must necessarily be the same with that mentioned in the preceding note, for the subject is the same. See 1Ma 13:41 and 1 Peter 1:8. 2 Corinthians 4:6. Vitringa, and Bishop Lowth's 4th Prelection.
27.
Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28.
And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29.
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
Isaiah 30:29. Ye shall have a song, &c.— The consequence of God's judgment upon the Assyrian, the prophet here declares, should be great rejoicing in the Jewish church, celebrated with hymns and songs on that night in which their haughty enemy should be destroyed: such songs as the Israelites used when delivered from Egypt, and on other occasions. See Exodus 15:1; Exodus 15:27. Judges 5:1; Judges 5:31. The holy solemnity seems to mean the passover, when the great הלל hallel was sung. The other figure is taken from the custom of bringing the first-fruits with the sound of the pipe to the temple. See Deuteronomy 26:1-2; Deu 26:19 and Lightfoot on the Ministry of the Temple, ch. 16 sect. 5. This verse might be better rendered, Ye shall have a song [in that night] as in the night when the festival is sanctified, and joy of heart like his who moveth to the sound of the pipe, when going to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. See Vitringa.
30.
And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31.
For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
32.
And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
33.
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.