Isaiah 30:18-33

God Is Gracious and Just

18 Therefore the LORD 1longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on 2high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a 3God of justice; How blessed are all those who 4long for Him.
19 O people in Zion, 5inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will 6weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will 7answer you.
20 Although the Lord has given you 8bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer 9hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.
21 Your ears will hear a word behind * you, "This is the 10way, walk in it," whenever you 11turn to the right or to the left.
22 And you will defile your graven 12images overlaid with silver, and your molten 13images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, "14Be gone!"
23 Then He will 15give 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 16your 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 17winnowed with shovel and fork.
25 On every lofty mountain and on 18every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great 19slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 20The 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 21the LORD binds up the 22fracture of His people and 23heals the bruise He has inflicted.
27 Behold, 24the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; 25Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with 26indignation And His tongue is like a 27consuming fire;
28 His 28breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which 29reaches to the neck, To 30shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples 31the 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 32at the voice of the LORD 33Assyria will be terrified, When He strikes with the 34rod.
32 And every blow of the 35rod of punishment, Which the LORD will lay on him, Will be with the music of 36tambourines and lyres; And in battles, 37brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For 38Topheth 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 39breath of the LORD, like a torrent of 40brimstone, sets it afire.

Isaiah 30:18-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 30

This chapter contains a complaint of the Jews for their sins and transgressions; a prophecy of their destruction for them; a promise of grace and mercy, and of happy times, to the saints; and a threatening of utter and dreadful ruin to the wicked. The Jews are complained of for their rebellion against God, their slighting his counsel and protection, their trust in Egypt, and application there for help; whither they went with their riches for safety, but in vain, it being contrary to the will and counsel of God, Isa 30:1-7 next follows a denunciation of ruin and destruction for these things, rebellion, and lying, and vain confidence, as well as for contempt of the word of God, which, that it might appear sure and certain, is ordered to be written in a book, Isa 30:8-12 and this ruin is signified by the sudden falling of a wall, and by the breaking of a potter's vessel into pieces, which can never be used more, Isa 30:13,14 and seeing they rejected the way of salvation proposed by the Lord, and took their own way, first destruction is threatened them, which should be very easily brought about, and become so general, that few should escape it, Isa 30:15-17 and then promises of grace and mercy are made to them that wait for the Lord, Isa 30:18 such as a dwelling place in Zion, hearing their prayers, granting them teachers to instruct them, and the riddance of idolatry from them, Isa 30:19-22 and also many outward blessings, as seasonable rain, good bread corn, fat pastures, good food for cattle, and fruitfulness of mountains and hills, Isa 30:23-25 likewise an amazing degree of spiritual light and glory, and healing of the Lord's people, Isa 30:26 and the chapter is concluded with a threatening Of God's wrath upon the Assyrian, expressed by various similes, as of an angry man, an overflowing torrent, a tempest of thunder, lightning, and hail, and the fire of Tophet, Isa 30:27-33.

Cross References 40

  • 1. Isaiah 42:14, 16; Isaiah 48:9; Jonah 3:4, 10; 2 Peter 3:9, 15
  • 2. Isaiah 2:11, 17; Isaiah 33:5
  • 3. Isaiah 5:16; Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 61:8
  • 4. Isaiah 8:17; Isaiah 25:9; Isaiah 26:8; Isaiah 33:2
  • 5. Isaiah 65:9; Ezekiel 37:25, 28
  • 6. Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 60:20; Isaiah 61:1-3
  • 7. Psalms 50:15; Isaiah 58:9; Isaiah 65:24; Matthew 7:7-11
  • 8. 1 Kings 22:27; Psalms 80:5
  • 9. Psalms 74:9; Amos 8:11
  • 10. Psalms 25:8, 9; Proverbs 3:6; Isaiah 35:8, 9; Isaiah 42:16
  • 11. Isaiah 29:24
  • 12. Exodus 32:2, 4; Judges 17:3, 4; Isaiah 46:6
  • 13. Exodus 32:2, 4; Judges 17:3, 4; Isaiah 46:6
  • 14. Matthew 4:10
  • 15. Psalms 65:9-13; Psalms 104:13, 14
  • 16. Psalms 144:13; Isaiah 32:20; Hosea 4:16
  • 17. Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17
  • 18. Isaiah 35:6, 7; Isaiah 41:18; Isaiah 43:19, 20
  • 19. Isaiah 34:2
  • 20. Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 60:19, 20; Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5
  • 21. Isaiah 61:1
  • 22. Isaiah 1:6; Isaiah 30:13, 14
  • 23. Deuteronomy 32:39; Job 5:18; Isaiah 33:24; Jeremiah 33:6; Hosea 6:1, 2
  • 24. Isaiah 59:19
  • 25. Isaiah 10:17
  • 26. Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 13:5; Isaiah 66:14
  • 27. Isaiah 66:15
  • 28. Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 30:33; 2 Thessalonians 2:8
  • 29. Isaiah 8:8
  • 30. Amos 9:9
  • 31. 2 Kings 19:28; Isaiah 37:29
  • 32. Isaiah 11:4
  • 33. Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 14:25; Isaiah 31:8
  • 34. Isaiah 10:26; Isaiah 11:4
  • 35. Isaiah 10:24
  • 36. 1 Samuel 18:6; Jeremiah 31:4
  • 37. Ezekiel 32:10
  • 38. 2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:6
  • 39. Isaiah 11:4; Isaiah 30:28
  • 40. Genesis 19:24; Isaiah 34:9

Footnotes 24

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