Isaiah 30:28

28 His breath is like a rushing river, which rises to the throat. He will judge the nations as if he is sifting them through the strainer of destruction. He will place in their mouths a bit that will lead them the wrong way.

Isaiah 30:28 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:28

And his breath as an overflowing stream
Which comes with great swiftness and force, bearing all before it, breathing out nothing but the fire of divine wrath, before which there is no standing; nor could the Assyrian army stand before it, but suddenly, in a moment, was carried away with the force of it: thus our Lord will consume the man of sin with the spirit or breath of his mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of his coming, ( 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ) : and this stream

shall reach to the midst of the neck;
which shows the extreme danger the army would be in, as a man that is up to the neck in water, and can find no way of escaping; and very aptly represents their state and condition, the whole body of the army being encompassed and destroyed by this overflowing stream of divine wrath, only their head, their king Sennacherib was saved; and he in a little time was cut off, when he had got into his country; as the Assyrian army served the Jews, they are served themselves; see ( Isaiah 8:7 Isaiah 8:8 ) :

to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity;
that is, the breath, wind, or Spirit of the Lord, compared to an overflowing stream, should be of this use, and have this effect, to sift the people of several nations, of which the Assyrian army consisted, so as to dash them one against another, and utterly destroy them; for they were to be sifted, not with a good and profitable sieve, which retains the corn, and shakes out the chaff, or so as to have some taken out and spared; but with a sieve that lets all through, and so be brought to nothing, as the Vulgate Latin version; and thus will all the antichristian nations be agitated, and shaken, and destroyed, ere long:

and [there shall be] a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing
[them] to err;
from the way they intended to go, namely, up to Jerusalem, and take and sack it, and obliging them to betake themselves another way for their retreat and safety; see ( Isaiah 37:29 ) .

Isaiah 30:28 In-Context

26 At that time the light from the moon will be bright like the sun, and the light from the sun will be seven times brighter than now, like the light of seven days. These things will happen when the Lord bandages his broken people and heals the hurts he gave them.

27 Look! The Lord comes from far away. His anger is like a fire with thick clouds of smoke. His mouth is filled with anger, and his tongue is like a burning fire.

28 His breath is like a rushing river, which rises to the throat. He will judge the nations as if he is sifting them through the strainer of destruction. He will place in their mouths a bit that will lead them the wrong way.

29 You will sing happy songs as on the nights you begin a festival. You will be happy like people listening to flutes as they come to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

30 The Lord will cause all people to hear his great voice and to see his powerful arm come down with anger, like a great fire that burns everything, like a great storm with much rain and hail.