There are several thematic connections between this chapter and chapter 28.298The general structure of the chapter is chiastic.
"AContemporary events: Egypt no help (1-7)
BComing human events: the refusal of the word, the way of death (8-17)
B'Coming divine events: the waiting God, the sure glory (18-26)
A'Contemporary events: Assyria no threat (27-33)"299
The first two parts stress human unfaithfulness and the last two divine faithfulness. The first section (vv. 1-7) is divisible into two parts, the first dealing with the embassy to Egypt (vv. 1-5) and the second an oracle about the animals of the Negev (vv. 6-7). The whole woe is for stubborn rebellion against God by seeking foreign alliances.
30:1 Yahweh pronounced woe on the Judahites who were acting like rebellious children (cf. 1:2; Deut. 21:18-21). They were carrying out a plan that was not the Lord's. Specifically they were seeking an alliance with Egypt. Yahweh had forbidden alliances with Egypt (Exod. 13:17; Deut. 17:16). These Judahites added to the sin of acting without divine direction the sin of seeking security from a source other than the Lord Himself.
30:2 How ironic that God's people thought they could find life in Egypt, which had historically been a place of death for them and from which they had fled formerly (cf. Exod. 1:22). Furthermore, they had done this without even consulting the Lord, a failure that had resulted in the Gibeonite compromise generations earlier (cf. Josh. 9:14). Rather than seeking safety under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps. 91:1), they had sought it under the shadow of Pharaoh.
30:3 The safety they had sought would prove to be a delusion. The supposed protection that Pharaoh offered would result in the disappointment of hope, and the shelter that Egypt promised would turn to disgrace. The Pharaoh at this time was Shabako, a Nubian. The Egyptians were not even strong enough to provide a native Egyptian to rule them. This was a weak period in Egyptian history.300
30:4 Judah's ambassadors had reached Egyptian governmental centers at Zoan (Gr. Tanis), in the northern Nile delta, and Hanes, farther south, and were evidently warmly received.
30:5 Nevertheless, the Judahites were bound to be ashamed because the Egyptians would not help them fight against the Assyrians.
"From the feared killer (Assyria) they seek help in the proved killer (Egypt)! It is ever so when alternatives to the Lord's salvation are chosen."301
30:6-7 These verses may constitute an original separate oracle that Isaiah added to the preceding one since it forms a fitting climax to his thought. Alternatively, the title "oracle"(lit. burden) may be a play on words with the objects of this prophetic message, the burden-bearers (beasts) of the Judean ambassadors. The title is very similar to those in 21:1, 11; and 22:1.
Rather than going directly to Egypt through Philistia, the Judean ambassadors had taken the circuitous and dangerous route through the Negev probably to avoid Assyrian detection. They had taken the same route as their ancestors who left Egypt in the Exodus only traveling in the opposite direction (cf. Num. 21:6; Deut. 8:15). This irony highlights the folly of returning to Egypt for help. The Lord expressed more concern for the animals that carried the ambassadors than for the ambassadors themselves since the ambassadors were acting in rebellion against Him.
"A caravan loaded with treasure struggles through wild terrain infested with lions and snakes, all to buy the help of an old dragon who is in fact helpless. All the cost in effort and wealth will come to nothing, says the prophet."302
30:7 Egypt, of all nations, would not be a help to God's people. She would live up to the nickname that the Lord had given her (cf. Ps. 87:4). Rahab means turbulence, arrogance, boastfulness.303Her promises of help would be worth nothing.
The Lord now commanded Isaiah to record this condemnation for trust in Egypt so there would be a permanent record of it. There were two reasons he was to do this. First, Judah had refused revealed truth in general with the result that she incurred guilt before the Lord (vv. 9-14; cf. Luke 6:6-11). Second, she had refused a specific message that would result in destruction from an external enemy (vv. 15-17).
30:8 The Lord commanded Isaiah to write a public record on a table and a private one on a scroll, two enduring witnesses against His people's lack of trust in Him. The public record was for His people then to learn from and the private one was for later generations.304The content of what he wrote is unclear, but it was probably this oracle in some form.
30:9 These records were necessary because Israel had proved to be a rebellious, disappointing son of God who refused to listen to His instruction (Heb. torah). This is a general indictment.
30:10-11 In their attitudes and actions the Judahites had made the statements in these verses, though probably not with their mouths. They wanted innocuous preaching that did not confront them with the will of the Holy One of Israel.
30:12 But the Holy One of Israel would not let them escape His word. They had rejected His will and had rested their confidence on what seemed best to them.
30:13-14 Consequently their iniquity would lead to disaster similar to the sudden internal collapse of a high wall and the severe external smashing of an earthenware jar. It would be complete, as when no useful pieces remain after the smashing of a pot. That judgment had not yet come was hardly grounds for concluding that it would not come (cf. Matt. 24:36-44; Mark 13:32-37; 2 Pet. 3:3-10).
"The interval from the first cracks until the actual collapse [of a wall] may be a long time, but when the collapse comes it is terribly sudden and irreversible. So it will be with this refusal to rely on God. Years may pass, but one day the Assyrians will stand at the door with all Judah in ruins behind them."305
30:15 The second, more specific reason for Judah's coming judgment (cf. v. 9) was her refusal to listen to a particular message from the sovereign Lord her God, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah had called the people to repent and rest in the Lord for their salvation. He had promised that their quiet trust in Him would prove to be her strength (cf. 7:4, 10-12; 28:12). He had commanded "not alliance but reliance."306But the people refused to obey.
30:16 Their punishment would be talionic; their punishment would fit their crime. They would flee before their swift enemy because they chose to run away on swift horses rather than to rest in the Lord (cf. Matt. 26:52). When we rely on our swiftness and strength it is only a matter of time before someone faster and stronger comes along and overtakes us.
30:17 The threat of only one man would so terrify a thousand Judahites that they would flee. The presence of only a few of the enemy would drive multitudes from their land (cf. Lev. 26:8; Deut. 32:30). Again, a double illustration (at the end of the verse) stressed a complete overthrow (cf. v. 14). A deserted flag or signal on a hilltop would be all that would indicate the former presence of the people of Judah (cf. 6:11-12).
Until now the emphasis in this "woe"was on human activity, but now divine activity takes the spotlight, especially God's faithfulness ultimately (vv. 18-26) and imminently (vv. 27-33). Human unfaithfulness does not destroy divine faithfulness (cf. 2 Tim. 2:13). This section is also structurally chiastic.
30:18 Yahweh is a God of justice; He will do what is right at the right time. Since He promised to bless His people, He will also, after punishing them for their lack of trust, extend grace and show compassion to them. So those who long for Him will experience blessing when their waiting is over.
30:19 After the tears will come comfort and caring. It is the people of Zion and Jerusalem that will experience this. God will answer their prayers and they will be joyful. This happened in measure at the return from captivity, but the ultimate fulfillment will be at Christ's second coming.
30:20-21 After God hid Himself from His people, having given them privation and oppression as their daily food and drink, He would finally reveal Himself to them again. As their teacher, God would guide them in His moral will (cf. v. 15; 26:9; 28:9-13; 29:11-12). Then their eyes would see Him and their ears would hear His voice correcting their deviations from His path (cf. vv. 9-11).
30:22 They will demonstrate a change of attitude and commitment as well. Idolatry will no longer appeal to them, and they will abandon false gods.
30:23-24 There will be plenty of rain so the harvests will be bountiful. There will be abundant pasture land for the cattle that will eat the best food.
30:25-26 There will also be an abundance of water, even on the hilltops, when the Lord defeats His enemies (at Armageddon; cf. v. 19; 2:12-17; 25:1-5; Rev. 16:16; 19:17-21). Increased light and the healing of God's formerly broken and bruised people will also mark "that day"(cf. 24:23; Rom. 8:21). The point is that things will be much better then than now. It may be impossible for life as we know it to exist if there were literally seven times as much light as there is now. Yet a renovation of nature as well as humankind is in view.307
"Evidently [this is] a description of the glories of the Millennium (since this kind of prosperity has no appropriateness for a heavenly existence)."308
From the distant future (millennial blessings), Isaiah now turned to the immediate future and promised deliverance from the Assyrian threat. In spite of the Judahites' sinful reliance on Egypt, God would spare them from defeat at the hands of the Assyrians.
30:27-28 The Lord would involve Himself in Judah's situation personally, His name being the summation of His character (cf. Exod. 3:15). He would come from heaven to judge the nations. The imagery of the passage is strongly anthropomorphic and theophanic (cf. Exod. 13:21; 19:18; Ps. 18:7-15; 50:3; Nah. 1:3-8; Hab. 3:3-15).309His anger burned like fire, and His judgment would overwhelm people like a flood. He would sift the nations in judgment like grain in a sieve, and He would control them as a rider directs his horse.
30:29-30 The Judahites would rejoice as they worshipped the Lord because of His deliverance (cf. Exod. 15:21; 17:1-7). It would be spectacular.
30:31-32 Assyria would tremble at God's judgment of her. The Lord's blows would be matched by His people's rejoicing at the defeat of their enemy (cf. Rev. 19:1-10).
30:33 Topheth refers to a funeral pyre. The Hebrew word means a "disgraceful burning place."The Lord had prepared it long ago for the king of Assyria (cf. Rev. 19:20; 20:10; 21:8). Sennacherib met his defeat in Jerusalem when the Lord slew many of his soldiers there, but he personally died in Nineveh shortly after that. Topheth was an area in the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem where the Israelites sometimes sacrificed their children to the Ammonite idol Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31).
