Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 30:8
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever:
8. What is it that Isaiah is here directed to commit to writing? According to Delitzsch, the contents of the short oracle, Isa 30:6-7; according to others, merely the pithy sentence with which it closes. That is not impossible; the mention of a “tablet” indicates some short and striking inscription. But since a “book” is mentioned along with the tablet, it is probable that Isaiah at this time wrote down a summary of all his deliverances on the subject of the Egyptian alliance. Not improbably the “book” so prepared was the basis of the present collection of prophecies, ch. 28 32. The incident is closely parallel to that referred to in ch. Isa 8:16, where Isaiah prepares documentary evidence of his prophetic actions after his advice had been rejected by the court and people.
For go read go in “retire to thy house.”
note it should be inscribe it as R.V.
for the time to come for ever and ever ] Render for a future day for a witness (R.V. marg.) for ever. The pointing has to be altered in accordance with most ancient versions.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now go – This is a direction to the prophet to make a permanent record of the character of the Jewish people. The fact to be recorded was, that they were rebellious Isa 30:9; the design for which the record was to be made was to show to future times that this had been the uniform character of the nation. The record was to be preserved that it might be a proof of the care of God toward the nation even in the midst of their long-continued and obstinate perverseness.
Write it before them – Before the Jews themselves, that they may see the record, and may have it constantly before them.
In a table – Or ON a table. The word luach denotes a tablet either of stone to engrave upon Deu 9:9; Exo 31:18; or of wood 1Ki 7:36. It is not improbable that this was to be exposed to public view in some conspicuous place near the temple.
And note it – Engrave it; that is, record it.
In a book – On parchment, or in the usual way of writing (see the note at Isa 8:1).
For the time to come – Hebrew as Margin, The latter day. It was to be made in order that future ages might know what had been the character of that people, and what had been the patience and forbearance of God in regard to them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 30:8
Note it in a book
Keeping a journal
(for children):–
I.
THE JOURNAL YOU MAY KEEP. You may spend your pocket money in a book, pen and ink, and set up a journal. If so–
1. Its nature.
(1) Not about self. Do not write much about yourself, your own thoughts and feelings. Let there be but few capital Is.
(2) Not a dreary, lifeless chronicle. If you can do no better than the following, day after day, do not keep a journal at all: Got on all right through the day, went for a walk at night, came home and went to bed at nine, which was the constant entry in the diary of a boy I know.
(3) But a record of facts and events. Do as did Doyle and Dickens when lads–record in a journal fresh places seen and persons men–the substance of new books read, things heard new to you, sights and scenes in town and country.
2. Its use.
(1) It assists observation and expression. Two most important things to you. Develops faculties of attention, memory, reproduction. Prepares you for science, poetry, writing, and speech.
(2) It is helpful in afterlife. Not only from above considerations, but also because it will awaken tender and pleasant memories, evoke gratitude to God, and keep you in touch with boys when a man.
II. THE JOURNAL YOU MUST KEEP.
1. For yourself. Your brain is a self-acting journal. In its cell lies hidden, all unknown to you, a register of all your past deeds, words, and thoughts. Sometimes the door of recollection flies open, and you see this record of the past. The record is written in invisible ink, but the fire of memory brings it out. And if sometimes now, how much more at the last!
2. And partly for others. Every day you also write something down in the brain–journals of others, of parents, brothers and sisters, playfellows, teachers. The words and deeds which they hear and see. Be careful to write down for them good and pleasant things–things sweet and helpful.
III. THE JOURNAL GOD KEEPS.
1. Instance in the text. Prophet to write that Jews were lying children–children that will not hear the Word of the Lord (Isa 30:9), and to write it that it may be for the time to come, forever and ever (Isa 30:8). A terrible entry in Gods journal. May no such entry be written concerning us!
2. Gods journal complete. He makes no omissions. He puts all in, good and bad. We make selections to our own advantage. We may deceive ourselves–we may hide much from our friends, but not from Him. Thou God seest me; and when at the judgment Gods books are opened, His will be a check diary to supply all our omissions. Therefore, let us wisely number our days, and see that our names are written in the Lambs Book of Life. (S. E. Keeble.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. For ever and ever – “For a testimony for ever”] leed. So the Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate, and Septuagint, in MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II. , which two words have been lost out of the other copies of the Septuagint.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Write it; write this prophecy and warning which I have now delivered.
Before them; in their presence, in the public assembly; for the prophets were many times commanded to do such actions, as well as to deliver their messages.
In a table, and note it in a book; so this was to be written twice over; once in a table, to be handed up in some public place, that all that were then and there present might read it; and again in a book, that it might be kept for the use of posterity.
That it may be for the time to come, as a witness for me and against them, that I have given them fair warning, and they have wilfully run upon their own ruin.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. tablea tablet (Hab2:2), which should be set in public, containing the prophecy in abriefer form, to be read by all.
a booknamely, aparchment roll, containing the prophecy in full, for the use ofdistant posterity. Its truth will be seen hereafter when the eventhas come to pass. See on Isa 8:1;Isa 8:16.
for ever and everratherread, “For a testimony for ever” [Chaldee,JEROME, LOWTH]:”testimony is often joined to the notion of perpetuity(Deu 31:19; Deu 31:21;Deu 31:26).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book,…. Meaning their sins, their rebellion against God, their trust in an arm of flesh, and contempt of the divine word; or the prophecy of their destruction, for these things; and both may be meant; which the Lord orders to be written before their eyes, in some public place, as in the temple, upon a table, a table of wood covered with wax, on which they formerly wrote, and then hung it up against a wall, that it might be read by everyone; and he would have him also engross it in a book, that it might be kept for time to come: now what God would have thus written and engrossed, must be something considerable, and of consequence; and, as it may refer to the sins of this people, may denote the blackness and detestableness of them, as being what they had reason to be ashamed of, when thus set before them; and, as it may refer to their punishment, it may signify the certainty of it:
that it may be for the time to come, for ever and ever; and so continue to their eternal infamy, and for the justification of God in his proceedings against them, and be cautious unto others. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, “for a testimony for ever”, a witness for God, and against the Jews; and so the Targum,
“and it shall be in the day of judgment for a witness before me for ever.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
So runs the divine oracle to which the following command refers. “Now go, write it on a table with them, and note it in a book, and let it stand there fore future days, for ever, to eternity.” The suffixes of kothbah (write it) and c huqqah (note it) refer in a neuter sense to Isa 30:6, Isa 30:7; and the expression “go” is simply a general summons to proceed to the matter (cf., Isa 22:15). Sepher could be used interchangeably with luach , because a single leaf, the contents of which were concluded, was called sepher (Exo 17:14). Isaiah was to write the oracle upon a table, a separate leaf of durable material; and that “with them,” i.e., so that his countrymen might have it before their eyes (compare Isa 8:1; Hab 2:2). It was to be a memorial for posterity. The reading (Sept., Targ., Syr.) for is appropriate, though quite unnecessary. The three indications of time form a climax: for futurity, for the most remote future, for the future without end.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Doom of Incorrigible Sinners. | B. C. 720. |
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 a hill.
Here, I. The preface is very awful. The prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it (v. 8), write it in a table, to be hung up and exposed to public view; he must carefully note it, not in loose papers which might be lost or torn, but in a book, to be preserved for posterity, in perpetuam rei memoriam–for a standing testimony against this wicked generation; let it remain not only to the next succeeding ages, but for ever and ever, while the world stands; and so it shall, for the book of the scriptures no doubt, shall continue, and be read, to the end of time. Let it be written, 1. To shame the men of the present age, who would not hear and heed it when it was spoken. Let it be written, that it may not be lost; their children may profit by it, though they will not. 2. To justify God in the judgments he was about to ring upon them; people will be tempted to think he was too hard upon them, and over-severe, unless they know how very bad they were, how very provoking, and what fair means God tried with them before he brought it to this extremity. 3. For warning to others not to do as they did, lest they should fare as they fared. It is designed for admonition to those of the remotest place and age, even those upon whom the ends of the world have come, 1 Cor. x. 11. It may be of use for God’s ministers not only to preach, but to write; for that which is written remains.
II. The character given of the profane and wicked Jews is very sad. He must, if he will draw them in their own colours, write this concerning them (and we are sure he does not bear false witness against them, nor make them worse than they were, for the judgment of God is according to truth), That this is a rebellious people, v. 9. The Jews were, for aught we know, the only professing people God had then in the world, and yet many of them were a rebellious people. 1. They rebelled against their own convictions and covenants: “They are lying children, that will not stand to what they say, that promise fair, but perform nothing;” when he took them into covenant with himself he said of them, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie (ch. lxiii. 8); but they proved otherwise. 2. They rebelled against the divine authority: “They are children that will not hear the law of the Lord, nor heed it, but will do as they have a mind, let God himself say what he will to the contrary.”
III. The charge drawn up against them is very high and the sentence passed upon them very dreadful. Two things they here stand charged with, and their doom is read for both, a fearful doom:–
1. They forbade the prophets to speak to them in God’s name, and to deal faithfully with them.
(1.) This their sin is described, Isa 30:10; Isa 30:11. They set themselves so violently against the prophets to hinder them from preaching, or at least from dealing plainly with them in their preaching, did so banter them and browbeat them, that they did in effect say to the seers, See not. They had the light, but they loved darkness rather. It was their privilege that they had seers among them, but they did what they could to put out their eyes–that they had prophets among them, but they did what they could to stop their mouths; for they tormented them in their wicked ways, Rev. xi. 10. Those that silence good ministers, and discountenance good preaching, are justly counted, and called, rebels against God. See what it was in the prophets’ preaching with which they found themselves aggrieved. [1.] The prophets told them of their faults, and warned them of their misery and danger by reason of sin, and they could not bear that. They must speak to them smooth things, must flatter them in their sins, and say that they did well, and there was no harm, no peril, in the course of life they lived in. Let a thing be ever so right and true, if it be not smooth, they will not hear it. But if it be agreeable to the good opinion they have of themselves, and will confirm them in that, though it be ever so false and ever so great a cheat upon them, they will have it prophesied to them. Those deserve to be deceived that desire to be so. [2.] The prophets stopped them in their sinful pursuits, and stood in their way like the angel in Balaam’s road, with the sword of God’s wrath drawn in their hand; so that they could not proceed without terror. And this they took as a great insult. When they went on frowardly in the way of their hearts they said to the prophets, “Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the paths. What do you do in our way? Cannot you let us alone to do as we please?” Those have their hearts fully set in them to do evil that bid their faithful monitors to stand out of their way. Forbear, why shouldst thou be smitten? 2 Chron. xxv. 16. [3.] The prophets were continually telling them of the Holy One of Israel, what an enemy he is to sin ad how severely he will reckon with sinners; and this they could not endure to hear of. Both the thing itself and the expression of it were too serious for them; and therefore, if the prophets will speak to them, they will make it their bargain that they shall not call God the Holy One of Israel; for God’s holiness is that attribute which wicked people most of all dread. Let us no more be troubled with that state-preface (as Mr. White calls it) to your impertinent harangues. Those have reason to fear perishing in their sins that cannot bear to be frightened out of them.
(2.) Now what is the doom passed upon them for this? We have it, Isa 30:12; Isa 30:13. Observe, [1.] Who it is that gives judgment upon them: Thus saith the Holy One of Israel. That title of God which they particularly excepted against the prophet makes use of. Faithful ministers will not be driven from using such expressions as are proper to awaken sinners, though they be displeasing. We must tell men that God is the Holy One of Israel, and so they shall find him, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. [2.] What the ground of the judgment is: Because they despise this word–wither, in general, every word that the prophets said to them, or this word in particular, which declares God to be the Holy One of Israel: “they despise this, and will neither make it their fear, to stand in awe of it, nor make it their hope, to put any confidence in it; but, rather than they will be beholden to the Holy One of Israel, they will trust in oppression and perverseness, in the wealth they have got and the interest they have made by fraud and violence, or in the sinful methods they have taken for their own security, in contradiction to God and his will. On these they lean, and therefore it is just that they should fall.” [3.] What the judgment is that is passed upon them: “This iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall. This confidence of yours will be like a house built upon the sand, which will fall in the storm and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Your contempt of that word of God which you might build upon will make every thing else you trust like a wall that bulges out, which, if any weight be laid upon it, comes down, nay, which often sinks with its own weight.” The ruin they would hereby bring upon themselves should be, First, A surprising ruin: The breaking shall come suddenly, at an instant, when they do not expect it, which will make it the more frightful, and when they are not prepared or provided for it, which will make it the more fatal. Secondly, An utter ruin, universal and irreparable: “Your and all your confidences shall be not only weak as the potter’s clay (ch. xxix. 16), but broken to pieces as the potter’s vessel. He that has the rod of iron shall break it (Ps. ii. 9) and he shall not spare, shall not have any regard to it, nor be in care to preserve or keep whole any part of it. But, when once it is broken so as to be unfit for use, let it be dashed, let it be crushed, all to pieces, so that there may not remain one sherd big enough to take up a little fire or water“–two things we have daily need of, and which poor people commonly fetch in a piece of a broken pitcher. They shall not only be as a bowing wall (Ps. lxii. 3), but as a broken mug or glass, which is good for nothing, nor can ever be made whole again.
2. They slighted the gracious directions God gave them, not only how to secure themselves and make themselves safe, but how to compose themselves and make themselves easy; they would take their own way, v. 15-17. Observe here,
(1.) The method God put them into for salvation and strength. The God that knew them, and knew what was proper for them, and desired their welfare, gave them this prescription; and it is recommended to us all. [1.] Would we be saved from the evil of every calamity, guarded against the temptation of it and secured from the curse of it, which are the only evil things in it? It must be in returning and rest, in returning to God and reposing in him as our rest. Let us return from our evil ways, into which we have gone aside, and rest and settle in the way of God and duty, and that is the way to be saved. “Return from this project of going down to Egypt, and rest satisfied in the will of God, and then you may trust him with your safety. In returning (in the thorough reformation of your hearts and lives) and in rest (in an entire submission of your souls to God and a complacency in him) you shall be saved.” [2.] Would we be strengthened to do what is required of us and to bear what is laid upon us? It must be in quietness and in confidence; we must keep our spirits calm and sedate by a continual dependence upon God, and his power and goodness; we must retire into ourselves with a holy quietness, suppressing all turbulent and tumultuous passions, and keeping the peace in our own minds. And we must rely upon God with a holy confidence that he can do what he will and will do what is best for his people. And this will be our strength; it will inspire us with such a holy fortitude as will carry us with ease and courage through all the difficulties we may meet with.
(2.) The contempt they put upon this prescription; they would not take God’s counsel, though it was so much for their own good. And justly will those die of their disease that will not take God for their physician. We are certainly enemies to ourselves if we will not be subjects to him. They would not so much as try the method prescribed: “But you said, No (v. 16), we will not compose ourselves, for we will flee upon horses and we will ride upon the swift; we will hurry hither and thither to fetch in foreign aids.” They think themselves wiser than God, and that they know what is good for themselves better than he does. When Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, those rebellious children would not be persuaded to sit still and patiently to expect God’s appearing for them, as he did wonderfully at last; but they would shift for their own safety, and thereby they exposed themselves to so much the more danger.
(3.) The sentence passed upon them for this. Their sin shall be their punishment: “You will flee, and therefore you shall flee; you will be upon the full speed, and therefore so shall those be that pursue you.” The dogs are most apt to run barking after him that rides fast. The conquerors protected those that sat still, but pursued those that made their escape; and so that very project by which they hoped to save themselves was justly their ruin and the most guilty suffered most. It is foretold, v. 17, [1.] That they should be easily cut off; they should be so dispirited with their own fears, increased by their flight, that one of the enemy should defeat a thousand of them, and five put an army to flight, which could never be unless their Rock had sold them Deut. xxxii. 30. [2.] That they should be generally cut off, and only here and there one should escape alone in a solitary place, and be left for a spectacle too, as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, a warning to others to avoid the like sinful courses and carnal confidences.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 8-26 JUDAH’S LACK OF TRUST IN JEHOVAH RELATED TO HER SPIRITUAL CONDITION
1. Isaiah is commanded to make a public and permanent record of God’s warning to His people that, in the latter day, His faithfullness to them may be recognized, (vs. 8, 2Pe 1:20-21; 2Ti 3:16-17).
2. His children not only lie, rebel and stop their ears against His instruction (Isa 59:3-4; Isa 24:5); they also try to compromise the witness of His servants, (vs. 9-11).
a. They forbid the seers to foresee their future – much less relate it to them.
b. The prophets are urged to cease telling them the truth; let them speak “smooth things” – prophesying delusions. They have “itching ears”, (2Ti 4:3-4).
c. Both prophet and seer are urged to forsake the way of righteousness, and to stop reminding them of “the Holy One of Israel”.
3. The Holy One of Israel, therefore, warns that their trust in a wall of fraud and perverseness will lead to disaster, (vs. 12-14); He will Himself break down that wall – like the shattering of a potter’s vessel.
4. The Gospel of Isaiah is succinctly stated in verse 15.
a. They may safely trust in Jehovah and His control of human history.
b. All earthly assistance may (and should) be renounced in the realm of international affairs.
c. Their real strength will be found in calm and quiet reliance on the Lord.
5. In verses 16-17 the prophet clearly foresees the folly of Judah’s presumption; so thorough will be her humiliation that she will be left as a branchless tree on a mountain – a banner on a hill.
6. Since Judah will not exalt the Lord by, her trust and worship, He will exalt Himself through the execution of righteous judgment upon her, (vs. 18).
a. His manifestation of graciousness and mercy must await her repentance and return to Him with her whole heart.
b. God allows iniquity to ripen, and shuts up all under sin, that He may have mercy upon all, (Rom 11:32).
c. But His blessings rest continuously upon those who “wait for Him”.
7. The ultimate deliverance and restoration of Zion is set forth in verses 19-26.
a. The promise of verse 19 is for those “that wait for Him”, (Psa 37:7; Isa 40:31; La 3:25, 26; Zep 3:8-9).
b. In times of adversity and affliction God will be their sufficiency, (vs. 20; comp. 2Co 12:8-10; Php_4:19)
c. Instruction and guidance will be provided by God-sent teachers, (vs. 20b-21; Isa 35:8-9; Isa 42:16; Isa 29:24)..
d. Then will Judah purge herself of all her iniquitous idolatries, (vs. 22; Isa 2:18; Isa 2:20; Isa 31:7); and anyone who assumes that the Jews have had no idols since the days of their captivity in Babylon has a very inadequate concept of idolatry!
e. The ultimate fulfillment of verses 23-26 awaits the fruitfullness and glory of the millennial era – when Messiah rules supremely over the whole earth.
f. The Lord will bind up the breach of this people, and heal their wounds, ONLY when, from the heart, they can say of their once rejected Messiah: “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!” (vs. 26b; Mat 23:37-39).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. Now go, and write this vision on a tablet. After having convicted the Jews of manifest unbelief, he means that it should be attested and sealed by permanent records, that posterity may know how obstinate and rebellious that nation was, and how justly the Lord punished them. We have said that it was customary with the prophets to draw up an abridgment of their discourses and attach it to the gates of the temple, and that, after having allowed full time to all to see and read it, the ministers took it down, and preserved it among the records of the temple; and thus the book of the prophets was collected and compiled. (289) But when any prediction was remarkable and peculiarly worthy of being remembered, then the Lord commanded that it should be written in larger characters, that the people might be induced to read it, and to examine it more attentively. (Isa 8:1; Hab 2:2.) The Lord now commands that this should be done, in order to intimate that this was no ordinary affair, that the whole ought to be carefully written, and deserved the closest attention, and that it ought not only to be read, but to be engraven on the remembrance of men in such a manner that no lapse of time can efface it.
Yet there can be no doubt that Isaiah, by this prediction, drew upon himself the intense hatred of all ranks, because he intended to expose and hold them up for abhorrence, not only among the men of his own age, but also among posterity. There is nothing which men resent more strongly than to have their crimes made publicly known and fastened on the remembrance of men; they reckon it ignominious and disgraceful, and abhor it above all things. But the Prophet must obey God, though he should become the object of men’s hatred, and though his life should be in imminent danger. Here we ought to observe his steadfastness in dreading nothing, that he might obey God and fulfill his calling. He despised hatred, dislike, commotions, threatenings, false alarms, and immediate dangers, that he might boldly and fearlessly discharge the duties of his office. Copying his example, we ought to do this, if we wish to hear and follow God who calls us.
Before them. אתם (ĭ ttām) is translated by some, “with them,” but it is better to translate it “before them,” or, “in their sight;” for it was proper that he should openly irritate the Jews, to whom he presented this prediction written “on a tablet.” Hence we ought to infer, that wicked men, though they cannot bear reproof and are filled with rage, ought nevertheless to be reproved sharply and openly; and that threatenings and reproofs, though they be of no advantage to them, will yet serve for an example to others, when those men shall be stamped with perpetual infamy. In them will be fulfilled what is written elsewhere,
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The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond engraven on their hearts.” (Jer 17:1.)
They must not think that they have escaped, when they have despised the prophets and shut their ears against them; for their wickedness shall be manifest to men and to angels. But as they never repent willingly or are ashamed of their crimes, God commands that a record of their shame shall be prepared, that it may be placed continually before the eyes of men. As victories and illustrious actions were commonly engraved on tables of brass, so God commands that the disgrace which the Jews brought upon themselves by their transgressions, shall be inscribed on public tablets.
That it may be till the last day. It was very extraordinary, as I remarked a little before, that the Prophet was charged by a solemn injunction to pronounce infamy on his countrymen. For this reason he adds “till the last day,” either that they may be held up to abhorrence through an uninterrupted succession of ages, or because, at the appearance of the Judge, the crimes of the wicked shall be fully laid open when he shall “ascend his judgment seat, and the books shall be opened;” for those things which formerly were hidden and wrapped in darkness will then be revealed. (Dan 7:10.)
Here it ought to be carefully observed, that prophecies were not written merely for the men of a single age, but that their children and all posterity ought to be instructed by them, that they may know that they ought not to imitate their fathers.
“
Harden not your hearts as your fathers did.” (Psa 95:8.)
What Paul affirms as to the whole of Scripture is applicable to prophecy, that it
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is profitable for warning, for consolation, and for instruction,” (2Ti 3:16😉
and this is proper and necessary in every age. We must therefore reject the fancies of fanatics and wicked men, who say that this doctrine was adapted to those times, but affirm that it is not adapted to our times. Away with such blasphemies from the ears of the godly; for, when Isaiah died, his doctrine must flourish and yield fruit.
(289) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Now go, write it before them in a table.We have before seen this in one of Isaiahs methods for giving special emphasis to his teaching (Isa. 8:1). The word, we may believe, passed into the act in the presence of his astonished hearers. In some way or other he feels sure that what he is about to utter goes beyond the immediate occasion, and has a lesson for all time which the world would not willingly let die. Others, following the Vulg., take the verb as an imperative: They are boasters; cease from them. (Superbia tantum est; quiesce.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Go, write it in a table On a waxen tablet. Having delivered the foregoing prophecy, the prophet is bidden to make record of it, for a witness on its fulfilment of its truth.
Note it in a book The tablet is for a witness to the disbelieving people, on the prediction coming to pass; the parchment is probably for the prophet’s school archives a witness to all coming time.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Their Trust in Other Than Yahweh And Their Tantamount Rejection of Him Can Only Result in Disaster. Security Rests in Trusting in Yahweh ( Isa 30:8-18 ).
Isaiah is to write his words down as a testimony to the future, because at present men will not listen. They deliberately close their eyes and refuse to hear His word, and by doing so are bringing on themselves trouble and disaster, rejecting His call to them to trust Him and have confidence in Him. And yet even now Yahweh is waiting to bless them and will yet have mercy on them, and all who do put their trust in Him can be sure that they will be blessed.
Analysis.
a Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come, for ever and ever (Isa 30:8).
b For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh, who say to the seers, “See not”, and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things. Prophesy lies. Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us” (Isa 30:9-11).
c For this reason thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on them (Isa 30:12).
d Therefore this iniquity will be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly in an instant (Isa 30:13).
d And he will break it like a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there will not be found among its pieces, a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water with it out of the cistern” (Isa 30:14).
c For thus says the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you will be saved. In quietness and confidence will be your strength”, and you would not’ (Isa 30:15).
b But you said, “No, but we will flee on horses”. Therefore you will flee. And “we will ride on the swift ones”. Therefore those who pursue you will be swift. One thousand will flee at the rebuke of one. At the rebuke of five you will flee. Until you are left as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill (Isa 30:16-17).
a And therefore will Yahweh wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore will He be raised (exalted), that He may have mercy on you. For Yahweh is a God of judgment (one who makes good judgments). Blessed are all those who wait for him (Isa 30:18).
In ‘a’ Isaiah is to write before them on a tablet, and inscribe in a book, what he has prophesied, so that it may be for the time to come, for ever and ever, for in the parallel Yahweh is waiting to be gracious to them, and will be raised that He might have mercy on them, for He acts wisely and blesses those who wait for Him. In ‘b’ they do not want to hear His words, nor do they want His interference, and in the parallel they assert their preferred response which is to trust in horses. In ‘c’ the Holy One of Israel speaks of their ‘despising this word, and trusting in oppression and perverseness, and relying on them’, and in parallel the Holy One of Israel calls on them rather to ‘return and rest’ and ‘be quiet and confident’ for in this they would be saved, an offer they refused. In ‘d’ their iniquity will be to them like a collapsing wall, and in the parallel like the breaking of a potter’s vessel.
Isa 30:8-11
‘Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
And inscribe it in a book,
That it may be for the time to come,
For ever and ever.
For it is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of Yahweh,
Who say to the seers, “See not”,
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things,
Speak to us smooth things. Prophesy lies.
Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path.
Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
Isaiah is told to write down his prophecies so that future generations would know what God had said to His people. For the people were in a state where they did not want to hear God’s Law and wanted seers and prophets who would say what they wanted to hear, while God wanted His own acts to be judged in the light of the truth and of what He had promised.
‘Write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book.’ The writing on the wooden writing tablet would be for display as a public record (compare Isa 8:1). It was to be placed where all could see it, ‘before them’. It probably especially refers to Isa 30:6-7 or Isa 30:9-15. The inscribing in the papyrus or leather scroll was for future use and would include wider prophecies as a permanent record of what Isaiah had proclaimed. Both commands show the importance laid on prophecy being written down.
‘For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh, who say to the seers, “See not”, and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things. Prophesy lies (‘illusions’). Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.’ This is God’s verdict on Judah. They were rebellious, rejecting trust in Yahweh. They were deceitful because they pretended to be His children but did not behave like it (compare Isa 1:2). They made subtle, lying excuses for their behaviour and made a feigned submission to Yahweh that was not genuine. For they were children who did not want to listen to authority. Above all they did not want to listen to the Instruction of Yahweh (God’s Law in Scripture). They wanted to avoid the impact of the word of God and its demands on their lives.
Thus they asked their teachers and preachers to tell them what they wanted to hear, and to avoid telling them the truth. They did not want them to receive a word from God. They preferred, and demanded, smooth preaching which would not ruffle their consciences (compare Amo 2:12; Mic 2:6) and to be told illusions that would make them happy (such as how good it was to trust in safe, reliable Egypt). They did not want to be told the truth.
They especially did not want to be faced up to the Holy One of Israel with His strong requirements and absolute morality. Those were out-of-date concepts suitable only for wilderness existence. Yahweh was old-fashioned. What they wanted was more modern preaching for a different age, that did not lay an emphasis on divine imperatives. (They would of course have put all this more delicately, but that was what they really wanted). So they were basically telling their teachers to go astray, and to leave the way and path of Yahweh because it was too demanding.
Today so many are guilty of the same thing. They want the security of being Christ’s but they do not want the transformation that goes with it. They think, as Israel did in Isaiah’s day, that they can have the one without the other. But we cannot be His without beginning the process of being like Him. For God will not allow it. ‘Whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives, — but if you are without chastening, of which all are made partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons’ (Heb 12:6-8).
Isa 30:12-14
‘For this reason thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perverseness,
And rely on them,
Therefore this iniquity will be to you as a breach ready to fall,
Swelling out in a high wall,
The breaking of which comes suddenly in an instant.
And he will break it like a potter’s vessel is broken,
Breaking it in pieces without sparing,
So that there will not be found among its pieces,
A sherd to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water with it out of the cistern.” ’
But the Holy One of Israel cannot be so avoided and He speaks back directly to them. So they despise His word? They prefer to oppress people, bringing pressure on them to do what they want, and to behave perversely, following their own ways, their ‘new morality’? Indeed they trust and rely on these things. Well, let them consider what the consequences of this will be. Despising His word is like having a high wall which has not been properly built and has become unstable, suddenly beginning to bulge out and then collapsing violently. It will be like a potter’s vessel which has gone wrong in the making and is therefore deliberately smashed to pieces by the potter. And the pieces will be so small that they cannot be used for anything, not even for carrying out the most basic and simple tasks such as poking the fire or ladling up water. (A sherd was a fair sized piece of broken pottery). They will be useless.
Note the two aspects of the stated consequences. The wall collapses because it has been badly built, it has relied on man’s unreliable craftsmanship, it is unstable, just as their moral choices are unstable in themselves. Man’s wisdom always fails in the end because it results from not seeing the whole picture. How regularly man’s relieving of restrictions and his establishing of his ‘freedoms’ result in unseen consequences that result in suffering for all. The vessel smashes because it is smashed by the Potter, and the reason is that he is not satisfied with it. So will God act against those who despise His instruction, His Law, because He is not satisfied with how they have turned out.
The breach in the wall and its being in danger of collapse may well have in mind despoliation by an enemy as they see their walls collapse under his attack, and the smashing to pieces could signify the result of such invasion as their city is ransacked.
Isa 30:15
‘For thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you will be saved.
In quietness and confidence will be your strength”,
And you would not.’
These, he stresses, are the words of the same Holy One of Israel Whom they have rejected. This is His alternative approach. This is where they could find security and strength. If they return to Him and trust Him they will be saved. Their deliverance is dependent not on Egypt or any other outside assistance, but on returning to Yahweh, a positive putting aside of sin and disobedience and a renewal of their covenant with God resulting in responsive obedience, accompanied by a trusting in Him and a resting on His reliability. But they ‘would not’. They made their choice and were not interested. They preferred lying words, despising Yahweh’s word and trusting in oppression and perverseness, living harshly and behaving intolerably.
But they would indeed remember this when they later stood within Jerusalem, looking out over the walls and seeing the vast hordes of the enemy that had approached again and had made encampment after the defeat of the Egyptian army. Then they would have only one last place to look, to Yahweh. And this time when they cried to Him He forgave them and acted for them. But only after they had learned a bitter lesson through much suffering. For even though Jerusalem was delivered from the worst, the surrounding region was not.
But we must remember that a century later in time the same thing would happen and they would cry and would not be forgiven. Then it would be too late, they would have gone too far, and the city would be taken, and the people would go into exile. We must recognise that we cannot presume on God’s mercy for ever. There are limits even to that.
‘In quietness and confidence will be your strength” The only real solution to a satisfying and inwardly secure life is quiet confidence in and trust in Yahweh, with its resulting obedience to His word. Then a man can be strong whatever comes because he knows that Yahweh is with him to act for him and with him. The implication is that had the quietness and confidence of Judah been in Yahweh by an obedient and responsive people, they would not have needed to creep secretly off to Egypt. Nor would they later have been besieged.
The question for each of us is the same, what is our Egypt? What are we leaning on rather than leaning on God?
Isa 30:16-17
‘But you said, “No, but we will flee on horses”.
Therefore you will flee.
And “we will ride on the swift ones”.
Therefore those who pursue you will be swift.
One thousand will flee at the rebuke of one.
At the rebuke of five you will flee.
Until you are left as a beacon on the top of a mountain,
And as a banner on a hill.’
This probably reflects the confident humour, or arrogant self-confidence, with which Isaiah’s pleas for trust in Yahweh had been met. ‘We are not worried, we will flee on horses. Our horses are like racehorses,’ while confident that they would not have to flee at all. So Isaiah assures them that what they have suggested is what will indeed happen. But then they will find that their enemy have super-racehorses and will overtake them.
Indeed their enemies will be so mighty that all that they will need to defeat a regiment will be one man, and five will defeat the whole army. A ‘five’ was possibly the smallest known military unit at the time, or may mean a handful.
‘Until you are left as a beacon on the top of a mountain, and as a banner on a hill.’ This probably refers to a last stand made by a defeated force, when they have rallied on a convenient mountain or hill and raised their banner or sent out their distress signals (compare Jdg 20:47). And when finally routed all that remains are the traces of the beacon fire, or a solitary, ragged banner blowing in the wind.
Isa 30:18
‘And therefore will Yahweh wait, that he may be gracious to you,
And therefore will he be raised (exalted), that he may have mercy on you.
For Yahweh is a God of judgment (one who makes good judgments).
Blessed are all those who wait for him.’
In Isa 30:15 God had stressed that they must return to Him and rest in Him quietly and confidently, but they had declined His offer in favour of their own self-sufficiency. So now we learn of the patience of God. He is prepared to wait. We should never cease to be amazed at God’s capacity to wait, even though one day it will come to an end. But it is not a waiting of inactivity. During it He brings men into situations in which their minds are forced to consider Him, as He will with Judah. And then He looks for their response.
He commences with two ‘therefores’. In Isa 30:16 they had learned that because of their trust in their own abilities ‘therefore’ they would flee and ‘therefore’ those who pursued them would be swift. Now He stresses that ‘therefore’ also He will wait, allowing what is to happen to happen, so that they might learn their insufficiency, and then, when they finally do seek Him, He can be gracious to them, revealing His undeserved love, and ‘therefore’ He will finally act on their behalf, He will rise (or ‘be exalted’) in order to reveal to them His mercy and compassion. The latter may refer to what He is about to do in sending His angel to bring relief from the siege of Jerusalem, which will truly exalt His name.
For He is too wise to react hastily. He is a God Who makes sound judgments, and acts in grace. And He will, despite all, wait patiently and then work on behalf of His own. Thus those who wait for Him will be blessed, and others will be blessed along with them. But it was not something to presume on, for many would perish before that time came.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 30:8-11. Now go, write it before them, &c. See the analysis. The Spirit of God, about to convict the degenerate people of the foolishness of their counsels, pierces into the inmost source of their errors, namely, their irreverence and disregard of the true word of God, and the faithful teachers of that word, and their contempt of the counsels suggested to them, in the name and by the authority of the Lord. He therefore places in the present period this most corrupt disposition of the people in full light, and paints it in strong colours, commanded by the Spirit of God to write it in a book, that it might be a monument to future ages, as well of the care and providence of God towards his people, as of their depraved disposition and foolish counsels, whereby they hastened their destruction. See Deu 31:19.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
It should seem that Isaiah wrote to them, as well as preached to them. And as Israel’s rebellion descended, like the blood in the veins, from father to son, there needed a standing memorial on the subject; for what the Prophet said to one, suited all. It is an awful thing when the preachers of the word accommodate what they deliver, to the false tastes of their hearers!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 30:8 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:
Ver. 8. Now go, write before them in a table, and note it in a book. ] He had proclaimed it before, Isa 30:7 but with ill success. Now he is commanded to commit it to writing, for a testimony against them to all posterity, viz., that they had been told in two words what were their best course to take for their own security and safeguard; but they thought it better to trot to Egypt than to trust in God. Now, therefore, if they suffer and smart, as they must, for their contempt and contumacy, the blame must be laid upon themselves alone. Who else can be faulted, whenas they were so fairly forewarned?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a table = a tablet.
note = inscribe. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 17:14; Exo 24:4.
the time to come = the latter day.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 30:8-22
Isa 30:8-11
THE PERVERSITY OF JUDAH
“Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for time to come forever and ever. For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; that say to the seers, See not, and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
God instructed Isaiah in Isa 30:8 to write his prophecy in a book, “that it might be a witness forever, in order to prove the accuracy of the prophesy after history had vindicated it.” This is another example, among many, many others, of behavior on the part of the prophet that cannot be reconciled with a “prophecy written after the event.” Note that, “The perpetuity of the written Word is here accepted as a certainty.”
“Children that will not hear the law of Jehovah …” (Isa 30:9). One needs to be outraged by such a comment as that of Dummelow who wrote, “`The law’ here refers to `oral instruction’ given by the prophet.” No indeed! It is a favorite canard of critics that the Pentateuch did not exist at so early a date; but we are absolutely certain that references of this kind, of which there are literally dozens of them in all of the prophets, point squarely at the Pentateuch, which traditionally has for countless ages been called “the law,” there being no true basis whatever for denying that meaning of the words here.
The rebellious Israelites are here represented as saying to Isaiah, “Get out of our way … stop talking about that Holy One of Israel … Prophesy things we want to hear … Do not bother with the truth at all.” Of course, as Hailey said, “Surely they were not honest enough to come right out and say such things”; but these verses graphically reveal their true sentiments.
The same attitude prevails in our world today in which people will not support preaching which reveals their sins and the certain punishment a righteous and holy God will execute upon wicked and unrepentant men, but prefer preaching that portrays God as a senile old grandfather, too lazy or indifferent to spank one of the children no matter what crimes of blood and lust rage beneath his very nose. Yes indeed, God is a God of love; but he is also a God of righteousness and justice; and “Vengeance belongeth unto God.” Gleason also noted this “modern” development: “Very modern is this demand that their clergy temper their messages to the desires and preferences of the people, rather than preach some unpopular doctrine derived from the Word of God.” This attitude destroyed ancient Israel; and it will do no less for any generation that is foolish enough to adopt it.
Isa 30:12-17
THE RESULTING DISASTER FOR JUDAH
“Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon; therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant. And he shall break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing: so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.
“For thus said the Lord Jehovah, 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: 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. One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.”
The mention of “oppression” in Isa 30:12 “is a reference to oppressive measures employed to procure the rich gifts that had to be sent to Egypt (Compare 2Ki 15:20).
In the first paragraph here, Isaiah, as he frequently did, resorted to a double metaphor to describe the projected fall of Jerusalem: the bulging high wall ready to fall, and the smashed piece of pottery. The higher the wall the greater the damage; and the collapse would come suddenly. In the case of the smashed pottery, there would not be a piece of it left that was big enough to pick up a coal of fire off of the hearth, or sufficiently large to enable one to get a drink by using a piece of it at a spring of water. The ruin of Judah would be complete.
The only hope for Israel lay in their repentance and return to the God of their fathers, and in their abandonment of foreign alliances and in a renewed reliance upon the wisdom and protection of God.
The second paragraph here records the rebellious attitude of the people. They will not trust God at all; they are going to Egypt and get plenty of horses, etc. “However, the horses will serve them only for flight from the enemy. A thousand will be pursued by one, until they be left as lonely as a flag-staff on the summit of a hill.
“Isa 30:17 is a sad reversal of the promise to Israel in Lev 26:8 and Deu 32:30.
Isa 30:18-22
GLIMPSES OF THE AGE OF THE MESSIAH
“And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden any more, but thine eye shall see thy teachers; 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. And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.”
“The word behind thee …” (Isa 30:21). God’s Word “behind Israel” would most certainly mean that they were not “following” the Lord, but that they had sinfully gone onward away from him.
The immediate promise of these good things for Israel would be fulfilled in the destruction of the Assyrian armies; “But the prophecy looks far beyond that to the Golden Age (Isaiah 23-26) (the age of Messiah).” The fulfillment of the first promise was a proof of the certainty of the latter one.
That this prophecy reaches far beyond the destruction of Sennacherib’s army is seen in the total rejection of idol worship which occurred at the end of the exile.
“The promises of Isa 30:20-22 describe the days of the new covenant (Jer 31:31 ff), and not the final glory”; because there remains here the element of adversity, tribulation. One of the current popular errors regards the so-called “rapture” of the church in which God’s people shall escape tribulation. No way! It is written concerning “all the saints of God,” that, “Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Act 14:22). Take a careful look at that word “must.”
Isa 30:8-14 FURY OF JEHOVAH: In this section the Lord expresses through the prophet His righteous wrath against a nation deliberately refusing to accept His guidance and deliverance. First, the Lord directs the prophet to make a permanent record of His revelation concerning Egypts helplessness and Judahs folly. Isaiah is to write this revelation on lukha, a tablet of stone or wood (probably wood), and then he is to write it in a sepher, a ledger, a book, in epistolary form. This emphasizes two things: the seriousness of the message and the need for its permanency. If Judah will not listen now, as Isaiah is giving the message orally, perhaps future generations will read of Jehovahs guidance, Judahs folly and Egypts failure, in written form, after the fact of its fulfillment, and repent of their attitude toward Jehovah. Written testimony of supernatural revelation, tested through centuries of attack and investigation are much more conducive to creating faith than experiencing the supernatural events as eyewitnesses (e.g., the difficulty of many of the Jews in believing in Jesus while He was alive, but turning to Him many years after the events of His life were recorded in the Gospels).
Second, Jehovah delivers through Isaiah the indictment He has against Judah. Judah is rebellious, deceitful, and unheeding. A grateful son is expected to be obedient to the Fathers guidance, but Judah is an ingrate and a stubborn rebel. She not only refuses to hear the word of God, she presumes to instruct Gods messengers what to say to her. They blatantly announce their refusal to want to hear right things and their desire to hear khalaq (smooth, flattering, slippery) things, and mehathaloth (lofty, illusory, deluding) things. It is almost incredible that a people who had vowed so emphatically under Moses, Samuel, David and other leaders, to adhere to the law of God, chose to set themselves so emphatically against His law. It is difficult to believe that a majority of the Hebrew people would instruct their prophets to flatter and delude them. Isaiah is not the only prophet to record such a perverse attitude (cf. Mic 2:6-11; Jer 6:10-19; Eze 2:3-7; Eze 3:4-11, etc.). But the prophet of God was not held responsible for their hearing-only for his preaching (cf. Eze 2:5). In Isa 30:11 the people are represented as commanding the prophets to give up walking in the way of Jehovah (the ancient paths, cf. Jer 6:10-19). And the prophets are commanded to cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from their presence. The word translated cease is hasheveethu and is another form of the word shavvath used in Isa 30:7. They want Isaiah to put the Holy One of Israel to rest. They want a do-nothing God. They are especially agitated at the repeated emphasis on the holiness of God. It is a constant stabbing at their consciences to hear of the Holy One of Israel.
But the Holy One of Israel is going to act. And He is going to act according to His holiness! Because they have held His word in contempt and trusted in asheq (fraud, violence, injustice, oppression) and in perverseness (ability to deceive, manipulate, despoil) He is going to bring them down. They had gone so far as to rely on these machinations. These evil ways became the base and structure of their whole existence! God is going to allow them to reap the fruit of their evil thinking and doing. A society of moral, conscionable beings cannot hold together on a base of such moral perversity. Human social structures, whether small (as a home) or large (as a nation) must be conducted on a modicum of trust, honesty, purity, truth, respect for authority, compassion. If such values are held in contempt and perverted that social structure will disintegrate of itself. It will become a raging jungle where all inhabitants prey on one another. When the rulers and political leaders of a nation despise and pervert these principles it becomes a breach in the wall and soon the whole wall is weakened and falls. The breach is unnoticed by many, at first, but it gradually does its weakening work until the wall falls suddenly and everyone wonders why, all of a sudden, the wall falls. Jehovah will also exercise direct judgment upon Judah and smash her into fragments like a broken potters vessel (cf. Jer 19:1 ff). What a picture of the future of Judah!-smashed and scattered into pieces, good for nothing!
Isa 30:15-22 REPENTANCE: It is interesting to note how often Isaiah uses the phrase, the Holy One of Israel, to henceforth refer to God. It is undoubtedly deliberate on the prophets part to rebuke and bring to repentance those who earlier (Isa 30:10-11) insisted they did not want to hear any more of the Holy One of Israel. The most used Hebrew word for repentance in nahkam but in Isa 30:15 the word describing the action involved in repentance, beshoovah or, in turning, is used. The word nahkath which means bring down, or humble is also used but translated rest. Isaiah is really saying that the salvation of this proud and rebelling people is to be found in returning to the Lord in humility and penitence. It is going to take drastic action on their part. Isaiah uses the words sheket, quietness, and batahk, trust, confidence, to inform his people where strength is to be found. The clamness which comes from trust in the Lord is the strength they will need to save their nation from its present corruption and inevitable disintegration and defeat. Judahs rulers are presently in a state of turmoil, indecision, conflict and strife about going to Egypt or not going to Egypt for help against Assyria. Proud and haughty, self-sufficient and carnal-minded, they refuse to trust in the Lords way because His way demands trial, testing and discipline (cf. Heb 3:7-19). Christian discipleship is difficult. Jesus always taught those who would follow Him to count the cost. Few enter because the way is strait. The majority of people in Isaiahs day deliberately chose to reject God-they would not turn and humble themselves (cf. Jer 6:16-19; Eze 2:1-7; Eze 3:6-11).
Quite the contrary to humbling themselves and turning to the Lord, the majority of people are confident in their preparations to flee from the Assyrians on swift horses. People then put their trust in horses (cf. Gen 50:9; Exo 14:6 ff; Exo 15:1; 2Ch 12:3; Jer 46:4; 2Ki 18:24; Deu 17:16) like people today put their trust in military weapons. Isaiah predicts they will see some swift horses, but they will be the swift horses of the Assyrians who pursue them. Isaiahs people will also do some fleeing! Their enemies will be so terrible and awesome it will only take a few of them to put hundreds of Jews to rout. There will be so few people left when the Assyrians come, what remains will be so alone they will look like a lonely signal fire in the night-like a solitary flag pole on a hill. This probably refers to the days of Hezekiah when the Assyrians had overrun and devastated all of Palestine except the city of Jerusalem and they had laid siege to that!
Isaiah continues to tell his audience what their relationship to the Holy One of Israel ought to be-repentance. Jehovah is going to wait awhile before He has mercy upon His people. Jehovahs waiting period will involve an exhibition of His justice in judging the enemies of His people, the bread of adversity and water of affliction for His people, the crying of His people unto Him, their paying heed to their teachers and casting away of their idols. This waiting period of Jehovah is His program to work repentance in His people. His people must be prepared to receive His mercy. In their rebellious, ungodly attitude they do not even desire His mercy. They must see His judgment upon themselves and their enemies, cry to Him, listen to His teachers and purge themselves of false gods. Then they are ready to want and appreciate His mercy. Isa 30:21 seems to indicate that the attitude of the people of Isaiahs day toward their teachers was one of malice and hate. The prophets often were obliged to hide lest the people kill them for declaring the word of God. There must be a complete change of attitude toward who God is and what He says through His teachers, before they are ready for Gods great blessings.
This section probably refers initially to the captivities of Israel by the Assyrians and Judah by the Babylonians and the restoration under Ezra and Zerubbabel. It is true the Jews learned their lesson about idolatry in the captivity. They never again worshipped images. However, in Jesus day the Pharisees had made an idol of their traditions. It is our opinion that the ultimate fulfillment of this passage and the verses that follow is found in the Messiah and His kingdom, the church.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
write: Isa 8:1, Deu 31:19, Deu 31:22, Job 19:23, Job 19:24, Jer 36:2, Jer 36:28-32, Jer 51:60, Hab 2:2
the time to come: Heb. the latter day, Isa 2:2, Num 24:14, Deu 4:30, Deu 31:29, Job 19:25, Jer 23:20, Jer 48:47, Eze 38:16, Hos 3:5, 1Ti 4:1, 2Pe 3:3, Jud 1:18
Reciprocal: Deu 6:9 – General Pro 2:15 – General Pro 7:3 – General Isa 6:9 – Go Isa 8:20 – it is Isa 33:14 – sinners Isa 34:16 – Seek Jer 30:2 – General Jer 32:10 – subscribed the evidence Eze 2:10 – spread Eze 24:2 – write Dan 7:1 – he wrote Mal 2:2 – ye will not hear Luk 1:63 – a Act 4:17 – let Rev 1:11 – What
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 30:8-11. Now go, write it before them Write this prophecy and warning, which I have now delivered, in their presence; in a table, and in a book So it was to be written twice over, once in a table, to be hung up in some public place, that all present might read it; and again in a book, that it might be kept for the use of posterity. That it may be for the time to come As a witness for me and against them, that I have given them fair warning, and that they have wilfully run upon their own ruin. That they are lying children Who profess one thing, and practise another; that will not hear the law of the Lord The commands of God, either contained in the Scriptures, or delivered by the mouth of the prophets, whereby these practices were expressly forbidden them. Which say to the seers, See not, &c. This they said in effect, in that they were not willing to know and do the will of God. They loved darkness rather than light. Prophesy not unto us right things The prophets told them of their faults, and warned them of their misery and danger, but they could not bear it. They wanted smooth things to be spoken to them, things that would give them no pain, but please their corrupt minds, and flatter them in their sins. Get ye out of the way In which you now walk, out of your present course of preaching unpleasing and frightful things; or, out of our way. For the prophets stood in their way, like the angel in Balaams road, with the sword of Gods wrath drawn in their hands, so that these sinners could not proceed on in their sinful practices without terror; and this they took heinously. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us Do not trouble us with harsh and repeated messages from God, as you use to do.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30:8 Now go, write {g} it before them in a tablet, and note it in a book, that it may be for the {h} time to come for ever and ever:
(g) That is, this prophecy.
(h) That is may be a witness against them for all posterity.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Punishment for trusting in Egypt 30:8-17
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 (Isa 30:9-14; cf. Luk 6:6-11). Second, she had refused a specific message that would result in destruction from an external enemy (Isa 30:15-17).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
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. Other ancient Near Eastern nations recorded uniformly positive and complementary things about themselves, in contrast to what Isaiah wrote here about Judah. The content of what he wrote is unclear, but it was probably this oracle in some form.