June 28, 2009

Isaiah 30: Lips Full of Fury

Isaiah 30: Download a worksheet for further study

Prologue

Where we are:

Part 1: Judgment	Part 2: Historical Interlude	Part 3: Salvation
Chapters 1-35	Chapters 36-39	Chapters 40-66

When this takes place:

Isaiah 30 likely takes place early in King Hezekiah’s reign and is part of a series of woes in chapters 28-33 against those who oppose God’s word.

Key verses:

Isa. 30:27-28 – Look, Yahweh comes from far away, His anger burning and heavy with smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire. His breath is like an overflowing torrent that rises to the neck. [He comes] to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction and to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoples to lead [them] astray.

Quick summary:

Isaiah summarizes what Israel has done to God and what God will do to Israel. The people make their plans without consulting God; they demand that the prophets stop preaching against sin; and they ask for more comforting messages. As a result, the Lord’s judgment will fall on them like a bulging wall and they will be smashed like pieces of pottery. Even so, God calls His people to repent and return to the Lord, and He promises a day in which He will bring salvation to Israel. In that day He will comfort His people and hear their prayers; teach and guide them; give them abundant crops; defeat their enemies; and fill their hearts with joy.

Take note:

Isaiah’s words in verse 10 have echoed through the ages. They are as much an indictment of the church today as a harsh rebuke of the Israelites in Isaiah’s time: “Do not prophesy the truth to us. Tell us flattering things.” The apostle Paul warns the Romans against divisive people in their congregation: “Now I implore you, brothers, watch out for those who cause dissensions and pitfalls contrary to the doctrine you have learned. Avoid them; for such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Rom. 16:18). He goes on to warn the young pastor Timothy of those who neglect the truth in favor of having their ears tickled: “For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

The Egyptian Alliance (Isa. 30:1-17)

The chapter begins bleakly, with Isaiah comparing the citizens of Judah to obstinate children. The Lord already has made it clear that He will use Assyria to destroy Israel and to punish Judah, yet the leaders of the southern kingdom travel to Egypt, seeking an alliance against the Assyrian invaders. This is an act of rebellion against God and it will lead to Judah’s shame since Egypt does not have the ability to protect Judah from the Assyrian invaders (vv. 3, 5).

In verses 6-7, Isaiah describes the envoys from Judah who load their donkeys and camels with great treasures for the Egyptians and brave the dangerous Negev, where wild animals like lions and poisonous snakes lie in wait. But Isaiah calls feckless Egypt “Rahab Who Just Sits” (v. 7). “In Ugaritic literature Rahab was the name of a female sea monster associated with Leviathan (cf. Job 9:13; 26:12). Perhaps the hippopotamus, an animal that often sits in the water of the Nile doing nothing, represents that mythical water beast. Understandably Rahab came to be a poetic synonym for Egypt (and also for a demon behind Egypt) when God overpowered the Egyptian soldiers in the sea at the Exodus (cf. Isa. 51:9; Pss. 87:4; 89:10). So Egypt, Isaiah wrote, was good for nothing; she could not assist Judah in any way” (John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, S. 1:1080).

The Lord then tells Isaiah to write this message on a scroll, which will serve as testimony against the “deceptive children” who may later claim they never heard God’s warning. They are “rebellious people … children who do not obey the Lord’s instruction” (v. 9). They are unwilling to listen to the Lord and do not want the prophets to tell them the truth. In fact, they go so far as to shout, “Rid us of the Holy One of Israel” (v. 11).

Nevertheless, Isaiah confronts them with a stark message from the Lord. By rejecting God’s call to repent of their sin and trust Him, by relying on their own plans and by engaging the deceitful Egyptians, they would bring down judgment upon their heads. Isaiah likens this judgment to a cracked wall that suddenly collapses, and to shattered pottery whose pieces are so small they are no longer of value. They would be alarmed by the approaching enemy, and though they would flee on horses, the Assyrian horses would be faster and overtake them. In their crushing defeat, the survivors would stand like a banner on a hill – a warning to others not to trust in military might or political alliances.

The Lord’s Mercy (Isa. 30:18-26)

These verses anticipate the coming of the Messiah and the spiritual and material blessings that will result from His reign. Although the inhabitants of Judah have turned away from the Lord, they are still His covenant people whom He desires to grant mercy, compassion and justice. Isaiah implores them to wait patiently on Yahweh. During times of calamity they will suffer hardship and survive on bread and water, but the day is coming when they will dwell securely on Mt. Zion and “never cry again” (v. 19). The Israelites will eagerly learn from their Teacher – the Messiah – and embrace the instruction of the prophets and priests. They will be sensitive to God’s Word, as if He were speaking softly to them, “This is the way. Walk in it” (v. 21). The people they will see their idolatry as God sees it and be repulsed. They will throw away their silver-plated idols and gold-plated images “like menstrual cloths, and call them filth” (v. 22).

Isaiah then describes what life will be like when the Messiah comes and their hearts are in tune with Him. The Lord will send rain and the earth will produce rich and bountiful crops. “Physical prosperity accompanies national piety; especially under the Old Testament. The early rain fell soon after the seed was sown in October or November; the latter rain in the spring, before the ripening of the corn. Both were needed for a good harvest” (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, S. Is 30:23). In addition, the cattle will graze in open pastures and the beasts of burden will have plenty to eat. There will be ample fresh water flowing from the streams and fountains on every hill and mountain. Even the natural light will be increased. The moon will shine as brightly as the sun, which will glow seven times more brightly. Perhaps this is figurative language to illustrate God’s presence among and provision for His people (see Isa. 60:19-20; Rev. 21:23-24; 22:5). In any case, the same Lord who chastens His people with a rod of iron will bless them with His very presence as He “bandages His people’s injuries and heals the wounds He inflicted” (v. 26).

Yahweh’s Burning Anger (Isa. 30:27-33)

Isaiah now returns to the present situation, prophesying that the Assyrian army, which surrounds Jerusalem, would be defeated. This is fulfilled in 701 B.C. as the Lord strikes dead 185,000 soldiers in a single night (Isa. 37:36). Notice how Isaiah contrasts the Lord’s mercy toward Israel in the previous section with his fiery anger toward Assyria: His anger is burning and heavy with smoke; His lips are full of fury; His tongue is like a consuming fire; and His breath is like an overflowing torrent that rises to the neck; He sifts the nations like a farmer shaking his grain to clear it of the smallest pebbles; and He puts a bridle in the jaws of the people to lead them astray (vv. 27-28).

This graphic imagery, depicting God’s defeat of Assyria, is continued elsewhere in Scripture to describe the Lord’s wrath on the day of judgment. For example, the apostle Paul says that when Christ returns He will take “vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God” (2 Thess. 1:8). And the apostle John describes the returning Christ as having eyes like “a fiery flame,” a “robe stained with blood,” striking the nations with a sharp sword coming from His mouth, and “trampling the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty” (Rev. 19:12-15).

God’s miraculous work on behalf of His people will cause them to break out in celebration, rejoicing as in the days of the three annual festivals in which they made their way to the temple on Mt. Zion. Meanwhile, the sulfurous breath of God will ignite a fire that consumes Judah’s enemies. The Assyrian army will be destroyed like a pile of wood or a sacrifice in Topheth (v. 33), an area in the Valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem where children are sometimes sacrificed to the Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31). In Jesus’ day the valley was a burning trash dump, which He used to illustrate the never-ending fires of gehenna – a transliteration from the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ge-hinnom, “Valley of Hinnom.” The apostle John continues this imagery of hell in Rev. 19:20; 20:10; 21:8.

Closing Thought

Gary V. Smith comments: “Trust in God in such dire circumstances is a risk that is not easy to accept. It puts everything on the line for what often appears to be a nebulous hope that God will act. What does one have to do to truly trust God? Isaiah indicates the people need to (a) repent of their present rebellious acts; (b) rest securely in God’s salvation; (c) be calm rather than fearful; (d) rely on God’s heroic strength; and (e) stop trusting in human power (30:15-16)…. Faith is not blind acceptance of something totally unknown; it is a confident relational walk based on spiritual knowledge that directs the will to act in reliance on the character and promises of someone who sovereignly controls this world” (The New American Commentary: Isaiah 1-39, pp. 528-29).