ISAIAH - Chapter 30 - The Promise
ISAIAH – Chapter 30
THE PROMISE
Tuesday Morning Bible Study – April 1, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Chapters 30 and 31 constitute Isaiah’s warning against the alliance with Egypt (a type of the world and world systems); and the Lord’s promise of Kingdom Glory on earth as it is in heaven; for those who will trust in Him rather than alliances with the kingdoms of this world.
When we were on the Golan Heights last week, we prayed at the border between Syria and Israel. The United Nations’ compound is on the border. However, they built the compound on Israel land, not Syrian land. This is true on the Lebanese border as well. The United Nations has come into agreement with the world politics in rebellion to the Word of God. The people of the nation of Israel are not in alliance with what they perceive encroachment of the United Nation’s compound on their side of the border.
If we compare this with the judgment upon Egypt in chapters 18-20, one would wonder why any government would want to align themselves with the world view of the politics of the world systems.
Verses 1-14 describe a false fellowship with the wickedness of the pro-Egypt (world) party. They fostered a foolish cause. They resisted God’s Word, and calamity was to result from following the advice of worldly entities.
The “woe” in verse 1 is justified. During that period, they rebelled against the counsel of the Lord by his prophet and concluded their alliance with Egypt in defiance of God’s warning (1-7). They told the prophets to prophesy of pleasant things and to use no longer the expression “the Holy One of Israel,” which was a constant reminder of their empty religion.
On our recent trip to the West Bank, we were graciously received by Arab-Christian Churches. One of those pastors was Pastor Khoury of Bethlehem. He and his family have suffered much persecution because of their faith in Jesus. Their story is passionately written by his son, Steven N. Khoury in his book, “In the Backyard of Jesus”. Pastor Khoury gave me a “key” of understanding as to why so many do not heed the Word of the Lord. Even the Arab Christians do not receive the Old Testament as the Word of the Lord. They consider it a book of the Jewish people. He has bravely been teaching and preaching the way and Word of the Holy One of Israel from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. He has suffered much persecution because of his faithfulness to the Word of God.
In view of the warning in Chapter 29 that Jerusalem would be besieged by the Assyrians, instead of repenting, the people became more rebellious and turned to Egypt (world systems) rather than to God for their help.
While in Israel (March 2014), I heard the voice of courage coming from the people of the land, “We are ready”. I interpreted that to mean, “Let the nations of the earth bring-it-on, we are standing with God”. This in no way implies any arrogance or presumption in that attitude, but courage.
Historically this period is set in the time of Hezekiah’s revolt against Assyria. Hezekiah’s counselors took pains to avoid hearing the Lord’s word through his true prophets.
This is the 32nd prophecy in Isaiah. Verses 1-17 are fulfilled; verses 18-26 are now being fulfilled.
30: 1-7: “Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, that take counsel but not of Me; and they cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the south; into the land of trouble and anguish, from where come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I cried concerning this.
Their strength is to sit still.” (The United States of America, under the leadership of the present administration has chosen to “sit still” in the face of every international conflict---our help has been in vain and to no purpose.)
Pharaoh here is metaphorical of Satan, the god and prince of this world. Every nation that has been given over to wicked government leaders is ruled by a demonic prince manifesting through the evil government which is in rebellion against the Word and Counsel of the Lord God Almighty.
Ambassadors = messengers.
Hanes = Tahapanes in Jeremiah 2:16 = “the planet Mercury, banishment of grace.”
“The beasts of the south” = “Negeb” = Negev desert in southern Israel (south of the Dead Sea and Beer Sheba). On our recent tour of Israel, we did not go quite that far south. The burden of the beasts (caravans to Egypt) of the south into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and the old lion, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young assess, upon the bunches of camels.
As we journeyed from south to north along the Dead Sea, caravans of trucks were carrying supplies and riches to and from Egypt, Jordan and Israel on the Israeli highway.
The Viper was perhaps the well known species of serpent common among the Arabs, being about 2 ft. long, as thick as the arm, and beautifully spotted with yellow, brown, and black. Such serpents have a wide mouth by which they draw in a large amount of air; and when inflated they eject it with such force that the sound is heard a great distance. They are very poisonous.
This is used metaphorically by prophets to describe an evil leader and would certainly be aptly applied to those who have the spirit of the anti-christ.
Rehab was a primeval monster who was defeated by Baal according to Canaanite religious beliefs; the name is also applied to Egypt in Ps. 87:
“His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of You, O city of God. Selah. I will make mention of Rehab and Babylon to them that know Me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, ‘This and that man was born in her’; and the Highest Himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count, when He writes up the people, that this man was born there. Sela. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there; all My springs are in you.”
“That Man” is Christ Jesus and all the Lord’s springs are in Him. This is the “promise” that in all of these nations, the Lord will have a Holy Remnant who will receive His Son, “The Man”.
Caravans laden with rich presents from Jerusalem made their way through the beast-infested desert of the south to seek the aid of Egypt. But Egypt would be of no avail. This expresses the idea that the messengers of Judah would face the dangers of lions, vipers, and flying serpents trying to get help from Egypt, but they would not take one step toward God to seek His help. They would carry riches to Egypt to pay for help instead of asking God who would give it without price. They would get no profit from Egypt (world systems) but God Himself would be their profit if they would only turn to Him.
While in Israel (2014), we heard the voice from the land say, “We are self-sufficient, growing our own food and supply the needs of the people from within the land of Israel.” They do import all of their oil, but have ample natural gas.
Six fold Result of False Trust in Man:
- Shame (verses 3-5)
- Confusion
- Reproach
- In vain (verse 7)
- Unprofitable
- To no purpose
30: 8-14: “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: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord; Which say to the seers, ‘See not’; and to the prophets, ‘Prophesy not to us right things, speak to 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. Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out to a near wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant. 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 with out of the pit.”
They despised the word of the Lord by His prophet and relied on the rich gifts sent to Egypt, obtained by the oppression of the people. They relied on the swiftness of the horses of Egypt rather than on returning to God. They are undermining the foundation of God. The act of rejecting the Old Testament is a form of undermining the foundation of God.
Write it down in a book, so that future generations may see that it is foretold. It came to pass about 100 years later at the hands of Babylon. Very shortly, the Assyrian army was routed (37:36) and within 100 years the Assyrian empire destroyed!
Isa. 37:36: “Then the angel of the Lord forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and forty-five thousand. When they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
The whitened wall (Matt. 23) of the Pharisees’ traditions (Matt. 15; Mk. 7) shall be blown apart by the Words of His prophets! (Jer. 23:29)
The prophecy was fulfilled by the Chaldeans!
30: 15-17: “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and you would not.’ But you said “No”; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall you flee; and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall you flee; till you are left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.”
Here God offers deliverance to Judah if they would only return to Him and rest and be saved; but they would not. They said that instead of trusting in God they would flee, so destruction was determined upon them. At both destructions---the one by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Ki. 25: 1-10) and the other by the Romans in A.D. 70---people did flee from Jerusalem and were destroyed (Lk. 21: 12-24).
But God counter-balances the announcement of the terrible woes with renewed promises of His divine forbearance and help. We now hear the prophet’s advice to trust in the Lord. He declares the blessing foreshadowing Kingdom deliverance, and promises joy to those who believe God. But “woe” foreshadows the judgments of the Day of the Lord for those who rebel.
30: 18-22: “And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you; for the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more; He will be very gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not your teachers be removed into a corner any more, but your eyes shall see your teachers; and your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, this is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left. You shall defile also the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molten images of gold; you shall cast them away as a menstrous (unclean) you shall say to it, get you from here.”
Here Jehovah declares the He waits for man and that He will wait for Judah to come to repentance so that He can fulfill with them the everlasting covenants made with their fathers; and then they shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem and weep no more. God would have fulfilled the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and others in the past if Israel had only obeyed and met the terms of the covenant to fulfill righteousness so that He could bless them; but they refused while He waited.
30: 23-26: Then shall He give the rain of your seed, and you shall sow the ground with; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous; in that day shall your cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with fan. There shall be upon every high mountain and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord binds up the breach of His people, and heals the stroke of their wound.”
As we drove the width and breadth of Israel (March 2014), we saw on the land the fulfillment of these verses. God waits to be gracious and merciful to all who will turn to Him and receive the only way through which can be saved, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
10 blessings of turning to God with our whole heart:
- Rain
- Good sowing
- Increased bread
- Fat and plenty
- Good stock
- Large pastures
- Good food for stock
- Plenty of water
- Increased moon-light
- Increased sunlight
There will be plenty of water in all places. Even the desert shall blossom as a rose. In that day will God bless Israel and set them free from all curses of the past. At the Cross, every curse was broken. However, it must be appropriated, by “Faith, by the Holy Spirit and by the Blood of Jesus”.
“When the towers fall” = could be prophetic of the paradigm shift which happened on the earth the day the twin towers fell. Since that day, the world has never been the same.
30: 27-30a: “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from far, burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire; and His breath (Ruach = blast), as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck (the will), to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity; and there shall be a bridle of the jaws of the people, causing them to err. You shall have song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard..."
Psalm 29: “…The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; yea, the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon…the voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilders of Kedesh. The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calve, and discovers the forests; and in His temple does every one speak of His glory.”
30b-33: and shall show the lightning down of His arm (power), with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps; and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it.”
Tophet is a place of burning in the valley of Hinnom – Rev. 19:20; 20:10); the King (Moloch – 1 Kg. 11:70 prepared it. He made it deep and large. Tophet – “spittle, spat upon, vile contemned, abhorred, abomination”.
Tophet is ordained of old for the Assyrian king. It is prepared. The Lord made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone does kindle it. This verse is understood in connection with the Assyrian (the Antichrist) and his great army. It indicates the exact spot where antichrist will be destroyed at Armageddon. Much of the army with him will also be destroyed and Tophet, at that time will be a great funeral pyre kindled by the Lord like a stream of brimstone. He will come with great flaming fire which will destroy multitudes in this battle.
It is a deep valley on the southeast of Jerusalem, celebrated as the place of idolatry and worship of Moloch. Here a large brazen image with hollow trunk and arms were heated, and children were offered as sacrifices to it. To drown their cries as they were being put into this red hot idol, drums were beaten which were called Toph or Tophim. The name Gehenna was coined to denote the place of eternal torment.
(Luke 12:5). “I will forewarn you whom you shall fear; Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, I say to you, Fear him.”
The Assyrian is a title for anti-Christ in certain scriptures (v. 31; 10:24; 14:25; Mic. 5: 5-6).
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
I entered into the labors of F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary and Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. I referred to, but did not quote from The Backyard of Jesus by Steven N. Khoury, VOM Books, P. O. Box 443, Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I gleaned.