18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice ; How blessed are all those who long for Him. 19 O people in Zion , inhabitant in Jerusalem , you will weep no longer . He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry ; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression , He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher . 21 Your ears will hear a word behind e you, "This is the way , walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left . 22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver , and your molten images plated with gold . You will scatter them as an impure thing , and say to them, " Be gone !" 23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground , and bread from the yield of the ground , and it will be rich and plenteous ; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture . 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder , which has been winnowed with shovel and fork . 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter , when the towers fall . 26 The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun , and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days , on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted .
27 Behold , the name of the Lord comes from a remote place ; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke ; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire ; 28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent , Which reaches to the neck , To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve , And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin . 29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival , And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute , To go to the mountain of the Lord , to the Rock of Israel . 30 And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard , And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger , And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst , downpour and hailstones. 31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified , When He strikes with the rod . 32 And every blow of the rod of punishment , Which the Lord will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres ; And in battles , brandishing weapons , He will fight them. 33 For Topheth has long been ready , Indeed , it has been prepared for the king . He has made it deep and large , A pyre of fire with plenty of wood ; The breath of the Lord , like a torrent of brimstone , sets it afire .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 30:18-33
Commentary on Isaiah 30:8-18
(Read Isaiah 30:8-18)
The Jews were the only professing people God then had in the world, yet many among them were rebellious. They had the light, but they loved darkness rather. The prophets checked them in their sinful pursuits, so that they could not proceed without fear; this they took amiss. But faithful ministers will not be driven from seeking to awaken sinners. God is the Holy One of Israel, and so they shall find him. They did not like to hear of his holy commandments and his hatred of sin; they desired that they might no more be reminded of these things. But as they despised the word of God, their sins undermined their safety. Their state would be dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel. Let us return from our evil ways, and settle in the way of duty; that is the way to be saved. Would we be strengthened, it must be in quietness and in confidence, keeping peace in our own minds, and relying upon God. They think themselves wiser than God; but the project by which they thought to save themselves was their ruin. Only here and there one shall escape, as a warning to others. If men will not repent, turn to God, and seek happiness in his favour and service, their desires will but hasten their ruin. Those who make God alone their confidence, will have comfort. God ever waits to be gracious to all that come to him by faith in Christ, and happy are those who wait for him.
Commentary on Isaiah 30:19-26
(Read Isaiah 30:19-26)
God's people will soon arrive at the Zion above, and then they will weep no more for ever. Even now they would have more comfort, as well as holiness, if they were more constant in prayer. A famine of bread is not so great a judgment as a famine of the word of God. There are right-hand and left-hand errors; the tempter is busy courting us into by-paths. It is happy if, by the counsels of a faithful minister or friend, or the checks of conscience, and the strivings of God the Spirit, we are set right when doubting, and prevented from going wrong. They shall be cured of their idolatry. To all true penitents sin becomes very hateful. This is shown daily in the conversion of souls, by the power of Divine grace, to the fear and love of God. Abundant means of grace, with the influences of the Holy Spirit, would be extended to places destitute of them. The effect of this should be comfort and joy to the people of God. Light, that is, knowledge, shall increase. This is the light which the gospel brought into the world, and which proclaims healing to the broken-hearted.
Commentary on Isaiah 30:27-33
(Read Isaiah 30:27-33)
God curbs and restrains from doing mischief. With a word he guides his people into the right way, but with a bridle he turns his enemies upon their own ruin. Here, in threatening the ruin of Sennacherib's army, the prophet points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Tophet was a valley near Jerusalem, where fires were continually burning to destroy things that were hurtful and offensive, and there the idolatrous Jews caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch. This denotes the certainty of the destruction, as an awful emblem of the place of torment in the other world. No oppressor shall escape the Divine wrath. Let sinners then flee to Christ, seeking to be reconciled to Him, that they may be safe and happy, when destruction from the Almighty shall sweep away all the workers of iniquity.