For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused, but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses;” therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift;” therefore those who pursue you will be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
Parallel Translations
-
For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,
but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses;” therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift;” therefore those who pursue you will be swift.
One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
-
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.
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 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 an hill.
Show all 3 translations
-
For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: in sitting still 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 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.
Cross-references (52)
- Isaiah 26:3-4 (v15) You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an…
- Isaiah 32:17 (v15) The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
- Psalms 125:1-2 (v15) Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Yahweh…
- Jeremiah 3:22-23 (v15) Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. “Behold, we have come to you; for you are Yahweh our God. Truly help…
- John 5:40 (v15) Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
Show all 51 cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 5:20 (v15) They were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them; for they cried to God in the…
- 2 Chronicles 16:8 (v15) Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and exceedingly many horsemen? Yet, because you relied on Yahweh, he…
- Luke 13:34 (v15) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children…
- 2 Chronicles 32:8 (v15) An arm of flesh is with him, but Yahweh our God is with us to help us and to fight our battles.” The people rested themselves on the words…
- Isaiah 7:4 (v15) Tell him, ‘Be careful, and keep calm. Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for…
- Isaiah 30:7 (v15) For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.
- Hosea 14:1-3 (v15) Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive…
- Hebrews 12:25 (v15) See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we…
- Deuteronomy 28:25 (vv16–17) Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You…
- Matthew 23:37 (v15) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children…
- Leviticus 26:36 (v17) “ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf…
- Deuteronomy 32:30 (v17) How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
- Joshua 23:10 (v17) One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.
- Isaiah 31:1 (v16) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they…
- Matthew 22:3 (v15) and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
- Leviticus 26:8 (v17) Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
- Psalms 33:17 (v16) A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power.
- Proverbs 28:1 (v17) The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
- Isaiah 31:3 (v16) Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall…
- Jeremiah 4:13 (v16) Behold, he will come up as clouds, and his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are…
- Jeremiah 44:16-17 (v15) “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. But we will certainly perform every word that has…
- Amos 9:1 (v16) I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in…
- John 15:2-6 (v17) Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are…
- Deuteronomy 28:49 (v16) Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not…
- Psalms 147:10 (v16) He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Isaiah 5:26-30 (v16) He will lift up a banner to the nations from far away, and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come…
- Isaiah 10:28-32 (v16) He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he stores his baggage. They have gone over the pass. They have taken up…
- Isaiah 30:11 (v15) Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
- Jeremiah 23:36 (v15) You will mention the message from Yahweh no more: for every man’s own word has become his message; for you have perverted the words of the…
- Jeremiah 52:7 (v16) Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled, and went out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two…
- Lamentations 4:19 (v16) Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky. They chased us on the mountains. They set an ambush for us in the wilderness.
- Amos 2:14-16 (v16) Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself; neither shall he…
- Micah 1:13 (v16) Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; For the transgressions…
- Habakkuk 1:8 (v16) Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their…
- Romans 11:17 (v17) But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the…
- 2 Kings 25:5 (v16) But the Chaldean army pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
- Nehemiah 1:2-3 (v17) Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the…
- Psalms 80:11-13 (v15) It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the River. Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way…
- Isaiah 1:7-8 (v17) Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown…
- Isaiah 6:13 (v17) If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are cut…
- Isaiah 27:11 (v17) When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding.…
- Isaiah 37:3-4 (v17) They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and…
- Jeremiah 37:10 (v17) For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and only wounded men remained among them, they would each…
- Zephaniah 3:12 (v17) But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name.
- Zechariah 13:8-9 (v17) It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it. I will…
- Matthew 24:21-22 (v17) for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. Unless those…
51 distinct cross-references across this passage (52 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Ofttimes by his Prophets he put you in remembrance…
Ofttimes by his Prophets he put you in remembrance of this, that you should only depend on him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Isa 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the…
Isa 30:15 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.
Ver. 15. The Holy One of Israel.] A style much in the mouths of God’s prophets in those times. But what great arrogance is it in the Pope to take unto him the title of his Holiness!
Read full note →
In returning and rest shall ye be saved.] This is the same in effect with that before. {Isa 30:7} Preachers must be instant, stand to their work, and not be baffled out of their unpleasing messages. The Septuagint here have it, Si conversus ingemueris, tunc salvaberis.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–17 In returning, either from your present purpose of sending…
In returning, either from your present purpose of sending to Egypt, or unto God, as the LXX., and Syriac, and Arabic translators render it. Or,
in quietness; for the verb from which this word come is elsewhere used in that sense, as Psa 23:2; Jer 30 10; 46:27.
Read full note →
In quietness; in sitting still, and quieting your own minds. In confidence, to with, rightly placed upon me and my promises for your deliverance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–17 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One…
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,.... This is still repeated, though displeasing to the carnal Jews, who, notwithstanding their ill behaviour to the Lord, condescends to give them the best advice, as follows:
in returning and rest shall ye be saved; or "may be saved" (o); this is the right and the only way, namely, by "returning" from their evil ways, particularly their purpose of going to Egypt for help, and by returning to God by repentance and reformation, and to his worship and ordinances; and so the Targum,
Read full note →
"if ye return to my law;''
and by "resting" quietly at home, and reposing their trust in the Lord:
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; in a quiet submission to the will of God, and in quietly waiting upon him for the issue and event of things, abiding in their own houses, and not in a hurrying tumultuous manner, running here and there for help; and in a holy and humble confidence in the Lord, and in the power of his might, where they should find such strength and security, as Pharaoh king of Egypt could not give them:
and ye would not; would not be persuaded to keep at home, and from going down to Egypt; would not take the advice given, but pursue their own measures and methods of salvation. This is the literal sense of the words; and if they can be accommodated to spiritual and eternal salvation, it may be done in this way: repentance may be meant by "returning", and faith by "rest"; or by "returning and rest" may be designed returning to rest, that is, to Christ, who is the only rest to weary souls: "quietness" may intend peace of conscience, arising from the blood and righteousness of Christ; and "confidence" faith, and an assurance of it, which make men strong Christians; though their strength does not barely lie in these graces, but in the object of them: now faith and repentance are blessings of the covenant of grace, gifts of God, and graces of the Spirit, which go together in the doctrine of salvation, and have a concern in it; though they are not meritorious procuring causes, nor conditions of it; yet in this way God brings his people to salvation, and they enter into, and are descriptive of, the character of such that are saved; there is so close a connection between these and salvation, that none are saved without them; and it may be observed, that this way of saving men through faith and repentance, and by going to Christ alone for rest, and by placing confidence in, and deriving all peace and comfort from him, is disagreeable to unregenerate men; which is a proof of the wretched depravity, and corruption, and perverseness of the will of man.
(o) "servaremini", Piscator, Gataker.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 In returning - To God. Quietness - In sitting…
In returning - To God. Quietness - In sitting still, and quieting your minds. Confidence - Placed upon me, and my promises.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v17 Verse 17. At the rebuke of five shall ye…
Verse 17. At the rebuke of five shall ye flee - "At the rebuke of five, ten thousand of you shall flee"] In the second line of this verse a word is manifestly omitted, which should answer to one thousand in the first: the Septuagint supply πολλοι, רבים rabbim. But the true word is רבבה rebabah, as I am persuaded any one will be convinced, who will compare the following passages with this place: -
"How should one chase a thousand;
Read full note →
And two put ten thousand (רבבה) to flight?"
De 32:30.
"And five of you shall chase a hundred;
And a hundred of you shall chase (רבבה) ten thousand."
Le 26:8.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v15 Isa 30:15-17. In returning — From your present purpose…
Isa 30:15-17. In returning — From your present purpose of sending to Egypt; or, as the LXX., the Syriac, and Arabic understand it, in returning to God; shall ye be saved — Preserved from the power of your enemies. In quietness and confidence — In a calm and quiet submission to the divine will, and a confidence placed on his mercy, power, and faithfulness; shall be your strength — Your support under your troubles, and your ability to withstand your invaders. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; on the swift — We will have swift horses from Egypt, that, in case of danger, we may escape from our enemies. It is probable many of the richer sort intended to flee, and perhaps did actually flee into Egypt, having sent their treasures thither before them. Therefore shall ye flee — Your sin shall be your punishment: you will flee, and you shall flee. One thousand at the rebuke of one — You shall be so dispirited and enervated by your fears, that, instead of one of you chasing a thousand, as God promised you should do, if you were obedient, a thousand of you shall be chased by one of your enemies. At the rebuke, or assault, of five — Of a comparatively small number; shall ye flee — All of you, however numerous; till ye be left, &c. — Till ye be generally destroyed, and but a few of you left. “The meaning of the whole period is, that if the Jews, in the uncertain state of their affairs, would abstain from all endeavours to defend themselves by foreign aid, and would commit themselves to the care and providence of God, with settled minds, in faith and hope, they should then be safe, and avoid the calamities which threatened them.” But this they would not do; they were determined to seek for preservation or deliverance from the yoke of the Assyrians in the help of the Egyptians, and therefore it is foretold they should meet with the calamities here mentioned; and “should be seized with such a panic fear that, when they came to the point, they should turn their backs on their enemies, and flee with that swiftness wherewith they had thought to make their enemies flee, insomuch that very few of them should escape the common destruction.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–17 For thus saith the Lord God - The design…
For thus saith the Lord God - The design of this verse is to give a reason for the destruction that should come upon them. That reason was, that God had indicated to them the path of truth and safety, but they chose not to follow it, and refused to put confidence in him.
In returning - In returning to God; that is, if you are converted to him.
Read full note →
And rest - That is, by calmly reposing on God for assistance, and not seeking the alliance of Egypt (see Exo 14:13).
In quietness - In a collected, quiet state of mind.
In confidence - By putting simple trust in God.
Shall be your strength - You shall be safe; your enemies shall not be able to overcome and subdue you.
But ye would not - When Jerusalem was threatened by Sennacherib, Hezekiah did put this confidence in God, and reposed calmly and securely on his promises Isa 36:15, Isa 36:18, Isa 36:21; but it is not improbable that when the city was first threatened, and Hezekiah heard of the preparations made by the Assyrians, he had joined with the party in Jerusalem who proposed an alliance with Egypt, and that this was known to Sennacherib Isa 36:6. Probably, however, before the invasion had actually commenced he had seen the impropriety of this, either because the aid of Egypt could not be secured, or because Isaiah had warned him of this, and had been brought to put his trust entirely in Yahweh. Yet the offence had been “committed” of refusing to put implicit confidence in Yahweh, and of seeking the aid of Egypt, and for that the punishment is threatened in this chapter Isa 30:16-17.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Be. Septuagint, "groan," as Origen, &c., read. If you…
Be. Septuagint, "groan," as Origen, &c., read. If you be seriously converted, and trust not in Egypt, you need not fear.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v15 15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy…
3. THE PRESUMPTUOUS AND THE WELL-FOUNDED CONFIDENCE
Isa_30:15-18
Read full note →
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 he your strength:
And ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will 11flee 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 12 13beacon upon the top of a mountain,
And as an ensign on an hill.
18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto 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.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. That the way of deliverance pursued by Israel was wrong, appears not only from its roots (Isa_30:9-11) and from its fruit (Isa_30:12-14), but also from setting over against it that which is declared by Jehovah to be alone salutary: Returning and rest in Him; quiet, patient trust in Him who only is strong and makes strong. But Israel declined to take this latter way (Isa_30:15). According to their notion, only Egypt’s horses could help them. But these horses are to serve only for precipitate flight. Runners, too, there shall be, but at the disposal of the pursuers of fleeing Israel (Isa_30:16). A great number of Israelites will flee from a petty band of enemies, and Israel’s whole might will be reduced to but a small remnant, that might be compared with a single pine or a solitary banner on a mountain-height (Isa_30:17). And the final consequence will be that the Lord, as He is a God who exercises justice, must delay His help, which eventually will not be withheld. Then will it appear that only they are, to be pronounced happy who hope on the Lord (Isa_30:18). [I understand the purport of Isa_30:18 differently. See exegetical and critical remarks on it.—D. M.]
2. Isa_30:15-18. For thus saith——wait for him.—שׁוּבָה [ἅπ. λεγ.) is certainly not quickening, vivificatio, but returning. For the question here relates to what Israel was bound to do. And שוּב is that very significant leading term in the prophecy of Isaiah, and especially in that of Jeremiah, which we have already (Isa_1:27) taken notice of, and have particularly remarked in the name שׁאר ישׁוב (comp. on Isa_7:3). נחת from נוּחַ, to rest (comp. Isa_30:30, et saepe), as רַחַת, Isa_30:24, from רוּחַ, marks, as it were, the point where the שׁוּבָה ends. For Israel has to return to the Lord and then rest in the Lord (comp. “Syria resteth on Ephraim,” Isa_7:2). This meaning seems to me more appropriate than that of “rest from one’s own self-confiding endeavor” (Del.). [Delitzsch appears to me to set forth the exact idea intended by נחת. It is hard to assume an ellipsis of the words “in the Lord” after rest.But the supplement proposed by Delitzsch is naturally suggested by the context.—D. M.]—השׁקט includes the idea of abstaining from making one’s self outwardly busy, as well as that of inward composure. Isaiah called הַשְׁקֵט (Isa_7:4) to Ahaz, who was seeking safety in external military and political measures. בטחה (ἅπ. λεγ.) forms a fine counterpart to השׁקט: the true repose rests on the confidence which casts every concern on the Lord (comp. Isa_32:17, where also השׁקט and בטח stand together. In this union of self-restraint and of yielding one’s self to the Lord would consist Israel’s strength (גבורה, Isa_3:25; Isa_11:2; Isa_28:6; Isa_30:15; Isa_33:13; Isa_36:5; in the second part only the plural גְּבוּרוֹת63:15, occurs). But alas! Israel refuses to make this self-surrender to the Lord (Isa_30:9). The people say rather: על סום ננום (Isa_30:16). The Vulgate translates: ad equos fugiemus, as in Isa_10:3. But it is apparent that the rhyme between נוּם and סוּם is designed; and for the sake of the rhyme a modification of the meaning of נוּם is allowable. The following words—we will ride upon the swift—make clear the thought which the Prophet desired to express by על סום נ׳. I therefore take נום, as many modern interpreters do, in the sense of celeriter ferri, festinare (comp. נוּע ,נוּץ, in German fliehen and fliegen [in English to flee and to fly). If the clause signified “on horses will we flee” (Drechsler), then it must be said in opposition: therefore shall ye flee on foot. We should then expect a word which would indicate slow flight. But in using this language the Israelites were thinking of meeting the enemy on swift horses. The appropriate antithetic statement which the Prophet makes is: no, horses will serve you only for flight. Parallel to “we will hasten upon horses” is the clause על־קל נרכב. Only here is קל, celer, κέλης (comp. Isa_5:26; Isa_18:2; Isa_19:1) used of the swift horse. The Israelites were warned in the Law against the horses of Egypt (Deu_17:16; comp. 1Ki_10:25; 1Ki_10:28), and our Prophet utters soon after (Isa_31:1; Isa_31:3) in plain words the same blame which we find here. [Beside the play of words in נוּם ,סוּם and תְּנוּסוּן, that in קַל and יִקַּלּוּ should not be overlooked.—D. M.] Isa_30:17 depicts the disgraceful haste and senselessness of their flight in terms that evidently allude to passages in the Law (comp. Lev_26:17; and especially Deu_32:30). [Lowth supposes that after חֲמִשָׁח there stood originally רבבה, which has dropped out of the text. But the connection with the following words would be disturbed by this proposed emendation: “at the rebuke of five shall ye flee till ye be left,” etc.Henderson properly quotes the censure of Kocher on such intermeddling with the sacred text: Quin tandem aliquando suae sibi viae certum vatem ire sinentes nostros errores corrigimus?—D.M.] This wasting, destructive flight will last till there remains of Israel only a small remnant. The smallness of this remnant is set forth by the Prophet under a double image. He compares it first with a single pine (תֹּרֶן=אֹרֶן44:14, originally the pine, then the mast made out of it, Isa_33:23; Eze_27:5), on a high mountain, which is all that remains of a thick wood; and then with a solitary signal-pole (Num_21:8 sq.; Isa_5:26; Isa_11:10; Isa_11:12, el saepe) set up on a bare height (Isa_13:2). The choice of this second image was perhaps determined by the resemblance in sound between נֵם and נוּם Isa_30:18 describes the second and last effect of the לא אביתם in Isa_30:15. The first was destruction and dispersion, the second is the delay in God’s showing favor [?] חִכָּה with לְ to wait for something, Psa_106:13; Job_3:21; Isa_8:17; Isa_64:3. The sense of delaying lies in this word in 2Ki_7:9; 2Ki_9:3. This sense, too, is not foreign to the passage, Job_32:4. The parallelism indicates that the words ירום לרחמכם must have an analogous sense. I understand רוּם here with Rashi (comp. Gesen.Thes. p. 1274) in the sense of יְתְרַהֵק, he is high, i. e., gone away upwards, because he dwells on high. He takes a high, i.e., retired, distant position in relation to pitying you (comp. מרום משׁפטיך, Psa_10:5). It must be admitted that we should expect מֵרַחֶמְכֶם instead of לְר׳. The matter is still dubious. Perhaps we should read יָדוֹם or יִדּוֹם (with Houbigant, Lowth, Ewald, Cheyne, and some Codices). That God delays in granting deliverance, is according to His justice. He must punish you. Divine justice requires this. If He should only show mercy, this would not be good for the sinner himself (Isa_26:10). It is therefore on the ground of the declarations Exo_34:6-7; Num_14:18 said of him [rather the Lord Himself says]: “I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished” (Jer_30:11; Jer_46:28). Yet from this correction in measure, which satisfies justice and love, there is a deliverance to the enjoyment of the full light of salvation for those who wait on the Lord in faith. This thought forms the transition to the second part of the chapter, which is of a consolatory character. The last clause of Isa_30:18 recalls to mind the closing words of the second Psalm. [Must we then give up using the hallowed phrase: “The Lord waiteth to be gracious” as an encouragement to come to Him, and in deference to just criticism regard these words as rather a threatening that the Lord will delay to show favor? Though one or two instances of the rare use of חכה in the sense of delaying may be adduced, yet the word more naturally marks a tending or inclining to the object of waiting. Here we have חכה followed by לְ, which forces us to give the word a sense the very opposite of deferring or delaying. Dr. Naegelsbach confesses the unsatisfactoriness of the explanation which must be given to the following parallel clause, if the first clause of the verse is to be understood of Jehovah delaying to be gracious. But, it may be asked, how is לָכֵן at the beginning of the verse to be explained, if it does not contain a threatening? I connect “therefore” with the miserable condition of Israel described in the preceding verse. This misery awakens the divine compassion. Therefore the Lord “repents Himself for His servants when He seeth that their power is gone,” Deu_32:36. He seeks opportunity to relieve the distressed because “He delighteth in mercy.” And “He is exalted above the heavens,” not to be remote, not to withdraw Himself and to withhold aid, but that “His beloved may be delivered,” Psa_108:5-6. Need I add that it is in accordance with Scripture to represent the Lord as displaying His righteousness when He fulfils His promise to show mercy, and is faithful in keeping His gracious covenant? See how in the next, the 19th, verse the Prophet illustrates what he means by the Lord waiting that He may be gracious to Israel, when He declares “He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry.”—D. M.]
Footnotes:
[11]hasten.
[12]Or, a tree bereft of branches: Or, a mast.
[13]a pine.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–17 returning and rest--turning back from your embassy to Egypt,…
returning and rest--turning back from your embassy to Egypt, and ceasing from warlike preparations.
quietness--answering to "wait for Him (God)" (Isa 30:18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v15 15-17. The same Holy One continues. On condition alone…
15-17. The same Holy One continues. On condition alone of your turning back from Egypt and resting in my commands and counsels, can you be saved.
In returning… shall ye be saved — This means change of mind from relying on Egypt and a “returning” to their duty to God.
Read full note →
In quietness — Resting in calm trust on Jehovah alone… Herein is your strength… ye said, No — Utter rejection of Jehovah’s proposition. They aspired for the glory of conquest after the manner of other nations. To the horses of Egypt, then, Go ye, was the reply; their swift steeds ye may have; not as the pursuers, but as the pursued — as the routed and overwhelmed, shall ye have them. One thousand of you shall flee from before the threatening attitude of even one, and your whole fleeing army shall scatter wide before even five of the enemy; so that because of the fewness of the number left they may be compared to a solitary beacon or tree on the top of a mountain.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 15–17. The true policy contrasted with the false.
15–17. The true policy contrasted with the false.
15 re-echoes the great ruling principle of Isaiah’s statesmanship: comp. ch. Isa_7:4; Isa_7:9, Isa_28:16. For saith read with R.V. said.
Read full note →
returning and rest … quietness and in confidence] The first expression describes the external policy, the second the attitude of mind, demanded by the occasion. On the one hand, averseness to war (Mic_2:8), renunciation of earthly help and a wise passivity in international affairs; on the other, calm reliance on Jehovah: in this last, the prophet says, they would have manifested the truest “strength” or courage.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 (15) In returning and rest . . .—The words…
(15) In returning and rest . . .—The words describe a process of conversion, but the nature of that conversion is determined by the context. In this case it was the turning from the trust in man, with all its restless excitement, to a trust in God, full of calmness and of peace.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–17 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One…
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel. As the irreligious party wished to hear no more of "the Holy One of Israel" (ver. 11), Isaiah takes care to keep him constantly before their minds. (comp. Isa_31:1) In returning and rest shall ye be saved; rather, should ye be saved, or might ye be saved. The conditions are put forward, not as now capable of being realized, but as those which might have been realized at an earlier date. The "returning" spoken of is an abandonment of the course hitherto pursued, which was reckless provocation of Assyria and trust in Egypt. The "rest" is staying upon God renunciation of trust on any arm of flesh, and simple reliance on the Divine aid, as sure to be sufficient when the need came. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength; rather, should be. The clause is a mere iteration in other words of the preceding one. Ye would not. They had practically rejected the policy of quiescence and patient waiting upon God, when they sent the embassy into Egypt.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM Ver. 15. Sources of strength.
Read full note →
"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Because, "if God be for us, who can be against us?" When the winds are in our favor, all we have to do is to set our sails. When the tides are with us, we need not fret concerning the issues of the voyage. God is on the side of the just man, the true man, the pure man. The disciples of his Son are not likely to lose his favor and reward. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
I THE DICTUM IS DIVINE. "Thus saith the Lord God." There is direct and special emphasis given to this promise. And he calls himself "the Holy One of Israel." So that the "holy people" need not fear, inasmuch as the Holy One cannot lie, cannot prosper anything opposed to holiness, cannot therefore let evil overcome goodness. What we have to look to is our state.
We need not dream that quietness will help us if it be the indifference of sloth or the quiescence of an indulgent soul in evil. But if "holiness unto the Lord" be written on our hearts and lives, God, who is the Holy One, will surely prosper us.
II THE DECLARATION IS DUAL. "Quietness and confidence." Because there, is a quietness which comes from the paralysis of fear, or from the coma of fatalism. We are to have a confidence which keeps the soul alive, and fills it with intense ardor and devotion. Nature is intensely active, but all her ministrations, as in the light and the dew, are quiet. Fussiness and loudness are no true signs of energy. Nay, rather they bespeak a superficial and shallow nature. Confidence is the child of wisdom and courage. It is not the result of ignorance, or of under-estimating the power of our foes. It takes cognizance of them all their number and their variety and their ubiquity, but then, looking up to him who is mightier than them all, it says, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
III THE STRENGTH IS WITHIN. What we need is not so much a lessening of the forces without us, but a strength in the inward man to overcome them. Take temptation. We are told that no temptation shall come but such as we are able to bear. We are not promised immunity from keen attacks. Everything depends upon the state of the soul. Temptation, to be successful, requires correspondency within. Sparks falling upon the ocean are not dangerous. Christ said, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." Take trial. Sorrow, coming to the worldly heart, breaks it down it ends in the death of hope and energy and joy. Sorrow to the Christian is an angel of discipline. The soul is sustained by the presence within us of the Man of sorrows, who can make all grace abound. So even the martyr and the confessor have been able to rejoice; even Paul and Silas sang "songs in the night." "As thy day thy strength shall be." This, then, is proven true in human history, and must be accepted as a fact. Spiritual consciousness is worthy of as much honor and to be accepted with confidence, as the boasted facts of science. The promise, therefore, is comforting to every generation. "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. W.M.S.
Quiet strength.
These beautiful words suggest
I THE FIRST DUTY OF THE ERRING. Judah had forsaken God to find a refuge in another power; the first duty of the nation, therefore, was "to return" unto the Lord, and to find its rest and its salvation in him. This is now and ever the immediate duty of all wanderers from God; both of those who have never been reconciled to him through Jesus Christ, and of those who, like the Jews on this occasion, have temporarily forsaken his service. The way of return is that of penitent confession, (Rom_10:10) of trust in the Divine promise, (Act_10:43) of surrender to the Divine will. (Act_9:6)
II THE STRENGTH OF QUIET ACTIVITY. In quietness... shall be your strength." It is a common fallacy that noise and strength are closely allied. On the contrary, it is the quiet and even the silent things which are the strong ones. The thunder startles or appalls, but it effects nothing; gunpowder deafens the ear, but it enriches no one; tempestuous rhetoric excites to momentary force of feeling, but it adds nothing to character. It is the silent forces of gravitation and electricity acting for ages without being known to exist; it is the soft sunshine and the still rains of heaven; it is the quiet words of the calm teacher finding their way to the mind and working conviction and conversion there; it is in these things, and in things like these, that real power resides. The quiet strength of a gentle mother"s purity and love, of a faithful father"s warning, of an honored teacher"s counsel and example, of an earnest Church"s testimony and work; these are the God-given agencies by which the world is to be won to righteousness and truth. Noisy, spasmodic, irregular outbursts may be auxiliaries, but they are only that.
III THE POWER OF FAITH. "In confidence shall be your strength." Sometimes we have simply to wait for God, and the best thing we can do is to "be still" and wait; our activity would only be harmful. (see Exo_14:13) So it was on this historical occasion (see Isaiah 37). So was it often with our Lord"s disciples. (Mar_4:39, 40 Act_1:4) So is it now, when in duty or in danger we have done all that we can do; then we wait for God our expectation is in him only. C. (Psa_39:7 Psa_62:5)
Quietness and confidence.
These terms are related. Quietness is the result of confidence. Confidence is the secret of quietness. The quietness thought of by the prophet was the abandonment of the disquieting and distracting search for earthly aids, as in the case of seeking help from Egypt; the confidence he commends is that patient waiting on God and waiting for God, which are the necessary expressions of our faith in him.
I A GREAT ATTAINMENT. So great, so nearly impossible for men while on the earth, that, despairingly, men have thought of it as only reached in the grave whither man hastens. Byron says, "I found in the Certosa Cemetery such a beautiful inscription; in Italian the words are absolute music: "Luigi Martini implora eterna quiete." On the restless, tossing, changing earth who can be quiet?" "The word is like an angry sea. The vessel of our life is rocked and dashed hither and thither, as blast after blast assails it, and wave after wave comes rolling on. Think what that power must be which comes into a human life in such a condition as this, and gives "quietness a quietness so deep that none can make trouble." Quietness never comes by the smoothing of circumstances. They never are smoothed for more than a very "little while." And fears of the clouds that are gathering disturb even the "little while." Quietness only comes by soul-mastery over circumstances. Hearts must win peace, and then only can they make peace.
II THE MEANS BY WHICH QUIETNESS MAY BE REACHED. Through confidence; heart-confidence heart-confidence in God. "We must keep our spirits calm and sedate by a continual dependence upon God and his power and his 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" (Matthew Henry). In this matter the principle holds that our own endeavor must go along with God"s bestowments. "Work out your own salvation... for it is God that worketh in you." Some of us make no effort to get outside the whirl of life. How can we expect God to give us quietness?
III THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE USE OF SUCH MEANS. Found in God"s gracious ways of giving his people heart-peace, and then peace in circumstances, when they have fully trusted in him. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 In returning and rest shall ye be saved
Isa_30:15
In returning and rest shall ye be saved
Read full note →
The vanity of earthly help in time of trial, and the profit of patient waiting
I.
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF ALL HUMAN DEPENDENCE. The records of the Jewish nation, which have come down to us, abundantly prove this truth.
1. These words were especially spoken to the Church of old time. We must gather therefore great instruction herefrom, in respect to the community of Gods people in all after time, and perhaps in our own days especially.
2. What is true in respect of the Church, considered as a community, is equally true in respect of all its members, if we consider them in their individual character. God teaches them separately, as He teaches the Church collectively, that upon Him they are to depend, and not upon human help. And in order that they may learn the lesson the more certainly, and that it may stay with them the more abidingly, God oftentimes brings them down into circumstances where human assistance can render them no avail.
II. THE NATURE AND THE PROFIT OF PATIENT WAITING. In this way it is that God gives the instruction which the hearts of His people want. He suffers them oftentimes to lean upon other helps, and to cast their dependence upon other agencies, than His appointed one. Then, when they have found that these have been but as a broken reed to trust to, they come back again to Him--their faith confirmed--a precious lesson learned in the time of their wandering, which henceforth they shall find in the establishment of their souls. Faith has indeed oftentimes its best exercise in the time of the heaviest trial It is made to bring forth its richest and rarest fruits. (S. Robins, M. A.)
National salvation
Let us ponder the four words which the prophet here uses to indicate in what direction their salvation lay, and upon what terms they might be sure of the Divine interposition and abiding protection.
1. Returning. Instead of going to Egypt for help, and impoverishing themselves by an alliance forbidden, senseless, and unprofitable, they might be assured of Gods forgiveness and favour by returning in brokeness of spirit to Him. The place of confession is the place of forgiveness.
2. Rest. The meaning is, or course, such a resting in God as would prove the genuineness of their return to Him. Vain was their reliance on the multitude of chariots and the strong body of cavalry to which they would point as a valuable addition to the fighting strength of Judah (Isa_31:3).
3. Quietness. How the very word rebukes the haste, excitement, and trepidation with which they had prepared for the siege of their city!
4. Confidence. (J. G. Mantle.)
In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength
The strength obtained from quietness and confidence
I. THE STATE OF MIND HERE NOTICED.
1. Consider quietness of mind. It means strength of purpose, combined with calm collectedness of thought as well as of word and act.
2. Consider confidence as another feature of true Christian character. Confidence is something more than a dead theory of belief; it is faith in exercise. And is there not something very sublime and beautiful in
confidence, as we see it linking the heart of man to the Creator and Redeemer of the world?
II. THE ADVANTAGES TO BE DERIVED FROM THE STATE OF MIND DESCRIBED.
1. The promise expressed in the words, shall be your strength, is very encouraging and full of meaning. It points to the Deity as the only source of strength.
2. The strength here spoken of is Divine, granted to us through the instrumentality of quietness and confidence
3. This strength, too, implies safety.
4. But the strength promised is conditional. (W. D. Horwood.)
The promise associated with quietness and confidence
I. THE FRAME OF MIND which God encouraged His people to have under all these circumstances--quietness and confidence.
1. Observe what the fault of Israel had been. God had said one thing, and Israel thought another. God had told them that He would be their refuge.
2. Their warrant for their confidence was the Word of God. Here is the distinction to be made between what is presumption, and what is faith.
3. Observe, next, the peculiar relation in which Israel stood to Jehovah, which made their unbelief so reprehensible. The Lord seems to bring this before their minds, as that which should cause the most stinging conviction in their hearts. Thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.
II. THE PROMISE THAT IS HERE ANNEXED. God says, In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Take, for instance, Hezekiahs history (2Ki_18:1-37). Again, remember the story of Israels deliverance, as recorded Exo_14:1-31. I might refer you to other passages, such as that beautiful narrative in Dan_3:1-30, where we are told of three believing men being cast into a burning fiery furnace. Look at their quietness and confidence, which was their strength. There is a direct promise upon this subject in Deu_32:1-52. The Lord shall judge (avenge, or come to the help of) His people, and repent Himself for His servants, when He seeth that their power is gone If you want a New Testament promise to the same effect, you have it in that word which was spoken by our Lord--Come unto Me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Do you say then, are we not to use means? There may be as much unbelief when men despise means, as there may be in their over-anxiety to use means. (W. H. Krause, M. A.)
The duty of conservatives in a time of theological conflict
1. It is our duty to recognise the inevitable margin of difference among those who substantially agree. It is only in the exact sciences that a formula has absolutely the same value for all men and for the same man at all times. But theology is not an exact science
2. It is the second duty of conservatives in a time of theological conflict to recognise the margin of error in all human views of truth. If the writers of the Bible were infallible, the readers of it are not. But have we not, it may be asked, the promise of the Paraclete to lead us into all the truth? Yes, and wonderfully has the promise been fulfilled. But here again two things should be observed.
(1) That promise was not given to any particular branch of the Church.
(2) It guarantees infallibility, to no one.
3. It is especially the duty of conservatives at the present moment in the history of the Church to discriminate between those who are seeking defend and those who are seeking to overthrow the fundamental principles of Christianity. Criticism must be met by criticism, scholarship by scholarship.
4. We should beware of testing the views in regard to the Bible, which are now more and more freely expressed, by what seem to be their tendencies.
(1) One of these is the tendency to unsettle the minds of simple and devout believers. They certainly have such a tendency, and it is much to be regretted. But the questions are here. We are not responsible for their presence. They are forced upon us.
(2) Another thing concerning which no little apprehension is entertained is that these discussions may tend to diminish the reverence which is felt for the Bible, and to weaken the faith of men in Christianity itself. The apprehension is natural. So Erasmus felt concerning what he called the noisy quarrel of religion that had broken out in his day, when (as he says) I wrote frequently and industriously to my friends, begging that they would admonish this man (Luther) to observe Christian meekness in his writings, and to do nothing to disturb the peace of the Church. The true conservative is always prone to apprehend the worst results from anything that disturbs the ancient order of ideas and practices. But how many times over has experience shown these fears to be groundless? In quietness and in confidence is our strength. Let us be honest. Let us not be afraid. If this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God. (E. B. Coe, D. D.)
Quietness and confidence
Quietness is just collectedness, repose, equanimity, freedom from excitement and boisterousness. Confidence is trust, reliance, upon God, producing, if not implying, a calm and steadfast courage.
I. Quietness and confidence are STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. They bespeak the existence of thought, reflection, judgment; they evidence self-control; they mark a nature that is not superficial; they show a superiority to influences which rouse the stormy passions of other men, and leave them the victims of blind impulse; and all this implies true strength of character.
II. Quietness and confidence are STRENGTH FOR WORK AND ACHIEVEMENT. The quiet, steady, hopeful man--other things being equal, and sometimes when they are very unequal--will prove, far away, the best workman. For one thing, such a man will lose no time in vain speculation, in daydreams about his work, in clearing away self-imposed hindrances, the result of his own hurry or forgetfulness or preoccupation. Calm and thoughtful, he will always settle to his employment at once, while another man will have to give himself time to acquire the proper mood for it. Confidence will also yield him resolution, and that will make him proof against interruption, which often defers the results of mens endeavours and chafes their temper as well. Nearly all the men who have won renown in the sphere of successful toil, whether secular or sacred, have been men of quiet energy, rather than men of powerful impulses; of steadfast reliance upon a Power above them, rather than of mere human enthusiasm. And in fact, such are the discouragements and trials that wait upon all kinds of labour, whether for ourselves or others--such the sameness, the dryness, the weariness, that only quiet confidence will enable a man to persevere. It was this that kept Moses at the head of the chosen tribes till they reached the borders of Canaan. It was this that carried St. Paul through his almost superhuman toils and exertions. It was this that sustained such men as Columbus and Newton, Washington and Wellington, and a host of others, in carrying out enterprises, differing, indeed, in their objects, but all encompassed with difficulties that would have driven weaker men to despair at their outset. And, if we would do any real work for God and our fellow men, we must seek more to possess the quietness and confidence of me text, than those more shining qualities which gain popular applause, but often leave no real impress upon a mans age and sphere.
III. Quietness and confidence are STRENGTH FOR ENDURANCE. Restlessness, impatience, distrust, do but aggravate trials, and intensify suffering. Like the struggles of a prisoner in his fetters--like the beating itself against the wires of the poor caged bird, they only serve to augment pain, and to bring on the dejection and weariness that follow fruitlessly expended energy. But to have a mind stayed on God is to take the most certain method to lighten every burden, to diminish the bitterness of every sorrow, to modify and transmute every curse into a blessing, and to make even the path of tribulation pleasant and attractive.
IV. Quietness and confidence are specially the STRENGTH OF SPIRITUAL ADVANCEMENT. All religious progress depends, primarily and efficiently, upon the grace of God. But the order of Gods working is such that this process may be very much helped or hindered by ourselves. The growth of plants and flowers depends materially upon the nature of the soil in which they are set, and upon their capacity for receiving the influences of air and sunshine, dew and shower. And it is much the same as to the growth of holy character; it is checked or advanced by our prevailing moral dispositions. Now, quietness and confidence imply a state of mind the most favourable to Divine operations. The subject may he viewed in another light. In the endeavour to live a holy life, we are all conscious of our exposure to hindrances, arising from our lapses and failures. We go on, it may be, somewhat well for a time; but a temptation overtakes us, unwatchfulness supervenes, and we fall, not into any great sin, but from the vantage ground that we thought ourselves to have reached. Now, what will be the effect of this upon a Christian person of excitable, impulsive, unsteady mind! Why, ceremony he will be discouraged and dismayed. But it will not be thus with the Christian who is marked by quietness and confidence. He will say, Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy; for though I fall, I shall rise again. (C. M. Merry.)
Rev. John Kebles motto
In Poets Corner, at Westminster Abbey, there is a medallion erected to the memory of John Keble, upon which is inscribed the prophetic utterance which was the motto of his simple, beautiful, well-ordered life: in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. (R. Hebbron.)
Faith and introspection
In quietness and confidence is our strength, but not in thinking of quietness and confidence, or grieving that we have so little of either, but in simply assuring ourselves of the ground that we have to believe that God is our Friend now and ever, and that He can be nothing else, and that the forgetfulness of this and nothing else has been our sin and our shame. (F. D. Maurice to his mother.)
The triumph of simple trust
I am to be like General Gordon in Khartoum during the last weeks of the long siege. He built himself a tower of observation, from the top of which he could command the whole country round. At dawn he slept; by day he looked to his defences, and administered justice, and cheered the spirit of his people; every night he mounted to his tower, and there, as one of his biographers says, alone with his God, a universal sentinel, he kept watch over the ramparts, and prayed for the help that never came. He could not work out the deliverance himself, but he had childlike confidence in God. And the Divine help did come--the martyrs crown, the everlasting rest, the good soldiers welcome from his Commander-in-chief. (A. Smellie, M. A.)
Settling down upon God
What can explain the confidence of Judson and many another noble missionary, working steadily on for years without any sign of visible success, but the settling down of the spirit upon God--an attitude which had, with them, become a habit of life? (J. G. Mantle.)
Working with Divine resources
I used to think I had to do it, says one of the most successful evangelists of the nineteenth century, and the result was great physical strain and exhaustion; but now I feel He has to do it through me: the responsibility His; the message His; the strength His. (J. G. Mantle.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v15 [1123] See also STRENGTH IN QUIETNESS, Isa_30:7.
CHRISTIAN QUIETNESS. [1123]
[1123] See also STRENGTH IN QUIETNESS, Isa_30:7.
Read full note →
Isa_30:15. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
The principle of our text is, that “strength,” safety, success, happiness, is the fruit of self-control and of reliance upon God.
I. It requires little observation to perceive that this is so in outward things (Ecc_2:11). Look out upon life, and see who, in the long run, are the most successful. Is it the stirring and excitable, those who are most conspicuous in its busy competitions? No: it is for the most part the tranquil and retiring; those who make no display, and have the least reliance upon their own powers. The surest gains and the most certain advancement usually attend those who go on quietly and steadily, without grasping at what is beyond their reach, or wasting their energies in unnecessary exertion. The godly who, when they cannot engage on fair terms in the rivalry of the world, keep aloof from it, preserving peace with men, and exercising faith in God, are provided for, and not unfrequently even raised to conspicuous prosperity. In “quietness and confidence” in God’s providential care “is their strength.”
II. Still more important is the application of this sacred principle to what goes on in the Christian’s soul. We can further the great work of our sanctification only by acting upon it. Excitement and self-dependence can do nothing. The work which has been begun by Divine mercy must be carried out by Divine agency. We are to take heed not to throw any obstacles in the way by our rashness or despondency. If under a feeling of the importance of the work we have to do, we set about doing it in any way of our own, we only invite disappointment, and peril the object we have in view. Only in a dutiful and patient waiting upon God can we obtain a blessing. Not all the will-worship which was ever contrived by human ingenuity can bring us nearer heaven.
III. These words should be our guide in every difficulty and emergency of the spiritual life. They bid us give place to no anxiety or alarm. Those who act upon them cannot be fanatics, nor will they despair. They will not seek what God sees fit to deny, nor even to attain to what is excellent by equivocal means. No real strength is to be got by ferment and agitation. We may not do evil that good may come; we may not distrust God’s power and willingness to help us; we may not seek help from Egypt.
IV. These words should be our guide in view of the changes and excitements of our times. Because of them many are filled with unreasonable fears. But are we to lose our patience and steadfastness because irreligious speculators and worldly religionists are in an uproar? No; let them follow their own course; let us act upon the principle of our text. Truth is safe; the Church is founded upon a rock; nothing can harm it, but our attempting to defend it with carnal weapons. Our weapons are the Word of God and prayer. In the use even of them, we must take heed what spirit we are of, that we use them not in a worldly or angry spirit. Let God do His own work. Let us not venture to step beyond ours. It is not our work to keep the world in order. With the eye of our faith fixed upon Him who with unerring wisdom and omnipotent might controls all the changes and developments of human affairs, let us quietly pursue the duties which He has assigned us, and we shall be safe, and strong, and blessed.—J. G. Dowling, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 55–75.
THE VANITY OF EARTHLY HELP IN TIME OF TRIAL, AND THE PROFIT OF PATIENT WAITING
Isa_30:15-16. For thus saith the Lord God, &c.
The history of the Jews a striking proof of human depravity. That people at once the most favoured by God, and the most obstinate in rebellion against God. Ever hankering after some new idol, and falling into some new sin. Burden of the prophets was to reprove their pride and hardness. Isaiah no exception. In this chapter there is a solemn warning, the last remonstrance previous to Sennacherib and his army coming upon them.
First, the insufficiency of all human dependence. Chronic failing of the Jews was dependence on the arm of flesh. In national difficulties they went to Egypt for horses, or turned to Assyria for help, thinking that these would insure defence. But these devices always failed. God, from the first, placed His people in such circumstances that they could not fail to see that it was not human might which delivered them. Illustrate this by the Exodus, Gideon, David, and Goliath. In all this instruction for us, God is jealous of His honour. He brings to nought the works of the wise who ignore Him, and crowns with success the efforts of the weak and foolish who trust Him.
These words were especially addressed to the Ancient Church, and consequently their teaching is for God’s people now. We are too apt to be discouraged when earthly powers are arrayed against us, and to be elated when they are for us, in both cases placing our chief dependence on them. To do this is to lose sight of the true dignity and glory of the Church of God. The Church is the Spouse of Christ; she is gifted and dowried by Him; and does not depend for success upon the State, or any form of human help. The first preachers of Christianity were poor and unlearned men, owing all their success to the power of the Holy Ghost. We must rely upon the same force.
God teaches this lesson of dependence on Himself, not only to the Church as a whole, but to individual members. Hence He sends personal affliction, domestic trials; brings men into circumstances where human aid is of no avail. They can do nothing for themselves; nothing can be done for them. Trust in God is their only resource.
This leads to the second thought, the profit of patient waiting on the Lord. “Their strength is to sit still.” “In returning and rest shall ye be saved.” In returning from endeavours to obtain help from earthly sources. God suffers us to lean on the aid of man that we may realise its futility. Faith finds its best exercise in trial; it is also strengthened and confirmed by affliction. In such conditions, too, faith produces its richest and rarest fruit. Faith must evidence itself by works. Days of sorrow and chambers of sickness bear witness to the heroism of the believer. There are no heroes like those who suffer calmly and in secret. Many such will at the last be exalted higher than even martyrs and confessors.
The secret of patient waiting is trust in God’s promises. Our waiting must be on the Lord. Such waiting disciplines and chastens us. Evil tempers are subdued. Attachment to the world is destroyed. God’s Word becomes our daily bread; His presence as the breath of our life; and gradually the character is perfected, and made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.—Rev. S. Robins, M.A., Dale: Miscellaneous Sermons, p. 415.
DIVINE SALVATION REJECTED
Isa_30:15-17. For thus saith the Lord God, &c.
The subject treated is the proposition to seek help from Egypt against the Assyrians. Here is the divine remonstrance. It illustrates the Gospel, its treatment, and the retribution that will follow.
I. THE GRACIOUS ASSURANCE.
“In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” God was the defender of His people. Their strength was to trust in Him. It is so still. He is the only Saviour. A divine salvation is—
1. Needed. As much as when Sennacherib spread his hosts before Jerusalem; as much as when the children of Israel in the wilderness needed the manna, without which they must have perished, &c.; for man is sinful; and because sinful helpless.
2. Proclaimed (Isa_45:22; Act_13:38-39). God pitied the world, and sent His Son. Jesus died. His death satisfied for sin. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost. And willing. In the ministry of the gospel He invites every sinner to come to Him.
3. Conditioned. “Return—rest.” There must be a complete change from sin; from wrong confidence to simple faith. Many examples in the Old Testament show that believing reliance on God was a surer way to deliverance than the power of man. Apostolic preaching points to faith as the link of connection between the sinner and the Saviour. The salvation is by faith, that it may be free.
II. THE FOOLISH DETERMINATION.
Isa_30:16. They had no faith. They looked to human helpers. It is the tendency of man. And thus the gospel is set aside.
1. By negligence. Because of prevailing unbelief spiritual blessings are undervalued. Sin is loved. There is little moral earnestness. Acceptance of the Gospel is postponed as if it were some disagreeable duty.
2. By contempt. The horses on which they said they would ride point to Egypt as their strength. It was contempt of God’s help. Thus their fathers had turned to the golden calf. Thus some turn to money, some to earthly pleasures, some to the Church, some to the priest for salvation. Anywhere rather than to the Saviour Himself.
3. By self-confidence. Ceremonies of religion are performed; prayers offered; obedience rendered; alms given with a view to propitiate the divine favour and obtain salvation as a debt. It rejects the truth of the Bible. It proceeds from ungodliness, pride, and unbelief.
III. THE DREADFUL CONSEQUENCE.
Isa_30:17. All your confidence will break down. You will be utterly ruined. It will be as when a great power collapses. So shall it be with sinners (Psalms 52; Jer_17:5-6). So with sinners who reject the Gospel. There will be—
1. Complete failure. You will be left in your original helplessness; at the mercy of the enemy; at the mercy of your sins.
2. Signal punishment. For the criminality is most aggravated. You have insulted God by flinging back His offered hand. Mark the means by which punishment will come. By the very things you have trusted. Mark the manner in which punishment will come. It will be utter ruin. Mark the end your punishment will serve. It will be a beacon to warn others against your fate. Instead of trusting in any other help, fly to Jesus. Believe in Him. He gives the weary rest. You shall be saved, now and for ever.—J. Rawlinson.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v15
Isaiah
‘QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE’
Read full note →
Isa 30:15.
ISRAEL always felt the difficulty of sustaining itself on the height of dependence on the unseen, spiritual power of God, and was ever oscillating between alliances with the Northern and Southern powers, linking itself with Assyria against Egypt, or with Egypt against Assyria. The effect was that whichever was victorious it suffered; it was the battleground for both, it was the prize of each in turn. The prophet’s warnings were political wisdom as truly as religious.
Here Judah is exhorted to forsake the entangling dependence on Egypt, and to trust wholly to God. They had gone away from Him in their fears. They must come back by their faith. To them the great lesson was trust in God. Through them to us the same lesson is read. The principle is far wider than this one case. It is the one rule of life for us all.
The two clauses of the text convey substantially the same idea. They are in inverted parallelism. ‘Returning and rest’ correspond to ‘quietness and confidence,’ so as that ‘rest’ answers to ‘quietness’ and ‘returning’ to ‘confidence.’ In the former clause we have the action towards God and then its consequence. In the latter we have the consequence and then the action.
I. The returning.
Men depart from God by speculative thought or by anxious care, or by sin.
To ‘return’ is just to trust.
The parallel helps us here-’returning’ is parallel with ‘confidence.’ This confidence is to be exercised especially in relation to one’s own path in life and the outward trials and difficulties which we meet, but its sphere extends far beyond these. It is a disposition of mind which covers all things. The attitude of trust, the sense of dependence, the assurance of God’s help and love are in all life the secrets of peace and power.
Am I sinful? then trust. Am I bewildered and ignorant? then trust. Am I anxious and harassed? then trust.
Note the thought, that we come back to God by simple confidence, not by preparing ourselves, not by our expiation, but only by trusting in Him.
Of course the temptations to the opposite attitude are many and great.
Note, too, that every want of confidence is a departure from God. We go away from Him not only by open sin, not only by denial of Him, but by forgetfulness, by want of faith.
The ground of this confidence is laid in our knowledge of Him, especially in our knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The exercise of this confidence is treated as voluntary. Every man is responsible for his faith.
The elements of this confidence are, as regards ourselves, our sense of want in all its various aspects; and, as regards Him, our assurance of His love, of His nearness to help.
II. Confiding nearness to God brings quiet rest.
‘Rest’ and ‘being quiet’ are treated here partly as consequences of faith, partly as duties which we are bound to strive to achieve.
1. See how confidence in God stills and quiets the soul.
The very exercise of communion with Him brings peace and rest, inasmuch as all things are then possessed which we can desire. There is a still fruition which nothing can equal and nothing destroy.
Trust in God brings rest from our own evil consciences.
It brings rest from our own plans and purposes.
Trust gives insight into the meaning of all this else unintelligible world.
It brings the calming and subduing of desires, which in their eagerness torture, in their fruition trouble, and in their disappointment madden.
It brings the gathering in of ourselves from all the disturbing diffusion of ourselves through earthly trifles.
2. Notice what this rest is not.
It does not mean the absence of causes of disturbance.
It does not mean the abnegation of forethought.
It does not mean an indolent passiveness.
3. Notice the duty of being thus quiet and resting.
How much we fail in this respect.
We have faith, but there seems some obstruction which stops it from flowing refreshingly through our lives.
We are bound to seek for its increased continuity and power in our hearts and lives.
III. Confidence and rest in God bring safety and strength.
That is true in the lowest sense of ‘saved,’ and not less true in the highest. The condition of all our salvation from temporal as well as spiritual evils lies thus in the same thing-that we trust God.
No harm comes to us when we trust, because then God is with us, and works for us, and cares for us. So all departments of life are bound together by the one law. Trust is the condition of being ‘saved.’
And not only so, but also trust is strength. God works for us; yes, but better than that, God works in us and fits us to work.
What powers we might be in the world! Trust should make us strong. To have confidence in God should bring us power to which all other power is as nothing. He who can feel that his foot is on the rock, how firm he should stand!
Best gives strength. The rest of faith doubles our forces. To be freed from anxious care makes a man much more likely to act vigorously and to judge wisely.
Stillness of soul, born of communion with God, makes us strong.
Stillness of soul, born of deliverance from our fears, makes us strong.
Here then is a golden chain-or shall we rather say a live wire?- whereof one end is bound to the Throne and the other encircles our poor hearts. Trust, so shall we be at rest and safe. Being at rest and safe, we shall be strong. If we link ourselves with God by faith, God will flash into us His mysterious energy, and His strength will be made perfect in our weakness.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 Trust in Jehovah Rewarded; Overthrow of the Lord’s Enemies
Trust in Jehovah Rewarded; Overthrow of the Lord’s Enemies
v. 15. For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest, by turning back to the Lord in true repentance and trusting in Him all alone, shall ye be saved, finding deliverance from all the dangers which beset them; in quietness and in confidence, leaving it to the Lord alone to guide and direct them in all their affairs, shall be your strength, that being the secret of the power possessed by all believers; and ye would not, the unbelievers, by their own stubbornness, deprive themselves of the great blessings to be found in association with the Lord through His Word.
Read full note →
v. 16. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses, their boast being that they could not wait to meet the enemy on swift horses; therefore shall ye flee; namely, in trying to escape the victorious onslaught of their adversaries; and, We will ride upon the swift, anxious to risk the battle on run-tiers, horses noted for their speed; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift, the Lord giving the victory to their enemies.
v. 17. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee, overcome by terror, in disgraceful flight, Cf Lev 26:8; Deu 32:30, till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, a solitary signal staff, and as an ensign on an hill, only a tiny remnant being left after the Lord has carried out His punishment.
v. 18. And therefore will the Lord wait, the miserable condition of Israel causing Him to turn toward His people once more, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, withdrawing Himself, removing, hiding behind the veil of His holiness and majesty, for the time being, as it were, that He may have mercy upon you; for the Lord is a God of judgment, He is bound to execute justice. Blessed are all they that wait for Him, for the time when He once more reveals His mercy. In a little wrath God hides His face for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will He have mercy on us. Isa 54:8. Cf Jer 30:11; Jer 46:28.
v. 19. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, the Church of God being preserved in the midst of all dangers and enemies; thou shalt weep no more, the spiritual Israel, the people of the Lord, should not give way to excessive mourning; He, Jehovah, will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry, the repentant cry for mercy; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee, with an act of mercy.
v. 20. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, of distress, and the water of affliction, such as His merciful chastisement often lays upon His children, Rom 8:18-25, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers, who would no longer find it necessary to hide, as in the days of Ahab of Israel or of Ahaz of Judah;
v. 21. and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, the guiding voice of God, through His servants, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, this being a word of warning, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left, thus keeping them in the paths of righteousness.
v. 22. Ye shall defile also, as a result of the good teaching of the prophets, the covering of thy graven images of silver, the plating used to cover the body of their images, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold; thou shalt cast them away, scattering them, as a menstruous cloth, as something filthy and loathsome; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence, throwing it out as trash.
v. 23. Then, after such evidences of repentance on the part of the people, shall He give the rain of thy seed, so that the grain which had been sown would have a good stand, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, of everything that the earth produces for the food of man, and it shall be fat and plenteous, full of rich nourishment. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures, in meadows the size and richness of which insure abundant pasturage.
v. 24. The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground, that is, which plow and till the farmland, shall eat clean provender, a mash of grain and chopped herbs, made more palatable by the addition of salt, the superior quality of the straw used being emphasized by the words, which hath been winnowed with the shovel, a large, flat shovel for the larger legumes and grains, and with the fan, a five-or six-pronged fork used for tossing up the grain and thus cleaning it of chaff.
v. 25. And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every high hill, barren as they otherwise were, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the punishment of God will strike His enemies, when the towers fall, namely, those of all fortifications of men erected over against the city of God.
v. 26. Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, equal to it in brightness, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day, the time to which the entire Old Testament looked forward, that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, the calamity which had struck them on account of their sins, and healeth the stroke of their wound. The entire passage pictures the spiritual splendor of the Messianic era.
v. 27. Behold, the name of the Lord, revealing His holy and righteous nature and His almighty majesty for the purpose of judgment, cometh from far, like an immense storm or a devastating prairie fire arising above the horizon, burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy, settling down like a heavy pall of smoke upon the entire landscape; his lips are full of indignation and his tongue as a devouring fire;
v. 28. and His breath, as an overflowing stream, with all the impetous force of a spring fresher, shall reach to the midst of the neck, so that only his head extends above the division of waters, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity, the result of the Lord’s sifting being nothingness, destruction; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err, the reference being either to wild horses, which must be kept in subjection with force, or to the manner in which prisoners were sometimes fettered, the prisoners in either case being forced into destruction, as a just punishment upon them. Over against this destruction we have the deliverance of Israel, the people of God.
v. 29. Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept, the solemn festal hymn of the Passover Festival, and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. In other words, Israel, the Church of God, is in the midst of its glorious worship, while round about it Jehovah is carrying out His punishment upon the adversaries of His people. "God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right early. " Psa 46:5.
v. 30. And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice, raised in a majestic battle-cry, to be heard and shall show the lighting down of His arm, as it descends upon the scoffers, with the indignation of His anger and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, as of that accompanying a cloudburst, and tempest, a heavy rain, and hail-stones, all the destructive forces of nature.
v. 31. For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod, this destruction of the world-power being a type of the punishment which strikes all the enemies of the Church of God.
v. 32. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, where the avenging rod, as decreed by God, will strike, which the Lord shall lay upon him, in punishing and destroying the world-power, it shall be with tabrets and harps, with timbrels and zithers, that is, while the people of God rejoice over their deliverance; and in battles of shaking will He fight with it, with uplifted arm Jehovah will wage war.
v. 33. For Tophet is ordained of old, a dreadful altar being prepared for the slaughter; yea, for the king it is prepared, for the ruler of the world power; He, Jehovah, hath made it deep and large, so that there is room for many victims upon the place of slaughter; the pile thereof is fire and much wood, ready for the great sacrifice; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it, in a sudden and terrible destruction, in the last great act of the Lord’s avenging punishment. The believers are secure in the hands of God, though all the powers of earth and hell be arrayed against them.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17 Holy One of Israel
Holy One of Israel
See how you translated this name in Isaiah 1:4.
Read full note →
In returning and resting you will be saved
Repenting is spoken of as if it were physically returning to Yahweh. This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will save you from your enemies if you will repent and rest knowing that I will take care of you" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
resting
It is implied that the people rest because they trust that Yahweh will take care of them. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
in quietness and in trust will be your strength
Quietness here refers to not being anxious and worried. It is implied that they are not worried because they trust in Yahweh. AT: "You will be strong if you are quiet and trust in me" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
we will flee on horses
Apparently these are horses that the people of Judah received from the Egyptians. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Lord Yahweh
Holy One
Israel
rest
save
trust
horse
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–17 30:15 The people of Judah needed to repent of…
30:15 The people of Judah needed to repent of their sinful ways (30:12-14), returning to the Lord, in order to be rescued. • Trust in the Lord would bring quietness and confidence, unlike their frantic negotiations with Egypt.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.