Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”
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Isaiah 30:18-21 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, “Go away!”
Parallel Translations
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Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.
For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you.
Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won’t be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers;
and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”
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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.
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Show all 3 translations
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And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have compassion upon you; for the LORD is a God of justice, happy are all they that wait for Him.
For, O people that dwellest in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt weep no more; He will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry, when He shall hear, He will answer thee.
And though the Lord give you sparing bread and scant water, yet shall not thy Teacher hide Himself any more, but thine eyes shall see thy Teacher;
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying: 'This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.'
Cross-references (124)
- Psalms 32:8 (v21) I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 (v21) Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your…
- Isaiah 58:11 (v21) and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and…
- Isaiah 42:16 (v21) I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before…
- Deuteronomy 5:32 (v21) You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left.
Show all 100 cross-references
- Isaiah 35:8-9 (v21) A highway will be there, a road, and it will be called “The Holy Way”. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who…
- Psalms 143:8-10 (v21) Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my…
- Jeremiah 6:16 (v21) Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for…
- Isaiah 48:17 (v21) Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you…
- Joshua 1:7 (v21) Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn…
- Psalms 25:8-9 (v21) Good and upright is Yahweh, therefore he will instruct sinners in the way. He will guide the humble in justice. He will teach the humble…
- Proverbs 4:27 (v21) Don’t turn to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil.
- Isaiah 29:24 (v21) They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction.”
- 2 Kings 22:2 (v21) He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and walked in all the way of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to…
- Joshua 23:6 (v21) “Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn away from it to the…
- 1 John 2:27 (v21) As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing…
- 1 John 2:20 (v21) You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
- Lamentations 3:25-26 (v18) Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation…
- 2 Peter 3:9 (v18) The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but…
- Proverbs 16:20 (v18) He who heeds the Word finds prosperity. Whoever trusts in Yahweh is blessed.
- Isaiah 25:9 (v18) It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for…
- Isaiah 8:17 (v18) I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
- Psalms 34:8 (v18) Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
- Isaiah 60:20 (v19) Your sun will not go down any more, nor will your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your…
- Psalms 50:15 (v19) Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
- Isaiah 65:24 (v19) It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
- Psalms 27:14 (v18) Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
- Isaiah 55:8 (v18) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh.
- Luke 15:20 (v18) “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on…
- 2 Peter 3:15 (v18) Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you,
- Isaiah 58:9 (v19) Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke,…
- Matthew 7:7-11 (v19) “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks…
- Psalms 28:6-7 (v18) Blessed be Yahweh, because he has heard the voice of my petitions. Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I…
- Psalms 40:1-3 (v18) I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set…
- Psalms 46:10-11 (v18) “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Yahweh of Armies is with us. The…
- Isaiah 33:5 (v18) Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
- 1 John 5:14-15 (v19) This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he…
- Psalms 62:5-8 (v18) My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be…
- Jeremiah 17:7 (v18) “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.
- Revelation 7:17 (v19) for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away…
- 1 Kings 22:27 (v20) Say, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in…
- Psalms 80:5 (v20) You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure.
- Isaiah 25:8 (v19) He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away…
- Luke 6:21 (v19) Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
- Romans 9:22 (v18) What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
- Psalms 62:1-2 (v18) My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him. He alone is my rock, my salvation, and my fortress. I will never be greatly shaken.
- Jeremiah 33:3 (v19) ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’
- Amos 8:11-12 (v20) Behold, the days come,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of…
- Acts 2:33-39 (v18) Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out…
- Isaiah 65:9 (v19) I will bring offspring out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains. My chosen will inherit it, and my servants will dwell…
- Jeremiah 31:18-20 (v18) “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be…
- Matthew 15:22-28 (v18) Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is…
- Romans 8:25-28 (v18) But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we…
- James 5:11 (v18) Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the…
- 1 Samuel 2:3 (v18) “Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly. Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge. By him actions…
- Psalms 76:5-10 (v18) Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands. At your rebuke, God of Jacob,…
- Psalms 127:2 (v20) It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
- Isaiah 61:1-3 (v19) The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken…
- Jeremiah 31:12 (v19) They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to…
- Jeremiah 50:4-5 (v19) “In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on…
- Zechariah 1:16-17 (v19) Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall…
- Acts 14:22 (v20) strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into…
- Ephesians 1:20-23 (v18) which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all…
- Ephesians 3:20 (v19) Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
- Isaiah 10:24 (v19) Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, says “My people who dwell in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the…
- Isaiah 33:10-12 (v18) “Now I will arise,” says Yahweh. “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted. You will conceive chaff. You will give birth to…
- Isaiah 40:1-2 (v19) “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that…
- Jeremiah 30:12 (v19) For Yahweh says, “Your hurt is incurable. Your wound is grievous.
- Jeremiah 31:6 (v19) For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise! Let’s go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’ ”
- Jeremiah 50:28 (v19) Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of his…
- Ezekiel 36:37 (v19) “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “For this, moreover, I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with…
- Micah 4:9 (v19) Now why do you cry out aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pains have taken hold of you as of a woman in…
- Luke 2:25 (v18) Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and…
- Romans 11:26 (v19) and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, “There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from…
- Revelation 5:4 (v19) Then I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look in it.
- Psalms 74:9 (v20) We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
- Isaiah 12:3-6 (v19) Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation. In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name.…
- Isaiah 26:7-8 (v18) The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level. Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we…
- Isaiah 35:10 (v19) Then Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain…
- Isaiah 46:13 (v19) I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
- Isaiah 54:6-14 (v19) For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off,” says your God. “For a…
- Jeremiah 29:11-13 (v19) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. You…
- Jeremiah 31:9 (v19) They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which…
- Jeremiah 51:10 (v19) ‘Yahweh has produced our righteousness: come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.’
- Ezekiel 20:40 (v19) For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh, “there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall…
- Ezekiel 37:25-28 (v19) They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their…
- Zephaniah 3:14-20 (v19) Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. Yahweh has taken away your…
- Zechariah 2:4-7 (v19) and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of…
- Zechariah 8:3-8 (v19) Yahweh says: “I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the…
- Malachi 2:17 (v18) You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in…
- Luke 24:26-27 (v18) Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to…
- Acts 5:31 (v18) God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.
- Romans 5:20 (v18) The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
- Ephesians 1:8 (v18) which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
- Exodus 34:6 (v18) Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness…
- Deuteronomy 16:3 (v20) You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out…
- Psalms 2:12 (v18) Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who…
- Psalms 30:5 (v20) For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Psalms 102:9 (v20) For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,
- Isaiah 5:16 (v18) but Yahweh of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (124 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 Not only in punishing, but in using moderation in…
Not only in punishing, but in using moderation in the same, as Jer. 10:24 and 30:11.
He commendeth the great mercies of God, who with patience waiteth to call sinners to repentance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–21 Isa 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that…
Isa 30:18 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.
Ver. 18. And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you.] This is a wonderful condescension - i.e., God tarrieth looking for thee to show thee mercy, as Mr Bradford {a} rendereth it; if thou wert ripe, he is ready. But never think that he will lay cordials upon full and foul stomachs, saith another grave divine; {b} that he will scarf thy bones before they be set, and lap up thy sores before they be searched. God chooseth the fittest times to hear and help his suppliants, {Isa 49:8 Psa 69:13} opportunitatem opitulandi expectat. Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. {Jas 5:7} Let your equanimity, your longanimity, {patience} be known to all men; the Lord is at hand. {Php 4:5}
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And therefore will he be exalted.] He will get up to his tribunal or throne of grace, that if ye repent ye may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. {Heb 4:16}
For the Lord is a God of judgment,] i.e., He is a wise God, that knoweth best when to deal forth his favours, and where to place his benefits.
Blessed are all they that wait for him.] Wait his leisure, et non cerebri sui sectantur consilia, and seek not to get off by indirect courses. Those, though they should die in a waiting condition, yet cannot but be happy, because God hath said here, "Blessed are all they that wait for him."
{a} Serm. of Repent.
{b} Dr Harris.
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 vv18–21 Therefore; because of your general destruction and great misery;…
Therefore; because of your general destruction and great misery; which is frequently mentioned in Scripture as a motive to God’s mercy, as Deu 32:36, and in many other places, as hath been oft observed already. But some rendered this Hebrew particle yet, or notwithstanding, as it is supposed to signify, Isa 51:21; Jer 16:14; Eze 39:25; Hos 2:14.
Wait; patiently expect your repentance, and stop the course of his judicial proceedings against you, that you may have an opportunity of making your peace with him, and of preventing your utter ruin.
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Will he be exalted; he will lift up and bestir himself, and will work gloriously in your behalf, as this phrase is used, Psa 21:13; 46:10; Isa 33:10, and oft elsewhere; and as the following verses explain it.
Is a God of judgment; who carrieth himself towards his people (for of them only he speaks in this place) not with furious passion, but with judgment and discretion, or with equity and moderation; for judgment is oft opposed to fury and rigorous justice, as Psa 112:5; Jer 10:24; 30:11. Blessed are all they that wait for him; this waiting upon God, in his way, with faith and patience, is a surer way to your safety and happiness, than seeking to Egypt, or any other carnal remedies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v18 The closing words of the foregoing paragraph (You shall…
The closing words of the foregoing paragraph (You shall be left as a beacon upon a mountain) some understand as a promise that a remnant of them should be reserved as monuments of mercy; and here the prophet tells them what good times should succeed these calamities. Or the first words in this paragraph may be read by way of antithesis, Notwithstanding this, yet will the Lord wait that he may be gracious. The prophet, having shown that those who made Egypt their confidence would be ashamed of it, here shows that those who sat still and made God alone their confidence would have the comfort of it. It is matter of comfort to the people of God, when the times are very bad, that all will be well yet, well with those that fear God, when we say to the wicked, It shall be ill with you.
I. God will be gracious to them and will have mercy on them. This is the foundation of all good. If we find favour with God, and he have mercy upon us, we shall have comfort according to the time that we have been afflicted.
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1. The mercy in store for them is very affectingly expressed. (1.) "He will wait to be gracious (Isa 30:18); he will wait till you return to him and seek his face, and then he will be ready to meet you with mercy. He will wait, that he may do it in the best and fittest time, when it will be most for his glory, when it will come to you with the most pleasing surprise. He will continually follow you with his favours, and not let slip any opportunity of being gracious to you." (2.) "He will stir up himself to deliver you, will be exalted, will be raised up out of his holy habitation (Zac 2:13), that he may appear for you in more than ordinary instances of power and goodness; and thus he will be exalted, that is, he will glorify his own name. This is what he aims at in having mercy on his people." (3.) He will be very gracious (Isa 30:19), and this in answer to prayer, which makes his kindness doubly kind: "He will be gracious to thee, at the voice of thy cry, the cry of thy necessity, when that is most urgent - the cry of thy prayer, when that is most fervent. When he shall hear it, there needs no more; at the first word he will answer thee, and say, Here I am." Herein he is very gracious indeed. In particular, [1.] Those who were disturbed in the possession of their estates shall again enjoy them quietly. When the danger is over the people shall dwell in Zion, at Jerusalem, as they used to do; they shall dwell safely, free from the fear of evil. [2.] Those who were all in tears shall have cause to rejoice, and shall weep no more; and those who dwell in Zion, the holy city, will find enough there to wipe away tears from their eyes.
2. This is grounded upon two great truths: (1.) That the Lord is a God of judgment; he is both wise and just in all the disposals of his providence, true to his word and tender of his people. If he correct his children, it is with judgment (Jer 10:24), with moderation and discretion, considering their frame. We think we may safely refer ourselves to a man of judgment; and shall we not commit our way to a God of judgment? (2.) That therefore all those are blessed who wait for him, who not only wait on him with their prayers, but wait for him with their hopes, who will not take any indirect course to extricate themselves out of their straits, or anticipate their deliverance, but patiently expect God's appearances for them in his own way and time. Because God is infinitely wise, those are truly happy who refer their cause to him.
II. They shall not again know the want of the means of grace, Isa 30:20, Isa 30:21. Here, 1. It is supposed that they might be brought into straits and troubles after this deliverance was wrought for them. It was promised (Isa 30:19), that they should weep no more and that God would be gracious to them; and yet here it is taken for granted that God may give them the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, prisoners' fare (Kg1 22:27), coarse and sorry food, such as the poor use. When one trouble is over we know not how soon another may succeed; and we may have an interest in the favour of God, and such consolations as are sufficient to prohibit weeping, and yet may have bread of adversity given us to eat and water of affliction to drink. Let us therefore not judge of love or hatred by what is before us. 2. It is promised that their eyes should see their teachers, that is, that they should have faithful teachers among them, and should have hearts to regard them and not slight them as they had done; and then they might the better be reconciled to the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. It was a common saying among the old Puritans, Brown bread and the gospel are good fare. A famine of bread is not so great a judgment as a famine of the word of God, Amo 8:11, Amo 8:12. It seems that their teachers had been removed into corners (probably being forced to shift for their safety in the reign of Ahaz), but it shall be so no more. Veritas non quaerit angulos - Truth seeks no corners for concealment. But the teachers of truth may sometimes be driven into corners for shelter; and it goes ill with the church when it is so, when the woman with her crown of twelve stars is forced to flee into the wilderness (Rev 12:6), when the prophets are hidden by fifty in a cave, Kg1 18:4. But God will find a time to call the teachers out of their corners again, and to replace them in their solemn assemblies, which shall see their own teachers, the eyes of all the synagogue being fastened on them, Luk 4:20. And it will be the more pleasing because of the restraint they have been for some time under, as light out of darkness, as life from the dead. To all that love God and their own souls this return of faithful teachers out of their corners, especially with a promise that they shall not be removed into corners any more, is the most acceptable part of any deliverance, and has comfort enough in it to sweeten even the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. But this is not all: 3. It is promised that they shall have the benefit, not only of the public ministry, but of private and particular admonition and advice (Isa 30:21): "Thy ears shall hear a word behind thee, calling after thee as a man calls after a traveller that he sees going out of his road." Observe, (1.) Whence this word shall come - from behind thee, from some one whom thou dost not see, but who sees thee. "Thy eyes see thy teachers; but this is a teacher out of sight, it is thy own conscience, which shall now by the grace of God be awakened to do its office." (2.) What the word shall be: "This is the way, walk you in it. When thou art doubting, conscience shall direct thee to the way of duty; when thou art dull and trifling, conscience shall quicken thee in that way." As God has not left himself without witness, so he has not left us without guides to show us our way. (3.) The seasonableness of this word: It shall come when you turn to the right hand or to the left. We are very apt to miss our way; there are turnings on both hands, and those so tracked and seemingly straight that they may easily be mistaken for the right way. There are right-hand and left-hand errors, extremes on each side virtue; the tempter is busy courting us into the by-paths. It is happy then if by the particular counsels of a faithful minister or friend, or the checks of conscience and the strivings of God's Spirit, we be set right and prevented from going wrong. (4.) The success of this word: "It shall not only be spoken, but thy ears shall hear it; whereas God has formerly spoken once, yea, twice, and thou hast not perceived it (Job 33:14), now thou shalt listen attentively to these secret whispers, and hear them with an obedient ear." If God gives us not only the word, but the hearing ear, not only the means of grace, but a heart to make a good use of those means, we have reason to say, He is very gracious to us, and reason to hope he has yet further mercy in store for us.
III. They shall be cured of their idolatry, shall fall out with their idols, and never be reconciled to them again, Isa 30:22. The deliverance God shall work for them shall convince them that it is their interest, as well as duty, to serve him only; and they shall own that, as their trouble was brought upon them for their idolatries, so it was removed upon condition that they should not return to them. This is also the good effect of their seeing their teachers and hearing the word behind them; by this it shall appear that they are the better for the means of grace they enjoy - they shall break off from their best-beloved sin. Observe, 1. How foolishly mad they had formerly been upon their idols, in the day of their apostasy. Idolaters are said to be mad upon their idols (Jer 50:38), doatingly fond of them. They had graven images of silver, and molten images of gold, and, though gold needs no painting, they had coverings and ornaments on these; they spared no cost in doing honour to their idols. 2. How wisely mad (if I may so speak) they now were at their idols, what a holy indignation they conceived against them in the day of their repentance. They not only degraded their images, but defaced them, not only defaced them, but defiled them; they not only spoiled the shape of them, but in a pious fury threw away the gold and silver they were made of, though otherwise valuable and convertible to a good use. They could not find in their hearts to make any vessel of honour of them. The rich clothes wherewith their images were dressed up they cast away as a filthy cloth which rendered those that touched it unclean until the evening, Lev 15:23. Note, To all true penitents sin has become very odious; they loathe it, and loathe themselves because of it; they cast it away to the dunghill, the fittest place for it, nay, to the cross, for they crucify the flesh; their cry against it is, Crucify it, crucify it. They say unto it, Abi hinc in malam rem - Get thee hence. They are resolved never to harbour it any more. They put as far from as they can all the occasions of sin and temptations to it, though they are as a right eye or a right hand, and protest against it as Ephraim did (Hos 14:8), What have I to do any more with idols? Probably this was fulfilled in many particular persons, who, by the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib's army, were convinced of the folly of their idolatry and forsook it. It was fulfilled in the body of the Jewish nation at their return from their captivity in Babylon, for they abhorred idols ever after; and it is accomplished daily in the conversion of souls, by the power of divine grace, from spiritual idolatry to the fear and love of God. Those that join themselves to the Lord must abandon every sin, and say unto it, Get thee hence.
IV. God will then give them plenty of all good things. When he gives them their teachers, and they give him their hearts, so that they begin to seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, then all other things shall be added to them Mat 6:33. And when the people are brought to praise God then shall the earth yield her increase, and with it God, even our own God, shall bless us, Psa 67:5, Psa 67:6. So it follows here: "When you shall have abandoned your idols, then shall God give the rain of your seed," Isa 30:23. When we return to God in a way of duty he will meet us with his favours. 1. God will give you rain of your seed, rain to water the seed you sow, just at the time that it calls for it, as much as it needs and no more. Observe, How man's industry and God's blessing concur to the good things we enjoy relating to the life that now is: Thou shalt sow the ground, that is thy part, and then God will give the rain of thy seed, that is his part. It is so in spiritual fruit; we must take pains with our hearts and then wait on God for his grace. 2. The increase of the earth shall be rich and good, and every thing the best of the kind; it shall be fat and fat, very fat and very good, fat and plenteous (so we read it), good and enough of it. Your land shall be Canaan indeed; it was remarkably so after the defeat of Sennacherib, by the special blessing of God, Isa 37:30. God would thus repair the losses they sustained by that devastation. 3. Not only the tillage, but the pasture-ground should be remarkably fruitful: The cattle shall feed in large pastures; those that are at grass shall have room enough, and the oxen and asses that are kept up for use, to ear the ground, which must be the better fed for their being worked, shall eat clean provender. The corn shall not be given them in the chaff as usual, to make it go the further, but they shall have good clean corn fit for man's use, being winnowed with the fan. The brute-creatures shall share in the abundance; it is fit they should, for they groan under the burden of the curse which man's sin has brought upon the earth. 4. Even the tops of the mountains, that used to be barren, shall be so well watered with the rain of heaven that there shall be rivers and streams there, and running down thence to the valleys (Isa 30:25), and this in the day of the great slaughter that should be made by the angel in the camp of the Assyrians, when the towers and batteries they had erected for the carrying on of the siege of Jerusalem, the army being slain, should fall of course. It is probable that this was fulfilled in the letter of it, and that about the same time that that army was cut off there were extraordinary rains in mercy to the land.
V. The effect of all this should be extraordinary comfort and joy to the people of God, Isa 30:26. Light shall increase; that is, knowledge shall increase (when the prophecies are accomplished they shall be fully understood) or rather triumph shall: the light of the joy that is sown for the righteous shall now come up with a great increase. The light of the moon shall become as bright and as strong as that of the sun, and that of the sun shall increase proportionably and be as the light of seven days; every one shall be much more cheerful and appear much more pleasant than usual. There shall be a high spring-tide of joy in Judah and Jerusalem, upon occasion of the ruin of the Assyrian army, when the Lord binds up the breach of his people, not only saves them from being further wounded, but heals the wounds that have been given them by this invasion and makes up all their losses. The great distress they were reduced to, their despair of relief, and the suddenness of their deliverance, would much augment their joy. This is not unfitly applied by many to the light which the gospel brought into the world to those that sat in darkness, which has far exceeded the Old Testament light as that of the sun does that of the moon, and which proclaims healing to the broken-hearted, and the binding up of their wounds.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–21 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may…
And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you,.... Or "yet" (q), or "nevertheless" though such an utter destruction shall be made, there are a few that the Lord has a good will unto, and therefore waits till the set time comes to arise and have mercy on them; he has taken up thoughts and resolutions of grace and favour concerning them, and has fixed the time when he will show it; and he is, as it were, panting and longing after it, as the word (r) used signifies, as some have observed, until it is up; he waits for the fittest and most proper time to show mercy; when things are brought to the worst, to the greatest extremity, and when his people are brought to a sense of their danger, and of their sins, and to repentance for them, and to see their need of his help and salvation, and to implore it, and to depend upon him for it; then, in the mount of difficulty, and in the most seasonable time, does the Lord appear; and hereby the mercy is the sweeter to them, and his grace is the more magnified towards them: so he waits to be gracious to his people in conversion; he is gracious before; he is of a gracious disposition; he is inclined, nay, resolved, to show favour to them; yea, he has done various acts of grace before, such as their election in Christ, the provision of a Saviour for them in the covenant, putting all grace into his hands for them, the redemption of them by him, and the adoption of them into his family; but in conversion there is an open exhibition and display of the grace of God; much grace is then shown in applying pardoning grace, a justifying righteousness, and salvation by Christ unto them; by many love visits, and by opening the treasures of his grace unto them, as well as by implanting much grace in them, as faith, hope, love, and every other: now there is a fixed time for all this; and, until that time comes, the Lord waits to be gracious; this is his longsuffering towards his elect, which issues in their salvation; he does not cut them off in their sins; he bears much and long with them, and, as it were, longs till the time comes to unbosom himself to them, and bestow his favours on them; and so, after conversion, he waits and observes the fittest time to deliver them out of afflictions, temptations, &c.
and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you; or, "will exalt himself" (s); raise up himself, who seemed to be asleep, and careless of his people, and rise up against their enemies, and in defence of them, which is showing mercy to them; or be exalted on his throne of grace, that he may give, and they may find, grace and mercy to help them in time of need: or, "he will exalt", or "lift up"; that is, his Son; so he was lifted up on the cross, that his people might be drawn after him, and saved by him; and he has also exalted him at his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of sins; and he is now lifted up as the serpent on the pole in the ministry of the word, that whosoever believes in him should have everlasting life; so that these exaltations, or lifting up, are in order to have mercy; and his waiting to be gracious is by the Jews (t) interpreted of his desire after the Messiah's coming, and his waiting for that: or, "he will be exalted, in", or "by, having mercy on you" (u); the glory of God is displayed in showing mercy to his people; they are engaged and influenced hereby to glorify God for his mercy, both in things temporal and spiritual. The word in the Arabic language, as Schultens observes (w), signifies to "desire" (x); and this will make the words run smoothly in agreement with the former; "and therefore", or "nevertheless, will he desire to have mercy on you"; which denotes the Lord's good will to his people, and how much his heart, and the desires of it, are towards them:
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for the Lord is a God of judgment; or, "though he is a God of judgment" (y), of strict justice, judges in the earth, and will judge the world in righteousness; see Mal 2:17 his grace, mercy, and justice, agree together, in redemption justification, pardon of sin, and salvation: or of moderation, clemency, and grace to correct his people; he corrects them not in wrath and hot displeasure, but in judgment, in a tender and fatherly way and manner, Jer 10:24 and he is a God of "discretion", Psa 112:5 of wisdom and knowledge, and does all things after the counsel of his will; he has fixed upon the proper time, and he knows which is the best time, and he waits that time to show grace and mercy to his people:
blessed are all they that wait for him; that do not run here and there for help, and are tumultuous, restless, and impatient, but wait God's own time to do them good; that wait for his gracious presence, and the discoveries of his love, for the performance of his promises, for answers of prayer, for all blessings temporal and spiritual, and for eternal glory and happiness; these are happy persons, all and every one of them; they enjoy much now, and it can not be said, nor conceived, what God has prepared for them hereafter; see Isa 49:23.
(q) "nihilominus, tamen"; so Noldius, Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 507. in the same way Gataker. (r) "significat anhelat, vel inhiat", Forerius. (s) "et propterea exaltabit se", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "elaturus est se", Junius & Tremellius. (t) Gloss, in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 2. (u) "dum miserabitur vestri"; so some in Vatablus. (w) Animadv. Philolog. in Job. p. 56. (x) "mavit rem", Golius, col. 922. "quaesivit, expetivit, voluit", Castel. col. 3551. (y) "quamvis", so this particle is often used; see Noldius, p. 399.
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 vv18, 19, 21 Wait - Patiently expect your repentance. Exalted - He…
Wait - Patiently expect your repentance. Exalted - He will work gloriously. Judgment - Or mercy. That wait - In his way, with faith and patience.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18–21 Verse 18. And therefore will he be exalted -…
Verse 18. And therefore will he be exalted - "Even for this shall he expect in silence"] For ירום yarum, he shall be exalted, which belongs not to this place, Houbigant reads ידום yadum, he shall be silent: and so it seems to be in a MS. Another MS. instead of it reads ישוב yashub, he shall return. The mistakes occasioned by the similitude of the letters ד daleth and ר resh are very frequent, as the reader may have already observed.
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 vv18–20 Isa 30:18. And therefore — Because of your great…
Isa 30:18. And therefore — Because of your great misery: for the misery of God’s people is frequently mentioned in Scripture as a motive to God’s mercy: or, notwithstanding, as לכן may be rendered; will the Lord wait — Patiently expect your repentance, and stop the course of his proceedings against you, that you may have an opportunity of making your peace with him, and of preventing your utter ruin. He will be exalted — He will lift up himself, and exert his power gloriously in your behalf; that he may have mercy upon you — That he may show his mercy in your deliverance. For the Lord is a God of judgment — That is, he is wise and just in all the dispensations of his providence, acting toward his people with equity and moderation. Blessed are all they that wait for him — In the way of their duty, with faith and patience; that will not take any indirect course to extricate themselves out of their straits, but patiently expect God to appear for them in his own way and time: which is a much surer way to safety and happiness than having recourse to mere human aids, and placing confidence in the arm of flesh.
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 vv18–21 And therefore - The sense of the words rendered…
And therefore - The sense of the words rendered ‘and therefore,’ may be better expressed by the phrase, ‘yet moreover,’ meaning, that notwithstanding their sins, and the necessity of punishing them, Yahweh would be longsuffering, and would yet bring the nation to repentance.
And therefore will he be exalted - Lowth renders this in accordance with a conjecture of Houbigant, ‘Shall he expect in silence, by reading ידוּם yâdûm instead of ירוּם yârûm. But there is no authority for this except a single MS. Rosenmuller supposes it means, in accordance with the interpretation of Jarchi, that he would delay, that is, that his mercy would be “long” or his judgment remote. But the sense seems to be, that God would be so forbearing that his character would be “exalted,” that is, that people would have more elevated conceptions of his truth, mercy, and faithfulness.
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For the Lord is a God of judgment - He will do what is right. He will spare the nation still; and yet establish among them the true religion, and they shall flourish.
Blessed are all they that wait for him - This seems to have been recorded to encourage them, when the threatened calamities should come upon them, to put their confidence in God, and to trust that he would yet appear and restore the nation to himself. This verse is the commencement of the annunciation of the blessings which should yet be conferred on them. The description of these blessings is continued to Isa 30:26.
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 vv18–20 Wait for him. Having convinced Ezechias that he ought…
Wait for him. Having convinced Ezechias that he ought to trust in on other, the Lord rescues him from the hand of Sennacherib. (Calmet)
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 v19 19 For 14the people shall dwell in Zion at…
4. THE SANCTIFICATION AND SALVATION OF THE PEOPLE
Isa_30:19-26
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19 For 14the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem:
Thou shalt weep no more:
He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry;
When he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of 15affliction,
Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more,
But thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,
This is the way, walk ye in it,
When ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
22 Ye shall defile also the covering of 16thy graven images of silver,
And the ornament of thy molten images of gold:
Thou shalt 17cast them away as a menstruous cloth;
Thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed,
That thou shalt sow the ground withal;
And bread of the increase of the earth,
And it shall be 18fat and plenteous:
In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground
Shall eat 1920clean provender,
Which hath been winnowed with the 21shovel and with the fan.
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain and upon every 22high hill,
Rivers and streams of waters
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun shall be seven-fold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people,
And healeth the stroke of their wound.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_30:19. יָחְנְךָ for יְחָנְךָ as Gen_43:29. Comp. Olshausen, Gr., § 243, a. כְּ before שׁמעתו marks coincidence. Comp. Gen_24:30; Gen_34:7; Gen_39:15, et saepe. The Infinitive שְׁמֹעַ with the feminine ending is found only here.
Isa_30:20. מַים is in the absolute state instead of the construct. [On this kind of apposition the note in Delitzsch’s Commentary in loco may be consulted.—D. M.]. כָּנַף occurs as a verb only here. There is no reason apparent why this word should not be the root of כָּנָף covering, wing, and accordingly signify to cover, to hide, in the Niphal to hide one’s-self. The singular is used because יכנף is the prefixed predicate.
Isa_30:21. תאמינו for תֵּימִינוּ (comp. Ewald, (Gr., § 122, e). This form occurs only here.
Isa_30:22. [דָוהָ is abbreviation for כְּלִי דָוהָ. Del.].
Isa_30:23. מקניך could be in the singular. But forms such as מִקְנַי Exo_17:3; Num_20:19, show that the word is also actually used in the plural. ירעה is therefore singular as יכנף in Isa_30:20. (See remark on the latter place).
Isa_30:24. זֹרֶרּ is either Pual part. for מְזֹרֶה, or Part. Kal as a verbal form in which the subject is implied (comp. Isa_2:9; Isa_24:2; Isa_29:8).
Isa_30:26. Lowth, Gesenius, Hitzig, Hendewerk and Knobel regard the words כאור שׁבעת הימים as a gloss because they are wanting in the LXX. and form a needless epexegesis which disturbs the parallelism. But their absence in the LXX. is no reason for treating them as an interpolation. They are found in the Targum, in the Syriac and in Jerome. There is here no fixed metre. We can neither affirm that the verse consists of four members, nor that a definite length is required for each line. And in regard to the sense, the epexegesis is not so needless. For who is not sensible that the שבעתים is set more vividly before us by the addition that follows?
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet, after preparing the way by Isa_30:18, looks into the distant future. It presents itself to him as a blessed time. He gives a general picture of it in colors borrowed from the present. We call it a general picture, because it will not be realized in a fixed time; but it comprehends as in a frame what will take place for the good of the people from the proximate till the most remote future. But this picture of the future is painted with colors of the present, for the circumstances of the present supply the images under which the Prophet represents the blessings of the future. He assumes that there will always be a people dwelling in Zion, i.e., Jerusalem. This people will not always have to weep; a time will come when its requests will be speedily answered (Isa_30:19). They will not indeed be without bread of distress and water of tribulation in the future, but their eyes will also be constantly able to see the teachers who will show them the way out of distress (Isa_30:20); and the ears of the people will hearken every moment to the voice which will call from behind the direction as to the way they should go (Isa_30:21). Then will the people put away the abominations of idolatry (Isa_30:22). And the Lord will grant rain and glorious fruit to nourish men and cattle (Isa_30:23-24). Springs of water, too, will gush forth on the high mountains in the time when the Lord by rivers of blood has made this possible (Isa_30:25). The light of sun and moon will shine many times brighter than now, in that time when the Lord shall have healed the wounds of His people (Isa_30:26).
2. For the people——Get thee hence.
Isa_30:19-22. The cheering prospect of which Isa_30:18 permitted a view, is now fully and completely unfolded. First of all, the Prophet promises that in Zion—Jerusalem a people will always dwell, i.e., the holy city will never like the world-city become a desert forsaken by men (Isa_13:19 sqq.; Isa_25:2; Jer_50:13 et saepe). בירושׁלם is added for nearer explanation, and as if to prevent a misunderstanding. If the Prophet had written only Zion, it might have been supposed that he speaks of the kingdom whose proper centre was Zion, the seat of the house of David (comp. Psa_2:6; Psa_110:2 et saepe). By the addition “Jerusalem” the Prophet renders it impossible to mistake that he means the city. And in fact Jerusalem has never ceased to be inhabited, whereby it is distinguished from the world-cities Babylon and Nineveh, which have lain desolate for thousands of years. We may not take עַם as a vocative, though in that case תבכה would fitly follow; but the first clause would then have no meaning. The sudden change of person, which occurs frequently in this paragraph, should not cause surprise. Comp. Isa_30:20לָכֶם, Isa_30:21לְכוּ ,אָזְנֶיךָ, ver.22כַּסְפֶֽךָ טִמֵּאתֶם. The infinitive absolute בּכָוֹ has evidently the force that the weeping will not be long continued, as the Lord will speedily have mercy. In the future to which the look of the Prophet is directed, Israel will not be without tribulation. But this tribulation the Prophet comprises in the expression bread of distress, water of affliction.לֶחֶם צַר is found only here. 1Ki_22:27; 2Ch_18:26 we find לחם לחץ ומים לחץ to designate the meagre fare of prisoners. As the Prophet according to what follows (comp. especially Isa_30:26) has the entire future in his eye, we cannot refer the expressions “bread of distress and water of affliction” merely to the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians (Isa_29:3 sqq.). But, although that siege stands in the fore-ground of the Prophet’s field of vision, we have to look upon that siege with its bread of distress and its water of affliction only as a type and representative of all the affliction which Israel must endure in the future. And if this affliction is here alluded to only in sparing terms, this is owing to the character of this second part of our prophecy, in which the threatening almost disappears behind the promise. But Israel will bear affliction quite otherwise than formerly. Hitherto they displayed in times of need their rage against the Prophets of the Lord. These were called those who trouble Israel (1Ki_18:17), were treated as ring leaders of sedition (Amo_7:10), and traitors to their country (Jer_38:4 sqq.); all misery was attributed to the forsaking of the worship of idols owing to their urgent effort (Jer_44:16 sqq.). Then the Prophets were persecuted, and must conceal themselves (Mat_23:37; Jer_36:26). This will happen henceforth no more. But Jerusalem will, on the contrary, in affliction direct its eyes to the teachers in order to follow them; it will open its ears to the word of the Lord which the servants of God, who are conceived as commanders marching behind a procession, will call to it, and will direct its steps exactly according to their commands.
[“Their teachers were to be before them, but when they declined from the right way, their backs would be turned to them, consequently, the warning voice would be heard behind them. The first and last clauses of the verse closely cohere.”—Henderson. D. M.]. This obedience to the word of Jehovah implies that they will abandon idols. This will be done while they treat the silver and golden images, without (see command Deu_7:25) regard to the precious metal, as impure things, yea, cast them away as objects of abhorrence (comp. Isa_2:20). טִמֵּא as 2Ki_23:8; 2Ki_23:10; 2Ki_23:16 (only here in Isaiah). צפוי is the metal covering of statues (Deu_17:3-4; Exo_38:7; Exo_38:19) אפדה is found besides only in Exo_28:8; Exo_39:5 in the expression הֵשֶׁב אֲפֻדָּה, a part of the priest’s dress. [“The word is the feminine of אֵפוֹד: but here, as parallel with צפוי, it signifies a covering or plating over the body of an image.”—Henderson]. מַסֵּכָה (Isa_30:1) fusio, fusura, fusile, a molten image (Exo_32:4; Exo_32:8 et saepe, further in Isaiah only Isa_42:17). The expression תזרםthou shalt scatter them, recalls Exo_32:20. צֵא is a strong expression (comp. 2Sa_16:7). The singular לוֹ here involves the notion of something contemptible: Get out! thou wilt say to the trash.
3. Then shall he give——their wound.
Isa_30:23-26. To the change of life described there is now attached the promise of the richest blessing even of a temporal kind. First, to the seed the necessary rain is promised, a blessing which could never be wanting in an oriental picture of prosperity, and is therefore also so frequently referred to in the theocratic promises: Lev_26:4; Deu_14:11; Joe_2:23; Jer_5:24; Zec_10:1 et saepe. The rain which is to fructify the seed is the seed-rain or early rain (יוֹרֶה) which falls in October. The expression “He shall give the rain of thy seed” instead of “to thy seed” recalls places such as Gen_39:21; Num_12:6. אשׁר תזרע = with which thou shalt sow (comp. Isa_17:10) זָרַע is here construed with a double accusative]. לחם is by תבואת הא׳ generalized. It is therefore all that the earth produces for the food of man, as לחם is used also in this comprehensive sense in the expression “to eat bread.” (Gen_31:54; Gen_43:16; Jer_41:1 et saepe). All these products of the field serving for food shall be of the best quality, full of sap and strength (דָּשֵן as an adjective only here in Isaiah: comp. Psa_92:15; Gen_49:20). כַּר in the signification of pascuum only here and Ps. 37:20; 65:14. The Niphal נרחבdilatatum, spatiosum esse is likewise found only here. The oxen and asses which till [In the E. V., we have the word ear which is now obsolete and means to plough or to till.—D. M.] the land are the animals employed by the farmer for draught and carrying burdens. These shall be fed with the best provender.בְּלִיל (only here in Isaiah, besides Job_6:5; Job_24:6) is a mixture, a mash, provender consisting of grain (comp. the following זֹרֶה) and chopped herbs. חָמִיץ leavened, salted (comp. חֹמֶץ ,חָמֵץ) is ἅπ. λεγ. The provender is salted with salt or saltish herbs, in order to make it more palatable. It has previously to be cleansed from impurities that it may be more excellent. This is done by winnowing. The implements which serve for winnowing are רַחַת and מִזְרֶח which are still called Racht and Midra. The former is a flat shovel and serves, according to the interesting Excursus of Wetzstein in Delitzsch’s Commentary, to winnow leguminous fruits, and the mixed remains of the better kinds of grain. The latter is a five or six pronged fork which is employed in winnowing the superior kinds of grain. If the Prophet had mentioned the winnowing shovel only (racht), the meaning would be that the cattle would be fed only with inferior provender. The mention of the מִזְרֶה intimates that they should also have grain of wheat and barley. רַחַת is ἅπ. λεγ.מִזְרֶה occurs further in Jer_15:7. On all high mountains and towering hills were the places of idolatrous worship, where flowed the blood of the offerings so offensive to God, especially of the children sacrificed to Moloch (1Ki_14:23; 2Ki_17:10; Jer_2:20; Jer_3:6; Eze_6:13; Eze_20:28). Instead thereof there should now flow on the mountains and hills water-brooks, a blessing hitherto confined to the valleys (Isa_41:8). פלגים are certainly natural brooks; יְבָלִים (besides Isa_44:4) are perhaps water-courses turned off from them. But as the Prophet had already, Isa_30:20, intimated by the mention of bread of distress and water of affliction, that distress and affliction would not be wanting, so here at the close of his discourse he sets forth the prospect of great slaughter and falling of towers. By these intimations he lets us perceive that the glorious time of the end lies beyond a dreadful period which first must be passed through. This latter he has described often enough (comp. 24 sqq.), to be able to suppose that these brief allusions would be quite well understood by his readers. ביום is to be taken here in that general sense in which we have already frequently met it (comp. e.g., Isa_27:1); but in our place the occurrence following that time is placed first. It is implied, too, in the ביום that there is a certain connection between the occurrences mentioned. There is no chasm lying between them, so that the following time has absolutely nothing to do with the foregoing. That water-streams of blessing succeed streams of blood is not accidental. These streams of blood must atone and purify so as to prepare the ground for blessing. הֶרֶג occurs further Isa_27:7. I find in הרג and נפל מגדלים simply an allusion to the great judgments which must fall on people and city before the day of redemption. The old, theocratic Jerusalem with its towers and its temple is reduced to ruins, while streams of blood have at the same time flown. And here the Prophet takes in one view the first and second destruction of Jerusalem. But immediately behind this destruction he sees the time of blessing. That long periods of time must intervene between these occurrences is matter of no moment. Verse 26 transports us into a time which lies beyond the present state of things, though not into the time of the new heaven and new earth, for the present sun and the present moon still exist. But their influence is intensified; they are elevated in the scale of existence. Delitzsch is certainly right in saying: “It is not the new heaven of which the Prophet here speaks, but that glorification of nature promised both in Old and New Testament prophecy for the final period of the world’s history.” Comp. Rev_20:1-4. The light of the moon (לבנה besides only Isa_24:23; Son_6:10) will then be as the light of the sun (חמה, likewise in Isa_24:23 and Son_6:10, besides Job_30:28); but the light of the sun will be the seven-fold (septuplum Gen_4:15; Gen_4:24; Psa_12:7) of what it now is. For it will be as the light of seven days, i.e., the quantity of light which has hitherto been sufficient for seven days will then be concentrated in a single day. On this day all the wounds which the Lord must inflict on His people before and after the time of the Prophets (Isa_30:20; Isa_30:25), will be healed. שֶׁבֶר is a word of very frequent use by Isaiah. מחץ מכתו is the fracture, contusion of the bone caused by the stroke which it receives. מחץ seems to indicate a sorer evil than שׁבר. [Instead of the E. V., the stroke of their wound, we should rather render the wound of their stroke. It is doubtful whether the suffix in מכתו should be referred to עַם or יהוה—D. M.].
Footnotes:
[14]a people.
[15]Or, oppression.
[16]Heb. the graven images of thy silver.
[17]Heb. scatter.
[18]full of sap and fat.
[19]Or, savory. Heb. leavened.
[20]salted.
[21]fan and fork.
[22]Heb. lifted up.
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 vv18–21 therefore--on account of your wicked perverseness (Isa 30:1-2, Isa…
therefore--on account of your wicked perverseness (Isa 30:1-2, Isa 30:9, Isa 30:15-16), Jehovah will delay to be gracious [HORSLEY]. Rather, wait or delay in punishing, to give you time for repentance (Isa 30:13-14, Isa 30:17) [MAURER]. Or, "Yet therefore" (namely, because of the distress spoken of in the previous verses; that distress will lead the Jews to repentance, and so Jehovah will pity them) [GESENIUS].
be exalted--Men will have more elevated views of God's mercy; or else, "He will rise up to pity you" [G. V. SMITH]. Or (taking the previous clause as MAURER, "Therefore Jehovah will delay" in punishing you, "in order that He may be gracious to you," if ye repent), He will be far removed from you (so in Psa 10:5, far above out sight); that is, He will not immediately descend to punish, "in order that He may have mercy," &c.
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judgment--justice; faithfulness to His covenant.
wait--compare Isa 30:15, wait, namely, for His times of having mercy.
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 vv18–19 18. Therefore — Alexander deems this a term of…
18. Therefore — Alexander deems this a term of conclusion. Better thus than moreover, (Gesenius, Lowth, Barnes, Delitzsch, et al.) The sense is, You should, if rightly dealt with, be at once punished; yet, as God will mercifully wait for your return to him, “therefore” is your salvation still conditionally awaiting your decision to return. This doctrine is everywhere to be found in the Old Testament. The patience and compassion of Jehovah are on every page. God’s pronounced mercifulness throughout cannot be overlooked except by wilfully blinded eyes.
Judgment — Jehovah is a God of “judgment.” What! to punish and destroy? Yes, even this, when it is right for him to do so; and he alone knows when it is right, for being of mingled love and justice, he can make no mistake. The words, then, mean simply, Jehovah is a God of right doing. His ways “are true and righteous altogether.”
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 vv19–21 19. The answer to prayer.
19. The answer to prayer.
For the people shall dwell …] Rather For, O people in Zion that dwellest in Jerusalem.
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thou shalt weep no more … gracious] weep thou shalt not, he will surely be gracious.
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 vv18–21 (18) And therefore . . .—The words seem to…
(18) And therefore . . .—The words seem to embody the thought that “man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” Precisely because of this isolated misery Jehovah was “waiting,” i.e., longing, with an eager expectation, to come to the rescue.
And therefore will he be exalted.—A very slight alteration gives a meaning more in harmony with the context, will wait in stillness (Cheyne). If we adhere to the existing text, we must take the meaning will withdraw himself on high, will seem to wait, that He may at last interpose effectually.
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A God of judgment.—Better, of righteousness.
All they that wait for him.—This waiting is, as in the first clause, that of wistful longing.
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 vv18–21 Vers. 18-26. A RENEWAL OF PROMISE. The denunciations of…
Vers. 18-26. A RENEWAL OF PROMISE. The denunciations of the preceding passage (vers. 9-17) had been so terrible that, without some counterpoise of promise, they must have produced a general despair. This was not the Divine purpose. Judah"s probation still continued. Therefore it was necessary to let it be seen that the Divine long-suffering was not yet exhausted there were still conditions under which God would be gracious to his people. The conditions were "crying to the Lord" (ver. 19), and entire abolition of idolatry (ver. 22).
And therefore. "Because your sins require this chastisement" (Kay); "Because of the extremity of your need" (Cheyne). It is, perhaps, best to own that the motives of the Divine action are very commonly obscure; and, if seen clearly by the prophets, are certainly not clearly set forth, being (it may be) inscrutable. While the motive, however, is obscure, the promise is plain and unmistakable, The Lord will wait, that he may be gracious unto you. God is not about at present to "make a full end;" he is bent on "waiting his intent is "to be gracious." He will be exalted, that he may have mercy. He will find some means of vindicating his honor and exalting himself, short of your destruction, in order that it may be open to him to give you a further chance of repentance, whereby you would obtain mercy. For the Lord is a God of judgment. God is essentially just; sin must receive punishment; but the punishment may be short of destruction. Justice does not exclude mercy. If men bear their punishment with patience, and wait for God, a brighter day will dawn on them in course of time.
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God"s waiting and ours.
I GOD"S WAITING FOR US. "Will the Lord wait." We may look at:
1. The occasions of his waiting. He waits "that he may be gracious.
(1) That he may show his grace in forgiveness; in "having mercy upon as," or in making us to feel that we are the subjects of his mercy.
(2) That he may show his grace in interposition, delivering from danger, relieving from distress, saving in sickness.
(3) That he may show his grace in final and complete redemption (Rom_8:23) the taking his children away from the struggle and sorrow of earth to the rest and joy of heaven.
2. The reason of his waiting. It is because "the Lord is a God of judgment," or of rectitude.
(1) He cannot forgive us till we return in spirit to him and accept his rule, until we obey his supreme command. (Joh_6:29)
(2) He cannot interpose until his intervention is fitted to purify and sanctify us.
(3) He cannot call us home until the privilege and discipline of time have prepared us for the scenes and spheres of eternity.
II OUR WAITING FOR GOD. "Blessed are all they that wait for him.
1. Blessed is the patient inquirer; for he who seeks the truth and waits till light shines in upon his soul will surely find his goal.
2. Blessed is the patient worker; for he who sows the good seed of the kingdom and waits for God to give the increase will "doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
3. Blessed is the patient sufferer; for he who "waits for the morning" through the night of pain, or loneliness, or poverty, or any other ill, will find that the glory which is to be revealed will make the sufferings of the present time incomparably small. (Rom_8:18) Now God waits for us, and we for him. A few steps more and his largest promises and our highest hopes will be all fulfilled. C.
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 vv18–21 And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may…
Isa_30:18
And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you
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The waiting hours of life
We are all familiar with the waiting hours of life, when the stream hardly seems to move, or the air to stir; when the heart grows sick with deferred hope.
There are hours on languid summer days when all nature seems to have become stagnant--the aspen leaf does not quiver; the fish does not rise in the pool; the hum of the bee becomes less frequent and more drowsy; and the shadow hardly moves on the dial--and these hours in nature find their counterpart in the monotony of lifescommon round, the commonplace routine of its daily task. Such waiting times were wearily passing over the godly at Jerusalem while the invader was drawing his coils ever nearer to the doomed city, and the ambassadors were being cajoled in Egypt by false hopes; and ceaseless prayers to God were apparently bringing no response. To such the prophet addressed these words, encouraging them to believe that God was not unmindful of their case, but was waiting that He might act more graciously towards them than He could by answering them at once. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Gods delays
He waits that He may be gracious; i.e., until there is such a combination of circumstances, and such a refining of character, that He can do ever so much better than if He had interposed in the first moments of our agonised appeal.
I. HE DOES NOT DELAY BECAUSE OF ANY CAPRICE. Heaven has no favourites, who are always served first.
II. HE DOES NOT DELAY BECAUSE OF ANY NEGLECT. A woman may forget her sucking child, but our Saviour cannot forget us.
III. HE DOES NOT DELAY BECAUSE HE DENIES. The remittance is not sent as asked; yet that does not prove that it is not there in our name, but only that it is being kept at interest, accumulating till it reach a higher figure, and be more of service, because coming at a time of greater need. (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
Reasons for Gods delays
What results are served by this prolonged delay!
1. The energy of the flesh dies down. There is nothing which so tames and subdues us as waiting. And there is no kinder thing that God can do for us than to destroy the egotism, the self-assertiveness of our life, and to bring its pride to the dust. Waiting with mountains on either side, the sea in front, and the lee behind, is enough to empty the stoutest heart of its self-confidence, and to make it cry out to the strong for aid.
2. We often cease to want the very things on which we had set our hearts. Thus it has happened, as the years have passed, that we have seen reason to admire and adore the wise love which withheld that on which we had set our hearts with passionate intensity.
3. Our character also becomes riper by waiting. It is better for the young man to accumulate his fortune slowly, because he learns to value his money rightly, and to spend it well Better for the student to acquire knowledge by degrees, because he gains habits of industry which are simply invaluable. Better for the saint to grow to goodness by long and insensible progress, that he may be able to sympathise with those who are beginning to take the upward path.
4. Moreover, we secure larger results by waiting. If the Egyptian farmer is too impatient, and sows his seeds before the Nile has reached its full flood, they will not be carried to the furthest limit of his ground, and his harvest will suffer. So often there is a result which may be gained by patient waiting, which would defy us if we snatched at it. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Gods gracious purpose towards His people
I. THE GRACIOUS PURPOSES OF GOD TOWARDS HIS PEOPLE. He waits, that He may be gracious; He is exalted, that He may have mercy. The Jewish people are here supposed to be in a state of suffering; and they are assured that when the design of these sore judgments was fully answered, God would have mercy upon them. In what manner the Lord will be gracious unto them, the prophet unfolds (chps. 19-21). To these promises of spiritual blessings and permanent prosperity others are added; and the passage closes with this munificent prediction,--The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, etc. (Isa_30:26). This splendid prophecy points to a period which is yet future, and to which the Church is still looking forward.
II. THE CHARACTER OF GOD IN REFERENCE TO THESE PURPOSE. In all our undertakings we have encouragement from the character of God. The text speaks of Him as a God of judgment,--a title which is calculated to awaken the most useful reflections. He does as He pleases, and all He does is right. The word also implies deliberation--prudence: the will of God is not an arbitrary determination, but the will of deliberation. The word is opposed to haste and inconsideration. The term is applicable to all Gods proceedings.
III. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH WE SHOULD LOOK FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THIS PURPOSE. If the question be now asked, What is the posture the Church, which has been gathered from among, the Gentiles, should assume in reference to the rich provision made for the Jews? the answer is, They should wait for Him.
1. In a spirit of patient expectation.
2. In the use of diligent exertions.
3. In the exercise of fervent prayer. (T. Thomason, M. A.)
Mercy acknowledged
God sets forth Britain amid the nominal Christian nations, as He set forth Israel of old amid the heathen world, as a mighty field in which He displays His dispensations and dealings towards nations in professed and visible covenant with Himself. We are, therefore, not only warranted, but bound to take the words addressed to the ancient people of God, and to apply them to His people in modern times.
I. The spirit and attitude which God is here represented as sustaining toward a guilty and corrected, though not forsaken people, is ASPECT AND ATTITUDE OF LONG SUFFERING AND PATIENT FORBEARANCE.
II. But there is yet another feature in the attitude and aspect of God towards a land that He waits to see repenting--for GOD IS A GOD OF JUDGMENT.
III. LET US APPLY ALL THIS VIEW of the aspect of God towards nations to His recent dealings with ourselves.
IV. Lot us not pass lightly by what constitutes THE GREAT MORAL LESSON that springs from the view of God we have been taking. Blessed are they that wait for Him. We are not to become impatient under Gods hand; we are not, because His chastisement yet remains, to forget His mercies. (H. Stowell, M. A.)
Strange, but true
Some have thought, Oh, how I wait upon God. It will be nearer the truth if you think, How marvellous it is that God should wait upon men!
I. THE STRANGENESS of this Bible truth.
1. It is quite contrary to our common experience, that favours should be kept waiting out of doors. Favours do not generally wait for clients, but clients have to wait for favours.
2. You will be struck with the strangeness of this statement if you keenly watch the early experiences of an anxious soul. The man determines to be a seeker after God, and you would suppose that immediately the soul turned to God it would be flooded with light, whereas it very often happens that God never seems so far away from a man as when, first of all, the man begins to seek Him. Yet, all the while, God upon His throne waits to be gracious.
3. I doubt whether we Christian men are not a little to blame for the strangeness of this beautiful text. Do we not often pray as if we were praying into an unwilling ear? Do we not often cry as if we were crying to a hard heart? We have failed fairly to represent in our prayers the great readiness of our Fathers heart, and so we have in the matter of our Christian standing. How few of us know well our standing in Christ Jesus, and have a life and death confidence in it. And then in our relationship to others, where are the abounding compassions of Christ? where the undying energy with which a man who knows the heart of the great Father, will seek to reclaim His erring sons and daughters, His children far away upon the wild?
II. THE BLESSED CERTAINTY of this Bible truth.
1. We have first of all the testimony of Isaiah, a testimony given with a boldness that indicates that behind this testimony there is, first of all, a Divine inspiration; that behind it there is, in the second instance, a God-given experience. Here is a man whose testimony ought to be received. Of all the men of the Old Testament I believe there was not one who was more sensitive to the nations sin than Isaiah. Not a man who was more sensitive to the righteousness of God, who went down lower into himself, who rose higher unto God, than Isaiah. For spiritual insight he stood upon a par at least with his contemporaries. He was the salvation of Jehovah: that is his name. The man ought to know.
2. His testimony, too, is abundantly and blessedly confirmed, not by detached experiences or single events. If you judge about God you must have something more than a single experience; you must take some experience that has been rounded off and Divinely finished. We have such experiences in this book. We may come down to more modem times and more recent experiences. Take the poets of the past century, the men whose hymns we sing service after service. They do not all belong to one Church or to one school of thought or theology, but their testimony is uniform upon this great subject.
3. We have evidence that God waits to be gracious in this present service. His Word is near to us this moment; the Gospel is here with its pleadings and its overtures of mercy. (J. R. Wood.)
The waiting Lord
Notice two or three times in which God is compelled to wait that He may be gracious unto us.
I. THE TIME OF DISOBEDIENCE.
II. THE TIME OF FALSE CONFIDENCE (Isa_30:7; Isa_30:15-18).
III. THE TIME OF APATHY. (J. Brash.)
A waiting God and a waiting people
I. A WAITING GOD.
1. A wonderful reason for waiting. Therefore--mark the word! The Lord Jehovah does as He wills both in heaven and earth, and His ways are past finding out; but He never acts unreason ably; He does not tell us His reasons, but He has them; for He acts according to the counsel of His will. God has His therefores, and these are of the most forcible kind. Full often His therefores are the very reverse of ours: that which is an argument with us may be no argument with God, and that which is a reason with Him might seem to be a reason in the opposite direction to us. For what is there in this chapter that can be made into a therefore? Whence does He derive the argument? Assuredly it is a reason based on His own grace, and not on the merit of man.
(1) The chapter contains a denunciation of the false confidences of the people, and because of these one might have concluded that the Lord would cast them off forever. If they will have Egypt to lean upon, let them lean on Egypt, till like a spear it pierces their side.
(2) Further, these people were rebels against God, and the Lord was waiting to let them fully manifest their rebellious spirit, and be made ashamed of it. The chapter begins that way: Woe to the rebellious children. Further on He calls them a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord--was that a reason for waiting to be gracious? Yes, with the Lord sin shows the need of grace, and so becomes a reason for grace. I think the Lord permits many sinners to go to the full length of their tether in order that they may know in future what stuff they are made of, and may never trust in themselves.
(3) The Lord would wait for yet another reason, namely, to let them suffer somewhat the effect of their sin. It is well that they should see what kind of serpent is hatched from the egg of evil. Perhaps some of us were left in the same way, and we shall never forget what we thus learned. We put our hand into the fire until it was burned, and now we dread the fire.
(4) I do not doubt that the Lord waited in this case to be gracious until the people should begin to pray, for that seems to be the turning point in this affair. The prophet says, He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry. The Lord is listening for the sinners prayer.
2. The singular patience of God in that waiting. What does it mean when we are told that the Lord waiteth that He may have mercy upon us?
(1) It means that He kept back the sword of justice.
(2) It means the continuance of privileges; for the Lord told these people that, although He might give them the bread of adversity and the water of affliction on account of their sins, yet He would not take away their teachers from them any more; they should still be instructed, and warned, and invited to come to Him.
(3) So singular was Gods patience that He even increased His holy agencies to lead the people to Himself. He says, Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. Do we not remember how when the public ministry seemed to miss us we began to be bestirred by an inward force more powerful than visible ministries? Conscience cried aloud and accused us from within doors.
(4) This is not all; for all this while God was passing by our rejections of Him, blotting out our sinful refusals, and insulting despisings of His goodness.
(5) Please remember that all this while God has been waiting but everything has been ready, ready for the sinner to come to Him.
3. A most remarkable action which follows upon the waiting. After the Lord had displayed His patience to His people, He resolved to go further, and proceeded to a most notable matter which is thus described--Therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you. You and I would have turned the text round the other way, and said, Therefore will He have mercy upon you, that He may be exalted: that would be true, but it is not the truth here taught. The picture represents the Lord as it were as sitting still, and allowing His people through their sin to bring suffering upon themselves; but now, after long patience, He arouses Himself to action. Methinks I hear Him say, They will not come to Me, they refuse all My messengers, they plunge deeper and deeper into sin, now will I see what My grace can do! It also bears this meaning. When a man is about to deal a heavy stroke he lifts up himself to give the blow: he exalts himself to bring down the scourge more heavily upon the shoulder. Even so the Lord seems to say, I will put forth all My might, I. will exercise all My skill, I will display all My attributes up to their greatest height, that I may have mercy upon these hardened, stiff-necked sinners--I will be exalted that I may have mercy upon them.
4. There is a final success to all this waiting (Isa_30:19-22). See what free grace can do: it is no enemy to holiness, but the direct cause of it.
II. We have A WAITING PEOPLE. Blessed are all they that wait for Him
1. Gods waiting people wait upon God only.
2. Expectantly.
3. What are they waiting for? For many things. Sometimes they wait for the tokens of His grace. Sometimes for the fulfilment of His promises. Every promise will be kept, but not today nor tomorrow. Gods word has its due season, and His times are the best times. We may also have to wait for answers to our prayers. Frequently we may have to wait for temporal blessings. There may be somewhat in your character which cannot be perfected except by suffering and labour and it is better that your character be perfected than your substance increased. Wait cheerfully. If God sees fit to say Wait, do not be angry with Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Lord is a God of Judgment
A God of judgment is the Lord
A God of judgment is the Lord is an unfortunately ambiguous translation. We must not take judgment here in our familiar sense of the word. It is not a sudden deed of doom, but a long process of law. It means manner, method, design, order, system, the ideas, in short, which we sum up under the word law. Just as we say of a man, He is a man of judgment, and mean thereby not that by office he is a doomster, but that by character he is a man of discernment and prudence; so simply does Isaiah say here that Jehovah is a God of judgment, and mean thereby not that He is One whose habit is sudden and awful deeds of penalty or salvation, but, on the contrary, that, having laid down His lines according to righteousness and established His laws in wisdom, He remains in HIS dealings with men consistent with these. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
The Lord is a God of judgment
The Lord is a God of judgment in the several important senses in which the word is used in Scripture.
1. His understanding is infinite; so that He is intimately acquainted with all the characters, the actions and circumstances of mankind.
2. The decisions which He forms, concerning their condition and conduct, are perfectly equitable and just.
3. All the punishments which He inflicts and the deliverances which He works, are conducted with the highest wisdom and prudence, executed at the fittest season, in the most proper measure and for the best purposes. When He corrects them for their faults, He does it not in anger but in judgment, with affection and moderation; not in His hot displeasure, with unrelenting severity, but with kindness and forbearance. They may therefore be assured that, at the very time wherein He knows His own glory and their real benefit will be most effectually promoted, He will interpose in their behalf and send them deliverance. (R. Macculloch.)
The God of judgment
What are all our histories but God manifesting Himself, that He hath shaken and tumbled down and trampled upon everything that He hath not planted! (Oliver Cromwell.)
Blessed are all they that wait for Him
Waiting for God
1. In steadfast faith.
2. In living hope.
3. In patient humility.
4. In active preparation. (Homiletic Review.)
The spiritual waiter and his blessing
I. DESCRIBE THE REAL WAITING CHARACTER AND ENDEAVOUR TO SHOW WHAT IS REAL WAITING.
1. The real waiter is a person who does not possess something he wants. A real waiter is a real beggar.
2. But; then, the real waiting man must not only be poor but needy
3. When a man is thus brought into experimental poverty, and experimental need, he will also be led into experimental helplessness; he is delivered from looking to his prayers, his Bible reading, his alms doing; he is brought to feel he needs another refuge, he is brought to feel these waters cannot cleanse away his pollution, that these webs cannot become garments, that these are works with which he cannot cover himself.
But what is true waiting?
1. Not working,
2. Nor sleeping.
3. Nor stealing. There are many who do not trust in works, but like a thief take the blessings into their hands the Lord has never put there. How many presume all is well without having had the atonement applied, or even without ever having been truly Drought to feel the need of reconciliation to God by the blood of Jesus.
4. Neither is it despairing.
II. WHERE DOES THE TRUE WAITER WAIT? He goes to the means, saying, Oh, let not the oppressed return ashamed; let the poor and needy praise Thy name. Mercys door is the place at which he waits.
III. What DOES HE WAIT FOR? Blessed are all they that wait for Him.
IV. THE BLESSEDNESS OF TRUE WAITERS. (S. Sears.)
I. THE NATURE OF RIGHT WAITING UPON GOD.
Waiting for God
1. There must be continual waiting. Turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day. Not that we are always to be engaged in formal acts of devotion. Waiting upon God is not wholly comprehended in praying to Him. By inward meditation, by heartfelt desires, by continual supplications as suggested to us in the Church, or as carried on in the closet, or the family, we must never fail to wait upon God for those blessings generally, which He has promised; or particularly, which we know that we individually require. We must be constant expectants; unawed by the suggestions of Satan, the coldness and apathy of our own hearts, or the low and unchristian standard of those around us.
2. There must be importunate waiting. We are not to suppose that waiting implies a sitting still in listless supineness, as if no exertion were to be made. The waiting upon God which will prove successful, is a waiting that will take no denial. It springs from a heartfelt sense of the necessities of the soul; and it calls into exercise all the energies of the whole man.
3. There must be patient waiting (Psa_40:1; Psa_37:7).
4. There must be waiting on the name of Jehovah. David has a remarkable expression: I will wait on Thy name; for it is good before Thy saints. The name of God imports His attributes and perfections. A calm, serious contemplation of the Divine character is an important part of waiting upon God.
5. The soul must wait upon God. Many mistake here. They satisfy themselves with the external homage of the body, without the inward bending of the soul.
6. There must be waiting only upon God.
7. We must wait Gods own time and way.
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THUS WAITING UPON HIM.
1. The Lord is good to them that wait for Him: to the soul that seeketh Him.
2. He is good beyond conception.
3. The blessedness of waiting upon God appears likewise in the increase of spiritual strength.
4. They who thus wait shall at length take up the language of holy triumph. Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, etc.
Application--
1. Our subject condemns many amongst you.
2. Let the faithful learn their duty. (Carus Wilson.)
Waiting should be expectant
We must not cower in the dark closet, but climb to our watchtower and scan the horizon. We must look out for Gods carrier pigeons; lest they come to the cote with messages under their wings which we may miss. We must go down to the quay; or Gods heavily freighted ships may touch there, and go away again without discharging their cargoes. We must imitate the shipwrecked sailor, who keeps the fire lit by night, and is incessantly on the outlook for passing ships; else a search expedition may come near his poor islet and miss him. Those who wait thus cannot be ashamed. It is impossible that God should disappoint the hope which He has instilled and nourished in the heart of His child. (F. B.Meyer, B. A.)
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 vv18–20 Isa_30:18. Therefore will the Lord wait. [1126]
WAITING, DIVINE AND HUMAN
Isa_30:18. Therefore will the Lord wait. [1126]
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[1126] In these outlines the Authorised Version has been followed, but the translations in which Delitzsch, Kay, and Cheyne substantially agree is noteworthy and worthy of study. “And therefore—because your sins require this chastisement—the Lord will wait, in resolute self-withdrawal, looking for the time when your penitence will permit Him to be again gracious unto you: and therefore will He be exalted, in judicial severity (Isa_5:16; Psa_46:10), that (‘when He seeth thy power is gone,’ Deu_32:36) He may have mercy on thee (Deu_30:3).”—Kay.
“And therefore will Jehovah long till He can be gracious unto you, and therefore will He wait in stillness[or, be on high] till He can have companion upon you, for Jehovah is a God of righteousness; happy are all those that long for Him!”—Cheyne.
Mr. Birks thus comments: “Vers. 18–26. These verses, from the whole context, refer to the Assyrian deliverance. The connection is direct and forcible, though some have thought it obscure. However severe God’s discipline, its design was gracious. His dealings are full of wisdom, like our Lord’s absence during the sickness of Lazarus, to make the blessing afterwards more glorious and Divine. There is, on His part, no slackness or indifference, but the calm waiting of an ever-patient love. Even in the hour of judgment God will be exalted, not to crush His people with the terrors of His majesty, but only ‘that He may have mercy’ upon them. He knows how to temper their afflictions, that they may yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Since He waits in patient love to show them favour at the last, they also are bound to wait, in faith and patience, until the blessing shall come.”
A promise clear and precious in itself may gain in force and value when it is viewed in its surroundings. The diamond may be sparkling and brilliant, but we prefer it in its setting. The rose by itself is lovely, but we would rather have it with the green leaves around it. We have an instance in the first chapter of this book, where, after exposing the hypocrisy, formality, and wickedness of the people in the most withering words, God suddenly exchanges the stern tone of threatening for the sweet accents of mercy, Come now, and let us reason together. Another example is found in Matthew 11, where our Lord, after pronouncing His solemn woes, and asserting the Divine sovereignty, in the very next sentence utters His tender invitation, Come unto Me. The still small voice of mercy is all the sweeter and more welcome because of the thunders by which it is preceded. The same rapid transition may be observed in the passage before us. Cast your eye over the preceding context, and you find the saddest picture ever drawn of human perversity. What a heavy indictment (Isa_30:9-10). How terrible the sentence pronounced (Isa_30:13-14; Isa_30:17). Is it at once carried into execution? No. Therefore will the Lord wait. Wait for whom—for the humble, the repentant, the submissive? No; for the sinful, the trifling, the scoffing. This mingling of grace and truth is very striking. As the play of the lightning is more brilliant during the darkness of the night, so God’s mercy shines out most gloriously through the murky night of man’s sin. As the colours of the rainbow are most vivid when it rests on some black cloud or frowning cliff, so heaven’s grace is seen to best advantage on the background of human guilt.
I. GOD WAITING FOR MAN.
1. His waiting is real and earnest. It is waiting—is not a passive loitering; but carries with it the idea of earnest expectation and desire. And so while God waits, He plies you with warm entreaties and loving invitations, with stern threatenings and glowing promises; He seeks to win you by the shadow as well as the sunshine which He throws alternately across your path. “God waiting?” you ask. Why does He wait? Can He not subdue sinners by His power and compel them to serve His purpose, as the potter moulds the plastic clay? You forget that you are a free agent. Spirit is not matter. God will not shatter the door closed against Him, and if He is to enter it must be with your consent. It is true that the Lord opens the heart, but a forced submission would be no submission at all. God’s waiting, then, is real; it is no figure of speech; and when we think of it, is He not far greater in His marvellous patience than in ruling countless worlds?
2. God waits as a God of grace, “that He may be gracious unto you.” Grace is free, unpurchased favour, conferred independently of anything in us, or anything we can do (H. E. I., 2303; P. I., 1524).
3. God waits as a God of law. “The Lord is a God of judgment.” There must not only be grace, but truth as well. God can only forgive sin in consistency with His justice. In our ignorance we think of pardon as the removal of a grudge, the overlooking of an insult, but this loose view keeps justice out of sight. Would you accept a pardon which would degrade the character of God, represent Him as a lawless being conniving at the very sin He forgives, shake the foundations of His throne, and subvert the interests of truth and holiness in the universe? Sin is no such light thing lightly forgiven. Only through the sacrifice of Christ can remission of sins be righteously bestowed. “The Lord is a God of judgment.”
4. This waiting is God’s highest exaltation. “He will be exalted that He may have mercy upon you.” In showing mercy to the sinful God’s glory is made great, and the sin which is so hateful and deplorable has furnished occasion for the rich display of His mercy. War is a great evil, but where would be the courage of the soldier, and the heroic deeds which have been enshrined in song, if there had been no war? And so, had sin never existed in the world, we could never have witnessed those marvellous exhibitions of God’s mercy that fill us with wonder and praise. Where sin abounded grace much more abounded.
II. MAN WAITING FOR GOD. “Blessed are all they that wait for Him.” We have seen how He waits for us to be gracious unto us, to be exalted in having mercy upon us, and we should wait in humble faith to receive these priceless blessings, bringing our empty vessels that they may be filled. The blessedness of so waiting is set forth in numerous passages of Scripture. What entire satisfaction and peace do they enjoy who take this attitude of soul described as waiting on the Lord! In waiting for man we are often disappointed and deceived, but how can we ever exhaust the Divine mercy and goodness? O happy soul that waits for God, and rejoicing in the plenitude of His goodness sings,
“I must have all things and abound
Since God is God to me.”
If God had not first waited for us, we never would have waited for Him. He took the initiative. Why should any of us keep God waiting longer? Are your sins too great? Have you been proud and rebellious? It is precisely to such the promise is made. God is waiting now to be gracious, but the day of grace will, soon be past.—William Guthrie, M.A.
Amidst the severest threatenings of Divine punishment of sin we find assurances of Divine willingness to exercise mercy. Here is still the question of the alliance with Egypt. In the foregoing verses the prophet points out its real weakness and danger. In the text he assures the people of the Divine readiness to forgive and restore if they will return to God as their true confidence and defence.
This truth is brought out more fully when the light of the Gospel is thrown upon it. Man is sinful. Some scarcely see this, because they have never examined the law. Some admit the truth of universal depravity, but lose themselves in the crowd. Some have a sense of sin which causes anxiety, from which they see no escape. Others find rest and comfort on inadequate and delusive grounds. Now we need not merely peace. That solicitude is put to rest does not prove that a man is safe. He may sleep when his house is burning. He may have taken what he considered precautionary measures without informing himself as to the measures that were necessary, or even in disregard of competent advice on the subject. We should find peace in God’s way. Consider the text in the light of the Gospel It is full of encouragement, but it implies a caution.
I. It intimates that there is a provision on account of which God can exercise grace.
1. It is not His arbitrary will which pardons sin without regard to anything beyond His own pleasure in the happiness of His creatures. He considers the whole race. If He exercise mercy toward one without an adequate satisfaction, why not toward all? But this would amount to condonation of all sin—would annihilate the distinction between the consequences of good and evil. If God is gracious, it must be in such a way as that no injustice is done.
2. Well then, you say, we must reform; there must be repentance. And this is true when properly understood. But it is not true if it means that God may be gracious to men on the ground of their repentance and reformation. The analogy between an earthly father and God as a Father is often drawn so as to overlook the fact that He is a moral governor, and that public justice is concerned in His transactions with men. A father may forgive his child’s offence on his repentance, because it is a matter purely between themselves. When the offender repents, the demands of the case are met. But an offence against public law is different. A thief or a murderer confesses his guilt, professes repentance and determination never to repeat his crime; is the law satisfied? Would any one say he ought to be forgiven? Now, sin is not only an offence against God, but against public law, for which repentance is no satisfaction (H. E. I., 4225–4228).
3. Nor is present obedience a ground to rest upon for the obliteration of past sins. The best obedience of the best fails to satisfy the present. “How can I tell when I have done enough?” asked Dr. Johnson on his dying bed. And even if you did enough to satisfy the present demands of the law, how could that avail for the removal of previous criminality? Something more satisfactory than human expedients is required (H. E. I., 375, 376).
4. That something is found in the Gospel, in the gracious provision God has made for the exercise of mercy without infringing on the rectitude of His government. It is in the gift of His Son. The love of God sent the Son of God in human flesh to obey and suffer. On the ground of His vicarious offering as the atoning sacrifice, pardon and peace may be obtained. With it justice is fully satisfied.
II. The text intimates that God is desirous to exercise grace.
It is not simply willingness. He is profoundly desirous of this result. “He wishes all men to be saved.” “He is not willing that any should perish.” This truth may be gathered:
1. From His revealed nature. He does not delight in the infliction of punishment, even when it is required by the ends of justice. His tender love longs to see the sinner avail himself of the opportunity that is afforded, and seek the offered grace (Exo_34:5-7).
2. From the provision of the Gospel. There was no obligation on Him to provide this grace. It was His love. It was provided at a cost that was the best possible guarantee of sincerity. Having made such a provision at such expense, will He be indifferent to the issue?
3. From the invitations of the Gospel. The way of salvation is proclaimed as a royal message of grace to all mankind. It is not a cold statement of the fact that a channel of grace has been opened. It is accompanied by calls and invitations. Will God mock them by invitations of which He does not desire their acceptance?
4. From the attitude which He here represents Himself as having assumed, He waits for sinners that He may be gracious. He is like the father of the prodigal son, who doubtless waited long and anxiously for the prodigal’s return because He wanted to forgive him (H. E. I., 2328–2340).
And this is the answer to the question, For what is He waiting? Why cannot He be gracious at once?
III. The text implies that grace can only be exercised when its conditions are accepted.
Should He bestow it on all? In their sins? The case stands thus: God has done His part in providing mercy; there is a part for man. What is it? To consent. To confess the sin with conviction, humility, sorrow. To accept the mercy by sending up the believing cry. To surrender to God as the rebel submits to his prince and returns to his allegiance (H. E. I., 240).
This is what He waits for. When it occurs He is gracious. And how long will He wait? Not for ever. He is in the attitude of one who has determined to wait a given time, during which the opportunity is afforded. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.” Why should you not? Why so unwilling?
Let not the love of sinner deadness to spiritual things hold you back. Refusal to seek His grace is determined resistance of His authority and His love (H. E. I., 4247, 4248).—J. Rawlinson.
WAITING FOR THE LORD
Isa_30:18. Blessed are all they that wait for Him.
I. What is meant by waiting upon the Lord? Not that sitting still and biding our time, like a man waiting for a coach. Not that we are to sit in quiet, idle supineness, expecting the Lord to come and fill our souls with joy and peace, as He used to fill the tabernacle with His glory. Yet, because they cannot convert their own souls, and sanctify their own hearts, thousands rashly conclude that they must quietly wait until the Lord work a miracle for them and save them. The Bible declares our helplessness in order that we may be stirred up to seek help from God (Eph_5:14; Php_2:12-13; 2Pe_2:10). What do we mean when we engage a servant to wait upon us? Not that he is to compose himself to sleep until we signify that we want him; but that he should attend upon us, hold himself in readiness to do our bidding, make himself acquainted with our rules and conform to them, and with our wishes, and do his best to obey them with all readiness, cheerfulness, and faithfulness. So when the Lord bids us “wait for Him,” He means that we should diligently seek His face, inquire into His laws, keep His statutes, and walk in His ordinances, expecting to receive, in His own good time, the blessings which He has promised to those who “wait upon Him.”
II. How are we to wait for the Lord?
1. We must wait upon God with the heart; we must be in earnest. We have no respect for the attentions and fair speeches of our fellow-men when we have reason to believe them mere idle compliments: will God accept from us what we scorn to receive from one another? (Jer_13:13).
2. We must wait entirely upon God, whether we are in search of peace, strength, or happiness (Psa_72:15).
3. We must wait upon the Lord patiently and perseveringly. He is the rewarder of all them “that diligently seek Him;” but He has never pledged Himself either to the time when, or the mode in which, He will answer our prayers. He may put our sincerity to the test by keeping us waiting for some time; but we shall never wait in vain (Psa_40:1). Remember how long Abraham had to wait for the fulfilment of the promise of a seed; but in the end, through faith and patience, he inherited the promise (Gal_6:9).—E. Crow, M.A.: Plain Sermons, pp. 120–136.
Change and uncertainty mark all things here. The wisest plans often baffled, the fairest prospects blighted. But the truths and blessings of the Gospel are not subject to this law of uncertainty. God’s schemes are never frustrated; His promises never broken.
I. THAT DEVOUT EXERCISE OF MIND HERE COMMENDED. “Waiting for God.”
1. His people wait in the exercise of earnest and believing prayer. They seek Him in the means of His own appointment; by that sort of diligent seeking which is opposed to that of the slothful (Pro_13:4).
2. His people wait in holy expectation of blessings in providence and grace. It is the patient waiting for the performance of the promise in the exercise of faith. It implies a knowledge of God,—a confidence in Him,—a rest in His promises, as of a child in a father; a servant in a master (Psa_123:1-2).
3. They wait for a clearing up of perplexities in the Divine Government. Oftentimes in their own history and in the history of others, God’s providence bears a mysterious and perplexing aspect. But the believing soul says, “All will come right at last. What we know not now we shall know hereafter” (H. E. I., 4043–4048).
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF SUCH WAITING FOR GOD.
1. The very exercise of prayer, faith, and patience is a culture of the soul. In such culture there lies “Blessedness.”
2. Theirs shall be the blessedness of satisfaction. Disappointment meets man in every walk of life, but those who trust in the Lord’s Justice, Wisdom, and Goodness shall never “be ashamed.”—Samuel Thodey.
I. God’s appearances on account of His people are sometimes delayed.
1. In answering prayer.
2. In relieving them in their afflictions.
3. In explaining Himself in regard to their afflictions.
4. In affording the joys of His salvation and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. II. Your duty in the meantime: it is to wait for Him calmly, patiently, expectantly. III. The blessedness that will attend the exercise of waiting for Him.—William Jay: Sunday Evening Sermons, pp. 319–324.
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 v18
Isaiah
GOD’S WAITING AND MAN’S
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Isa 30:18.
God’s waiting and man’s-bold and beautiful, that He and we should be represented as sharing the same attitude.
I. God’s waiting,
1. The first thought is-why should He wait-why does He not act at once? Because something in us hinders. We cannot enter into spiritual blessings till we are made capable of them by faith. It would not be for our good to receive some temporal blessings till sorrow has done its work on us. The great thought here is that God has a right time for help. He is ‘a God of judgment,’ i.e.. discerns our moral condition and shapes His dealings thereby. He never gives the wrong medicine.
2. His waiting is full of work to fit us to receive His grace. It is not a mere passive standing by, till the fit conditions are seen in us; but He ‘is exalted’ while He waits, i.e.. lifted up in the manifestation of His might, and by His energy in preparing us for the gifts that He has prepared for us. ‘He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.’ He who prepares a place for us is preparing us for the place. He who has grace which He is ready to give us here, is making us ready for His grace. The meaning of all God’s work on us is to form a character fit to possess His highest gifts.
3. His waiting is very patient. The divine husbandman ‘waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it.’ How wonderful that in a very real sense He attends on our pleasure, as it were, and lets us determine His time to work.
4. That waiting is full of divine desire to help. It is not the waiting of indifference, which says: ‘If you will have it-well and good. If not, it does not matter to Me.’ But ‘more than they that watch for the morning,’ God waits ‘that He may be gracious unto you.’
II. Man’s waiting.
Our attitude is to be in some real sense analogous to His.
Its main elements are firm anticipation, patient expectation, steadfast desire, self-discipline to fit us for the influx of God’s grace.
We are not to prescribe ‘times and seasons which the Father hath put in His own power.’ The clock of Eternity ticks more slowly than our short-pendulumed timepieces. ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it.’ We may well wait for God when we know that He waits for us, and that, for the most part, when He sees that we are waiting, He knows that His time is come.
But it is to be noted that the waiting desire to which He responds is directed to something better and greater than any gifts from Him, even to Himself, for it is they who ‘wait for Him,’ not only for His benefits apart from Himself, however precious these may be, who are blessed.
The blessedness of such waiting, how it calms the heart, brings into constant touch with God, detaches from the fever and the fret which kill, opens our eyes to mark the meanings of our life’s history, and makes the divine gifts infinitely more precious when they do come.
After all, the time of waiting is at the longest very short. And when the perfect fruition is come, and we enter into the great spaces of Eternity, it will seem as an handbreadth.
‘Take it on trust a little while,
Thou soon shalt read the mystery right
In the full sunshine of His smile.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 20 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues speaking to the people of Judah.
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you will ... to you ... answer you
Here "you" refers to the people who will live in Zion.
he will answer you
"he will help you"
translationWords
Yahweh
grace
mercy
God
just
bless
Zion
Jerusalem
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 vv18–21 30:18-33 This prophecy of salvation includes promises that directed…
30:18-33 This prophecy of salvation includes promises that directed Israel’s attention away from their present adversity to the glorious future awaiting the children of God.
30:18 A faithful God would restore righteous order to the world by punishing the wicked and rescuing his people from them (see 1:27; Ps 96:10-12). • God blesses those who wait; faithful people do not rush ahead of him to solve their own problems but instead rely on his power and goodness.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.