Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 30:18

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 30:18. 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.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The folly of relying on Egypt (30:1-33)

All Isaiah’s warnings against an alliance with Egypt are in vain. As he learns that a group of Judean representatives is on its way to Egypt, he points out again how disastrous this alliance will prove to be. Judah’s reliance on Egypt is against God’s will and in the end will bring only disgrace upon Judah (30:1-5).
Isaiah pictures the dangerous journey, as a caravan of donkeys and camels carry Judah’s payment through the dry southern region of Judah towards Egypt. He knows that the journey is a waste of time, money and effort (6). Judah thinks of Egypt as a great dragon (Rahab) that will help it overthrow enemy Assyria, but Isaiah knows that Egypt will be powerless to help - like a dragon that sits still and does nothing (7).
The prophet writes this discouraging message down as a permanent record that the people have been warned (8). But the sinful people do not want to hear messages that come from God. They want to hear only those things that please them (9-11). They trust for their national defence in a treaty with Egypt, which, to them, is like a high wall that protects them from enemy Assyria. But this wall will collapse on top of them (12-14).
Instead of trusting quietly in God the people trust in military strength. This is only inviting defeat, because the military strength of Assyria is greater than that of Egypt (15-17). God wants to help his people, but first he wants them to learn to trust in him (18).
Despite Judah’s rebellion, God in his mercy does not cast them off for ever (19). He is the great teacher who punishes his people when they turn from him, so that they might see their wrongdoing, give up their sinful ways and return to walk in the ways of God (20-22). Then God will pour out upon them the blessings of nature to an extent they have never before experienced (23-26). Upon their enemies, God will pour out his holy wrath (27-28). The people of God will celebrate their victory with much gladness and singing (29), but the Assyrians will be destroyed without mercy, as if burnt in a huge bonfire (30-33).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

GLIMPSES OF THE AGE OF THE MESSIAH

"And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell 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 the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden any more, but thine eye 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. And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence."

"The word behind thee" God's Word "behind Israel" would most certainly mean that they were not "following" the Lord, but that they had sinfully gone onward away from him.

The immediate promise of these good things for Israel would be fulfilled in the destruction of the Assyrian armies; "But the prophecy looks far beyond that to the Golden Age (Isaiah 23-26) (the age of Messiah)."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 792. The fulfillment of the first promise was a proof of the certainty of the latter one.

That this prophecy reaches far beyond the destruction of Sennacherib's army is seen in the total rejection of idol worship which occurred at the end of the exile.

"The promises of Isaiah 30:20-22 describe the days of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31 ff), and not the final glory";The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 607. because there remains here the element of adversity, i.e., tribulation. One of the current popular errors regards the so-called "rapture" of the church in which God's people shall escape tribulation. No way! It is written concerning "all the saints of God," that, "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Take a careful look at that word "must."

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

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.

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 Isaiah 30:26.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

18.Therefore will Jehovah wait. The Prophet now adds consolation; for hitherto he threatened to such an extent that almost all the godly might be thrown into despair. He intended therefore to soothe their minds, and encourage them to hope for better things, that they might embrace the mercy of God in the midst of those miseries, and might thus nourish their souls by his word. He contrasts this “waiting” with the excessive haste against which he spoke loudly at the beginning of the chapter, where he reproved the people for noisy haste, and condemned them for unbelief; but now, on the contrary, he reproaches them by saying that the Lord will not render like for like in consequence of the contempt with which they have treated him, and will not in that manner hasten to punish them. Others explain it, “He commands you to wait,” or “he will cause you to wait.” But the meaning which I have brought forward appears to me to be more appropriate.

For Jehovah is a God of judgment. To make the former statement more plain, we must lay down this principle, that God exercises moderation in inflicting punishment, because he is inclined to mercy. This is what he means by the word “judgment;” for it denotes not only punishment, but also the moderation which is exercised in chastening. In like manner, Jeremiah says,

“Chasten me, O Lord, but in judgment,
not in thy wrath, lest thou crush me.” (Jeremiah 10:24.)

And again, I will not consume thee, but will chastise thee in judgment. ⁽²⁹⁸⁾ (Jeremiah 30:11.) “Judgment” is thus contrasted with severity, when the Lord observes a limit in punishing believers, that he may not ruin those whose salvation he always promotes; and, accordingly, as Habakkuk says, “in the midst of wrath he remembers his mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2.) He is not like us, therefore; he does not act with bustling or hurry, otherwise at every moment we must perish, but he calmly waits. Nor is it a slight confirmation of this when he adds, that God gives a proof of his glory by pardoning his people.

And therefore will he be exalted, that he may be gracious to you. Others translate the words, “till he be gracious to you;” but I think that the former translation is more appropriate, and it agrees better with the meaning of the particle ל (lamed.) The Lord appears to lie still or to sleep, so long as he permits his Church to be assailed by the outrages of wicked men; and the customary language of Scripture is to say that he sits, or lies unemployed, when he does not defend his Church. It might be thought that he lay still when he gave loose reins to the Chaldeans to oppress the Jews; and therefore the Prophet says, that the Lord will arise and ascend his judgment-seat. Why? “That he may be gracious to you.”

Blessed are all that wait for him. This is an inference from the former statement, in which he called Jehovah “a God of judgment.” While he thus restrains himself, he draws from it an exhortation to patience and “waiting,” and makes use of a part of the same verb, “wait,” which he had formerly used. They were chargeable with distrust, and were distressed by strange uneasiness and restlessness of mind; for they were fearfully harassed by their unbelief, so that they could not “wait” for God calmly. To cure this vice, he enjoins them to “wait,” that is, to hope. Now, hope is nothing else than steadfastness of faith, that is, when we wait calmly till the Lord fulfil what he has promised. When he says that they who shall patiently “wait” for him will be “blessed,” he declares, on the other hand, that they who allow themselves to be hurried away by impatience, and do not repent of their crimes and their wickedness, are wretched and miserable, and will at length perish; for without hope in God there can be no salvation or happiness.

(298) Bogus footnote

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 30

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not from me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to their sin ( Isaiah 30:1 ):

Now these people, the judgment was coming. They knew that Assyria was marching. But rather than turning to God for counsel and for help, they were sending ambassadors down to Egypt to make a mutual defense pact with Egypt so that they could hire the Egyptians to come and to help defend them against the Assyrians. But the prophet said it's stupid to call on Egypt for help, because Assyria's going to wipe out Egypt. But Assyria's not going to wipe out you. Now your strength is just to stand still and do nothing but trust in the Lord. And woe unto those that are seeking counsel but not from God. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly" ( Psalms 1:1 ).

People today are seeking counsel, but not from God. They are many of them going to ungodly psychiatrists who are filled with humanism and Freudism. And they are giving you the garbage and charging you a hundred dollars an hour for garbage. That's ridiculous! Woe unto those that take counsel but not from God. That seek to find a covering but not from the Spirit.

That go down to Egypt, and have not asked from God; [they seek] to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and they trust in the shadow of Egypt! ( Isaiah 30:2 )

But there's no real substance to Egypt. It's a shadow. It's going to decline. It's going to fall.

Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and your trust in the shadow of Egypt will only bring you confusion. For the princes were there at Zoan, and the ambassadors they came to Hanes [the major cities of Egypt in that day]. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be able to help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the south: To the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Your strength is just to sit still ( Isaiah 30:3-7 ).

Now this is what the prophet Isaiah kept telling Hezekiah, "Don't worry about it. God's going to defend you. You don't have to worry about the Assyrians and their invasion, because God is going to take care of you. You're not going to have to fight the battle. God is going to fight for you. Now just trust in the Lord." And here he is saying, "Your strength is just to sit still and trust in God."

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever ( Isaiah 30:8 ):

Write it down for them so that when God does, you can take the book out and say, "Look, this is what I told you. See? There it is."

That this is a rebellious people, they are lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Don't prophesy to us right things, but speak smooth things, prophesy deceitfully ( Isaiah 30:9-10 ):

Only tell me good things about me. Don't tell me the truth. I don't want to hear that. They say to the prophets,

Get out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and you're resting on it: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare ( Isaiah 30:11-14 ):

God's going to crack all of these pots.

This takes you out to the book of Revelation where it talks about the reign of Jesus Christ, who as with an iron, will pop the clay vessels and shatter them to pieces. Those that have exalted themselves, He'll pop them.

so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit ( Isaiah 30:14 ).

There won't be enough left to even take water out.

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall you be saved ( Isaiah 30:15 );

Don't go to Egypt. Just return and rest in the Lord and there you'll be safe.

in quietness and confidence shall be your strength: but you won't listen [you will not hear]. For you said, No; we will flee upon horses ( Isaiah 30:15-16 );

"We'll get away from the Assyrians. We'll get on horses and we'll flee." But he said, "Those who are chasing you will have faster horses than you do."

And a thousand will flee from one man; at the rebuke of five you will flee: till you are left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain. 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 ( Isaiah 30:17-18 ).

Now some of the more wealthy people were escaping to Egypt when they saw this Assyrian invasion coming. Get on their horses, head to Egypt, escape from. But Egypt fell to Assyria. However, Jerusalem stood. Those that stayed there in quietness and confidence trusting the Lord. The Lord wiped out the Assyrian army. The children of Israel didn't have to fight them. God delivered them. And we'll get to that as we move along here in Isaiah. God's judgment upon the Assyrians as He wiped out 185,000 in one night of the first line fighting troops. But here the prophet is telling them all along, "Quiet and confidence shall be your strength. Don't run. They'll chase you. They'll be faster than you are. They'll overtake you. But those that will wait upon God will be delivered."

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 ( Isaiah 30:19-21 ).

How glorious to be led of the Spirit and having God say, "This is the way, walk in it." What is the way? The way of waiting upon God and trusting in Him.

You shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. 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 fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound ( Isaiah 30:22-26 ).

Sounds like the sun will go into a supernova.

Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire ( Isaiah 30:27 ):

Again, we're getting into the day of His indignation, getting into the day of the great wrath, and this moon shall be as light as the sun and the sunlight seven times increased. It reminds us of the book of Revelation, chapter 16, as the Lord is pouring out the vials of His wrath upon the earth. In the fourth vial He gives power unto the sun to scorch men who dwell upon the earth. And men will be scorched by the sun during that time. And so the sun increased in its brightness to a seven-times intensity so that the moon reflecting the sun at night under a full moon, it would be as bright on the earth as it is usually during the daytime. And it does sound like the sun will go into a supernova state. And there are a lot of interesting implications to the sun going into a supernova state of the effect that it would have upon the earth and so forth. Of course, it would be devastating to the earth if the sun went into a supernova state.

The astronomers believe that when stars are about to die that they go into the supernova state. And supernova is a phenomena that we observe in the universe. We've observed many stars as they are about to die. They go into this tremendous intensity of light and they call them the supernovas because it gets so bright and they begin to emit so much radiation and all. And the astronomers have watched these stars in supernovas. If the sun should go into supernova, it would just about do in the earth. But it sure sounds like it here. The sun being seven times brighter, the moon being as bright as the sun and the sun becoming seven times brighter. Sounds like a supernova. But it speaks about "the name of the Lord comes from far, burning in his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation."

In Revelation it says for the cup at the time of the sun giving power. The sun to scorch men who dwell upon the earth, it says, "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth for the cup of His indignation overflow and is pouring out the cup of the wrath upon the earth" ( Revelation 14:10 ). And so here His indignation, "the tongue as a devouring fire."

And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err. Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, and the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, the tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod ( Isaiah 30:28-31 ).

Now we're coming back to the local situation. God's going to wipe out the Assyrian. However, the Assyrian here could also be a type of the antichrist who will be destroyed by the sword that goes forth out of the mouth of Christ when He returns.

And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophet [interesting scripture, Tophet] is ordained of old ( Isaiah 30:32-33 );

Tophet is hell. It is actually the Gehenna of the New Testament. And Hades is hell; Gehenna is another place. "Tophet is ordained of old." Jesus said that Tophet was prepared by God for the devil and his angels. It has been ordained of old, a place that God has ordained. The word means the place of a burning fire. In the New Testament it is described as the place that burns with fire, the lake of fire. And Tophet is ordained of old.

yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it ( Isaiah 30:33 ).

David said, "Where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there. Yea, if I descend into hell, lo, Thou art there." Here very graphically it describes this place known as Tophet; in the Greek, Gehenna. The final place of the wicked dead. Hell is not a place of eternal punishment. Hades. Death and hell are going to give up their dead which are in them. Revelation, chapter 20, when he sees the great white throne judgment of God, "and death and hell delivereth up their dead. And those whose names are not found written in the book of life are cast into the lake that burns with fire" ( Revelation 20:13 , Revelation 20:15 ). Gehenna, Tophet, this is the second death.

So hell will come to an end. When it gives up its dead to stand before God at the judgment bar. And then they will be cast into Gehenna. Now of Gehenna, the scripture declares, "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth from the ages through the ages" ( Revelation 14:11 ). "Aionios posto aionios" in the Greek, the strongest term there is for expressing eternity--from the ages through the ages.

Jesus said of Gehenna, "Where the worm dies not, neither is the fire quenched" ( Mark 9:44 ). Now there are those who say, "Well, hell is not a place of eternal punishment." We get, "Oh, but the Bible says." "No, the Bible does say that," and they can show you scriptures where hell is not a place of eternal punishment. Death and hell would give up the dead that are in them, Hades. But when you talk about Gehenna, you're talking about something else; Tophet, it's been ordained of old. And according to the scriptures, the smoke of the torment will ascend forever and ever. Jesus said, "Where the worm dies not, neither is the fire quenched."

You can read into that whatever you want. You can read out of that whatever you want. I personally just leave it alone. I have no intention of being there. And whether they are consumed and their smoke ascends forever and ever. But Jesus said, "Where the worm dies not." So to me the strong indications are that it will be an eternal separation from God and whether or not conscious, that's something that's in God's hands. I don't worry about that. I don't mess with that. It's out of my territory. That's in God's hands. And God will do what is right and what is fair.

But my great concern is with that new model that He's preparing for me. The new building of God that is eternal in the heavens. That's where I can get excited and really get into the glorious future that I have with Him. My eternal future with the Lord, that's the thing that can really get me excited.

Go ahead and read your next five chapters. You'll have a little while to read them. Some very interesting things. We get to the destruction of the Assyrian army that he has been predicting and chapter 33. And then chapter 35, the glorious light at the end of the tunnel after the earth goes through the Great Tribulation of chapter 34, coming into chapter 35, glorious Kingdom Age. I can hardly wait.

Shall we stand.

May the Lord be with you and bless you and keep you in His love and grace. May the Lord watch over you and may you be filled with His Spirit and walk in the strength and the power of the Spirit of God as He anoints you day by day. May you be enabled by Him, and may you enter into that fullness that He has for you. Walking with the Lord. Loving the Lord. Listening to the Lord. Alert unto the Lord in these last days when the world around you is walking in its drunken stupor. May your mind and heart be clear, sensitive to God and to the things of the Spirit. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Yahweh is a God of justice; He will do what is right at the right time. Since He promised to bless His people, He will also, after punishing them for their lack of trust, extend grace and show compassion to them. So those who long for Him will experience blessing when their waiting is over.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Distant restoration in spite of unfaithfulness 30:18-26

Until now the emphasis in this "woe" was on human activity, but now divine activity takes the spotlight, especially God’s faithfulness ultimately (Isaiah 30:18-26) and imminently (Isaiah 30:27-33). Human unfaithfulness does not destroy divine faithfulness (cf. 2 Timothy 2:13). This section is also structurally chiastic.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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:

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 Malachi 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, Jeremiah 10:24 and he is a God of "discretion", Psalms 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 Isaiah 49:23.

q לכן "nihilominus, tamen"; so Noldius, Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 507. in the same way Gataker. r חכה "significat anhelat, vel inhiat", Forerius. s ולכן ירים "et propterea exaltabit se", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "elaturus est se", Junius Tremellius. t Gloss, in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 2. u לרחמכם "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 כי "quamvis", so this particle is often used; see Noldius, p. 399.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.   19 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.   20 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:   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 thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast 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 fat 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 clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.   25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.   26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.

      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.

      1. The mercy in store for them is very affectingly expressed. (1.) "He will wait to be gracious (Isaiah 30:18; Isaiah 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 (Zechariah 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 (Isaiah 30:19; Isaiah 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 (Jeremiah 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, Isaiah 30:20; Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 30:19; Isaiah 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 (1 Kings 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, Amos 8:11; Amos 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 quærit 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 (Revelation 12:6), when the prophets are hidden by fifty in a cave,1 Kings 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, Luke 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 (Isaiah 30:21; Isaiah 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, Isaiah 30:22; Isaiah 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 (Jeremiah 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,Leviticus 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 (Hosea 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 themMatthew 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,Psalms 67:5; Psalms 67:6. So it follows here: "When you shall have abandoned your idols, then shall God give the rain of your seed," Isaiah 30:23; Isaiah 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, Isaiah 37:30; Isaiah 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 (Isaiah 30:25; Isaiah 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, Isaiah 30:26; Isaiah 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.