8 No, go in, write it on a tablet with them, And on a book engrave it, And it is for a latter day, for a witness unto the age, 9 That a rebellious people 'is' this, sons—liars, Sons not willing to hear the law of Jehovah. 10 Who have said to seers, 'Ye do not see,' And to prophets, 'Ye do not prophesy to us Straightforward things, Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits, 11 Turn aside from the way, decline from the path, Cause to cease from before us the Holy One of Israel.' 12 Therefore, thus said the Holy One of Israel, Because of your kicking against this word, And ye trust in oppression, And perverseness, and rely on it, 13 Therefore is this iniquity to you as a breach falling, Swelled out in a wall set on high, Whose destruction suddenly, at an instant cometh. 14 And He hath broken it As the breaking of the potters' bottle, Beaten down—He doth not spare, Nor is there found, in its beating down, A potsherd to take fire from the burning, And to draw out waters from a ditch. 15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel: 'In returning and rest ye are saved, In keeping quiet and in confidence is your might, And ye have not been willing. 16 And ye say, No, for on a horse we flee? Therefore ye flee, And on the swift we ride! Therefore swift are your pursuers. 17 One thousand because of the rebuke of one, Because of the rebuke of five ye flee, Till ye have been surely left as a pole On the top of the mountain, And as an ensign on the height.
18 And therefore doth wait Jehovah to favour you, And therefore He is exalted to pity you, For a God of judgment 'is' Jehovah, O the blessedness of all waiting for Him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 30:8-18
Commentary on Isaiah 30:8-18
(Read Isaiah 30:8-18)
The Jews were the only professing people God then had in the world, yet many among them were rebellious. They had the light, but they loved darkness rather. The prophets checked them in their sinful pursuits, so that they could not proceed without fear; this they took amiss. But faithful ministers will not be driven from seeking to awaken sinners. God is the Holy One of Israel, and so they shall find him. They did not like to hear of his holy commandments and his hatred of sin; they desired that they might no more be reminded of these things. But as they despised the word of God, their sins undermined their safety. Their state would be dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel. Let us return from our evil ways, and settle in the way of duty; that is the way to be saved. Would we be strengthened, it must be in quietness and in confidence, keeping peace in our own minds, and relying upon God. They think themselves wiser than God; but the project by which they thought to save themselves was their ruin. Only here and there one shall escape, as a warning to others. If men will not repent, turn to God, and seek happiness in his favour and service, their desires will but hasten their ruin. Those who make God alone their confidence, will have comfort. God ever waits to be gracious to all that come to him by faith in Christ, and happy are those who wait for him.