Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 30:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 30:6. The burden — משא massa seems here to be taken in its proper sense; the load, not the oracle. The same subject is continued; and there seems to be no place here for a new title to a distinct prophecy.

Does not burden of the beasts of the South in this place relate to the presents sent by Hoshea king of Israel to the South - to Egypt, which lay south of Judea, to engage the Egyptians to succour him against the king of Assyria?

Into the land of trouble and anguish - "Through a land of distress and difficulty"] The same deserts are here spoken of which the Israelites passed through when they came out of Egypt, which Moses describes, Deuteronomy 8:15, as "that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought; where there was no water." And which was designed to be a kind of barrier between them and Egypt, of which the Lord had said, "Ye shall henceforth return no more that way," Deuteronomy 17:16.

Shall not profit them] A MS. adds in the margin the word למו lamo, them, which seems to have been lost out of the text: it is authorized by the Septuagint and Vulgate.

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

WARNINGS AGAINST A PROFITLESS ALLIANCE WITH EGYPT

“Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that make a league; but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes. They shall all be ashamed because of people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness, and the lion, the viper, and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. But Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose, therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth still.”

In the first two verses here, there appears to be on God’s part a certain amazement that rebellious Israel should prove to be so incredibly stupid as to follow the pattern of behavior they had chosen. Israel had already been shamefully defeated by the strategy of the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:14) on the occasion when they forgot or refused to consult the will of God regarding what they should have done; and here they actually decided to team up with a people who had traditionally been their worst enemies, and without seeking to know the will of God on such a matter! Furthermore, God had already prophesied the defeat of both Egypt and her ally Ethiopia, a prophecy that Israel did not even believe. The god of this world had indeed blinded their eyes!

Strengthening themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and taking refuge in the shadow of Egypt, in the light of all that Israel was supposed to know, appear incredible, even to us. Under God’s law, rebellious children were to be put to death (Deuteronomy 21:18-20); and the charge here in the very first verse amounts to God’s declaration that Israel deserved death.

Moreover, when God prophesied the placement of a king over Israel (Deuteronomy 17:14-17), he specifically commanded that, (1) the king should not go back to Egypt for the purpose of procuring horses, and that (2) “Henceforth ye shall return no more that way.” And yet, despite all that, right here in this chapter, the princes of Judah are (1) again going right back through that terrible wilderness on their way to Egypt, and (2) boasting about the horses they shall ride (Isaiah 30:16)!

Our margin gives an alternate reading for “make a league” (Isaiah 30:1), i.e. “pour out a drink offering.” Loth tells us that this is literally what the Hebrew text says. “Sacrifice and libation were ceremonies constantly used in ancient times by most nations in the ratifying of covenants… and the word stands for both. The Septuagint (LXX) translation agrees with American Standard Version.”Robert Lowth’s Commentary, p. 283. The significance of this is that “the league” mentioned here involved Israel’s tacit recognition of Egypt’s pagan gods and the offering of a sacrifice to such gods, the very same gods that God had so disastrously defeated in the events leading up to the Exodus!

The mention of the princes and ambassadors having already arrived at Zoan and Hanes shows the extent of Hezekiah’s involvement in this sinful scheme to team-up with Egypt. “Both Zoan and Hanes were the seats of reigning princes at the time of Hezekiah, therefore delegations were sent to both.”Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s Commentary, p. 463. Recent research on “Hanes,” however has questioned this, “`Hanes’ may be merely a Hebrew translation of a word that means `mansion of the king.’“K. A. Kitchens, The New Bible Dictionary, p. 504. Another explanation supposes that `Hanes’ might have been the headquarters of Egypt’s ally, Ethiopia. None of these explanations has been proved.

“The burden of the beasts of the South” This is a reference to, “The beasts of the ambassadors, burdened with the riches of Judah, presents for Egypt traveling southwards.”Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s Commentary, p. 463. As Lowth pointed out, “`Burden’ must be understood here in the ordinary sense of `a load.’“

“Therefore have I called her Rahab” “This is not the same name as that in Joshua 2; it is spelled differently.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 607. James Moffatt’s Translation of the Bible (1929) rendered it “Dragon Do Nothing!” Leupold, as quoted by Hailey, translated it, “A Big Mouth that is a Do-nothing.”Homer Hailey, p. 252. Payne stated that “Rahab was a mythical primeval monster defeated by the pagan god Baal, in Canaanite religious beliefs.”The New Layman’s Bible Commentary, p. 792. At any rate, it was God’s warning through Isaiah that Egypt was not fit to be a panner with Israel.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The burden of the beasts of the south - The word ‘south’ here refers doubtless to the country to the south of Judea; and particularly to Egypt. Thus it is used in Daniel 11:5-6. The phrase ‘beasts of the south,’ here refers to the animals that were traveling to Egypt. Isaiah, in vision, sees the caravan heavily laden with treasures pursuing a southern direction on its way to Egypt. The word ‘burden’ is used in two senses, to denote that which is borne, a heavy burden; or an oracle, a solemn prophetic message (see the notes at Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 19:1). Many understand the word here in the latter sense, and regard this as the title of a prophetic message similar to those in Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 17:1; Isaiah 19:1. But the word is doubtless used here in its ordinary signification, to denote the load which is borne on animals, and here especially the treasures which were borne down to Egypt, for the purpose of securing their friendly alliance. The prophet sees the caravan, or the beasts of the ambassadors heavily laden with rich treasures, traveling southward toward Egypt, and cries out, ‘O the heavy burden, the load of treasures going to the south!’

Into the land of trouble and anguish - Egypt; so called either because it was the land where the Hebrews had formerly suffered so severe oppressions; or because it was a land where the subjects were now grievously oppressed, and borne down with cruel laws; or because it was yet to be a land of trouble, from which the Jews could expect no aid. The general idea is, that Egypt was not a land of liberty and happiness, but a country where cruelty, oppression, and woe abounded. One source of trouble, as emblematic of all, the prophet immediately mentions when he designates that it abounded with venomous reptiles.

The viper - (אפעה 'eph‛eh). Septuagint, Ἀσπίδες Aspides ‘asps’ (see Isaiah 59:5). This is a well-known species of serpent. It is probably the same as the El-Effah of the Arabs which is thus described by Mr. Jackson: ‘It is remarkable for its quick and penetrating poison; it is about two feet long and as thick as a man’s arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and brown, and sprinkled over with blackish specks, similar to the horn-nosed snake. They have a wide mouth, by which they inhale a great quantity of air, and when inflated therewith they eject it with such force as to be heard at a considerable distance.’ It is well known that Egypt produced venomous reptiles in abundance. Cleopatra destroyed herself with the bite of an asp which she had concealed for that purpose.

And fiery flying serpent - (מעופף שׂרף s'ârâph m^e‛ôpēp). Septuagint, Ἔκγονα ἀσπίδων περομένων Ekgona aspidōn petomenōn. This is the flying serpent so often referred to in the Scriptures. See a description of it in the notes at Isaiah 14:29. It is known to have abounded in the Arabian deserts, and was doubtless found also in Egypt as being in the same latitude, and infested with similar reptiles. Niebuhr thus describes a species of serpent which answers to this account. ‘There is at Bakra a sort of serpents which they call Heie Sursurie, or Heie Thiare. They commonly keep upon the date trees; and as it would be laborious for them to come down from a very high tree in order to ascend another, they twist themselves by the tail to a branch of the former, which, making a spring, by the motion they give it, throw themselves to the second. Hence, it is that the modern Arabs call them the flying serpents - Heie Thiare. Lord Anson, as quoted by Niebuhr, also speaks of them as follows: ‘The Spaniards informed us that there was often found in the woods a most mischievous serpent, called the flying snake, which, they said, darted itself from the boughs of trees on either man or beast that came within its reach, and whose sting they took to be inevitable death.’ There was a species of serpent which the Greeks called Αξοντίας Acontias, and the Roman Jaculus, from their swift darting motion, and perhaps the same species is here referred to which Lucan calls Jaculique volucres. That these venomous reptiles abounded in Egypt is expressly testified by profane writers. Thus Ammianus says (xxii. 15), that ‘Egypt nourishes innumerable serpents, basilisks, and twoheaded serpents (amphisbaenas), and the seytalus (a serpent of a glistening color), and the acontias (Latin, Jaculus), and adders, and vipers, and many others.’

They will carry their riches - Presents, designed to induce the Egyptians to enter into the alliance. That it was a common custom to make presents when one king sent an embassy to another, whether the design was to show friendship or civility, or to form an alliance, is well known in regard to all the nations of the East. The custom prevails at the present day, and is often referred to in Scripture (see 1Ki 15:19; 2 Kings 16:8; 2 Kings 18:14-15).

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

6.The burden of the beasts of the south. After having spoken loudly against the consultations of the Jews about asking assistance from the Egyptians, he ridicules the enormous cost and the prodigious inconveniences which they endured on that account; for at so high a price did they purchase their destruction; and he threatens the same curse as formerly, because unhappily they acted in opposition to the word of God. He mentions “the south,” because they journeyed through a southern region, Egypt being situated to “the south” of Judea. He therefore calls them “beasts of burden” on account of the journey, and addresses them in order to pour contempt on men, because it was in vain to speak to them, and they were deaf to all exhortations. Accordingly, he threatens that the effect of this prediction shall reach the very “beasts of burden,” though men do not understand it.

In the land of trouble and distress. The people having proudly disregarded the threatenings, the Prophet seasonably turns to the horses and camels; and declares that, although they are void of reason, yet they shall perceive that God hath not spoken in vain, and that, though the people imagined that there was uninterrupted prosperity in Egypt, it would be a land of anguish and affliction even to the brute animals. The journey was labourious and difficult, and yet they shrunk from no exertion in order to satisfy their mad desire; and to such a pitch of madness was their ardor carried, that they were not discouraged by the tediousness of the journey.

The young lion and the strong lion. In addition to the inconveniences already mentioned, Isaiah threatens the special vengeance of God, that they shall encounter “lions” and beasts of prey. There was nothing new or uncommon in this to persons who traveled from Judea into Egypt; but here he threatens something extraordinary and more dangerous. In addition to the inconveniences and toils, and to the sums of money which they shall expend, God will also send disastrous occurrences, and at length they shall be miserably ruined.

This doctrine ought to be applied to us, who are chargeable with a fault exceedingly similar; for in dangers we fly to unlawful remedies, and think that they will profit us, though God disapproves of them. We must therefore experience the same result and fall into the same dangers, if we do not restrain our unbelief and wickedness by the word of God. We ought also to observe and guard against that madness which hurries us along to spare no expense and to shrink from no toil, while we obey with excessive ardor our foolish desire and wish. We had abundant experience of this in Popery, when we were held captives by it, running about in all directions, and wearying ourselves with long and toilsome pilgrimages to various saints; yet the greatest possible annoyances were reckoned by us to be light and trivial. But now, when we are commanded to obey God and to endure “the light yoke” of Christ, (Matthew 11:30,) we find that we cannot endure it.

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

The folly of seeking help from Egypt 30:1-7

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

These verses may constitute an original separate oracle that Isaiah added to the preceding one, since it forms a fitting climax to his thought. Alternatively, the title "oracle" (lit. burden) may be wordplay with the objects of this prophetic message, the burden-bearers (beasts) of the Judean ambassadors. The title is very similar to those in Isaiah 21:1; Isaiah 21:11, and Isaiah 22:1.

Rather than going directly to Egypt through Philistia, the Judean ambassadors had taken the circuitous and dangerous route through the Negev, probably to avoid Assyrian detection. They had taken roughly the same route as their ancestors who left Egypt in the Exodus, only traveling in the opposite direction (cf. Numbers 21:6; Deuteronomy 8:15). This irony highlights the folly of returning to Egypt for help. The Lord expressed more concern for the animals that carried the ambassadors, than for the ambassadors themselves, since the ambassadors were rebelling against Him.

"A caravan loaded with treasure struggles through wild terrain infested with lions and snakes, all to buy the help of an old dragon who is in fact helpless. All the cost in effort and wealth will come to nothing, says the prophet." [Note: Oswalt, p. 547.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The burden of the beasts of the south,.... Some think this begins a new prophecy, and this the name and inscription of it. The Septuagint version is,

"the vision of the four footed beasts in the wilderness;''

and Kimchi's note is,

"this prophecy, which he prophesied, that the beasts of the south should go out, meaning the beasts of the wilderness, and devour those that went to seek help from Egypt;''

but it respects the same thing as before, as appears by what follows; namely, the messengers going down to Egypt, which lay south of Judea, as Jarchi and Kimchi, Ben Melech and Abarbinel, observe, with beasts carrying riches thither, either for safety, or to obtain help from them:

into a land of trouble and anguish; as it had been to their fathers formerly, and would be no otherwise to them now, notwithstanding their high raised expectations of assistance from them; there may be an allusion to its name Mizraim:

from whence [come] the young and old lion, the viper, and fiery flying serpent; creatures with which Egypt abounded, as historians relate, and where some of them, at least, were worshipped, and where also men dwelt comparable to these creatures, as for craft and cruelty; though some understand this not of the country of Egypt, into which they went, but of the desert of Arabia, which lay between Judea and Egypt, through which they went; which was a land of trouble and anguish, for want of water, and because of these noxious creatures, of which it was full; see Deuteronomy 8:15:

they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses; which were much used in Judea to carry burdens on, and which were laid chiefly on their shoulders; and this denotes the great quantity of riches that would be, and were carried into Egypt, either by the ambassadors, as presents to the Egyptians, to gain their friendship and assistance; or else by some of the principal inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea, who, upon hearing of the invasion by Sennacherib, gathered up their riches, and fled to Egypt with them for safety, making use of young asses and camels, as follow:

and their treasures upon the bunches of camels; much used in travelling through the deserts of Arabia, and which have some one, some two humps on their backs, whereby they are better fitted to carry burdens. The word is of the singular number, and only used in this place; and has the signification of honey, as the camels hump is so called, as Jarchi from the Talmud h says, because, when hurt, it is healed by anointing it with honey; and upon these they carried their money and jewels they had treasured up:

to a people [that] shall not profit [them]; the Egyptians, who were of no service to the Jews, to free them from the invasion of the Assyrians.

h Bava Metzia, fol. 38. 1. Sabbat. fol. 154. 2.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:   2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!   3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.   4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.   5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.   6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.   7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.

      It was often the fault and folly of the people of the Jews that, when they were insulted by their neighbours on one side, they sought for succour from their neighbours on the other side, instead of looking up to God and putting their confidence in him. Against the Israelites they sought to the Syrians, 2 Chronicles 16:2; 2 Chronicles 16:3. Against the Syrians they sought to the Assyrians, 2 Kings 16:7. Against the Assyrians they here sought to the Egyptians, and Rabshakeh upbraided them with so doing, 2 Kings 18:21. Now observe here,

      I. How this sin of theirs is described, and what there was in it that was provoking to God. When they saw themselves in danger and distress, 1. They would not consult God. They would do things of their own heads, and not advise with God, though they had a ready and certain way of doing it by Urim or prophets. They were so confident of the prudence of their own measures that they thought it needless to consult the oracle; nay, they were not willing to put it to that issue: "They take counsel among themselves, and one from another; but they do not ask counsel, much less will they take counsel, of me. They cover with a covering" (they think to secure themselves with one shelter or other, which may serve to cover them from the violence of the storm), "but not of my Spirit" (not such as God by his Spirit, in the mouth of his prophets, directed them to), "and therefore it will prove too short a covering, and a refuge of lies." 2. They could not confide in God. They did not think it enough to have God on their side, nor were they at all solicitous to make him their friend, but they strengthened themselves in the strength of Pharaoh; they thought him a powerful ally, and doubted not but to be able to cope with the Assyrian while they had him for them. The shadow of Egypt (and it was but a shadow) was the covering in which they wrapped themselves.

      II. What was the evil of this sin. 1. It bespoke them rebellious children; and a woe is here denounced against them under that character, Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah 30:1. They were, in profession, God's children; but, not trusting in him, they were justly stigmatized as rebellious; for, if we distrust God's providence, we do in effect withdraw ourselves from our allegiance. 2. They added sin to sin. It was sin that brought them into distress; and then, instead of repenting, they trespassed yet more against the Lord,2 Chronicles 28:22. And those that had abused God's mercies to them, making them the fuel of their lusts, abused their afflictions too, making them an excuse for their distrust of God; and so they make bad worse, and add sin to sin; and those that do so, as they make their own chain heavy, so it is just with God to make their plagues wonderful. Now that which aggravated their sin was, (1.) That they took so much pains to secure the Egyptians for their allies: They walk to go down to Egypt, travel up and down to find an advantageous road thither; but they have not asked at my mouth, never considered whether God would allow and approve of it or no. (2.) That they were at such a vast expense to do it, Isaiah 30:6; Isaiah 30:6. They load the beasts of the south (horses fetched from Egypt, which lay south from Judea) with their riches, fancying, as it is common with people in a fright, that they were safer any where than where they were. Or they sent their riches thither as bribes to Pharaoh's courtiers, to engage them in their interests, or as pay for their army. God would have helped them gratis; but, if they will have help from the Egyptians, they must pay dearly for it, and they seem willing to do so. The riches that are so spent will turn to a bad account. They carried their effects to Egypt through a land (so it may be read) of trouble and anguish, that vast howling wilderness which lay between Canaan and Egypt, whence come the lion and fiery serpent,Deuteronomy 8:15. They would venture through that dangerous wilderness, to bring what they had to Egypt. Or it may be meant of Egypt itself, which had been to Israel a house of bondage and therefore a land of trouble and anguish, and which abounded in ravenous and venomous creatures. See what dangers men run into that forsake God, and what dangers they will run into in pursuance of their carnal confidences and their expectations from the creature.

      III. What would be the consequence of it. 1. The Egyptians would receive their ambassadors, would address them very respectfully, and be willing to treat with them (Isaiah 30:4; Isaiah 30:4): His princes were at Zoan, at Pharaoh's court there, and had their audience of the king, who encouraged them to depend upon his friendship and the succours he would send them. But, 2. They would not answer their expectation: They could not profit them,Isaiah 30:5; Isaiah 30:5. For God says, They shall not profit them (Isaiah 30:6; Isaiah 30:6), and every creature is that to us (and no more) which he makes it to be. The forces they were to furnish them with could not be raised in time; or, when they were raised, they were not fit for service, and they would not venture any of their veteran troops in the expedition; or the march was so long that they could not come up when they had occasion for them; or the Egyptians would not be cordial to Israel, but would secretly incline to the Assyrians, upon some account or other: The Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose,Isaiah 30:7; Isaiah 30:7. They shall hinder and hurt, instead of helping. And therefore, 3. These people, that were now so fond of the Egyptians, would at length be ashamed of them, and of all their expectations from them and confidence in them (Isaiah 30:3; Isaiah 30:3): "The strength of Pharaoh, which was your pride, shall be your shame; all your neighbours will upbraid you, and you will upbraid yourselves, with your folly in trusting to it. And the shadow of Egypt, that land shadowing with wings (Isaiah 18:1; Isaiah 18:1), which was your confidence, shall be your confusion; it will not only disappoint you, and be the matter of your shame, but it will weaken all your other supports, and be an occasion of mischief to you." God afterwards threatens the ruin of Egypt for this very thing, because they had dealt treacherously with Israel and been a staff of a reed to them, Ezekiel 29:6; Ezekiel 29:7. The princes and ambassadors of Israel, who were so forward to court an alliance with them, when they come among them shall see so much of their weakness, or rather of their baseness, that they shall all be ashamed of a people that could not be a help or profit to them, but a shame and reproach,Isaiah 30:5; Isaiah 30:5. Those that trust in God, in his power, providence, and promise, are never made ashamed of their hope; but those that put confidence in any creature will sooner or later find it a reproach to them. God is true, and may be trusted, but every man a liar, and must be suspected. The Creator is a rock of ages, the creature a broken reed. We cannot expect too little from man nor too much from God.

      IV. The use and application of all this (Isaiah 30:7; Isaiah 30:7): "Therefore have I cried concerning this matter, this project of theirs. I have published it, that all might take notice of it. I have pressed it as one in earnest. Their strength is to sit still, in a humble dependence upon God and his goodness and a quiet submission to his will, and not to wander about and put themselves to great trouble to seek help from this and the other creature." If we sit still in a day of distress, hoping and quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord, and using only lawful regular methods for our own preservation, this will be the strength of our souls both for services and sufferings, and it will engage divine strength for us. We weaken ourselves, and provoke God to withdraw from us, when we make flesh our arm, for then our hearts depart from the Lord. When we have tired ourselves by seeking for help from creatures we shall find it the best way of recruiting ourselves to repose in the Creator. Here I am, let him do with me as he pleases.