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poor help in time of need; "a bruised reed" indeed. In contrast with the false and fickle
"stillness" is the true exhortation of verse 15: "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Isa. 30: 15). Then comes the
dreadful refusal, "And ye would not", followed by their reaping and sowing:
"But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee; and, We will
ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift" (Isa. 30: 16).
Thus is pronounced yet another "woe" against this people. But the "Glory" follows
immediately.
"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" (Isa. 30: 18).
"Therefore will the Lord wait . . . . . blessed are all they that wait." "Though it tarry,
wait", said the Lord to Habakkuk--and to us all. Go not down to Egypt--wait. Put no
trust in ungodly alliances--wait. This is not the wisdom of the world: "For since the
beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the
eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him"
(Isa. 66: 4).
From the context of Isa. 30: 18, we are once more "in that day", for verses 21-26
reveal millennial conditions, and verses 27-33, with its "Tophet" and "breath of the Lord
like a stream of brimstone", pointedly refer to the events of Rev. 19: 20.
From the vision of the future, Isaiah once more returns to the unholy alliance with
Egypt, saying:
"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in
chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are strong, but they look
not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord" (Isa. 31: 1).
The vanity of this trust in Egypt is further enlarged upon in verse 3: "Now the
Egyptians are men and not God; and their horses are flesh and not spirit."
With this prophecy of failure, the series of woes end, and the remainder of the chapter
reveals "the glories" that shall come "in that day". First, the Lord reveals that "He will
come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hills thereof" (Isa. 31: 4). From the
figure of an undaunted lion when a crowd of shepherds come against it, the prophet turns
to the figure of a bird protecting its young: "As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts
defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve
it" (Isa. 31: 5). The word translated "birds" (Heb. Tsippor) refers to birds of the smaller
kind, as the translation "sparrow" indicates (Psa. 102: 7). The word "flying" is in the
feminine and may indicate the "mother bird", even as the word translated "flying"
contains the thought of "hovering". But the most interesting word here is the one which
is translated "passing over", for it is pasach, which is first found in Exod. 12: 13 in the
words, "I will pass over you". The fact that the word can be translated "halt" and "leap"