Isaiah 30

“In Returning and Rest Shall Ye Be Saved”

Envoys trek to Egypt with treasure, the people tell prophets to prophesy smooth things, and the Lord waits to be gracious.

c. 703–701 BC, as Judah negotiated with Egypt against Assyria Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Chapter 30 is the third “woe” of this section, and it addresses a specific policy.

Chapter 30 is the third “woe” of this section, and it addresses a specific policy. Around 703–701 BC, King Hezekiah’s advisers sent envoys to Egypt to negotiate a military alliance against Assyria. Isaiah considered this a spiritual betrayal. Judah was trusting Pharaoh instead of the Lord, and doing it without even asking the Lord’s prophet (Isa. 30:2).

The chapter is famous for several beloved verses: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (verse 15); “thine eyes shall see thy teachers” (verse 20); and “This is the way, walk ye in it” (verse 21). Those comforting promises make more sense once you see the stubborn, anxious people they were first spoken to.

The thread through the chapter

Isaiah 30 is about two kinds of speed: the frantic rush of a people who won’t trust God, and the patient waiting of a God who wants to be gracious.

Isaiah 30 is about two kinds of speed: the frantic rush of a people who won’t trust God, and the patient waiting of a God who wants to be gracious.

The chapter opens with motion. Envoys hurry “down into Egypt” (verse 2). Caravans of donkeys and camels loaded with treasure trek through the dangerous southern desert, full of lions and snakes, to buy help from a nation that “shall not profit them” (verse 6). Isaiah gives Egypt a mocking nickname: “Rahab-sit-still,” the dragon that does nothing (verse 7).

Then the Lord names the deeper problem (verses 9–11). These are “children that will not hear.” They tell the seers, “See not,” and the prophets, “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things.” They are even tired of hearing about “the Holy One of Israel.”

Verse 15 is the turning point: “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.” Instead they said, “No; for we will flee upon horses” (verse 16). Isaiah replies with grim wit: very well, you’ll flee, and your pursuers will be faster.

And then comes the surprise (verse 18). Even after all this, “therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you.” They wouldn’t wait for Him, so He waits for them. The rest of the chapter describes what His grace will bring. He will answer at the sound of their cry (verse 19). He will give them teachers they can see and a voice behind them saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it” (verses 20–21). There will be rain, harvest, abundant light, and the healing of wounds (verses 23–26). And Assyria, the power they feared, will be broken by the Lord’s voice alone (verses 27–33).

The contrast is the lesson. Panic runs to Egypt; faith rests and waits. And even when we choose panic, the Lord waits to be gracious.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–7

Running to Egypt

In plain words

“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “who carry out plans that are not Mine and make alliances not by My Spirit, piling sin on sin. They go down to Egypt without asking Me, looking for protection from Pharaoh and shelter in Egypt’s shadow. But Pharaoh’s protection will be your shame, and Egypt’s shade your disgrace. Though their officials are at Zoan and their envoys have reached Hanes, everyone will be ashamed of a people who can’t help them.” This is an oracle about the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions, vipers, and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs and their treasures on camels’ humps to a people that can’t help them, to Egypt, whose help is worthless. That’s why I call her “Rahab the Do-Nothing.”

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:

Liken It #

Counsel, but not of Me

The first charge is subtle and searching. The people did take counsel and make plans.

The first charge is subtle and searching. The people did take counsel and make plans. They just didn’t take them from the Lord. They made alliances (“cover with a covering,” possibly a libation poured to seal a treaty) “but not of my spirit.” Verse 2 adds that they went to Egypt “and have not asked at my mouth.” They never consulted the prophet.

Jacob warned of the same danger: “seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand” (Jacob 4:10). Alma counseled, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good” (Alma 37:37). Many of our mistakes aren’t rebellions. They are decisions we simply never took to the Lord.

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 an 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.

Word & Language #

Rahab the Do-Nothing

The Hebrew of this line is a clever insult. It can be read as calling Egypt “Rahab who sits still” or “Rahab the Do-Nothing.”

The Hebrew of this line is a clever insult. It can be read as calling Egypt “Rahab who sits still” or “Rahab the Do-Nothing.” Rahab (not the woman of Jericho, a different word) was the name of a mythical sea monster of chaos, and it became a poetic nickname for Egypt (Ps. 87:4; Isa. 51:9). Egypt looked like a fearsome dragon, but when it came time to act, it would just sit there.

That is exactly what happened. When Sennacherib invaded Judah in 701 BC, an Egyptian and Cushite army marched out to meet him, and the Assyrians defeated it at Eltekeh. Egypt was no help.

Sources: “Rahab”, Bible Dictionary. “Egypt”, Bible Dictionary.

Verses 8–14

“Speak unto us smooth things”

In plain words

Now go and write this on a tablet and inscribe it in a scroll, so it will be a witness for the days to come: these are rebellious people, deceitful children who refuse to listen to the Lord’s instruction. They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us pleasant things; prophesy illusions. Get out of the way, leave this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” So the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message and relied on oppression and deceit, this sin will be like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that suddenly collapses in an instant. It will shatter like a clay pot smashed so completely that not a piece is left big enough to scoop coals from a fireplace or water from a cistern.”

8 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:

Restoration Insight #

Written for the time to come

Because the people refused to listen, the Lord told Isaiah to write the message down on a tablet and in a scroll, as a witness “for the time to come for ever and ever.”

Because the people refused to listen, the Lord told Isaiah to write the message down on a tablet and in a scroll, as a witness “for the time to come for ever and ever.” When the prophecy came true, the written record would prove that the Lord had warned them.

This is one reason we have Isaiah’s words at all. The Lord told Nephi and later prophets the same thing: write for a future generation (2 Ne. 25:8; 2 Ne. 26:15–17; Morm. 8:34–35). Moroni wrote to us “as if ye were present” (Morm. 8:35). Isaiah, too, was writing for readers he would never meet, including us.

9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:

10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Liken It #

“Speak unto us smooth things”

This may be one of the most honest descriptions of human nature in scripture.

This may be one of the most honest descriptions of human nature in scripture. The people don’t say, “Lie to us.” They say, in effect, Tell us what makes us comfortable. “Smooth things” are flattering, easy messages. They even ask the seers not to see: “See not.”

Samuel the Lamanite described exactly this attitude: “if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer… ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet” (Hel. 13:27). Paul warned of a time when people “will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Tim. 4:3).

True prophets don’t always say smooth things. That’s one way to recognize them.

11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:

13 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.

14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: 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.

Verses 15–17

In returning and rest

In plain words

The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength. But you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ So you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ So your pursuers will be swift! A thousand of you will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all run away, until you are left like a flagpole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”

15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Liken It #

Returning, rest, quietness, confidence

This is the heart of the chapter and one of Isaiah’s most treasured verses.

This is the heart of the chapter and one of Isaiah’s most treasured verses. Four words describe the path of faith:

Returning (shuvah): repentance, turning back to God.
Rest (nachat): ceasing from frantic self-reliance.
Quietness (hashqet): calm, undisturbed trust.
Confidence (bitchah): trust and security in the Lord.

This is not passivity. It is where real strength lies. It’s the same counsel Isaiah gave Ahaz: “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not” (Isa. 7:4). The Lord gave the Saints similar counsel in times of turmoil: “be still and know that I am God” (D&C 101:16).

And then the four saddest words in the chapter: “and ye would not.”

16 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.

17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.

Verses 18–26

The Lord waits to be gracious

In plain words

Yet the Lord waits to be gracious to you; He rises to show you mercy. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him. People of Zion who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious to you when you cry for help; as soon as He hears, He will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will no longer hide; you will see them with your own eyes. Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Then you will treat your silver-plated idols and gold-covered images as unclean and throw them away like filthy rags, saying, “Away with you!” He will send rain for the seed you sow, and the food from the land will be rich and plentiful. Your cattle will graze in broad meadows, and the oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat seasoned fodder. On every high mountain and hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up His people’s injuries and heals the wounds He inflicted.

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.

Witness of Christ #

The Lord waits to be gracious

This verse is astonishing in context. The people refused to wait on the Lord.

This verse is astonishing in context. The people refused to wait on the Lord. They insisted on horses and Egypt. And yet “therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you.” He waits for them. He is like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, watching the road “when he was yet a great way off” (Luke 15:20).

The verse ends with a beatitude: “blessed are all they that wait for him.” The same Hebrew verb (chakah) describes both the Lord waiting for us and our waiting for Him. There is a mutual waiting. He waits to be gracious; we wait to receive His grace. The Lord told the Saints, “mine arm is lengthened out all the day long” (2 Ne. 28:32).

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:

Restoration Insight #

Teachers you can see

Even in hard times, with “the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction,” the Lord promises that their teachers will no longer be hidden away “into a corner.”

Even in hard times, with “the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction,” the Lord promises that their teachers will no longer be hidden away “into a corner.” The people had told their prophets to stop seeing (verse 10). Now the teachers will be in plain view.

The Hebrew word for “thy teachers” (moreka) can also be read as singular, “thy Teacher,” and some interpreters see here the Lord Himself as the Teacher His people will see. Latter-day Saints may think of both. The Lord has restored prophets and apostles whom we can see and hear (Eph. 4:11–14; D&C 1:38), and He Himself is the Master Teacher, “a teacher come from God” (John 3:2).

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.

Restoration Insight #

A voice behind you

This is one of the most beautiful promises of personal revelation in the Old Testament.

This is one of the most beautiful promises of personal revelation in the Old Testament. When you’re at a fork in the road, about to turn right or left, “thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.”

Notice that the voice comes from behind, like a shepherd walking behind the flock and calling direction, or a parent guiding a child who walks ahead. Latter-day Saints recognize that voice as the Holy Ghost. Nephi promised that “the Holy Ghost… will show unto you all things what ye should do” (2 Ne. 32:5; see 2 Ne. 31:21). The Lord told Oliver Cowdery, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost” (D&C 8:2). President Russell M. Nelson has taught that in coming days it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the constant influence of the Holy Ghost.

Sources: Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives”, general conference, Apr. 2018.

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.

Verses 27–33

The Lord’s voice breaks Assyria

In plain words

Look! The Lord Himself comes from far away, burning with anger, in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of wrath, and His tongue is a consuming fire. His breath is like a rushing torrent rising up to the neck, sifting the nations in the sieve of destruction and putting a bit in the mouths of the peoples to lead them astray. And you will sing as on the night of a holy festival. Your hearts will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. The Lord will make His majestic voice heard and show His arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, storm, and hail. The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; He will strike them with His rod. Every stroke the Lord lays on them with His punishing club will be to the music of drums and harps as He fights them in battle. Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

27 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:

28 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.

29 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.

30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.

31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.

32 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.

33 For 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.

Seeing Christ in Isaiah 30

Isaiah 30 shows Jesus Christ as the Lord who waits to be gracious (verse 18), watching for His wandering people like the father of the prodigal son. He is the one who answers “at the voice of thy cry” (verse 19), the Teacher whom His people will see (verse 20), and the source of the quiet voice behind us, “This is the way, walk ye in it” (verse 21). He binds up the breach and heals the stroke of our wounds (verse 26).

The chapter’s great invitation, “in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength,” is fulfilled in the rest He offers: “Come unto me… and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

Liken it to yourself

Where am I “going down to Egypt,” rushing toward a solution without first asking the Lord (verse 2)?
Do I prefer “smooth things” from leaders, teachers, or media? How do I respond when I hear something true that I don’t want to hear?
What would “returning and rest… quietness and confidence” (verse 15) look like in the situation that worries me most right now?
When have I heard the “voice behind” me saying, “This is the way”? How can I listen for it more carefully?

Worth exploring next

Trusting Egypt. Read Isaiah 30 with Isa. 31:1–3 and Isa. 36:4–9. How did Assyria itself mock Judah’s trust in Egypt?
Waiting on the Lord. Compare Isa. 30:18, Isa. 40:31, Isa. 64:4, and Ps. 27:14.
Personal revelation. Read Isaiah 30:21 with 1 Kgs. 19:11–12, Hel. 5:30, D&C 8:2–3, and D&C 85:6.

Sources & further reading

“Egypt”, Bible Dictionary.
“Rahab”, Bible Dictionary.
Chapter 15: Prophecies of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (Isaiah 24–35), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.

I’ve studied Isaiah 30