Imagine you had a friend who is not walking well with the Lord. What lengths would you go to to help this person see where they are with God? What would you say to them to help them see where they are spiritually?
In our modern age, we will say that we need to be wise, tactful, full of empathy, careful not to offend intentionally and to be tender. How does Isaiah do it? He is a prophet of God who speaks to God’s people with sarcasm and mockery, not afraid to be honest with spiritual truth.
(A) Sin added to sin: no faith in God, then faith in Egypt (Isa 30:1-5)
At the start of this chapter, the LORD calls his people “stubborn children” (Isa 30:1). There is a persistence and commitment to doing their wrong deeds, and to refuse intervention. Stubbornness is not waywardness, which means that one has rebelled and is defiant and off-track. It is a refusal to get back on track.
We have already seen this waywardness in Isaiah 1:2-3 and they have been called out for that. In Isaiah 30, Isaiah points out that they are committed to their waywardness.
The LORD also berates His people for two things in Isaiah 30:1-2. Firstly, He speaks of what they have done to God. They are “not mine” (1b), “not of my Spirit” (Isa 30:1d), sin (Isa 30:1e), “without asking for my direction” (Isa 30:2b).
Secondly, the LORD also speaks of the substance of what they did. They “carry out a plan” (Isa 30:1a), “make an alliance” (Isa 30:1c) and added sin (v1f). As a part of their plan, they “set out to go down to Egypt” (Isa 30:2a); “take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh” (Isa 30:2c), and seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt (Isa 30:2d). In Isaiah 30:4, they actually go down to the Egyptian cities of Zoan and Hanes to establish an alliance.
This indicates that they have functionally ceased to trust in God. Jeremiah 2:12-13 also offers a similar indictment. Forsaking God and turning to an alternate God is probably the same thing, but there are two aspects to it — our actions and our rejection of God.
God’s people, as they heard Isaiah’s words, chose not to listen and continued to make their plans and decided how they’d want to live their life without God. They planned to live as they please and make their plans to serve their needs. Later in Isaiah 63:8-14, he recounts the history of Israel. He talks about the great Exodus, where God’s people came up and out of Egypt. This helps us to remember why God is so opposed to this in Isaiah 30! They picked the nation that God rescued them from! Was it not with a great and mighty outstretched arm that God redeemed a people for Himself out of Egypt? Why would they go back and desert the Lord?
Isaiah 63:10b also speaks of grieving His Holy Spirit, which is picked up in Ephesians. What is the emotion of God? He expresses grief because His people have rebelled against Him and persists in it.
Turning away from the Lord and turning to lesser things is not a lifestyle, or just a choice. It results in a relationship that’s being broken. When Israel turned away in Isaiah, they were implying that maybe God was faithful in the past, but today? Will He show up? Will He still be faithful? Is He reliable for our “real life challenges” today? Maybe Egypt isn’t that bad after all? Maybe we should move on? This kind of rationalisation grieves God’s Spirit.
What’s your relationship with God like today? Have you gone back to Egypt? The New Testament tells us that the Exodus event of the Old Testament is the central act of redemption in the Old Testament. God’s people were brought out of slavery to a good place, to a hope of entering God’s home. To go back to Egypt for us is like going back to life before Christ. No wonder the Lord is grieved!
Also remember that there is no sin, that will not lead to more sin. Sin always leads to more sin. Friends, when we hear God’s word, He is calling us to something. When we hear and continue to live our life as if we have not heard, that’s grievous. Have you heard God’s word? How do you respond to it?
Judah’s actions will lead to two outcomes (Isa 30:3-5). They will face shame (Isa 30:3a, 5a), humiliation (Isa 30:3b) and disgrace (Isa 30:5c). They will also have no profit and no help (Isa 30:5b).
Egypt will not help them. They gave everything to Egypt and got nothing. Egypt was always opposed to Israel yet Israel thought they could buy them over. All that Israel will have at the end is just the shame from turning away from the God who broke Egypt. It will only show that they do not know the God who acts in this way.
Their hope in Egypt will profoundly disappoint. This is the main point he is trying to press out for Judah. There is no salvation outside of God. It is both wrong and it will also be a failure. Idolatry is inherently a bad plan.
Isaiah 26:1-4 gives us an opposing vision. It comes from a people who are confident in God that He will act rightly, and as a result, they are fully at peace. Is this your conviction? Are you so confident in Him, knowing that He broke sin so that we can be free, and therefore, He won’t abandon us? Why go back to sin?
Our hearts are never going to be transformed by the law of faithfulness. The idea that we are to be faithful and good Christians has no power to make us so. The only thing that can make us faithful Christians is a faithful God.
(B) Shame added to sin: camels, donkeys reward a still serpent (Isa 30:6-7)
Isaiah present a poetic visual rendering of the same teaching in Isaiah 30:6-7. The use of the oracle is a different literary form that stirs up the imagination in slightly different ways. This rendering shows and doesn’t just tell what God is going to do. This rendering brings the reader in, like when the prophet Nathan confronted David about His sin in 2 Samuel 12.
Three groups of “beasts” are depicted here, and they each have their own roles.
The first group has the lioness and the lion (signifying Assyria), the adder and the flying fiery serpent (signifying Egypt) (Isa 30:6a). It sets the scene of a troubled land associated with these predatory nations.
The second group has beasts of burdens, donkeys and camels, that are carrying treasures or payment (Isa 30:6b). The third group is Egypt, described as “Rahab who sits still” (Isa 30:7). Isaiah 51:9-11 also picks up on calling Egypt as Rahab. Here, Egypt is described as a dragon that God cut up, dried up the sea and made a way for the redeemed to pass over. This is the Exodus account where God led His people out after crushing Pharaoh and Egypt. This rendering emphasises and reiterates the same point. They thought they could pay them to get the lion off their back but they’re going to sit still.
Can you hear Isaiah telling us that we are in spiritual trouble? He has used reason, cost-benefit analysis and even creativity to tell us of God’s grief. Those who add sin to sin will only find sin and disappointment at the end. Is this clear to you? Do you have this kind of clear-mindedness about life in Christ and everything else? If you have repented and turned to Christ, your life will look very different. Turning to something else always raises the question — Is it better than Jesus? Will it satisfy? Will it last for eternity? Is it really good? Will it satisfy my heart?
As we close this, let us reflect on these words in Psalm 52:
Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.
What is the LORD saying to you today? Are you adding sin to sin – what does practical faith look like in your life? Are you confident that the object of your faith will act for your good?