isaiah 29 through 31

Read Isaiah 29 through 31 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Isa 29:1-8 {p} YHVH will punish Ariel with the multitude of nations who fight against Mt Zion
Isa 29:9-12 {s} YHVH has sealed the vision so that the prophecy cannot be opened or read
Isa 29:13-14 {s} YHVH will do a marvelous wonder among His people who worship Him with lip service
Isa 29:15-21 {p} The deaf + blind + humble shall hear + see + rejoice/ the terrible one brought to nothing
Isa 29:22-24 {s} The house of Jacob shall hallow the Holy One of Israel/ those who erred shall understand
Isa 30:1-5 {s} Since you have not asked My counsel, but go to Egypt for help, Egypt shall not benefit you
Isa 30:6-11 {s} The rebellious children who will not hear the Torah of YHVH shall find vain help in Egypt
Isa 30:12-14 {s} Because you have despised this word, your breaking shall be sudden + your fragments shattered
Isa 30:15-18 {p} Because you would not wait and trust you will flee; but YHVH will wait to be gracious to you
Isa 30:19-26 {p} YHVH will bind up the bruise of His people + will answer them/ teach them/ prosper them
Isa 30:27-33 {p} YHVH will fight against Assyria in His anger + His people shall rejoice with joy
Isa 31:1-3 {s} Woe to those who seek the help of men but not YHVH! When He acts, the helper + helped will fall
Isa 31:4-9 {p} YHVH of hosts shall Himself defend Jerusalem: return to Him! Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man

The strong themes:

Isa 29:1-8 {p} YHVH will punish Ariel with the multitude of nations who fight against Mt Zion
Isa 29:9-21 {s+s+p} YHVH will work a wonder among the blind + deaf of His people; they will see + hear + rejoice
Isa 29:22-30:18 {sx4+p} Jacob shall hallow Him after He has broken them: He will wait to be gracious to them
Isa 30:19-26 {p} YHVH will bind up the bruise of His people + will answer them/ teach them/ prosper them
Isa 30:27-33 {p} YHVH will fight against Assyria in His anger + His people shall rejoice with joy
Isa 31:1-9 {s+p} He who trusts in man shall fall, but YHVH Himself shall defend Jerusalem

chiastic structure of Isa 30-31:

1a) Isa 30:1-7, The uselessness of relying on the help of Egypt;

1a) Isa 30:1-2, Woe to the rebellious children, who seek the help of Egypt but have not asked My advice;
1b) Isa 30:3-5 {s} You will be ashamed + humiliated in Pharaoh who cannot benefit you;
central axis) Isa 30:6a, Burden against the beasts of the South, to which they will carry their riches;
2b) Isa 30:6b-7a, To a people who shall not profit, for the Egyptians shall help in vain;
2a) Isa 30:7b, Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth [Arrogancy that Sits Still];

1b) Isa 30:8-14 {s+s} The children who will not hear + despise to see will be broken;

1c) Isa 30:15a, For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength;”

central axis) Isa 30:15b-17, But you would not, and you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”— Therefore you shall flee! And, “We will ride on swift horses”— therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill;

2c) Isa 30:18 {p} Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him;

2b) Isa 30:19-26 {p} The children who will see their Teacher + will hear the word behind them, have repented + returned + are healed;

2a) Isa 30:27-31:9 {p+s+p} The uselessness of relying on the help of Egypt, but YHVH Himself will defend Jerusalem;

1a) Isa 30:27-33 {p} YHVH Himself comes with burning anger to sift the nations, but you shall sing a song of joy;
1b) Isa 31:1, Woe to those who go to Egypt for help, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel;
central axis) Isa 31:2, Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, and will not call back His words, but will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity;
2b) Isa 31:3 {p} The Egyptians are but men: when YHVH acts, both the helper + the helped will fall down;
2a) Isa 31:4-9 {p} YHVH Himself will defend Jerusalem: return to Him! Assyria shall fall, for YHVH’s fire is in Zion.

In the commentaries these chapters are labeled with the “woe” chapters. The woe is the bruise of YHVHs people, and stroke of their wound. This bruise and this wound is what causes them to draw near with their lips while their heart is far from Him, to close their ears to Torah and close their eyes to the word of the prophets and seers. Their rebelliousness is a product of their wound and not its root.

But YHVH will not destroy them because of it. His solution is to heal the stroke of their wound, and bind up the bruise of His people:

Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale; but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel. These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn instruction.” Isa 29:22-24

His people will be broken (Isa 30:12-14) and from that brokenness, they will repent, return to Him, and he restored. Their brokenness is the vehicle YHVH will use to restore them to Himself:

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? [Psa 118:22,23; Isa 28:16]

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Mat 21:42-44

I always used to tell my children, “Learn by instruction and not by correction. For you will learn, but correction is much more painful.” Brokenness hurts! But it works. But even for the one with their eyes tightly shut and their fingers in their ears, God is able to break them and cause them to return to Him, because He is a covenant keeping God, and He is faithful to redeem the seed of Abraham, according to His promise to him.