LEANING UPON PHARAOH In the previous chapter God called upon them to return to Him in peace, trusting in His salvation, instead of leaning upon human arm, mere human wisdom, and worldly possibilities (Is. 29:15). Now He is warning them against leaning upon Pharaoh, disregarding the factor of God’s work; proclaiming to them that human counsel will end up in their shame and collapse. Yet, God stays waiting for a chance to proclaim His mercy, through terrifying Assyria that terrified them; as though to reveal the betrayal of Judah, despite God’s honesty and love. Some scholars believe that the talk here is directed to Ephraim, rather than to Judah, as there had been a mention in 2 Kings 17: 4 of an alliance between Hosea son of Elah, king of Israel (Ephraim), and ‘So,’ king of Egypt, with a revolution against Assyria together with an abstention to pay tribute to its King. But the rest of the talk was directed to Judah and Jerusalem; as a divine warning to anyone who disregards God and lean on human arm. 1. A warning against leaning upon Pharaoh 1-7. 2. Chastisements because of despising God’s commandment 8-17. 3. God’s compassion toward His repentant people 18-26. 4. God’s wrath upon Assyria 27-33. 1. A WARNING AGAINST LEANING UPON PHARAOH “‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the Lord, ‘who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit. That they may add sin to sin; who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt.” (Is. 30: 1) In this fourth woe, it is to be noticed: a. He calls them ‘rebellious children,’ because they rejected the counsel of God, their Father, and did not trust Him, considering Pharaoh their father, who would rescue them. Our adoption to God is not just words, nor mere emotions, but is an encounter with Him, leaning upon Him, and an entrance in deep relationship with Him; an adoption that would judge us if we do not act as is worthy of it. b. “Who take counsel, but not of Me” (Is. 30: 1); that is to say, they consulted each other, without seeking the counsel of God nor His honest ministers. c. “Who devise plans, but not of My Spirit” (Is. 30: 1), namely, they tried to hide their plans from the Lord, and to do their work in darkness; so depriving themselves of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. d. “Add sin upon sin.” (Is. 30: 1) They slid into a series of sins, starting with a rebellion against their heavenly Father, on assumption that He is incapable of protecting them; took each others’ counsel, disregarding His counsel; then tried to cover up their actions, etc. e. “Who go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice” (Is. 30: 2); having dispatched messengers to Pharaoh to make alliance with him. They rejected God who lifts them up to Him; as they went down instead of “going up” or elevated to heaven. Children of God never “go down,” to worldly love (Egypt), but practice continuous growth, to go up every day toward the heavenly life, saying, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.” (Micah 4: 2) f. “The strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation” (Is. 30: 3). Their messengers reached Zoan and Hanes, seeking help and counsel, to get instead, shame and disgrace. Zoan, capital of Upper Egypt, on the eastern bank of the Nile Delta, had been fortified by the kings and made a capital to watch any aggression that might come from the east over Egypt. In that city Moses dealt with Pharaoh (Psalms 78: 12, 43); later occupied by the Assyrians; and was called Tanis by the Greeks. Nowadays, it is called Sa-Elhagar. Hanes, 50 miles south of Memphis, on the western bank of the Nile, called Heraculopolis in the time of the Greeks and the Romans1, is known nowadays as Ahnas or Ahnasia. The prophet likens the messengers coming from Judah, and going to Egypt, to Behemoth (beasts of the South Is. 30: 6) - a certain kind of Egyptian crocodiles “Hippopotomus,” who came to seek help out of a land, burdened with hardships and afflictions, incapable of helping itself; from a land, full of “lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes;” came carrying Pharaoh’ presents on the backs of donkeys and camels. They came to seek safety in an area of trouble and dreadful dangers. He calls Egypt by a poetic symbolic name, Rahab-Hem-Shebeth (Is. 30:7), or ‘Rahab the ‘do-Nothing.’ ‘Rahab’ meaning ‘Spacious, Great, or Proud;’ as Egypt arrogantly offered attractive, yet false promises; and instead of getting to help and support the kingdom of Judah, it “did nothing,” and watched Judah going to captivity to Babylon. The prophet Isaiah, so warned the kingdom of Judah, who in folly and blindness, sought help and protection from the arrogant Egypt. 2. Chastisements, because of despising God’s commandment: God instructed the prophet Isaiah to write down a warning to the people of Judah, on a big tablet, to be seen by all, in a public place, and to inscribe it on a scroll to be an everlasting witness for the days to come (Is. 30: 8). He probably wrote in that tablet the word ‘Rahab, the do-nothing,’ to warn them of leaning upon Pharaoh (Egypt) who is sitting down only watching, but in the scroll he wrote down the sins of Judah, and the prophecies and visions that were given to him by God. The main sin of Judah had been, that they were a “rebellious people, deceitful children, unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction,” and received the prophecies of the false prophets. The law had been to them, bitter and harsh, as it exposed their sins and called upon them to walk along the narrow divine way. That is why they said to the seers: “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things. Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits,” (Is. 30: 10) for the sake of getting a temporary peace of mind, through disregarding the sin, and calming the consciences. They requested the prophets to “Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting (them) with the Holy One of Israel.” (Is. 30:11) The fruit of their rebellion, of their rejection of the true prophets, and of the Holy One of Israel, “this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant. And He shall break it قاموس الكتاب المقدس، ص 1 .285 like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, which is broken in pieces. He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water from the cistern” (Is. 30: 13, 14) The prophet portraying the destruction of Judah, for their rejection of the Lord’s counsel, tells them: “In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” (Is. 30: 15) Namely, the mystery of their salvation would be in their repentance and their return to God, in quietness and trust, their real strength. Yet, they rejected repentance together with faith in God, saying, “No, for we will flee on horses.” (Is. 30: 16) They leaned upon human possibilities, especially upon horses and chariots of Egypt, assuming that they are capable of swiftly rescuing them. What actually happened was, that the enemy chased them far more swiftly and reached them. But what’s bitterer is that they fled before nothing. “A thousand (fled) at the threat of one; at the threat of five, they shall flee.” (Is. 30: 17) The army of Judah threw away their weapons and escaped in humiliation, and were left, “as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill” (Is. 30: 17) to become a lesson for all generations to come. When king Hezekiah returned to God (2 Kings 30), turned his face toward the wall and humbly prayed to the Lord, he triumphly overcame death. 3. GOD’S COMPASSION TOWARD HIS REPENTANT PEOPLE “Yet the Lord will wait, and He may be gracious to you... He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for Him.” (Is. 30: 18) The prophet Isaiah expected them to return to the Lord, to forsake leaning upon human arm, and to wait for God as their Savior. What is so amazing, is that, it was not only Isaiah who was longing for their return, but God Himself, the initiator of love, was likewise yearning to be gracious, and to show compassion, being a Lord of justice who loves His creation. He was waiting to pour a flow of His grace over His prodigal son returning to Him (Luke 15). The waiting of the Lord, means His future plan for the salvation of many, shown in the following points: a. Letting His people dwell in Jerusalem: “For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem” (Is. 30: 19); namely letting them enter into the Church of the New Testament, where peace of God will be - (Jerusalem means (Place of peace). Jerusalem also refers to heaven, “Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” (Galatians 4: 26) As if our salvation lies in the drawing by God, of His people to heavenly life. b. Uprooting sorrow and weeping: “You shall weep no more” (Is. 30: 19); the Church being an image of heaven where “There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no more pain.” (Revelation 21: 4) Here, he does not mean the outer crying, but the loss of inner joy. The Church shares, with her Groom, His passion, which is not separated from His resurrection. In other words, the Church is the kingdom of Christ that carries the sign of the cross, not separated from the resurrection. It is fitting for us here, to designate between sorrows, according to God’s will, and despair, or loss of comfort and peace. Sorrows according to God’s will is a spiritual virtue, accompanied with His comfort and exalted peace; while despair, on the other hand, is an abomination revealing a loss of hope, which destroys man’s life and will. St. John Chrysostom says, [It does not only attacks the body but also the soul itself... It is always a killer that wears out the soul2.] He encouraged the deaconess Olympus to overcome despair, being a tyrant that wears out the soul3. c. A swift response to prayers: “He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you.” (Is. 30: 19) He allows for adversities and afflictions, but, at the same time, He grants bread and water, and does not forsake man in need (Is. 30: 20). d. As the Lord Himself becomes a Teacher (John 2: 23), and His Holy Spirit a Leader and Comforter to the Church, one of His blessings is that He grants a spirit of true teaching and straightforward, and un-deviated spiritual guidance. “Your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” (Is. 30: 20-21) Teaching and knowledge are gifts from God Himself, who sanctifies the ear to hearken His words, and sanctifies the mind, heart, and feelings to let man, as a whole respond to the will of God, proclaimed through His word. By that spirit, the early Church lived, believing that God alone is capable of providing laborers for His crop, granting them His grace to utter the word of Truth, and granting those listening to them, the grace to respond and apprehend. That was what motivated the Fathers of the Church to keep on praying, and practicing the holy life, for the sake of enjoying the gift of divine knowledge. Let us beseech God to allow the word to grow in us, to be able to hearken the holy words, and to have the richness of broadmindedness in the Lord Christ4. Many people sought to interpret the Holy Scripture... yet, few of them succeeded, as it is very rare to find someone with this grace from God5. Origen By the “hidden teachers” in the Church, he probably means the prophets; as by the coming of the Lord Christ, the unique Teacher, light shone on the prophecies, the mysteries of the Old Testament, referring to salvation, were revealed; and the Person of the Messiah, His redeeming works, and His divine role in the life of the Church, were proclaimed. e. Rejection of the pagan worships with all their luxuries: “You will also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing. You will say to them, ‘Get away.’” (Is. 30: 22) As most of the idols were made of wood or ceramic, covered with silver or gold, the work of salvation is to expose what is inside. Man, through the Spirit of God, is granted the power to say, “away with you,” to get it out of the outer cover that hide its defilement, and to drive it out of the believer’s heart, to make it fit to receive Jesus, the Lord of glory, being His sanctuary. Our Christ bears, from outside, the signs of His passion to look: “Has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Is. 53: 2) Yet, He grants us His incomprehensible inner glories, while the love of the world gives outer attractions when all what inside are uncleanness and corruption. 2 Dialogue sur l' ame et les passions 4; trans. I. Hausherr, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 120, Rome 1938, 99. 3 Ep. to Olympias 10:2. 4 In Jer. Hom.6:3. 5 Sel. Ps. 119:85. f. The grace of rain: “Then He will give the rain for your seed, with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth. It will be fat and plenteous. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures.” (Is. 30 23) The time of the Messiah, in the prophets’ minds, was ‘the time of rain’ or that of ‘plentiful water.’ In that time, “God will cause showers to come down in their season” (Ezekiel 34: 26); and rain will make food come from the land rich and plentiful, for man to eat, and for cattle to graze (Is. 30: 23). “They will neither hunger nor thirst.” (Is. 49: 10) “Water will come out from under the threshold of the temple... Along the banks of the river were very many trees on one side and the other.” (Ezekiel 47: 1-12) “A fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13: 1, 2); “All the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord” (Joel 3: 18; Zechariah 14: 8); “There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God.” (Psalm 46: 4) In short, the messianic age is connected to the holy water that quenches the thirst, and turns the wilderness into fertile land. Let believers grow like trees in God’s paradise; cast away defilements, purify the land from pagan worship; and present life and sanctification. That holy water is Baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. As the first water produced life. No wonder that the water of Baptism is likewise capable of granting life6. Tertullian You, Catechumens, were outside paradise; sharing with Adam your first father his exile. But now the door is opened (Baptism as a paradisal life), to get you back to where you came from7. St. Gregory of Nazianzus That way, souls, in the messianic age, are quenched, and bodies are satisfied, not through worldly lusts, but through getting sanctified in the Lord, to have everything good, blessed, and pure: “The oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will ear cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.” (Is. 30: 24) The custom was to provide the animals that work the soil with a fodder, a mixture of straw with few grains. But in the messianic age, when everything is plentiful, they will be provided with cured fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel, to rid it of dust and straw etc. a sign of our care of the body as a good and holy factor for the kingdom of God. By the coming of the incarnate Word of God, our look at the body got sanctified; that is why the apostle John condemned those who deny that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4: 2; 2 John 7); and the early Church opposed the Gnostic thought that considered the flesh, as a factor of darkness, that should be destroyed The flesh is not the source of evil, but it is the freedom of choice (the free will)8. The flesh is the dwelling place of the soul9. The flesh is the instrument of the Spirit... acting together with the soul10. The Word became flesh, to change our flesh into Spirit... and to sanctify the whole body with Him, as in Him the first-born are sanctified11. 6 De Baptismo 2. 7 PG. 46:416C. 8 De Mortuis. PG. 46:529A. 9 De hominis opificio. PG. 44:237B. 10 Ibid 161AB; In Christ; resurrectionem 3. 11 Contra Eunom. 4. PG. 45:637A.B. St. Gregory of Nyssa “There will be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.” (Is. 30 25) It is as though; even the high mountains and the lofty hills will have enough water. That probably refers to the rich grace of God, that flows, not only over the common and simple people, but also draws kings, rulers, leaders, elite, and honorable to the faith. In the day, when those who deny faith would be spiritually killed, and fall like towers. It was fitting for the Jewish leaderships, to be towers for the world, to behold the kingdom of Christ, and to preach it, but instead, they became opponents of the Truth, so they fell, something that grieved the apostle Paul. g. A great enlightenment: “The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people, and heals the stroke of their wounds.” (Is. 30: 26) As God heals the wounds of the soul and body, completely sanctifying man, with all his energies, thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.... to carry the image of his Creator, “the true light,” to become a light to the world, a perfect light in the Lord (sevenfold, as a sign of perfection); then he will hearken the voice of the heavenly Groom, saying, “You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you.” (Song 4: 7) 4. GOD’S WRATH ON ASSYRIA Most scholars see, in what is mentioned here, a description of the destruction that befell the army of Sennacherib; although Assyria, with its army and leader, represent the forces of darkness that bear animosity toward God, led by the devil himself, who seeks how to break into the Church of the Lord, our inner Jerusalem, to dwell inside the holy temple of our hearts a. “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy. His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire. His breath is like an overflowing stream which reaches up to the neck.” (Is. 30: 27, 28) “Comes from afar,” as He showed and extended His forbearance toward Assyria, hoping that it would eventually leave aside the pride of its heart. He waited long, as His desire is not to punish the wicked, but, for all of them to return to Him. His name is still coming from afar, extending His forbearance toward the wicked, hoping for their repentance. And as said by the apostle Paul: “Or do you despise the richness of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2: 4) “The name of the Lord” is dwelling in His Church, proclaimed in the believer’s heart, more close to him than his own soul; As far as the wicked is concerned, it seems to him very far away; he may assume it is not even existing. That name, which is a fortified tower for believers, is a consuming great fiery wrath for the opponents. The lips of God are dripping fat for His children, but full of wrath for those who deny Him. His tongue is inviting everyone to His heavenly riches; but is a consuming fire for the rebellious. His breath grants comfort and exalted peace to the Church. The Lord breathed on His disciples’ faces, granting them the Holy Spirit, to forgive sins (John 20: 22). As to those who deny faith, His breath would be like a rushing torrent rising up to their neck. He likens the nations to a vain crop of straw with no wheat, or to furious horses with no bridles to control them, saying, “To sift the nations with the sieve of futility (of nothingness).” (Is. 30: 28) They are sifted, and the sieve would produce nothing. “There will be a bridle in the jaws of the people, leading them astray.” (Is. 30: 28). The bridle is put in their jaws but still they do not walk in the path of truth. b. ‘You shall have a song, as in the night when a holy festival is kept; and a gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute; to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones.” (Is. 30: 29, 30) The destruction of the enemy became joy for the people, as though on a night of a holy feast... What preoccupies believers is not to see their enemy perish - even the devil himself with his angels - but to see all obstacles removed from their way to the mountain of the Lord, to come joyfully to heaven itself. Our goal is not in getting pleasure from the destruction of the enemy, but in enjoying God’s splendor, and in hearing His voice. c. Isaiah sees in the return of the people from captivity to Jerusalem what likens a military parade, marching with military music, proclaiming victory: “And in every place where the staff of punishment passes, which the Lord lays on him, it will be with tambourines and harps; and in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.” (Is. 30: 32) d. He presents a final portrait of the extent of destruction of Assyria; describing how the pit of fire (the topheth), where the trash was burnt outside Jerusalem, was prepared, and made ready for the king, to burn with the wrath of the Lord (Is. 30: 33).
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