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Isaiah 30 Bible study: This is the way
The people told the seers "Don’t see!", said "Get out of the way", and would not hear the LORD's law (30:9-11). The promise answers in the same Hebrew words: "your eyes will see your teachers", "your ears will hear", "This is the way. Walk in it" (30:20-21). And the first one who waits in 30:18 is the LORD.
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“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.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Isaiah 30:12 begins "Therefore the Holy One of Israel says", right after the people ask for him to cease.”
Is that in Isaiah 30, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The Holy One they wanted gone
The chapter says what the people tell the prophets: "Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us" (30:11). Here is what almost everyone misses: the very next verse answers in that name. "Therefore the Holy One of Israel says" (30:12), and three verses later, "For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel" (30:15) (tap Holy One). The name they asked to be rid of comes three times in five verses. The WEB has the Holy One of Israel in 25 verses of Isaiah, and only one other chapter, chapter 41, has it three times. And the words they didn't want are what come: "Because you despise this word" (30:12), and "You will be saved in returning and rest" (30:15).
Where it leads to Jesus
Hearing and following
Isaiah 30:21leads toJohn 10:27
Isaiah 30 promises, "your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”" (Isaiah 30:21). At the Feast of the Dedication (John 10:22), Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). No New Testament passage cites Isaiah 30, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some read them as sharing one subject: a word that is heard, and a way that is walked by following it. Others read each in its own setting: Isaiah 30:21 is a promise to the people who "will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem" (Isaiah 30:19), and the chapter doesn't say whose the word behind them is, while Jesus spoke of his own sheep. Neither reading says whose the voice of 30:21 is or who the teachers of 30:20 are, and these notes pick neither.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Isaiah 30
That was a taste
The rest of Isaiah 30 is waiting in Favor
- Eyes that see, ears that hear, a way to walk
- The breaking and the binding
- The LORD waits
- The words of Isaiah 2:3
- The rod, again
- 12 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 30 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
דֶּרֶךְderekhsay DE-rekh
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "way, road, distance, journey, manner", and in a figurative sense, "of course of life, or action". Strong's: "a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action". The chapter has it twice. The people say to the prophets, "Get out of the way" (30:11), and the promise is a voice behind you, "This is the way. Walk in it" (30:21). In the book's second chapter the peoples say, "he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths" (Isaiah 2:3), where ways is this word (see go deeper). Later, "Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness!" (Isaiah 40:3) has it too.
For your group
Isaiah 30 Bible study questions
- 1"You will be saved in returning and rest … You refused" (30:15). Why do you think rest can be harder to accept than effort?
- 2The people asked the prophets, "Tell us pleasant things" (30:10). When is it hardest for you to hear what you would rather not hear?
- 3"This is the way. Walk in it" (30:21). What helps you know which way to go when a choice is in front of you?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 30 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
How much does it cost?
Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.
Can I read Isaiah 30 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 30 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home