27 Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning [with] his anger—a grievous conflagration; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a consuming fire; 28 and his breath as an overflowing torrent, which reacheth even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and [to put] a bridle into the jaws of the peoples, that causeth them to go astray. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And Jehovah will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard, and will shew the lighting down of his arm with indignation of anger, and a flame of consuming fire, with waterflood and storm and hailstones. 31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be broken down: he will smite [him] with the rod. 32 And wherever shall pass the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, it shall be with tambours and harps; and with tumultuous battles will he fight with it. 33 For Topheth is prepared of old; for the king also it is prepared: he hath made it deep and large; its pile is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 30:27-33
Commentary on Isaiah 30:27-33
(Read Isaiah 30:27-33)
God curbs and restrains from doing mischief. With a word he guides his people into the right way, but with a bridle he turns his enemies upon their own ruin. Here, in threatening the ruin of Sennacherib's army, the prophet points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Tophet was a valley near Jerusalem, where fires were continually burning to destroy things that were hurtful and offensive, and there the idolatrous Jews caused their children to pass through the fire to Moloch. This denotes the certainty of the destruction, as an awful emblem of the place of torment in the other world. No oppressor shall escape the Divine wrath. Let sinners then flee to Christ, seeking to be reconciled to Him, that they may be safe and happy, when destruction from the Almighty shall sweep away all the workers of iniquity.