27 Behold , the name of the Lord comes from a remote place ; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke ; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire ; 28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent , Which reaches to the neck , To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve , And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin . 29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival , And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute , To go to the mountain of the Lord , to the Rock of Israel . 30 And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard , And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger , And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst , downpour and hailstones. 31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified , When He strikes with the rod . 32 And every blow of the rod of punishment , Which the Lord will lay on him, Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres ; And in battles , brandishing weapons , He will fight them. 33 For Topheth has long been ready , Indeed , it has been prepared for the king . He has made it deep and large , A pyre of fire with plenty of wood ; The breath of the Lord , like a torrent of brimstone , sets it afire .
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.