Isaiah 30:21
And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: "This is the way. Walk in it."
And whether you turn to the right or to the left
This phrase suggests the omnipresence and omniscience of God in guiding His people. In the Hebrew context, the words for "right" (יָמִין, yamin) and "left" (שְׂמֹאל, semol) are often used to denote directions or choices in life. Historically, the Israelites were often faced with decisions that could lead them away from God's path. This phrase reassures believers that no matter the direction they might be tempted to take, God's guidance remains steadfast. It reflects the biblical principle that God is always present, ready to guide His people back to the right path, emphasizing His unwavering commitment to their spiritual journey.

your ears will hear a voice behind you
The imagery of a "voice behind you" is deeply significant. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, a voice from behind could symbolize authority and guidance, akin to a shepherd leading his flock. The Hebrew word for "voice" (קוֹל, qol) often represents divine communication. This phrase underscores the personal and intimate nature of God's guidance. It is not a distant or impersonal directive but a close, caring instruction. The voice is behind, suggesting that God is following, protecting, and ensuring that His people do not stray too far. This reflects the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit as a constant guide and counselor, always present to direct believers in their walk with God.

saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'
The directive "This is the way" (זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ, zeh haderekh) is a powerful affirmation of God's specific and clear guidance. The term "way" (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) in Hebrew often refers to a path or journey, symbolizing the course of one's life. In the biblical context, it represents the righteous path that God desires for His people. The command to "walk in it" (לְכוּ־בָהּ, lechu-vah) is an invitation to active obedience and faith. It is not enough to know the way; one must also choose to walk in it. This phrase encapsulates the essence of Christian discipleship—following the path laid out by God through faith and obedience. It serves as a reminder that God's guidance is not just theoretical but practical, requiring action and commitment from believers.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book bearing his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of political turmoil and spiritual decline.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was often tempted to rely on political alliances rather than trusting in God. Isaiah's message was directed to the people of Judah, urging them to return to God.

3. God's Guidance
The event described is a metaphorical representation of God's guidance to His people, promising them direction and clarity in their journey.
Teaching Points
Divine Guidance
God promises to guide His people, providing direction in times of uncertainty. This assurance is a reminder to seek His voice in our daily decisions.

Listening to God
The ability to hear God's command requires a heart attuned to His voice. Regular prayer and meditation on Scripture help cultivate this sensitivity.

Obedience to God's Path
Once we hear God's direction, it is crucial to walk in it. Obedience is a demonstration of our trust in His wisdom and love.

Avoiding Distractions
The mention of turning to the right or left suggests potential distractions. Staying focused on God's path requires vigilance and discernment.

The Role of the Holy Spirit
In the New Testament context, the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in guiding believers, echoing the promise of guidance in Isaiah.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can we discern God's voice in our lives today, and what practices can help us become more attuned to His guidance?

2. In what ways do distractions (turning to the right or left) manifest in your life, and how can you overcome them to stay on God's path?

3. Reflect on a time when you felt God's guidance in a decision. How did you respond, and what was the outcome?

4. How does the promise of guidance in Isaiah 30:21 relate to the role of the Holy Spirit as described in the New Testament?

5. What steps can you take to ensure that you are not only hearing God's direction but also walking in it consistently?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 3:5-6
This passage emphasizes trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not leaning on your own understanding, which aligns with the theme of divine guidance in Isaiah 30:21.

John 14:26
Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as a guide and teacher, paralleling the idea of hearing God's command and following His way.

Psalm 32:8
This verse speaks of God instructing and teaching the way to go, similar to the guidance promised in Isaiah 30:21.
A Voice Behind TheeJ. A. Alexander.Isaiah 30:21
Care Needed in Going Through the WorldR. W. Evans, B. D.Isaiah 30:21
Diving Guidance and AdmonitionEssex Congregational RemembrancerIsaiah 30:21
Good Company in the Right RoadR. W. Evans, B. D.Isaiah 30:21
Sins of Will and Sins of FrailtyR. Tuck Isaiah 30:21
The AdmonitionT. Horton.Isaiah 30:21
The Bath KolJ. A. Alexander.Isaiah 30:21
The Divine MonitorT. Horton.Isaiah 30:21
The Guiding WordThomas Kelly.Isaiah 30:21
The Guiding WordHomilistIsaiah 30:21
The Right WayR. Macculloch.Isaiah 30:21
The Teachings of the PastH. Varley, B. A.Isaiah 30:21
The Voice BehindT. Horton.Isaiah 30:21
The Voice Behind TheeIsaiah 30:21
The Voice Behind TheeCharles Haddon Spurgeon Isaiah 30:21
The Way of Life and the Ways of DeathR. W. Evans, B. D.Isaiah 30:21
The Word Behind TheeT. Horton.Isaiah 30:21
Turning to the Right Hand or to the LeftR. Macculloch.Isaiah 30:21
VirtueR. Macculloch.Isaiah 30:21
The Blessedness of ZionE. Johnson Isaiah 30:19-26
The People of God in Their ProsperityW. Clarkson Isaiah 30:19-26
People
Assyrians, Egyptians, Isaiah, Mash, Pharaoh, Rahab, Saraph
Places
Egypt, Hanes, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Negeb, Rahab, Zion, Zoan
Topics
Behind, Ear, Ears, Heareth, Saying, Sounding, Turn, Turning, Voice, Walk, Whenever
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 30:21

     5148   ear
     5196   voice
     5698   guardian
     8125   guidance, promise
     8315   orthodoxy, in OT

Isaiah 30:19-21

     8409   decision-making, and providence

Isaiah 30:20-21

     4020   life, of faith

Library
'Quietness and Confidence'
'In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.'--ISAIAH xxx. 15. ISRAEL always felt the difficulty of sustaining itself on the height of dependence on the unseen, spiritual power of God, and was ever oscillating between alliances with the Northern and Southern powers, linking itself with Assyria against Egypt, or with Egypt against Assyria. The effect was that whichever was victorious it suffered; it was the battleground for both, it was the prize of
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God's Waiting and Man's
'And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are they that wait for Him.'--ISAIAH xxx. 18. God's waiting and man's--bold and beautiful, that He and we should be represented as sharing the same attitude. I. God's waiting, 1. The first thought is--why should He wait--why does He not act at once? Because something in us hinders. We cannot enter into spiritual blessings
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Voice Behind Thee
The word behind us which is spoken of in the text is mentioned as one among other covenant blessings. No "if" or "but" is joined to it. It is one of those gracious, unconditional promises upon which the salvation of the guilty depends. There are many comforts of the new life which depend upon our own action and behaviour, and these come to us with "ifs"; but those which are vital and essential are secured to the chosen of God without "but" or "peradventure." It shall be so: God declares it shall,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 28: 1882

My God Will Hear Me
"Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you. Blessed are all they that wait for Him. He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee."--ISA. xxx. 18, 19. "The Lord will hear when I call upon Him."--PS. iv. 3. "I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God!"--PS. xvii. 6. "I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."--MIC. vii. 7. The power of prayer rests in the faith
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

With a Heart Full of Anxious Request,
"In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." -- Isaiah 30:15. With a heart full of anxious request, Which my Father in heaven bestowed, I wandered alone, and distressed, In search of a quiet abode. Astray and distracted I cried, -- Lord, where would'st Thou have me to be? And the voice of the Lamb that had died Said, Come, my beloved, to ME. I went -- for He mightily wins Weary souls to His peaceful retreat -- And He gave me forgiveness of sins,
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

But Though Prayer is Properly Confined to Vows and Supplications...
But though prayer is properly confined to vows and supplications, yet so strong is the affinity between petition and thanksgiving, that both may be conveniently comprehended under one name. For the forms which Paul enumerates (1 Tim. 2:1) fall under the first member of this division. By prayer and supplication we pour out our desires before God, asking as well those things which tend to promote his glory and display his name, as the benefits which contribute to our advantage. By thanksgiving we duly
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

"Take My Yoke Upon You, and Learn of Me," &C.
Matt. xi. 20.--"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me," &c. Self love is generally esteemed infamous and contemptible among men. It is of a bad report every where, and indeed as it is taken commonly, there is good reason for it, that it should be hissed out of all societies, if reproaching and speaking evil of it would do it. But to speak the truth, the name is not so fit to express the thing, for that which men call self love, may rather be called self hatred. Nothing is more pernicious to a man's
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3
The beginning of the circumference was from 'the sheep-gate.' That, we suppose, was seated on the south part, yet but little removed from that corner, which looks south-east. Within was the pool of Bethesda, famous for healings. Going forward, on the south part, was the tower Meah: and beyond that, "the tower of Hananeel": in the Chaldee paraphrast it is, 'The tower Piccus,' Zechariah 14:10; Piccus, Jeremiah 31:38.--I should suspect that to be, the Hippic tower, were not that placed on the north
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

How those are to be Admonished who have had Experience of the Sins of the Flesh, and those who have Not.
(Admonition 29.) Differently to be admonished are those who are conscious of sins of the flesh, and those who know them not. For those who have had experience of the sins of the flesh are to be admonished that, at any rate after shipwreck, they should fear the sea, and feel horror at their risk of perdition at least when it has become known to them; lest, having been mercifully preserved after evil deeds committed, by wickedly repeating the same they die. Whence to the soul that sins and never
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Concerning Worship.
Concerning Worship. [780] All true and acceptable worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit which is neither limited to places times, nor persons. For though we are to worship him always, and continually to fear before him; [781] yet as to the outward signification thereof, in prayers, praises, or preachings, we ought not to do it in our own will, where and when we will; but where and when we are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret inspiration
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

The Evening Light
This chapter is an article written by the author many years after she had received light on the unity of the church. It will acquaint the reader with what is meant by the expression "evening light." "At evening time it shall be light." "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light" (Zechariah 14:6,7). The expression
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith

The Baptist's Inquiry and Jesus' Discourse Suggested Thereby.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XI. 2-30; ^C Luke VII. 18-35. ^c 18 And the disciples of John told him of all these things. ^a 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent by his disciples ^c 19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them unto the Lord [John had been cast into prison about December, a.d. 27, and it was now after the Passover, possibly in May or June, a.d. 28. Herod Antipas had cast John into prison because John had reproved him for taking his brother's wife.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Eternity of God
The next attribute is, God is eternal.' Psa 90:0. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.' The schoolmen distinguish between aevun et aeternum, to explain the notion of eternity. There is a threefold being. I. Such as had a beginning; and shall have an end; as all sensitive creatures, the beasts, fowls, fishes, which at death are destroyed and return to dust; their being ends with their life. 2. Such as had a beginning, but shall have no end, as angels and the souls of men, which are eternal
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

How Christ is Made Use of for Justification as a Way.
What Christ hath done to purchase, procure, and bring about our justification before God, is mentioned already, viz. That he stood in the room of sinners, engaging for them as their cautioner, undertaking, and at length paying down the ransom; becoming sin, or a sacrifice for sin, and a curse for them, and so laying down his life a ransom to satisfy divine justice; and this he hath made known in the gospel, calling sinners to an accepting of him as their only Mediator, and to a resting upon him for
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Gospel Message, Good Tidings
[As it is written] How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! T he account which the Apostle Paul gives of his first reception among the Galatians (Galatians 4:15) , exemplifies the truth of this passage. He found them in a state of ignorance and misery; alienated from God, and enslaved to the blind and comfortless superstitions of idolatry. His preaching, accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit, had a great and marvellous effect.
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

"They have Corrupted Themselves; their Spot is not the Spot of his Children; they are a Perverse and Crooked Generation. "
Deut. xxxii. 5.--"They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of his children; they are a perverse and crooked generation." We doubt this people would take well with such a description of themselves as Moses gives. It might seem strange to us, that God should have chosen such a people out of all the nations of the earth, and they to be so rebellious and perverse, if our own experience did not teach us how free his choice is, and how long-suffering he is, and constant in his choice.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

A Description of Heart-Purity
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 The holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity' calls here for heart-purity, and to such as are adorned with this jewel, he promises a glorious and beatifical vision of himself: they shall see God'. Two things are to be explained the nature of purity; the subject of purity. 1 The nature of purity. Purity is a sacred refined thing. It stands diametrically opposed to whatsoever defiles. We must distinguish the various kinds
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

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