30:6,7
Isaiah is using poetic language here to describe how the diplomatic attempts to seek help from Egypt would work out, or, rather, not work out. They were making a dangerous journey, the reference to snakes and lions could be describing the dangers of Egypt. They took riches with them hoping to entice Egypt to help, but Egypt would not help them. Their problem was with God!
Verse 7 makes it clear that Egypt would be of no help at all. Now why did Isaiah not just say this? Why bother with verse 6? It is because that is how we communicate best, how people can hear a message. Just laying out the bare facts is usually not enough. There needs to be something more, and sometimes this can be in greater explanation, or, as here, using allegory or drama to build a picture. At the same time, the bare facts, namely that Egypt was useless, were stated. We need to take this on board with preaching. Using illustrations etc is an important part of communicating.
30:8
Isaiah is now instructed to write these things down before the people. As we will see in chapters 36-39, Isaiah seems to have had quite a respected position in the land, so seeing that he was writing this stuff down would have some impact. His words were not just things that would be here for a moment and then float away. They were a "witness forever". His words had relevance beyond his own time.
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