Isaiah Chapter 29

PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM

 

We often hear phrases like, “You’ve got a brain, use it,”  “God helps those who help themselves,”  “Use your head,” “Think!” all the emphasis is on self-help, self-reliance, and being independent. These phrases are even sometimes used to debunk turning to God in various situations. They stress making your own plans and leaning on your own wisdom and ideas.

Today’s section in Isaiah deals with this idea of following the wisdom of mankind and making your own plans. It also touches on the questions: Can problems and trials ever lead to blessings? Can good things ever come out of punishment or judgment? As we look at chapters 29 and 30 of Isaiah, we will find some answers to these questions.

We’ve seen a lot of woes (oracles; burdens), which refer to warnings, in the book of Isaiah thus far. In fact you might be getting a little bit tired of them. But we’ve also gotten a lot of glimpses of the mercy and graciousness of God too. That is just an illustration of the truth of Romans 5:20:

Romans 5:20b, NAS:
. . . where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

We also believe that reinforcing this theme and pattern over and over again in our minds will strengthen our faith and our understanding that it is futile to rely on the power of human beings over the power of God, and that God will provide without fail for those who trust and obey Him. In addition we also hear from Isaiah over and over again about the wonderful eternity that awaits those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. So let’s prepare ourselves anew this morning to explore the reality of God’s judgment on the disobedient and His forgiveness and blessing for those who receive Christ by faith and grace. And God’s Word and the reality of what is to come energize us to share the message with those who have never heard it.

We’ll also see in these next two chapters another aspect that we’ve seen frequently thus far. Isaiah can jump back and forth between events that happened in his day, around 700 B.C., and the end times which are yet to come in our future. He can be talking about the Assyrian attacks on Israel and Judah in one verse and then in the next be referring to events in the end times. So try to be alert for these shifts back and forth.

In this second of five ”woes“ in chapters 28-33, Isaiah continues with the theme of the last part of the first woe in Isaiah 28:14-29. Judgment was coming on Jerusalem and on Judah, and the purpose of this punishment was to get the nation to return to God. Unlike the judgment that would sweep away the Northern Kingdom of Israel, this judgment on Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, though very severe, would not result in the destruction of that city. God was not ready to let that happen. Jerusalem would not fall into the hands of the Assyrians.

Isaiah 29:1: NAS:
1 Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.

Ariel undoubtedly refers to Jerusalem as can be concluded by the parallel phrase the city where David settled.[fn]  Other interpreters say Ariel means “lion of God,” in which case the city is seen as a strong, lion-like city. It is also noted here that the Jews have rigorously disciplined themselves to give their offerings and observe their rituals on time every year.

Isaiah 29:2 NAS:
2 I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me.

Ariel may also be translated altar hearth.[fn]The city would be besieged and fighting and bloodshed would turn it into a virtual altar hearth. In other words there will be so much bloodshed of Israelis during this battle that the city will look like a sacrificial altar to God. Jerusalem would become a place of slaughter.

Isaiah 29:3, 4 NAS:
3 I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.
4 Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.

To be brought low means that God was going to humble the proud city that thought itself invincible. Instead of roaring and frightening the enemy, the city that was like a lion would only whisper from the dust in verse 4. Instead of their sacrifices being accepted by God in verse 1, the entire city would become a sacrificial altar; and God would make His people the sacrifice.[fn]

Deliverance For Jerusalem (Isaiah 29:5-8):

Isaiah 29:5, NAS:
But the multitude of your enemies shall become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; and it shall happen instantly, suddenly.

Here again we see the grace of God. Jerusalem’s protection described in verses 5-8 refers to her deliverance from Assyria, which is recorded later in chapter 37. Even though God was disciplining His children, He would be even harder on the Assyrians who would be attacking Jerusalem. It reminds us of David who, when given the opportunity to select his own punishment, said he would prefer to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of man.

2 Samuel 24:14 NAS:
Then David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man."

As the people of Jerusalem watched the advance of the Assyrian army toward them, it seemed impossible to avoid the destruction of the city. However, as soon as God’s punishment of Jerusalem was accomplished, Isaiah says that then the Assyrians themselves will suddenly come under God’s judgment. When the people of Jerusalem saw the Assyrian soldiers destroyed they were undoubtedly jubilant. God’s sovereign intervention had saved Jerusalem. But they soon forgot about it and life returned to normal in the city. Rather than turning back to God, the nation got more deeply involved in sin.[fn] Though verse 5 says the Assyrian solders became “like . . .  dust and chaff” when they were slaughtered, verses 6-8 seem to be talking about the end times, when Jesus returns to the earth. Verse 6 refers to how Israel’s enemies will be treated during that time.

Isaiah 29:6 NAS:
6 From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

This verse refers to the judgments that accompany the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments during the Tribulation, that 7-year period that precedes the second coming of Christ during which there will be great destruction and loss of life.

Isaiah 29:7,8 NAS:
7 And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel (Jerusalem),[fn] Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 It will be as when a hungry man dreams— And behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, Or as when a thirsty man dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But when he awakens, behold, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. Thus the multitude of all the nations will be Who wage war against Mount Zion.

At the end of the Tribulation when nations will attack Jerusalem (Zechariah. 14:1-3), the Lord Almighty will come and destroy each attacking nation. Jerusalem’s attackers will frustrate themselves as a dreamer who has the feeling that they eat or drink, but awaken to find themselves hungry and thirsty. The threat to Israel from those nations will then vanish like a dream and never return.

How Jerusalem Understood God’s Revelation (Isaiah 29:9-24):

In this section a contrast is drawn between the people’s present spiritual insensitivity and their future spiritual understanding.

Isaiah 29:9,10 NAS:
9 Be delayed and wait, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.

The blindness and drunkenness referred to Jerusalem’s inability to understand Isaiah’s message about trusting God instead of Egypt. Just as the drunkard could avoid his drunken behavior by not drinking, so also could these people who had blinded themselves with the foolishness of sin and unbelief have avoided their condition as well. Despite all the ways God revealed His will to the people through His Word and the teaching of the prophets, they turned away to their own devices, living according to the desires of their own hearts. They had become drunk with the traditions and wisdom of mankind which made void the commands of God, and thus they failed to understand or act upon the messages sent to them by God through His prophets. They were not even capable at this point of understanding the truth of God’s Word. They had a veil over their hearts according to 2 Corinthians 3.

Isaiah is also making the point about the blindness of practicing religion by ritual alone. The fact that the prophets and the seers of that day did not see and understand clearly was part of God’s judgment for their disobedience. Even the prophets, except for Isaiah, had lost contact with God and no longer received messages from Him.[fn]

Isaiah 29:11,12 NAS:
11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

No one, whether they could read or not, could understand this truth. They were not able to understand the warnings of the true and faithful prophets of God. Such teachings were irrelevant to the “modern men” of the eighth century B.C., who felt that they had advanced far beyond their ancestors and no longer needed to be obedient to the authority of God’s Word.

Therefore, having no absolute authority other than themselves and their own reason, they could not make heads nor tails of God’s message to them through Scripture. How interesting these passages should be to the people of the twenty-first century because isn’t that exactly the way the majority of the people in the world today view God’s Word in the Bible? They can’t understand it and it doesn’t make sense to them.

Isaiah 29:13,14 NAS:
13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

God is so interested in our hearts. He wants the love and obedience from deep within our hearts, not merely our words or adherence to rituals. Simply performing religious rituals does not bring one close to God or please God. Jesus used verse 13 to describe the behavior of the Jews, especially the Pharisees, of His day as well.[fn] Such ritual is not a substitute for the surrender of one’s heart. Their actions did not demonstrate any true love for God. What knowledge of spiritual truth that they did have would be taken away from them until they were left with only the feeling of one who is totally unconcerned about God.

 

Isaiah 29:15 NAS:
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

The Jews were carrying on secret negotiations with countries that might provide them military assistance, rather than relying on God to protect them. How often we tend to make all our plans without consulting God! A very dangerous practice, or as Isaiah is about to say, how upside down that approach is.

Isaiah 29:16 NAS:
16 You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

They were attempting to turn things around and put man at the top of the scale and God at the bottom. They were actually behaving as if the thing created matters more than the Creator. But God will not be influenced by man’s interpretation of man’s own importance, nor tolerate man’s behaving as if he existed for his own sake independent of the will of God.

Isaiah 29:17-24 NAS:
17 Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off;
21 Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;
23 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 “Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.

Isaiah asked the people to look ahead and consider what God had planned for them. In their political strategy, they had turned things upside down; but God would one day turn everything around by establishing His glorious kingdom on earth. Lebanon, which was then occupied by Assyrian troops, will eventually be productive (fertile) again. When the Millennium ( the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth) comes the devastated land will become a paradise, the disabled will be healed, and the needy will rejoice in the Lord because of what He will do for them. Conversely the ruthless who deprived the innocent of justice will be punished. There will be no more injustice in the courts. The attitude of the people of Jerusalem and Judah will completely change. They will no longer be ashamed, according to verse 22, or, as we saw in verse 4, be brought low by foreign domination and their own sin (Isaiah 1:29). As their children grow up in safety they will realize that God has protected them and they will thus give thanks and worship Him.

God’s delivering Judah from Sennacherib in 701 B.C. was a foretaste of the ultimate deliverance they will experience in the end times. People who are disobedient and who complain will change and will accept instruction. In light of this glorious future, why would Judah turn to nations like Egypt for help? God is on their side, and they can trust Him. It’s tragic when a nation or any group of people forgets its great spiritual heritage and turns from trusting the Lord to trusting the plans and promises of mere humans.

At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, Benjamin Franklin said:

 “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning....”

Isaiah sought that attitude in Jerusalem; but instead, he found only scoffing and unbelief.[fn]

 

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