◄ Isaiah 33:17 ►
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar.
Study Bible
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty

This phrase speaks to a future vision of the Messiah, often interpreted as a prophecy of Jesus Christ. The "King" here is seen as a reference to the divine ruler, embodying both majesty and righteousness. In the context of Isaiah, this vision contrasts with the current distress and judgment faced by the people of Judah. The beauty of the King signifies not only physical splendor but also moral and spiritual perfection. This aligns with descriptions of Christ in Revelation 1:13-16, where His appearance is depicted with divine glory. The anticipation of seeing the King in His beauty also reflects the hope of ultimate redemption and restoration, a theme prevalent throughout the prophetic books.

Isa 6:5 Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined,…
Psa 27:4 One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire:…
Psa 24:7-10 Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors,…

and behold a land that stretches afar.

This phrase suggests a vision of expansive peace and prosperity, often interpreted as the Messianic Kingdom. The "land" symbolizes the promised inheritance and blessings for God's people, reminiscent of the land promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18. The imagery of a land stretching afar indicates abundance and security, contrasting with the current threats and limitations faced by the Israelites. This vision can also be seen as a type of the eternal kingdom described in Revelation 21:1-4, where God's people dwell in a new heaven and new earth. The promise of a vast and peaceful land serves as a reassurance of God's faithfulness and the fulfillment of His covenant promises.

Deu 34:1-4 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,…
Gen 13:14-17 After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram,…
Exo 3:8 I have come down to rescue them from the hand of Egyptians…

Persons / Places / Events
1. The King
In the context of Isaiah, the King refers to the Messiah, a future ruler who embodies divine beauty and authority. This is a prophetic vision of the coming reign of Christ.

2. The Land
Symbolic of the promised land, it represents a place of peace, prosperity, and divine blessing. It stretches afar, indicating vastness and abundance.

3. Isaiah
The prophet who delivered this message to the people of Judah, offering hope and a vision of future glory amidst current distress.

4. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, facing threats from Assyria during Isaiah's time, yet promised deliverance and restoration.

5. Assyria
The dominant empire threatening Judah, representing the immediate context of fear and turmoil from which God promises deliverance.
Teaching Points
Vision of Hope
Isaiah 33:17 offers a vision of hope and future glory, encouraging believers to look beyond present troubles to the ultimate reign of Christ.

The Beauty of the King
The beauty of the King signifies His perfect character, righteousness, and divine nature. Believers are called to reflect on the beauty of Christ in their lives.

The Promise of the Land
The land stretching afar symbolizes God's abundant provision and eternal inheritance for His people. It encourages believers to trust in God's promises.

Spiritual Sight
Seeing the King in His beauty requires spiritual sight, cultivated through faith and purity of heart. Believers are encouraged to seek God earnestly.

Eternal Perspective
This verse invites believers to maintain an eternal perspective, focusing on the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises rather than temporary circumstances.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the vision of the King in His beauty provide hope in your current circumstances?

2. In what ways can you cultivate spiritual sight to see the beauty of Christ more clearly in your daily life?

3. How does the promise of a land that stretches afar encourage you to trust in God's provision and promises?

4. What connections can you draw between Isaiah 33:17 and the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?

5. How can reflecting on the beauty and majesty of Christ transform your worship and relationship with Him?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 45
This psalm also describes the beauty and majesty of the King, drawing a parallel to the Messianic vision in Isaiah.

Revelation 22
The vision of the New Jerusalem and the eternal reign of Christ connects to the promise of seeing the King in His beauty and the expansive land.

Matthew 5:8
Jesus' teaching on the pure in heart seeing God aligns with the promise of seeing the King in His beauty.
Sermons
Christ Victorious: His People FreeIsaiah 33:17
Christ's Life a PoemStopford A. Brooke, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
Death a Mean, of VisionR. J. Campbell, M. A.Isaiah 33:17
Glances At the FutureU. R. Thomas, B. A.Isaiah 33:17
Heaven AnticipatedLight in the Dwelling.Isaiah 33:17
Is Beauty Ascribed to JehovahH. Crosby, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
Miss Havergal's ExperienceKing's Highway.Isaiah 33:17
Not AllW. Adamson, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
Reverence, a Belief in God's PresenceJ. H. Newman, B. D.Isaiah 33:17
Samuel Rutherford's Dying UtterancesKing's Highway.Isaiah 33:17
Seeing the King in His BeautyH. E. Manning, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
The Beautiful ChristF. W. Farrar, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
The Beautiful GodR. Macculloch.Isaiah 33:17
The Beautiful GodIsaiah 33:17
The Beautiful King and the Far-Off LandF. Ferguson, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
The Blessedness of HeavenB. Beddome, M. A.Isaiah 33:17
The Breadth of the KingdomW. Clarkson Isaiah 33:17
The Delectable MountainIsaiah 33:17
The Distant LandJ. Hoyle.Isaiah 33:17
The Glorious VisionW.M. Statham Isaiah 33:17
The Heavenly King and the Privileges of His SubjectsJohn Overton.Isaiah 33:17
The Jews' Deliverance from the Assyrian InvasionIsaiah 33:17
The King in His BeautyF. S. Webster, M. A.Isaiah 33:17
The King in His BeautyProf. A. B. Davidson, LL. D.Isaiah 33:17
The King in His BeautyIsaiah 33:17
The King in His BeautyF. Ferguson, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
The King in His BeautyThos. Spurgeon.Isaiah 33:17
The King in His BeautyW. Clarkson Isaiah 33:17
The Land that is Very Far OffProf. S. R. Driver, D. D.Isaiah 33:17
Visions of the KingR. Tuck Isaiah 33:17
Dwelling on HighJ. G. Govan.Isaiah 33:16-17
Hidden in the RockJ. R. Miller, D. D.Isaiah 33:16-17
Rest in GodA. Maclaren, D. D.Isaiah 33:16-17
Sale in the RockWestminster Teacher.Isaiah 33:16-17
The Christian Should be JoyfulIsaiah 33:16-17
The Life of Surrender and TrustG. H. C. Macgregor, M. A.Isaiah 33:16-17
The Reign of HezekiahE. Johnson Isaiah 33:17-24
People
Ariel, Isaiah
Places
Bashan, Carmel, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Sharon, Zion
Topics
Afar, Beauty, Behold, Distant, Far-distant, Far-stretching, Glory, Reacheth, Stretches, Stretching, View
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 33:17

     4040   beauty

Isaiah 33:15-17

     5149   eyes

Library
April 2. "He Shall Dwell on High" (Isa. xxxiii. 16).
"He shall dwell on high" (Isa. xxxiii. 16). It is easier for a consecrated Christian to live an out and out life for God than to live a mixed life. A soul redeemed and sanctified by Christ is too large for the shoals and sands of a selfish, worldly, sinful life. The great steamship, St. Paul, could sail in deep water without an effort, but she could make no progress in the shallow pool, or on the Long Branch sands; the smallest tugboat is worth a dozen of her there; but out in mid-ocean she could …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Fortress of the Faithful
'He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 16. This glowing promise becomes even more striking if we mark its connection with the solemn question in the previous context. 'Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?' is the prophet's question; 'who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?' That question really means, Who is capable 'of communion with God'? The prophet sketches the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Rivers of God
'But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 21. One great peculiarity of Jerusalem, which distinguishes it from almost all other historical cities, is that it has no river. Babylon was on the Euphrates, Nineveh on the Tigris, Thebes on the Nile, Rome on the Tiber; but Jerusalem had nothing but a fountain or two, and a well or two, and a little trickle and an intermittent …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Judge, Lawgiver, King
'For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 22. There is reference here to the three forms of government in Israel: by Moses, by Judges, by Kings. In all, Israel was a Theocracy. Isaiah looks beyond the human representative to the true divine Reality. I. A truth for us, in both its more specific and its more general forms. (a) Specific. Christ is all these three for us--Authority; His will law; Defender. (b) More general. Everything …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How to Dwell in the Fire of God
'Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 15. He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.'--ISAIAH xxxiii. 14, 15. 'He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God'--1 JOHN iv. 16. I have put these two verses together because, striking as is at first sight the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Border of his Sanctuary
G. W. Is. xxxiii. 17 Glorious and solemn hour, Thus at last to stand, All behind us the great desert, All before, the land! Past the shadow of the valley, Past the weary plain; Past the rugged mountain pathway, Ne'er to be again. And before us, ever stretching In its golden sheen, Lies the fair, the blessed country Where our hearts have been-- Where our hearts have been whilst wandering Through the desert bare; For the soul's adored, beloved One, He abideth there. Clad in love and glory stands …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

April 3 Evening
Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning.--AMOS 4:11. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?--We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.--The wages of sin is death; but the gift …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Necessity of Contemplating the Judgment-Seat of God, in Order to be Seriously Convinced of the Doctrine of Gratuitous Justification.
1. Source of error on the subject of Justification. Sophists speak as if the question were to be discussed before some human tribunal. It relates to the majesty and justice of God. Hence nothing accepted without absolute perfection. Passages confirming this doctrine. If we descend to the righteousness of the Law, the curse immediately appears. 2. Source of hypocritical confidence. Illustrated by a simile. Exhortation. Testimony of Job, David, and Paul. 3. Confession of Augustine and Bernard. 4. Another …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

A vision of the King.
ONE of the most blessed occupations for the believer is the prayerful searching of God's holy Word to discover there new glories and fresh beauties of Him, who is altogether lovely. Shall we ever find out all which the written Word reveals of Himself and His worthiness? This wonderful theme can never be exhausted. The heart which is devoted to Him and longs through the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be closer to the Lord, to hear and know more of Himself, will always find something …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Seven Sanctified Thoughts and Mournful Sighs of a Sick Man Ready to Die.
Now, forasmuch as God of his infinite mercy doth so temper our pain and sickness, that we are not always oppressed with extremity, but gives us in the midst of our extremities some respite, to ease and refresh ourselves, thou must have an especial care, considering how short a time thou hast either for ever to lose or to obtain heaven, to make use of every breathing time which God affords thee; and during that little time of ease to gather strength against the fits of greater anguish. Therefore, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Three Things Briefly to be Regarded in Christ --viz. His Offices of Prophet, King, and Priest.
1. Among heretics and false Christians, Christ is found in name only; but by those who are truly and effectually called of God, he is acknowledged as a Prophet, King, and Priest. In regard to the Prophetical Office, the Redeemer of the Church is the same from whom believers under the Law hoped for the full light of understanding. 2. The unction of Christ, though it has respect chiefly to the Kingly Office, refers also to the Prophetical and Priestly Offices. The dignity, necessity, and use of this …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Angel of the Lord in the Pentateuch, and the Book of Joshua.
The New Testament distinguishes between the hidden God and the revealed God--the Son or Logos--who is connected with the former by oneness of nature, and who from everlasting, and even at the creation itself, filled up the immeasurable distance between the Creator and the creation;--who has been the Mediator in all God's relations to the world;--who at all times, and even before He became man in Christ, has been the light of [Pg 116] the world,--and to whom, specially, was committed the direction …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Blessed Privilege of Seeing God Explained
They shall see God. Matthew 5:8 These words are linked to the former and they are a great incentive to heart-purity. The pure heart shall see the pure God. There is a double sight which the saints have of God. 1 In this life; that is, spiritually by the eye of faith. Faith sees God's glorious attributes in the glass of his Word. Faith beholds him showing forth himself through the lattice of his ordinances. Thus Moses saw him who was invisible (Hebrews 11:27). Believers see God's glory as it were …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

"And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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