FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 29: Woe
to Jerusalem
For
Context see chapter 28
v.1-4
Jerusalem will come under siege
v.5-8
Yet the Lord will sweep the enemy away
v.9-12
Yet you will be oblivious to what is coming
v.13-15
God will upturn their meaningless religion and do something
great
v.16-21
Whereas they reverse the truth He will reverse all their lives
v.22-24
God IS coming to redeem and transform His people
[Introductory
Comment: The
prophecy in this present chapter, steers our thinking towards
the chapters [36 to 39] that are soon coming that show us Jerusalem
under siege from Assyria. It is a warning chapter [v.1] of this
coming siege [v.2,3] and they will call on God [v.4]. That is
the first phase, but the second soon follows, of the Lord stepping
up on Jerusalem's behalf [v.5-8] to quickly remove the invaders.
Although He speaks of these things now, they will not be really
takin in by this people [v.9-12] but God will allow this to happen
to shake them up, this people whose hearts are not all-out for
God [v.13-15], a people who distort the truth who the Lord is
going to change [v.16-21], when He comes and redeems them [v.22-24].
So yes, it is a warning but also an explanation of how the Lord
is coming to bring change to His people.]
v.1-4
Jerusalem will come under siege
v.1
(Jerusalem be warned, years
may pass but…) Woe
to you, Ariel, Ariel, [Ariel means hearth place or
altar of God]
the city where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals go on.
v.2 (God
will lay siege to you) Yet I will
besiege Ariel;
she will mourn and lament,
she will be to me like an altar hearth.
v.3 (Long
term attack will be mounted against you) I
will encamp against you on all sides;
I will encircle you with towers
and set up my siege works against you.
v.4 (You
will be brought down into the dust) Brought
low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.
v.5-8
Yet the Lord will sweep the enemy away
v.5
(Yet these enemies will be
blown again in an instant) But your
many enemies will become like fine dust,
the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant,
v.6 (God
will bear down on them) the Lord
Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest and flames
of a devouring fire.
v.7 (And
suddenly they will be gone as in a dream) Then
the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
that attack her and her fortress and besiege
her,
will be as it is with a dream,
with a vision in the night –
v.8 as
when a hungry person dreams of eating,
but awakens hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
but awakens faint and thirsty still.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
v.9-12
Yet you will be oblivious to what is coming
v.9
(Stagger in amazement when
you see it happen) Be stunned and
amazed,
blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
stagger, but not from beer.
v.10 (God
has rendered you unconscious to all this) The
Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:
he has sealed your eyes (the prophets);
he has covered your heads (the seers).
v.11
(Your see or hear these words
and they mean nothing to you) For
you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll.
And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read
this, please,' they will answer, ‘I can't; it is sealed.'
v.12
Or
if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read
this, please,' they will answer, ‘I don't know how to read.'
v.13-15
God will upturn their meaningless religion and do something great
v.13
(God says you have a heartless
religion) The Lord says:
‘These
people come near to me with their mouth
and honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have
been taught.
v.14
(So He will astound you with
what He will do) Therefore once more
I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will
vanish.'
v.15 (You
are foolish to pretend God doesn't see) Woe
to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
‘Who sees us? Who will know?'
v.16-21
Whereas they reverse the truth He will reverse all their lives
v.16 (You
reverse reality, you can't deny your Creator) You
turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like
the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
‘You did not make me'?
Can the pot say to the potter,
‘You know nothing'?
v.17
(God will come and reverse
life in the land) In a very short
time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field
and the fertile field seem like a forest?
v.18 (Suddenly
they will ‘see' and understand) In
that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
v.19 (Then
the humble will rejoice in God) Once
more the humble will rejoice in the Lord;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One
of Israel.
v.20 (Bad
people will be gone) The ruthless
will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will
be cut down –
v.21 those
who with a word make someone out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent
of justice.
v.22-24
God IS coming to redeem and transform His people
v.22
(God says He's coming to
change it all) Therefore
this is what the
Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob:
‘No
longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.
v.23
(As their families flourish
and be secure, they will rejoice) When
they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of
the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
v.24 (Even
the foolish will be turned around) Those
who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction.'
Continue
to Chapter 30