Isaiah 29 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 29

The Siege of Jerusalem

29:1   Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city where David encamped!
  Add year to year;
    let the feasts run their round.
2   Yet I will distress Ariel,
    and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
    and she shall be to me like an Ariel.¹
3   And I will encamp against you all around,
    and will besiege you with towers
    and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4   And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
    and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
  your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
    and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5   But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
    and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
  And in an instant, suddenly,
6     you will be visited by the LORD of hosts
  with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
    with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7   And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
    all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
    shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8   As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
    and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
  or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
    and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
  so shall the multitude of all the nations be
    that fight against Mount Zion.
9   Astonish yourselves² and be astonished;
    blind yourselves and be blind!
  Be drunk,³ but not with wine;
    stagger,⁴ but not with strong drink!
10   For the LORD has poured out upon you
    a spirit of deep sleep,
  and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
    and covered your heads (the seers).

11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13   And the Lord said:
  “Because this people draw near with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    while their hearts are far from me,
  and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14   therefore, behold, I will again
    do wonderful things with this people,
    with wonder upon wonder;
  and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15   Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel,
    whose deeds are in the dark,
    and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16   You turn things upside down!
  Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
  that the thing made should say of its maker,
    “He did not make me”;
  or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
    “He has no understanding”?
17   Is it not yet a very little while
    until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
    and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18   In that day the deaf shall hear
    the words of a book,
  and out of their gloom and darkness
    the eyes of the blind shall see.
19   The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20   For the ruthless shall come to nothing
    and the scoffer cease,
    and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21   who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
    and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
    and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

  “Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
    no more shall his face grow pale.
23   For when he sees his children,
    the work of my hands, in his midst,
    they will sanctify my name;
  they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24   And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
    and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

Footnotes

[1] 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
[2] 29:9 Or Linger awhile
[3] 29:9 Or They are drunk
[4] 29:9 Or they stagger

Commentary

v1-2: Where David settled and dwelt; the testimony of past devotion; Jerusalem, where the feasts were maintained year after year; but neither could guarantee present or future faithfulness. There was distress ahead, as God brought nations to fight against her.

The name ‘Ariel’ means lion of God, see Gen 49.9. The city had enjoyed God’s favour, but here the prophecy is that she has lost that favour. Now God would come against her as a lion; Jer 25.30; Amos 2.1.

Isaiah declares God’s judgment five times saying ‘woe to…’ in v1, 15; 30.1; 31.1; 33.1.

v3: The judgment was from God, as He brought the nations to besiege the city, see 8.7; Hab 1.6.

v4: The judgment was not to destroy Israel, but to humble her.

v5-8: The judgment will then fall upon the nations attacking Jerusalem; the many enemies, the ruthless hordes, are all swept away. The battle against the city will be forgotten by those inside; compare John 16.21-22, for such great blessing will flow upon God’s people.

Jerusalem had to learn that God would protect her and preserve her, not because of her faithfulness, but because of His promises to her.

v9-10: Judgment of blindness, poured out by the Lord. He singled out the prophets and seers, for they had led the people astray.

v11-12: Referring to the lack of spiritual perception; the word of God was a closed book to the people. Whilst oral tradition is not wrong, and is very common throughout the world, God has written His word, and will preserve it. The people of God have a responsibility to know it and declare it and live by it.

v13: The appearance of religion; no reality or devotion. They actually preferred the commandments of men to those of God; quoted by Christ in Matt 15.8-9. He remarked how appropriate these words were in His day.

v14: The marvellous work, and the wonder; the life and ministry of Jesus Christ; compare Matt 11.25; Luke 10.21, as He confounded the wise, as in Jer 9.23-24. Wisdom is also made known through the people of God; Joseph and Mordecai and Daniel are obvious examples; each was promoted in a godless nation. To them we may add the midwives of Egypt (Ex 1.15-21), Bezalel (Ex 31.2-5), and Nehemiah.

v15: Men seeking to distance themselves from God; they claimed not to be accountable to Him, hoping that He did not see.

v16: Their problem, “You turn things upside down.” Distorted and corrupted understanding; we need to put things back in their proper order; God is greater and more important than men; He is different, not like men.

v17-19: God had promises ahead; His turning of Lebanon into a fertile nation was a prelude to specific blessings upon Israel. He will give spiritual understanding, as the deaf hear, the blind see, and humble and poor rejoice in God; we see a fulfilment at the time of Christ. See Luke 7.18-23.

v20-21: In contrast, those who work iniquity will be cut off, the ruthless, the mockers, those who practise injustice.

v22: The Lord “who redeemed Abraham,” He brought him for Himself; He is ready to bless the people who belong to the house of Jacob. Jacob will be blessed, no longer ashamed or fearful.

v23-24: Jacob will honour the Name of God, and fear Him; he will witness the work of God’s hands. Those who are wayward, who err; and those who complain, murmur, rebel, will learn doctrine, and receive understanding, as they come to know the Lord God. These verses speak of a time of spiritual awakening, prefiguring the coming of Christ and of the Holy Spirit.