Isaiah 33 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 33

O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

33:1   Ah, you destroyer,
    who yourself have not been destroyed,
  you traitor,
    whom none has betrayed!
  When you have ceased to destroy,
    you will be destroyed;
  and when you have finished betraying,
    they will betray you.
2   O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
    Be our arm every morning,
    our salvation in the time of trouble.
3   At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
    when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4   and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
    as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5   The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
    he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6   and he will be the stability of your times,
    abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
    the fear of the LORD is Zion’s¹ treasure.
7   Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
    the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8   The highways lie waste;
    the traveler ceases.
  Covenants are broken;
    cities² are despised;
    there is no regard for man.
9   The land mourns and languishes;
    Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
  Sharon is like a desert,
    and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10   “Now I will arise,” says the LORD,
    “now I will lift myself up;
    now I will be exalted.
11   You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
    your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12   And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
    like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
13   Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
    and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14   The sinners in Zion are afraid;
    trembling has seized the godless:
  “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
    Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15   He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
    who despises the gain of oppressions,
  who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
    who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
    and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16   he will dwell on the heights;
    his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
    his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17   Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
    they will see a land that stretches afar.
18   Your heart will muse on the terror:
    “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?
    Where is he who counted the towers?”
19   You will see no more the insolent people,
    the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
    stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20   Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
    Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,
  whose stakes will never be plucked up,
    nor will any of its cords be broken.
21   But there the LORD in majesty will be for us
    a place of broad rivers and streams,
  where no galley with oars can go,
    nor majestic ship can pass.
22   For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;
    the LORD is our king; he will save us.
23   Your cords hang loose;
    they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
    or keep the sail spread out.
  Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
    even the lame will take the prey.
24   And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
    the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

Footnotes

[1] 33:6 Hebrew his
[2] 33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses

Commentary

v1: A reference to Assyria. They attacked Judah, having previously offered peace, as in v8. See 2 Kings 18.17, where Assyria arrived in Judah.

v2: Judah's prayer; depending on the Lord to be gracious, especially in the time of trouble.

v3-4: God's victory over all the nations.

v5-6: The Lord is exalted, His justice and righteousness manifest, see 32.16-19.

v7-9: Judgment upon the nations brought about by the Assyrians.

v10: The Lord God has power to do what He wants, when He wants. His Name had been dishonoured; there would come the time to demonstrate His glory.

v11-12: Judgment upon Jerusalem, through which God is honoured. The image of fire is a theme in scripture – in Judges 6.20-22 the angel produces fire as a sign to Gideon. James and John were familiar with the image, in Luke 9.54.

v13: Before the time came, the prophet announced what was to happen; when it came to pass, the Gentiles ("you who are far away") and Jews ("you who are near") would see that it was indeed the hand of the Lord.

v14-16: The threat of consuming fire, of everlasting burning; to avoid this demanded practical holiness, and a deliberate rejection of sins. Righteousness is always the way to life. See Luke 13.27-28.

v17: The promise of God's eternal city, where His people will see Him. Isaiah introduces promises for those who are faithful to God (v17-24).

v18-19: Judgment would fall on those who attacked and mistreated God's people. God's people, now safe with their king, cannot recall their past sufferings.

v20: Zion, Jerusalem, the eternal city; the tabernacle, the dwelling place of the Lord. No place is more secure.

v21: The presence of the Lord is consistent with the spiritual restoration of Israel.

v22: The Lord's faithful character; he acts on behalf of His own. He is the true ruler of all, in all respects, giving law (lawgiver), exercising judgment (judge), and making decisions (king). His power is far greater than any human ruler. In particular, He will preserve His people through all circumstances.

v23: The glory of the nations brought to Zion.

v24: Sickness and sins will be gone forever; healed and forgiven.