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's 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;
cities 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. Isaiah 33 ESV
Isaiah 33 O Lord, Be gracious to us.
…26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed. 27And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him. Daniel 9: 26-27
1. Ah, you destroyer - This has present implications for Isaiah and Israel in the coming army of Assyria, but to all Israel's enemies till Messiah's kingdom is established.
You traitor - Like the antichrist, Sennacherib received tribute from nations, including Israel, but greater than the cost of the silver and gold was the loss of true religion. This started in Ahaz's reign, and rather than repent of what God hates, Ahaz sought the favor of a tyrant in Assyria, even modeling his worship after theirs. He assumed that the gods of the Syrians beat the God of Israel, and so he sacrificed to their god, and then paid the king of Assyria tribute to remove some of his human enemies, but Ahaz was his own worse enemy, as were all who went against the only true God.
2-6. O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for You - This is a complete turn around compared to their taunts of Isaiah before, telling God, go ahead and judge us, "the spoil speeds, the prey hastens."
When You lift Yourself up - He is already high and lifted up, but now these people and their enemies will know.
And Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillars gather - The caterpillar does not plant the seed, water the plant, but it harvests the leaves. When the 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed by one angel of God, then even the lame, the outcasts could plunder the spoil of the dead soldiers. They carried much with them for they had destroyed and plundered other cities, but at the noise and horror they fled quickly.
The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure - This is a gift to any people, for with it comes wisdom, and He gives a desire unto righteousness.
…33Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning; even among fools she is known. 34Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.35A king delights in a wise servant, but his anger falls on the shameful.… Proverbs 14: 33-35
7-9. The envoys of peace weep bitterly - Their heroes, men of war, cannot see Judah through this. The protectors cry for the enemy has swept through unimpeded. The diplomats have also failed in their attempts at peace, and the sight of this would make the people tremble. Where is our hope?
The highways lie waste - There are no more travelers, Judah is effectively cut off. We know that Egypt will not deliver them, and there is no one else who would dare send them aid, not even food. The siege seems sure.
There is no regard for man - Human life means little, no one sees the image of God in their fellow.
Lebanon, Sharon, Bashan and Carmel - Lebanon was known for her great cedar forests, Sharon and Bashan held rich pastoral lands. Carmel means fertile land or vineyard of God. These places are devastated by the invaders, cutting off food supply to the area. All the securities and comforts have been removed, the army is crying, the diplomats weep, human life is not sacred and the crops are spoiled to further set them back and increase the hopelessness.
…13He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag, 14with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.… Deuteronomy 32: 13-15
10-12. Now, I will arise, says the Lord - This is as far as Assyria in this case may come; his time of plundering has drawn to an end. He has fulfilled his duty as a punisher, but he does not recognize the true God either. His actions are allowed by God to correct God's people, but he is not jealous for the Lord.
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble - The thief comes but to kill steal and to destroy, but now the plunderer will be plundered.
As if burned to lime - This resembles the stench of the brimstone of Sodom and Gomorrah when they had reached the fulness of the cup of God's wrath.
13-16. Far off and near - When the Lord delivers Israel then the nations will know of God's might. Those in Jerusalem, who proclaimed to be of God's people, yet still loved their sin, they would now be afraid. When we read of the destruction of the Canaanites, of Sodom, God's deliverance of the people from Egypt, from the Philistines, and His direction not to be part of this world's system, how is it found in those who call themselves the church? We must repent.
Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire - This reminds us of the story of Uzzah, and it should remind today's church of Ananias and Saphira.
There are sinners in Zion, hypocrites, that enjoy Zion's privileges and concur in Zion's services, but their hearts are not right in the sight of God; they keep up secret haunts of sin under the cloak of a visible profession, which convicts them of hypocrisy. Sinners in Zion will have a great deal to answer for above other sinners; and their place in Zion will be so far from being their security that it will aggravate both their sin and their punishment. Now those sinners in Zion, though always subject to secret frights and terrors, were struck with a more than ordinary consternation from the convictions of their own consciences. 1. When they saw the Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem, and ready to set fire to it and lay it in ashes, and burn the wasps in the nest. Finding they could not make their escape to Egypt, as some had done, and distrusting the promises God had made by his prophets that he would deliver them, they were at their wits' end, and ran about like men distracted, crying, "Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? Let us therefore abandon the city, and shift for ourselves elsewhere; one had as good live in everlasting burnings as live here." Who will stand up for us against this devouring fire? so some read it. See here how the sinners in Zion are affected when the judgments of God are abroad; while they were only threatened they slighted them and made nothing of them; but, when they come to be executed, they run into the other extreme, then they magnify them, and make the worst of them; they call them devouring fire and everlasting burnings, and despair of relief and succour. Those that rebel against the commands of the word cannot take the comforts of it in a time of need. Or, rather, 2. When they saw the Assyrian army destroyed; for the destruction of that is the fire spoken of immediately before, v. 11, 2. When the sinners in Zion saw what dreadful execution the wrath of God made they were in a great fright, being conscious to themselves that they had provoked this God by their secretly worshipping other gods; and therefore they cry out, Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire, before which so vast an army is as thorns? Who among us shall dwell with these everlasting burnings, which have made the Assyrians as the burnings of lime? - Matthew Henry
…10At that instant she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11And great fear came over the whole church and all who heard about these events. 12The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people, and with one accord the believers gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade.… Acts 5: 10-12
…28Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. 29“ For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12: 28-29
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly - The evangelical church, for the most part, has long left out the call to righteousness, the preachers duty to prosecute, they would quench the Spirit's conviction, and the people would forsake their duty to repent. You have become the whore you left, when the early church went from Catholic (the body of Christ universal) to Roman Catholic (apostate church). You go back to her with empty rituals, tickling ears and prostituting religion. You have forgotten that God is holy, and the righteousness of Christ you see as some small thing.
Who despises gain of oppressions - The righteous do not seek to enslave and tax others with heavy burdens to build their own kingdoms.
Lest they hold a bribe - No, not for me, I will not have my decision swayed by such. Quid pro quo has been talked about much these days, yet when it was found in the party that cried so often about it, they did nothing but hide it and pushed to honor the guilty.
From hearing of bloodshed - He will not be part of such plots.
Shuts his eyes from looking on evil - He will not participate, and will not allow himself to be conditioned to such. Like Joseph, he will flee temptations, even if all the world accept them, they are not the measure of righteousness. God's word is the true measure.
…1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. 2But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.… Psalm 1: 1-3
17-22. Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty - The deliverance from Assyria is from the Lord, not from Hezekiah who is wearing the clothes of mourning. This looks forward to the reign of the King of kings. Seeing the present restoration of Hezekiah would give the people hope after such a horrifying threat.
Weighed the tribute, counted the towers - Both sides had their wise men, war counsels, but for Zion they could recount the horror of that moment, counting heads, sending men to the towers, the cry to take arms, and yet God was the one who delivered them. Neither money, might nor conversation worked for them, salvation was of the Lord.
…19For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.… 1 Corinthians 1: 19-21
But there the Lord in majesty will be for us - The kingdom in Messiah's reign will have His visible presence and direct protection. Jerusalem will be bordered by waters, yet not in fear of enemy ships.
The Lord is our law giver - There will be no doubt to Who the true giver of the law is, and that what He says is eternal and perfect.
Your cords hang loose - The Assyrians, who did not see themselves this way, were hopelessly unprepared against God's one angel. Jerusalem, who had come to terror, crying and despair, realized themselves unable to defeat Assyria, some realizing they had the same sins in their city as Assyria. No one here had earned God's blessing, but He delivered His people.
The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity - Repent and be saved, if anyone would come after Him, first deny yourself, all self righteousness and every earthly hope, then take up your cross and follow Him.
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