#994 Isaiah 32 Righteousness and Peace

 

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule in justice.

2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,

a shelter from the storm,

like streams of water in a dry place,

like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will give attention.

4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,

and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.

5 The fool will no more be called noble,

nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.

6 For the fool speaks folly,

and his heart is busy with iniquity,

to practice ungodliness,

to utter error concerning the Lord,

to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,

and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

7 As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;

he plans wicked schemes

to ruin the poor with lying words,

even when the plea of the needy is right.

8 But he who is noble plans noble things,

and on noble things he stands.

Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;

you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.

10 In little more than a year

you will shudder, you complacent women;

for the grape harvest fails,

the fruit harvest will not come.

11 Tremble, you women who are at ease,

shudder, you complacent ones;

strip, and make yourselves bare,

and tie sackcloth around your waist.

12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,

for the fruitful vine,

13 for the soil of my people

growing up in thorns and briers,

yes, for all the joyous houses

in the exultant city.

14 For the palace is forsaken,

the populous city deserted;

the hill and the watchtower

will become dens forever,

a joy of wild donkeys,

a pasture of flocks;

15 until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,

and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,

and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.

18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,

in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.

19 And it will hail when the forest falls down,

and the city will be utterly laid low.

20 Happy are you who sow beside all waters,

who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free. Isaiah 32 ESV

Isaiah 32 A king will reign in righteousness.

…5Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. 6He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.7And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.… 2 Kings 18: 5-7

1-8. A king will reign in righteousness - Hezekiah was a good king who sought advisement from God's prophet Isaiah. He led many reforms in Judah including the tearing down of the high places, brought water into the city, was a good manager, but imperfect as all shadows are. People say we are ever only a generation away from losing our freedom, and this certainly came about with his son. 

“This seems to have been delivered in the time of Ahaz, and to speak of Hezekiah, and of his righteousness and happy government. But withal, as Hezekiah and his reign was an eminent type of Christ and of his kingdom; so this prophecy looks through Hezekiah unto Christ.” (Poole)

And princes will rule in justice - A good king, a good manager, picks good leaders and advisers to rule under him and where he cannot be. You have the country, state, county and city, the Intelligence agencies and military, advisers on health and economics, but Hezekiah has one more advantage, the spiritual advice not only of priests, but also of Isaiah, whose integrity always points to God. 

…27“Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.… Matthew 19: 27-29

…9And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth. 11Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.… Revelation 5: 9-11

Like streams of water in a dry place - Good leadership is a relief to any place.

The eyes of those who see will not be closed - Seeing they could not see, and hearing they could not understand. It is one thing to see physically, but another to perceive spiritually. It is one thing to hear and even memorize and repeat, but quite another to listen, understand and apply.

And the ears of those who hear will give attention - No longer there for the ritual of reading or hearing, but alive unto listening, wisdom is no longer just a noise. They are intent upon finding her.

…4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. 6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.… 2 Corinthians 3: 4-6

…11Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12Moreover, the power of God was on the people in Judah to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and his officials according to the word of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 30: 11-12

…16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.… Matthew 16: 16-18

Heart of the hasty and tongue of the stammerers - Hasty in some translations is "rash", which both would point to making decisions without careful consideration of the implications - knee jerking. Proud men do this often and then stand by such decisions or place the blame of the consequences elsewhere. Stammerers, possibly unconvinced, drunk, but broken in their speech, will now give clear instruction and expectation. I have seen men do this when they are searching for what is culturally acceptable to say, rather than just speaking the truth, they feel out and play to the audience. I don't think it is a physical impairment here, like a stutter, but rather a lack of integrity. Others can speak very clearly, with great conviction, seem quite sincere, but be sincerely wrong.

1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.… 1 Corinthians 2: 1-2

…12We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.… 1 Corinthians 2: 12-14

The fool will no more be called noble - No more buying titles such as noble or "the honorable", people in those positions will have actions that match up with their words, and their words will be right.

To utter error concerning the Lord - Fools are set upon ungodliness, but they are still quick to claim a relationship with God, or that they are doing or speaking in the name of the Lord. There are 100's of thousands of pretenders in our day, claiming to be spiritual, mishandling God's word, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit by attributing to Him things contrary to His own word.

…23At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. 25See, I have told you in advance.… Matthew 24: 23-25

…13“Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ” 14“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.15Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who prophesy in My name: I did not send them, yet they say, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ By sword and famine these very prophets will meet their end!… Jeremiah 14: 13-15

To leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied - It was not real food; and those starving for spiritual growth are left even more bankrupt with their cupboards empty. He giveth living water so I thirst no more.

To ruin the poor with lying words - The poor are stepping stones to the scoundrel. They are there at his disposal for his delight, and he will lead them to the slaughtering house. In free countries people lie to the poor for their vote, only to elevate themselves. Others down the poor rather than show them the way out. In many third world countries they are cheap labor, or promised a better place elsewhere and then sex trafficked to perverts from all over. Oh, that I could say I don't know this first hand, but I have paid girls in strip clubs to dance. I consoled myself that it was consensual and that there were lines that I would not cross, but the line kept moving all the time and I could no longer see the line I had drawn only a few years back. God's line never moved; He is unchanging, and but for His grace I would never see it. If not for His grace I would never turn to it. I have no boast, and there is nothing noble about me unless He puts it there. And what mercy it is, that at that line, the realization of my guilt, the hopelessness of my debt, there is the cross, and I cling to it.

9-20. You complacent daughters - There is nothing wrong with times of prosperity, times of ease, what is wrong comes from the hearts perception of these. Our hope must be in God; we should love the Giver more than the gifts.

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25: 1-13

And tie sackcloth around your waist - This is a time of mourning of self denial, and not to be left off in the time of plenty. They were self absorbed, self righteous and unprepared for the hour that was coming.

Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields - It was coming, and God is kind to warn them of it's approach, and even though Assyria would be turned back from Jerusalem, it would be under siege. The surrounding cities, vineyards and farmlands would be ravished. This will bring humility, and they will cry out.

Until the spirit is poured out upon us from on high - Only when God pours out His Spirit upon them can they be healed, and the fruit of it is extensive. Men may lament their physical condition, losses, but only the Spirit gives true life and meaning to it, only He can bring true revival.

And the effect of righteousness will be peace - Peace pursued without righteousness never results in lasting peace, only compromise that leaves some without. 

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#993 Isaiah 31 Handful of Air

 

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help

and rely on horses,

who trust in chariots because they are many

and in horsemen because they are very strong,

but do not look to the Holy One of Israel

or consult the Lord!

2 And yet he is wise and brings disaster;

he does not call back his words,

but will arise against the house of the evildoers

and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.

3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,

and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,

the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,

and they will all perish together.

4 For thus the Lord said to me,

“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,

and when a band of shepherds is called out against him

he is not terrified by their shouting

or daunted at their noise,

so the Lord of hosts will come down

to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.

5 Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts

will protect Jerusalem;

he will protect and deliver it;

he will spare and rescue it.”

6 Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

8 “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;

and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;

and he shall flee from the sword,

and his young men shall be put to forced labor.

9 His rock shall pass away in terror,

and his officers desert the standard in panic,”

declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,

and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. Isaiah 31 ESV

Isaiah 31 Woe to those who trust in chariots and horses.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help - Still in this first half of Isaiah, the admonishment against such yoking. We cannot say we were not warned, only that we didn't listen. 

…6Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand. 7Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.8They collapse and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.… Psalm 20: 6-8

But do not look to the Holy One of Israel - They would go anywhere else for knowledge, for wisdom, but to the all wise and mighty God. Give me a mission, something to do, a golden fleece to find, a minotaur to battle, let me buy the favor of a great army, a twelve step program, tell me how to have my best life now, but please don't send me to the Holy One.

He does not call back His words - Something the church today has forgotten, God does not misspeak.

The Egyptians are man, and not God - Remember Pharaoh, just like their father the devil, so many rulers think themselves gods. Why go to an inferior source? True wisdom is with the Creator, these others only pretend. God needs no man, no horse, and these Pharaoh's need vast multitudes to keep them in power. They die, they fade away into the realm of legend and myth. Let the dead bury the dead, why attach yourselves to their judgment?

As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey - This time God will not abandon Jerusalem to the Assyrians, but show His fatherly compassion for them, though they would seek help elsewhere.

“As birds flying; which come from above, and so cannot be kept off; which fly swiftly and engage themselves valiantly and resolutely, when they perceive that their young ones are in eminent danger.” (Poole)

ii. “The Lord of Hosts will be strong as the lion that growls over his prey… and He will be sweet and soft and gentle as a mother-bird.” (Meyer)

Go to Him

Turn to Him from Whom people have deeply revolted - It is the picture of repentance, turning to God is turning away from the world and sin. Their actions reveal it in casting away the idols they have so defiantly made.

Not of man - Read the link above.

His rock shall pass away in terror - That which most assured him, the might and number of his violent army, shattered. In the battle against God, you have no weapons here. One of His angels takes 185,000 men. Are you going to come at Him with the things He made?

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#992 Isaiah 30 Stubborn Children & Smooth Talkers

 

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,

“who carry out a plan, but not mine,

and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,

that they may add sin to sin;

2 who set out to go down to Egypt,

without asking for my direction,

to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh

and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

3 Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,

and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.

4 For though his officials are at Zoan

and his envoys reach Hanes,

5 everyone comes to shame

through a people that cannot profit them,

that brings neither help nor profit,

but shame and disgrace.”

6 An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,

from where come the lioness and the lion,

the adder and the flying fiery serpent,

they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,

and their treasures on the humps of camels,

to a people that cannot profit them.

7 Egypt's help is worthless and empty;

therefore I have called her

“Rahab who sits still.”

A Rebellious People

8 And now, go, write it before them on a tablet

and inscribe it in a book,

that it may be for the time to come

as a witness forever.

9 For they are a rebellious people,

lying children,

children unwilling to hear

the instruction of the Lord;

10 who say to the seers, “Do not see,”

and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;

speak to us smooth things,

prophesy illusions,

11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,

let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

“Because you despise this word

and trust in oppression and perverseness

and rely on them,

13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you

like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,

whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;

14 and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel

that is smashed so ruthlessly

that among its fragments not a shard is found

with which to take fire from the hearth,

or to dip up water out of the cistern.”

15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,

“In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,

“No! We will flee upon horses”;

therefore you shall flee away;

and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;

therefore your pursuers shall be swift.

17 A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;

at the threat of five you shall flee,

till you are left

like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,

like a signal on a hill.

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,

burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;

his lips are full of fury,

and his tongue is like a devouring fire;

28 his breath is like an overflowing stream

that reaches up to the neck;

to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,

and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it. Isaiah 30 ESV

Isaiah 30 Don't go down to Egypt

1-7. Ah, stubborn children - God gives direction in the law, and even the wisest among men think they see a better alternative. Solomon broke away from the law unto kings, forbidding them to go back down to Egypt, acquiring horses and chariots. It was a time of massive prosperity, but are riches the proof, do they make unrighteousness turn into righteousness? Sadly, it becomes the new standard, and instead of looking to the word of God, men look to other men for precedent.

It was often the fault and folly of the Jews, that when troubled by their neighbours on one side, they sought for succour from others, instead of looking up to God. Nor can we avoid the dreadful consequences of adding sin to sin, but by making the righteousness of Christ our refuge, and seeking for the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Men have always been prone to lean to their own understandings, but this will end in their shame and misery. They would not trust in God. They took much pains to gain the Egyptians. The riches so spent turned to a bad account. See what dangers men run into who forsake God to follow their carnal confidences. The Creator is the Rock of ages, the creature a broken reed; we cannot expect too little from man, or too much from God. Our strength is to sit still, in humble dependence upon God and his goodness, and quiet submission to his will. - Matthew Henry

Zoan - A city of Egypt in the eastern Nile delta.

Hanes - A city in Egypt.

Rahab who sits still - Rahab is another name for pride or Egypt, and the caravans of goods Judah takes to her will be a bad investment. They would buy her as protection, like payment to a mercenary, but she will be of no help to them. Rahab-Hem-Shebeth (Rahab sits idle).

“It is all useless, bringing neither help nor advantage. ‘Well, of course!’ Isaiah might have said, for from the feared killer (Assyria) they were seeking help from the proved killer (Egypt)!” (Motyer)

8-14. Write it before them on a tablet - He is not just talking, God wants it written down as evidence. When these things take place then they will know the word is from the Lord, and this will help future generations of those who can hear, who return from Babylon. 

…3For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.” 4For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. 5Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you harmony with one another in Christ Jesus,… Romans 15: 3-5

Children unwilling to hear - They have already taunted Isaiah, and they have the whole book of the law that stands against them, yet they suppress the truth.

Do not prophesy to us what is right - Sticking with God's word and His eternal attributes, that He is always holy, always just and infinitely opposed to sin, these things never sit well. 

17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.… Romans 1: 17-19

Speak to us smooth things - As if it matters what the prophet decides to say, all that matters is whether it comes from the Lord. Ahab hated the prophets that never spoke anything good on his behalf. Charlatans abound these days, and they always preach to the flesh, tickle the ears with what you want to hear. A real shepherd would expose these things. False prophets and teachers will receive a greater condemnation, but those who give them a platform will be culpable in it and lost for it. Come out of her. 

…5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be partakers with them.… Ephesians 5: 5-7

…7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.… Colossians 2: 7-9

…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.… 2 Timothy 4: 2-4

Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel - Keep this in mind when you tell people the truth about God's just wrath towards sin, that you yourself were a sinner, incapable of salvation, but He graciously opened your eyes, and changed your heart to believe. He gave you new desires, and you were ever so lost as these, so it is not you they hate so much as it is God. 

Trust in oppression and perverseness - Since they would not hear from God, or obey what they already knew from God, but instead put their faith in Egypt (the world's system), they would be destroyed.

15-17. In quietness and trust shall be your strength - He extends His peace, that childlike trust is well established in Him, it is not misplaced, but they refuse. They still want alliances with the world, and they still want their sin.

…3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?… James 4: 3-5

18-33. Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you - The patience of God is beyond human comprehension just with myself as the object of the query. I have been the ungrateful servant and must repent. I have been worse than those I have so little patience for, and I must find compassion. 

…25God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand. 26He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus. 27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.… Romans 3: 25-27

For the Lord is a God of justice - Where can grace (unmerited mercy) and justice be seen all in one place? At the cross my friend, at the cross.

You will say to them be gone - When they walk in the Spirit sin will become a detestable thing to them, and they will actively fight it when found in their person.

To all true penitents sin becomes very hateful. This is shown daily in the conversion of souls, by the power of Divine grace, to the fear and love of God. Abundant means of grace, with the influences of the Holy Spirit, would be extended to places destitute of them. The effect of this should be comfort and joy to the people of God. Light, that is, knowledge, shall increase. This is the light which the gospel brought into the world, and which proclaims healing to the broken-hearted. - Matthew Henry

For a burning place has long been prepared - Tophet (valley of Hinnom) a place outside Jerusalem where fire constantly burned, a dump.

30For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it. 31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire— something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.32So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.… Jeremiah 7: 30-32

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#991 Isaiah 29 Ariel

 

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.

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 yourselves and be astonished;

blind yourselves and be blind!

Be drunk, but not with wine;

stagger, 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.” Isaiah 29 ESV

Isaiah 29 Humbling of Jerusalem

Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped - David was in Jerusalem as king, and it is also called the City of David. The most direct translation for Ariel is "Lion of God", and Jesus is called the Lion of Judah, the true power rest in Him. The ancestral name of Judah comes from the name of one of Jacob's (Israel's) sons, and Jerusalem is a city in the region allocated to that tribe. It is the center of Jewish worship, the temple mount was the threshing floor purchased by David.

4And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. 5Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.  Revelation 5: 4-5

…8Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. 9Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.… Genesis 49: 8-10

Let the feast run their round - Some commentators wisely, in my opinion, add a note of sarcasm to this passage. Ariel sees itself as a strong lion, rich with feasts and festivals, and the context of this chapter will continue to dismantle this false sense of strength. Ritual by itself is not reality, and pride leads to destruction. The Pharisees of Jesus day put much on being able to trace their lineage back to Abraham, but this was a false sense of security, to which Jesus replied, "out of these stones, God can raise up children to Abraham", from Matthew 3:9. He doesn't need us, we need Him. 

…20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.… Amos 5: 20-22

And she shall be  to me like an Ariel - You think you are a strong lion then I will come at you like that. He will bring Assyria to the lion's den, and they will encamp around her, causing her to tremble like a cub, and eventually Babylon, who will tear down their walls and take her people captive. 

And from the dust your speech shall whisper - Where is your pride now, where is your loud boasting? 

…18Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”20And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.… Genesis 3: 18-20

…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

5-8. Shall be like small dust - Fine dust, like chaff, Judah's enemies will blow away. Judah is humbled in the dust but her enemies will be like a dream, eating and drinking, only to awake empty and thirsty. Their kingdoms will come and go, look marvelous and powerful for moments, but then they wake up. God will not forget His covenant with His people. Assyria is destroyed, Babylon, and Rome; they all come to an end.

9-11. Astonish yourselves and be astonished - Some translate pause and wonder, why are you spiritually proud when you are actually spiritually blind? 

 Be drunk, but not with wine - We have the temple, have the Word of God, have the prophets, and we are Abraham's children. Everyone who calls themselves a Christian should pause here. So what if I have access to all those things, but I have not obeyed God, so I have not loved Him. What good is it to be "spiritual" if it is in arrogance, misguided, in error? 

For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep - I have heard "preachers", "bishops", so called, speak of being drunk in the spirit, that "there is no high like the most high." Get as far away from them as you can; this is judgment from God, being turned over to such a state that hearing you cannot hear and seeing you cannot see. This is not the sleep he gives to His blessed ones; this is being turned over to your own will and pride, spiritual darkness.

And has closed your eyes (the prophets) - From the end of the prophets, the writing of Malachi, till the voice of one crying in the wilderness (John the Baptist), their is a period of some 400 to 500 years. The  Christian Church will go through a long period called the Dark Ages, due to the apostasy of Roman Catholicism. Everyone will think themselves safe for the words of priest, but not be able to read the Bible on their own. They will cling to rituals like indulgences, and defile the Lord's Supper with false doctrines. Rather than submitting themselves to the authority of Scripture, they will instead have popes, sons of perdition, that pretend they are Christ here on earth and lead people to pray to a goddess. They will forbid marriage contrary to Scripture, and teach another gospel, full of legalism and empty ritual. Everyone associated with her will think themselves spiritually awake when they are really sleeping. 

ii. The prophet Amos spoke of the same idea: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11-12)

13-16. Honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me - God is not as impressed with their rituals as they are. So many think that church attendance, dropping something in the plate, taking the Lord's supper, or in their cases the holidays, feasts and sacrifices are good substitutes for actual repentance, brokenness, and these are the self righteous. All outward religion with no change of heart, yet being warned of such they still prefer the praise of men over the glory of God. They are thieves in giving, thieves in praise, and thieves teaching, for it is all to themselves, and they would have a god that honors the rituals while ignoring their wickedness.

…23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth. 25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”… John 4: 23-25

…16For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.18In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.… Psalm 51: 16-18

…7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”… Matthew 15: 7-9

Who sees us - Everything is based on what men can see and know about them. They think that darkness covers their deeds and silence of the mouth conceals the depravity of their hearts. As long as they have their greetings in the market place, titles, esteem, called brother and sister by their fellow congregants, in their mind their religion is complete. Like I told my step mother when she asked me if she was saved, "would you rather hear the answer to that from me or from God?"

He did not make me - God takes credit for Creation, but men today think it is more intelligent and "scientific" to claim there is no Designer. Men and women argue many moral standards from this and human autonomy as well. No one makes themselves though and if there is no supreme law giver then what is their argument, what is all their talk of right and wrong?

People who are otherwise intelligent often fall into this delusion. Jacques Monod, a biochemist, wrote: “Chance alone is at the source of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution.”

ii. But assigning such power to “chance” is crazy. Chance has no power. For example, when a coin is flipped, the chance it will land “heads” is 50%; however, “chance” does not make it land heads. Whether or not it lands heads or tails is due to the strength with which the coin is flipped, the strength of air currents and air pressure as it flies through the air, where it is caught, and if it is flipped over once it is caught. Chance doesn’t “do” anything but describe a probability.

iii. When Carl Sagan petitioned the federal government for a grant to search for intelligent life in outer space, how did he hope to find it? By using a super sensitive instrument to pick up radio signals from distant space. When he received those radio signals, he looked for order and pattern, which would demonstrate the signals were transmitted by intelligent life. In the same way, the order and pattern of the whole universe demonstrates that it was fashioned by intelligent life, not by “chance.” Scientists detect “chance” in the radio signals constantly (in the form of unpatterned static), but it tells them nothing.

iv. Therefore, when someone says the universe or anything else came about by chance, they are extremely ignorant, superstitious, or just repeating a line they have heard before and have unthinkingly accepted.

h. He did not make me: We need to remember the context of the whole chapter – the pride and blindness of Jerusalem. It is perhaps the height of man’s pride and blindness to reject the LORD as our creator. - Enduring Word

17-24. The words of a book - What a sweet promise of deliverance, and from the worse sort of persecution, that of our own pride and delusion. It is the reversal of the curse above, for now they hear, are convicted of their true state, are brought low by this, but then receive joy. 

9To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.…

…12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ 13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! 14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”… Luke 18: 9-14

This chapter says a great deal about spiritual blindness:

· Spiritual blindness is caused by pride.

· Spiritual blindness will bring us low.

· Spiritual blindness leads to spiritual drunkenness.

· Spiritual blindness leads to spiritual sleep.

· Spiritual blindness leads to spiritual illiteracy.

· Spiritual blindness causes hypocrisy.

· Spiritual blindness makes men believe God cannot know what they think or see what they do.

· Spiritual blindness makes men deny God as Creator.

· Spiritual blindness is cured through humility.

· Spiritual blindness can only be healed through the LORD’s restoration. - Enduring Word

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