By Eugene Garner

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 29

A NECESSARY DISCIPLINE

   Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

    1. "Ariel" is Jerusalem "the city of David" (II Sam. 5:7, 9; I Kings 2:10; 3:1), and appears to mean "the hearth of God" (Ezek. 43:15-16 R.V.) - though most regard it more poetically as "lion of God"; it is both His dwelling-place (Psa. 76:2) and altar (31:9).
      a. Here the altar-fires were kept burning continually - ritualistic sacrifices offered year-to-year - though the hearts of the people were not in them, (vs. 9, 13; 1:14; 5:12).
      b. In her distress Jerusalem will be as an altar (Ariel) unto God - covered with the blood of her own citizens, (vs. 2, 3:26; Lam. 2:5).
    2. The Lord pictures Himself as encamped round about Jerusalem - laying siege and raising forts against her, (vs. 3).
      a. This will soon come through the instrumentality of Sennacherib; again under Nebuchadnezzar and Titus.
      b. But, the ultimate fulfillment awaits a siege that threatens annihilation just prior to the second coming of our Lord, (Lk. 19:43-44; comp. Zech. 14).
    3. The city will be reduced to utter helplessness - so weakened that her voice is represented as whispering out of the dust, (vs. 4).

   Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouting fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, the eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

    1. In Judah's hour of extremity the Lord will again prove Himself to be her hope and help - driving her enemies, as small dust; the terrible oppressors, as chaff, before Him, (vs. 5; 17:13; vs. 20; 13:11; 25:3-5; 49:25).
    2. The routing of the enemy will be "at an instant, suddenly", (Cf. 17:14; 47:11).
    3. The voice of the Lord speaks through: thunder, earthquake, noise, storm, tempest and "the flame of devouring fire", (vs. 6; comp. Psa. 29; Ex. 9:23, 29, 33; 19:16-20; 20:18-19; I Sam. 7:10; 12:15-18; II Sam. 22:14-15; Psa. 18:13-14; Rev. 11:13, 19; 16:18).
    4. Because Jehovah is faithful, the purpose of the enemy will be thwarted, (vs. 7-8; Mic. 4:11-12).
      a. Jerusalem will, henceforth, look back upon their threatenings as a bad dream that did not come true, (cs. 7; 17:14).
      b. And the enemy is likened to a dreamer who, hungry and thirsty, feasts upon all sorts of delicacies and drinks his fill; yet, when he awakens, he is empty and faint.
      c. This is the lot of all those nations that fight against Jerusalem, (Zech. 12:9; Isa. 54:17).

   Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

    1. If they receive Isaiah's prophecy with amazed incredulity, they will surely be astounded by the event itself, (vs. 9).
    2. They must not deceive themselves any longer about their spiritual wickedness; they are blind only because they REFUSE TO SEE! (Matt. 13:15; Acts 28:26-28).
    3.But, since they have chosen darkness, God will give them their fill of it!
      a. He has poured upon them a spirit of deep sleep, (vs. 10; 6:9-10; Rom. 11:7-10; II Thess. 2:9-12) - shutting the eyes of their prophets, (Mic. 3:5-6), and covering the heads of their seers, (Mic. 3:7).
      b. Thus, the vision (the word of the Lord) became unto all of them as a sealed book which none could understand, (vs. 11-12; 8:16; Dan. 12:4, 9).
    4. So addicted were these hypocrites to their formalistic, heartless "precepts of men"; that they were beyond the reach of help until brought to see their spiritual bankruptcy - an impossibility apart from God's "marvellous work" of judgment, (vs. 13; 65:7; Hos. 1:5-6).
    5. Therefore, the wisdom and understanding of their wise men perished, (vs. 14; comp. 44:24-25; Jer. 8:8-9; I Cor. 1:18-25; Prov. 1:20-33; Rom. 1:18-32).
    6. A special "woe" is upon the presumptuous perverseness of these god-players who turn things upside down - imagining that their secret plans to lean on Egypt for support are hidden from God's view, (vs. 15-16; comp. 28:15; 45:9; 47:10; 57:11-13; Ezek. 8:12; Jer. 8:4-7; Rom. 9:19-21).

   Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

    1. The prophet foresees the curse lifted and the land restored to fruitfulness, (vs. 17; comp. Amos 9:13; Ezek. 34:26-27; Joel 3:18; Hos. 2:21-23; Zech. 8:12; Ezek. 36:8, 29-30, 35).
    2. That will be a day of blessedness for all, (vs. 18-19; 35:1-9; 60:13-17) wherein:
      a.Hearing is restored to the deaf, (35:5-6; 42:6-7).
      b. Sight is restored to the blind, (32:3; Prov. 20:12; Psa. 119:18).
      c. The meek and poor are made to rejoice in Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, (11:4; 61:1; Matt. 5:5; 11:29; Isa. 14:32; 25:4; Matt. 11:1-6; James 2:5).
    3. The enemies of the righteous will be utterly cut off in that day, (vs. 20-21; vs. 5; 28:14; 10:1-2; Amos 5:10-12; Isa. 32:7) - the ultimate "terrible one" being Anti-christ "the man of sin and son of perdition" himself, (II Thess. 2:3-8; Isa. 11:4; Rev. 2:16; 19:15).
    4. Thus, the Redeemer of Abraham (41:8; 51:2) declares that Jacob shall not be ashamed or afraid in the final day of God's wrath, (vs. 22).
    5. Rather, He will sanctify the Holy one of Jacob (5:16, 8:13), and stand in awe of the God of Israel, when he sees his children (both natural and spiritual) standing in his midst - all of them the work of the Lord's hands, (49:14-23; 60:4; cf. Rom. 11:5-7, 11-26).
    6.Those who once "erred in spirit" (manifesting a haughty and rebellious attitude) will then understand; those who formerly murmured will receive instruction with joyfulness - the days of their rebellion will be over, (vs.24; Heb. 5:1-2; 41:20; 60:15-16; II Cor. 7:2).