Isaiah 29

Ariel besieged but spared

1 Oh, Ariel, Ariel, town where David encamped! Year by year, let the festivals come around—

2 but I will oppress Ariel. There will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an Ariel to me.

3 I will surround you like a wall, and I will lay a siege against you with assault towers, and I will raise up siegeworks against you.

4 You will be brought down; from the ground you will speak; from low in the dust your speech will come. Your voice will be like a ghost's from the earth; from the dust your words will whisper.

5 But your many enemies will be like fine dust, the terrible horde like passing chaff. Suddenly, in an instant,

6 the LORD of heavenly forces will come to you with thunder, earthquake, and a mighty voice, with whirlwind, tempest, and flames of devouring fire.

7 The horde of nations fighting against Ariel, and all who make war on her and her fortress and besiege her, will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

8 It will be like when a hungry person dreams of eating but wakes up and the mouth is empty. Or when a thirsty person dreams of drinking but wakes up and has a dry throat. So will it be for all the horde of nations who fight against Mount Zion.

9 Be shocked and stunned; blind yourselves; be blind! Be drunk, but not on wine; stagger, but not on account of beer!

10 The LORD has poured on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has shut your eyes, you prophets, and covered your heads, you seers.

11 This entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed scroll. When they give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," that one will say, "I can't, because it's sealed."

12 And when the scroll is given to one who can't read, saying, "Read this," that one will say, "I can't read."

The wisdom of their wise

13 The Lord says: Since these people turn toward me with their mouths, and honor me with lip service while their heart is distant from me, and their fear of me is just a human command that has been memorized,

14 I will go on doing amazing things to these people, shocking and startling things. The wisdom of their wise will perish, and the discernment of their discerning will be hidden.

15 Doom to those who hide their plan deep, away from the LORD, whose deeds are in the dark, who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"

16 You have everything backward! Should the potter be thought of as clay? Should what is made say of its maker, "He didn't make me"? Should what is shaped say of the one who shaped it, "He doesn't understand"?

17 In just a little while won't Lebanon become farmland once again, and the farmland be considered a forest?

18 On that day: The deaf will hear the words of a scroll and, freed from dimness and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.

19 The poor will again find joy in the LORD, and the neediest of people will rejoice in the holy one of Israel.

20 The tyrant will be no more, the mocker will perish, and all who plot evil will be eliminated:

21 all who incriminate others wrongly, who entrap the judge in the gate, and pointlessly postpone justice for the innocent.

22 Therefore, proclaims the LORD, the God of the house of Jacob, who redeemed Abraham: Jacob won't be ashamed now, and his face won't grow pale now.

23 When he sees his children among them, the work of my hands, proclaiming my name holy, they will make holy the holy one of Jacob, and stand in awe of Israel's God.

24 Those who wander in spirit will have understanding, and those who grumble will gain insight.

Isaiah 29 Commentary

Chapter 29

Judgements on Jerusalem and on its enemies. (1-8) The senselessness and hypocrisy of the Jews. (9-16) The conversion of the Gentiles, and future blessings for the Jews. (17-24)

Verses 1-8 Ariel may signify the altar of burnt-offerings. Let Jerusalem know that outward religious services will not make men free from judgements. Hypocrites never can please God, nor make their peace with him. God had often and long, by a host of angels, encamped round about Jerusalem for protection and deliverance; but now he fought against it. Proud looks and proud language shall be brought down by humbling providences. The destruction of Jerusalem's enemies is foretold. The army of Sennacherib went as a dream; and thus the multitudes, that through successive ages fight against God's altar and worship, shall fall. Speedily will sinners awake from their soothing dreams in the pains of hell.

Verses 9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labour only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things. They worship the God of Israel according to their own devices. Numbers are only formal in worship. And their religion is only to comply with custom, and to serve their own interest. But the wanderings of mind, and defects in devotion, which are the believer's burden, are very different from the withdrawing of the heart from God, so severely blamed. And those who make religion no more than a pretence, to serve a turn, deceive themselves. And as those that quarrel with God, so those that think to conceal themselves from him, in effect charge him with folly. But all their perverse conduct shall be entirely done away.

Verses 17-24 The wonderful change here foretold, may refer to the affairs of Judah, though it looks further. When a great harvest of souls was gathered to Christ from among the Gentiles, then the wilderness was turned into a fruitful field; and the Jewish church, that had long been a fruitful field, became as a deserted forest. Those who, when in trouble, can truly rejoice in God, shall soon have cause greatly to rejoice in him. The grace of meekness contributes to the increase of our holy joy. The enemies who were powerful shall become mean and weak. To complete the repose of God's people, the scorners at home shall be cut off by judgements. All are apt to speak unadvisedly, and to mistake what they hear, but it is very unfair to make a man an offender for a word. They did all they could to bring those into trouble who told them of their faults. But He that redeemed Abraham out of his snares and troubles, will redeem those who are, by faith, his true seed, out of theirs. It will be the greatest comfort to godly parents to see their children renewed creatures, the work of God's grace. May those who now err in spirit, and murmur against the truth, come to understanding, and learn true doctrine. The Spirit of truth shall set right their mistakes, and lead them into all truth. This should encourage us to pray for those that have erred, and are deceived. All who murmured at the truths of God, as hard sayings, shall learn and be aware what God designed in all. See the change religion produces in the hearts of men, and the peace and pleasure of a humble and devout spirit.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or to

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 29

This chapter contains a prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem by the Romans; the character and condition of the people of the Jews, previous to it; the calling of the Gentiles, by the preaching of the Gospel; the ruin of antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews, in the latter day. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem are described in Isa 29:1-6 the disappointment of their enemies, notwithstanding their taking and destroying it, Isa 29:7,8 the stupidity, judicial blindness, and hardness of the Jews, which brought on their ruin, are predicted, Isa 29:9,10 the ignorance of their learned, as well as of their unlearned men, with respect to the Scripture, and the prophecies of it, Isa 29:11,12 their hypocrisy and formality in worship, Isa 29:13 a blast upon all their wisdom and prudence, who thought to be wiser than the Lord, and too many for him, whose folly and atheism are exposed, Isa 29:14-16, and a great change both in Judea and the Gentile world, by the removal of the Gospel from the one to the other, Isa 29:17 the effects of which are, deaf sinners hear the word, dark minds are enlightened, and joy increased among the meek and poor, Isa 29:18,19 the fall of the Jews, or else of antichrist, is foretold, Isa 29:20,21 and the chapter is closed with a promise and prophecy of the conversion of the seed of Abraham and Jacob, Isa 29:22-24.