Woe Against Jerusalem
December 18, 2020
Commentary
This chapter is the beginning of what some Bible scholars refer to as “Isaiah’s apocalypse.” The next four chapters discuss God’s judgment on the entire world for its sin. Isaiah’s prophecies were first directed to Judah, then to Israel, then to the surrounding nations and finally to the whole world. It starts off with a pronouncement of “Woe” on “Ariel” which is a code name for Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s worship had become a meaningless and heartless formality. God promised to bring the judgment of fire on Jerusalem (vv. 1-8). Even though this had been a city where festivals had honored God (v. 1), it would be over run with fighting and bloodshed. God would bring judgment upon Jerusalem through the simultaneous invasions of Assyria and Babylon. In other words, God was to take this city which had been a place of pride and joy and turn it into a place of sacrifice.
The insensitivity of the people was in itself a judgment from God. The Lord caused a blindness to come over them (v. 10). The fact that the prophets and leaders did not see and understand what God was doing was a part of God’s judgment. The prophet announces that this is all like a bad dream that shall come upon the people of Israel. He likens this to a man who is dreaming of eating or drinking only to awaken hungry and thirsty (vv 9-12). They are drunken with their own self-indulgence which has caused them not to hear the message of God.
Application
Today we see the results of sin in our own land. Lord help me to see sin in my own life and be willing to deal with it so I can experience your blessing as I share your Word with others.
Isaiah 29:1– 12 (NET)
1 Ariel is as good as dead — Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals; celebrate your festivals on schedule.
2 I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me.
3 I will lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise siege works against you.
4 You will fall; while lying on the ground you will speak; from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.
5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust, the horde of tyrants like chaff that is blown away. It will happen suddenly, in a flash.
6 Judgment will come from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.
7 It will be like a dream, a night vision. There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
9 You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine; they stagger, but not because of beer.
10 For the Lord has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (you prophets), and covered your heads (you seers).
11 To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.” 12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”
Illustration: The Little Girl Who Felt no Pain
A little girl in London held up her broken wrist and said, “Look, Mommy, my hand is bent the wrong way!” There were no tears in her eyes. She felt no pain whatever. That was when she was four years old. When she was six, her parents noticed that she was walking with a limp. A doctor discovered that the girl had a fractured thigh. Still she felt no pain. The girl is now 14 years old. She is careful now, but occasionally looks at blisters and burns on her hands and wonders, “How did this happen?” She is insensitive to pain! Medical specialists are baffled by the case. It is called ganglineuropathy. There is another insensitiveness which is deadlier and more dangerous-insensitiveness to sin! Paul said of people with this malady: they had “their consciences seared as with a hot iron” (1Ti_4:2).(eSWORD)