Isaiah 33
OGCEXAMINATION Chapter S THIRTY-TWO AND THIRTY-THREE
DEFINITION
(Define the following words or phrases as they were discussed in the comments.)
a man shall be as a hiding-place
churl
careless ones
Spirit
hail in the downfall of the forest
be thou our arm
as locusts leap
Ye shall conceive chaff
munitions of rocks
a people of deep speech
broad rivers and streams
Thy tacklings are loosed
MEMORIZATION
Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, _____ my might. The _____ in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the _____ ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring _______? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh _____, and speaketh uprightly; he that _____ the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a _____, that stoppeth his _____ from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon _____: he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the _____ of rocks; his _____ shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. (Isaiah 33:13-16)
EXPLANATION
Explain why the king reigning in righteousness is the Messiah (Isaiah 32:1-2).
Explain how Judah’s enemy broke its covenant? (Isaiah 33:7-8)
Explain why the inhabitant of Jerusalem shall not say, I am sick. (Isaiah 33:24)
APPLICATION
(In its context every scripture has one meaningthe author’s intended meaning. How may the following be applied in the believer’s life?)
How does the discussion of the fool no longer being called noble and the churl bountiful apply to the Messianic age? (Isaiah 32:1-8)
How does the faith of the remnant in Jehovah’s arm bring stability to the nation and how does that lesson apply today? (Isaiah 33:1-6)
What three attitudes or areas of human relationship to God expressed in Isaiah 33:13-24 brings serenity? How does this still apply to the believer today?
SPECIAL STUDY KINGSHIP OF GOD
by Paul T. Butler INTRODUCTION
I.
SCRIPTURES
A.
O.T.
The Lord is king for ever and ever, Psalms 10:16.
He is the king of glory, Psalms 24:7-10.
He is the king of all the earth, Psalms 47:7.
The Holy One of Israel is our king, Psalms 89:18.
B.
N.T.
The Magi came seeking the One born King of the Jews.
Mary’s son was to receive the throne of David and
reign forever.
The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem brought forth the prophecy from Zech. Behold thy king cometh unto thee.
The people shouted, Blessed be the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
Pilate’s first question to Jesus was: Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus-’ answer: You have said so.
II.
AMERICANS CANNOT APPRECIATE KINGSHIP
A.
It means absolute rule.
Simeon, holding the baby Jesus in his arms, said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart. Lord is a translation of despotes, from which we get the English word despot.
It is allegiance to a MONARCH!
B.
The church is a kingdom, not a democracy.
Its citizens have no authority in formulating its laws, covenants, means of administration.
Its citizens can only decide whether they shall accept and respond to its rule or whether they will rebel and refuse to have its King rule over them.
III.
THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KINGSHIP OF GOD
A.
Justice
B.
Beneficence
C.
Glory
DISCUSSION
I.
JUSTICE (The ONE thing man needs above everything else is a Divine Dispenser of Perfect Justice; man is a moral being and morality demands not only a knowledge of right and wrong but a Divine enforcement of right and wrong; this is the very essence of the power necessary to motivate man in all his moral potentialities such as love, holiness, etc.)
A.
The King’s Actions in Justice are twofold.
Punishing the Rebel
a.
Christianity is a moral religion; it is moral life itself. Whenever we talk about anything moral judgment necessarily enters into it.
b.
If there is any difference between right and wrong, God in His perfect Justice and Righteousness must be hostile to the wrong.
c.
Hebrews 1:9 says of Christ the King, But of the Son he says, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. GOD HATES REBELLION AND LAWLESSNESS AND WILL PUNISH IT!
d.
God is the Judge who in any transaction decides who is in the right and who is in the wrong.
It is God who allots to each man his reward. God’s judgment falls upon the arrogant, the insolent, and the oppressor.
e.
God’s methods of punishment and judgment are many:
He has built some of his judgments into the natural laws of our physical existence. If we violate physical right, we will suffer the consequences. He has built some of his judgments into the conscience of man. If we violate the mental and spiritual right, we will suffer guilt, spiritual disorientation and disintegration. He has built some of his judgments into the social structures necessary for this existence. If we violate them we shall suffer chaos, anarchy, frustration.
f.
BUT HE HAS RESERVED HIS PERFECT WRATH FOR THE NEXT LIFE, THE FUTURE EXISTENCE.
Protecting the Righteous
a.
A corollary of JUSTICE is that God the Judge-King protects the rights of the defenseless.
b.
He delivers the one who believes and trusts and obeys Him.
c.
God’s justice will vindicate the righteous and obedient.
d.
God has punished all sin, potentially, in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. He has carried out His justice and has, by grace, offered to justify all guilty sinners who accept Christ’s death in their place by faith and obedience (Romans 3:21-26).
B.
The Citizen’s Reaction to the King’s Justice
Fear (Reverence and Awe); one of the three meanings of phobos is reverence and awe.
a.
This fear is the source of the chaste life, 1 Peter 3:2.
b.
This fear is the source of holiness, 2 Corinthians 7:1.
c.
This fear is connected with the godly sorrow that brings repentance, 2 Corinthians 7:11.
d.
This fear is the source of Christian effort. working out one’s own salvation with fear and trembling.
e.
This fear is the basis of mutual respect and service which Christians are bound to render to each other, Ephesians 5:21.
f.
This fear can be the motive power of persuasion. Christianity always comes to men with a promise and an offer, but any promise can be disbelieved and any offer can be refused, and there is a necessary consequence of disbelief and refusal.
g.
Christian discipline is to be publicly exercised that others may see it and fear (1 Timothy 5:20). It is an interesting thought that Christian discipline is to be exercised not only for the sake of the man who has sinned, but also as a means of warning the man who has not sinned to abide in the right way,
In the N.T. phobos is one of the great words. There can be no religion at all without the awe of the creature in the presence of the Creator. The feeling of reverence, the awareness of God, is at once the prophylactic against sin, the dynamic of the Christian life, and the mainspring of the Christian effort.
Faith (obedience, trust); reverence (phobos) must turn to faith and not fear in the lower, paralyzing sense.
a.
Faith in God’s fairness
b.
Faith in God’s mercy
c.
FAITH IN GOD’S HOLINESS. Those who rebel against God’s Kingship are really those who disbelieve in God’s righteous and holy wrath. THEIR FAITH IS FANCIFUL AND NOT BASED ON THE FEAR OF GOD!
II.
BENEFICENCE (It is evident from the failing attempts of human governments and other human institutions that man needs a benefactor, a Divine Supplier; man doesn-’t even know what he needs, let alone being incapable of supplying his needs.)
A.
The King’s Actions
Provider (physical necessities)
a.
He provides physical well-being; health, safety, a world full of challenge in which to work.
b.
He provides friends and loved-ones to help us.
c.
Seed-time and harvest are controlled by Him.
d.
It is all His domain; He is king of the earth, of the universe.
It is His by right of creation, but He sees fit to share it with us.
e.
He could take it all away with merely a word; He could banish us from its boundaries by merely wishing it to be so.
Pilot (spiritual necessities)
a.
Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
b.
He supplies the water of life that quenches the eternal thirst of the soul which dries, withers and dies without it.
c.
He supplies the bread of life that fortifies, edifies and energizes the soulwhich starves, sickens and dies without it.
d.
He is chart and compass, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life giving direction to lifewhich is directionless, chaotic, stormy and lost without it.
e.
He supplies light to life, dispelling the darkness of ignorance, illuminating the ugliness of sin, beaming the brightness of holiness to man.
B.
The Citizen’s Reaction
Stewardship
a.
Jesus taught more on stewardship than any thing else!
b.
A steward is one who tends to another’s property or affairs.
c.
A steward is one who works!
d.
The king has provided, but we are to work.
e.
We hear a great deal these days about helping the helpless, and I believe it to be the very nature of a Christian to do so, for after all God helps each of us in our helplessness. BUT IT IS JUST AS GOD-LIKE AND CHRIST-LIKE TO CONSIDER THE MATTER OF STEWARDSHIP, WORK, LABOR. GOD WORKED SIX DAYS. JESUS WORKED.
f.
The apostles taught that the Christian community was not to tolerate the shiftless, lazy, parasite who could work. The apostles practiced what they preachedthey worked.
g.
If such is the norm for the Christian, certainly we ought not to think we are doing the non-Christian a favor by condoning laziness.
h.
Stewardship implies wise judgment and forbids indiscriminate pampering or perpetuation of either social or spiritual laziness.
- Discipleship
a.
Jesus, the King, has beneficently provided our spiritual life also.
b.
Here again, WE ARE TOLD TO WORK.
c.
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life. John 6:27.
d.
This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. John 6:29.
e.
It is well for us to remember that all our spiritual life comes by grace, but that grace has to be SOUGHT AND BOUGHT WITH THE SACRIFICE OF SELF AND THE DISCIPLINE OF SERVICE!
f.
Jesus said the kingdom is like a man going on a long journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Mark 13:34
g.
The Pearl of Great Price, when found (note the man was searching to find it), demands a cost, a trade.
The Field with Buried Treasure, when discovered (God’s beneficence is sometimes discovered and sometimes searched for), demands cost.
III.
GLORY (Man will glorify someone or something. Man, whether he admits it or not, inherently and inevitably worships some other than his own person. He has demonstrated time and again that he must glorify some other outside his own individuality, even if it is mankind in general he glorifies.)
A.
The King’s Acting Glory
His Greatness (His Creative Power)
a.
The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork, Psalms 19.
b.
Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Psalms 24:8.
c.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:3.
d.
… myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Revelation 5:12.
e.
The word Glory literally means, to be heavy or laden with riches, power and position.
f.
NO HUMAN BEING WILL BE EXCUSED FOR FAILING TO SEE THE GLORY OF THE IMMORTAL GOD IN NATURE AND MAKING SOME RESPONSE.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men. For what can be known about God is plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:18 ff.
His Goodness (His Moral Beauty)
a.
Perfect in Holiness; Perfect in Love; Perfect in Humility; Perfect in Wisdom; Perfect in Consistency (Unchangeablness) Perfect in Justice; Perfect in Power.
b.
It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance.
c.
Moses had a craving to come to grips with God as he was in himself. In reply, God emphasized his goodness. His moral beauty (Exodus 33:19).
d.
Oh, the ineffable worth of God’s moral richness.
e.
We glorify the wisest of menthe powerfulest of menthe most charitable of menthe most consistent of menthe purest of menthe richest of menthe most just of men BUT GOD EXCEEDS THEM ALL AS A MILLION MT. EVERESTS EXCEED ONE GRAIN OF SAND!
f.
And all His glory was exhibited to men in a Man, Christ Jesus. We beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father. In him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily.
g.
And look how Jesus exhibited the GLORY of God to men.. as a servant, as a redeemer, as a sinless, holy, powerful, compassionate, KING WHO CAME TO WOO AND WIN A THRONE IN MAN’S HEART!
B.
The Citizen’s Reacting Glorification of the King
Worshipping His Glory
a.
Praise, adoration, honor
b.
Preaching His ineffable characterOUR PREACHING IS TO GLORIFY GOD AND HIS SON CHRIST, AND HIS CHURCH.
We have no reason to praise men, except as their lives exemplify and glorify God.
c.
This can be done by writing books to glorify His name, by composing and singing music to His adoration, by giving of our means to honor His name throughout the world.
Walking In His Glory
a.
He made us in His image and glory, BUT WE HAVE FALLEN SHORT!
b.
He wants us to be changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another.. THIS IS DONE BY BEHOLDING HIS GLORY.
c.
Beholding His glory means to imbibe of it. to wrap ourselves in it. to assimilate it into our nature.
d.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature 2 Peter 1:3-4.
e.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
f.
Remember the definition of glory? To BE HEAVY.. GOD WANTS US TO WALK AROUND LADEN DOWN WITH HIS RICH CHARACTER OF MORAL PURITY AND GOODNESS.
Instead of Jesus people, we might call ourselves GOD HEAVIES!
CONCLUSION
PAROUSIA: THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING
In the papyri and in Hellenistic Greek, parousia is the technical word for the arrival of an emperor, a king, or a ruler, into a town or province. For such a visit preparations had to be made. All things had to be readied. New coins were always struck to commemorate the visitation of a king. It was as if with the coming of the king a new set of values had emerged. One of the commonest things is that provinces dated a new era from the parousia of the king. A new section of time emerged with the coming of the king. WHEN OUR KING COMES HE BRINGS WITH HIM HIS JUSTICE, HIS BENEFICENCE, HIS GLORY.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Isaiah 33:1-12
- SUBJUGATION
TEXT: Isaiah 33:1-12
1
Woe to thee that destroyest, and thou wast not destroyed; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou hast ceased to destroy, thou shalt be destroyed; and when thou hast made an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
2
O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3
At the noise of the tumult the peoples are fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations are scattered.
4
And your spoil shall be gathered as the caterpillar gathereth: as locusts leap shall men leap upon it.
5
Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6
And there shall be stability in thy times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah is thy treasure.
7
Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8
The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: the enemy hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man.
9
The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is confounded and withereth away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10
Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I lift up myself; now will I be exalted.
11
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath is a fire that shall devour you.
12
And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.
QUERIES
a.
Who is the destroyer of Isa 33:1?
b.
Why the prayer Isaiah 33:2-9?
c.
What is the answer to the prayer?
PARAPHRASE
Woe is coming to you, you who destroy and never feel destruction. Judgment is coming to you, you who deal deceitfully and never seem to suffer being deceived. Your days are numberedyour time to destroy and deceive will soon be over, and you are going to be destroyed and deceived. O Lord, I pray, have mercy upon us. We have been hoping in You. We want You to be our source of strength for every-day life as well as saving us from the great crises of troublous times. We know that at the sound of Your thunder the enemy nations flee and when You stand up to take action your enemies disappear as if scattered. And, Lord, Your people will gather spoil or booty from Your vanquished enemy like the caterpillars and locusts leap upon vegetation and devour it quickly. Jehovah exalts Himself by His omnipotent power to deliver and by His power to fill His covenant people, Zion, with justice and righteousness. And He shall be the source of our constancy in these changing, chaotic times. In fact, He is a treasure for us filled with salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The reverent fear of the Lord is the door to that treasure house. Behold our present circumstances, O Lord; sturdy soldiers, in the anguish of heart, cry out with a loud shriek of pain. Our ambassadors are not ashamed to be seen out on the streets shedding bitter tears. They know how desperate our situation is now. Our highways lie untraveled like deserted wastelands; covenants made with Assyria which so many had hoped in are treacherously broken, and Assyria has shown itself to be an enemy instead of an ally. Our enemy has plundered our cities and human life is cheap to him. The whole land of God’s people is suffering; Lebanon is in a state of confusion and is about to pass out of existence; the territory of Sharon is like a deserted no-man’s land; Bashan and Carmel are as barren as trees with all their leaves shaken off. But, says the Lord, I am going to stand up to take action, and when I do My power and might will be demonstrated against My enemies. Assyria, you are pregnant with grandiose plans, but all that shall come of them will be uselessness, and your plans will be blown away like chaff and stubble. The hot breath of war and aggression with which you pant after My people will be the very means of your own destruction. Your nation will be completely destroyed like a body burned down to lime or thorns burned into ashes.
COMMENTS
Isaiah 33:1-6 PROSPECTS FOR GOD’S PEOPLE: This context (ch. 33) is closely connected to Assyria’s almost total domination of Judah in Hezekiah’s day. Almost all the cities and villages of Judah had been overrun and plundered except Jerusalem. But, in spite of appearances, God’s people had a glorious future. To this Isaiah speaks. He begins by warning Assyria that her time for world conquest will someday come and then she shall be destroyed. One is reminded of Isaiah’s earlier prediction of this (Isaiah 10:5-34). Assyria was renowned for its destructive cruelty. F. W. Farrar gives a vivid description of Assyria’s general character:
Judged from the vaunting inscriptions of her kings, no power more useless, more savage, more terrible, ever cast its gigantic shadow on the page of history as it passed on the way to ruin. The kings of Assyria tormented the miserable world. They exult to record how space failed for corpses; how unsparing a destroyer is their goddess Ishtar; how they flung away the bodies of soldiers like so much clay; how they made pyramids of human heads; how they burned cities; how they filled populous lands with death and devastation; how they reddened broad deserts with carnage of warriors; how they scattered whole countries with the corpses of their defenders as with chaff; how they impaled heaps of men on stakes, and strewed the mountains and choked rivers with dead bones; how they cut off the hands of kings and nailed them on the walls, and left their bodies to rot with bears and dogs on the entrance gates of cities; how they employed nations of captives in making brick in fetters; how they cut down warriors like weeds, or smote them like wild beasts in the forests, and covered pillars with the flayed skins of rival monarchs.
This terrible destroyer, Assyria, was herself destroyed (see Isaiah, Vol. I, pgs. 188-190). Isaiah predicts it here again to encourage a faithful remnant of believers in his own day.
In Isaiah 33:2-6 Isaiah seems to be voicing the prayer of the remnant. The prayer is interesting because it is more a prayer of praise for what they believe God can and will do than it is a request. The prayer does begin with a request for God’s mercy. Judah’s present circumstance is beyond human solution, so the prophet prays for God to act. Judah has no merit to claim God’s action so Isaiah prays for God’s mercy. His prayer is also that God might act to exalt His own name. This prayer is an abbreviated parallel to Daniel’s great prayer for the exiles (Daniel 9:3-19). The remnant, being represented by Isaiah, waited upon the Lord. This is a word to describe patient, enduring trust. The remnant did not try to take matters into its own hands and seek help from Egypt as did the majority of the people. They patiently waited upon the Lord to accomplish His purposes in His own good time. The remnant occupied themselves with being the kind of people God wanted them to be and left the matter of Assyria to God.
How could the remnant be so patient with God? Because they knew from God’s past deeds, demonstrated in history, when He thundered His enemies were scattered (Isaiah 33:3). They knew from their own history when they depended on God to give them victory, eventually they conquered their enemies and gathered the spoils of their conquest to His glory (Isaiah 33:4). They knew that when God’s people filled God’s land with justice and righteousnesswhen Jehovah was exalted above allthere was stability. They knew it from past history, and so they prayed that it might come again. They knew the real treasure of Judah, the real and valuable currency of the Chosen was the fear of Jehovah. This brought true salvation, wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps there is a pointed exhortation to Hezekiah here who succumbed to the temptation to boast and show off the worldly treasures of Judah to the Assyrians (cf. Isaiah 39:1-8), and even to pay tribute from it to them (2 Kings 18:15-16) as if that kind of treasure would deliver them. When will men ever learn that aggressors and those who would destroy society or enslave people can never be appeased with things, but that trust in God, moral uprightness, justice and self-sacrifice is the only deliverance from evil. In times of political and moral chaos such as those in which Isaiah lived the only stable, constant, secure position is trusting the Lord to exercise His sovereign purposes and actions in His own time, because we have evidence that He has always done so to the glory and victory of His people in the past.
Isaiah 33:7-12 PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PEOPLE: Is Isaiah still praying? Isaiah 33:7-9 seem to be the conclusion to his prayer. He is pouring out his heart and the heart of the remnant for their beloved land just as Daniel did (Daniel 9:12; Daniel 9:16; Daniel 9:18) for the pitiful state of the exiles. And their prayers are not so much for the people as for the vindication and exaltation of the name of God!
Apparently the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib had already begun. Judah’s valiant ones (probably soldiers) cried out in fear. Her ambassadors, having experienced the total frustration of being deceived by the Assyrians and unable to negotiate a withdrawal of Assyrian troops, weep openly. Every bit of news seeping into the besieged city of Jerusalem tells of death, destruction and desertion in the cities and villages of Judah. The highways of the land are no longer traveled. The Assyrians, after taking Hezekiah’s tribute (2 Kings 18:15-16), reneged on their treaty and attacked Judah, plundering its cities and killing its people without regard to human life at all. Thousands are killed, other thousands are taken captive and still other thousands flee. There is nationwide mourning; large sections of the land is in paralyzing fear and confusion; other large sections are so completely deserted they are like vast wastelands; the land is stripped bare of its inhabitants like a tree is completely barren of its leaves in wintertime. Isaiah 33:10-12 are God’s prediction that He will stand against Assyria to dissolve and annul its plans against Jerusalem. Assyria apparently made great plans to do away with Judah and Jerusalem, but God says its plans will amount to no more than refusechaff and stubble. Very rarely did a project so auspicious ever turn out as adversely for the planners as did Sennacherib’s plans against Jerusalem.
Isaiah predicted, 2 Kings 19:32-34, … thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord, for I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
The Biblical and the Assyrian accounts of Sennacherib’s campaign in Palestine are in general agreement. The fact that the Assyrian texts as well as the Bible make it clear that Sennacherib did not occupy Jerusalem is particularly significant. This is the Assyrian account of the Judean campaign:
As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities, walled forts and to the countless small villages in their vicinity, and conquered (them) by means of well-stamped (earth) ramps, and battering-rams brought (thus) near (to the walls) (combined with) the attack by foot soldiers, (using) mines, breeches as well as sapper work. I drove out (of them) 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, big and small cattle, beyond counting, and considered (them) booty. Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who were leaving his city’s gate. Hezekiah himself,. did send me later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver. his (own) daughters, concubines, male and female musicians. In order to deliver the tribute and to do obeisance as a slave he sent his (personal) messenger. from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 2nd ed., Princeton University Press, 1955, pg. 288
Biblical history records that 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp perished as a result of God’s intervention on behalf of His people (2 Kings 19:35). Secular history and biblical history both record that Sennacherib returned to Nineveh and was assassinated by two of his sons in 681 B.C. (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38) and that Esarhaddon, his son, ruled in his place. The last quarter of the seventh century B.C. (625 B.C. 612 B.C.) saw the decline and fall of the Assyrian empire and its subjugation by the Chaldean conquerors of Babylonia, with the Medes. Nineveh was conquered 612 B.C. and in 605 B.C. at Carchemish the Assyrian government-in-exile was finally wiped out forever. So Assyria disappeared from the face of the earth as thorns cut down and burned in the fire. Nineveh, Assyria’s capital city, was forgotten so completely that Alexander the Great on his way to conquer the world, walked upon the very earth that covered it without knowing it. It was not unearthed until about 1845, nearly 2400 years after its demise.
QUIZ
Characterize the Assyrians in their methods of conquest.
How does Isaiah’s prayer compare to that of Daniel’s (Daniel 9:19)?
Why could believers in Isaiah’s day wait for the Lord?
What is the overriding purpose or end of Isaiah’s prayer?
How extensive was the Assyrian occupation of Judah?
How do the Biblical accounts compare with secular accounts of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem?
Isaiah 33:13-24
- SERENITY
TEXT: Isaiah 33:13-24
13
Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
14
The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath seized the godless ones: Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?
15
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon evil:
16
he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
17
Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold a land that reacheth afar.
18
Thy heart shall muse on the terror: where is he that counted, where is he that weighed the tribute? where is he that counted the towers?
19
Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand.
20
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21
But there Jehovah will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22
For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king; he will save us.
23
Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not strengthen the foot of their mast, they could not spread the sail: then was the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame took the prey.
24
And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
QUERIES
a.
Who are the sinners in Zion?
b.
Who are the people of a strange tongue?
c.
When will the inhabitants not say, I am sick?
PARAPHRASE
Pay attention to what I, Jehovah, have done. Acknowledge My might, all you nations of the earth, both far and near. The sinners among My covenant nation are filled with fear, the godless are paralyzed with terror. Who can live here, they cry; Our God has become a consuming flame in bringing this judgment upon us. I will tell you who can live here: All who live honestly and speak truthfully, who abhor making profit by fraud, who wave aside the temptation to take a bribe, who refuse to even listen to plots for bloodshed, who refuse even to look at anything which appears to be evil. Such a man shall live above evil and its consequences. He will dwell securely like a fortress built upon a rocky mountain. He will be sustained with all the food and water he needs. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. You will look out upon a land of far-away horizons where the land meets the sky, and think back to this time of terror, wondering, Where are those Assyrians who counted our people, estimated how much of our treasure they would plunder and analyzed our military fortifications. You will see no more of these violent and insolent people with their jabbering, incoherent language. Soon they will all be gone. Instead you will see Jerusalem, the festival city, at peace. It will be secure, like a tent that never has its stakes pulled up, its ropes broken and is never moved from place to place. Jehovah will dwell with us in all His majesty. The protection He shall give us will be greater than the wide rivers surrounding cities like Thebes. No ships of war shall sail across this river. The Lord Jehovah is our judge; the Lord Jehovah is our lawgiver; the Lord Jehovah is our king; He will save us! Right now the ship of Zion’s tackle is not shipshape. Everything is not taut and strong like it should be. The masthead wobbles on an unsure footing and the battle ensign is not hoisted. However, in a short time Zion will be dividing the treasure of its enemy in great abundance; even the lame will be in on the plundering of the enemy. Then those on board the ship Zion will not say, I am ill, for they will be healedtheir iniquity will have been forgiven.
COMMENTS
Isaiah 33:13-16 PERSONAL: There is a serenity which is a result of righteous living. Isaiah promises that in these verses. First, the prophet describes the distress of the people. The whole world is called to attention to watch the change that is about to take place in Zion (Jerusalem). Presently she has a seizure of terror and shakes like a person in shock. The godless in Jerusalem who had taken so much comfort in believing Egypt would help against Assyria are horrified at what Assyria has done and is about to do! They have given up all hope of survival! They are finally at the point of asking God what can be done instead of telling Him! God speaks through His prophetrepent! Walking righteously might be defined as doing everything from the attitude of desiring it to be right, good, true, just. Speaking uprightly means to say what is true, honest, pure, upbuilding and helpful. Gain of oppressions is money or profit made through taking advantage of someone by force or fraud or some other injustice. Shaking hands from taking a bribe probably means waving aside any invitation or temptation to render an illegal or unjust judgment or transaction by receiving a bribe. And the last two, stopping the ears and shutting the eyes indicates the attitude mentioned in the New Testament, abhoring the very appearance of evil (Romans 12:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; see also Psalms 15:1-5; Psalms 24:3-10). Such personal righteousness do not of themselves produce serenity, but they do make it possible for the Lord to enter into such a penitent heart and give it serenity. God cannot give the impenitent, rebellious sinner serenity simply because the sinner refuses to have it! He is determined to direct his own life and achieve serenity on his own. But the godly man who walks righteously dwells in the heights. The word munitions is from the Hebrew word metzouroh which literally means citadel. The godly man is like the man who has a safe refuge high in the inaccessible mountains, a fortress well stocked with all that is needed to sustain him against the siege of his enemy. He is secure and serene.
Isaiah 33:17-22 PROVISIONAL: When man gets his life right with God then God has opportunity to provide what He wishes to provide always. God created man to live in perfect serenity, peace and harmony. God is able to provide that state for man but man is also created with the power to refuse such a state. When man trusts God enough to obey God, God provides it. The land of Judah had been almost totally occupied by Assyrians. Everywhere the people of Jerusalem looked their land no longer belonged to them. On every horizon there were Assyrians. But soon, because they now want Him, they shall see the King (Jehovah) in all His beauty. We think this refers to the manifestation of God’s majesty and beauty in the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib and not the Messiah because of Isa 33:21-22. When Jehovah-King comes and the Assyrians retreat in disgrace, the people of Jerusalem will once again look upon a land belonging to them as far as the eye can seetheir horizons will once again extend to where the land meets the sky.
Not only that, but when the Lord drives the enemy from their land they will retrospectively give much time to wonder and amazement at the miraculous deliverance wrought for them. They will remember the great and ferocious army of the Assyrians camped for miles around their city. They will remember the magnificence and pompousness of the Rabshakeh. They will remember all the foreign officials of the Rabshakeh as they counted the Jews in Jerusalem, counted the treasure of the Jews, counted the fortifications of the city as if they were cooly estimating exactly the amount of plunder they would soon be taking. They will remember the utter horror they felt as they reminded one another of the coldblooded cruelty of the Assyrians. All this remembering will impress more intensely in the minds of the people of Zion the divine nature of their deliverance. They will know it was provided by Jehovah and not by their own schemes. They will look back and remember the ferocity and insolence of the enemy that had surrounded them and come into their city to negotiate with their king. Their appearance was barbaric; their language was completely foreign and non-understandable. This writer remembers serving with the occupation forces in Japan immediately after World War II and the fear and suspicion felt when listening to the Japanese speak or whisper in their tongue while looking at him. One usually suspects, in those circumstances, a plot against him or a slur upon his character. This occupation by hundreds of thousands of foreigners jabbering in incomprehensible tongues will have completely vanished and Isaiah says the people of Zion will remember and marvel at it. The prophet continues his prediction of the serenity God is going to provide. He predicts the people of Jerusalem will soon see their city peaceful and stable. When God sends the Assyrian away peace will return to Jerusalem and her political stability will be restored. This is predicated upon the continued repentance of the people. No long treatise is needed here to establish the fact that God’s promises of blessing or judgment are always conditional. That is a doctrine made abundantly clear in the Bible. Isaiah uses times coloring figures of speech (terminology contemporary with his own culture) to describe the stability that will come to Zion with the people’s repentance. He describes it as a tent which is not moved. In the culture of the Hebrew nomadthe herder of sheep and goatsthey pulled up the stakes and untied the ropes and moved their tents from day to day. Jerusalem’s position was secure so long as its inhabitants trusted God. We know, from subsequent history (Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel), her inhabitants did not continue to trust God. Jerusalem had her stakes pulled up and her ropes cut by Nebuchadnezzar and her inhabitants taken away to Babylon.
The prophet then turns to another figure of speech easily understood by his contemporaries. He likens Jerusalem’s security to a city surrounded by broad rivers which some ancient cities enjoyed as natural moats making them secure from attack by armies and, when attacked by navies, could be easily defended. The ancient cities of Thebes (Nahum 3:8; Ezekiel 30:16) and Tyre (Isaiah 23:1 ff; Ezekiel 26:1 ff) were such cities. In Jerusalem’s case, the majestic power of Jehovah will be her moat.
Isaiah 33:22-24 PERVASIVE: The serenity provided by God and appropriated by man’s penitence pervades the whole experience of man. These verses show Jehovah’s influence in every area of man’s nature. Man needs an arbiter (judge) to tell him what is right and wrong; man needs a lawgiver to give him a divine codification of behavior; man needs a ruler to be sovereign over all his aspirations, choices and motives. Only then can man be saved from destroying himself. Jerusalem needed to recognize her tacklings were loosed and her mast was so insecure she could not set sail. The ship of Zion was unseaworthy (as an old salt would say). She needed a shake down cruise to make her a taut ship again. She was a sick and ailing ship. When repentance came, she would be fitted to sail the stormy seas of life again with her captain at the helm steering her to safe harbors. Repentance makes forgiveness possible and forgiveness produces serenity within even though the storms rage without. Jerusalem would enjoy this serenity. She was also promised victory over her enemies (Isaiah 33:23). She would have complete victoryeven the lame would be able to join in the spoils of victory.
This serenity and victory apparently did come in the latter days of Hezekiah’s reign when the rulers and the people finally turned to Jehovah instead of Egypt for help against their enemies. But it did not last long for they were soon led back into sin and rebellion by Manasseh (son of Hezekiah) and eventually into captivity in Babylon.
QUIZ
What does personal righteousness have to do with bringing serenity?
What does the trembling of the sinners in Zion indicate about their relationship to God?
What are the munitions of rocks?
Why would musing on the terror bring serenity?
Why mention the strange tongue that would soon be gone from the land?
Why liken Jehovah unto a broad river?