The God of Israel took his chosen people through the fire.
A shout out to the God-of-Israel and an apology to the readers.
As you read this post, you’ll notice that I overuse the phrase ‘The God-of-Israel.’ There are two reasons for that.
One: it’s an SEO thing that bloggers will understand.
Two: The Lord was and is Israel’s God and they rejected Him. The irony of that truth should not be missed in the sad history of Israel. But it also reflects on humanity as a whole.
God’s mercy on the Jews and fallen men is a prevailing theme in God’s story. He loves us, even when we reject him.
The God of Israel is the Good Shepherd of Israel. He will shepherd them and take them through the fire. He will walk with them in their trouble and bring them out on the other side. As the furnace burns away the impurities found in gold and silver. The fire of trials and affliction against the Jewish people is intended to cleanse Israel from its impurities.
The valley of affliction is always hard to go through, but the end result is kept in focus. God does not, and will not ever lose that focus. When Israel is finally brought through their long valley of affliction the world will bow in awesome silence at the revelation and fulfillment of God’s plan.
In the valley with the God-of-Israel–the Good Shepherd
This chapter of Isaiah unfolds more details of the plan of God. The God-of-Israel, the shepherd of Israel, watches over them. They have always been a troublesome flock of sheep. In this chapter, the God-of-Israel, through his prophet, tells Israel He will take them into hard times. Then he will take them out. In the end, in our future, the Nation of Israel will shine forth as gold.
Before we get into the main text of Isaiah twenty-nine let’s read a few verses revealing the Good Shepherd’s selfless work for his people and the Church.
John 10:11
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Amos 3:12
This is what the LORD says: “As a shepherd saves from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches.”
Isaiah 40:11
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
A note to new readers: I go verse-by-verse through a chapter. I even provide a summary title for each verse to give you a good snap-shot of each verse’s context.
Isaiah 29:1 Woe to Ariel–The Lion of God
“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices”.
Ariel in this chapter is a reference to the city of Jerusalem. It’s an allegorical word that means “The Lion of God.” It refers to who they should be not who they are. The Lord is the only real lion of God. Israel, as His representative, failed miserably in their role. We will see that God literally takes them into the fires of affliction so he can burn off the impurities.
They will come forth as gold, they just don’t know that yet. When they do, they will become proud hosts of the house of God in a restored Israel. The nations will flow into the land yearly in order to give praise to the Lord and behold the Lord Himself in his glory. As a student of Bible prophecy, I understand there is a great ending to God’s story. It’s not a doom and gloom story but a great story with an unbelievable ending.
Isaiah 29:2 The God of Israel will bring distress to Ariel
“Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.”
God brings trouble to Israel. The Lord is a ‘grown-man’ leader among children, the children of Israel in particular. He will not sit idly by while his people languish in sinful pride, arrogance, and foolishness. He will take them by the hand, if need be, and lead them to the fire that burns away the chaff and filth of sin.
They won’t like it, nor will the Lord, but it is necessary. The church and individual Christians receive the same loving care. Yes, it is loving. If God left us to stumble around on our own we would all fail to finish the race well. We would all fail miserably.
Isaiah 29:3 The siege will come from God
“And I will camp against you round about and will lay siege against you with a mount, and I will raise forts against you.”
The city of Jerusalem did experience this siege already. (see here.) They went through it at least three times in their history. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Romans laid siege against the city. Biblical prophesy indicates they will endure it one last time and come out better because of it. Isaiah was personally aware of the near fall of Jerusalem in his day.
That was by the Assyrian forces. He also prophesied of the future attack from Babylon. He knew little of the far-future Roman attack, but he did point several times to the very distant siege of the last days of Israel’s rebellion. We are now approaching that time in history. Keep your eyes and ears glued to the things happening in the Middle East.
Isaiah 29:4 The God of Israel will humble the Jewish people
“And you shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low out of the dust, and your voice shall be, as of one that has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.”
The Jewish people will be humbled during their trial. Humiliated really. The prophet compares their condition to that of the dust of the ground. They will speak from out of the ground. As dead spirits speak to the living from the grave, so Israel will speak. We can look to recent history to see some of this reality. The horrors of the Holocaust are well-known.
Those millions of frail, broken, and dead bodies speak to us from under the ground. The empty faces, still etched with anguish, speak to us when we see those pictures. Sadly, I believe one more time of anguish is coming. One more time they will speak from the dust.
Isaiah 29:5 The severe punishment won’t last
“Moreover the multitude of your strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passes away; yes, it shall be at an instant suddenly.”
Here the prophet makes an abrupt switch. That’s very common in the prophetic passages. He was just speaking about the Jews humbled in defeat and dust. Now the enemies of Israel, whom the Lord used to judge them, come into the focus of the prophet. The affliction at the hands of those enemies won’t last forever, though it would last a lifetime for most.
God has a big-picture focus and sees the completed end in the middle of the trying times. Isaiah says, ‘the terrible ones’ those who brought great armies against Israel, would be as dust that blows away. When their time came, the judgment would be swift.
Isaiah 29:6 The God-of-Israel will ‘visit’ Israel’s enemies
“You shall be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with an earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.”
It will be ‘time for a visit from the God of Israel. The Lord will visit them with thunder, earthquakes, storms, and a fire that will devour them. They laid heavy destruction upon Israel. God will judge them with an equally humbling defeat. God has often used Israel’s enemies to humble and correct them. That doesn’t mean those enemies won’t face the hand of God themselves.
God used them as tools but the tools, in a sense, over-played their hand. The Lord God-of-Israel disciplines so that His people will learn and grow. Those same methods are used with Christians. All of us receive direction and correction from the Lord. Hopefully, a gentle prodding is all that’s needed. Hah! That’s funny. I’ve seen a whole lot of humanity and I haven’t seen any who are gently prodded back toward obedience to God. That’s our sinful nature, isn’t it?
Isaiah 29:7 Israel’s enemies–their nightmare–will come to an end
“And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.”
Everyone who fights against Ariel, that’s Jerusalem, will experience a bad dream. When one wakes from a bad dream there is a common feeling amongst most sleepers. We’re all just glad when we realize it was just a bad dream. Isaiah goes on in the next verse to speak about the attacker’s bad dream, but Israel’s bad dream will end well. The nightmare will come to a finish–finally. But the happy ending will be non-existent for their enemies.
Isaiah 29:8 Dreams of victory will be crushed
“It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and, behold, he eats, but he awakes, and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks, but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul has appetite; so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against Mount Zion.”
Have you ever dreamt that you were eating a great meal? What about dreaming of thirst and drinking great big refreshing glasses of ice-cold tea or a sudsy beverage? Those are good dreams if the refreshments are available to the dreamer. Isaiah points out that some were dreaming of such a surplus but didn’t get what they had hoped for.
The enemies who attacked Ariel dreamed of drinking and eating well but then they woke up. Their dreams of full-bellied conquest wouldn’t materialize as they hoped. The Lord God-of-Israel would take their spoils of victory from them.
Isaiah 29:9 Back to Israel
“Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry out, and cry; they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.”
Isaiah switches again. He started with Israel, then went to their enemies, and now he’s back to chide the Jews for their sins. They are staggering and appear drunk but it’s not because of alcohol. We see the problem in the next verse.
Isaiah 29:10 The sleepy prophets, rulers, and wise men of Israel
“For the Lord has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers has he covered.”
This is similar to the two opening verses of this chapter. The God-of-Israel warned that he would bring punishment. In this verse, the Lord admits to putting the prophets and seers of Israel into a deep slumber. They are no longer attending to God’s things. They’re asleep while the country slips into ruin. They were supposed to be spiritual leaders, guiding the people to holy living. Instead, they got self-absorbed and fell into sin themselves. They were no longer able to lead others. They couldn’t lead themselves.
Isaiah 29:11 God’s wisdom is closed to them
“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 you, and he says, I cannot; for it is sealed.”
The “vision” that was intended for all was God’s Word. The Old Testament guidelines and principles were set aside as unimportant by those who were supposed to be stewards of those things. They were asleep and essentially stupid. The leaders were ignorant of God’s wisdom. How could they possibly lead others toward the God-of-Israel? The book of wisdom was sealed and they couldn’t find anyone wise enough to help them understand any of it. The next verse is pathetic.
Isaiah 29:12 They seek help from the foolish
“And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, read this, I pray you, and he says, I am not learned.”
In their pathetic fall from wisdom, they turn to the unlearned among them. “What does this mean?” The once-wise leaders asked. The wise leaders had lost their key to knowledge. They couldn’t even find dumb people who could help them.
Isaiah 29:13 They honor me with their lip-service
“Wherefore the Lord said, forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”
We know what the term ‘lip-service’ means. We might pay ‘lip-service’ to a friend, spouse, boss, or teacher. It’s just a lie. We might try to get them to believe we feel something that’s not true. In this verse, the sleepy leaders were accused of giving ‘lip-service’ to the Lord. Nice try but it won’t ever work. The Lord knows the heart of every one of us. Why make such a foolish effort?
Isaiah 29:14 A marvelous work and a wonder
“Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among these people, even a marvelous work, and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
Won’t that be marvelous? Some of the words and phrases in the Bible can be misleading. This is a great example. We usually like things that are marvelous. Not so here. The sense of the words should read something like this, “You will wonder and marvel at what I’m about to do.” That was the feeling many of the prophets had once the Lord God-of-Israel told them what he was going to do. Isaiah says here that the wisdom of the wise will perish. Can smart people lose their smarts? Apparently, they can. God makes the wise appear foolish.
Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who try to hide from the God-of-Israel
“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who sees us. And who knows us?”
John 3:19 says it well. People always try to hide their deeds from God. It’s best to come clean. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We’re all a bunch of filthy slobs rolling in the muck and mud. None of us have any claim to goodness. That’s why we like the dark and avoid light.
And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
Isaiah 29:16 Can the clay speak against the potter?
“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?”
The gingerbread man never really came to life and ran away. That’s just a fun story. But he was eaten by a wolf. The wooden puppet didn’t come to life and become a little boy. That’s a story too. Isaiah gives a word picture of clay coming to life and talking to the clay craftsman. That story is partially true. The God-of-Israel did make mankind in his image. He made the first people out of the clay of the earth, breathing life into them as they became living souls. He gave Adam and Eve the ability of speech. They have been talking back to the Creator ever since. Lip-service. But the prophet poses the question, “Is it right that the clay should complain to the creator? We should know the answer but we don’t. We’re too busy complaining to the maker.
Isaiah 29:17 Lebanon will soon prosper, what about Israel?
“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?”
Lebanon is a country that shared a border to the north of Israel. Like Israel, they suffered through attacks by powerful enemies. It depended on where the attack originated from. Isaiah gave some bad news to Israel. Lebanon would recover more quickly from its attack. Their renowned forests would grow back and their fields would bear fruit again. Israel would languish for a longer time.
Isaiah 29:18 The deaf and blind shall see
“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.”
I’ve said this before, Isaiah has some of the most beautiful passages and truths in the Bible. His prophecies were often pointing directly to the events surrounding the life of Jesus. Jesus healed deaf people who had never heard a single sound in their lives, teaching them the “words of the book.” when their ears were open. Jesus healed blind people, bringing them out of darkness into light. Those were all symbolic miracles. The individuals were super happy about it but their miracles were symbols to all mankind. Get out of the darkness so you can experience the light. Open your ears and hear the “words of the book.”
Isaiah 29:19 The humble and poor will rejoice
“The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”
We remember the words of Jesus, “The meek shall inherit the earth.” Here Isaiah says the meek will rejoice in the Lord. The poor will be happy instead of wandering aimlessly trying to find bread for their children. God would be the reason for their relief from sorrow.
Isaiah 29:20 The sinful, oppressive, and scornful will be cut off.
“For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off.”
The ones who inflict harm and sorrow on the meek and poor will pay the price. God does not forget the afflicted. The Lord God-of-Israel, in his word, warns oppressors in advance. We all pay for our sins one way or another. We need God’s covering provided by the blood of Christ on the cross. Get that settled before the time comes.
Isaiah 29:21 Those who lay traps for others will be ensnared
“That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing.”
Many people are too loose with their lips. They create an easy trap in which others will set for them. On the other side of that, there are many who try to trap people with their words. They get people in trouble and even lead them into legal traps. The prophet mentions a “him that reproves in the gate.” That is a reference to a custom in biblical times. The gate of a city was a focal point of commerce, conversation, and even courts. Citizens discussed issues and settled differences at the gate of a city. Isaiah is writing here about the practice of trapping people in a legal blunder by misspoken words. The God-of-Israel said that’s wrong. Trapping someone and putting them in legal jeopardy for a slip of the tongue is a misuse of justice. We could use that advice in our courts.
Isaiah 29:22 The Lord God of Abraham will restore Jacob’s children
“Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale.”
Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. He represents the nation. Abraham is the father of the Hebrew people. The God-of-Israel made a promise to both men. The Lord promised to be a Good Shepherd to their descendants. When those men died and lay in the grave, the Good Shepherd kept his promises to them. He continues to do so. Though many disagree, they are wrong concerning Israel. God will restore them and their faith in God will be more real than it ever was. (see here.) They will fulfill their promised place in God’s plan. The Church has led the way for the last two thousand years. For the next thousand, when it starts, the Jewish people will lead. The Church will be in glorified bodies and have a different role then.
Isaiah 29:23 The children of Jacob will honor their God
“But when he sees his children, the work of my 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.”
Jacob will see his children. He will see them while in his own resurrected body, living in obedience to the God-of-Israel. He was a symbol of what many see as classic Jewish imagery. Jacob’s name meant supplanter. He would supplant or take advantage of and connive people out of their things. Jacob didn’t choose to follow God unless God promised to give him something. But that nature will become new. He will see his own resurrected children in The Promised Land, serving God and loving people selflessly. It will be a great thousand years to be alive. If you’re not doing anything you should plan to be there. 🙂
Isaiah 29:24 The Truth shall be understood
“They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.”
Those who didn’t understand, finally will. The light bulb will go on and people will see God’s plan fulfilled. Those who murmured and complained about the God-of-Israel will finally see what God had intended all along.
Let me know what you think.