Dear Friends,
Here are study notes for three important chapters in Isaiah. Please don’t think of these as ancient history, for since God changes not, the same principles are at work today and in our own country. Study Isaiah and learn what God is doing now. God bless you.
Because of Calvary,
John Janney

Adult SS Elective: Isaiah 29:1-32:20                                                                                                                                September 25, 2016

2. The Lord Humbles Jerusalem (29:1-24)

“The background of the prophecy against Ariel may best be found in the years preceding 701 B.C. A power struggle had taken place between Sennacherib and the eastern nations, making it possible for the western nations to rebel. During these years, Hezekiah turned to Egypt for help (30:1-2; 31:1).… The alliance between Aram, Phoenicia, Judah, and Egypt made it imperative for Sennacherib to deal quickly and decisively with his eastern problems and then turn his attention to the west. During the intervening years the psychological mood in Judah was very positive because the people felt less threatened and were hoping for a strong political and economic resurgence. Yet Isaiah had already prophesied that Assyria was to be the instrument of God’s judgment ― even on Judah (8:7-8; 10:5).

“With the possibility of an independent Judah on the horizon, the people viewed the prophet’s words with skepticism…. The future of Judah would be determined by the people and their political skills rather than by the Word of God.” [VanGemeren, p. 493]

“The Lord is sovereign in history and his will dominates. He has the last word, and it is a word of deliverance. His people are never left to destruction; though they be humbled by the foe, it is the foe who is ultimately humbled.” [Motyer, p. 237]

“Jerusalem…is at present gay and careless and secure… But already in vision the prophet sees her beset by hosts of enemies, and reduced to the lowest depths of despair (2-4) when suddenly the Lord Himself, arrayed in the terrors of earthquake and tempest, appears in judgment (6), and in a moment the scene is changed. In the very hour of their triumph, the enemies of Zion are disappointed of their expectation, and vanish like a vision of the night (7-8). [Cambridge Bible in Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 216-217]

1. A work of judgment (29:1-4)

“The end of v 8 identifies Ariel as Zion, and in Ezk. 43:15 its meaning is ‘altar hearth’; hence Moffatt renders it here (emphasizing Jerusalem’s high calling) ‘God’s own hearth and altar’. The cultic allusion in v 1b confirms this, but v 2b gives a grim turn to the metaphor by its hint of a holocaust, just as v 3a pricks the city’s pride in its past (cf. v 1a ‘where David encamped’ [RSV]…).” [Kidner, p. 651]

“Isaiah first brings a woe on Jerusalem, the city where David lived and where the temple stood. In spite of its time with the temple and David’s dynasty, Yahweh plans to bring down Jerusalem. The future of Jerusalem will be filled with distress, lament, and mourning, because Yahweh has turned against the people and surrounded them like an enemy surrounds a city. Isaiah….likens Jerusalem to a conquered city where the inhabitants are pushed down into the dust begging for mercy from their conquerors (v. 4a).” [VanGemeren, p. 493]

1. Divine Assault (29:1-2)

“Typically of the Bible, even when the action is mediated through earthly forces (5) it is still the direct action of the Lord. It is not that the Bible is ignorant of second causes or minimizes their culpability (see 10:5-15; Acts 2:23), but it refuses to allow us to live on earth as though we were dealing with second causes. We are always directly faced (in blessing as well as bane) but the Lord himself.” [Motyer, p. 237-238]

1. Divine Humbling (29:3-4)

“Nothing so much offends God as pride, haughtiness of heart, presumption; and when this is manifested by his people, they may expect to be abased to the very dust, until their spirit has been renewed and they have learned humility under his correcting hand.” [Pulpit Commentary in Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 217]

1. A work of mercy (29:5-8)

“Jerusalem will be covered by the multitude of her enemies, likened to fine dust or chaff…. The future of Jerusalem looks bleak because Yahweh himself comes against his people who have been enjoying security and are relying on Egypt for their survival.

“The devastation is compared to thunder, loud noise, winds, tempest, and fire, reminiscent of Yahweh’s revelation on Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:16-19)….

“Though Yahweh has given up Ariel to the nations, he protects the remnant of his people. The nations who rise against Judah and Jerusalem will leave empty. The prophet likens the reaction of the nations to that of a hungry or thirsty man who has dreamt that he has been satisfied, but in the morning wakens to find he has not actually eaten of drunk (vv. 7-8).

“This will be the experience of any nation which fights against the people of God…. Yahweh is still with his people.” [VanGemeren, p. 493-494]

“The best commentary is…the immense power of Sennacherib and the awesome ease of divine action (37:36-38).” [Motyer, p. 238]

“The Creator remains in direct control of what he has created, and it lies, in all its huge force, at his disposal: the audible (thunder, noise), the visible (fire), the invisible (windstorm, tempest), with power to shake (earthquake), remove (windstorm) and consume (fire).” [Motyer, p. 238]

“The nations’ disappointment is vividly suggested in vs 7-8; there have been already innumerable minor occasions when the world has prematurely licked its lips over the demise of the church.” [Kidner, p. 651]

1. A work of wrath (29:9-12)

“Those who have resisted the word of the Lord can only be won by yet another offer of the word. Yet that very offer also gives them the dreadful opportunity to go beyond the point of no return into irretrievable heart-hardening.” [Motyer, p. 238]

“A people without vision. The pregnant phrase your eyes (the prophets) (10) shows that Israel is the subject of this oracle, which enlarges on the lessons of Pr. 29:18 and 1 Sa. 3:1-14. A glimpse of such a state, where God’s will have become a closed book, is given in Ps. 74:9. The reflexive verbs in v 9 suggest that the blindness is judicial: self-will has invited its own punishment. Cf. 6:9-10; 30:10-11.”  [Kidner, p. 651]

1. The Nature of the Problem (29:9)

“Be stunned…means ‘to delay, hesitate, be indecisive’…. If the Jerusalem leaders are indecisive now in the face of the Lord’s call they will condemn themselves to bewilderment, the inability to make sense of things. Blind yourselves…. Willfully to refuse to see induces blindness…. Note the link with 28:7-8 were indulgence promoted refusal of God’s word. Here refusal of the word (9ab) promotes a different intoxication (explained in verse 10).” [Motyer, p. 239]

1. The Source of the Problem (29:10)

“The theology is identical with 1 Kings 22:22 (‘a spirit of falsehood’), where Ahab’s determination to embrace falsehood brought on him a judicial visitation of the very spirit he chose (cf. 2 Thes. 2:9-12). So here, determined spiritual insensitivity become judicial spiritual paralysis.” [Motyer, p. 239]

iii. The Cause of the Problem (29:11-14)

“The double illustration covers those who can but cannot be bothered and those who cannot and do not care. Basic to both is a spirit of unconcern. The one will not exert himself to break the seal and read, nor does the other urge him to do so. Thus self-adopted and Spirit-induced spiritual somnolence is evidenced in indolence (11) and disinterest (12).” [Motyer, p. 240]

“…Religion remains but reality has perished. People continue with observances…, use all the correct words…but without heart reality. And even when their religion ventured upon something inward…it was not a response to the reality of God but a formal correspondence with human instruction: the nemesis of religion without a foundation in the revealed word of God (cf. Mt. 15:1-9).” [Motyer, p. 240]

“Religion without reality. Jesus saw this v 13 as the very image of Pharisaism (Mk.7:6-7). V 14 is its proper outcome; for without depth, cleverness turns in on itself to obscure all that it touches. Cf. Rom. 1:22; 1 Cor. 1:19.” [Kidner, p. 651]

“Have you not come across men who say ‘Yes’ to every assertion of truth that you make….who are not, and know they are not, servants of Christ…” [D. Jones Hamar in The Biblical Illustrator VIII, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, n.d.), p. 574]

“precept of men, as distinct from the revealed will of God. The religion in our Lord’s days was almost entirely an elaborate and painful system of human precepts.” [Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 219]

“If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are.” [Frank Laubach in John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), p. 27]

1. A work of grace (29:15-24)

“The prophet renews his proclamation of ‘woe’ on the people who plan and scheme as if Yahweh does not know or see…. Thus far Isaiah has portrayed a number of the people’s reactions: apathy (vv. 9-10), disbelief in the relevance of the prophetic word for their time (vv. 11-12), formalism and hypocrisy (vv. 13-14), and dependence on man’s schemings and planning apart from God (vv. 15-16). Yet however dark the day may be, God still has a message of salvation for his people…. The afflicted and needy are those who have experienced God’s judgment and whose hearts search for the living God. The spiritual remnant will hear the Word of God, see the salvation of the Lord, and rejoice in Yahweh himself…. The promise is to the ‘redeemed’ children of Abraham, the spiritual seed of Abraham (v. 22). The promises concern the work of final restoration begun in history.” [VanGemeren, p. 494]

1. Human reason rejected (29:15-16)

“The reference is to the secret plan which many of the Jewish nobles had of seeking Egyptian aid against Assyria, contrary to the advice of Isaiah.” [Fausset p. 653]

“The two questions (Who sees us? and lit. ‘Who knows us?’) reflect not a guilty conscience but the people’s determination to be their own unfettered masters.” [Motyer, p. 241]

“They deny the Lord’s distinctiveness (as if the potter…like the clay), his sovereignty (He did not make me) and his wisdom (He knows nothing…)” [Motyer, p. 241]

1. Future renewal promised (29:17-24)

“Abruptly the Lord announces his plans for the future. People may not accord him his place, sovereignty, and wisdom but all three remain his, and he needs to as no permission regarding what he will do. In a very short time, as the Lord reckons history, total renewal will take place… Even seemingly ordered creation is in fact part of the human upside-down world and needs to be put to rights.” [Motyer, p. 242]

(A)  The renewal of the world (29:17-21)

(I)   On the individual level (29:18)

“The meaning of the metaphors was established in verses 9-12 where the closed eyes and book are in contrast with the open ears and book here. This is a picture of people with new faculties and new appetites, finding satisfaction in God’s book.” [Motyer, p. 242]

(II)  On the spiritual level (29:19)

“The meek are they who submit themselves to the righteousness of God, as contrasted with those who ‘go about to establish their own righteousness.’” [Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 220]

(III) On the social level (29:20-21)

“Thirdly, there is the social aspect of the transformation…. These verses look forward to the disappearance of trouble-makers (20) and to the end of the misuse of social structures (21).” [Motyer, p. 242]

“The ruthless…are the unscrupulous, unsparing in their use of power (cf. verse 5; 13:11; 25:3-5). Mockers…are those who recognize no moral absolutes (cf. 28:14, 22)l All who has an eye for evil… are those who are alert to make trouble, those whose interests are served by the breakdown of law and order.” [Motyer, p. 242]

“Three abuses of the legal system are mentioned: false testimony, tampering with witnesses and denying the innocent the protection of the law…. In…verse 21 we meet in turn the false witness, the bent lawyer and the corrupt judge.” [Motyer, p. 242]

(B)  The renewal of God’s people (29:22-24)

“A people for God’s praise.” [Kidner, p. 651]

“This verse describes two aspects of transformed individual life… They will exhibit steadiness of life…. The wayward exhibit restlessness, unpredictable fickleness, lack of steady purpose. They will come…however, to ‘know discernment’…and to possess a true insight into the real meaning of life. There will also be a teachableness, an openness to truth. Those who complain… is used of bitter refusal of the Lord’s word, self-pitying determination to put the worst construction on things, paranoic inflexibility in the understanding of life. Such will…exchange their stubbornness for true instruction…” [Motyer, p. 243-244]

3. The Lord Rebukes Jerusalem (30:1-33)

“This chapter contains an exposure of the sin and folly of ancient Israel in seeking foreign aid against their enemies to the neglect of God, their rightful sovereign and their only strong protector.” [Alexander I, p. 471]

“This chapter may be divided into three parts. In the first, the Prophet shows the sin and folly of relying upon Egypt, no doubt for protection against Assyria, as these were the two great powers between which Israel was continually oscillating, almost constantly at war with one and in alliance with the other, vers. 1-7. In the last part, he describes the Assyrian power as broken by an immediate divine interposition, precluding the necessity of any human aid, vers. 27-33. In the larger intervening part, he shows the connection of this distrust of God and reliance on the creature with the general character and spiritual state of the people, as unwilling to receive instruction, as dishonest and oppressive, making severe judgments necessary, as a prelude to the glorious things which God would eventually bring to pass, vers. 8-26, [Alexander, p. 471-472]

“When Assyria threatened Judah, the leaders did not immediately turn to God for help but trusted in diplomacy. Their ambassadors went through dangerous territory (30:6-7) to go to Egypt, but Egypt could not help Judah. Egypt was as helpful as a shadow (30:1-5), a wall about to fall down (30:12-13), or a broken clay vessel (30:14). The Egyptians were only men, not God (30:1-3)….

“Those who wait on the Lord for help will experience blessings, such as answered prayer (30:18-19), God’s guidance (30:20-21), cleansing (30:22), fruitfulness (30:23-28), victory (30:27-33; 31:4-9), and a song (30:29).” [Wiersbe, With the Word, p. 469-470]

1. The alliance with Egypt (30:1-7)

“Ten years earlier, Isaiah had dissuaded Judah from playing Egypt’s game against Assyria (ch. 20); now the mood has hardened, and Judah’s envoys are on their way.” [Kidner, p. 651]

“God had prohibited such alliances with heathen nations, and it was a leading part of Jewish policy that they should be a separate people (Exod. xxiii.32; Duet. vii.2).” [Fausset, p. 655]

“To seek protection other than the Lord (1), to plan without divine direction (2), is to find no protection (3) but only to reap shame (5, 7) irrespective of effort (4) and expenditure (6).” [Motyer, p. 245]

“Jewish ambassadors were at the time on their way to Egypt to seek aid against Assyria (chs. xxx.2-6, 15; xxxi.1)”. [Fausset, p. 655]

“Egypt gives them promises, but no substantial help; while the alliance brings down on Israel the anger of Assyria.” [Speaker’s Commentary in Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 223]

“The leadership of Judah relied on political solutions to political problems…. Instead of finding ‘protection’ and ‘refuge’ (v. 2) in the Lord, they looked to Egypt for help against Assyria. Ultimately, however, their plan failed because Egypt used Judah to its own advantage and Judah was disgraced….

The desert is filled with dangers. The purpose of the reference to the animals is to make it clear that the people of Judah sent their emissaries through a torturous terrain filled with difficulties in order to get absolutely nowhere! The leaders of Judah go to great pains to have a caravan laden with precious objects sent to Egypt to obtain the favor of Egyptians for their own political purposes. But Egypt is not able to help….

“As it turned out, the Egyptians were defeated by Sennacherib at Eltekeh. The areas of Phoenicia, Philistia, and Judah were taken, and Jerusalem was surrounded by Sennacherib in 701 B.C.” [VanGemeren, p. 494-495]

“Isaiah sees the discomforts and dangers of the journey (6a) as typical of the whole enterprise, and the treasures of v 6b, so incongruous in the wild Negev, as a picture of misspent effort and resource. Rahab (7)…is a term for Egypt again in Ps. 87:4 (cf. Ps. 89:10). It appears to mean ‘arrogant’ or ‘turbulent’… Moffatt brilliantly renders v 7c ‘Dragon Do-Nothing’ ― a devastating nickname to placard (8) around Jerusalem; as pointed as an earlier slogan had been cryptic (cf. 8:1).” [Kidner, p. 651]

“While the politicians in Jerusalem were doubtless wondering, ‘How will our ambassadors fare?’, Isaiah suggests ironically, ‘Never mind them, what about the pack animals!’. As though their welfare was the only important thing in a whole human waste of time. Herbert interestingly suggests that in the interest of secrecy the ambassadors did not take the ordinary route through Philistia but the perilous route through a land of hardship and distress, i.e. the Negev. The irony of this would not have escaped the prophet. The Lord would not have let his exodus people journey through Philistia lest opposition would turn their minds from Canaan to Egypt (Ex. 13:17); now those who refuse security in a saving God reverse the exodus precisely!” [Motyer, p. 246-247]

“Simple solutions seldom are.” [Forbes Magazine in Reader’s Digest, (November 1983), p. 168]

1. The unfaithfulness of Judah (30:8-17)

“As this passage now proceeds to show, the action of Judah in relation to Egypt is only a symptom; the cause is fundamental refusal to hear the Lord’s word.” [Motyer, p. 247]

1. Truth refused (30:8-11)

“lying children, since they do not even desire to know the truth. But is shall be revealed against them.” [Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 223]

“They did not want a supernatural message (10ab), nor a message of moral demand (10cd), but a ministry that left the surface of life unruffled (pleasant/’smooth’), a ministry of trifles (illusions….). Leave this way requests the preachers to pioneer a new morality…. They did not ask that preaching should cease but only that it be innocuous, void of moral imperatives and without the backing of the ultimate moral absolute of the nature of God.” [Motyer, p. 248] Cf. II Timothy 4:3-4.

“smooth, the popular man was not he who declared the truth, but he who uttered what the people liked to hear.” [Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 224]

“Deceits, or illusions.” [Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 224]

1. Sin committed (30:12-13a)

iii. Destruction threatened (30:13b, 14)

“Two illustrations follow. First, a wall collapsing under its own weight and secondly, a pot smashed by external force. Thus iniquity both destroys itself and also invites judgment.” [Motyer, p. 248]

1. Message despised (30:15)

“Now we hear the specific message that was rejected (15) and learn of inescapable judgment falling from outside (16-17d). Two illustrations of total disaster complete the description (17e-g).” [Motyer, p. 249]

“As G. A. Smith says, ‘Not alliance but reliance’.” [Motyer, p. 249]

“The New Testament stresses a similar theme for Christians. Paul says ‘God’s power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor. 12:9, NIV). Heb. 13:14 point beyond the privations of this world to ‘the enduring city,’ and 1 Pet 1:8 (NIV) calls on believers to be ‘filled with inexpressible and glorious joy.’” [Watts, “Isaiah,” Word Biblical Themes, p. 7]

1. Attack predicted (30:16-17d)
2. Judgment promised (30:17e-g)

“The promise of Leviticus 26:8 is reversed and the threat of Deuteronomy 32:20 realized.” [Motyer, p. 249]

1. The faithfulness of God (30:18- 26)

“With verse 18 the emphasis falls on the faithfulness of God, ultimately (18-26) and imminently (27-33). He is such that his purposes cannot be frustrated by human faithlessness. In verses 18-26 we are allowed to look beyond a waiting period to the moment when Messianic glory will dawn on a new creation.” [Motyer, p. 249]

     “‘Therefore’ (NIV Yet) with which verse 18 beings makes a causal link between devastating punishment (12-17) and glorious hope (verses 18-27).” [Motyer, p. 244]

“Judge and punish he must, but forsake his purposes he will not. Since judgment must intervene, ‘therefore’ he (lit.) will wait in order to be gracious… Therefore he will rise to show you compassion’ His grace is his sovereign determination to bless the undeserving (e.g. Gn. 6:8); his compassion is the overflowing of his passionate love for his people (14:1). Justice…means making exactly the right decisions at exactly the right time.” [Motyer, p. 250]

“‘All states are full of noise and confusion,’ said Bunyan; ‘only the Valley of Humiliation is that empty and solitary place. Here shall a man not be so hindered in his contemplation as in other places he is apt to be.’” [The Speaker’s Bible IV, p. 165]

“cast…away, R. V. ‘cast them away as an unclean thing.’” [Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 227]

     “The entrance of sin imposed restraint on the reproductive forces of the earth, consequent upon the divine curse (Gn. 3:17-19). The outpouring of creation’s bounty speaks, therefore, of the end of sin and the curse and of the return to Eden (cf. Am. 9:13ff.).” [Motyer, p. 251] Cf. Romans 8:19-23

1. The overthrow of Assyria (30:27-33)

“…The Assyrian king, thundering towards Zion, is in fact climbing his own funeral pyre!” [Motyer, p. 251]

4. The Lord Defends Jerusalem (31:1-9)

“This is the last of four chapters together that begin with woe; and they are all woes to the sinners that were found among the professing people of God, to the drunkards of Ephraim (Isa. 28: 1), to Ariel (Isa. 29: 1), to the rebellious children (Isa. 30: 1), and here to those that go down to Egypt for help; for men’s relation to the church will not secure them from divine woes if they live in contempt of divine laws.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary IV, p. 136]

1. The folly of men (31:1)

“These images are of the adoption of worldly security: horses represent brute strength’ chariots, military might; and horsemen, trained personnel.” [Motyer, p. 254]

1. The faithfulness of God (31:2-5)

“The Lord is both unabashed lion and protecting bird!… The shepherds (what irony! See Gn. 43:32; 46:34; Ex. 8:26) are the ineffectual aid of Egypt.” [Motyer, p. 255]

“Fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea and Egypt.” [Henderson in Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 230]

1. The faith of penitence (31:6-7)

“This promise of Divine defense is conditioned on vs. 6, that God’s people turn from their deep falling away from Him.” [Nagelsbach in Gray & Adams Bible Commentary III, p. 231]

“That is a happy fright which frightens us from our sins.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary IV, p. 138]

“Return is penitence that is more than mental, the practical redirection of life…” [Motyer, p. 256]

1. The fall of Assyria (31:8-9)

“Following the debacle of 701, the Assyrian Empire entered on its last stages, a long and then accelerating process of decline to extinction.” [Motyer, p. 256]

“Their ‘rock’ is the king of Assyria, contrasting with ‘the Rock of Israel’ (30:29). The Lord ‘passes over’…in deliverance (31:5); Assyria passes…off the stage of history.” [Motyer, p. 256]