There is no doubt that Ariel in verses 1,2 and 7 is a code word for Jerusalem, described in more familiar terms in verse 1 as the city where David settled and in verse 8 as Mount Zion. In fact it is this sustained focus on Jerusalem/Zion which unifies this first part of the chapter. But Ariel appears to be a term which Isaiah has used for his own purposes at this point, since it is not used as a name for Jerusalem anywhere else in the book or, for that matter, in the entire Bible. It must bear, in a very pointed way, on the specific message which Isaiah is delivering in these particular verses. It means “a hearth” or, more specifically, “an altar hearth” – the flat surface of the altar on which a fire was lit to consume the sacrifices. It alludes to Jerusalem as the religious center of the nation, the place where the temple was situated and the Lord was worshiped, especially through the offering of sacrifices. But the word as Isaiah uses it has a terrible barb in it, for it also foreshadows the judgment that the Lord is going to bring on the city (v. 2). That is, the Lord is going to light another kind of fire in Jerusalem, the fire of His judgment, and when he does so the entire city will be like one vast blazing altar hearth. Jerusalem was heading for a flaming judgment because it was on a collision course with the Lord.

Sometimes we need to hear old truths in a new way if they are to shock us out of our complacency and stir us in needed action. The foolish notion that the externals of religious observance can of themselves protect us from God’s judgment in one that the Old Testament prophets attack again and again. Isaiah has already done so in 1:12-17, and will do so again later in the chapter in verses 13-14. He is not saying anything new here, but hammering home a familiar message in a particularly vivid manner. False religion is the very worst kind of pride because it attempts to make God our servant instead of recognizing that we are His servant. Isaiah predicts that the effect of the Lord’s judgment will be to reduce proud Jerusalem to the most abject weakness and helplessness (v. 4) before He at last turns His judgment (flames of a devouring fire) against her enemies (vv. 5-8).

Now the focus sharpens again so that we can take a closer look at its people. The picture that is drawn is damning: they are blind, drunk and stunned (vv. 9-10) – and this is both their own choice and God’s judgment on them. The “vision” or revelation of God’s purposes that has been given to them through Isaiah has become like a sealed scroll to them (vv. 11-12), and for all of this it is the religious leaders who are principally to blame. In view of what has gone before we might have expected Isaiah to single out the priests. Instead he lays the major blame at the feet of the prophets and the seers (vv. 10, 14). These were the people who, in a crises situation, should have been able to bring a contemporary word of revelation or wise counsel to bear. But instead of being people of insight who might have cut through to the heart of the problem, they had deliberately fallen in with the establishment and pursued a course which they knew the Lord disapproved of. This is why they hide their plans from the Lord and do their work in the dark where they foolishly pretend that God cannot see them (v. 15). In order to justify their actions they have to deny God’s right to tell them what to do and, by implication, claim that it is they who are wise and He (their Maker!) who knows nothing(v. 16): all of this (take note) while retaining their religious titles and the meticulous observation of the externals.

To rectify the situation the Lord will have to take drastic action and this is exactly what is signified by the “Therefore” of verse 14. This kind of language is regularly used in the Old Testament of the mighty acts of God, works of such a nature that only God Himself could be the doer of them. What the Lord will do about the present situation will be just as “wonderful” as His deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. But it will be far less pleasant for the present generation, for it is not a foreign tyrant that they are enslaved to but their own foolish wisdom. That is what the Lord must destroy if they are to be free (v. 14b), and we have already seen earlier in the chapter the means that He will use. The outcome, as Isaiah describes it in verses 17-21, will be a complete reversal of the present situation. The deaf will hear and the blind will se, so that the scroll of the divine revelation will no longer be sealed (v. 18). The proud will be abased and the meek exalted, and instead of the empty, insincere worship of verse 13 there will be a heartfelt, joyful praise to the Lord, the Holy One of Israel (vv. 19-21). The final paragraph sums up the great reversal and points to its significance: it will mean that everything that the Lord had in mind when He “redeemed Abraham” (by calling him out of pagan idolatry) so long ago will finally be a reality. God will be honored and worshiped by a people who no longer trust their own wisdom but humbly rely on His (vv. 23-24).

Isaiah 29:1-24 Reflection Questions:

Why does God abhor the externals of religious observance? Give one New Testament example where Jesus deals with it.

Do you know God? I mean really know Him not just knowing about Him. Do you have a real personal relationship with Jesus like you may have with your family, wife/husband, children, or best friend?

Why do you think the religious leaders contradicted the faith in God (Hypocrisy)? How did Jesus deal with this?

Are you still relying on your own wisdom instead of humbly relying on God’s?