Chapters 30 and 31 must be read together if their message is to be grasped properly. They both begin by denouncing the alliance with Egypt in the most explicit terms. In the latter parts of both chapters, however, different but complementary emphases are developed. Chapter 30 focuses on the grace which the Lord longs to show to His people, while chapter 31 centers on the repentance that needs to be forthcoming before that grace can be extended. Chapter 30, then, revolves around the contrasting notions of rebellion and grace. The first keynote is struck in verses 1 and 9 obstinate children, rebellious people) and the second in verse 18 (Yet the Lord longs to be gracious…).

Rebellious Children (30:1-17): While there were political overtones of rebellion do to the Assyrian control of the region in Isaiah’s day, the primary reference here is to the rebellion against God. This is clear from the word children (literally ‘sons’), which points at once to the special relationship between the Lord and those who are addressed here, and it becomes even clearer from the way in which their rebelliousness is subsequently described. And as far as going down to Egypt was concerned, either to seek protection or to acquire horses, the issues of obedience and disobedience were particularly clear, for the Lord had declared His mind on the matter long ago, and had now confirmed it in no uncertain terms through the preaching of Isaiah. It was forbidden. The Lord had demonstrated His superiority over Egypt and its gods at the exodus and had been known to Israel ever since as “the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt”. Theologically speaking, to go down to Egypt for help was to commit apostasy. But it was also just a plain bad defense policy in terms of contemporary political realities. But it is not the way of rebels to listen to reason. The series of short oracles which comprises verses 1-17 reveals the determination and speed with which the nation’s leaders pressed ahead with their plans despite Isaiah’s earnest requests.

Gracious Lord (30:18): Now, however, comes the turning-point of the chapter and with it the profound irony which lies at the heart of its message. The Lord longs to be gracious, and His eagerness to be so is expressed by the fact the He rises to do it. He stands on tiptoe, so to speak, ready to extend His mercy to the rebels. But since He is also a God of justice He can bless only those who wait for Him. Sadly, the leaders of Judah refuse to do this and insist on rushing headlong to disaster. Therefore, since they will not wait for Him, He must wait for them. The picture is like that of the loving father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. And just as the father’s grace to the returned prodigal is extravagant in the parable, so is the Lord’s grace to the rebels of Judah here as soon as they cry out to Him (v. 19), and it is with this that the balance of the chapter is taken up. Thus verse 18 points forwards as well as backwards. It is the pivot on which the whole chapter turns, and gives us a profound insight into the heart of God: He is the God who waits!

How thankful we should be for this! God is patient with His people still, no less than with rebel Judah of old or the prodigal in Jesus’ parable. But such grace gives us no license to become lax. Note carefully the words of the apostle in Romans 2:4 “Do you presume upon the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” To be given time to repent is a great mercy which should be grasped with profound gratitude.

Isaiah 30:1-18 Reflection Questions:

Do you or have you taken God’s great mercy and grace for granted?

What lesson can you get from this study that really impacts your understanding of God’s character?

Does this study bring you to a closer relationship with God? How?

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?

Just as Jesus often used parables to illustrate His teaching, so Isaiah does here. It may be an already existing parable which he presses into service, whether it is his own creation or not it certainly serves his purposes well. It relates to what he has just been saying in at least two main ways.

First, it illustrates God’s various ways of working in history. Sometimes He deals harshly with His people, and sometimes He saves them from their enemies; sometimes He gives them over to their enemies. Why do His ways change so much? The parable gives the answer. A farmer changes his manner of working according to the materials he is working with and the stage he is at. So too the Lord changes His manner of working in history. But His ways are not haphazard; He is working according to a plan. Most of the processes described in the parable suggest pain – plowing, threshing, grinding – but all contribute to the final good of food production. In a similar way the Lord’s severe dealings with His people are directed towards a good end which He constantly has in view, as we have seen (vv. 16 & 22).

The second connection is via the theme of wisdom, to which our attention is pointedly drawn at the end of both sections of the parable (vv. 26 & 29). In acting as he does the farmer is simply putting into practice a wisdom that he has received from God. That is why his work is so productive: he is open to God’s wisdom and willing to be guided by it, unlike the proud, foolish leaders of Jerusalem. Like many of Jesus’ parables, this apparently gentle and reassuring picture of rural life has a sting in its tail.

The issue of the folly (false wisdom) of the nation’s leaders is taken up and developed further in the next chapter; so the parable points forward as well as backwards. Again and again Isaiah has reminded his hearers that in the short term the fate of Jerusalem hangs on the way its leaders respond to the warnings he has sounded, but that its final destiny is secure because of the Lord’s unswerving commitment to make it the center of a renewed earth.

Isaiah 28:23-29 Reflection Questions:

What New Testament parable has spoken to you?

Which agricultural term fits with what you have been or going through now?

What encouraging word do you get from this study?

Like a skilled orator, Isaiah has approached his target group indirectly, but now he unleashes on them the full force of his inspired rhetoric. The word “scoffers,” in verse 14, is a strong indictment, since scoffing in the Old Testament thought, is the very last degree of ungodliness. The rulers in Jerusalem are, if anything, worse than those in Samaria had been. The words attributed to them in verse 15 are highly ironic. They themselves would hardly have described their alliance with Egypt in these terms, but Isaiah puts into their mouths words which show the real import of what they have done. They have inn reality entered into a covenant with death and made an agreement with the grave (Sheol). If they think God’s judgment will pass them by as it did their ancestors, they are mistaken. The promise of effective support which the alliance offered was a false hope, and the faithless diplomacy by which it was constructed was therefore a “refuge of lies” (v. 17). Like the fool’s house in Matthew 7:26-27, it would be swept away; or to put it another way, having made their bed they will have to lie on it, but they will find that it is too short; it will not give them any comfort or protection.

These were not idle threats, as Jerusalem’s leaders were soon to learn to their great loss. But neither did they represent the Lord’s normal attitude to His people or His way of relating to them. Much more typical were His actions at Mount Perazim and Gibeon referred to in verse 21. At Perazim He gave victory to David by breaking through his enemies like a bursting flood, and at Gibeon He defeated Israel’s enemies by raining down hailstones upon them from heaven. That is how He would prefer to act now, and that is why He appeals to His people in verse 22 to stop their scoffing. But since they will not listen, He must turn His judgment, pictured as flood and hail in verse 17, against His own people and use their enemies as His instrument to punish them. It is the very reverse of the way things used to be, and not at all the way the Lord desires them to be. Like a loving father who must take a stick to his rebellious son, he does what he must do with a heavy heart (v. 21b). A parent who acts in this way does so with an eye to the future – to the good that will come if what is hard but necessary is done now.

The same basic thought underlies the image of the precious cornerstone, the sure foundation (v. 16) which stands centrally within the unit and is in many ways the key to the whole. The Lord demolishes what is false only that the true may rise in its place. He acts in the interests of the long term. His ultimate aim is not the destruction of Zion but its renewal. Demolition is a necessary, if distasteful, prelude to rebuilding. And the Lord is already laying the foundation for that new Zion of the future. The stone bears an inscription which gives the hallmark of this community: the one who trusts will never be dismayed. It represents collectively those who, very much against the current trend, placed their whole confidence in the Lord and waited quietly and confidently for Him to act. It was from among this faithful remnant that the Messiah finally came, which is why the New Testament writers see this verse fulfilled ultimately in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 28:14-22 Reflection Questions:

Have you ever been disciplined by the Lord? What lesson did you learn?

What are you building your house on, Rock or sand?

Are you relying on world or placing your whole confidence in the Lord?

We come now to Part 3 (chapters 28-35) in our study of Isaiah’s book. The key issue in these chapters is whether Judah, and in particular its leaders, will rely on Egypt or on the Lord in the face of the growing threat posed by the ever-increasing power of Assyria. This is not a new issue, of course. We have already met it in passing in our studies of chapters 18-20 of Part 2. But it is appropriate that it should surface again here as a central issue because of the position of chapters 28-35, immediately before the account of Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in chapters 36-37. We will now explore the message of this major unit (Part 3) in more detail by looking at each of its parts in turn.

Ephraim here is the northern kingdom, Israel, at least what was left of it after the severe mauling it received from the Assyrians in 733 BC. Its capital city, Samaria, was ideally situated at the head of a fertile valley (v. 1) which extended westward to the Mediterranean Sea. In its heyday it was a beautiful city, and breathtaking views can still be enjoyed from the hill of Samaria where its ruins remain to this day. The Woe pronounced on it here anticipates its imminent fall, an event which in fact occurred in 722 BC. It is likely, then, that the oracle of verses 1-13 was originally delivered just prior to that date. In its present position in chapter 28 it serves as a preface to the oracle against the leaders of Jerusalem (vv 14-22) who were the real targets of Isaiah’s preaching in the crisis which led up to Sennacherib’s invasion. The warnings given to Samaria’s leaders had been tragically fulfilled.  The word “therefore” (v. 14a), is meant to let their counterparts in Jerusalem take careful note and change their ways while they have the opportunity to do so.

Isaiah’s indictment of Samaria’s rulers moves from the more superficial aspects of their reprehensible behavior to its more profoundly serious and disturbing aspects. Drunkenness, of course, is serious enough in itself, especially when it is indulged in at a time of national crisis by those who should be providing the steadying hand of firm and godly leadership. Particularly disturbing was the involvement of the priests and prophets (v. 7). These men, if any, might have shed the light of divine revelation (visions) on the situation and contributed to the making of the right, if hard, decisions. But they too, had chosen the pathway of irresponsible self-indulgence. Isaiah’s disgust at their behavior knows no bounds (v. 8). What hope is there for a nation when even its spiritual leaders have given themselves over to debauchery?

But now Isaiah presses beyond drunkenness to something even more profoundly disturbing in the behavior of these leaders, namely, the contempt they show for any who dare to speak the truth to them from God. There has already been a hint of this in the almost casual way the word “pride” has been used twice in verses 1 and 3. Now it is unpacked: the proud city has proud, unteachable leaders. Through the prophets He had sent to them, the Lord had offered them rest (v. 12a) – a word which represents the sum total of all that was promised to Abraham and confirmed to Israel at Mount Sinai, but especially a secure and peaceful existence in the land He had given them. But they would not listen (v. 12b). That is the fundamental reason the northern kingdom came to grief – the refusal of its leaders to listen to the word of God which should have been the very foundation of their national life.

Verses 9 and 10 represent their typical response. They are insulted. They consider themselves to be the nation’s teachers ad resent being treated (as they see it) as children (v. 9). The drunken leaders mock the Word of God through the prophet as infantile nonsense, childish prattle. Very well, says Isaiah, since they will not listen to the Lord when He speaks to them through the simple clear message of the prophets, He will speak to them through the “prattle” of foreigners (the invading Assyrians), and the result will be not rest but ruin (vv. 11, 13). They will have what they have chosen. We may put ourselves above the Word of God if we will, but there will be a price to pay; God is not mocked. The tragedy, of course, is that when it is leaders who sin it is the whole community that suffers. Isaiah will have nothing of the currently fashionable separation of public and private morality, neither at a later time would John the Baptist. Jesus too, humanly speaking, sealed His fate by His uncompromising exposure of the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders of His day. Before we move out into the world we would do well to make sure that our own house is in order, for it is the leaders of God’s people that Isaiah calls to account here. How can the church be effective in demanding integrity of secular leaders unless its own leaders take seriously the need for it?

On the whole, the atmosphere in this section is heavy. Light does break through briefly at one point, however. Corrupt leadership will not ultimately ruin God’s people. The day will come when a remnant will recognize that the Lord is Israel’s true crown of glory and her only defense (vv. 5-6). These two verses were probably placed here rather than at the end because they complete the “wealth/crown” theme of verses 1-4.

Isaiah 28:1-13 Reflection Questions:

When you are reading the Bible, daily devotionals or listening to a sermon are you hearing and paying attention to the word of God and more importantly obeying it?

What New Testament Scripture talks about looking at the sin of others verses at ours?

Have you ever experienced the repercussions of not listening to God? Do you keep on doing it?

Are you putting yourself above the Word of God?

As the apocalypse of chapters 24-27 draws to a close, and with it the whole second part of the book, Israel comes back into focus as the nation which stands at the center of God’s purposes for the world; verse 6 sums it up. God has a plan which embraces all nations, and Israel is destined to play a central role in that plan. But before it can fulfill its calling it must be cleansed. In bringing that central idea back into sharp focus this passage is a fitting climax to chapters 13-27. It ends, as the book does, with the Lord being worshipped on His holy mountain in Jerusalem.

This song (vv. 2-6) must be read in the light of the earlier song of the vineyard in 5:1-7; a whole series of contrasts is developed. In essence this song announces that eventually (In that day) the judgment proclaimed in the first song will be totally reversed. Formerly the Lord was angry with Israel and invited her enemies to overrun her. But the time will come when His wrath against her will be spent (v. 4a). Then her enemies (briers and thorns) will encroach no more. At the end of the song the Lord speaks like a lover whose love for His beloved is so intense that He almost wishes someone would attack her so that He might have satisfaction of defending he (v. 4). The song finishes in verse 5, but verse 6 then makes the great reversal plain. The world will no longer invade the vineyard; the vineyard will invade the world, filling it with fruit. Here at last will be the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3.

However, in Isaiah’s day, Israel was very far removed from the ideal situation envisioned in verses 1-5. She was in the midst of the cleansing process, when the Lord had broken down the wall of His vineyard and allowed it to be overrun, as graphically described in chapter 1:7-8. We find ourselves back in the painful waiting period with which so much of chapter 26 was about. Three things are said about this judgment. First, it is less severe than that which the Lord has already exercised against Judah’s enemies (v. 7). Secondly, it is carefully controlled with no more severity than is required to achieve the desired end. Thirdly, that end is atonement – removal of what is offensive to God so that forgiveness can become possible (v. 9).

Two images are used in the closing paragraph (vv. 12-13). To express the final destiny of God’s people. The first is agricultural. When the threshing (judgment) is over, the precious grains will be gathered up one by one. There is great tenderness here, and strong reassurance. The grain will not be destroyed with the chaff. Not a single one of those who have relied on the Lord will ultimately be lost. The second image is cultic (having to do with organized worship). The great trumpet of verse 13a is both a proclamation of liberty and a call to worship. As the freed captives of long ago assembled at Mount Sinai to worship the Lord, so will those of the future assemble at the holy mountain in Jerusalem for the same purpose (v. 13b). Then and then only will they be the blessing in the midst of the earth that they were always meant to be (v.6).

A fuller picture of that end-time assembly emerges from elsewhere in Isaiah and, of course, from the New Testament. It will not be restricted to saved Israelites but will include people of all nations. For ultimately the one qualification for inclusion among the people of God in the acknowledgement that salvation is to be found nowhere else than in the God of Israel. All strands of the second major segment of the book converge on this single point: worship – God being acknowledged for who He is. Such worship is not an escape from reality but a return to it, and it is in returning to reality that the world, so long out of joint, will finally be made whole (66:22-23).

Isaiah 27:2-13 Reflection Questions:

What are the contrasts between chapter 5 and 27 songs?

Who is the singer in this final song (vv. 2-6)?

Have you ever been in a cleansing process from the Lord?

Is going to church to worship God reality or is being in the world (work, school, etc.) reality to you?