Isaiah Chapter 29. 

Introduction. 

Chapters 28 – 35 of Isaiah contain six “woes”, but also the promise of salvation and restoration. 

To put Isaiah’s prophecy in its historical context, we should recall that during Isaiah’s ministry, Tiglath-Pileser (745 BC to 727 BC) set out to expand Assyrian’s empire to the west. In 722 BC, his successor, Sargon the second, conquered Ephraim, leaving Judah vulnerable.  

Chapter 29 outline.

• vv. 1–4. An oracle of woe against Jerusalem.
• vv. 5 –8. Adonai will act against those who oppress Judah. 
• vv. 9 – 14.The blindness of mechanical religion.
• vv. 15 – 16. Woe to those who hide plans from Adonai.
• vv. 17 – 21. The day of deliverance will come; the return of wisdom.
• vv. 22 – 24. The believing remnant will realize how Adonai has intervened for them.

Verses 1 – 4. An oracle of woe against Jerusalem. 

Verses 1 and 2. 

“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; let feasts come around. Yet I will distress Ariel; there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel.” 

It would appear that nowhere else in scripture is the city of Jerusalem (“the city where David dwelt”) referred to as “Ariel”. The term probably means “altar hearth”. Regrettably, here it probable refers to the coming destruction and bloodshed in Jerusalem which Adonai would bring shortly (“let feasts come around”) upon the city. The bloodshed would look like the altar and the people the sacrifices. 

The repetition of the name “Ariel” perhaps indicates the Lord’s grievous sorrow at what will befall the city as much as the grievous state it has fallen into (“heaviness and sorrow”). 

Verse 3. 

“I will encamp against you all around. I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siegeworks against you.” 

This verse makes quite clear that the trouble coming to Jerusalem is judgment from Adonai. He used as His instruments Assyria (701 BC) and later the Babylonians (586 BC). 

The tactics of siege warfare were to create a mound from which archers could attack the defenders (sending their arrows into the city) and using siegeworks to scale the city walls. 

Verse 4. 

“You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the ground; your speech shall be low, out of the dust; your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.” 

The once strong voice of the city of Jerusalem will become merely a whisper. Jerusalem will be like a captive, humbled in the dust. Her voice would like that of a medium’s spirit, like the voice that the dead were supposed to have. 

This would be a fitting judgement for the sin for necromancy. 

Isaiah 8:19. 

“And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter” should not a people seek the Lord.” 

Verses 5 – 8. Adonai will act against those who oppress Judah. 

Verse 5. 

“Moreover the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitudes of the terrible ones like chaff that passes away; yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly.” 

We have already seen the Assyrians described as “terrible ones” in chapter 25. 

Adonai will “suddenly” bring destruction on Israel’s enemies as we saw with the repelling of the Assyrians from Jerusalem in 701 BC. 

Isaiah 17:13. 

“The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; but God will rebuke them and they will flee away, and be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.” 

Again, we have the picture of the power of Adonai as a strong wind and Israel’s enemies being tossed about by the wind. 

Isaiah 25:5. 

“You will reduce the noise of aliens, as heat in a dry place; as heat in the shadows of a cloud, the song of the terrible ones will be diminished.” 

Later, Adonai’s punishment would come upon Babylon. 

Isaiah 47:11. 

“Therefore evil will come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; you will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know.” 

Verse 6. 

“You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquakes and great noise, with storms and tempests and the flame of devouring fire.” 

The presence of Adonai either for the salvation of His people or for the punishment of His enemies, is often marked with such events as storms and tempests. 

Such was the case for the people in Sinai. 

Exodus 19:16. 

“Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so all the people who were in the camp trembled.” 

Similar events happen when Adonai enters into battle for His people. 

Judges 5: 4,5. 

“Lord, when you went out of Seir, when You marched from the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens poured, the clouds also poured water; the mountains gushed before the Lord, this Sinai, before the Lord God of Israel.” 

Isaiah 30: 27. (a devouring fire). 

“Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with His anger, and His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue like a devouring fire.” 

We have also seen in Revelation such events at the ending of the seal judgments (8: 5), the trumpet judgments (11: 19) and the bowl judgments (16: 18), “noise, thunderings and a great earthquake”. 

Verse 7. 

“The multitude of all nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.” 

Adonai will cause the destruction of the enemies of Jerusalem. All who have threatened the city will disappear like a bad dream when one awakes. They will pass away quickly in an unreal way. 

Isaiah 37: 36. (2 Kings 19: 35 – 37). 

“Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand and when people arose early in the morning there were the corpses – all dead.” 

Adonai’s intention is also laid out in Zechariah. 

Zechariah 12: 9. 

“It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” 

Verse 8. 

“It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look – he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look – he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves; so the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion.” 

Jerusalem’s attackers will find themselves frustrated. Isaiah likens this situation to a dreamer who has the illusion that he is eating and drinking but awakes to find himself still hungry and thirsty. Just when Israel’s foes think they will completely devour the city, they will realize their failure as though awakening from a dream. 

Verses 9 –14. The blindness of mechanical religion. 

Verses 9 and 10. The blindness of disobedience. 

“Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. For the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely the prophets; and He has covered your hearts, namely, the seers.” 

These verses seem to be addressing the religious leaders of Israel. They have blinded themselves to truth. They “stagger” around, but not because they are drunk with alcohol, but with ignorance of the Lord and His ways. There are in a kind of supernatural stupor, so that true visions from Adonai are not appreciated or obeyed. 

False prophets (“seers”) have blinded the people with mechanical religious rituals and with false prophecies. 

Isaiah 6: 9. 

“Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.” 

Isaiah 44: 18. 

“They do not know or understand; for He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.” 

Micah 3: 6, 

“Therefore you shall have night without vision, and you shall have darkness without divination; the sun shall go down on the prophet, and the day shall be dark for them.” 

Verses 11 and 12. 

“The whole vision has come to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate saying, “Read this, please”. And he says, “I cannot for it is sealed.” Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please”. And he says, “I am not literate.” 

Those who are “literate” represent the religious leaders from whom Isaiah’s prophecies were “sealed” due to their spiritual blindness. 

Isaiah 8: 16. 

“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples”. 

Matthew 13: 10,11. 

“And the disciples came and said to Him, “why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” 

The concealing of the truth was a judgment for unbelief. 

Those who were “not literate”, represent the common people; the uneducated. They could not know the book’s contents because it was sealed and they could not read anyway. Therefore, there was no one capable of receiving Adonai’s rich revelation. 

Verses 13 and 14. 

“Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouth and honour Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men. Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvellous work among this people; a marvellous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” 

The people are saying the right things, but their inner nature was far from Adonai. Empty ritualism does not produce closeness to Adonai. Their religion was purely external with nothing but memorised creeds which signify insincerity. 

Psalm 78: 36. 

“… they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue.” 

Ezekiel 33: 30, 31. 

“… and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, “Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.” So they came to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them, for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.” 

The Lord Yeshua used the idea of the “commandments of men” to describe the religious leaders of His day. 

Matthew 15: 6,7. 

“… you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites!” 

The principle of resorting to human wisdom rather than relying on divine wisdom was the spiritual plague of Jerusalem. 

But Adonai will do “a marvellous work” among His people. But sadly, this is an act of supernatural judgment, stripping the keenest mind of wisdom and discernment. Adonai is sending invading forced from Assyria. 

Adonai’s ultimate “marvellous work” will be the Lord Yeshua and His gospel which will also confound human reasoning and wisdom. 

1 Corinthians 1: 18,19. 

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written; “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”  

Verses 15 and 16 indicate woe to those who try to hide plans from Adonai. 

Verse 15. 

“Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”  

The word “counsel” here probably refers to making alliances with other nations instead of turning to Adonai for assistance and protection. There was a secret plan among Judah’s leaders to join with Egypt to combat the Assyrians. The Lord had counselled otherwise. So, they tried to hide their strategy from Him. The result was “woe”; a warning of impending disaster for these deceitful rulers. 

Ezekiel 8: 12. 

“For they say. “The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.” 

Isaiah 30: 1,2. 

““Woe to the rebellious children”, says the Lord, “who take counsel but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who walk to go down to Egypt and have not asked My advice …” 

Verse 16. 

“Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?” 

These rebellious leaders have things the wrong way round. For men to make plans without Adonai is to reject Him as sovereign Creator of the universe. These men were denying the power and knowledge of Adonai. 

Isaiah 45: 18. 

“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” 

Verses 17 – 21. The day of deliverance will come; the restoration of wisdom. 

Verse 17. 

“Is it not yet a very little while till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field esteemed as a forest?”   

“Lebanon”, in scripture, is used as a symbol of earth’s might: Isaiah 2: 13, “… all the cedars of Lebanon … are high and lifted up.” 

This verse continues the idea of things being turned upside down. The leaders of Judah had turned things upside down by seeking to manipulate Adonai rather than submitting to Him. So now Adonai will turn their social world upside down by deflating the pretentious and elevating the lowly. 

What is now a mighty wild forest (Lebanon) will be a fruit field or garden, and what was a fruit field will be an overgrown forest. 

Verse 18. 

“In that day the deaf will hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” 

“In that day”, of course, refers to the future messianic kingdom. 

This verse continues the theme of the usual order of things being turned upside down. 

Those who were once deaf and blind to the words of the book will miraculously understand. Their previous state was caused by the Lord: verse 10 “For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes.” But then the spiritual blindness will no longer exist. 

Isaiah 35: 5. 

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped …” 

Of course, the Lord Yeshua gave additional meaning to these words, apply it additionally to the physical healing of the deaf and blind. 

Verse 19. 

“The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” 

Reference to “the poor” here probable means those who are humble and broken-hearted. 

We see further reversal of things in the messianic kingdom. It is the poor and oppressed who will have the greatest joy; as hardship is replaced. They will exalt the Holy One of Israel. 

Psalm 37: 11. (Matthew 5: 5). 

“But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”  

Isaiah 11: 4. 

“… with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth…” 

James 2: 5. 

“Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs to the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” 

Verses 20 and 21. 

“For the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off – who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words.” 

This verse indicates that in the kingdom, all who have opposed Adonai will be brought down. The Assyrian army was referred to as “terrible”, and we have seen that the “scornful” are those who despise that which is good. 

Isaiah 59: 4. 

“They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.” 

Amos 5: 10. 

“They hate the one who rebukes in the gate and abhor the one who speaks uprightly.” 

There will be no place for these in the messianic kingdom. They “make a man an offender by a word”; i.e., they give false testimony leading to miscarriages of just. The oppression of the powerless will cease. Those with political and judicial authority will no longer use their power to oppress. 

Verses 22 – 24. The believing remnant will realize how Adonai has intervened on their behalf. 

Verses 22 and 23. 

“Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now grow pale; but when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they will hallow My name, and hallow the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel.” 

The phrase, “Jacob shall not now be ashamed”, is based on Adonai’s covenant with the Patriarchs, giving a renewed promise of deliverance to Israel. This verse refers to the believing remnant of Israel, here referred to as “Jacob”. 

Adonai Himself will bring about the redemption of His people; it is done by “My hands”. The remnant will realize how Adonai had intervened on their behalf and they will honour Him. 

Isaiah 45: 17. 

“But Israel shall be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever.” 

Verse 24. 

“These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine.” 

With their newfound respect for Adonai, the formerly wayward ones will gain the capacity for spiritual perception. Those who misjudged and complained will become teachable and knowledgeable.  

Jeremiah 31: 33 – 34. 

“I will put My law in their mind, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more will every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother saying, “Know the Lord”, for they shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them …”