- So who or what are we talking about in the first 4 verses?
- The first passage revolves around Jerusalem
- What is the prophecy for Ariel?
- The Assyrians will fulfill this
- They will not bring the walls down but they will humble Jerusalem
- God is disciplining Jerusalem for their failures during Ahaz's rule (and before)
- How is the second group of verses different from the first passage?
- Now it is a multitude of nations attacking Israel
- They will surround the city
- This is fulfilled in the tribulation period, in the last days of the tribulation before the Messiah's return
- What is similar in the two prophecies?
- Israel is being judged for her sins (the nation)
- It does not make sense that they cannot read, therefore I think verses 11 and 12 are symbolic of a deeper problem, what is it?
- They are spiritually blind
- They cannot discern truth. For all they know, the book is sealed or not understandable
- Verses 13-14 further clarify the problem, what is it?
- They are religious but not believers in God
- They don't understand spiritual truths because the Spirit of God does not reside in their heart
- Lastly, not only are they religious, they are also secretly what?
- They are scoffers
- They don't even believe in God
- They don't believe in creation
- So, this certainly does not describe Israel or Judah of Isaiah's day, nor Israel today--what does it describe?
- It describes the millennial kingdom, when all Israel will be saved
- They will be no more unbelieving Jews
REVIEW: Isaiah has
an uncanny ability to weave two similar yet different prophecies into one. You
have to look for key words to determine the distinctions. This is throughout
the book and continues here.
|
Isa
29:1-8 ESV) Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the
city where David encamped!
Add
year to year;
let
the feasts run their round.
2
Yet I will distress Ariel,
and
there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and
she shall be to me like an Ariel.
3 And I will encamp against you all around,
and
will besiege you with towers
and
I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 And you will be brought low; from the
earth you shall speak,
and
from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your
voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and
from the dust your speech shall whisper.
|
5
But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
and
the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
6 you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with
thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with
whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all
that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall
be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and
awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or
as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and
awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so
shall the multitude of all the nations be
that
fight against Mount Zion.
|
Isa
29:11-16 (ESV) And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of
a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying,
"Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." 12 And
when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this,"
he says, "I cannot read."
|
13
And the Lord said:
"Because
this people draw near with their mouth
and
honor me with their lips,
while
their hearts are far from me,
and
their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14
therefore, behold, I will again
do
wonderful things with this people,
with
wonder upon wonder;
and
the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and
the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden."
|
15
Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose
deeds are in the dark,
and
who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"
16 You turn things upside down!
Shall
the potter be regarded as the clay,
that
the thing made should say of its maker,
"He
did not make me";
or
the thing formed say of him who formed it,
"He
has no understanding"?
|
Isa
29:22-24 (ESV) Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning
the house of Jacob:
"Jacob
shall no more be ashamed,
no
more shall his face grow pale.
23 For
when he sees his children,
the work of my hands, in his midst,
they
will sanctify my name;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and
will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And
those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and
those who murmur will accept instruction."
APPLICATION: You
can be religious but that does not make you a believer in Jesus Christ.
Something happens internally to a person who believes in Jesus. It completely
changes him. It's not that he never doubts, but he is no longer blind, he has
the capacity to see truth if he will try
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