Major Prophets · Chapter 29 of 66

Isaiah 29

Isaiah cries woe to Ariel, the city where David dwelt, foretelling siege and humbling until its proud voice whispers from the dust. God pours a spirit of deep sleep on the people; His word becomes a sealed book none can read. He rebukes worship that honors Him with lips while hearts are far away. Then the deaf will hear, the blind see, and the meek increase their joy in the Holy One.

What happens in Isaiah 29

Isaiah addresses Ariel, a name for Jerusalem, the city where David encamped, warning that God will distress her with siege works until her proud voice is brought low, whispering from the ground like a ghost. Suddenly her many enemies will vanish like fine dust and a passing dream. Meanwhile the people are spiritually stupefied; God has poured out a spirit of deep sleep, so the whole vision becomes like a sealed book none can read. The Lord rebukes them because they honor Him with their lips while their hearts are far from Him, their fear merely taught by human precept.

Therefore He will do a marvelous work that destroys the wisdom of the wise. Woe to those who hide their plans in the dark, forgetting the Potter who made them. Then comes reversal: the deaf hear the words of the book, the blind see out of darkness, the meek increase their joy, and those who erred come to understanding.

Isaiah 29 in context

Ariel, meaning lion of God or altar hearth, is a poetic name for Jerusalem. The oracle addresses the city's false security and hollow religion, likely amid the Assyrian threat when God would both discipline Jerusalem and dramatically deliver it.

The sudden vanishing of her enemies anticipates the destruction of Sennacherib's army in Isaiah 37. The rebuke of lip-service worship and the promise of spiritual sight for the deaf and blind became key texts in later biblical teaching.

Main themes of Isaiah 29

Isaiah 29 (KJV)

1Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. 2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. 3And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 4And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. 5Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. 6Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. 7And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. 8It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. 9Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 11And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: 12And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 13Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? 16Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? 17Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest? 18And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. 19The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 20For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: 21That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. 22Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. 23But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. 24They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

Verses to carry from Isaiah 29

“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”Isaiah 29:13

“Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?”Isaiah 29:16

“And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.”Isaiah 29:18

Reflection

Let Isaiah search your worship. Is your heart near to God, or do your lips move while your heart wanders? Beware religion reduced to habit and human rule. Ask the God who opens deaf ears and blind eyes to renew genuine love in you, and to give the meek increasing joy in the Holy One.

A prayer from Isaiah 29