ISAIAH

1. ISAIAH CH 29 730 BC

2. Assyria Timeline Four kings of Judah are included: Uzziah (good), Jotham (OK), Ahaz (horrible), and Hezekiah (good) We are talking about Ahaz. He was no good (II Kings 16)

3. Isaiah 29 1Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, Ariel is a nickname for Jerusalem. The name “Ariel” means (among other things) “altar of God”. Jerusalem is established about the rock on which Abraham offered to sacrifice Isaac. This repetition could be like the “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” – signifying that two events are prophesied. It could also mean that two meanings of the word are intended.

4. Isaiah 29 1b the city where David dwelt! This establishes “Ariel” as either Bethlehem, Ziklag, Hebron (none of these 3 has an altar of God), or Jerusalem. Has to be Jerusalem – where Mt. Moriah was, the site of Abraham’s sacrifice, of the sacrificial altar at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite (which ended the plague David’s kingdom suffered), where the Temple was built and established (and rebuilt), and where the Messiah, Jesus, was sacrificed, just outside the wall.

5. Isaiah 29 1c add ye year to year; From the time of this prophecy, it won’t be long, a mere matter of a few years. Just keep living like you’re living; keep marrying and giving in marriage, same ol’ same ol’; keep on saying “Things are going pretty much as they always have.” Sound familiar? (2 Peter 3:4-8) 1d let them kill sacrifices Keep on playing religion. Keep on mixing in your idol worship. Keep on cheating God & man. Keep relying on false hopes and alliances with Egyptians and the like. Then see what happens. “Woe to Ariel” – that’s what happens. “Woe” = the misery and suffering of affliction. You can’t imagine it now, but it’s coming. God punished the Northern Kingdom, Israel, first. The Southern Kingdom, Judah, may have felt they were “better”.

6. Isaiah 29 2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: Just as God did to Pharaoh, as He did to Israel through 40 years in the wilderness, just as He did to Israel during the Judges fiasco, as He did to Northern Israel just 8 years after this prophecy – so would He do to Judah just a little bit later. He put them all under stress to make them alter their behavior. Heaviness and sorrow comes from deprivation, from death all around, from persecution – sort of like the Holocaust or Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem, or Nebuchadnezzar’s, or Titus’.

7. Isaiah 29 2b and it shall be unto me as Ariel. This seems to suggest that He is going to sacrifice Jerusalem, and Judah, itself. Remember that the word “ariel” means “altar of God” (among other things). And what is the purpose of this sacrifice? The purpose of sacrifice is always propitiation (the payment of the price for sin) so that a remnant can experience God’s redemption (in God’s economy, that is nothing less than life from the dead).

8. Isaiah 29 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. Total distress, fear and humiliation. This happened to Jerusalem, at the hands of Sennacherib, in the year 701 BC – just after God had used the same Assyria, under a couple of different leaders, Shalmaneser and Sargon, to clean house on Northern Israel. However, God was merciful to Judah (Southern Israel) this time. He cut them some slack, once again (for His servant David’s sake) – as we shall see. This was a wake-up call. 2 Kings 18:13-27; 19:1-4; 19:20-22; 19:26-36 But did they wake up?

9. Isaiah 29 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. This describes the events we read in 2 Kings 18-19. The Assyrians were mighty, but to God, they were like dust you sweep away with a flick of the broom. 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. Double meaning: Assyrians, hungry and thirsty for the loot inside Jerusalem, dreamed of it, but then God woke them up. The besieged inhabitants were just plain hungry and thirsty, dreaming for weeks of food and water; but on awakening, were still deprived.

10. Isaiah 29 9Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. Keep on acting like business as usual; eat, drink, be merry; marry, give in marriage; plan for your children. And then, watch it all change overnight. Then, be in a daze, be without recourse. Fail. 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. All along, you’ve wished God and His prophets would leave you alone, would just shut up. Well, now even if you wanted to hear from God, you can’t. That’s what happens when you presume upon His patience. His Spirit won’t strive with man forever (Gen. 6:3; just before judgment fell). Here it comes again.

11. Isaiah 29 Transition to New Testament applications. Remember, these prophecies come in layers that are applicable to Isaiah’s generation, the ones immediately after, the First Coming of Christ, the Church Age, and the Second Coming. 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. Reminiscent of Romans 9, 10 and 11 Romans 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:14-15 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. Daniel 12:4, 8-9; Revelation 5:1-5 Another meaning of the name “Ariel” is “Lion of God”!

12. Isaiah 29 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: Jesus quoted these statements: Mark 7:6-13 14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: This is the Church. Colossians 1:26-27 14b for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. This refers to Pharisees, Saducees, Scribes, philosophers, then Jewish thinkers like Marx, Freud, Sagan and athiests like Darwin, Hitchens, Hawking and Dawkins. They have made the Romans 1 mistake of worshiping the creature instead of the Creator.

13. Isaiah 29 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? Guys like these usually try to insert their godless teachings secretly into the national conversation – hoping it won’t be noticed until it is too late. Why? Because they hate God. They like to “grade” God, and give Him bad marks. Amazing!

14. Isaiah 29 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? This is interesting: Lebanon in the Bible is two mountain ridges on the Syrian border with a valley in between. Eastern range is permanently glaciated, very snowy in winter. The word Lebanon, is “Lbn” (white) + “nun” (a person or place). So, “Laban”, a man from there, might be exhibiting a surname, or banner, like “White”; while Lebanon, combining “white” and “place”, has anciently been known as the White Place, not unlike our own “White Mountains”. That’s how place names work. What’s so interesting? Lebanon is an extension of Israel, and the place where “people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light – the Light to the Gentiles.” “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be whiter than snow.” Jacob (Israel), went up to Laban and got him a Syrian (Gentile). Jesus went to the Gentiles and got Him a wife. Their fruitful field is the Church, in white. V. 17 says a lot!

15. Isaiah 29 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. This is the First Coming: John 8:56 “Abraham rejoiced to see My day; he saw it and was glad.” It is also the Millennium – when all shall know the Word of God.

16. Isaiah 29 Last, but not least: Ariel is also the name of a new settlement town in the disputed West Bank region. It is part of the area Obama wants to give over to the palestinians. If he is able to accomplish this travesty, the parting of the land (Joel 3:2), there will be at least 2 “woes” to go around, and probably 3: 1. The people of the new Ariel would be surrounded by bloodthirsty hostiles, 2) there would be great anguish in that town and in Israel itself, and 3) Obama and others would suffer some catastrophe to their administration – as has happened time and again whenever people try to divide the land of Israel (see Bill Koenig’s book, Eye to Eye: Facing the consequences of dividing Israel ). So, “woe to Ariel, to Ariel…” could mean the multiple times Jerusalem was besieged after that prophecy; and it could refer to Jerusalem, and then to the new town of Ariel, now in jeopardy.

17. Isaiah 29 The new Ariel

18. Isaiah 29 It is hard to even find a map that has Ariel on it, so I’ve had to write it in on this one! This is because the parties are so paranoid of admitting that the settlements exist, they act as if they don’t (lest they become “real”). But this town of Ariel has 18,000 residents. I think it exists. And I think it will play a pivotal role in prophecy. Oh, and there’s one more Ariel… *Ariel

19. Isaiah 29 1a Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, He makes it waste

20. Isaiah 29 Ariel Sharon and Dubya Ariel Sharon kicked more enemy rear-end than just about anybody else who could be mentioned: 1948-9, 1953, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982. He may rightly be called a “Lion of God”, as his name implies.