Isaiah 29:7

7 then all the armies of the nations attacking the city of God's altar, all their weapons and equipment - everything - will vanish like a dream, like something imagined in the night.

Isaiah 29:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 29:7

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against
Ariel
The Roman army, which consisted of men of all nations, that fought against Jerusalem; the city in which was the altar, as the Targum paraphrases it: even all that fight against her, and her munition, and that
distress her;
that besieged it, and endeavoured to demolish its walls, towns, and fortifications, as they did: shall be as a dream of a night vision:
meaning either that the Roman empire should quickly fall, and pass away, and come to nothing, like a dream in the night, as it soon began to decay after the destruction of Jerusalem, and also the Pagan religion in it; or that the Roman army would be disappointed at the taking of the city, expecting to find much riches, and a great spoil, and should not; and so be like a man that dreams, and fancies he is in the possession of what he craves, but, when he awakes, finds he has got nothing. This is more largely exemplified in the following verse ( Isaiah 29:8 ) .

Isaiah 29:7 In-Context

5 Jerusalem, all the foreigners who attack you will be blown away like dust, and their terrifying armies will fly away like straw. Suddenly and unexpectedly
6 the Lord Almighty will rescue you with violent thunderstorms and earthquakes. He will send windstorms and raging fire;
7 then all the armies of the nations attacking the city of God's altar, all their weapons and equipment - everything - will vanish like a dream, like something imagined in the night.
8 All the nations that assemble to attack Jerusalem will be like a starving person who dreams he is eating and wakes up hungry, or like someone dying of thirst who dreams he is drinking and wakes with a dry throat.
9 Go ahead and be stupid! Go ahead and be blind! Get drunk without any wine! Stagger without drinking a drop!
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.