A Magnificent Vision of the King in His Glorious Triumph

Isaiah 33

Your eyes will see the King in his beauty; you will see a vast land. (Isa 33:17)

Main Idea: This chapter gives a magnificent vision of the victory of King Jesus over all his foes, giving hope to all who trust in him.

1. Lookout Mountain: A Magnificent Prophetic Vision
   1. Lookout Mountain: the magnificent view
   2. Context: Assyrian treachery
   3. Comfort: the prophetic vision
   4. Outcome: sinners in Zion tenderly warned then graciously encouraged
2. You Will See the Destruction of the Treacherous (33:1-6).
   1. Woe to the treacherous destroyer: what goes around comes around.
   2. Judah finally cries out to the Lord.
   3. God is Zion’s treasure: the fear of the Lord is the key.
3. You Will See the King Arise in Power (33:7-16).
   1. The present anguish: a broken treaty (33:7-9)
   2. “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord (33:10-12)!
   3. Zion’s terror-filled question: “Who may dwell with such a God?” (33:14-16)
4. You Will See the Beauty of the King and His Kingdom (33:17-24).
   1. Promise 1: Your eyes will see the King in his beauty.
   2. Promise 2: Your eyes will see a vast land.
   3. Promise 3: Your eyes will no longer see the wicked.
   4. Promise 4: Your eyes will see Zion perfectly governed.
   5. Promise 5: Your sins will be forgiven.
   6. Promise 6: You will be rich.

Lookout Mountain: A Magnificent Prophetic Vision

At the northwest corner of the state of Georgia, Lookout Mountain rises 2,389 feet above sea level. From its peak, it is said that one can see seven states, though actually the curvature of the earth lowers the farthest three of those states below the horizon. Isaiah 33 is a prophetic Lookout Mountain, with a far more magnificent view. The chapter is saturated with rich themes rooted in Isaiah’s immediate circumstances but timeless in their applications. It employs visionary language of what the people of God will “see” (vv. 17,19,20) even in the distant future—and nothing dips below the prophetic horizon because these things have been decreed and announced centuries in advance by almighty God.

The immediate historical context for Isaiah and Judah should be well known to us by now: the threat of Assyrian domination. King Hezekiah and the people of Judah have been trembling under that threat for years and have sought many escapes. Now at last, with nowhere else to turn, Hezekiah and Judah turn to the Lord—as they should have done from the beginning. They now trust in the Lord and cry out to him for deliverance. The vision of this chapter describes what occurs when God rises to vindicate his glory and save his people. The vision stretches out to include the destruction of the wicked, including both “sinners in Zion” and barbarian invaders. The vision covers the future radiant beauty of the King of Zion and of the magnificent land he will rule. The vision ends in the perfect government of Zion and the absolute blessedness of her people.

This magnificent view is a double-edged sword, for the same holiness that motivates God to destroy wicked nations like Assyria also motivates him to purge out sinners from Zion (God’s visible people on earth). Thus, this chapter both warns God’s people to repent and encourages them with blessed hope for the future.

You Will See the Destruction of the Treacherous

Isaiah 33:1-6

The chapter opens with a word of “Woe!” to the treacherous destroyer (v. 1). Assyria is not mentioned by name because this is a transferable promise covering every generation of treacherous tyrants, whoever they may be and whenever they may live. The immediate circumstance is Assyria’s intention to destroy Jerusalem despite a treaty of alliance. Ahaz had faithlessly made an original treaty with Assyria (2 Kgs 16:7), but all that accomplished was to increase Assyria’s interest in eventually conquering Judah. Hezekiah trusted the Lord enough to break the treaty with Assyria and stop making the payments of a vassal state to her overlord (18:7). Assyria responded as any tyrant would: by invading Judah and conquering many of her cities (v. 13). At that point Hezekiah wavered in his trust in the Lord and sought to buy off the Assyrians with silver and gold (vv. 14-16). Assyrian King Sennacherib accepted the payment, implying that he would break off his invasion and leave Judah alone. But he did no such thing. He made it plain that he would soon be coming to Jerusalem to conquer it as well. Sennacherib thus acted treacherously and broke the agreement. This is described in verses 7-9 of Isaiah 33: the “messengers of peace” (Hezekiah’s envoys to Sennacherib) are weeping because of this treachery; they return to Hezekiah with the terrifying news that Assyria will be destroying all the cities of Judah and slaughtering her people. So Hezekiah and Judah now have nowhere else to turn. Their attempts to buy military help from Egypt have failed. Their attempts to buy off Sennacherib and Assyria also have failed. Now that all these efforts have failed, they turn to the Lord. Isn’t it amazing that God would lower himself to want such bargain-basement repentance and faith? How greatly does turning to God as a last resort dishonor the one who should be our first and only Savior! But God lowers himself and accepts it.

He speaks that word of woe on the treacherous destroyer (in this case, Assyria; v. 1). Basically he says, “What goes around comes around.” God decrees that when the destroyer has stopped destroying, he will be destroyed; when he has stopped betraying, he will be betrayed. So Sennacherib was treacherously betrayed and murdered by his own sons (see Isa 37:38), and Assyria was treacherously destroyed by her former vassals Elam and Babylon (Pfeiffer, Old Testament History, 341–42).

Verses 2-6 display the newfound faith and trust of the people of God in this terrifying situation. God has blocked them in, and they must at last turn in faith to him. They cry to him for grace, knowing they don’t deserve his deliverance. The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure; and fearing him, they need fear nothing else.

You Will See the King Arise in Power

Isaiah 33:7-16

As we’ve seen, verses 7-9 reflect the terror caused by the news that Sennacherib will act treacherously and come to destroy Jerusalem. In verses 10-12 God rises up in power to exalt himself by destroying the treacherous and turning their wicked schemes back on them. The report of God’s awesome power will reach the ends of the earth (v. 13).

But such a vision of God’s holy power causes the people of God on earth (Zion) to tremble with terror. The “sinners in Zion” (v. 14) realize that they have no more right to stand before such a holy God than do the Assyrians. In December 1740 Jonathan Edwards preached a powerful sermon based on Isaiah 33:14 entitled “Sinners in Zion Tenderly Warned.” In it he asked the question of that verse: “Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?” The “consuming fire” is the holiness of God, and we sinners are like combustible chaff. The surface of the sun is said to be more than 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the closest a NASA probe could be able to get to it is four million miles away. At that staggering distance, the temperature is an astonishing 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit (Butler, “Solar Probe Plus”)! Just as the sun exists in unapproachable heat, so God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). God’s holiness is like the raging inferno of the sun, and none of us sinners can survive it. The prophetic Word calls all the people of Zion to look inward, see the corruption of our sins, and flee to Christ. For all who humbly repent, the perfect righteousness of Christ will be imputed to them by faith alone, for Christ alone has perfectly lived out the righteousness of verses 15-16. Then, by his Spirit working in us, such a pattern of life can be increasingly ours by faith.

You Will See the Beauty of the King and His Kingdom

Isaiah 33:17-24

The magnificent vision from the top of this “Lookout Mountain” of prophecy ends with a cascade of promises to the true people of God. First, their own eyes will see the King of Zion in his beauty. The greatest beauty our eyes will ever see is the radiant Christ, seated on his throne in the new Jerusalem; and that vision will complete our salvation (1 John 3:2). We will also see a “vast land,” the perfect new heaven and new earth. However, we will not see the wicked people who made life such a horror on earth (Isa 33:18-19). The days of their terrorizing will be over forever. Instead, we will see Zion now consummated in eternal glory. It will be a rich land, flowing with rivers; it will be a secure city, not a movable tent. It will be a place of perfect government, where Jesus Christ will reign. Verse 22 amazingly traces out the branches of human government: the judicial, the legislative, and the executive. In the United States Constitution these three branches are separated from each other in a system of checks and balances because “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Dalberg-Acton, “Letter”). But Jesus Christ is the perfect King, and he cannot be corrupted by anything. He is our Judge, he is our Lawgiver, he is our King. The government will be perfect in his hands. Praise God the fourth title is added: Savior! If all Jesus was for us was Judge, Lawgiver, and King, we would all be justly condemned. But by his atoning work, his fourth title of Savior makes the other three titles something we will yearn to see in eternity. By God’s grace, the final promise of this amazing chapter is of full forgiveness of sins (v. 24).

Applications

The best application of this visionary chapter is to stand on it as “Lookout Mountain” and turn slowly, gazing at each theme in turn.

• We should rest confidently in God’s power to turn the wicked treachery of nations like Assyria back on their own heads.
• We must see how God blocks us in (as he did to Judah) until we have nowhere else to turn; thus, we come to reject all our efforts to buy off our attackers, instead humbly crying out to God alone for salvation (v. 2).
• We must understand that God’s awesome power to exalt himself in history is so that the peoples of the world may call on his name for salvation (vv. 10-13).
• We must be active in evangelism and missions, making certain that people to the ends of the earth may hear of God’s mighty acts of salvation in Christ and be saved.
• We must tremble before the holiness of such a God and ask the question of verse 14: How can a sinner like me dwell with the consuming fire of God’s holiness? We should fear the judgment of God and flee to Christ alone. This theme should cause all the “sinners in Zion” (unregenerate church members) to be warned and flee genuinely to Christ and stop playing religious games.
• We should examine our lives and be sure the holiness of verses 15-16 characterizes us.
• We should cherish the cascading promises of verses 17-24, of our future perfect blessedness in the new Jerusalem, the capital city of the new heaven and new earth. We will see Jesus face to face; we will look out on a perfected earth; we will no longer see any wicked people; we will delight in the perfect government of King Jesus; and we will be rich in our forgiveness. Let this vision fill you with hope!

Reflect and Discuss

1. How is Isaiah 33 like a prophetic “Lookout Mountain”? What themes fill this chapter and fill the minds of all who believe its words?
2. How does 2 Kings 18:13-16 help us understand Isaiah 33:7-9 and the historical context?
3. How does this chapter speak a timeless warning to all treacherous destroyers (not just Assyria)?
4. How does verse 2 give all sinners a great prayer to pray to the Lord for salvation?
5. What attributes of God and of Christ flow in this chapter?
6. What motive does God give for rising up and exalting himself in verses 10-13?
7. What is the significance of the phrase “sinners in Zion”? If “Zion” means God’s visible people on earth, how could verse 14 speak a word of warning to unregenerate church members?
8. How is God like a consuming fire? How does that idea drive us to the cross of Christ for salvation?
9. How should the promises of verses 17-24 fill us with hope as well as with energy for personal holiness and for witness to the ends of the earth?
10. How could the various offices of Christ mentioned in verse 22 (Judge, Lawgiver, King, Savior) be an excellent outline to a gospel presentation?