Isaiah 33

The Lord Rises Up

1 Woe, you destroyer never destroyed, you traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, they will betray you.

2 Lord, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning, and our salvation in time of trouble.

3 The peoples flee at the thunderous noise; the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.

4 Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered; people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.

5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 There will be times of security for you- a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.

7 Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets; the messengers of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. An agreement has been broken, cities^[a] despised, and human life disregarded.

9 The land mourns and withers; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off [their] leaves.

10 "Now I will rise up," says the Lord. "Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.

11 You will conceive chaff; you will give birth to stubble. Your breath is fire that will consume you.

12 The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.

13 You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, know My strength."

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the ungodly: "Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?"

15 The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots^[b] and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil^[c]-

16 he will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the rocky fortresses, his food provided, his water assured.

17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty; you will see a vast land.

18 Your mind will meditate on the [past] terror: "Where is the accountant?^[d] Where is the tribute collector?^[e] Where is the one who spied out our defenses?"^[f]

19 You will no longer see the barbarians, a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend- who stammer in a language that is not understood.

20 Look at Zion, the city of our festival times. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up nor will any of its cords be loosened.

21 For there the majestic One, the Lord, will be for us, a place of rivers and broad streams, where ships that are rowed will not go, and majestic vessels will not pass.

22 For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King. He will save us.

23 Your ropes are slack; they cannot hold the base of the mast or spread out the flag. Then abundant spoil will be divided, the lame will plunder it,

24 and none there will say, "I am sick." The people who dwell there will be forgiven [their] iniquity.

Isaiah 33 Commentary

Chapter 33

God's judgments against the enemies of his church. (1-14) The happiness of his people. (15-24)

Verses 1-14 Here we have the proud and false destroyer justly reckoned with for all his fraud and violence. The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. Those who by faith humbly wait for God, shall find him gracious to them; as the day, so let the strength be. If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in his strength to do the work of the day. When God arises, his enemies are scattered. True wisdom and knowledge lead to strength of salvation, which renders us stedfast in the ways of God; and true piety is the only treasure which can never be plundered or spent. The distress Jerusalem was brought into, is described. God's time to appear for his people, is, when all other helpers fail. Let all who hear what God has done, acknowledge that he can do every thing. Sinners in Zion will have much to answer for, above other sinners. And those that rebel against the commands of the word, cannot take its comforts in time of need. His wrath will burn those everlastingly who make themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor ever go out of itself; it is the wrath of an ever-living God preying on the conscience of a never-dying soul.

Verses 15-24 The true believer watches against all occasions of sin. The Divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. He shall want nothing needful for him. Every blessing of salvation is freely bestowed on all that ask with humble, believing prayer; and the believer is safe in time and for ever. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given, and their water sure, but they shall, by faith, see the King of kings in his beauty, the beauty of holiness. The remembrance of the terror they were in, shall add to the pleasure of their deliverance. It is desirable to be quiet in our own houses, but much more so to be quiet in God's house; and in every age Christ will have a seed to serve him. Jerusalem had no large river running by it, but the presence and power of God make up all wants. We have all in God, all we need, or can desire. By faith we take Christ for our Prince and Saviour; he reigns over his redeemed people. All that refuse to have Him to reign over them, make shipwreck of their souls. Sickness is taken away in mercy, when the fruit of it is the taking away of sin. If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason to complain of outward affliction. This last verse leads our thoughts, not only to the most glorious state of the gospel church on earth, but to heaven, where no sickness or trouble can enter. He that blotteth out our transgressions, will heal our souls.

Footnotes

• [a]. DSS read witnesses
• [b]. Lit to bloods
• [c]. Lit eyes from seeing evil
• [d]. Lit counter
• [e]. Lit weigher
• [f]. Lit who counts towers

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 33

This chapter contains an account of God's judgments upon the enemies of his people, and of the peaceable, comfortable, and happy state of the church in the latter day. The judgment denounced, Isa 33:1 a prayer of the church for safety and protection, which it promises itself from what God had heretofore done, Isa 33:2,3 an answer to it, declaring the spoil of the enemy, and the happy times the people of God should enjoy through his appearance for them, Isa 33:4-6 though previous thereunto there would be very distressing ones, Isa 33:7-9 when the Lord resolves to arise and exert his power in the destruction of the people, who should be burnt up like stubble, thorns, and lime, Isa 33:10-12 persons far and near are called upon to take notice of this, Isa 33:13 which would issue in a different manner, in the surprise and terror of hypocrites, and in the safety and plenty of provisions for good men, who are described, Isa 33:14-16 and then follow promises to them, of seeing the King in his beauty, and beholding a distant country of reflecting on past terror with pleasure, being freed from it, and in no danger of a foreign enemy, Isa 33:17-19 and the chapter is concluded with a famous prophecy of the peace, prosperity, and safety of the church, and of the healthfulness of its inhabitants, under the protection of Christ, its King and Lawgiver, its enemies being also an easy prey to it, Isa 33:20-24.