Isaiah 33:17-24

17 Your eyes will see how handsome the king is. You will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18 Your mind will be thinking of the terrors [in the past]. Where are the scribes? Where are the tax collectors? Where are those who counted the towers?
19 You will no longer see those savage people, those people with an unrecognizable language, with a foreign language that you can't understand.
20 Look at Zion, the city of our festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem as a peaceful place. It is a tent that can't be moved. Its tent pegs will never be pulled out, and none of its ropes will be broken.
21 The LORD will be our mighty defender in a place surrounded by wide rivers and streams. Ships with oars won't travel on them. Stately ships won't sail on them.
22 The LORD is our judge. The LORD is our lawgiver. The LORD is our king. The LORD is our savior.
23 Your ropes hang loose, your mast isn't secure, and your sail isn't spread out. A large amount of loot will be distributed. Lame people will carry off your loot.
24 No one who lives [in Zion] will say, "I'm sick." The sins of its inhabitants will be forgiven.

Isaiah 33:17-24 Meaning and Commentary

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.

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