A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 27: Instruction from God

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 27: Instruction from God

Thus far in the course of our discussion of Isaiah chapter 28, we have once again observed that as the children of Israel had been taken off into captivity for punishment for their sins, they were given hope in promises of a future reconciliation. However the terms of that reconciliation had also been expressed along with those promises. So where the prophet had asked “whom shall He teach knowledge?” and “whom shall He make to understand doctrine?”, as those questions had been answered in his prophecy it becomes manifest that doctrine and knowledge as they are taught by the Word of God are prerequisite to entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, as we discussed those answers, we noticed that Paul of Tarsus had cited this very passage in Isaiah where he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 that “21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.” There Paul had purposely omitted the reference to the rest of Yahweh which is found in that same statement he had cited from Isaiah 28:11-12. However writing in (what we now know as) Hebrews chapter 4, Paul spoke of the necessity of hearing the Word of Yahweh in order to enter into His rest, where he had said in part: “7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

Here in Isaiah, hearing the voice of Yahweh is described as learning His knowledge and understanding His doctrine, so Paul of Tarsus was essentially teaching the same things which the prophet Isaiah had also declared, even if it was from a somewhat different perspective. The hardening of hearts is the rejection of the Word of God, as Paul wrote earlier in that same epistle, in chapter 3, “15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” This is explained in Proverbs chapter 28 where we read “13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” There, hardening the heart is a rejection of the Word of God, and concealment of sin leads to evil, or, as the Hebrew word may also mean, distress, injury, misery or calamity. That is what happened to the children of Israel, they just kept sinning, and justified themselves for their sins. So the evil which resulted was the destruction of their kingdom, and their calamity was their going into captivity. 

During the course of His earthly ministry, Yahshua Christ had also taught these things from yet another perspective, where He told His disciples, as it is recorded in John chapter 14, “15 If ye love me, keep my commandments”, and “ 23 … If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.” Yahshua Christ is the expression of mercy and the vessel through whom the children of Israel had been granted the mercy of Yahweh God, and in the giving of the law, in both Exodus chapter 20 (20:6) and Deuteronomy chapter 5 (5:10) Yahweh had declared to the children of Israel that being obedient to His law, He Himself shall be found “ … shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” With this it should also be evident, that where Yahweh declared that He would “speak to this people” through “men of strange lips and another tongue”, as it is in the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, “yet they would not hear”, so He had already known that many in Israel would remain apostate to His Word regardless of the instructions of the apostles of Christ. As we had also cited, from Matthew chapter 5, Christ had promised to give rest to those who would take up His yoke, where He said “29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Since we read in Daniel chapter 12 that some men are resurrected to eternal life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt, there is evidently a limit to His mercy. 

Therefore in our last presentation, Terms of Reconciliation, we had left off in this chapter with a passage that evokes thoughts of the description of the first Passover in Egypt, and the slaying of the firstborn of all the Egyptians. So in words attributed to Yahweh Himself, we read: “17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.” So when we encountered that passage, our first response was to recall a similar passage from Isaiah chapter 26 where we read: “20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” Just before that, Yahweh had also promised that “19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” And immediately following that, in the opening verse of Isaiah chapter 27, Yahweh promised to “1 … punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” That serpent, we had explained, represents the children of the serpent in the sea, which represents the people and nations of the world. 

There is another aspect of this prophecy which we shall now discuss. It is not a coincidence, that as the Word of Yahweh in Isaiah promises to disannul the covenant which these rulers of Israel had made with death, and where He had also informed Israel that “thy dead men shall live”, that He also promises to punish the piercing serpent, and slay the dragon that is in the sea, “in that day” whereby these events are all closely related. In that passage concerning the serpent and the dragon, the phrases are a Hebrew parallelism, by which we should know that the serpent is also referred to as the dragon and that they are one and the same entity. In Genesis chapter 3, a serpent is described as having seduced Eve to sin, and when Eve found the serpent to be agreeable, she essentially made a covenant with death, since Yahweh told Adam that he would die if he ate from that tree, and Adam had in turn communicated that warning to his wife. Then when Eve transgressed, and Adam joined in his wife’s sin, he also had agreed, making himself a party to that same covenant with death. So that covenant may only be broken once the serpent is destroyed, and that is why vengeance is the sole responsibility of Yahweh Himself. In Isaiah chapter 63 we read “4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” So according to the Revelation, in chapters 20 and 21, once Christ returns, the serpent, which is also identified as the dragon in Revelation chapter 12, shall be cast into the Lake of Fire. [While we have identified this serpent, or dragon, at length in many of our discussions of Scripture, it is beyond our purpose to do that once again here. See, for example, our presentation Identifying the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.]

Here in Isaiah chapter 28, these judgments which are laid to the line must be those judgments which shall ultimately be meted out in Christ. These prophecies in Isaiah immediately follow the description of the destruction of ancient Tyre, which we had asserted was a type for the Mystery Babylon of the Revelation since it had been a great merchant city, and it had been the greatest merchant city of the ancient world of Israel for nearly a thousand years. Then in the Revelation, immediately following the fall of Mystery Babylon in chapter 18, in chapter 19 we read, as John describes what he had seen: “1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” This is an aspect of the same purpose which was expressed for the slaying of leviathan the piercing serpent in Isaiah chapter 27. So the prophetic narrative of the judgment of Yahweh God in Isaiah is the same prophetic narrative of the judgment of Yahweh God which is fulfilled in Yahshua Christ in the Revelation, and Christ is the Stone mentioned here in this same chapter of Isaiah, where Yahweh had proclaimed in verse 16, as it is in the Septuagint and as Paul had paraphrased it in Romans chapter 9: “Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” So the Word of God in the Old Testament prophets is the same Word which Yahweh God Himself had uttered in the Revelation through that same Stone, which is Yahshua Christ. In that aspect, Isaiah was also a prophet of the Revelation. 

Here in Isaiah, as well as in chapter 26, the Judgment of Christ and destruction of His enemies at His coming is likened to the first Passover in Egypt, where we read in Exodus chapter 12: “ 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” The children of Israel had remained safe in their houses, where the doorposts had been covered with the blood of the Passover lamb. So in the time of the end, according to these two passages in Isaiah, when Christ returns His enemies shall be destroyed in that same fashion, as the children of Israel are beckoned to enter into their chambers and shut their doors, in chapter 26. However those who reject the Word of God shall be trodden down by the overflowing scourge, as we read here in chapter 28.

Although the day of Yahweh’s vengeance is likened to the Passover account of the Exodus here in Isaiah, in Revelation chapter 19, at the beginning of what is called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb which is also a description of that same event we read: “11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

However these two contrasting descriptions of the day of Yahweh’s judgment of His enemies are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps they are reconciled in Habakkuk chapter 3, where we read another similar prophecy: “12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck.” Similarly, we read in the 78th Psalm: “49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them [perhaps the armies of heaven]. 50 He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; 51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: 52 But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 53 And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.”

With this, it should also be evident that while the Passover is symbolic of the sacrifice of Christ on behalf of His people, it is also symbolic of the ultimate revenge which He shall have against all of His enemies. So with that in mind, we shall now continue the description of this ultimate Passover as it is found here in Isaiah chapter 28. In verse 17 Yahweh had promised to lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, in order to sweep away the refuge of lies in which the people would hide themselves. So with the waters overflowing the hiding place, their “covenant with death shall be disannulled”, and their “agreement with hell shall not stand”. This is certainly a message of salvation, in spite of the sins of the people. However then, in spite of the message of salvation, a dire warning is added where it says: “when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.”

Now as we commence with verse 19, that warning continues: 

19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 

Ignorance is bliss, so they say. But it seems that when we understand the Word of God, when we study the prophecy and see His judgments manifest themselves in the world, it is a vexation, because with the mere obedience of the people to His law all of their troubles may evaporate. However Yahweh has mercy, and although their covenant with death shall be disanulled, and although their agreement with hell shall not stand, men shall nevertheless be punished for their sins. With the fall of Mystery Babylon, as it is described in Revelation chapter 18, there is a call to “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Continually agreeing with the enemies of Yahweh their God contrary to His law, the people deserve their punishment. So ostensibly, those who fail to heed the call to “come out of her” shall suffer along with the enemies of Christ, and they “shall be trodden down by the overflowing scourge.” Furthermore, if men refuse to be instructed through obedience, they shall indeed be instructed in that punishment. But here we must also observe that these words are specifically addressed to the rulers of the people, as we read in verse 14: “Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem”, and this is still that Word which the rulers were to hear.

So now there is a sort of parable, or even a riddle:

20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 

This seems to indicate that these men would suffer great turmoil in their state of apostasy, so that they would have no rest, which also suggests that the promises of entering into the rest of Yahweh is made only to the children of Israel who would choose obedience. Now there seems to be another reference to the day of the wrath and vengeance of Yahweh:

21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. 

The name Perazim is found in this form only here in Isaiah. However it certainly must be a reference to Baalperazim, the place where David had smitten the Philistines who had challenged him in the valley of the Rephaim almost as soon as he had become king. So in 2 Samuel chapter 5 we read, in part: “18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. 20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.” The name Perazim is from a plural form of a word which means break or breech, so Baalperazim means lord of the breaches (cf. Strong’s #’s 6555 through 6559). It seems that David gave Baalperizim such a name for pious reasons, as he credited Yahweh with destroying his enemies “as the breach of waters”, and Baalperizim means “lord of the breach”.

The reference to the valley of Gibeon must be to the day upon which Yahweh God had made the sun stand still, so that Joshua and the Israelites had time sufficient to destroy all of their enemies, as we read in Joshua chapter 10: “12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.” So that also must be a prophetic type for the day of the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.

The execution of the vengeance of Yahweh is described here as a “strange work” and a “strange act”, but we cannot possibly describe that, since it has not yet been completed. There are parallels in the language in the description of the event at Baalperazim where the vengeance of Yahweh here in Isaiah is described as an “overflowing scourge” and David had exclaimed that “The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters.” The standing still of the sun and moon as Israel slew the Amorites in the valley of Gibeon was also certainly a “strange work”, so it seems that these events may give some insight into what to expect once the year of Yahweh’s redeemed has come.

These rulers of Jerusalem who are spoken of here had been called “scornful men” where they were addressed in verse 14 and now, on account of the dismal alternatives which they would face if they refused to accept the terms of reconciliation, Isaiah himself gives them a further warning, which is apparently intended to persuade them to obedience:

22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. 23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. 

Of course, these warnings had an immediate application, or near-vision fulfillment, in relation to the imminent destruction of Jerusalem which Isaiah had already uttered in the earlier chapters of his prophecy. However they are even more relevant in relation to Christ, who is the foundation stone laid in Zion, as it is described in verse 16, and the judgment described thereafter. Now Isaiah continues to plead with the rulers of Jerusalem, using an allegory of a plowman:

24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? 25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? 26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 

While the reference is to the instruction of the plowman, this is only an allegory for the rulers of the people who should be tending the Garden of God. In Ezekiel chapter 31, for example, the nations of the Adamic world are described as trees in a forest of Eden, the garden of God. In Ezekiel chapter 28 the king of Tyre was lamented, and described as an anointed cherub “ in Eden the garden of God”. Here the plowman is representative of Yahweh Himself, as He shall plow Jerusalem. Continuing the allegory, which is a parable:

27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. 28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. 

The meaning of this parable is much better ascertained from the translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible or the New American Standard Bible, so we shall read these verses from that edition: “24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground? 25 Does he not level its surface, And sow dill and scatter cummin, And plant wheat in rows, Barley in its place, and rye within its area? 26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly. 27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin; But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club. 28 Grain for bread is crushed, Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, He does not thresh it longer.” Now for the conclusion of both the parable and Isaiah chapter 28:

29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. 

In this parable, it seems that Yahweh Himself is represented by the plowman, and the children of Israel are represented by the assorted varieties of seed. He shall treat each variety as required, so that each will bear fruit for His purpose. So by working His field, which is the body of the children of Israel, each seed will be planted and threshed accordingly, until He has effected the desired result. The people are grain in His hand, and they themselves ultimately have no choice but to comply, being planted, threshed and beaten in the manner in which He deems necessary. In Revelation chapter 22, the Tree of Life is described as producing “twelve manner of fruits”, which represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now we shall proceed with Isaiah chapter 29, bearing in mind the overall context of this portion of Isaiah’s prophecy had begun with the Burden of Tyre at the beginning of Isaiah chapter 23. In chapter 26, Jerusalem was set in contrast to Tyre, and now it is evident that Jerusalem is still the subject here, even if discussions of Ephraim and the rest of Israel had been included:

Isaiah 29:1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. 

While Tyre would be destroyed and never rebuilt, throughout the balance of the prophecy of Isaiah a different fate is outlined for Jerusalem. The Hebrew word translated as Ariel is אריאל or ariel (# 740), and it is a compound word which means lion of God, since ארי or ari (# 738) is a lion. However the Brown, Driver and Briggs lexicon offers an alternate spelling in addition to אריאל which is אריאיל, and for a definition they refer the reader to another word, ארה or arah, and there are several entries in their lexicon with that spelling. One is found at Strong’s entry # 717 and means to pluck or gather, and the other is found in their entry, which relates to Strong’s entry # 691 but which is not equivalent to the Strong’s definition, to which they assign a secondary meaning, which is to burn, wherefore they also offered hearth of God as an alternative definition of this word Ariel. [1] 

Moreover, the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible spells the name Ariel here as Aruel, which indicates confusion with the letters yodh (י) and vav (ו) among the Hebrew manuscripts. For this chapter, the editors list four copies of Isaiah found among the scrolls as their primary sources, and inform us that only the scroll designated as 1QIsaiah^a has Ariel, along with the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint. Because I cannot find a lexicon entry for ארו, the Aru portion of Aruel, I cannot venture a definition and Gesenius adds nothing to what we have already seen here, defining אריאל or ariel as either lion of God or hearth of God. [2]

However in the context of this label Ariel, we should consider the alternate meaning of the root word defined by Brown, Driver, Briggs as pluck or gather, and the parable of the planter which immediately precedes this verse may lead us to consider another meaning for Ariel, which is harvest of God. In any event, referring to Ariel as “the city where David dwelt” unmistakably identifies it with Jerusalem. Now, while the destruction of Jerusalem was prophesied several times earlier in Isaiah, it is even more explicit here, that Yahweh would distress Jerusalem just as the planter (plowman) of the parable must distress the grain in order to reap the harvest:

2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. 3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 

Where the King James Version has the end of verse 1 to read “add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices”, the New American Standard Bible has “Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.” While the Septuagint has a strange reading, “Gather ye fruits year by year; eat ye, for ye shall eat with Moab”, the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible has “Add year to year, let the feasts come round”, which supports the readings from the Masoretic Text. The clause suggests that business as usual shall continue to be conducted in Jerusalem for at least some years before this judgment is executed.

Here in verse 2, where we read “Yet I will distress Ariel …. and it shall be unto me as Ariel”, it seems to suggest our reading of the meaning of the name as “harvest of God” since at the time of the harvest the planter typically surrounds the field with his tools and his laborers in order to take the grain, and that correlates to the text here in verse 3. However the use of the label in this manner also leaves open a possibility that the phrase purposely has more than one meaning, which may be elucidated if all the possible meanings were compared in each place. However while we would posit the meaning harvest of God, this harvesting of Jerusalem has a different purpose:

4 And 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. 

Perhaps the meaning of this verse is somewhat deeper than merely describing the humbling effects of the destruction which Jerusalem would suffer. Perhaps the remembrance of those who would die in this judgment would haunt the people of Jerusalem in latter times. But even the planter would open the earth with his plow, and drop the seed into the crevices, low in the dust, where once the sprout matures, the captives of Judah in Babylon would allegorically be speaking out of the dust once they return to rebuild Jerusalem, as they had been harvested there and then planted in Babylon. Even the name of Zerubbabel, the descendant of David who was commissioned to rebuild the Temple, means “sown in Babel”, or Babylon. These men would speak out of the dust, because their memory would be preserved and haunt future generations of Israel, who would remember the kingdom and the sins for which they were destroyed, and furthermore, their posterity would also suffer on account of those sins.

With every harvest there is grain, and there is chaff, and now our interpretation of this as a harvest of God is upheld in another allegory:

5 Moreover 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. 

The fact that Yahweh had used this term Ariel to describe Jerusalem immediately after transmitting a parable of a planter and the methods of his harvest seems to indicate to us the most likely meaning of the word Ariel, and that is in turn explained here by the reference to the strangers in Jerusalem as chaff. So Ariel means harvest of God in contrast to the strangers who are counted as chaff. 

The children of Israel were commanded to be a separate people, for example where we read in Deuteronomy chapter 7: “6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” Then again, in Deuteronomy chapter 14: “2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” So when they had entered Canaan, they were told to kill or to drive out all of the previous inhabitants, and they failed to do so. Eventually, they began to mingle with them instead, and here in Isaiah we see that is also a cause of their sin.

Later in the history of prophecy, this will become more explicit in Jeremiah chapter 2, where Jerusalem is condemned, and among the reasons for its condemnation we read, first in verse 13: “13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Then a little further on, “21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? 22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim?” Going after Baalim, the people were taking part in the degenerate practices of the Canaanites, who had typically mated like dogs at the altars of Baal. The sin that cannot be washed of is on the faces of their bastard children.

The race-mixing with these strangers at Jerusalem is spelled out more explicitly, and in at least many cases, literally, in Ezekiel chapter 16: “1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.” Among other condemnations, including some which are similar to the passage we are about to cite, a little later in that chapter of Ezekiel we read: “25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.” The phrase “opened thy feet” would more literally be translated in modern English as “spread thy legs”, and that describes the gravity of their sin. In the New American Standard Bible it is rendered in that manner, as “spread your legs”.

Since a bastard shall not enter the congregation of Yahweh, as we read in the law in Deuteronomy chapter 23 (23:2), the chaff are a reference to the strangers, and it is evident that the phrases “the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust” and “the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff” are also parallelisms describing the same phenomenon. Therefore when John the baptist had announced that he was not the Christ, but that the Christ was coming, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 3 we read in part: “16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”

Yahweh God is the plowman of this parable, as it is later spoken of Christ. The chaff are those whose names are not written in the Book of Life, who are therefore cast into the Lake of Fire, in Revelation chapter 20 (20:15). These are also the goat nations, whose destiny is the “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”, as Christ explained in Matthew chapter 25. These are the tares of the field, who were sowed by the devil in the parable of the wheat and the tares of Matthew chapter 13, and there we read: “40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.”

Returning to describe the fate of Jerusalem from a different perspective:

6 Thou 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. 7 And 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. 

Not only shall the chaff be destroyed, but all of the other nations which shall execute this judgment on Jerusalem shall also ultimately be destroyed.

8 It 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. 

This had a near-vision implication, since the ancient kingdoms of the time of Isaiah, including Babylon, were no longer kingdoms by the time of Christ. By the first century, there were no recognizable Babylonians, Moabites, or Philistines. But there were still Edomites, and the Edomites had even taken over Judaea, so while on the surface this prophecy may seem to have been fulfilled, Christ has not yet taken the wheat into His garner not purged His floor, and therefore this is even more relevant to a far-vision fulfillment, which we expect once the final chapters of the Revelation begin to be fulfilled.

Now the prophet evokes the references to the drunkards of Ephraim, however these people shall be drunk with something other than wine:

9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For 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. 

This also evokes the earlier condemnations of Jerusalem which are found in Isaiah, namely in chapter 6 where we read: “8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” So Isaiah was selected, and we read: “9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Immediately, Isaiah had inquired as to the extent of this blindness, and we read: “11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.”

So at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, the eyes of the people would be blinded, ostensibly so that the will of Yahweh would proceed unhindered, and that is also the message here, repeated in a somewhat different manner. Now it is even tied to their apparent inability to learn doctrine, where the prophet had asked, in Isaiah chapter 28: “ 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?…”

11 And 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: 12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 

Of all the books of Scripture, only the final chapters of the Book of Daniel were explicitly sealed, but as Paul of Tarsus had explained in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, a veil was placed over the eyes of the people of Israel, so that they could not understand Moses until they had received the gospel of Christ. Here is the beginning, and the purpose, of Yahweh God having placed that veil, so that His word would be fulfilled.

As we have noted in our commentary on Isaiah chapter 28, in Romans chapter 9 Paul had mixed elements from a prophecy found in Isaiah chapter 8 with a similar prophecy in Isaiah chapter 28 where he wrote: “33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” In Romans chapter 11, Paul does that same thing, where he wrote “8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” Having written that, Paul mixed elements of two other similar prophecies in Isaiah, that found here in verse 10 were we read that Yahweh would pour out upon Jerusalem a “spirit of deep sleep”, or slumber, and the similar prophecy in Isaiah chapter 6 which says to the people of Jerusalem that their eyes would be shut, so that they would not see, and their ears would be heavy, so that they would not hear.

The lament of the unlearned in verse 12, that he could not read the book unless he was learned, evokes the words of the so-called Ethiopian eunuch of Acts chapter 8, who was actually a Judaean in the employ of the queen of Ethiopia, and when Philip the apostle encountered him in the way, we read: “30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.”

13 Wherefore 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: 

The people took the Name of Yahweh in vain, something for which the Scriptures often condemn them. Here that is defined, at least in part. They honored Yahweh with their lips by professing Him, but their hearts were far from Him because they had forsaken His commandments for the precepts of men. To this day they continue to do that same thing.

This passage was cited by Christ Himself, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 15 and Mark chapter 6. So in Matthew chapter 15, where Christ had chastised the Pharisees for upholding their own traditions, which were in conflict with the laws of Yahweh, and we read: “7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Although its variant readings are usually not supported in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this also upholds the text of the Septuagint, since the words of Christ as they were recorded here by Matthew are very close to being a verbatim citation of the Septuagint, where we read in verse 13 according to Brenton’s translation: “13 And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.”

Matthew 15:7-8:

7 ὑποκριταί, καλῶς ἐπροφήτευσεν περὶ ὑμῶν Ἠσαΐας λέγων· 8 ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσίν με τιμᾷ, ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ·

Isaiah 29:13 from the Septuagint:

13 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ἐγγίζει μοι ὁ λαὸς οὗτος τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτῶν τιμῶσίν με ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρρω ἀπέχει ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ μάτην δὲ σέβονταί με διδάσκοντες ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ διδασκαλίας

Now Yahweh responds to their error:

14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 

The marvellous work is certainly the same as the “strange work” of chapter 28.

In chapter 1 of his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul of Tarsus had cited this verse where he wrote: “19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” With the exception of one word, Paul’s citation is a verbatim quote from the Greek of the Septuagint for this verse. However where we read “shall be hid” here, and it says “will hide” in Brenton’s Septuagint translation, Paul wrote “bring to nothing”, as the King James Version translated the word where he differed.

1 Corinthians 1:19:

19 Γέγραπται γάρ, Ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν, καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν ἀθετήσω.

Isaiah 29:14, last clause only, from the Septuagint:

14 … καὶ ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν κρύψω

Now there is a further condemnation for their having done this, which may even evoke images of later Talmudic subterfuge:

15 Woe 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? 16 Surely 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? 

The Edomite Jews who wrote the Talmud certainly have engaged in “turning things upside down”. Perhaps that was one reason why Paul of Tarsus had cited this verse in Romans chapter 9, where he professed that not all of those in Israel were actually of Israel, for which reason he prayed only for his “kinsmen according to the flesh”, and after comparing Jacob and Esau he wrote: “20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” While this passage is not directly addressing Edomites, the men of Jerusalem at the time of Christ were the products of both the Judaeans and the Edomites with whom they had mingled.

Now another allegory is added to the condemnation, and this is also a prophecy of Christ:

17 Is 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? 

Shortly before the time when Isaiah had written these words, the children of Israel who had previously dwelt in Lebanon had been brought into captivity, or even destroyed, by the Assyrians. That process began around 743 BC, in the time of Tiglath Pileser III, as we had documented in earlier portions of this Commentary, and it may have continued even after the fall of Samaria in 721 BC, an event which is apparently already several years in the past at this point in Isaiah. So although portions of Lebanon may have been repopulated with people from other parts of the empire by the Assyrians, in the eyes of Yahweh God it would be desolate, since Israel had been taken away.

But upon the coming settlements of the Greeks and Romans, and the spreading of the Israelite Judaeans who had returned to Jerusalem, Lebanon would become a fruitful field, since Greeks and Romans had also chiefly descended from the ancient Israelites, from those who had departed from Israel not only as Moses had left Egypt, also but in the colonization period of the Israelite Phoenicians, Dorians and Danaans. [3]

18 And 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. 19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 

The apostle Matthew described the ministry of Christ in chapter 15 of his Gospel: “ 30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.” While Christ had performed these miracles on people who were physically deaf, dumb, lame and blind, they merely represent the body of the children of Israel in captivity, including those in Judaea, who were the deaf and blind of these prophecies, as they were blinded by Yahweh God so that His Word could be fulfilled without opposition.

In another incident, John the Baptist had sent two of his disciples to make inquiry of Yahshua, as he wanted to be certain that He was the Christ, where in Luke chapter 7 we read: “19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”

Therefore we must conclude, that the phrase “in that day”, when Lebanon became a fruitful field, refers to the acceptance of the Gospel of Christ among the scattered children of Israel during the time of His ministry. Of course, the meek and the poor did rejoice at this, since we read in Matthew chapter 5: “3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

The warning in the next verse must pertain more to the chaff, than to the grain which is blind and deaf:

20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: 21 That 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. 

This is precisely what had happened to Yahshua Christ, by which we may also know the nature of the terrible one, and the scorner. So in Matthew chapter 22 we read: “15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.” The word translated as talk is the Greek word λόγος, which is literally a word, but also speech. Continuing with Matthew: “16 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians (the friends and family of Herod), saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. [The enemy often poses as a sycophant.] 17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. 22 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.”

Ultimately, the enemies of Christ found no just cause by which to convict Him, and He was convicted by false witnesses. So we read, in Matthew chapter 26: “59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses…” Today, the enemies of Christ cry “antisemitism” and seek to have laws enacted which govern speech that they do not like, even if it is true, so that they may execute the followers of Christ in this same manner by which they had executed Christ, making a man an offender for a word. To the contrary, the laws of Yahweh only punish men for actions, or for blaspheming Him. Under Yahweh’s law, no man is punished for speaking truth in regard to others. Rather, men may be punished when they fail to speak truth in regard to others.

But in the end, there is an assurance:

22 Therefore 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. 23 But 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. 

As the children of Israel are going into captivity, including all of Judah, the promises which Yahweh God had made to the patriarchs, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, shall be upheld just as He had made them. Where we read “when he”, meaning Jacob, who shall not be ashamed, “seeth his children. The work of mine hands”, he shall see the children of the twelve tribes of Israel, his descendants, and no others. If Jacob sees the children of his enemies, or of any other race other than his own, he certainly would be ashamed since he labored for Laban in his old age in order to assure himself children, by the grace of Yahweh. For this reason, Paul had attested in Romans chapter 4 that the promises to Abraham concerning his seed would be fulfilled “as it is written”, and in Romans chapter 15 that “8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 9 And that the [Nations] might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the [Nations], and sing unto thy name.”

Those nations are the same nations of the promise made to Abraham, in Genesis chapter 17: “5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee”, and those nations would come form his loins. Likewise Yahweh had spoken to Jacob, in Genesis chapter 35: “ 11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins”. Thus we read, in Isaiah chapter 45: “11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” Then, as we consider the final verse and the conclusion of this chapter, we read in Isaiah chapter 60: “21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.”

Therefore we read in conclusion here:

24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

So man shall learn from the instruction which is from God one way or another, either in obedience and the acceptance of His Word, or in disobedience and the chastisement of the punishments for their sins. Thus we read, in Hebrews chapter 12: “6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

Much later, in Isaiah chapter 54, we read a promise to Israel which says: “13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” This was cited in chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, in words attributed to Christ Himself: “45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.”

The entire purpose of Isaiah is to teach the instruction of God, heralding the Christ as Israel is sent into punishment for their sins. This concludes our commentary through Isaiah chapter 29.

Footnotes

1 The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Hendrickson Publishers, 2021, pp. 72-73.

2 Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Baker Books, 1979, p. 78.

3 See the Historical Essays at Christogenea for several relevant papers which elucidate the histories and myths supporting these assertions. https://christogenea.org/essays.