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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 29:13 - 29:24
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The Counsel of God
v. 13. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people, the men of the Southern Kingdom, the children of Judah, draw near Me with their mouth and with their lips do honor Me, in a mere outward form of worship, but have removed their heart far from Me, faith being lost entirely, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men, their outward morality being based wholly upon the rules of conduct in vogue among men, not upon the way of sanctification prescribed by God, Cf Mat_15:8-9,
v. 14. therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, by an exceptional act of judgment; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, so that the counsel and help of those upon whom Judah depended would no longer appear, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid, their leaders becoming dull and stupid without knowing it.
v. 15. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, trying to conceal their object from the eyes of God, as even Hezekiah did at times, and their works are in the dark, as they think, hidden from the omniscience of the Lord, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us?
v. 16. Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay, the sentence being like an exclamation: "Alas upon your perversion! As clay is the potter to be considered?" For shall the work, the vessel as it comes from the potter's hands, say of him that made it, He made me not? Or shall the thing framed, that which is formed by the artist's skill, say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? The leaders of Judah were turning things upside down, ignoring God and even placing themselves in His stead.
v. 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? The reference is to the time of the Messiah, when the hearts of men, moral deserts without the Lord, will be reclaimed so as to bear fruits of righteousness.
v. 18. And In that day shall the deaf, those whose ears had, by their natural perversity, been closed to the voice of the Lord, hear the words of the Book, of the written revelation, and the eyes of the blind, those suffering with spiritual blindness, shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness, for the Lord Himself would enlighten the eyes of their understanding.
v. 19. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, the godly among the afflicted finding their one satisfaction in communion with Him, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Cf Mat_5:3; Luk_6:20.
v. 20. For the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, both the tyrants and the mockers, the enemies of Jehovah being laid low, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off, their wickedness in watching for opportunities to commit iniquity being duly punished,
v. 21. that make a man an offender for a word, unjustly condemning him, no matter what his cause may he, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, one who has a matter at issue in the courts, which were commonly held in the gates of the cities, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught, bringing lying accusations against him, this being the way of the world everywhere.
v. 22. Therefore, thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham, by calling him away from his father's house, out of the midst of idolatry, concerning the house of Jacob, the congregation of people chosen by Him, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale, the Church of the Lord no longer being subject to shame and disappointment.
v. 23. But when he seeth his children, the work of Mine hands, a new generation of sincere believers in Him, in the midst of him, as a new congregation and assembly of saints, they shall sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel, the lesson of Judah's punishment and of the overthrow of the Lord's enemies serving to make the hearts more willing to accept the doctrines of the Lord.
v. 24. They also that erred in spirit, those whose spirit had forsaken the way of the Lord, shall come to understanding, namely, that of God's will and ways, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine, receive the discipline or instruction of the Lord. God desires His children of all times to learn the true wisdom from Him, to hear and heed His Word and be found on the ways of sanctification.