Trouble from men, help from above
33
📚Woe to you who plunder,though you were not plundered,
and who deal treacherously,
though they did not deal treacherously with you!
When you stop plundering,
you will be plundered,
and when you finish dealing treacherously,
they will deal treacherously with you 📖.
33:1 This verse probably refers to Assyria (Isa 10:5-7). But the words of this verse would be suitable for many other treacherous, destroying powers (see Isa 21:1-2; 24:16-17; Dan 8:23-25).⚜
2 📚O LORD,
be gracious to us.
We have waited for you.
Be their arm 📖 every morning,
and our salvation 📖 in the time of trouble.
33:2 A general prayer suitable for the people then, or for any now facing troubles and distress.⚜
3 📚At the noise of the tumult the people flee.
When you rise up the nations 📖 scatter.
4 📚And your plunder will be gathered like caterpillars gather;
men will rush onto it like locusts rushing about.
5 📚The LORD is exalted,
for he dwells on high.
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness 📖.
6 📚And wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
and the strength of salvation;
the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
33:6 Observe here what God considers riches – the fear of the Lord. See notes at Gen 20:11; Job 28:28; Ps 34:1-14; 111:10; Prov 1:7.⚜
7 📚See,
their valiant ones will cry outside;
the ambassadors of peace will weep bitterly.
8 📚The highways are deserted,
men have stopped travelling.
He has broken the covenant;
he has despised the cities,
he regards no man.
9 📚The earth mourns and languishes.
Lebanon is ashamed and withers.
Sharon is like a wilderness,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
33:7-9 Describes conditions during an enemy invasion, possibly the one by the Assyrians, possibly the Babylonian one.⚜
10 📚“Now I will rise”,
says the LORD,
“Now I will be exalted.
Now I will lift up myself.
11 📚You will conceive chaff,
you will give birth to straw.
Your breath will devour you like fire.
12 📚And the people will be burned 📖 to lime.
They will be burned in fire like thorns cut up.
13 📚You who are far off,
hear what I have done;
and you who are near,
acknowledge my might”.
14 📚The sinners 📖 in Zion are afraid.
Fear has gripped the ungodly.
Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings 📖?
33:10-14 God rises in judgment against the “sinners in Zion”. In the Assyrian invasion Jerusalem was saved, so this probably refers to another time, possibly to the destruction of the city at the hands of the Babylonians. Or perhaps to the end of this age (Zech 14:2-3).⚜
15 📚He who conducts himself righteously and speaks uprightly,
he who despises the gain of extortion,
who shakes out his hands,
refusing to take bribes,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
and shuts his eyes from seeing evil,
16 📚He will dwell on high.
His place of defense will be the fortress of the rocks.
Food will be given him.
His water will be sure.
17 📚Your eyes will see the King in his beauty 📖;
they will see the land of far distances 📖.
18 📚Your heart will ponder on the former terror:
“Where is the scribe?
Where is the receiver?
Where is the one who counted the towers?”
19 📚You will not see a fierce people,
a people of obscure speech,
unintelligible,
of a stammering tongue 📖 that you can not understand.
33:18-19 The leaders of the invading armies.⚜
20 📚Look at Zion,
the city of our festivals.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation,
a tent that will not be
taken down 📖.
Not one of its stakes will
ever be removed,
nor will any of its ropes be
broken.
21 📚But there the majestic LORD
will be for us a place
of broad rivers and streams,
in which no galley with
oars will move,
no mighty ship will pass.
22 📚For the LORD is
our judge;
the LORD is our lawgiver;
the LORD is our king.
He will save us.
23 📚Your 📖 rigging is loosened;
they could not strengthen
their mast,
they could not spread the sail.
Then the prey of great plunder 📖
is divided;
the lame take the prey.
24 📚And the inhabitant will not say,
“I am sick 📖”. The people
who live there will be forgiven 📖
their iniquity.
33:17-24 Looks forward to the kingdom of Christ. Certainly it is practically impossible to see in the past the fulfillment of some of the expressions in this passage – for example, v 20. Jerusalem has rarely known peace from Isaiah’s day to ours, and has been pulled down more than once. Verse 24 will not be fulfilled as long as conditions in this world continue as they have since Adam fell into sin.⚜