For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 33:1-12

1 Woe to you, destroyer,
    you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
    you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
    you will be destroyed;
when you stop betraying,
    you will be betrayed.

2 Lord, be gracious to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength every morning,
    our salvation in time of distress.
3 At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee;
    when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
    like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
    he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
    a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
    the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets;
    the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
    no travellers are on the roads.
The treaty is broken,
    its witnesses are despised,
    no one is respected.
9 The land dries up and wastes away,
    Lebanon is ashamed and withers;
Sharon is like the Arabah,
    and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

10 ‘Now will I arise,’ says the Lord.
    ‘Now will I be exalted;
    now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive chaff,
    you give birth to straw;
    your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes;
    like cut thorn-bushes they will be set ablaze.’

A. Find Out

1. Who is now condemned? v.1
2. What does he call on the Lord for? v.2
3. What does he see happening? v.3,4
4. How does he see the Lord? v.5,6
5. How does he see the land? v.7-9
6. What will the Lord do? v.10-12

B. Think:

1. What does he see happening in practical terms to the enemy?
2. What does he see happening to Israel?
3. Yet what hope is there?

C. Comment:

The difficulty with broad prophecy sometimes is that it isn’t specific in its application. Thus now Isaiah appears first to warn those the Lord would use to chastise Israel. When they have done their work and sit back, it will be their turn (v.1). The only hope for Israel in such times is the Lord (v.2) because when He moves nations are scattered (v.3) but until He does, plundering enemy armies clear the land (v.4).

But in the face of all this upheaval and uncertainty, the Lord’s ‘home’ is Jerusalem where He will be exalted (v.5) and He is the only One who can be relied upon to bring stability and salvation (v.6).

Yet at the present, all the prophet can see is warfare (v.7) and the land is desolate (v.8a), for although there had been peace treaties these are now disregarded (v.8b) – this may be the betrayal that he referred to earlier. The whole of the area is in anguish and desolation, presumably as a result of this betrayal (v.9).

But now it is time for the Lord to move and be seen (v.10). In what will follow everything will be like material that is so easily burnt up (chaff & straw) but that is of the people’s making and they destroy themselves (v.11) and so they will be set on fire and destroyed (v.12). The wording seems to imply that this is the people’s folly returning on them and bringing destruction. They have relied on outsiders and not the Lord and have been betrayed by their ‘helpers’. Destruction follows.

D. Application:

1. If we rely on unholy fire, we will be burnt.
2. Safety only comes in relying on the Lord.

Passage: Isaiah 33:13-19

13 You who are far away, hear what I have done;
    you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified;
    trembling grips the godless:
‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?
    Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?’
15 Those who walk righteously
    and speak what is right,
who reject gain from extortion
    and keep their hands from accepting bribes,
who stop their ears against plots of murder
    and shut their eyes against contemplating evil –
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,
    whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
Their bread will be supplied,
    and water will not fail them.

17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty
    and view a land that stretches afar.
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:
    ‘Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
    Where is the officer in charge of the towers?’
19 You will see those arrogant people no more,
    people whose speech is obscure,
    whose language is strange and incomprehensible.

A. Find Out

1. Who is called to do what? v.13
2. Who feels what? v.14
3. Who will dwell where? v.15,16
4. What will they see? v.17
5. What will they reflect on? v.18
6. And who will they no longer see? v.19

B. Think:

1. How do these verses separate the sinner and the righteous?
2. How does it seem to span over a long period of time?
3. To whom and how should it bring comfort?

C. Comment:

So often the prophetic word lifts us out of the present and seems to give us an aerial view of time. Here the Lord calls both those who were far away and have just heard, and those who were near and now see, to note what He has done (v.13) even though it has not yet happened.

The Lord is coming against those in Jerusalem who continue to sin against Him (v.14) and they will be terrified by the judgement He brings, the destruction that will come. Yet those who are righteous (v.15) will have no cause to fear for they will survive and be blessed (v.16). They will see the Lord as their King and will look out over the peaceful (implied) land, presumably after it has all happened (v.17).

As they do that (when it has happened) they will look back and ponder on what has taken place and will think about the officials who they had known in Jerusalem but who have now been carried away (v.18), who are no longer there.

But they will also think of the terrible experience of having an invading army come in with their foreign speech, all of whom (now it has passed) are gone (v.19).

These verses provide quite an amazing prophetic aerial view of history and it is like we are able to look down on it at several points – but isn’t this exactly how God sees it? This should therefore come as no surprise as the prophet catches God’s view on life.

D. Application:

1. Get a big picture as we are seated with Christ today (Eph 2:6)
2. Don’t only focus on what you see today – ask God for a panorama.

Passage: Isaiah 33:20-24

20 Look on Zion, the city of our festivals;
    your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved;
its stakes will never be pulled up,
    nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty One.
    It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.
No galley with oars will ride them,
    no mighty ship will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge,
    the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
    it is he who will save us.

23 Your rigging hangs loose:
    the mast is not held secure,
    the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
    and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 No one living in Zion will say, ‘I am ill’;
    and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.

A. Find Out

1. What are the listeners called upon to do? v.20
2. Who will be there? v.21a
3. What will it be like? v.21b
4. But what will not be there? v.21c
5. How will the Lord be for them? v.22
6. What will the invading navy be like and with what result? v.23
7. And what will be the state of the people of Zion? v.24

B. Think:

Go through these verses and pick out the things that indicate the completely different state of the future Jerusalem.

C. Comment:

The word ‘will’ that appears so many times in these verses suggests a future time, a time yet to be fulfilled. At that future time Jerusalem (Zion) will be a place of peace and stability (v.20). It will also be a place where the Lord dwells (v.21a).

It appears (unlike the present Jerusalem) to be a place of great and many rivers (v.21b) indicating much provision, but no enemy ships of war (implied) will appear on these rivers (v.21c), because God is there as the lawgiver and law administrator so (implied) all will live under the perfect design of God, who is also its ruler (v.22) and therefore He will save all in it from potential threats from outside (implied).

The picture of a becalmed and damaged ship (v.23a) perhaps refers to the ‘ship of state’ of Israel who have been damaged and rendered virtually helpless by enemies but yet they will enjoy the spoils of war, even in their weakness, implying that another (the Lord) will have fought for them.

At that time the people will be healthy who live there (v.24) and they as a people will know that they are forgiven and are, therefore, able to enter into and enjoy a new relationship with the Lord who lives in their midst. It would appear that this ‘future Zion ‘ is unlike the present physical Jerusalem and this therefore means the dwelling of all believers.

D. Application:

1. God’s ultimate purpose is a place of blessing for His people.
2. That blessing covers every aspect of life in relationship with Him.