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 32:1-8

1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
    and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
    and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
    and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
    and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,
    and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble
    nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,
    their hearts are bent on evil:
they practise ungodliness
    and spread error concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty
    and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,
    they make up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
    even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.

A. Find Out

1. What will come about? v.1
2. How will every man be? v.2
3. What will also change? v.3
4. And what, even more, will change? v.4,5
5. For what, at the present, does silly thinking etc. produce? v.6,7
6. But will an alternative be? v.8

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise the changes of v.1-5?
2. How do verses 6 & 7 show how much will change?

C. Comment:

The king (v.1a) is presumably the messianic ruler of earlier in the book, who will bring in a righteous reign, a reign in accord with God’s design. His under-rulers, people of authority in the land, will subsequently be those who are true and uphold justice (v.1b).

Presumably the ‘each man’ reference (v.2a) is of those under-rulers and under this king’s rule, they will become bastions of protection for the weak against the storms and evils of life (v.2a), a source of life and support (water v.2b) and general protection (shadow v.2c).

This reign will also be a time of revelation change for where, as previously, the prophetic complaint had been that the people could neither hear nor see (the word of God) now they will both see and hear (v.3). Moreover the thinking in the land will be transformed (v.4,5) so that true understanding will prevail and true assessment made.

This will be a significant change from the present because (now) the fool prevails in the land (v.6) and he speaks silly, thoughtless things and he does what is wrong. Being self-centred, what he does is ungodly and whatever he says is error and contrary to the Lord’s will. His words do nothing to alleviate the (spiritual) hunger of those around him or slake their (spiritual) thirst. Folly is his way. Look around and you see two sorts of people. The first, the ‘scoundrel’, is a wrong doer and he plans wrongs and does down those weaker than himself (v.7). But contrast the man who is noble who impacts the world with his nobility (v.8).

D. Application:

1. How is my life assessed by heaven?
2. Do I speak thoughtless folly, or careful wisdom?

Passage: Isaiah 32:9-20

9 You women who are so complacent,
    rise up and listen to me;
you daughters who feel secure,
    hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year
    you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,
    and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble, you complacent women;
    shudder, you daughters who feel secure!
Strip off your fine clothes
    and wrap yourselves in rags.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vines
13 and for the land of my people,
    a land overgrown with thorns and briers –
yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
    and for this city of revelry.
14 The fortress will be abandoned,
    the noisy city deserted;
citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland for ever,
    the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 till the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
    and the desert becomes a fertile field,
    and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert,
    his righteousness live in the fertile field.
17 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
    its effect will be quietness and confidence for ever.
18 My people will live in peaceful dwelling-places,
    in secure homes,
    in undisturbed places of rest.
19 Though hail flattens the forest
    and the city is levelled completely,
20 how blessed you will be,
    sowing your seed by every stream,
    and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

A. Find Out

1. What were the women of Jerusalem feeling? v.9
2. What will soon happen? v.10
3. How should they respond to this word? v.11-13
4. Because what will happen? v.14
5. Yet what will eventually happen with what results? v.15-17
6. What will be the end result for those living there? v.18-20

B. Think:

1. What is the ‘bad news’ in these verses?
2. Yet what ‘good news’ follows?
3. What will be the outworking of that good news?

C. Comment:

Very often women in a society respond as a block to what happens in the world. Perhaps for this reason Isaiah addresses the women of Jerusalem who he describes as complacent, feeling secure in the present peace and affluence (v.9). Very soon (v.10a) this is all going to change and the harvest which was at the heart of their economy will fail (v.10b). Even worse the city is obviously going to be attacked in some form so that the prophet sees it empty and deserted (v.14)

So bad will this be that he counsels them to tremble, shudder and put on the clothes of mourning (v.11). Be in anguish over the awful transformation that will come on the land (v.12,13) which will be the result of the land being abandoned after attack and exile.

Yet, and here is the most incredible thing, this is not the end. When God sends His Spirit (v.15a) the land will be transformed (v.15b,c) and also society. The life of the people will be transformed so that justice and righteousness (v.16) will fill the whole land – the desert and the farmed land. Because of this, peace and confidence and quietness will return to the people (v.18) so that living there will be a peaceful, secure and undisturbed experience (v.18). Even should hail come and destroy (v.19) they will be blessed anyway (v.20) as they are able to till and sow in the land and let their beasts roam afar. As a land it will be secure.

D. Application:

1. God WILL deal with unrighteousness and judgment may be hard.
2. With judgment always comes hope in mercy.