29:1 Ariel is as good as dead— Ariel, the town David besieged! Keep observing your annual rituals, celebrate your festivals on schedule.
Ariel (אֲרִיאֵ֣ל) means “Lion of God” or "burning." Isaiah used both meanings. Ariel was Jerusalem, since David besieged Jerusalem and took it from the Jebusites. Jerusalem was the city in which Jehovah appointed His daily, weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices. All of these sacrifices pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Although Jerusalem was to be attacked by Assyria, Israel would still be able to keep her annual rituals.
29:2 I will threaten Ariel, and she will mourn intensely and become like an altar hearth before me.
Jehovah would threaten Jerusalem with the Assyrian invasion of Judah. The Assyrians would destroy 46 cities of Judah. She would then surround and besiege Jerusalem, causing the city to become a virtual bloody altar hearth before Jehovah. Everyone in the city of Jerusalem would mourn intensely.
29:3 I will lay siege to you on all sides; I will besiege you with troops; I will raise siege works against you.
Assyria would surround Jerusalem with military troops.
29:4 You will fall; while lying on the ground you will speak; from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation.
Jerusalem would be humbled and knocked low to the ground. She would speak softly from a low position rather than in loud tones from an exalted position. She would chirp from the dust of the ground like a wounded bird.
29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust, the horde of tyrants like chaff that is blown away. It will happen suddenly, in a flash.
The Assyrian invasion would not be successful against Jerusalem. An Angel of the Lord would kill 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. The bodies of the Assyrian invasion force would disintegrate into fine dust. The wind would blow away the dust of their bodies from their military campground. This supernatural destruction of the Assyrian army would happen in a flash.
29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.
The judgment against the Assyrian army would come from Jehovah, who is the Commander of the angelic army. When Jehovah disintegrates the Assyrian army into dust, then thunder, an earthquake, a loud noise, a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming fire would all come against the Assyrian army simultaneously. What this meant is that the city of Jerusalem did not need to fear the attack of the Assyrians. It also meant that everyone living in these 46 cities of Judah could find safe refuge in Jerusalem.
29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision. There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel, those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
Assyria would bring many other of her tribute nations to fight against Jerusalem. These tribute city allies of Assyria would be disintegrated into dust as well. Since Assyria controlled most of the known world, then their miraculous defeat would spread worldwide. Phoenician ships would take this message of Assyrian destruction all over the world. The Phoenicians lived next door to Israel. The Phoenicians were God's global communication system of the ancient world.
29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.
Isaiah warned the other Gentile nations not to gang up on Jerusalem, or they would suffer the same fate as the Assyrians.
29:9 You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine; they stagger, but not because of beer.
Jerusalem was spiritually blind at this time. She was staggering around in a spiritual stupor, but not from wine.
29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).
Jerusalem’s spiritual drunkenness was a judgment from God. He allowed them to fall asleep spiritually. Jehovah blinded them from true revelation. God blinded the prophets as well. Jehovah did not allow the prophets to see His divine plan.
29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”
Isaiah recorded God’s revelation in writing on a scroll, but God did not allow the prophets and teachers to understand His message.They read the Word of God, but they could not understand it.
29:12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.”
Those literate and illiterate could not understand the truth in which Isaiah had recorded in writing.
29:13 The sovereign master says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual.
The people of Jerusalem professed to know God. They performed the rituals, they were active in worship, but they did not worship God from their hearts. They were more concerned with man-made legalistic rules than with God’s Law. This is similar to many carnal Christians saying "Praise Jesus" or "Praise the Lord," but they did not possess enough Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God to worship God with all of their intellect. Those who really love God will study the entire Bible and apply what they learn.
It is important to note that Jesus quoted this verse to the Pharisees in Matthew 15. The message of Jesus was that the Pharisees feared God not because of the written Scriptures, but because of their "man-made ritual." The man-made ritual of the Pharisees was the Mishnah, or the Oral Law. The Pharisees valued the man-made Oral Law over the divinely written Word of God. They did not know the God of the Bible. They were worshiping a man-made false god which was created by their own man-made oral laws. The god of Judaism is not the same God of the written Word of God.
29:14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people— an absolutely extraordinary deed. Wise men will have nothing to say, the sages will have no explanations.”
Even though Jerusalem was blinded, God was going to perform a tremendous miracle.
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, who do their work in secret and boast, “Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”
There were many evil people in Jerusalem who thought that they could do their own thing in secret. They thought that God was not watching them. Jehovah was going to slay these kind of people.
29:16 Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
These men were living as though God did not exist. This is foolish and evil thinking. God is the Potter. Man is the clay. The Potter knows how the clay will turn out. The clay has no say-so in his own design.
29:17 In just a very short time Lebanon will turn into an orchard, and the orchard will be considered a forest.
“In a very short time” refers to the coming Millennial Kingdom. At the time of this prophecy, Lebanon was occupied by Assyrian troops. During the Millennial Kingdom, they will return to their Garden-of-Eden conditions.
29:18 At that time the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll, and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness.
When the Millennial Kingdom arrives, then the Jews will depart from rabbinic Judaism. The deaf will hear and the blind will see. Israel will no longer be spiritually deaf and spiritually blind. All of Israel will believe in Jesus as the Messiah. All of Israel will be able to understand the written Scriptures.
29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel.
During the Millennial Kingdom, there will be no downtrodden or poverty. Everyone will rejoice in the Lord.
29:20 For tyrants will disappear, those who taunt will vanish, and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated—
During the Millennial Kingdom, there will be no more Adolph Hitlers or Joseph Stalins. Those who taunt Israel will be purged out of this world. Those who love evil will lose their physical life and be thrown into hell.
29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.
During the Millennial Kingdom, King Messiah will rule with a rod of iron. He will eliminate those who bear false testimony, those who judge corruptly, those who deprive the innocent of justice, and those who make false charges.
29:22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: “Jacob will no longer be ashamed; their faces will no longer show their embarrassment.
Jehovah was the one who delivered Abraham from the Canaanites while he was living in this land of Satan worshipers. During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will no longer be ashamed that they rejected and crucified their Messiah. They will no longer be embarrassed about this situation. They will no longer be dominated and humiliated by Gentle nations.
29:23 For when they see their children, whom I will produce among them, they will honor my name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; they will respect the God of Israel.
During the Millennial Kingdom, there will be a population explosion. All of Israel will see their children grow up in safety. All of Israel will worship Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. All of the children of Israel will become Messianic believers.
29:24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding; those who complain will acquire insight.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will no longer reject divine instruction. She will change and accept instruction. She will no longer be deaf and blind. She will all know God’s ways.