
Isaiah 29:1-24
29:1-8 | The name Ariel likely means “Altar Hearth.” Just as an altar hearth is heated up in preparation for a sacrifice, so Jerusalem would endure the heat of God’s judgment. These verses anticipate the events of 701 BC, when the Assyrians, after overrunning and conquering Judah, besieged Jerusalem but were then destroyed by the Lord outside the city.
29:9-14 | The closing of the eyes and the covering of the heads resulted in a dearth of prophetic vision, producing a famine of the word of the Lord. When people who refuse to listen to God’s words encounter trouble, He is nowhere to be found (Prov. 1:20-33; Amos 8:11-12).
29:13 | The people were guilty of honoring God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. The warning to today’s church is this: going through the motions of so-called worship is unacceptable to God. True obedience can only be produced by a heart renewed by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).
29:15-16 | God pronounced judgment (woe) on those who thought they could hide their counsel (plans) from Him by acting at night. How foolish! This kind of thinking confused the potter with the clay (45:9; 64:8).
29:17-24 | The phrase a very little while refers to the coming millennial kingdom, but a greater fulfillment comes in the New Creation (65:17-21; Rev. 21-22). The cedar forest of Lebanon will turn into dense forests, recalling the trees and plants in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2). God’s kingdom will restore the conditions of the first creation. Just as God took away Abraham’s shame by giving him a son, so He will give Israel children as a sign of His renewed favor and blessing, in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham.