33:1 Woe to you, despoiler, who yourself was not despoiled; O treacherous one, with whom none have been treacherous: when you have done with devastating, you shall be devastated; when you are through betraying, they shall betray you! This millennial time of peace will see the end of the Destroyer and the Spoiler and the Treacherous One, namely the King of Assyria. In the Book of Isaiah he's the one that does the spoiling, the Thief in the Night. He's the one who robs the whole world of its wealth. And he's the one who makes peace treaties and breaks them, and catches people unawares. And yet, people did not do so to him. The despoiler, who yourself was not despoiled; treacherous one, with whom none have been treacherous; People treated him okay, but he treated others differently. when you have done with devastating, Still on verse 1: you shall be devastated; when you are through betraying, they shall betray you! Now this is a small sample of what he does to others is done to him. You can go all the way through the Book of Isaiah and see all the things that he does to others and done to him as well, him and his armies. He is going to devastate, but then be devastated. He's going to betray, but then he's going to be betrayed himself. 33:2 O Lord, be favorable toward us; we have waited for thee. Be our strength of arm from morning to morning, our salvation in troubled times. Favor and mercy, those are terms that identify covenant blessings and the Lord's keeping a covenant with His people. So the people are really calling upon God, the Lord, asking for Him to keep His part of the covenant, to bless them and to be favorable toward them in that Day of Judgment, in that day of treachery, in that day of destruction, despoiling and devastation. we have waited for thee. There is the motif of waiting again. There is a righteous remnant of the Lord's people who wait for Him through these troubled times. Be our strength of arm (or our arm) from morning to morning, It goes on, day after day, and seems like there's no end. I remember in the Second World War, I was just a small child, but it seemed to go on interminably, it never came to an end. And you wondered if it ever would come to an end. We see then a time of trouble is a time to hold fast to the Lord and to trust in Him for deliverance, even though it may look like it's not coming, not forthcoming. Here also we see the word arm in parallel with salvation: Be our arm from morning to morning, our salvation in troubled times. And this is a synonymous parallelism, the Lord is both the arm and salvation. Now in Chapter 62 verse 11 the Lord personifies salvation: See, your Salvation comes, his reward with him, his work preceding him. It's the coming of the Lord to Zion and He's personified there as salvation. We also saw in Chapter 12 that the Lord personifies salvation. Chapter 12, which is a song of salvation after the deliverance, after the exodus, says: In the God of my salvation I will trust without fear; for the Lord was my strength and my song when he became my salvation. He was our salvation. He, Himself, is salvation. So if we want to be saved, we must come to Him. He's the one who provides salvation. He is salvation. He's also an arm of God. In Isaiah there are two arms, the arm of righteousness and the arm of salvation. Righteousness is the Servant and salvation is the Lord. Both are the arms of God, intervening in the affairs of people, to deliver them in that day. It's a prolonged period of time, through which people must wait, which is the test. While others don't wait, while others go on, do their own thing, rely upon their own council or their own schemes, where their hearts fail and they resort to some other means and fail the test. 33:3 The peoples fled from thy thunderous voice; at thine uprising the nations scattered. There is the Lord rising up again, which is an ominous idea in the Book of Isaiah. The thunderous voice is the voice of the King of Assyria. He is also the one that causes the horrendous destruction, the thunderous quakings and the tempestuous blasts of conflagrations of devouring flame. Those are all his doing. This could be an allusion to that kind of destruction. at thine uprising the nations scattered. That is the nations of the world are thrown into disarray when the Assyrians invaded them. 33:4 Their spoil was harvested in the manner of caterpillars; like insatiable locusts they rushed upon it. The one who does the spoiling or despoiling in the Book of Isaiah is the King of Assyria. I can read it again in Chapter 10 verses 5 and 6: Hail the Assyrian, the rod of my anger! He is a staff–my wrath in their hand. I will commission him against a godless nation, appoint him over the people deserving of my vengeance, to pillage for plunder, to spoliate for spoil, to tread underfoot like mud in the streets. That's his job. His job is to spoil the wicked world and all its inhabitants, all nations. And the King of Assyria's army is like an army of caterpillars on the march or locusts. When locusts swarm they become very destructive. That is the imagery that Isaiah uses to describe the King of Assyria and his alliance of nations from the north. The prophet Joel does that also. But the Lord is supreme, for he dwells on high; 33:5 But the Lord is supreme, for he dwells on high; with justice and righteousness he will replenish Zion. For the people who are ripped-off, who are robbed by their oppressors, whether they be the oppressors in their own society or whether they be the Assyrians. If they are true and faithful to God, if they practice the attributes of justice and righteousness, God will replenish them. How does He do that? How does He replenish people of Zion? How does He replenish them? One way He does it in the Book of Isaiah is that the Assyrians conquer the whole world, they conquer all nations, take the spoil of all nations, lay siege to Zion and then the Assyrians themselves are destroyed when they try to destroy the righteous people of God. And for their labor of burying the dead, the righteous people are left with the spoils of the whole world, simple as that. And that's how the Lord replenishes Zion, which is an ingenious way of doing things. The Lord is supreme. In other words, He rules over this whole scenario. He is in charge, even though they seem like they are ripping everybody off and despoiling the whole world. He's the mastermind behind this whole scenario. He dwells on high; with justice and righteousness he will replenish Zion. He'll more than amply recompense them for everything that they lost to the oppressors or to the Assyrians. 33:6 Your faithfulness in time of trial shall prove to be a strength, your wisdom and knowledge your salvation; your fear of the Lord shall be your riches. Riches, material riches, yes, but, spiritual riches, too. Faithfulness in time of trial. Remaining faithful to the Lord and waiting it out, praying for deliverance that shall prove to be your strength. your wisdom and knowledge your salvation; your fear of the Lord. What kind of knowledge? Knowledge is a covenant term, implying you are keeping covenant with the Lord, but also implies your knowledge of the terms of the covenant. If you are practicing justice and righteousness, you are faithful to the Lord, if you keep covenant with Him you know that the Lord is going to come through for you at some point. That's your knowledge. That's your wisdom. And so you hang on and you wait. You fear the Lord and you don't fear the King of Assyria. You don't fear man. That shall prove to be your salvation. Salvation here is also a metaphor describing the Lord. If that's the course you follow the Lord will come to you. He will manifest Himself to you. And also righteousness and faithfulness are metaphors describing the Lord's Servant, through whose agency the Lord exercises or brings about these blessings to His people. 33:7 See, their stalwarts sob in public; the champions of peace weep bitterly. In the society as a whole there are those who are trying to establish peace, which is alright. But the human peace can never succeed. And that's the point here. Only justice and righteousness can merit God's protection, blessings and salvation in That Day. Trying to establish a human peace is bound to fail because it's not of God. It has to be done in God's way. And God has prophesied through Isaiah and other prophets how to bring about true peace. The effects of justice shall be peace, the result of righteousness, an assured calm forever. Chapter 32 verse 17, which we just read. That's the peace that will be [established]. the stalwarts sob in public; the champions of peace weep bitterly. Because the peace treaties have been broken, as it says in verse 8: 33:8 The highways are desolate, travel is at an end. The treaties have been violated, their signatories held in contempt; man is disregarded. The signatories or those who sign the peace treaties were held in contempt. They were disregarded. The Despoiler, the Treacherous One, the Betrayer, the Arch-Traitor, the King of Assyria, has broken the peace treaties. He made peace treaties deliberately to delude and deceive people, to catch them unawares. And then he launched his attack upon the wicked world. And the people were gullible enough, and wicked enough, and therefore blind to the reality of what was going on to believe and to believe that he really truly meant peace. And so people are in a state of extreme disappointment, and also the destruction has come upon them. The highways are desolate, travel is at an end. 33:9 The Land lies withered and forlorn, Lebanon wilts shamefully; Sharon has been turned into a dry waste, Bashan and Carmel are denuded. The King of Assyria has totally desolated the Promised Land of God's people. Lebanon was historically the mountain region of Israel, but it was also a symbol for Israel itself, the land of Israel itself as a whole. Sharon was the plain, the great plain. Bashan and Carmel are other mountain ranges or plateaus, high areas. Actually, if you think about it, the configuration of land in the United States resembles this same configuration that's talked about here. 33:10 Now will I arise, says the Lord; I will now become prominent, now gain preeminence. Because he has been pushed into the background. This is where the Lord starts to intervene among His people, to put an end to wickedness and to deliver the righteous people who are oppressed by the wicked. The arising of the Lord is the same idea as arising on Mount Perazim. It has a two-fold aspect: destruction on the one hand and deliverance on the other for the elect. I will now become prominent, now gain preeminence. That alludes to the things that the Lord does, the divine intervention, has a way of making the name of God become world recognized. Just as in the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians in an Exodus, with signs and wonders, and bringing them out of Egypt, out of bondage. That caused the Lord to become prominent. The God of Israel became well-known throughout the ancient world at that time. The Lord gained preeminence among the peoples of the world. So He will again when he intervenes in the End of Time. 33:11 You who conceived chaff and brought forth stubble, the fire of your own breath devours you! Here he is likening the actions or the lifestyles or the works of people in general to chaff and stubble. Conceiving chaff and bringing forth stubble. Useless materials, they are chaos motifs both of them, chaff and stubble. The works of people are likened to chaotic works. The fire of your own breath devours you! Fire and breath are metaphors describing the King of Assyria. It's like you're destroyed by your own technology that you created, and at the agency or hand of the King of Assyria. He's going to destroy you. 33:12 Whole nations have been burned like lime, mown down like thorns and set ablaze. Thorns implies wickedness. The wicked are likened to thorns and briars, not the righteous. They are the ones who are set ablaze. They are paralleled here with whole nations and the King of Assyria is the one to commit genocide on a world-wide scale. He is the one who burns them. He personifies the fire. 33:13 Take heed what I have done, you who are far off; you who are near, be apprised of my might! This is the idea of those at home and those abroad, those out in the world at large, and those who are already in the Promised Land, and he talks to both of them, equally. The Lord's people are in both places: those who are abroad eventually come home and are received by those who are at home. And He warns them of His power. His power to destroy the wicked, and His power to deliver the righteous, no matter what the odds seem to be. 33:14 The sinners in Zion are struck with fear; the godless are in the grip of trembling: Who among us can live through the devouring fire? Who among us can abide eternal burning? Even in Zion itself among those proclaiming to be the people of God, and living among the people who are of Zion caliber, the Zion/Jerusalem category on the spiritual ladder, there are those who are sinners. They are not obviously of the Zion category, but they are living with or in the same place as those who are, like goats among the sheep or tares among the wheat. The sinners in Zion are struck with fear; the godless are in the grip of trembling: The godless we saw defined earlier, just a little while ago: The godless utter blasphemy; their heart ponders impiety: How to practice hypocrisy and preach perverse things concerning the Lord, leaving the hungry soul empty, the thirsty soul deprived of drink. In Chapter 32 verse 6. So in Zion we have people like that living alongside those who are of Zion caliber, but in that day, that ominous day of destruction, perhaps of nuclear war, they recognize the danger now and they are overcome by fear because they are not prepared spiritually or materially. The righteous are not overcome or struck with fear in Isaiah only the wicked are. The righteous need have no fear because they know the terms of the covenant wherewith the Lord will protect them. Who among us can live through the devouring fire? Who among us can abide eternal burning? Can anyone survive nuclear blasts or a Sodom and Gomorrah type of destruction that Isaiah prophesies? No? They don't think anybody can. But remember that Isaiah says that in that Exodus they will not only walk through the waters, through the sea and rivers, but also through the fire. Can anyone survive the devouring fire, the King of Assyria who personifies that fire, who launches that nuclear war, that holocaust? Can anyone abide eternal burnings, something that fierce? And that could also refer to a spiritual affect, not just physical destruction by fire, but perhaps beyond this life, in a spiritual sense. The answer is Yes! Verse 15, people can live through that and abide it. 33:15 They who conduct themselves righteously and are honest in word, who disdain extortion and stay their hand from taking bribes, who stop their ears at the mention of murder, who shut their eyes at the sight of wickedness. Obviously these people don't watch TV. They conduct themselves righteously. They are just. In other words, justice and righteousness are the foundation of their lives. They practice a scrupulous righteousness in every respect. It also implies that these things, extortion and taking bribes and murders and wickedness, are going on among the society in general. Otherwise it wouldn't say that they disdain extortion and stay their hand from taking bribes, And doing what everybody else is doing, or what most people are doing. who stop their ears at the mention of murder, When so many murder reports are coming out, they can't even abide the idea of such a thing. 33:16 They shall dwell on high; the impregnable cliffs are their fortress. Bread is provided them, their water is sure. So bread and water which are covenant blessings implies that they have sufficiency. They have enough to eat, that they are provided for by the Lord as the Israelites were provided for in the Sinai wilderness with the manna from heaven perhaps, which would be a type. They dwell on high; impregnable cliffs are their fortress. So they dwell in mountainous areas, some of them do anyway during that time. And there the Lord protects them. Now also these are word links to the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, wherein a moment ago, they may have the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but in the end, it served them well. There was deliverance for them. 33:17 Your eyes shall behold the King in his glory and view the expanse of the earth. When the Lord comes in glory the people will see Him. He is the King. They will actually, literally see Him. The viewing of the expanse of the earth implies not a view from below looking upward, but a view from above looking down. You cannot view the expanse of the earth from down below. You can view it from up above, which means that at His coming they are caught up into heaven and view the earth in that manner. Also, your eyes shall behold or your eyes shall see implies their eyes are really open this time. Their eyes are getting more open all the time, until eventually they see God, Himself and see this cosmic view of the earth. And that view of the earth is also the view of the Seraphim in Chapter 6. It's also the view that Isaiah has in Chapter 40 looking at the earth from above, not from below. 33:18 You shall recount in your mind the terror: Where are those who conducted the census? Where are those who levied the tax? Where are the ones who appraised the towers? That is the terror that prevailed before the coming of the Lord, the terror of the Day of Judgment, the terror caused by the oppressive society and by the invading Assyrians. Where are those who conducted the census? Where are those who levied the tax? Where are the ones who appraised the towers? In other words, everything was taxed in that day. It was an oppressive society to live in and it was so before the invasion and so during the invasion. Now all the people are gone, all the oppressors, the tax collectors and those who caused that terror have disappeared. 33:19 The insolent people are not to be seen, a nation of incomprehensible speech, whose babbling tongue was unintelligible. The insolent people are the invading Assyrians. They're gone. They're not to be seen. We didn't understand their speech, their babbling tongue was unintelligible. Tongue is also a metaphor describing the King of Assyria, himself. He was babbling on about all of his propaganda against God and against His people. Now they're all gone. And yet, this is also the same idea that we saw in Chapter 28 where the people wouldn't listen to revelation and instruction from God, so He said, by incomprehensible speech and a strange tongue must he speak to these people, [28:11] He spoke to the wicked through the instrumentality of the King of Assyria, who is God's instrument for punishing them. But eventually even the Assyrians are taken away. 33:20 Behold Zion, the city of our solemn assemblies; let your eyes rest upon Jerusalem, the abode of peace—an immovable tent, whose stakes shall never be uprooted, nor any of its cords severed. And we saw that in Chapter 4 where Zion is a safe place for a solemn assembly of God's people, the elect, who gather to Zion in that day for protection. Behold Zion, the city of our solemn assemblies; let your eyes rest upon Jerusalem, the abode of peace–an immovable tent, whose stakes shall never be uprooted, nor any of its cords severed. The word Jerusalem, itself, means inheritance of peace or abode of peace. An immovable tent, whose stakes shall never be uprooted, nor any of its cords severed. That idea is where stakes of Zion come from. It implies a place itself, the city Jerusalem, but also outlying stakes or areas. Verse 24, which follows in order after verse 20 being out of place in the Masoretic text: 33:24 None who reside there shall say, I am ill; the people who inhabit it shall be forgiven their iniquity. So, in Zion there will be peace, but also good health. People will not get sick. Sickness is a covenant curse. Not being ill is in parallel with being forgiven their iniquity. Iniquity is not necessarily sin, but those dysfunctional behavioral patterns handed down from generation to generation. They didn't have the expression "dysfunctional patterns" in Isaiah's day, but they grouped those ideas under the category of iniquity. Iniquity of the father's on the heads of the children to the third and fourth generation or the effects of sin passed down the generations, which include various forms of illness or disability, or the effects of transgression from former generations. And those will all be forgiven and done away. Everybody will be healthy and well. 33:21 May the Lord cause us to dwell there, a country of rivers and broad streams, where no warships sail or majestic fleets pass by. Like they do now. There were warships on the seas and majestic fleets, armed and ready for war and will be involved in war, but in that day, in that millennial time of peace, there will be none of those, anymore. a country of rivers and broad streams, A very blessed land, I would not necessarily relate this and confine this to Palestine, which doesn't have rivers right now and broad streams, but could be other Promised Lands in other areas of the world, wherever people of Zion live, people of that spiritual level. 33:23 Their riggings hang loose; they hold not the mast in place nor spread out the sail. Now shall spoil in abundance be divided, and even the lame take part in the plunder. That is, of the warships and fleets. they do not hold the mast in place nor spread out the sail. Those who produce the warships, those who were into those kind of armaments and relying upon those kind of defenses, their riggings hang loose. They've lost their strength and their power in that Day of Judgment. The wind has been taken out of their sails. They don't hold the mast in place. The mast is the same word in Hebrew, toren, as the flagstaff on the mountain top that we saw earlier. And this designates the King of Assyria. The Lord's Servant is the flagstaff, toren, and the King of Assyria is the mast, the champion of the wicked. They don't hold him in place anymore, they don't sustain him anymore. He had power with them. He was like a mast or a flagstaff to them. And now he's lost his power. He's destroyed. The wind has been taken out of their sails. Their day of power is over. Continuing with verse 23: Now shall spoil in abundance be divided, and even the lame take part in the plunder. Remember the King of Assyria and his armies plundered the wealth of the whole world, and spoiled the nations. And then they carried that plunder with them as they lay siege to Zion, where the King of Assyria's armies met their demise, where they were destroyed. As they did to others, so it was done to them. And then those who survived, the people of Zion, go out and help themselves to the spoil and the plunder of the whole world that lies there among the dead bodies. Even the lame take part in the plunder. Even they will be wealthy in that day, as far as material wealth is concerned. And that's the way the Lord replenishes Zion. Those are her riches in the material sense. 33:22 For the Lord is our Judge, and the Lord our Lawgiver. The Lord is our King; he himself will save us. And that's how He saves us. It's all orchestrated so that, in the end, the Lord's people are not only delivered from death, but also provided for wonderfully through His wonderful design. He uses the King of Assyria and his wicked armies to destroy the wicked and then they themselves are destroyed and those who are left are only people of God, His covenant people. The Lord is our Judge and Lawgiver, our King, those are three titles of the Lord but also they are titles of the Servant in various places in the Book of Isaiah. The Lord is Judge, so is His Servant. The Servant judges under the Lord. And there are also other judges in Chapter 1 spoken of, who judge. And they all judge in the name of the Lord and under His jurisdiction when He comes to reign upon the earth in That Day. The Lord is the Lawgiver, the ultimate Lawgiver, but Moses was also a Lawgiver and so is the Servant. He's the Lawgiver of God's Laws. He mediates the covenant with this people and the law of that covenant. The Lord is King, but so is the Servant a king and so are the other servants. They're all kings and priests in the Book of Isaiah, on lower levels, of course, than the Lord is. He is the ultimate King, Lawgiver and Judge of all. He himself will save us. And He's the only one that can really save. The Lord personifies salvation because He is the only one that can really save. Even little saviors or Lord's servants who are lawgivers and judges and kings cannot really do those things. They don't have any validity or power on their own. They receive it all through the Lord Himself. They can only qualify themselves and others for salvation. They cannot actually save. The Lord Himself will save us. He's the one who saves.