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Agape Bible Study
Isaiah 28 - 29
Chapter 28: Woes Against Samaria and Jerusalem
Isaiah 28:1-6 ~ The Fate of Samaria
Isaiah's woe against Samaria was delivered sometime between 732 and 722/21 BC. Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III attacked Israel and Syria at the request of King Ahaz of Judah in 732 BC (2 Kng 16:7-9). He annexed much of the northern kingdom and left King Hoshea to rule a territory about the size of the tribal lands of Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom's largest tribe. The reference to the Northern Kingdom as "Ephraim" instead of "Israel" may express this political reality.
The capital of the Northern Kingdom was built on a hill at the end of a valley, and is compared to a crown of flowers like those that adorned the heads of guests at banquets. The glory of Samaria was fading as her rulers over indulged on strong drink which dulled their minds (28:1, 3, 7-8). Other prophets referred to the wealth and corruption of Samaria (Hos 7:3-7; Amos 3:9-15).
Isaiah 28:7-13 ~ Against Judah's Failed Priests, False Prophets, and unresponsive People
It is possible the disgust concerning bad behavior at banquets refers to improper conduct at the Todah ("thanksgiving") communion banquets at God's holy Temple in which an offerer dedicated a sacrifice of peace, which God accepted with the animal's fat burned on the altar and its blood poured out in a blood libation at the altar. The body of the skinned animal was then returned to the offerer to be cooked and eaten in a sacred meal with bread and wine in the presence of God within the Temple (Lev 7:11-15/7:1-5). The sin of drunkenness and vomiting at a communion Todah would surely be an affront to God.
Isaiah 28:14-22 ~ Against Evil CounsellorsQuestion: Who is it, personified as Death and the grave/Sheol, that the leaders of Judah have made a treaty that they believe will save them? See 2 Kng 16:7-9.
Answer: Since this message if for the rulers of Jerusalem it probably refers to the alliances with foreign powers like the one King Ahaz made with the Assyrians and later when his successors made treaties with Egypt and Babylon. Their alliances with pagan nations are alliances that will lead to death and the grave.
St. Peter supports his theme of Christ's acceptance and rejection by quoting Isaiah 28:16 LXX, and Peter has adapted it to his message. Through His death and resurrection, Christ has become the “cornerstone” of God's people, a stone that is both precious and chosen, and those "who believe" in Christ will not be put to shame or disgraced. However, the value of Christ is only for those who have faith (1 Pt 2:7) and Peter continues: but for those without faith: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" (NAB). This is a quote from Psalm 118:22. It is the same passage Jesus applied to Himself (Mt 21:42; Mk 12:10; Lk 20:17) and which Peter quoted to the Jewish Sanhedrin in his trial, identifying Jesus as the "cornerstone" and defiantly telling the Jewish leaders that they are "the builders" that rejected Christ the "cornerstone" and Messiah (Acts 4:10-12). The Fathers of the Church understood Isaiah 28:16 to be a prophecy of Christ:
- This means Christ as the foundation of the Church. For Christ is the object of faith to all; but the Church is as it were the outward form of justice; it is the common right of all (St. Ambrose, Duties of the Clergy, 1.29).
- For what is the stone that is laid but Christ? For of him Isaiah says, "And I will lay in the foundations of Zion a costly stone, precious, elect ..."; and Daniel likewise, "a stone was cut out but not by hand." That is, Christ was born without a man (St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Baptism of Christ).
- But in case those who are ashamed to confess it should taunt you with it, listen to what comes next. For Scripture says, "Nobody who believes in him shall be put to shame." Reflect on all this; stick to it all (St. Augustine, Sermon, 279.9).
Isaiah 28:23-29 ~ Isaiah's Parable Concerning Yahweh's Judgments
Question: Why does the farmer treat each crop differently? How does the parable apply to how God treats people?
Answer: Each kind of crop requires a different kind of planting and harvesting technique to get the best yield and the best quality crop. It is a wisdom God has given farmers. In the same way, God treats all people differently, according to how His divine revelation and His judgment will yield the best from them spiritually. He is gentle with the fragile, careful not to crush their spirit; and He is harsher in His judgments with those who are hardened and arrogant in order to bring them to repentance. His purpose, like the farmer, is to get the best possible "yield" from each life.
The theme of God's sovereignty is found throughout Scripture, but it is especially evident in Isaiah chapters 24-28. God is in control of our judgments and our salvation. He ordains our punishments, the ordering of our lives and our scattering and gathering back as He continually preserves "faithful remnant" throughout salvation history. However, while God is Lord of the universe, He cares about each of us as individuals and wants us to intimately know and to love Him. To encourage that knowledge, He brings both redemptive judgment and healing restoration. He will judge sins, but He will also remove barriers to fellowship and will comfort those who need to be consoled. He calls us to peace and wholeness "that which a life of faith is all about (Rom 5:1). The prophecies of nations coming to worship God in Jerusalem foreshadows the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of our faith, who abolished death and reconciles mankind to each other in the unity of the Church, the Body of Christ, and to God (Eph 2:14-16).
Chapter 29: Isaiah's Woe Against Jerusalem
In Isaiah's "Woe" oracles (chapters 28-33), the prophet uses the Hebrew word hoy six times (28:1; 29:1, 15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1). The first four uses of the term introduce woes against God's own people. The last two are directed against nations with whom the covenant people preferred to make earthly alliances instead of trusting in Yahweh, particularly Assyria and Egypt. Isaiah warned that their plans with these nations would fail and that only those who trusted in the God of Israel would find lasting peace and security.
Isaiah's "woe" against Jerusalem in Isiah 29:1-16 includes three elements:
- God's ordained siege of Jerusalem
- God's spiritual judgment of Jerusalem
- God's woe against the bold and confident who refuse to trust in God's words through His prophet
Isaiah 29:1-8 ~ Judgment against Jerusalem
This prophecy is probably dated to the period preceding the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians in 701 BC. The symbolic name "Ariel" designates Jerusalem in Isaiah 29:1, 2 (twice), 7 and 33:7 ~ Look, Ariel is lamenting in the streets, the ambassadors of peace are weeping bitterly. The Hebrew word has been explained in several ways:
- It has been suggested that the word means "lion of God."
- It has been suggested that it is to be read Uru-el, meaning "foundation of God."
- It may be related to the Hebrew word ari'eyl, which designates the upper part of God's holy sacrificial altar or "altar hearth" as it is used by Ezekiel in 43:15 for the part of the altar upon which the sacrificial victims were burnt.
The third meaning expresses the sacred character of the holy city, and this interpretation seems to be confirmed by the reference to the annual rituals of sacrifice and worship at the end of verse 1: Let year after year pass, let the feasts make their full round, and it is also identified more clearly in 29:2 and 6 when Jerusalem itself becomes a place of burning, an altar hearth of sacrifice: you will be visited by Yahweh Sabaoth with thunder, earthquake, mighty din, hurricane, tempest, flame of devouring fire.(1)
Jerusalem is called David's city because he conquered it from the Jebusites in c. 1000 BC and made the city his capital (2 Sam 5:6-12). The reference to the seven sacred annual feasts in 29:1b that marked the liturgical year is meant to be sarcastic. The people believe they are being obedient to God by observing the rituals of worship, but their hearts are not devoted to God "they are just going through the motions in feigning true worship, as Isaiah will explain in verses 13-14.
Isaiah 29:9-12 ~ The People's Blindness and Perversity
Despite God's promise to save the city of Jerusalem from the Assyrians (Is 10:24-34), the people refuse to believe that He will save them. As a result of their spiritual failures, God in His judgment poured over His people a spiritual stupor (29:9-10), and He would no longer send them prophets and seers who they will only dismiss. Isaiah compares his mission to a sealed book/scroll. Illiterate people couldn't read it because they didn't have the skill, and literate people couldn't read it because it was sealed. In any event, the message wasn't read and applied to the lives of the people.
Question: How do verses 11-12 relate to what God told Isaiah in 6:9-10?
Answer: The more Isaiah preaches the more the people close their ears to him and refuse to understand his message.
The "sealed book/scroll" will be revisited by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 12:1-9, and the book/scroll will be unsealed by the Lamb in Revelation 5:1-3. Important scrolls were closed with a seal of wax with the impression of the mark of the sender; it was a symbol of that person, a sign of personal authority, or ownership of an object of document (Gen 38:18; 41:42; Dt 32:34). Soldiers were marked with the brand or seal of their general and slaves with their master's seal. A seal authenticated a juridical act or document and sometimes indicated it was to remain secret or only opened by a certain person (see 1 Kng 21:8; Jer 32:10). The sealed book/scroll in Isaiah 29:11 may be a similar reference.
Question: What did Jesus say about being marked with a seal? See Jn 6:27. Are Christians marked with a seal? See 2 Cor 1:21-22; Eph 1:13; 4:30; Rev 7:2-3; 9:4 and CCC 1295-96.
Answer: Jesus said He was marked with the Father's seal. Yes, Christians received an indelible seal in the Sacrament of Baptism when they are reborn into the family of God. Christians are also marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation, which completes baptism and identifies the Christian as totally belonging to Christ.
Isaiah 29:13-16 ~ God accuses the Citizens of Jerusalem
In Scripture the "heart" represents the true moral and spiritual essence of the person (cf., Dt 6:5; 29:3; Jer 31:33; Ez 36:26, Mt 6:21; Lk 8:15; Rom 5:5). The Catechism teaches: "The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or against God (CCC 368).
Isaiah 29:17-24 ~ The Triumph of Good over Evil
The words "the Lebanon" probably refer to the whole of the Levant from modern day Lebanon to the desert of the Negev. God promises a restoration of the land and the people. On that "day" the deaf and blind will hear, see and understand the words of Isaiah's sealed book. And the humble will find the joy of a covenant relationship with the "Holy One of Israel." God will root out the evil doers, and the "House of Jacob" will experience a spiritual renewal when the faithful remnant physically returns to the land after the exile has ended.
This passage has a physical as well as a spiritual fulfillment in Jesus. He will refer to the Isaiah passages that concern the healing of the deaf and blind in Matthew 11:4-5 and Luke 7:21-23, comparing His works to the promises of the prophets in healing the deaf, curing the lame and the blind, and raising the dead (also see Is 26:9 fulfilled by Jesus).
Question: When had God told Isaiah that His judgment against His people would include closing their ears so they could not hear and their eyes so they could not understand? See Isaiah chapter 6. What is the link to this promise?
Answer: It was the judgment He gave in Isaiah's commissioning in 6:10-11. Isaiah 29:18 is a reversal of that judgment.
Question: What will be the result of this age of renewal? When will it happen?
Answer: His covenant people will respond to His works with lives of holiness and commitment, and they will stand in reverent awe of their God. The true fulfillment of this promise will come about in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Church of the New Covenant people of God.
CHALLENGE: "Catholic teaching on justification is false. Paul says, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast' (Eph. 2:8–9)."
DEFENSE: This passage does not disagree with Catholic teaching. Catholics agree we are saved through faith and by grace: “Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God” (CCC 1996).
Neither salvation nor faith is our own doing. Both are products of God’s grace: “The divine initiative in the work of grace precedes, prepares, and elicits the free response of man” (CCC 2022). “Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can mer it the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion” (CCC 2010).
The statement that our salvation “is not of works, lest any man should boast” has often been taken to mean we can’t earn our salvation. This is true, as the Church acknowledges: “With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have received everything from him, our Creator” (CCC 2007).
Although we can’t earn salvation, this probably isn’t what Paul is asserting here. Normally when he refers to “works” in a context like this, he means a specific kind of works: those done to obey the Jewish Law (circumcision, keeping kosher, and so on). His repeated statements that salvation isn’t by these kind of works was meant to counter the belief of some first-century Christians that you needed to be a Jew in order to be saved (see Day 63).
That is probably what Paul means here. Thus in the next verse he praises “good works” as part of the Christian life, in preference to the “works” he says do not save us (Eph. 2:10). He then discusses how Gentiles are saved together with Jews, in spite of their uncircumcision (Eph. 2:11 12), and how Jesus has abolished the Law and its commandments so both Jews and Gentiles might be united in one body (Eph. 2:13–16).
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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