Passage:17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar.
18 Your heart will muse on the terror: "Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?"
19 You will see no more the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the LORD in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey.
23 Your cords hang loose; they cannot hold the mast firm in its place or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Journal: Isaiah is attempting to turn Judah from a hope in the power of surrounding nations to the hope of an eternal dwelling place with God. It is because of this eternal hope that one can face the challenges of the daily journey, fraught with obstacles. [Isaiah 33:20 -- "Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken."] This is the hope that Christ placed upon the tongue of the believer as He sent His brothers and sisters to the ends of the earth. [1 Peter 3:15 -- "“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect . . . ”]
This hope does not consist of empty words, as when a politician chases after a vote. No, this hope is far greater than the vague words of man, for this hope springs forth from the mighty Word of God. Isaiah is moving from the description of the violent siege of Jerusalem in the present [Isaiah 33:7-9] to the description of the peaceful state of the new Jerusalem of the Messiah; a Jerusalem that knows no physical or spiritual suffering. [Isaiah 33:24 -- "And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity."] God is giving us a glimpse into eternity, where hope does indeed spring eternal. ["Isaiah 33:21 -- "But there the LORD in majesty . . ."; 17 -- "Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty . . ."; 22 -- ". . . the LORD is our king, he will save us."] Our salvation has given us our hope.
Heard 'Round the House:
Just in case I didn't feel old or behind the technological curve, Anna came to the rescue over the weekend --
Anna [age 8]: "Daddy, when you were, um, five years old, was television invented?"
Daddy: "Of course. I have always had television around."
Anna: "Did you have the same channels we do when you were five?"
Daddy [about to launch into how many more channels are now available in our modern world, only to remember the rabbit eared, cableless, satelliteless, primitive TV sitting in our bedroom]: Actually, Anna. We pretty much have the exact same channels we had when I was five years old . . ."
[This is a sad state of affairs that I could dwell on further, but I need to go shoot a possum for dinner . . .]
