Isaiah 29:1 - Meaning and Application

That Jerusalem is here called Ariel is generally agreed, because it was the city where David lived. Zion, the part of Jerusalem that held both the temple and the palace, was especially called the city of David. Why it is called Ariel is less certain, though the meaning was likely well known at the time. Cities, like people, often get nicknames or added titles.

Ariel means “lion of God,” or “mighty lion.” Since the lion is king among animals, Jerusalem was the chief city among the cities around it, giving orders to the others. It was the city of the great King (Psalm 48:1, Psalm 48:2), the main city of Judah, who is called a lion’s cub (Genesis 49:9) and whose symbol was a lion. Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, was its true glory. Jerusalem could strike fear into nearby nations, and when it was faithful, it stood bold as a lion.

Some take Ariel to mean the altar of burnt offerings, since the altar “devoured” the sacrifices just as a lion devours prey. Then the warning would be against the altar in the city where David lived, which the Chaldeans later destroyed with the temple. I think the warning is better understood as directed to Jerusalem itself. The name is repeated here, as in Matthew 23:37, to make the warning more urgent.

First, the distress of Jerusalem is foretold. Though Jerusalem was strong like a lion, and holy like a lion of God, woe comes if sin is found there. It was the city where David lived, and he brought it much of its honor. That made it a picture of the gospel church, and David’s dwelling there pointed forward to Christ living in his church. This made Jerusalem’s sin more serious, because in it were the testimony of Israel and the throne of David.

Jerusalem must learn that outward religion will not protect her from God’s judgment (Isaiah 29:1). She may keep adding year to year, following her yearly feasts, and may continue to appear before the Lord three times a year as the law required, but that will not satisfy God if the heart is unchanged. She may keep offering sacrifices as usual, but if her life is unreformed and her heart is not humbled, she cannot expect to calm an offended God. Hypocrites may keep up a steady pattern of religious duties and still flatter themselves, but they cannot please God or make peace with him that way.

Jerusalem must also know that God is coming against her in anger, and that he will visit her as the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 29:6). Her sins will be examined and punished. God will settle accounts with frightening judgments, with the shocks of war that feel like thunder, earthquakes, storms, and devouring fire. When a foreign army is not just near the border but inside the land, roaring, destroying, and laying everything waste, they may see the Lord of hosts visiting them in judgment.

This army is probably meant to include the Assyrians, whose leaders were especially arrogant, as Rabshakeh showed. If the text says there will be a great noise, it may mean they will be more frightened than hurt. Jerusalem will be besieged closely. God does not say, “I will destroy Ariel,” but, “I will distress Ariel,” because the distress is meant to wake her up to repent and turn back, so she may not come to destruction. He says, “I will encamp against you all around” (Isaiah 29:3). It was the enemy army that did this, yet God says he did it, because they were acting as his tool. He had often encamped around them before, by his angels, to protect and rescue them, but now he was turned against them. The siege and the forts raised against them were his doing.

When people fight against us, we must see God contending with us in them. Jerusalem will also be filled with grief when she sees the countryside wasted and all the fortified cities of Judah in the enemy’s hands. There will be heaviness and sorrow (Isaiah 29:2), mourning and lamenting. People who are usually cheerful are often the most crushed when trouble comes, and their laughter turns into mourning. The whole city will be like an altar, with fire on it and slain victims around it. So it was when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans, and many likely died when it was besieged by the Assyrians. The city itself would become like an altar, where sinners fall under God’s judgments like victims offered to divine justice.

Or, if they repent and reform and return to God, then Jerusalem will again be Ariel in a better sense. It will be like itself once more, a holy city again (Isaiah 1:26). She will be humbled and made submissive (Isaiah 29:4). She will be brought down from her proud height, and one humbling act of God after another will bring down her proud look and proud words. Those who despise God’s judgments will be humbled by them, because the proudest sinners must either bend or break before him.

They had spoken boldly, lifting up their horn and speaking with a stiff neck (Psalm 75:5). Now they will speak from the ground, out of the dust, like one with a familiar spirit whispering from the earth. This means they will be weak, unable to speak loudly or fully, as sick people do when their strength is failing. It also means they will be fearful, speaking low because they are afraid enemies may overhear them. And it means they will be forced into submission. When Hezekiah yielded to the king of Assyria, saying, “I have wronged you; whatever you put on me I will bear” (2 Kings 18:14), that was speech from the dust. God can bring the boldest people low and strip them of courage.

Second, the destruction of Jerusalem’s enemies is foretold, for the comfort of her friends in this distress (Isaiah 29:5, Isaiah 29:7). Jerusalem will be brought down and will speak from the dust, reduced to a very low state. But the many strangers and terrible ones around her, the enemy armies, will themselves become like fine dust, unable to speak at all, or only like chaff that blows away.

You will be brought low, while the enemy will be scattered completely, struck down and killed in a different way (Isaiah 27:7). They will disappear at once, suddenly. The enemy will be caught off guard by destruction, and you by salvation. The Assyrian army was struck dead on the spot by an angel, in a moment, suddenly. That is how the enemies of the gospel’s Jerusalem will be destroyed. Their judgment will come in one hour (Revelation 18:10).

Again, in Isaiah 29:6, Jerusalem will be visited, or, as it was once translated, visited with thunder and a great noise. You will be terrified, but only for a short time. Then, in Isaiah 29:7, the crowd of nations fighting against her will be like a dream in the night. They, along with their success and pride, will quickly vanish and be impossible to recover. The many nations that fight against Zion will be like a hungry man who dreams he is eating, but he is still hungry when he wakes.

This means two things. First, they hoped to seize Jerusalem and grow rich from its wealth, but their hope was only a dream. Their imagination may please them for a time, but they will be disappointed. They may think they are masters of Jerusalem, but they will never be. Second, they themselves, with all their greatness, power, and prosperity, will vanish like a dream at waking. They will last no longer than a dream does (Psalm 73:20; Job 20:8). Sennacherib’s army vanished quickly, though it had filled the land like a dream fills a person’s mind, especially like a dream of food fills the mind of someone who went to bed hungry.

Many understand these verses as part of the warning of judgment, when God comes to trouble Jerusalem and set a siege around her. Her many friends, on whom she depends for help, will do her no good. Though they seem strong and fearsome, they will be like fine dust and will pass away. Her many enemies, on the other hand, will never think they have hurt her enough. Even after they have taken much from her, they will still be like a hungry man dreaming of a meal, still greedy to devour more.