Isaiah 33:13 - Meaning and Application

Here is a warning that deserves attention. Everyone should listen, near and far, to what God says and does (Isaiah 33:13). Let distant lands and future generations hear what God has done. They do, and they will, through Scripture, with the same certainty as the people who lived nearby at that time.

Whoever hears what God has done, whether near or far away, should admit his power. His strength cannot be resisted, and he can do all things. People are truly foolish if they hear of God’s works and still refuse to honor his might. So what has God done that should make us stop and take notice?

He has struck fear into the sinners in Zion, that is, the hypocrites who lived among God’s people and shared in Zion’s privileges and worship, but whose hearts were not right with God (Isaiah 33:14). They kept secret sins hidden under a public profession of faith, which exposed their hypocrisy. Sinners in Zion have more to answer for than other sinners. Their place among God’s people does not protect them, it increases both their guilt and their punishment.

These sinners were always prone to secret fears, but now they were shaken more than usual by the convictions of their own consciences. When they saw the Assyrian army surrounding Jerusalem, ready to burn it down and destroy it, they were helpless. They could not flee to Egypt, as some had done, and they no longer trusted the promises God had given through his prophets.

At that point they cried out in panic, “Who among us can live with devouring fire? Who can live with everlasting burnings?” They meant, in effect, “Who can stand against this terrible fire? We had better abandon the city and save ourselves.” This shows how sinners in Zion react when God’s judgments appear. While judgment is only threatened, they shrug it off. When it comes, they are overwhelmed, and they speak of it in the strongest possible terms.

Or this may refer to the destruction of the Assyrian army itself. When sinners in Zion saw how God’s wrath had wiped out such a great force, they were terrified. They knew they had provoked the Lord by secretly worshiping other gods. So they asked, “Who among us can live with this devouring fire? Who among us can live with these everlasting burnings?” They said this, or should have said it. God’s judgments on Zion’s enemies should make the sinners in Zion tremble. Even David was shaken by them (Psalm 119:120). God himself is a devouring fire (Hebrews 12:29). Who can stand before him? (1 Samuel 6:20). His wrath will burn forever on those who have made themselves fuel for it.

This is a fire that will never go out, because it is the wrath of the everlasting God working on an immortal soul. The boldest sinners cannot hold up against it, either when it comes or when they only wait in fear for it. This should stir all of us to flee from the coming wrath by fleeing to Christ for refuge.

God has also kindly provided safety for his people who trust in him. Hear this, and acknowledge his power in making those who live rightly and speak honestly dwell on high (Isaiah 33:15, Isaiah 33:16). The good man’s character is seen in several ways, even in times of widespread wickedness.

He walks righteously. In all he does, he acts fairly and tries to give everyone what is due, both to God and to other people. His whole way of life is marked by justice. He would not knowingly do a dishonest thing for anything in the world.

He speaks uprightly, or speaks uprightnesses. He says what is true and right, and he means it honestly. He cannot think one thing and say another, or act one way and mean another. His word is as binding to him as an oath.

He despises dishonest gain. He does not chase after money gained by harming others. He sees that kind of profit as low and shameful. He would rather lose money than do a wrong or harsh thing to get it.

If someone offers him a bribe to twist justice, he shakes it off with disgust. He takes it as an insult that anyone would even offer it to him.

He stops his ears from hearing anything that leads to cruelty, bloodshed, or revenge (Job 31:31). He will not listen to those who love violence or try to pull him into their schemes (Proverbs 1:14, Proverbs 1:16).

He shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He hates sin so much that he will not gladly watch it, and he guards himself against every chance to fall into it. Anyone who wants to keep a pure soul must guard the senses carefully. They must refuse tempting words and turn their eyes away from worthless things.

Such a person also has comfort in times of trouble (Isaiah 33:16). He will be safe. He will escape the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings, and he will have access to the God who is himself a devouring fire, yet also a joyful light to him. In present troubles, he will dwell on high, beyond their reach, and even beyond the noise of them.

He will not be truly harmed by those troubles, and he will not be deeply shaken by them. Even if great waters rise against him, they will not come near him. If danger does come, his place of defense will be the strong rock, firm and secure, protected by both nature and skill. God’s power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him calm. God, the rock of ages, will be his high tower.

He will also be supplied with what he needs. Bread will be given to him, even when a siege is tight and food is cut off. His water will be sure, meaning it will continue, so he will not have to ration it in fear or drink it in alarm.

Those who fear the Lord will not lack anything that is good for them. He will also protect Jerusalem and rescue it from the hands of its attackers. The storm that threatened them will pass, and they will enjoy a prosperous life again. The text gives several pictures of that prosperity.

First, Hezekiah, king of Judah, will take off his sackcloth and the look of grief from his face. He will appear in public in royal splendor, with a pleasant and joyful look (Isaiah 33:17), which will delight all his loyal people. Those who live uprightly will not only have bread and water, but by faith they will also see the King of kings in his beauty, the beauty of holiness. That same beauty will rest on them too.

Second, once the siege is lifted, the people will no longer be shut up inside Jerusalem’s walls. They will be free to travel for work or pleasure without fear of being captured. They will see the land that is far away, and they will visit the farthest parts of the nation and look out toward the neighboring countries, which will feel especially sweet after such a long confinement. In the same way, believers look toward the heavenly Canaan, that land far away, and comfort themselves with that hope in hard times.

Third, remembering the fear they went through will add to the joy of their rescue (Isaiah 33:18). They will think back on the terror with gladness after it is over. They will almost hear the alarm still ringing in their ears, with cries like, “Arm yourselves! Every man to his post!” Where is the scribe, the secretary of war, who should draw up the roll? Where is the treasury officer, who should count the money for defense? Where is the one who counted the towers, so enough men could be placed at each one? Or, these words may mean Jerusalem’s triumph over the defeated Assyrian army. The New Testament seems to allude to this kind of victory when it speaks of Christ overcoming the wisdom of this world (Colossians 1:20). The virgin daughter of Zion looks down on all their military planning. Where is the scribe or muster-master of the Assyrian army? Where is their treasurer, and where are their engineers who counted the towers? They are all gone, dead or fled, and it is finished.

Fourth, they will no longer be afraid at the sight of the Assyrians. The Assyrians were fierce by nature, and especially harsh against the Jews. They spoke a foreign language, so they could not understand the people’s pleas, and the people could not understand them either. That made them seem even more threatening (Isaiah 33:19). “Your eyes will no longer see them in their fierce power,” the text says, “but only as dead bodies, after their strength has gone.”

Fifth, they will no longer fear for Jerusalem and Zion, including the temple there (Isaiah 33:20). “Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts,” it says, the place where the people gathered for worship and holy assemblies. In their distress, the godly people were most troubled for Zion, because it was the city of their sacred gatherings. They feared the conquerors would burn the temple, so they would no longer have a place to keep those feasts. In times of public danger, our deepest concern should be for our religion, and the cities of our solemn feasts should matter more to us than our strong cities or store cities. God will bring deliverance to Jerusalem partly because it is the city of religious worship. If those holy duties are faithfully kept, as the glory of a people, we may trust God to set a defense around that glory.

Two promises are given to Jerusalem. First, it will have a well-founded safety. It will be a quiet home for God’s people, free from the alarms of war and persecution, as in Isaiah 29:20. It will be a quiet home because it is the city of our solemn feasts. It is good to have peace in our own houses, but it is much better to have peace in God’s house and no one there to make us afraid. That is what Jerusalem will know, and the people will see it with their own eyes, which will greatly satisfy a godly person (Psalm 128:5, Psalm 128:6). “You will see Jerusalem’s good and Israel’s peace,” meaning you will live to enjoy it.

Second, Jerusalem will have firm stability. It is called a tabernacle, a tent, compared with the New Jerusalem, because present signs of God’s glory and grace are small compared with what is still to come. Yet it is a tabernacle that will not be taken down. After this trouble ends, Jerusalem will enjoy lasting peace, and its sacred privileges, which are like the tent stakes and cords, will not be removed. Nothing will interrupt the pattern of its worship. God’s church on earth is also like a tent. It may move from place to place, but it will not be taken down while the world stands, because Christ will always have a people to serve him. The promises of the covenant are the stakes of that tent, and they will never be moved. The ordinances and commands of the gospel are its cords, and they will never be broken. These are things that cannot be shaken, even if heaven and earth are shaken.

Finally, God himself will be their protector and Savior (Isaiah 33:21-22). This is the main reason for their confidence. He is the glorious Lord, and he will show his glory for them and be their glory, outshining the enemy’s proud display. God is glorious because he is gracious, since his goodness is part of his glory. He will be Jerusalem’s Savior and glorious Lord in this way, first as a defense against enemies from outside. He will be like broad rivers and streams around the city. Jerusalem had no large river beside it, unlike many great cities. It had only the brook Kidron, so it lacked one of the best natural defenses and one of the greatest helps for trade. Because of that, enemies looked down on it and thought it would be easy to conquer. But God’s presence and power are enough to make up for every lack in created strength or beauty. In God, we have all we need and all we can truly desire.

Jerusalem may not have the outward advantages other places have, but in God it has more than enough to match them. Yet if there are broad rivers and streams around Jerusalem, could an attacking fleet use them to enter? No. These are rivers and streams where no galley with oars, no warship, and no proud sailing vessel can go.

If God himself is their river, then the enemy cannot get at it. They cannot find a way around it, and they cannot force a way through it. God is enough to keep them safe.

God is also the guide for their life at home. He is their Judge, the one to whom they answer and whose judgment they accept. He is their Lawgiver, so his word is their law, and every thought within them must obey him. He is their King, so they honor him and owe him loyal service, and for that reason they trust that he will save them. Protection calls for loyalty, and loyalty may expect protection from God.

By faith, believers receive Christ as their Prince and Savior. They depend on him, and they give themselves to him. Notice how confidently they comfort themselves with the holy name of God: the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King. He is self-existing, needing nothing from outside himself, and fully sufficient for his people.

The enemy will be thrown into complete confusion, and all their plans will fall apart, like a ship in a storm. A ship with torn rigging and broken masts cannot stay afloat, and it is treated as lost (Isaiah 33:23). The Assyrian army will be like a ship whose ropes are loose, or like a crew that has given up because the ship cannot be saved. They thought Jerusalem was already theirs, but when they were almost at the harbor, they were suddenly helpless. They could not even spread their sails, and they had to wait until God poured out his anger on them. The enemies of God’s people often lose their strength just when they think victory is near.

The wealth in the enemy camp will become a rich prize for the Jews. Once the larger part of the army was killed, the rest fled in confusion and left their tents behind, just as the Syrians had done before. So all the treasure in them fell into the hands of the people inside the city, and even the lame took part in the spoil. Those who stayed at home shared in the plunder. It was so easy to take that even the lame man, who could not fight or chase anyone, could gather some of it. The victory would cost them no danger, and the spoil would cost them no hard labor. There was so much that even the last ones who came found enough. In this way, God turned trouble into good and not only rescued Jerusalem, but also enriched it and made up for what it had lost. This is often how the fears and troubles of God’s people end, with comfort and mercy.

Both sickness and sin will be removed. A sickness is really taken away in mercy when its final result is the removal of sin. The inhabitant will not say, “I am sick.” Like the lame who take the spoil, the sick will be able to reach the abandoned camp and take something for themselves. Or this may mean that joy will be so great that even the sick will forget their pain for a time and join the city’s rejoicing. The deliverance of the city will itself be a kind of healing. It also suggests that, while long sieges often bring disease, it will not be so in Jerusalem. The people will have peace and health as well as victory, and there will be no complaining about sickness inside the city.

Those who live there will be forgiven for their sin. This means not only the whole nation being forgiven for its national guilt when the national judgment is removed, but also individual people repenting, changing their ways, and having their sins pardoned. This is the deepest blessing behind all the others. God will do these things for them because he will be merciful to their wrongs (Hebrews 8:12). Sin is the sickness of the soul. When God pardons sin, he heals the disease. And when pardoning mercy heals the sickness of sin, it takes away the sting of bodily illness and removes its cause. So the inhabitant will either not be sick, or at least will not say, “I am sick.” If sin is taken away, there is little reason to complain about outward trouble. “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.”