Isaiah 33
Published June 23, 2025
June 26
Reading: Isaiah 33
1 Woe to you, destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor, whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.
2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases.
Covenants are broken; cities are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 "Now I will arise," says the LORD,
"now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.
11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire."
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
"Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
his bread will be given him;
his water will be sure.
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.
24 And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick";
the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Isaiah 33 continues the presentation of the coming reign of the glorious King. The first twelve verses serve to illustrate a conversation, a tension, between two quite different things taking place. There is, on the one hand, the violence and destruction in the world due to the hand of the sovereign Lord. (vss. 1, 3-4, 7-9, 11-12) Then there is, on the other hand, the prayers of the righteous and the blessed presence of the Lord. (vss. 2, 5-6, 10)
Beginning in verse 13, the Lord tells just what he is up to amid this tension, the violence in the world and the results of the righteous prayers of the saints. He is terrifying the godless and giving refuge to the righteous in preparation for the arrival of His King.
The promise of the “King in His Beauty” begins in verse 17. Then He will eliminate all the violent and godless. Then He will restore His city. Then His law will prevail. Then He will save us. Then there will be no more sickness.
What we are seeing in Isaiah is a constant focus on the future. It is important to see that this focus runs though all of Scripture. The people of God are always thinking about the Lord fulfilling His good promises in the future. The present is always something to endure, joyfully and faithfully. The future is where our real hope is found. This is the life of faith. It is faith in what John Piper calls “Future Grace.” It is the opposite of “Your Best Life Now.”
Are you living for a good life now? Or are you living for your best life when the Lord fulfills all His promises to us? That will be forever.
Reading: Isaiah 33
1 Woe to you, destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor, whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.
2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 and he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases.
Covenants are broken; cities are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 "Now I will arise," says the LORD,
"now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.
11 You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire."
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
"Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?"
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
his bread will be given him;
his water will be sure.
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.
24 And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick";
the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Isaiah 33 continues the presentation of the coming reign of the glorious King. The first twelve verses serve to illustrate a conversation, a tension, between two quite different things taking place. There is, on the one hand, the violence and destruction in the world due to the hand of the sovereign Lord. (vss. 1, 3-4, 7-9, 11-12) Then there is, on the other hand, the prayers of the righteous and the blessed presence of the Lord. (vss. 2, 5-6, 10)
Beginning in verse 13, the Lord tells just what he is up to amid this tension, the violence in the world and the results of the righteous prayers of the saints. He is terrifying the godless and giving refuge to the righteous in preparation for the arrival of His King.
The promise of the “King in His Beauty” begins in verse 17. Then He will eliminate all the violent and godless. Then He will restore His city. Then His law will prevail. Then He will save us. Then there will be no more sickness.
What we are seeing in Isaiah is a constant focus on the future. It is important to see that this focus runs though all of Scripture. The people of God are always thinking about the Lord fulfilling His good promises in the future. The present is always something to endure, joyfully and faithfully. The future is where our real hope is found. This is the life of faith. It is faith in what John Piper calls “Future Grace.” It is the opposite of “Your Best Life Now.”
Are you living for a good life now? Or are you living for your best life when the Lord fulfills all His promises to us? That will be forever.