Isaiah 33 · The Lantern

The LORD Is Exalted

Ah, devastator, and you were not devastated; traitor, and they did not betray you! When you finish devastating, you will be devastated; when you have done with betraying, they will betray you.

LORD, show us favor; for you we have hoped. Be their arm every morning, indeed our salvation in the time of distress.

The master of the church has many names: being called the Father, the way, the life, the light, the arm, the propitiation, the foundation, the door, the sinless one, the treasure, Lord, God, Son, the only begotten, the form of God, the image of God. So it is with the church itself. Does one name suffice to present the whole truth? By no means.

(Verse 2 and following) Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for you: be our strength in the morning, and our salvation in time of trouble. At the voice of the Angel, the people fled; at your exaltation the nations were scattered. And your spoil will be gathered, as the locust is gathered, as when the ditches are full of it.

717. Second, in the person of the people, he asks for confirmation of the threat from God: O Lord, have mercy on us: glorify your hand and extend your arm (Sir 36:7); give us, O Lord, help from trouble (Ps 59:13[60:11]).

At the sound of tumult peoples flee; at your rising up nations are scattered.

And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts rush, they rush upon it.

Exalted is the LORD, for he dwells on high; he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

And the faithfulness of your times, the wealth of salvations, wisdom and knowledge — the fear of the LORD, that is his treasure.

It must follow that any one solidly established in the perfection of this love will rise to that more excellent and more sublime stage that is the fear derived from love. This is not a terror in the face of punishment or a desire for reward. Rather it is something that comes from the very greatness of love.

But "true wealth" signifies either the joy of eternal life itself, concerning which it is written, "the riches of his inheritance in the saints," or those spiritual virtues with which the fullness of life is attained, about which Isaiah said, "the riches of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord himself is its treasure.""And if you are unfaithful with goods that…

Faith, which is the foundation of justice, above: Zion shall be redeemed in judgment (Isa 1:27); I will espouse you to me in justice, and in faith (Hos 2:19-20). As to the perfection of intellect: riches of salvation, wisdom, in divine things, and knowledge, in human things: wisdom is more precious than all riches (Prov 3:15).

See, their heroes cry out in the street; the messengers of peace weep bitterly.

(Verse 7 and following) Behold, those who see will cry out: The angels of peace will weep bitterly. The roads are abandoned, the passer-by has ceased on the path, the pact has become void, cities have been thrown down, men have not been regarded.

But if you want to see that the ancient prophets were terribly sad and aggrieved about the future blinding of their nation, which was the cause of our illumination, listen to Isaiah, for when he was sent to announce beforehand the grace of the Lord's coming, saying that "a light has arisen upon those who dwell in the region of the shadow of death," he responded immediately to t…

720. Behold they that see shall cry. Here he sets out the punishment which Assyria inflicted on others. And first, he describes the punishment inflicted by them as to the disturbance of men: they that see the magnitude of the army shall cry without, they who live in the suburbs, angels of peace, envoys of Ezechias to Rabsaces, below (Isa 36:3).

The highways lie desolate, the traveler on the path has ceased. He has broken a covenant, he has rejected towns, he has regarded no human.

The land mourns, it languishes; Lebanon is humiliated, it withers; Sharon has become like the desert plain, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

Now I will rise, says the LORD; now I will be lifted up, now I will be exalted.

You conceive dry grass, you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will devour you.

And peoples will be the burnings of lime, thorns cut down that are set alight in the fire.

Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and know, you who are near, my might.

He speaks moreover concerning our ears, how He hath circumcised both them and our heart. The Lord saith in the prophet, "In the hearing of the ear they obeyed me." And again He saith, "By hearing, those shall hear who are afar off; they shall know what I have done." And, "Be ye circumcised in your hearts, saith the Lord." ...

(Ver. 13 et seq.) Hear, you who are far away, what I have done, and know the strength of my neighbors. Sinners are terrified in Zion, hypocrites are trembling. Who among you can dwell with devouring fire? Who among you can endure everlasting burnings?

722. Hear. Here he invites to the consideration of such a fact; and first, to the consideration of the magnitude of the liberating divine power; second, to the consideration of the fitness of the liberated, who, namely, were fit to be thus liberated by the Lord, where it says, which of you (Isa 33:14); third, to the consideration of the worthiness of the liberated city: look up…

Sinners in Zion are in dread; trembling has seized the godless: Who among us can sojourn with a devouring fire? Who among us can sojourn with everlasting burnings?

The Scripture itself … expressly distinguishes between Abraham's bosom, where the poor man dwells, and the infernal place of torment. "Hell" (I take it) means one thing, and "Abraham's bosom" another. "A great gulf" is said to separate those regions and to hinder a passage from one to the other.

"He looked upon them, and the nations shook and the mountains quickly scattered." The sight of the Lord shattered what was hardened and melted what was tightly compact, so that the truth expressed by Isaiah might be evident, for God is a living fire who advances to purify, not to kill: "Who among you can dwell with the devouring fire, or who among you can walk with eternal flam…

Second, he shows the sign of his power, the sinners, namely, the Assyrians, are broken: I will break this people, and this city, as the potter's vessel is broken (Jer 19:11). 723. Which of you can. Here he invites to consider the fitness of him that lives with God, that he may be always inviolate, protected by him.

One who walks in righteous acts and speaks uprightly; who rejects the gain of extortions, who shakes his palms free from taking hold of a bribe, who stops his ear from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil —

We must bear in mind too that there are three ways in which deceit itself is practised, in that, surely, the object aimed at in it is either the secret interest of our fellow creatures' feelings, or the breath of applause, or some outward advantage; contrary to which it is rightly said of the righteous man by the prophet, "Blessed is he that shaketh his hands clear of every fav…

Taking bribes is a violation of the truth. Therefore, it is said of the just man: "He who cleanses his hands of every gift will live on the heights."

724. Second, he shows fitness, removing three things to which the Jews were prone, namely, avarice as to things taken away unjustly: that casts away avarice by oppression, and as to things received illiberally, and shakes his hands from all bribes; second, as to cruelty in homicide: that stops his ears lest he hear blood; third, as to lust: and shuts his eyes that he may see no…

he will dwell on the heights; the strongholds of the crags will be his refuge; his bread is given, his waters are sure.

A king in his beauty your eyes will behold; they will see a land of far distances.

Two advents of our Lord and Savior are indicated in the Scriptures. The one [is] his first advent in the flesh, which took place without honor by reason of his being set at nothing, as Isaiah spoke of him in the past, saying, "We saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness, but his form was despised (and) rejected above all men; a man smitten and familiar with bearing infirmity…

But it also must be noted that the Savior's tomb, above which a memorial canopy is often seen, can properly be called a cave or a den.

Third, as to the vision of God: his eyes shall see the king, that is, God: go forth, you daughters of Zion, and see the king Solomon (Song 3:11). Fourth, as to holy affection, namely, contempt for earthly things: they shall see the land far off, as if far off beneath them, namely, in dignity.

Your heart will murmur over the terror: Where is the one who counted? Where is the one who weighed? Where is the one who counted the towers?

You will not see the insolent people, a people of a lip too deep to hear, of a stammering tongue with no understanding.

Look on Zion, the town of our appointed feast. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a pasture at ease, a tent that will not be moved; its pegs will never be pulled up, and none of its cords will be torn away.

For there the LORD is mighty for us — a place of rivers, of broad streams, where no rowing ship goes and no mighty vessel crosses.

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king — he will save us.

Your ropes hang slack; they cannot hold the base of their mast firm, they cannot spread a sail. Then abundant spoil is divided; the lame plunder plunder.

And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick.” The people dwelling in her are forgiven of iniquity.

Isaiah33

The LORD Is Exalted