14 The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?
And said, The Lord has let us see his glory and his power, and his voice has come to us out of the fire: today we have seen that a man may go on living even after hearing the voice of God. Why then is death to be our fate? For if the voice of the Lord our God comes to us any more, death will overtake us, and we will be burned up in this great fire.
See, the name of the Lord is coming from far, burning with his wrath, with thick smoke going up: his lips are full of passion, and his tongue is like a burning fire: And his breath is as an overflowing stream, coming up even to the neck, shaking the nations for their destruction, like the shaking of grain in a basket: and he will put a cord in the mouths of the people, turning them out of their way. You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and you will be glad in heart, as when they go with music of the pipe to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock of Israel. And the Lord will send out the sound of his great voice, and they will see his arm stretched out, with the heat of his wrath, and the flame of a burning fire; with a cloud-burst, and storm, and a rain of ice. For through the voice of the Lord the Assyrian will be broken, and the Lord's rod will be lifted up against him. And every blow of the rod of his punishment, which the Lord will send on him, will be with the sound of music: and with the waving of his sword the Lord will make war against him. For a place of fire has long been ready; yes, it has been made ready for the king; he has made it deep and wide: it is massed with fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of fire, puts a light to it.
And if your hand is a cause of trouble to you, let it be cut off; it is better for you to go into life with one hand than to have two hands and go into hell, into the eternal fire. [] And if your foot is a cause of trouble to you, let it be cut off: it is better for you to go into life with one foot than to have two feet and go into hell. [] And if your eye is a cause of trouble to you, take it out: it is better for you to go into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to go into hell, Where their worm is ever living and the fire is not put out. Everyone will be salted with fire.
And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast. And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame. But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain. And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us.
And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the chief captains, and the men of wealth, and the strong, and every servant and free man, took cover in the holes and the rocks of the mountains; And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Come down on us, covering us from the face of him who is seated on the high seat, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place?
They have given my honour to that which is not God, moving me to wrath with their false worship: I will give their honour to those who are not a people, moving them to wrath by a foolish nation, For my wrath is a flaming fire, burning to the deep parts of the underworld, burning up the earth with her increase, and firing the deep roots of the mountains. I will send a rain of troubles on them, my arrows will be showered on them. They will be wasted from need of food, and overcome by burning heat and bitter destruction; and the teeth of beasts I will send on them, with the poison of the worms of the dust.
A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him: He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;
And the children of Israel said to Moses, Truly, destruction has come on us; an evil fate has overtaken us all. Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?
Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem: Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:
And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters. And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them. Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear. For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with. For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work--strange is his work; and give effect to his act--unnatural is his act. And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.
Now go, put it in writing before them on a board, and make a record of it in a book, so that it may be for the future, a witness for all time to come. For they are an uncontrolled people, false-hearted, who will not give ear to the teaching of the Lord: Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not give us word of what is true, but say false things to give us pleasure: Get out of the good way, turning from the right road; do not keep the Holy One of Israel before our minds.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 33
Commentary on Isaiah 33 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 33
This chapter relates to the same events as the foregoing chapter, the distress of Judah and Jerusalem by Sennacherib's invasion and their deliverance out of that distress by the destruction of the Assyrian army. These are intermixed in the prophecy, in the way of a Pindaric. Observe,
This was soon fulfilled, but is written for our learning.
Isa 33:1-12
Here we have,
Isa 33:13-24
Here is a preface that commands attention; and it is fit that all should attend, both near and afar off, to what God says and does (v. 13): Hear, you that are afar off, whether in place or time. Let distant regions and future ages hear what God has done. They do so; they will do so from the scripture, with as much assurance as those that were near, the neighbouring nations and those that lived at that time. But whoever hears what God has done, whether near or afar off, let them acknowledge his might, that it is irresistible, and that he can do every thing. Those are very stupid who hear what God has done and yet will not acknowledge his might. Now what is it that God has done which we must take notice of, and in which we must acknowledge his might?