Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 32

Verses 1-8

Isa 32:1-8

Isaiah 32:1-8

There are obviously only three paragraphs in this chapter: a blessed promise (Isaiah 32:1-8), a warning to complacent and indifferent women (Isaiah 32:9-15), and a return to the message of hope (Isaiah 32:16-20).

Isaiah 32:1-8

"Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongues of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profaneness, and to utter terror against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. And the instruments of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the noble deviseth noble things; and in noble things shall he continue."

There is much difference of opinion about the identity of that "King who shall reign in righteousness," which is the prominent feature of this paragraph. Jewish commentators usually take the position that it is Hezekiah who is here spoken of; and some Christian scholars have accepted this. Barnes stated flatly that, "This king is Hezekiah.” He defended this position by pointing out the superiority of Hezekiah’s rule over that of the evil Manasseh who succeeded him, and also such scripture references as the following:

"He removed the high places and broke the images and cut down the grove. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him, for he clave unto the Lord, and departed not from following him" (2 Kings 18:3-5).

Yes, indeed, in the context of a record of other kings of Israel, Hezekiah was indeed righteous; but in the absolute sense, no. The situation is the same as it was with other Old Testament heroes who bore the designation of "righteous men." For example, Lot, Noah, and others whose lives were indeed blemished with sin were called, "righteous in their generation" (Genesis 7:1); and that is the way we understand the "righteousness of Hezekiah." Certainly, Hezekiah was not righteous when he was going along with that plot to make an alliance with Egypt, contrary to God’s will.

There are serious reasons why the theory of this "king’s" being Hezekiah cannot be accepted.

(1) Neither Hezekiah nor the conditions during his reign fulfill the conditions of justice, righteousness, and proper understanding and discernment by the people in all the land. "The evidence does not seem to warrant this interpretation.”

(2) It is also impossible to receive this as a promise of Hezekiah’s reign, because Hezekiah was already reigning, and the passage speaks of a "future situation.," not one that already existed. "The king here is not Hezekiah, who was already on the throne, whereas a future time is contemplated.”

(3) Objections to the refusal to see this as a Messianic passage are weak and ineffective. Some, of course, say that in Christ’s kingdom, there are no "princes" to reign with Him. While true enough in an ordinary sense, it is nevertheless true that "all Christians" are a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9); and does not the Bible say, "He hath made us (Christians) to be kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6 KJV), and that Our Lord himself is "The prince of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5), and that, "They (Christians) lived and reigned with Christ"? (Revelation 20:6). Furthermore, the fundamental Pauline teaching of the New Testament is that every Christian is "baptized `into Christ,’" is therefore a member of Christ’s spiritual body; and that it is proper to say that Christians are in a sense "actually Christ." Whatever Christ does, Christians also do. Whatever he did, they "have therefore done"; and that is why the redeemed may lawfully say that they "have already died to sin" in the person of their Savior.

The germ of that very important Pauline conception is therefore right here in this chapter of Isaiah.

(4) Another objection is that no clear picture of Christ appears in these verses; and that objection disappears completely when the passage is understood, not as a picture of the King, but as a prophecy of His Kingdom, of the Messianic Age; and a number of discerning scholars have properly understood this:

"Christ’s kingdom will fulfill God’s holy ideal of a holy commonwealth, administering perfect righteousness throughout the earth. This is the fourth of Isaiah’s promises of the Messiah: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6 f; Isaiah 11:1 ff; and Isaiah 32:1. The role of the coming Messiah fits the description in this verse. He is the King who shall role in righteousness. Here are the characteristics of the future age.”

As excellent a commentary on this passage as any we have seen is the following from Peake, who, although a critical scholar, offered the following:

"Here is a description of the Messianic time, though the figure of the Messiah does not appear in the passage. King and princes will reign in righteousness, each of them a source of shelter and refreshment. The present failure in moral insight and responsiveness will be removed; the inconsiderate will gain judgment, the faulty speaker the faculty of lucid expression. Men will be designated in harmony with their true character. The fool shall no longer be called noble, nor the swindler an aristocrat; for fool and swindler will act in accordance with their nature, but the noble will resolve on noble schemes and persist in their execution.”

Before leaving these first eight verses we should notice a little further the satanic habit of giving sins and sinful men names that tend to ameliorate their shame and unworthiness. The drunkard is called an "alcoholic"; the vicious murderer is judged to be "sick"; the grossly immoral is labeled as a "schizophrenic"; the shoplifter, the gambler, and other sinners are also dignified with special names and descriptions. In the kingdom of Christ, however, things will be called what they are! "God’s standard of judgment will at last become man’s standard.”

Isaiah 32:1-2 RULER: Who is the king predicted? Our view is that it can only refer to the Messiah. He will rule in righteousness. The Messiah is the only one who truly reigns in righteousness. We do not think Isaiah is talking about a relatively righteous rule—rather he is predicting a rule that is completely righteous. Furthermore, this king (or perhaps citizens of his kingdom) will become a refuge, a source of life and a rest. Certainly no human king is intended here. What Isaiah is predicting is that sometime in the future (Isaiah does not say exactly when), as a result of God’s judgment upon Judah and her consequent repentance, Jehovah is going to send a king to rule in righteousness and be a spiritual benefactor. This king’s kingdom will consist of citizens fully converted. The “princes” might be a reference to the apostles whom Jesus said would sit on twelve thrones and judge Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30) which meant the apostles would preach the gospel to the Jews and in so doing give Israel the divine criteria by which God will judge all men. “Princes” might, on the other hand, be merely an adaptation to the mentality of people used to a monarchy and not intended to refer to any particular person or office in the messianic kingdom.

Isaiah 32:3-8 RULED: Isaiah wants it understood that when the king reigning in righteousness comes things will be as God wishes them to be. The contrast between this new kingdom and the kingdom of Isaiah’s day will be as different as daylight and darkness. Men will see as they should and hear and obey (which is what “hearken” means) as they should. The Hebrew word mohar is translated rash in Isaiah 32:4 and could also be translated hasty or impetuous with the connotation of the confusion resulting from impetuosity and impropriety. In this new kingdom men will not act rashly or out of confusion as the people of Isaiah’s day were acting in turning to pagan gods and pagan kings for help. They will not have their minds stupefied by drunkenness so they stammer as they were doing in Isaiah’s day (cf. Isaiah 28:7-8; Isaiah 29:9). The Hebrew word nokal in Isaiah 32:5 is translated churl in the ASV and knave in the RSV. It means someone who is miserly, deceitful, crafty or fraudulent. In the messianic reign a man will be known for what he is, not who he is as was the case in Isaiah’s day. In the messianic reign God’s covenant people, Christians, are the true realists! They not only see men as they are but as they may potentially be should the power of God’s gospel be permitted to make them new creations. Christians “regard no one from a human point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:6-21) but as they are looked at from God’s perspective! The value judgments of the worldly-minded man may cause him to call a man “smart,” and “good” when God calls such a man a “fool” (cf. Luke 12:13-21). Or the worldly-minded man may call the godfearing, Bible-believing person a “fool.” But with God’s revelation to guide him, the Christian has a set of values that tells him who is the fool and who is the noble man.

But Isaiah reveals in Isaiah 32:6-7 what these people really are who were held in such esteem in his day. The man who profanes God by rebelling against God’s law and teaches error against God’s word in order to exploit others for his own ends, this man is a fool. There will be none of those in God’s new kingdom. The man who knows the plight of the needy and plots and deceives in order to exploit such a situation is a churl, a knave, and there will be no such people in God’s new kingdom. Those who are to be ruled by the king who reigns in righteousness will be noble people. The word used for noble in Isaiah 32:8 is nediyviym which connotes willingness as opposed to stubbornness, or liberality as opposed to obstinancy. It means noble-mindedness. This characterizes the attitude and the actions of the citizen of God’s new kingdom which is to come.

Verses 9-15

Isa 32:9-15

Isaiah 32:9-15

"Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear my voice; ye careless daughters, give ear unto my speech. For days beyond a year shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. They shall smite upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit be poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest."

At first, these lines seem to have no connection with the preceding and subsequent paragraphs; but as Rawlinson noted, "They furnish a link between the two portions of the chapter, making it probable that they were delivered upon the same occasion.” He also accepted the speculation of Cheyne that, this prophecy was uttered at a public festival, and that, "A group of women, gathered, we may suppose, at a little distance from the rest and testifying their indifference (perhaps by frivolity), received this address from Isaiah." The warning was indeed shocking. In about a year, disaster would come upon Jerusalem, this fixing the approximate date of the prophecy as just prior to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army in 701 B.C.

"The beating of their breasts" because of the failure of the vintage and the harvest, is similar to what is related of the priestesses of Nineveh during the fall of that wicked city: "She is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts" (Nahum 2:7).

Although Jerusalem was not destroyed by Sennacherib, all of the suburban cities were indeed captured and plundered; and the fields and vineyards were devastated indeed. Besides that, an even greater disaster loomed starkly ahead, which would be executed in the Babylonian destruction and captivity of the people. Thus the warning to these women who were so indifferent to God’s Word was one that was well deserved and should have been heeded.

"Yet, the desolation shall not be permanent." It will last only "until God’s Spirit is poured out upon the people from on high" (Isaiah 32:15); therefore, we must understand a limitation on the words "forever" in Isaiah 32:14. It is good to keep in mind that "forever" in the Hebrew Bible never means "for all eternity."

The mention of God’s Spirit here is very significant and shows that the theme of the whole chapter continues to be the Messianic Age, to which the prophecy returned after Isaiah’s rebuke of the careless women. The second chapter of Joel which was quoted by the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost identifies the coming of God’s Spirit upon men as a mark of the New Covenant.

We now know, of course, that God’s Spirit came on Pentecost and that the wonderful blessings promised by Isaiah here would be delivered by the preaching of the gospel of Christ; but, we may not suppose for a moment that Isaiah fully understood "when" such blessings would occur; and, it may even be admitted that the prophet might have "thought," either that a repentant Hezekiah might be that righteous king, or that soon after Sennacherib’s army was destroyed, the Messiah would indeed come, etc. There is no greater error, however, than trying to interpret the Bible by what men "suppose" the prophet who gave the message might have "thought." It is totally irrelevant what Isaiah may have thought. God is the speaker in his prophecy, not Isaiah.

Isaiah 32:9-14 WARNING PRONOUNCED: Once again the prophet appeals to the women to repent (cf. Isaiah 3:16 to Isaiah 4:1). Womanhood is the adhesive fibre of any society. They are the earliest teachers of each succeeding generation; they are the motivators of men; they are keepers of the home which is the essential element of all other social structures. When womanhood becomes decadent or deserts its God-ordained calling the last stronghold of societal cohesion is gone. Isaiah challenges the women of his day, lying around in luxury and self-indulgence, to “rise up” and listen to his warning. The women of Isaiah’s country were probably much like the women of Israel in Amos’ day, revelers, drunkards, greedy and careless (cf. Amos 4:1-2; Amos 6:4-6). The word careless in Isaiah 32:9-10 is from the Hebrew, betahk, which means safe, secure. Thus, they were “at ease in Zion” with the false sense of security brought on by the deceitfulness of sin. The prophet is trying to startle them from their luxurious, indulgent lethargy. Isaiah predicts that in just a little over a year they will be brought up short because the ingathering of the vintage (the annual grape harvest) will not come as usual and their supply of wine and other luxuries will be unavailable. When the Assyrians swept down through Israel (722 B.C.) and on through Judah (cir. 704–700 B.C.) they practiced the “scorched earth” policy of warfare. Most ancient armies burned and destroyed all fortifications, cities and farmlands as they went so their enemies could not use them. Isaiah is probably writing here about a year before the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib (cf. Isaiah 36-39). At that time Assyria had conquered and plundered most of Judah with the exception of Jerusalem, and Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were “caged like a bird” by the Assyrian army. All those so safe and secure would tremble then!

Now is the time to tremble, says Isaiah. Repentance now will save you from the judgment of God that will surely come, and its beginning will be in little more than a year. The prophet predicts that unless they have a change of mind and heart about their rebellion and sin, and tremble, the Lord is going to make their once fruitful land a desolate “ghost town.” Thorns and briers will grow up and over houses; the palace of the king will be forsaken and Judah’s teeming cities will be deserted. Why? Because the people will all be taken captive. Judah was not taken captive for another 100 years after Isaiah’s prophecy here, but the judgment of Judah began with Assyria and continued through Babylon until its restoration in 536 under the Persians. During that period Judah was continually plundered and exploited by pagan empires and her people were being taken into captivity until the final captivity and destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. Judah was restored to her land beginning in 536 B.C. (70 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s first assault upon Jerusalem in 606 B.C.). She enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence for 200 years until Alexander the Great came conquering the world (cir. 332 B.C.) and his successors, the Seleucids, occupied Palestine. Then from about 165 B.C. until 64 B.C. Judah was free of foreign occupation for another 100 years during the times of the Maccabeans. But Pompey occupied Palestine (64 B.C.) for the Romans. Then in 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and scattered the Jews to the ends of the earth. When Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one (cf. Daniel 9:24-27) came, the Jews were offered their final overture from God to receive the blessings promised through the prophets. The blessings of the prophets all focus on the first coming of the Messiah. He is the only way left for anyone to repent toward God. There will be no other way (cf. Hebrews 6:1-8; Hebrews 10:1-31). A reinstituted Judaism with a reinstituted Hebrew priesthood and a rebuilt Jewish temple is not promised anywhere in the N.T. or the O.T. for that matter. For people to return to Judaism, in the light of the finality of the sacrifice of Christ, is apostasy, and it is impossible to renew anyone to repentance through law, Jewish law, or any other law. This leads us to our next section.

Verses 16-20

Isa 32:16-20

Isaiah 32:16-20

"Then justice shall abide in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, shall be quietness and confidence forever. And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send for the feet of the ox and the ass."

Here we have further characteristics of the citizens of God’s kingdom, the peace and tranquility of which are the kingdom’s most salient features. Even when the angels announced the birth of the Messiah, they began with the announcement of "Peace on earth to men of good will." Not many details are here given, and like all Messianic prophecy, this one is vague and ambiguous. However, one thing stands out starkly. Even that Golden Age shall end suddenly in the hail of the wrath of God and in the destruction of the "populous city." That city we take to be the "great world city," Mystery Babylon the great, mentioned prophetically in Revelation 16:19, and the fall of which will be an event that heralds the end of the current dispensation and the onset of the final judgment of the Great Day.

The increased fertility of the earth and other agricultural metaphors are frequently used in scripture to describe the spiritual blessings to be enjoyed in the New Covenant.

"Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters ..." (Isaiah 32:20). Commentators have a lot of trouble with this verse; and, as we have already noted, the passage is not too clear. However, to us it says that, followers of the Lamb should, "preach the gospel in season and out of season"; exploit all opportunities; take every chance; do not be too particular nor too choosey as to what we shall do for the Lord. If this is what the passage means, it is the equivalent of the proverb which states that, "He that regardeth the winds shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap!" (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

Isaiah 32:15-20 WEALTH PROMISED: This desolation of Judah, which at its very core was spiritual, would continue (cf. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi to see the spiritual destitution of this people even after their restoration to their land) until the Spirit was poured out from on high. This evidently has reference to the accomplishments of the Messiah (cf. Daniel 9:24-27) in redemption and establishment of the church (Acts 2:38). The agricultural setting of this prophecy should not confuse the careful student of the New Testament since there are some specific keys in the N.T. which provide clues to proper interpretation of such passages. Consider the following passages:

The essential nature of the future fruitfulness which Isaiah is predicting is to be “justice” (true relationship between man and man) and “righteousness” (true relationship between man and God). These proper relationships are accomplished only through the agency of the Spirit of God, at first incarnate in the Son, then dwelling in believers through faith and the agency of the Word. When these relationships are accomplished, peace, rest and safety are the results. This is exactly what the Messiah brought to the world and gave to all who will receive it by faith (cf. Matthew 11:25-30; John 14:27; John 15:11; Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 2:11-22). For the true Jew in the eyes of God is one who is one inwardly (Romans 2:28-29); indeed the promises made to Abraham’s progeny was intended to be found by anyone who would become one of his children by faith in the one “seed,” Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:6-9; Galatians 3:15-18); and all who are new creatures by faith in Christ are the Israel of God (Galatians 6:14-16). One thing is certain; the promises of Isaiah here in Isaiah 32:16-18 have not found fulfillment in the Jews or in Palestine to this point in history. And to hold out a special dispensation for the Jews in some future age seems to us to disparage the finality and completeness of the New Testament, to say the least.

Isaiah 32:19 seems to indicate a prediction of the defeat of all that opposes this future Messianic purpose of God. Enemies of God are likened unto forests in Isaiah 10:18-19; Jeremiah 46:23; unto images and beasts in Daniel 2-8; unto dragons and beasts in Revelation 12-13. God will overcome all opposition as He completes His work of redemption and establishing a place of peace, rest and safety on earth. What God will do on earth will last forever (Isaiah 32:17). The kingdom of God established on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) is an eternal kingdom.

Those who by faith become citizens of this kingdom will enjoy God’s blessings in abundance (John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Ephesians 1:3; Romans 8:17-18; Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Whatever they do, wherever they sow, wherever they work, it will prosper.