.33:1-24.

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Assyria defeated; Jerusalem blessed (Isa 33:1-24)

In speaking again about the current situation, Isaiah announces God’s judgment on the Assyrians. They have plundered greedily and acted treacherously (Isa 33:1).

Isaiah cries to God to save Jerusalem, so that the enemy armies will flee and the Jerusalemites can seize the goods left behind (Isa 33:2-4).

Assured that God will act, the prophet praises him before the actual victory. God gives his people security and wisdom, and they respond with reverence and trust (Isa 33:5-6).

Isaiah then hears of the treachery of Assyria towards the Judean representatives who came to negotiate a peace settlement. Assyria accepted from Judah the heavy fine it demanded as the price of peace, then betrayed Judah by saying it would attack Jerusalem just the same. Judah’s administration in the country areas had broken down as a result of the Assyrian invasion, so the Assyrians decided to finish the job properly by capturing the capital, Jerusalem (Isa 33:7-9; see 2 Kings 18:13-37).

But God will now act. He will fight against the Assyrians, turning their expected victory into a shattering defeat. His action will be so devastating that people everywhere will be amazed (Isa 33:10-13).

God will act against the Jerusalemites also, sparing only those who live uprightly and who refuse to join in the misdeeds of the ungodly (Isa 33:14-16).

With the besieging armies gone, the people will look out on the open fields again. They will cheer their king as he appears before them in his royal robes (Isa 33:17).

No longer will they hear the foreign language of the Assyrian generals who took the Judeans’ money and then betrayed them (Isa 33:18-19).

People will flock to Jerusalem for the feasts and festivals as in former days (Isa 33:20).

Jerusalem will be safe, like a city on the edge of a broad river where no enemy warships approach and therefore no one needs to prepare any ships for battle. The city, by God’s forgiving mercy, will be a place of good health and ample provision (Isa 33:21-24).