Isaiah Chapter 32
1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.
2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.
5 The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise profanity, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
8 But the noble devises noble things; and he will continue in noble things.
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech!
10 For days beyond a year you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage will fail. The harvest won't come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease! Be troubled, you careless ones! Strip yourselves, make yourselves naked, and put sackcloth on your waist.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
13 Thorns and briers will come up on my people's land; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
14 For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
15 until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.
17 The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
19 though hail flattens the forest, and the city is levelled completely.
20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey.
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Isaiah Chapter 32 Guide
In this message the prophet describes the reign of the coming King, and then suddenly appeals to the women. He describes the reign of the King as establishment of order and creation of refuge and refreshment for all in distress. The beneficent effects of such a reign are restoration of sensibility and a true sense of values, in which men will know violence and call it by its right name, and recognize true nobility. Evidently conscious of how different were the circumstances in which he was exercising his ministry from those described, he appeals to the women. He calls them to abandon their ease and gird themselves with sackcloth before the devastation of the city. This in order to be restored by the outpouring of the Spirit.
This recognition for the second time of the influence of women in the course of this volume is a revelation of the prophet's keen insight and accurate apprehension of one of the most prolific causes of national disaster. A degraded womanhood always creates a dissipated and enervated manhood.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Isaiah Chapter 32 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Times of peace and happiness. -- (1-8)
- An interval of trouble, yet comfort and blessings in the end. -- (9-20)
Verses 1-8
Christ our righteous King, and his true disciples, are evidently here intended. The consolations and graces of his Spirit are as rivers of water in this dry land; and as the overhanging rock affords refreshing shade and shelter to the weary traveller in the desert, so his power, truth, and love, yield the believer the only real protection and refreshment in the weary land through which he journeys to heaven. Christ bore the storm himself, to keep it off from us. To him let the trembling sinner flee for refuge; for he alone can protect and refresh us in every trial. See what pains sinners take in sin; they labour at it, their hearts are intent upon it, and with art they work iniquity; but this is our comfort, that they can do no more mischief than God permits. Let us seek to have our hearts more freed from selfishness. The liberal soul devises liberal things concerning God, and desires that He will grant wisdom and prudence, the comforts of his presence, the influence of his Spirit, and in due time the enjoyment of his glory.
Verses 9-20
When there was so much provocation given to the holy God, bad times might be expected. Alas! how many careless ones there are, who support self-indulgence by shameful niggardliness! We deserve to be deprived of the supports of life, when we make them the food of lusts. Let such tremble and be troubled. Blessed times shall be brought in by the pouring out of the Spirit from on high; then, and not till then, there will be good times. The present state of the Jews shall continue until a more abundant pouring out of the Spirit from on high. Peace and quietness shall be found in the way and work of righteousness. True satisfaction is to be had only in true religion. And real holiness is real happiness now, and shall be perfect happiness, that is, perfect holiness for ever. The good seed of the word shall be sown in all places, and be watered by Divine grace; and laborious, patient labourers shall be sent forth into God's husbandry.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.