Recovery of Wisdom

Isaiah 29:17-24

17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?

18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD,
And the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
The scornful one is consumed,
And all who watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just by empty words.

22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

"Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.

24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine."

This message of hope in the midst of judgment for the sin of God’s people shows the Lord’s grace to them as well as us.  Fruitfulness would be restored to the land and much more.  The prophetic description of the work of the Messiah, Christ Jesus, was given for them to look forward to and for us to look back on in awe of His work.  He would and has given hearing to deaf ears and sight to blinded eyes (Matthew 11:5, Mark 7:37).  The hearing was from God’s word, in the book of His scriptures, and the seeing would bring men and women out of darkness into his wonderful light of truth and to see Him (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18).  This also gave joyful hope to the humble who looked to their Master’s hand for provision and understanding.  Yes, the terrible one who is our adversary would be brought down as all who follow him against the people of God and those who scorn and despise them and the word of the Lord.  Those who live to sin and draw others down against sound doctrine and holy living with them will be stopped.  This prophecy was for those delivered by the faith of Abraham who heard God, trusted all He said, and acted on that faith, just as we do with the gospel of Christ Jesus.  There is no shame in such humility to confess our sin and truth from it to Him according to His word and work in Him (1 Peter 2:6).  We then are to follow suit by giving honor and glory to our holy God for all He is and has done with godly fear and awe.  As we tell the good news, ears are opened to hear and eyes to see the glory of God in His word.  They will come to understand and learn sound teaching from Him and through us (John 6:45, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 John 1:3), just as foretold through Isaiah.  The gospel of grace is found from all scripture as we see here and hear in the explanations in later writings such as Galatians 3:8, 22 and 2 Timothy 3:16.  Just as Israel recovered wisdom as God gave it to their understanding by opening their eyes and ears though their humbled repentant hearts, so He speaks wisdom still to call many to Himself through the gospel of grace in Christ.