Isaiah 32 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes
Isaiah 32 Short Summary:
Isaiah 32 is full of promises and warnings. Isaiah warns the complacent women of Jerusalem that their lives of ease are about to be over. On the flip side, he prophesies that God will send a king of righteousness to rule in Judah and restore the land when He pours out His Spirit on His people.
Isaiah 32 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
The prophetic ministry of Isaiah spanned the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Assuming this prophecy is a continuation of the words in the last chapter, it must have been spoken before 701 BC, because that was the year God saved Jerusalem from an Assyrian siege.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.
The Citizens of Judah – They hated hearing God’s instruction. They were sick of hearing Isaiah preaching about the Holy One of Israel (30:11).
DEFINITIONS:
Complacent (32:11) – A feeling of satisfaction with oneself or one’s place in life that prevents a person from trying harder or achieving more.
Sackcloth (32:11) - A very rough and uncomfortable fabric. It was worn by people who were publicly mourning.
OUTLINE:
A KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (32:1-8):
Continuing his prophecy about the future grace God was going to show to Judah, Isaiah prophesied that God would give them a king who reigned in righteousness.
The king would be like a shelter from wind and storms, a stream in the desert, and shade on a hot day.
During his reign, fools and scoundrels would no longer be allowed to occupy positions of authority. Noble men would be lifted up in their place.
THE COMPLACENT WOMEN (32:9-14):
Much of Isaiah’s condemnation to this point has been directed towards the men of Jerusalem, but in verse 9, his attention shifted towards the complacent widows of Jerusalem.
Apparently, the women weren’t any more motivated than the men to see reform in Judah. They were content to live lives of ease in complacency.
Isaiah told them they should be trembling and shuddering due to what was coming.
Their land would be stripped. God would cause the cities to be deserted and the populous places to become grazing grounds for animals.
THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT (32:15-20):
The only reprieve from God’s judgement would an outpouring of His Spirit that Isaiah prophesied would take place some day in the future.
“Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field” (32:16-17).
God’s people would “abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (32:18).
APPLICATION:
Like a desolate land that needs restored, our souls are desolate while they remain in sin.
God’s Spirit, which is given to us when we are saved, is the refreshing force.
This was what Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about when He told Him he must be born of water and the Spirit.
“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”… Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).
The Spirit takes our deadness in the water and gives us life. We are spiritually born again into new life.
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
We are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17).
