Background
Chapter 33 is the last of the six woes that began in chapter 28, and it reads almost like a psalm or a temple liturgy: a woe against the destroyer, a prayer, a lament, a divine answer, a question about who may dwell with God, and a vision of Zion at peace.
The historical background helps. When Sennacherib invaded Judah in 701 BC, Hezekiah tried to buy him off. He paid an enormous tribute, even stripping the gold from the temple doors (2 Kgs. 18:13–16). Sennacherib took the payment and attacked anyway. That is the “treacherous dealer” of verse 1, who “hath broken the covenant” (verse 8). Judah’s envoys come home weeping (verse 7).
The chapter includes one of the Old Testament’s great “temple entrance” questions: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?” (verse 14), answered with a portrait of a righteous person (verses 15–16), and a promise: “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty” (verse 17).
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 33 turns on a single question: who can live in the presence of God?
It begins with a betrayed people. The Assyrian, the “spoiler” who has never been spoiled, has broken his word (verse 1). Roads are empty, envoys weep, and the land withers (verses 7–9). The people pray, “O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning” (verse 2).
The Lord answers: “Now will I rise… now will I be exalted” (verse 10). And when He rises, His presence is like fire. The oppressors burn like lime and thorns (verses 11–12).
But the fire doesn’t only frighten the Assyrians. It frightens the sinners in Zion, too (verse 14). Suddenly the hypocrites realize that the holy God they claimed to worship is a “devouring fire,” “everlasting burnings.” Who can live with that?
The answer (verses 15–16) is a portrait of the kind of person who can: someone who walks righteously, speaks honestly, refuses gain from oppression, won’t take bribes, stops their ears from hearing plans for bloodshed, and shuts their eyes from looking on evil. That person “shall dwell on high,” protected by a fortress of rock, with bread and water sure.
And the reward is far more than safety: “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty” (verse 17). The chapter ends with Zion as a tent whose stakes will never be pulled up (verse 20), with the Lord as “our judge… our lawgiver… our king” (verse 22), and with a people who are healed and forgiven (verse 24).
The same fire that consumes the treacherous is the glory in which the righteous dwell. The question isn’t whether we will meet the fire. It is whether we will be able to live in it.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
The destroyer destroyed, and a prayer
Woe to you, destroyer, who has never been destroyed! Woe to you, traitor, who has never been betrayed! When you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed. Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble. At the thunder of Your voice the peoples flee; when You rise up, the nations scatter. Your plunder will be stripped as if by young locusts; people will swarm over it like locusts. The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.
1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
5 The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
A broken covenant, and the Lord rises
Look! Their brave men cry out in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. The highways are deserted; no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected. The land mourns and wastes away. Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves. “Now I will arise,” says the Lord. “Now I will be exalted; now I will be lifted up. You conceive chaff and give birth to straw; your own breath is a fire that consumes you. The peoples will be burned to lime, like cut thornbushes set ablaze. You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My power!”
7 Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
9 The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
Who can dwell with the fire?
The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can live with the consuming fire? Who of us can live with everlasting burning?” The one who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects profit from extortion and keeps his hands from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil. This is the one who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
The King in His beauty
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and view a land that stretches far away. You will think back on the terror: “Where is the officer who counted? Where is the one who weighed the tribute? Where is the one in charge of the towers?” You will no longer see that arrogant people, with their obscure speech and strange, incomprehensible language. Look at Zion, the city of our festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful home, a tent that will not be moved. Its stakes will never be pulled up, and none of its ropes will be broken. There the Lord will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams, where no enemy galley with oars will row and no mighty ship will sail. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us. Your ropes hang loose; the mast is not held firm; the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder. No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill,” and the sins of those who live there will be forgiven.
17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 33
Isaiah 33 shows Jesus Christ as the King in his beauty whom the righteous will see (verse 17; D&C 93:1), and as Judge, Lawgiver, and King in one Person (verse 22). He is the devouring fire and everlasting burnings of God’s holiness (verse 14), and also the one who makes it possible for sinners to become people who can dwell there. His grace transforms us into the person of verses 15–16.
He is also the one who heals and forgives (verse 24), as He did for the paralyzed man in Capernaum and the Nephites at Bountiful.
Liken it to yourself
- The question of verse 14 is a question I will face someday. Which of the six qualities in verse 15 do I most need to develop?
- What do I let into my ears and eyes (verse 15)? What would it look like to “stop my ears” and “shut my eyes” more deliberately?
- Is my “treasure” (verse 6) something an invader could take?
- Am I living so that I will want to “see the king in his beauty” (verse 17), not just be allowed to?
Worth exploring next
- Temple entrance questions. Compare Isaiah 33:14–16 with Ps. 15, Ps. 24:3–6, and D&C 97:15–17.
- Everlasting burnings. Read D&C 130:6–9, D&C 137:1–4, and D&C 76:50–70. What do they teach about the glory of the celestial world?
- The broken treaty. Read 2 Kgs. 18:13–37 to see the events behind this chapter.
Sources & further reading
- “Sennacherib”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Hezekiah”, Bible Dictionary.
- Chapter 15: Prophecies of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times (Isaiah 24–35), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
- John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.