Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryIsaiah 32

Reign in righteousness. Isaiah turns from the imminent Assyrian attack on Jerusalem (ch. 31:8, 9) to the time of peace that was to follow. The withdrawal of Sennacherib in 701 was followed by a number of years of peace under the just rule of Hezekiah (see Vol. II, pp. 87, 88). In a similar way the overthrow of all the forces of Satan will be followed by Christ’s eternal reign in righteousness and glory. As usual, the prophetic picture of peace and security following upon tribulation blends into a description of the glories of the world to come, the Messianic age. In this Messianic setting the “king” is Christ.

A man. The Messiah would be to His people a source of comfort, contentment, and rest, a place of protection and shelter. In the dry and burning desert He would be as a life- giving stream, the cooling shade of a great rock.

Not be dim. The situation foretold in ch. 6:9, 10 is to be reversed. The eyes of man’s spiritual understanding will be opened that he may comprehend the things of God.

The rash. Compare ch. 6:10. The “rash” are those who do not take time to think things through in order to reach sound conclusions. In the promised time of restoration such people will exercise sound judgment. Blessed with clear understanding and keen discernment, they will not be compelled to speak in broken words or with a faltering tongue.

The vile person. The verse reads literally, “The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the rogue said to be honorable.” Men will no longer mistake ignorance for wisdom or darkness for light. They will not “call evil good, and good evil” (ch. 5:20).

Will speak villany. Isaiah graphically portrays the actions of the “fool.” In the better day to come, men will be recognized for what they are, not for what they pretend to be. A sinner will be classified as such, and will receive a sinner’s certain reward.

The liberal. That is, the “noble,” or “generous,” person. He will not suffer for having been generous.

Ye careless daughters. Isaiah addresses the favored women in Jerusalem, who, because of their pampered lives, feel most keenly the hardships of a siege. Compare his denunciation of the haughty “daughters of Zion” in ch. 3:16–26.

Many days and years. Literally, “days upon a year.” In little more than a year, trouble would come upon the “careless daughters” of v. 9. The vintage shall fail. A literal failure of the grape crop may be meant, and with it a shortage of wine for festive occasions. Or, this may be figurative for the loss of all forms of joy. The gathering. That is, the gathering of fruit.

Tremble, ye women. They are called to mourn and repent, to put on sackcloth in place of their costly finery. Prayer and fasting are in order, not feasting and merrymaking.

Lament for the teats. By comparison with the Syriac, “beat upon the breasts,” an Oriental manner of expressing grief and distress. Prosperity would soon give way to desolation and distress. The fruitful vine. See on v. 10.

Thorns and briers. A symbol of desolation (see on ch. 7:23–25). Houses of joy. The stately villas where the wealthy gathered for their banquets and drunken revelries. The prediction of v. 13 was partially fulfilled at the time of Sennacherib’s invasion, more fully so when Nebuchadnezzar laid the country waste, and still later when the Romans devastated the land.

Palaces. The glorious achievements of man lie desolate and in ruins. A joy of wild asses. For comment see on ch. 7:25.

Spirit be poured. These words were partially fulfilled in the great reformation sponsored by Hezekiah, but more completely so at the time of Pentecost (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17; see also Hosea 6:3; Joel 2:23; Zech. 10:1; Rev. 18:1). Fruitful field. Primarily, at least, a figurative expression (Isa. 32:16; cf. Isa. 5:1–7; Gal. 5:22, 23). The time would come when there would be outpourings of God’s Spirit upon the world, which would cause regions spiritually barren and desolate to blossom as the rose. This is one of Isaiah’s favorite themes (Isa. 29:17; 35:1; 41:17–20; 55:13). Counted for a forest. What was already a “fruitful field” would become even more productive.

Judgment. Justice would flourish in what had previously been a moral wilderness, and the righteousness of the already “fruitful field” would not be diminished in the least.

Work of righteousness. Righteousness is the result of living in harmony with the will of God. God is love, and all His commandments are “righteousness” (Ps. 119:172). Men who love God with all their heart and their neighbor as themselves are at peace with God and with the world about them. Lasting peace can prevail only where there is a solid

foundation of righteousness. Without justice there can be no peace (Isa. 48:22). Men who cling to sin will never find peace, no matter how earnestly they seek it. The greatest need of our troubled world is an understanding of this important, fundamental principle.

It shall hail. The Targums read, “the forest goes down utterly.” In contrast with the “peaceable habitation” of the righteous (v. 18), desolation will be the certain lot of the wicked (see Rev. 16:19; 18:2, 21).

Sow beside all waters. Those who labor faithfully now are promised a sure and abundant harvest. The ox and the ass. The Jews employed both oxen and asses in their agricultural activities (Deut. 22:10; Isa. 30:24). These were the common domestic beasts of burden in the ancient Orient.