God's Correction - From Pain to a Dream

Isaiah 29:1–2 (ESV) Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Add year to year; let the feasts run their round. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel.

Ariel is a word that could mean Lion of God and refer to the city of Jerusalem OR it could mean "altar heart" and refer to the brazen altar of sacrifice. Yet what is most amazing about this passage is the fact that God will bring distress to this place He chose for His people. The feasts of the past and the yearly celebrations will not stop it. In sarcastic tones, Isaiah invites them to continue their religious program when their hearts are shallow and empty toward God. 

Isaiah then speaks as if God is going to besiege the city. But it will be the nations the Lord has raised up for their judgment.
Isaiah 29:3 (ESV) And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you.

You would be tempted to think that God is so done with Isarel she is to be thoroughly destroyed. But almost immediately the tone of the lament changes and we find the temporal nature of these instruments of judgment. 

Isaiah 29:5–7 (ESV)  But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff. And in an instant, suddenly, 6 you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. 7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.

The foreigners will not be long and their domination will be as if something that didn't happen - a dream. Consider how quickly the Lord makes this concession in the midst of Isaiah's troubling woe. In Jerusalem's history, Assyria will surround her but not defeat her. The nation will turn back to the Lord and survive.

We have here a picture of God's grace in judgment. You might think God's judgment will damage your life. It will not. It will be enough to bring correction to your spirit but in the end it will be a passing small event of your life. 

I think there is great hope in this promise. Do not fear the judgment of God if you belong to Him. He can make it possible that your spirit is saved and the damage is not permanent. Have you been there? I have. I have seen God bring correction to my life in ways I didn't anticipate but when I look back I see it just as Isaiah describes - a dream. It was hard and I didn't like it at the time but I can tell you that it's like a dream today. The pain is gone and the growth is permanent. What an enormous comfort to those who may shutter under the discipline of God. 


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