Scripture Daily

Context No. 1971 of 4322 · Isaiah

Context · Reflection

Isaiah 29:9-14: in context

9Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers. 11All vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t, for it is sealed;” 12and the book is delivered to one who is not educated, saying, “Read this, please;” and he says, “I can’t read.” 13The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught; 14therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”

Isaiah describes a people in spiritual stupor, blind and staggering, not with wine but with a deadness God has allowed, so that vision has become to them like a sealed book no one can read. Their religion is hollow: they draw near with their mouths and honor God with their lips, while their hearts are far from him, their reverence a mere commandment learned by rote. Therefore, God says, he will do a marvelous work among them, and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of the prudent will be hidden.

The word God speaks at the end is worth dwelling on: I will do a marvelous work, and the wisdom of their wise men will perish. God announces that he will act in a way that confounds and overturns human wisdom, so that the clever and the prudent, who thought they had things figured out, are humbled, their wisdom shown to be nothing before his. God's ways surpass and often confound the wisdom of the world. There is a truth here that runs through Scripture and reaches its height in the gospel. God does not operate according to the wisdom of the world; his ways surpass and frequently overturn human cleverness. Paul quotes this very passage to describe the gospel: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will bring to nothing. The cross, God's way of saving the world, seemed foolishness to the wise of the age; and yet the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the wisdom of the wise perished before it. This has two applications for us. First, it humbles our confidence in human wisdom, our own and the world's. We are prone to trust the cleverness of the age, the wisdom of the experts, our own understanding, as though these were the measure of truth; and God warns that his ways surpass and can confound all such wisdom, that the wise of the world are not as wise as they think. Second, it invites us to trust God's wisdom over the world's cleverness, even when God's ways seem foolish by worldly standards. The gospel, the ways of God, the path he calls us to, may seem foolish to the wise of the age; but God's wisdom surpasses theirs, and the marvelous work he does confounds the clever. To trust God's wisdom, to follow his ways even when they seem foolish to the world, is to be on the side of the wisdom that endures, when the wisdom of the wise will perish. God does a marvelous work that overturns human cleverness; and the wise, before him, are humbled, while those who trust his wisdom over the world's stand on wisdom that lasts.

Do I place my confidence in human wisdom, the cleverness of the age or my own understanding, as though these were the measure of truth, or can I heed God's word that he does a marvelous work that confounds the wisdom of the wise, humbling my trust in worldly cleverness and inviting me to trust God's wisdom and follow his ways even when they seem foolish to the world?

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