What are Jerisalem's True and False Hopes during the time of Isaiah?

Answer 1

I. TRUE DELIVERANCE FOUND NOT IN EGYPT (28:1-31:9)

A. THE LORD'S DESIGN FOR EPHRAIM AND ARIEL...
1. Regarding Ephraim (Israel) - 28:1-13
a. Her crown of pride will fade - 28:1-4
b. The Lord will be a crown of glory for the remnant - 28:5-6
c. Intoxicating drink has led them to error - 28:7-8
d. They are unable to benefit from God's instructions - 28:9-13
2. Regarding Ariel (Jerusalem) - 28:14-29:27
a. Her leaders have trusted in false confidences for
deliverance - 28:14-15
b. God will lay in Zion a sure foundation - 28:16; cf. 1 Pe 2:
4-8
c. God will remove their false and inadequate confidences
- 28:17-22
d. Learn from the farmer; so God varies His judgments
accordingly - 28:23-29
e. Ariel will be besieged, but her enemy mysteriously defeated
- 29:1-8; cf. 37:36
f. Her blindness the result of disobedience and impiety
- 29:9-13
g. Judgment to come on those who try to hide their counsel from
the Lord - 29:14-16
3. The future restoration of the house of Jacob - 29:17-24
a. Lebanon shall be a fruitful field, esteemed as a forest
- 29:17
b. The deaf shall hear, the blind shall see - 29:18
c. The humble and poor shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel
- 29:19
d. The wicked and scornful are brought to nothing, sinners are
cut off - 29:20-21
e. Jacob will not be ashamed, but fear the God of Israel
- 29:22-23
f. Those who erred and complained will come to understand and
learn - 29:24

B. ALLIANCE WITH EGYPT DENOUNCED...
1. Woe to those seeking aid from Egypt - 30:1-17
a. Trusting in Egypt is to be deceived, for her help is in vain
- 30:1-7
b. God will break those who reject Him for their rebellious
attitudes - 30:8-14
c. Their trust in God should be their strength; but no, they
would not - 30:15-17
2. God would yet be gracious and merciful to those who trust Him
- 30:15-33
a. People will dwell at Jerusalem after adversity and
reformation - 30:15-22
b. God would bless the land as He heals the bruise of His
people - 30:23-26
3. God will judge the nations, especially Assyria - 30:27-33
a. With indignation toward the nations, while His people
worship Him - 30:27-30
b. Assyria will be beaten down, followed by rejoicing
- 30:31-33

C. FOLLY OF TRUSTING EGYPT AND NOT GOD...
1. Woe to those who trust in Egypt - 31:1-3
a. Trusting in her horses and chariots rather than in God
- 31:1
b. God will bring disaster on Egypt and those helped by her
- 31:2-3
2. The Lord will defend Jerusalem from the Assyrians - 31:4-9
a. As a lion He will fight for Mount Zion - 31:4-5
b. Return to Him against Whom they revolted with their idolatry
- 31:6-7
c. Assyria will fall by a sword not of man, fleeing with fear
- 31:8-9; cf. 37:36-38

II. TRUE DELIVERANCE FOUND IN THE LORD (32:1-35:10)

A. THE NEW REGIME TO COME...
1. With a righteous King and spiritual illumination - 32:1-8
a. The King and His princes will rule with righteousness and
justice - 32:1
b. A man (Messiah? Hezekiah?) will offer protection and
provision - 32:2
c. Spiritual blindness and deafness removed, knowledge
understood - 32:3-4
d. Moral distinctions made clearer - 32:5-8
2. Preceded by painful judgment - 32:9-14
a. Upon women at ease and complacent - 32:9-11
b. People will mourn the devastation of the land - 32:12-14
3. Inaugurated by the outpouring of God's Spirit - 32:15-20
a. Producing a fruitful field and forest from the wilderness
- 32:15
b. In which justice and righteousness will produce peace
- 32:16-17
c. Peace and security, even in hard times - 32:18-20

B. ASSYRIA'S DEFEAT AND JERUSALEM'S VICTORY...
1. The plunderer (Assyria) will be defeated - 33:1-16
a. The plunderer will himself be plundered - 33:1
b. The plundered looks to the Lord for deliverance and
salvation - 33:2-6
c. The pitiful condition of the land before deliverance
- 33:7-9
d. The Lord to intervene with His might - 33:10-13
e. The sinners in Zion will be fearful, the righteous secure
- 33:14-16
2. Jerusalem to be a quiet home, made secure by the Lord
- 33:17-24
a. They shall see the King (Messiah? Hezekiah?) in His beauty
- 33:17
b. The people will later wonder: why all the worry? - 33:18-19
c. Zion (Jerusalem) will be peaceful, secured by the Lord
- 33:20-22
d. Assyria's plunder will be divided; God's people healed and
forgiven - 33:23-24

C. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD...
1. Manifested in His judgment on the nations - 34:1-17
a. Judgment on the nations as a whole - 34:1-4
b. Judgment on Edom in particular - 34:5-17
1) A great slaughter in the land - 34:5-7
2) The day of the Lord's vengeance, with total devastation
- 34:8-15
3) It's judgment inevitable - 34:16-17
2. Manifested in His salvation for Zion - 35:1-10
a. The transformation of the land - 35:1-2
b. The weak and fearful reassured - 35:3-4
c. The blind, deaf, and lame healed; the dry land filled with
pools and springs - 35:5-7
d. The Highway of Holiness, upon which the redeemed will travel
to Zion with singing and everlasting joy - 35:8-10

Answer 2

true