◄ Isaiah 29:4 ►
You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.
Study Bible
You will be brought low
This phrase signifies a humbling or a reduction in status or power. In the Hebrew context, the word used here can imply being humbled by divine intervention. Historically, this reflects the fate of Jerusalem, which faced numerous sieges and destructions. Theologically, it serves as a reminder of God's sovereignty and the consequences of straying from His commandments.

and will speak from the ground
The imagery of speaking from the ground suggests a position of defeat or subjugation. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, being close to the ground was often associated with death or mourning. This phrase can be seen as a metaphor for the humbled state of the people, emphasizing their need to turn back to God for restoration.

your speech will mumble out of the dust
Mumbling from the dust conveys a sense of weakness and desperation. The Hebrew word for "mumble" can also imply a lack of clarity or strength in communication. This reflects the diminished state of those who have turned away from God, whose voices are no longer strong or authoritative.

Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth
The term "ghostlike" suggests something ethereal or insubstantial. In the biblical context, this can be interpreted as the fading influence and presence of a once-powerful nation. It serves as a warning of the spiritual and physical consequences of disobedience to God.

out of the dust your speech will whisper
Whispering from the dust further emphasizes the theme of humility and loss of power. In Hebrew, the word for "whisper" can also imply secrecy or a lack of confidence. This phrase underscores the need for repentance and the hope that, even in a state of humility, God hears the whispers of a contrite heart.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline.

2. Ariel
A symbolic name for Jerusalem used in Isaiah 29. It means "Lion of God" and represents the city’s strength and divine favor, which is contrasted with its impending judgment.

3. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which includes Jerusalem. Isaiah's prophecies often address the people of Judah, warning them of the consequences of their disobedience to God.

4. Assyrian Threat
During Isaiah's time, the Assyrian Empire was a dominant force, posing a significant threat to Judah and Jerusalem. This context is crucial for understanding the urgency and gravity of Isaiah's prophecies.

5. Divine Judgment
The event of God’s judgment upon Jerusalem for its sins and rebellion. This judgment is depicted as a humbling experience, bringing the city low.
Teaching Points
Humility Before God
The imagery of being brought low and speaking from the dust serves as a powerful reminder of the need for humility before God. We must recognize our dependence on Him and our own limitations.

Consequences of Disobedience
Isaiah 29:4 illustrates the consequences of turning away from God. It serves as a warning to remain faithful and obedient to His commands.

Hope in Restoration
Despite the judgment, there is always hope for restoration. God’s discipline is meant to bring His people back to Him, not to destroy them.

The Power of God’s Word
Even when spoken from the dust, the power of God’s word remains. It is a reminder that God’s truth prevails, regardless of our circumstances.

Spiritual Awakening
The passage calls for a spiritual awakening, urging us to listen to God’s voice and respond to His call for repentance and renewal.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of speaking from the dust in Isaiah 29:4 challenge our understanding of humility before God?

2. In what ways can we see the consequences of disobedience in our own lives, and how does this passage encourage us to seek repentance?

3. How does the theme of divine judgment in Isaiah 29:4 connect with the message of hope and restoration found elsewhere in the Bible?

4. What practical steps can we take to ensure that we are listening to God’s voice, even when it seems like we are in a low or difficult place?

5. How can the message of Isaiah 29:4 inspire us to engage in a spiritual awakening in our personal lives and communities?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 2:11-12
These verses also speak of being brought low, emphasizing the theme of humility before God’s majesty.

Job 4:19
This verse uses similar imagery of speaking from the dust, highlighting human frailty and the inevitability of divine judgment.

Psalm 44:25
The psalmist describes being brought down to the dust, which parallels the humbling of Jerusalem in Isaiah 29:4.

Matthew 11:23
Jesus speaks of Capernaum being brought down to Hades, echoing the theme of divine judgment and humility.
Sermons
The City of GodW. Clarkson Isaiah 29:1-8
Concerning ArielE. Johnson Isaiah 29:1-12
People
Ariel, David, Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Ariel, Lebanon, Mount Zion
Topics
Bird-like, Chirp, Deep, Dust, Familiar, Ghost, Ghostlike, Ground, Hast, Low, Makest, Making, Mumble, Noises, Prostrate, Saying, Speak, Speakest, Speech, Spirit, Voice, Whisper, Whisperest
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 29:1-8

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Library
I am Told, Further, that You Touch with Some Critical Sharpness Upon Some Points of My Letter
13. I am told, further, that you touch with some critical sharpness upon some points of my letter, and, with the well-known wrinkles rising on your forehead and your eyebrows knitted, make sport of me with a wit worthy of Plautus, for having said that I had a Jew named Barabbas for my teacher. I do not wonder at your writing Barabbas for Baranina, the letters of the names being somewhat similar, when you allow yourself such a license in changing the names themselves, as to turn Eusebius into Pamphilus, …
Various—Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus.

Thou that Dwellest in the Gardens, the Companions Hearken to Thy Voice; Cause Me to Hear It.
The Bridegroom invites his Spouse to speak in his behalf, and to enter actually upon the Apostolic life by teaching others. Thou, O my Spouse, He says, that dwellest in the gardens, in the ever-flowered parterres of the Divinity, where thou hast not ceased to dwell since the winter has passed, thou hast been in gardens as beautiful for the variety of the flowers with which it was adorned as for the excellence of the fruits which abound there; thou, O My Spouse, whom I keep constantly with Me in these …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

If it is Objected, that the Necessity which Urges us to Pray is not Always...
If it is objected, that the necessity which urges us to pray is not always equal, I admit it, and this distinction is profitably taught us by James: " Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms" (James 5:13). Therefore, common sense itself dictates, that as we are too sluggish, we must be stimulated by God to pray earnestly whenever the occasion requires. This David calls a time when God "may be found" (a seasonable time); because, as he declares in several other …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

The Hardening of Nations.
"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were hardened."-- Rom. xi. 7. St. Paul's word, at the head of this article, is strikingly impressive, and its content exceedingly rich and instructive. It clearly announces the fact that the hardening is not exceptional or occasional, but universal, affecting all, who, being in contact with the divine Love, are not saved by it. The last limitation is necessary, for of the heathen it can not be said that they are hardened. Only they can be hardened who …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Christ Teaching by Miracles
We have seen how many valuable lessons our Saviour taught while on earth by the parables which he used. But we teach by our lives, as well as by our lips. It has passed into a proverb, and we all admit the truth of it, that "Actions speak louder than words." If our words and our actions contradict each other, people will believe our actions sooner than our words. But when both agree together, then the effect is very great. This was true with our blessed Lord. There was an entire agreement between …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The New Testament Canon in the First Three Centuries.
The first Christians relied on the Old Testament as their chief religious book. To them it was of divine origin and authority. The New Testament writings came into gradual use, by the side of the older Jewish documents, according to the times in which they appeared and the names of their reputed authors. The Epistles of Paul were the earliest written; after which came the Apocalypse, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and other documents, all in the first century. After the first gospel had undergone a …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

Covenanting a Privilege of Believers.
Whatever attainment is made by any as distinguished from the wicked, or whatever gracious benefit is enjoyed, is a spiritual privilege. Adoption into the family of God is of this character. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power (margin, or, the right; or, privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."[617] And every co-ordinate benefit is essentially so likewise. The evidence besides, that Covenanting …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Jesus Fails to Attend the Third Passover.
Scribes Reproach Him for Disregarding Tradition. (Galilee, Probably Capernaum, Spring a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XV. 1-20; ^B Mark VII. 1-23; ^D John VII. 1. ^d 1 And after these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judæa, because the Jews sought to kill him. [John told us in his last chapter that the passover was near at hand. He here makes a general statement which shows that Jesus did not attend this passover. The reason for his absence is given at John v. 18.] ^a 1 Then there …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.
1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection with the subject of faith. 2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use. 3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer. Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetually reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

"To what Purpose is the Multitude of Your Sacrifices unto Me? Saith the Lord,"
Isaiah i. 11.--"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord," &c. This is the word he calls them to hear and a strange word. Isaiah asks, What mean your sacrifices? God will not have them. I think the people would say in their own hearts, What means the prophet? What would the Lord be at? Do we anything but what he commanded us? Is he angry at us for obeying him? What means this word? Is he not repealing the statute and ordinance he had made in Israel? If he had reproved …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of the Power of Making Laws. The Cruelty of the Pope and his Adherents, in this Respect, in Tyrannically Oppressing and Destroying Souls.
1. The power of the Church in enacting laws. This made a source of human traditions. Impiety of these traditions. 2. Many of the Papistical traditions not only difficult, but impossible to be observed. 3. That the question may be more conveniently explained, nature of conscience must be defined. 4. Definition of conscience explained. Examples in illustration of the definition. 5. Paul's doctrine of submission to magistrates for conscience sake, gives no countenance to the Popish doctrine of the obligation …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Exod 20: 7. This commandment has two parts: 1. A negative expressed, that we must not take God's name in vain; that is, cast any reflections and dishonour on his name. 2. An affirmative implied. That we should take care to reverence and honour his name. Of this latter I shall speak more fully, under the first petition in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be thy name.' I shall …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Intercourse of Jesus with the Pagans and the Samaritans.
Following out these principles, Jesus despised all religion which was not of the heart. The vain practices of the devotees,[1] the exterior strictness, which trusted to formality for salvation, had in him a mortal enemy. He cared little for fasting.[2] He preferred forgiveness to sacrifice.[3] The love of God, charity and mutual forgiveness, were his whole law.[4] Nothing could be less priestly. The priest, by his office, ever advocates public sacrifice, of which he is the appointed minister; he …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Letter ii (A. D. 1126) to the Monk Adam
To the Monk Adam [3] 1. If you remain yet in that spirit of charity which I either knew or believed to be with you formerly, you would certainly feel the condemnation with which charity must regard the scandal which you have given to the weak. For charity would not offend charity, nor scorn when it feels itself offended. For it cannot deny itself, nor be divided against itself. Its function is rather to draw together things divided; and it is far from dividing those that are joined. Now, if that …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

"And There is None that Calleth Upon Thy Name, that Stirreth up Himself to Take Hold on Thee,"
Isaiah lxiv. 7.--"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee," &c. They go on in the confession of their sins. Many a man hath soon done with that a general notion of sin is the highest advancement in repentance that many attain to. You may see here sin and judgment mixed in thorough other(315) in their complaint. They do not so fix their eyes upon their desolate estate of captivity, as to forget their provocations. Many a man would spend more affection, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"But it is Good for Me to Draw Near to God: I have Put My Trust in the Lord God, that I May Declare all Thy
Psal. lxxiii. 28.--"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works." After man's first transgression, he was shut out from the tree of life, and cast out of the garden, by which was signified his seclusion and sequestration from the presence of God, and communion with him: and this was in a manner the extermination of all mankind in one, when Adam was driven out of paradise. Now, this had been an eternal separation for any thing that …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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