as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion. as when a hungry man dreams he is eatingThis phrase captures the illusion of satisfaction. The Hebrew word for "hungry" is "רָעֵב" (ra'ev), which conveys a deep, gnawing hunger. In the context of a dream, this hunger is temporarily appeased, yet it is ultimately unfulfilled. This imagery serves as a metaphor for the futility of the nations' efforts against God's people. Historically, the nations surrounding Israel often sought to conquer and subdue it, yet their efforts were ultimately in vain, much like a dream that offers no real sustenance. but he awakens hungry still
The awakening signifies a return to reality, where the hunger remains unaddressed. The Hebrew root "עוּר" (ur) for "awakens" implies a stirring or arousal, often used in the context of God awakening His people to spiritual truths. Here, it underscores the emptiness of relying on anything other than God for true fulfillment. The nations' ambitions against Zion are as insubstantial as a dream, leaving them unsatisfied and unfulfilled. as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
Thirst in the Bible often symbolizes a deep spiritual longing. The Hebrew word "צָמֵא" (tzame) for "thirsty" suggests an intense craving. In a dream, this thirst seems quenched, yet it is merely an illusion. This reflects the spiritual state of those who oppose God's purposes, seeking satisfaction in worldly conquests that cannot truly satisfy the soul's deeper needs. but he awakens faint and parched
The word "faint" in Hebrew is "עָיֵף" (ayeph), indicating exhaustion and weariness. "Parched" comes from "צָמֵא" (tzame), the same root as "thirsty," emphasizing the unrelieved state of need. This highlights the ultimate futility and exhaustion of those who strive against God's will. Despite their efforts, they find themselves spiritually depleted and unfulfilled. so it will be for all the many nations
This phrase extends the metaphor to a broader scope, encompassing "all the many nations" that oppose God's chosen people. Historically, this includes the Assyrians, Babylonians, and others who sought to destroy Israel. The phrase underscores the universality of God's sovereignty and the futility of opposing His divine plan. The nations' collective efforts are as ineffective as a dream, unable to alter God's purposes. who fight against Mount Zion
"Mount Zion" is a significant biblical symbol representing God's presence and His covenant with Israel. The Hebrew "צִיּוֹן" (Tziyon) is not just a physical location but a spiritual stronghold. Throughout scripture, Zion is depicted as the place where God dwells and where His people find refuge. The nations' opposition to Zion is ultimately an opposition to God Himself. This phrase reassures believers of God's unassailable protection over His people and His ultimate victory over all adversaries. Persons / Places / Events 1. IsaiahA major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book. He prophesied during the reigns of several kings of Judah and is known for his messages of both judgment and hope. 2. Mount ZionA significant hill in Jerusalem, often symbolizing the city itself and, by extension, the people of God. It represents God's presence and His covenant with Israel. 3. The NationsRefers to the foreign powers and peoples who oppose Israel and, by extension, God's plans. In this context, they are depicted as ultimately unsuccessful in their endeavors against God's chosen place and people. 4. Dreams of Hunger and ThirstThese are metaphors used to describe the futility and dissatisfaction of those who oppose God. Just as dreams of eating and drinking do not satisfy physical hunger and thirst, so the efforts of the nations against Zion will be in vain. 5. Judgment and DeliveranceThe broader context of Isaiah 29 includes themes of judgment against Jerusalem for their spiritual blindness and eventual deliverance, highlighting God's sovereignty and faithfulness. Teaching Points The Futility of Opposing GodJust as dreams cannot satisfy physical needs, human efforts against God’s will are ultimately futile. This serves as a reminder of God’s sovereignty and the ultimate triumph of His purposes. The Reality of Spiritual HungerSpiritual hunger and thirst can only be truly satisfied in God. This passage challenges us to examine where we seek fulfillment and to turn to God for true satisfaction. God’s Protection of His PeopleMount Zion symbolizes God’s protection and covenant with His people. Believers can find assurance in God’s faithfulness and His promises to protect and deliver. The Illusion of Worldly PowerThe nations’ dreams of conquest are illusions. This teaches us to view worldly power and success through the lens of God’s eternal kingdom, which will outlast all earthly endeavors. The Call to Spiritual AwarenessIsaiah 29 warns against spiritual blindness. We are called to remain spiritually aware and aligned with God’s purposes, avoiding the complacency that leads to judgment. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the metaphor of dreaming about food and drink in Isaiah 29:8 illustrate the futility of opposing God? Can you think of modern examples where people or nations strive against God’s will? 2. In what ways does Mount Zion serve as a symbol of God’s protection and presence? How can this understanding impact your faith and trust in God’s promises? 3. Reflect on a time when you sought fulfillment outside of God. How did that experience compare to the satisfaction found in a relationship with Him? 4. How does the theme of God’s ultimate victory over the nations in Isaiah 29:8 connect with the message of Revelation 19? What encouragement can you draw from this connection? 5. Considering Matthew 5:6, how can you cultivate a hunger and thirst for righteousness in your daily life? What practical steps can you take to seek God’s kingdom first? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 2This psalm speaks of the nations conspiring against the Lord and His Anointed, but ultimately, God’s plans prevail. It echoes the futility of opposing God seen in Isaiah 29:8. Revelation 19Describes the ultimate defeat of the nations that oppose God, reinforcing the theme of divine victory over earthly powers. Matthew 5:6Jesus speaks of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness being satisfied, contrasting the unfulfilled desires of those who oppose God with the fulfillment found in seeking Him. People Ariel, David, Isaiah, JacobPlaces Ariel, Lebanon, Mount ZionTopics Appetite, Awake, Awakens, Awakes, Awaketh, Behold, Craveth, Desire, Desiring, Dreameth, Dreaming, Dreams, Drinketh, Drinking, Drinks, Eateth, Eating, Eats, Empty, Faint, Feasting, Feeble, Fight, Full, Hordes, Hunger, Hungry, Isn't, Longing, Mount, Mouth, Multitude, Nations, Nothing, Quenched, Remains, Satisfied, Soul, Thirst, Thirsty, Thus, Unquenched, Wage, Waked, War, Warring, Weary, ZionDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 29:8 5341 hunger
5792 appetite Isaiah 29:1-8 9250 woe Isaiah 29:5-8 5529 sieges Isaiah 29:7-8 1409 dream 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 Links Isaiah 29:8 NIVIsaiah 29:8 NLTIsaiah 29:8 ESVIsaiah 29:8 NASBIsaiah 29:8 KJV
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