You're No "Lion Of God" from Isaiah 29

A city that calls itself the “Lion of God” gets renamed by its actions and God’s response is sobering. We walk through Isaiah 29 as Pastor Carl unpacks God’s warning to Jerusalem: you can keep the feasts, say the right words, and still live with a heart that’s far from the Lord. The result isn’t just bad theology, it’s spiritual blindness, the kind that doesn’t come from lack of information but from refusing to see what’s true.

Along the way, we trace Isaiah’s images of siege, dust, and silence and connect them to the real collapse that came when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. Then the focus shifts to a theme that keeps repeating like an alarm: pride makes life feel like a dream. You “eat” and “drink” in your sleep, wake up empty, and realize the satisfaction was never real. That’s how self-trust, religious performance, and temporary security work when they replace genuine dependence on God.

We also dig into what it means for Scripture to become “a sealed book.” Pastor Carl points to the Holy Spirit as the One who brings the truth off the page and into our hearts, producing conviction, repentance, and lasting change. To bring it home, we connect Isaiah’s warning to Revelation 3 and Jesus’ rebuke of the lukewarm church of Laodicea, plus his merciful invitation: “I stand at the door and knock.” If you’ve been coasting, hiding, or settling for surface-level faith, this message presses a simple question: are we all in, or just nearby?

If this stirred something in you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one area where you need God to open your eyes and help you repent?

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the Radio Ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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Because you don't listen to my words, and those that represent me are not presenting the word accurately, they're going from their own personal point of view, or they're going from what they think the people will like to hear.

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They need to hear an encouraging word. They don't need to hear a heavy, heavy word like Isaiah always does.

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I'm gonna blind you. And you're not gonna see the truth because you don't want to see it anyway.

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There are some people who walk through life living in a dream state, a stupor, a type of drunkenness. They're blind, not because they can't see, but because they don't want to see. This was certainly true of the people in Jerusalem during the time of the prophet Isaiah. In today's message, Pastor Carl warns you against falling into the same spiritual blindness that plagued Jerusalem, a willful blindness. God's word is not always easy to receive, but it is always true. Are you open to seeing the truth? And now, here's Pastor Carl.

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Isaiah chapter 29, and it begins like this: Woe to Ariel! To Ariel, the city where David dwelt. Now, what are we talking about? We're talking about the city that David dwelt. The city of David, that's Jerusalem, and this is a special name that the Lord gives to Jerusalem right here in this chapter. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt, year to year, the feasts come around. In other words, every year you got the feasts coming, you got your celebrations, and and yet, in verse 2, it says, I will distress as Ariel. You're enjoying all these feasts and these celebrations and the notoriety of being the city where God meets with man. And yet, as we'll see in verses to follow, you do this without regard to God. And so I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be to me as Ariel. Now, that last line there is kind of strange. Ariel will be to me as Ariel. Well, let's define what Ariel means. Ariel means the lion of God or the lioness of God. Now you've heard the lion of the tribe of Judah. That's Jesus. And that's not what this is. This is the lioness of God, referring to Jerusalem. In other words, it's almost a sarcastic naming of it. You pump yourself up and you cry out in this loud roar of how great you are, that you are you are the city of God, and you make this pride-filled presentation, and yet you're not following after the Lord, as we'll see in the few verses, like I said. Now, what's interesting here in that last part of verse 2, and it shall be to me as Ariel, it seems like commentators say that he's playing on the words, he's playing on Ariel. There's another place where Ariel is spelled with a Y before the L. It's just added in there, and that is an altar for burning. So Ariel means the lion of God. That's who we think you are. And God says, I'm, I think you're an altar of burning. This is what I'm going to make you. I'm going to destroy the city. And we see that in verse 3. I will encamp against you all around. I will lay siege against you with a mound. I will raise siege works against you. You shall be brought down. You shall speak out of the ground. Your speech shall be low out of the dust. Your voice shall be like a medium's out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust. No more will you be calling out, crying like a lion. Your voice is barely going to be a whisper because the city is going to be flattened and destroyed. And that's what happened when Babylon actually came in, took the people captive away, and then destroyed the city. They burned down the temple and they knocked over the walls. Everything that was described right here happened when Babylon took over Israel. And what kind of voice did Jerusalem have after that? Crickets. Nobody inhabited Jerusalem. It was desolate, decimated. There was no voice. There was no voice. Verse 5. Moreover, the multitude of your foes shall be as fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones like chaff that passes away. Yes, it shall be in an instant suddenly. I'm making you as dust, and I'm quieting your voice, and I'm using these enemies, nations of yours to do it, and yet they will be silenced too. They will be brought down to dust. You will be punished, verse six, by the Lord of hosts, with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. And yet the multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortresses, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. You know, he's playing off the pride of the enemy nations all around, and they think they're something. They think that they are, you know, the crying lion, the roaring lion that's coming in to destroy. And, you know, Assyria, when you look at the history, actually took over a lot of the area that included Babylon. And a hundred years later it kind of flipped over, and Babylon took over everything that was Assyria, and even more so. And Babylon thought they were invincible. Well, what happened to Babylon? They disappeared. And for Babylon, they have this victory, but it'll be over, and this victory is like a dream. Did we really have the largest empire in the world at that time? What happened to it? It's gone. It's like a dream. And this concept of a dream keeps going in verse 8. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look, he eats, but he awakes and his soul is still empty. You never have dreams like that. Oh boy, I can't wait until the restaurant's open again. And we get to go to Snappy's. My wife and I, we get to go to Snappy's, and she's eating of that salmon, and I get the chicken parmigiana, and they have such big portions, it just fills you up. And then we on top of that, key lime pie for dessert, and you're just feeling relaxed and good. And I'm dreaming about this, and I wake up and I'm hungry. That wasn't real. That didn't happen. Anyway, get the concept of this dream. The things that happen are taken away. This pride that we think we've got it all together, and it's the pride of Jerusalem, and it's the pride of Assyria, it's the pride of Babylon, it's the pride of Egypt, all these nations, all the all us peoples. You know, we think we've accomplished something, and then all of a sudden it's gone, and it was like a dream. The verse continues, verse 8. Or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look, he drinks, but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves. So the multitude of all the nations shall be who fight against Mount Zion. The enemies of the Lord, the enemies of the Lord's people, the enemies of God's chosen people, those that he uses as instruments to execute his judgment, execute his discipline on his people, those nations will be judged. They will be flattened, and they'll be like a dream, like as if you know it wasn't really real. But it was, but it's not anymore. It's gone. He says, Pause and wonder, blind yourselves and be blind. They are drunk, but not with wine, they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. This is an interesting verse, which shows you know the nature of pride. We think we've got it together, and and we don't need the Lord, and we can accomplish these things, but the truth is we're just stumbling around and we're not all that we could be. I found a different version of this verse in the New Living Translation, which uh brings a little more life to what Isaiah or the heart of the Lord is saying to the people of Jerusalem. Are you amazed and incredulous? Another word for that is dumbfounded. Are you amazed and dumbfounded? The implication is they're not. Don't you believe it? The implication is they're not. They're not understanding the prophecy, they're not caring about the prophecy, they're not paying any heed to the prophecy. They think they've got it all together. Both Jerusalem and the Babylonians. Then go ahead, be blind. You are stupid, you are drunk, but not from lying. What are they stupid from? From their pride and from their own way of thinking. You stagger, but not from liquor. You're wandering around and and you think you've got it together, but you're you're you're falling apart. This is what pride does. This is what pride does. And because they've chosen not to believe the truth, they've deceived themselves, and as a result of that, in verse 10, the Lord has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes, namely the prophets, and he has covered your heads, namely the seers. In other words, because you don't listen to my words, and those that represent me are not presenting the word accurately, they're going from their own personal point of view, or they're going from what they think the people will like to hear.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

They need to hear an encouraging word. They don't need to hear a heavy, heavy word like Isaiah always does.

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I'm gonna blind you, and you're not gonna see the truth because you don't want to see it anyway. Verse 11 says, The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, Read this, please. And he says, I cannot, for it is sealed. This whole vision, I believe that's pointing to the entire counsel of God's word. The Bible. The Bible has become to us like words in a book that is sealed. Uh, we open up the book, we read the words, but we don't understand them. They don't make any sense. They'll read the whole thing and it's all foolishness to them. It makes no sense. It's because the words are sealed, it's because we need the Holy Spirit to teach us and to bring the truth off the page and into our hearts. If we deny the work of the Holy Spirit, if we deny God is real, if we don't humbly come before the Lord and ask for his wisdom, we can't open the word and expect to get anything out of it. But if we come with humble hearts and saying, Lord, I want to learn from you, teach me, change me, give me insight, he'll show us. And his Bible becomes a mirror to us to show us our true nature and our need for him, for his grace, his grace, his great grace is greater than all my sin. I see my sin in the word. I see his grace in the word. And he changes me, forgives me, and and brings me to a new place. Verse 12 says, Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, Read this, please. And he says, I'm not literate. I can't even read. I don't know where to start. We need to get into the word and we need to humbly approach it, asking God for wisdom, asking God for insight, asking God for conviction as we seek Him. And help me to understand, Lord. Help me to grow, help me to read and listen and apply what I've learned. Therefore, because you refuse to see, or because you know you've gotten to this place where you know you're refusing to hear from the Lord and you think you've got it all figured out and it's all garble to you, or you just you just can't understand, you can't read. Therefore, the Lord said, Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandments of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden. You see the heart of the people? They say they love God, they take a pride in being called, you know, the lion of God, they take pride in being called the city of God, they take pride in the fact that we are God's chosen people, we're not like those Gentiles, and yet they don't know God, their hearts are far from Him. Why do we go to church? Why do you go to church? Do you go to church to look godly? Why do you do good works? Do you do good works to look like you're a Christian? Or do you do it because of what God has done in your heart? Do you do it to come and meet with the Lord, to be changed by God, or do you just come because that's the thing to do? Do we just say that we believe God? Do we just say that we love God? Or do we actually love him? Do we actually believe him? Do we actually obey him and seek after him? Do we actually say, Not my will, but yours be done? Do we actually humble ourselves before the Lord with a godly fear and say, Lord, forgive me, change me, make me more like you. So they say one thing and they do another thing. Their hearts are far from me. Somewhere in there, there's this idea that what he says is true doesn't matter. And that continues in verse 15. Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark. They say, Who sees us and who knows us? It's one thing, you know, before man, to put on this aura of being godly and coming to be at church to meet with God, and yet your heart is far from you. The other part of it is what are you doing in secret now? What you're doing in secret, you think you can hide things from the Lord. It's because you really aren't serving the Lord. And yet you are serving the Lord, but you're not. You're saying you are for God. You're not, you're not being cut and dry like the enemies out there that say, We don't serve your God, we serve our own God. You're not being cut and dry like the atheists out there that say, We don't believe in God. You guys believe in God. And yet, these people call themselves God's people, say that they serve God, but they really don't. Surely you have things turned around, the Lord says. Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay? Shall the thing made of him say to him who made it, he did not make me? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, he has no understanding? I know better than God. In fact, you know, I'm a self-made man. You know, I worked to the get to this place. God didn't do it. The Lord says, Do you hear what you're saying? And this reminds me of something that the Lord spoke to one of the churches in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 3. You're familiar with the city of Laodicea. Verse 14 says, To the angel of the church of the Laodiceidans, right? These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Do you think you could trust this one? This is the creator. This is the one who's true. This is the one who's knows all things, who created all things. He's faithful and true. You could trust him. He's the one that's saying this. Listen to what he has to say. I know your works. That you're neither cold nor hot. You speak with your lips one thing, and you in your and your heart is far from me. I could wish that you were cold or hot. You know, it'd be a lot easier to deal with you if you said you're totally against me and you live that out. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. That's pretty dramatic, isn't it? If we're gonna follow the Lord, we need to follow with our whole hearts. We need to be all in. We can't play games with God because the truth is we're playing games with ourselves. And God doesn't want anything to do with that. He wants faith, he wants trust, he wants obedience, because he wants the best for us. Verse 17 in uh Revelation 3 says, Because you say I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. There's a spiritual blindness going on here. Pride causes us to look at things other than the truth of what they are. I've got everything I need, I'm rich, I'm full, I'm great. And the Lord is saying you're desolate, you're wretched, you're miserable, you're poor, you're blind, and you're naked because you don't believe the word. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, riches that last forever and ever. Not temporary riches that fade. And white garments. Come buy from me. In fact, the truth is he's already purchased it, right? And he's giving it to us. You think you're so rich, you buy all this stuff. Come to me and get some stuff. It's a whole lot better. Last forever. That you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye slave, that you may see. Be healed. From me. Open up your spiritual eyes. Let me touch you, let me change you, let me make you whole. As many as I love, I rebuke and I chasten, therefore, be zealous and repent. He didn't say, be zealous and do great things for me, and then I'll bring you in. He says, be zealous and repent. Repent. That theme comes up a lot, doesn't it? Repent. When the Lord reveals sin to you, what do you do with it? You either explain it away, ignore it, or you repent. You say, Lord, you're right, I'm wrong. Wow. Be zealous and repent. I don't care what my flesh wants, I want God, and I want his blessing. So I'm gonna fall to my knees and ask him for forgiveness. I'm gonna repent and say, Lord, I have messed up. But because of your goodness and your grace, I'm coming to you boldly. To the throne of grace, because your grace is greater than all my sin. It takes a zealousness to repent, doesn't it? And you also notice that the people of Laodicea were a church. Which means they were followers of Jesus Christ. He's not speaking to unbelievers. In Isaiah, he's speaking to the chosen people of God that lived in Jerusalem. That went their own way. This is a message for the church. Are we saying one thing and doing another? Are our hearts far from the Lord? It shouldn't be that way. We need to be close to the Lord. And the Lord makes an invitation that a lot of times we use to bring people into the kingdom. But in the context here, it's for people that are in the kingdom that have kind of wandered. This is for the prodigal. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with me. He wants to fellowship with us. He wants to know us at an intimate level. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. What are we overcoming? We're overcoming sin. What are we overcoming? We're overcoming our flesh. We're overcoming our own kingdom. That's why the Lord says, if anyone wants to come after me, let him first what? Deny himself. What does it mean to deny yourself? Deny your way of thinking. Deny what your flesh wants. And that's hard because I've lived with myself forever. As long as I can remember. You know, and there's certain things that my flesh wants. And yet, to overcome, I need to say, not my will, but your will be done, Lord.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Thanks for listening to today's lesson from the book of Isaiah here on Come On Up. You're hearing from Pastor Carl at the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina. Now, the book of Isaiah ends with a section that prophesies a new heaven and a new earth, which will come to replace the world that we currently know as it passes away. All of the promises and prophecies that God has made through the prophet Isaiah will come to their ultimate conclusion in this new kingdom. Death and evil will be no more, and goodness and justice will flow like a river. When we look at the world around us right now, it seems like chaos has already won. We can see live images of war, inequality, and sadness in just a few clicks, and it can seem like things will never get better. But Isaiah reminds us to look past the chaos that is right in front of us and fix our eyes on God's promises. That's how we can stay afloat when everything around us feels like it's collapsing. Well, if you want to join a group of believers who are looking together towards the new kingdom, we'd love to invite you to join us here at the Mountain Cross. We meet on Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. For more information, you can visit us online at themountaincross.com. There you will also find our How to Know God page, where you will learn more about how you can belong to the kingdom of God. Thanks for joining us today. Come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.