Isaiah 33:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

It is virtue that grants justification, while its neglect brings forth guilt. He is the Creator of all and cherishes each one; all beings, as the products of His creation, owe their existence to Him. However, not everyone is endowed with the same gifts or faced with identical consequences. People become virtuous or wicked by their own choices, which is why He draws near to some while turning away from others, showing disdain to some and extending love to those who are called to Him. We engage with God in two primary ways: through prayer and through the practice of virtue.

They sternly commanded them not to speak of that name: and behold, Jerusalem was filled with your doctrine (Acts 5:28; Acts 4:17). We observe the holy Apostles themselves experiencing fear from the threat of the Jews, humbling themselves before the Most High God and saying, “And now, Lord, regard their threats, and grant your servants boldness to speak your word” (Acts 4:29). Therefore, He states, these shall fear you instead, and those who were afraid of them will now dread you. They will send envoys in time, seeking peace and crying out in the mountains. However, the paths of those who oppose God and resist His will will become desolate, signifying their failure. In ancient Israel, in the early days of divine preaching, they showed hostility towards the guardians of sacred mysteries. Yet as the community of believers grew in number, their frenzy ultimately ceased in every city and region. They fell at the feet of the believers, conquered and weeping, finding sufficiency in merely being granted peace with them. This, I believe, captures the essence of the prophecy. He says the fear of tongues shall cease and the covenant shall be taken from them, for they have become alienated from the nearness of God and distanced from the promises. Not all who are from Israel are truly Israel; nor are all descendants of Abraham his children; rather, the children of the promise are counted as offspring (Rom. 9:6-8), that is, those who possess faith in Christ, for it is by faith that the patriarch Abraham was justified.

This interpretation implies that after the prophecy regarding the calling of the Gentiles and the wealth of the Church, the destruction of the temple is foretold—a destruction that will grieve the angels, who, having stepped outside, will mourn, for they were previously messengers of peace and will now weep bitterly. Alternatively, it could refer to the apostles, who were sent to bring peace to Jerusalem. The Lord admonished them, saying, "If thou wouldest understand thine own peace" (Luke 19:42), and He appeared to them, strengthening them with His presence. They will lament for Jerusalem, which rejected their message; the paths were abandoned, and no one walked in the right way, as lamented in the words of Jeremiah: "The ways of Zion weep, for there is no one who walks by them in the feast" (Lamentations 1:4). The covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has also been violated; the cities of the Jews have been destroyed, and those who wished to be shepherds were not recognized as people. The land is sorrowful and weary, unlike those who once inhabited it. Lebanon is filled with shame and has become mute; this is understood as a reference to the temple, as seen in Zechariah: "Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, and let the fire consume thy cedars" (Zechariah 11:1), which can also refer to Jerusalem, described as Lebanon in Ezekiel: "The eagle is a great eagle, with a command to enter into Lebanon" (Ezekiel 17:3). This is further clarified with the statement that when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, illustrating that the eagle symbolizes the king of Babylon and Lebanon equates to Jerusalem. Saron has turned to desolation, causing even Bashan and Carmel to tremble. The Seventy translated Bashan as Galilee, representing a broader region rather than a single place. Saron encompasses the entire expanse of Jonah and Lydda, where vast and fertile fields once thrived. Bashan refers to the territory across the Jordan, occupied by two and a half tribes, symbolizing abundance, while Carmel is a previously mentioned region. Thus, the once fertile landscapes of Judea have become desolate, signifying metaphorically that the wealth of the Jews will be replaced by scarcity and poverty. In their unwillingness to receive the apostles' messages, Lebanon feels shame, Saron becomes a wasteland, and Bashan and Carmel tremble. Therefore, the Lord proclaims that He will arise from the depths of patience or from the grave and will be exalted among the nations and lifted high on the cross. He speaks to the Jews, saying, "You shall ignite fire and give birth to ash; your breath shall create flames among you, leading to the consumption of what was conceived and born by this devouring fire. The nations of the Jews will become like ash from the flames, exemplifying the magnitude of their calamity. Their thorns, gathered by sin, shall be burned, largely reflecting the ultimate destruction and captivity of Jerusalem. Others suggest that this will be fully realized at the time of judgment.