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Overview 

This chapter is filled with hope. A righteous King is coming. His reign will be different. The Spirit will bring transformation. Women will act different. Everything will be different. 

Isaiah 32:1

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.

Most scholars think this is referring to the righteous reign of King Hezekiah. His reign is highlighted in Isaiah 36-39. Hezekiah was different. He was not perfect, but he reigned in righteousness. He trusted in God. God showed up in a mighty way during his time on the throne of Judah. 

Isaiah 32:9-11

Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist.

The vision shifts to addressing the women of the southern kingdom. It is not without precedent—but it is somewhat unique for Isaiah to address women. That being said, the women represent the spiritual complacency of Judah. They are lazy. They are not prepared for the harvest. They are not ready for the righteous reign of a coming king. 

Isaiah 32:14-18

For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.

Verse 15 mentions the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, which is one of the signs of a “righteous” kingdom. What happens when the Holy Spirit is poured out on the people of God? The wilderness becomes a fruitful field and the fruitful field becomes a forest. Justice and righteousness will dwell in the wilderness. And the effect of this righteousness will be peace, quietness and trust forever. Then is likely another example of a double referent. The near referent is the reign of Hezekiah and the far referent is the reign of Jesus Christ, possibly in the millennium, but without argument, on the new Earth. 

Can you imagine a world like this? I admit on most days it is hard to see it. There is so much evil and suffering in our current world. But of course, even in this life, the power of the kingdom of God (at a spiritual level) breaks through. The Spirit of God is poured out on His people and His people fill the world with the righteousness of Christ, mainly from the light of the transforming power of the gospel. 

Go be a light. Go reflect the Light of Jesus to a blind, lost and broken world. He is our only hope.