When A Hungry Man Dreams

Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 27th August service and hymns are below. You may listen to an audio recording by clicking above or there is a video link to our YouTube channel at the bottom of this page.

_________________________________

Our principal verses are:

Isa 29:8  It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

Isa 29:9  Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

Isa 29:10  For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

Isa 29:11  And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

Isa 29:12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

Isa 29:15  Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

Isa 29:16  Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

Isa 29:17  Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

Isa 29:18  And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

Isa 29:19  The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

 When A Hungry Man Dreams

Ariel is a symbolic name for Jerusalem and is drawn from a word meaning ‘lion of God’, either for strength or victory. Sometimes Ariel is applied more specifically to the altar in the temple at Jerusalem. Then the inference is that the nation’s strength flowed from the true worship of God because divine acceptance is received through blood sacrifice. These ideas combine in the Lord Jesus who is both the Lion of the tribe of Juda for strength and the altar and sacrifice who won victory for His people at the cross.

The curse of hypocrisy

In our verses Isaiah implies that sacrifices in Jerusalem had become mere rituals. Now they brought woe, not blessing, upon the nation because they were no longer offered to God with the eye of faith upon Christ. Notice it is God who distresses the people by bringing judgment on their hypocrisy. Over the centuries different armies were used to effect God’s retribution with attacks so ferocious that the whole city is likened to an altar as blood ran freely in the streets.

No fulness without Christ

The prophet contrasts the city whose inhabitants are brought down to the dust and can speak only in faint and feeble tones with the speed, strength and power of their enemies. Through the years a succession of nations came against ‘Ariel’ including Assyria, Babylon and Rome but they were tools in God’s hand. Though they came dreaming of great wealth and riches, they would not prosper. Even in victory they gained nothing to satisfy their lust and greed. Isaiah pictures a hungry man who dreams of food but when he wakens he is still hungry.

Scripture a sealed book

Yet, it is not physical appetite that is uppermost in the prophet’s mind but the absence of spiritual food and refreshment. Jerusalem staggered not through wine but because the Lord had withdrawn. The things of God were sealed to them. They lost spiritual wisdom and were strangers to the truth. They continued to sacrifice and act out the formalities of religion but, says the Lord, ‘this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me’.

They became fools

The following verses speak of the ignorance that falls upon a people bereft of true faith. Ignorance is a judgment for sin. The self-honouring religious leaders of Christ’s time did not recognise the Messiah although His coming was long foretold and anticipated. We may apply this more broadly. Human attainment has grown massively yet for all of man’s wisdom and knowledge, the wisdom of God, with the simplicity that is in Christ, is generally despised. Paul says, ‘Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools’. This, too, is a mark of divine judgment.

‘In that day’

Once again Isaiah declares ‘in that day’ and supplies views of the coming gospel day to comfort and encourage the Lord’s remnant people. Despite the ignorance spawned by sin God Himself graciously opens eyes and ears to gospel truth. This is seen when the gospel is preached and divinely applied to the souls of God’s elect. ‘The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.’ How blessed we are to be numbered amongst the poor and the meek of this world.

Confidence in Christ

Could there be a more apt description of a legal spirit than these words written by Isaiah? ‘All that watch for iniquity … That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.’ We reply with Paul, ‘Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth’.

We are His workmanship

‘The Lord … redeemed Abraham’ Isaiah tells us. He has redeemed all the true children of Abraham; ‘the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus’. These are sons and daughters of the Most High and the work of His hands. The church is God’s workmanship. The promises which encouraged Isaiah’s readers have been fulfilled in our sight. We have lived to see the gathering in of God’s elect in ways the Old Testament people only dreamed of. We have discovered grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. ‘They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.’

Amen

Our hymns are below.

Hymn 1

Gadsby selection 43 

The Word of God. Ps. 119. 50, 103; Jer. 15. 16

J. Newton                                              8.7.4.

1 
Precious Bible! what a treasure
Does the word of God afford!
All I want for life or pleasure,
Food and medicine, shield and sword,
Is revealèd
In Jehovah’s sacred word.

2
Food, to which the world’s a stranger,
Here my hungry soul enjoys;
Of excess there is no danger;
Though it fills, it never cloys,
While the Spirit
To my heart its truth applies.

3
When my faith is faint and sickly,
Or when Satan wounds my mind,
Cordials to revive me quickly,
Healing medicines, here I find,
When my Jesus
Shines therein into my mind.

4
In the hour of dark temptation,
Satan cannot make me yield;
For the word of consolation
Is to me a mighty shield,
While Jehovah
Gives me faith the truth to wield.

5 
Vain his threats to overcome me,
When in faith I take the sword;
Then with ease I drive him from me;
Satan trembles at the word,
When my Helper
Makes me strong in Christ my Lord.

6
Shall I envy, then, the miser,
Doting on his golden store?
Sure I am, or should be, wiser;
I am rich, ’tis he is poor:
Having Jesus,
I have an immortal store.

Hymn 2

Gadsby selection 543

“I am the way.” John 14. 6

W. Gadsby   7s

1
Jesus is the way to God;
Jesus is the way to bliss;
In this way the church has trod,
Down from Adam’s day to this.

2
Jesus is the living way;
All beside to ruin lead;
They are safe, and only they,
Who are one in Christ their Head.

3
Jesus is a holy way;
Leads to endless joys above;
Holy men, and only they,
Walk in this blest way of love.

4
Jesus is the narrow way;
Hagarenes have here no room;
Sons, and only sons are they,
Who can travel this way home.

5
Jesus is a humble way;
Pride and self must be brought down;
Nothing like a beast of prey
Ever can in this way run.

6
Jesus is the way of strength;
Yet the strong this way can’t come;
And the Lord will prove at length,
Weaklings have the victory won.

7
Jesus is the way of peace,
Paved from end to end with love;
Yes, this way abounds with grace,
And the needy it approve.

8
All a helpless soul can need,
All a faithful God can give,
In this way is to be had;
Here the hungry eat and live.

Empty religion that tries to approach God with sacrifices and worship God with the lips but not the heart is an offence to Him. Only true spiritual worship founded upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and offered spiritually by faith is acceptable to God. Isaiah comforts the Lord's people by pointing them to the Redeemer, reassuring them about God's purpose to save and the promise that Christ's church shall be taught the doctrine of grace.

27 August 2023