Isaiah 29:24 Study Bible: They also who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will receive instruction."

◄ Isaiah 29:24 ►

Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction."

Then
The word "then" signifies a future time or consequence, indicating a transformation or change that will occur. In the context of Isaiah, this points to a prophetic promise of restoration and enlightenment. Historically, this is a period when God’s intervention will bring about a significant shift in the hearts and minds of the people. It is a hopeful assurance that God’s plans will come to fruition.

the wayward in spirit
This phrase refers to those who have strayed from the path of righteousness and truth. The Hebrew root for "wayward" suggests a sense of wandering or being led astray. In the biblical context, it often describes those who have turned away from God’s commandments. The "spirit" here indicates the inner being or heart of a person, emphasizing a deep-seated deviation from God’s will. This transformation is a testament to God’s grace and the power of His redemptive work.

will come to understanding
The promise that the wayward "will come to understanding" is profound. The Hebrew word for "understanding" implies discernment and insight, a return to wisdom and knowledge of God’s ways. This is not merely intellectual comprehension but a heartfelt realization and acceptance of divine truth. It reflects a spiritual awakening and renewal, aligning with the biblical theme of repentance and restoration.

and those who grumble
"Those who grumble" refers to individuals who are discontented or rebellious, often voicing complaints against God’s plans or leadership. The historical context of Israel’s journey through the wilderness is a backdrop, where grumbling was a common response to hardship. This phrase highlights a common human tendency to resist divine guidance, yet it also sets the stage for transformation.

will accept instruction
The phrase "will accept instruction" indicates a willingness to be taught and to submit to God’s wisdom. The Hebrew root for "instruction" is often associated with discipline and correction, suggesting a change of heart that leads to obedience. This acceptance is a sign of humility and a recognition of God’s authority. It is a hopeful conclusion that even those resistant to God’s ways can be brought to a place of learning and growth.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah's ministry was primarily to the Kingdom of Judah. He is known for his prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah and the future restoration of Israel.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which often fell into idolatry and disobedience, prompting prophetic warnings and calls for repentance.

3. The Grumblers
Refers to those within Judah who were discontented and resistant to God's message, often leading to spiritual blindness and misunderstanding.

4. The Wanderers in Spirit
Individuals who have strayed from God's truth but are promised enlightenment and understanding through divine intervention.

5. The Restoration
A future event prophesied by Isaiah where God will restore His people, bringing them back to spiritual understanding and obedience.

Teaching Points

Understanding Comes from God
True understanding and wisdom are gifts from God. We must seek Him earnestly to gain spiritual insight.

The Danger of Grumbling
Complaining and resisting God's word can lead to spiritual blindness. We should cultivate a heart of gratitude and openness to God's instruction.

Hope for the Wanderers
No matter how far one has strayed, there is hope for restoration and understanding through repentance and turning back to God.

The Role of Instruction
Accepting instruction is crucial for spiritual growth. We should be teachable and willing to learn from God's word and His messengers.

Transformation through the Spirit
The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in transforming our hearts and minds, leading us to deeper understanding and obedience.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does Isaiah 29:24 encourage those who feel spiritually lost or disconnected from God?

2. In what ways can grumbling or complaining hinder our spiritual growth and understanding?

3. How can we cultivate a heart that is open to instruction and willing to learn from God's word?

4. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are seeking understanding from God rather than relying solely on our own wisdom?

5. How do the promises of spiritual renewal in Isaiah 29:24 relate to the new covenant described in the New Testament?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Proverbs 1:7
This verse highlights the importance of fearing the Lord as the beginning of knowledge, connecting to the idea that understanding comes from God.

Jeremiah 31:33-34
These verses speak of a new covenant where God will write His law on the hearts of His people, similar to the transformation promised in Isaiah 29:24.

Ezekiel 36:26-27
God promises to give His people a new heart and spirit, aligning with the theme of spiritual renewal and understanding.

Matthew 13:15
Jesus speaks of people whose hearts have grown dull, but who can be healed and understand if they turn to Him, echoing the promise of understanding in Isaiah 29:24.

Hebrews 8:10-11
This passage reiterates the new covenant promise of internal transformation and understanding, reflecting the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.

Sermons

A Time of Regeneration	E. Johnson	Isaiah 29:17-24
The Hour of Revival	W. Clarkson	Isaiah 29:18-24

People

Ariel, David, Isaiah, Jacob

Places

Ariel, Lebanon, Mount Zion

Topics

Accept, Attention, Complain, Criticize, Disobedient, Doctrine, Err, Erred, Erring, Gain, Grumble, Hearts, Instruction, Learn, Mind, Murmur, Murmured, Murmurers, Outcry, Receive, Spirit, Teaching, Truth, Understanding

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Isaiah 29:24

     6604   acceptance, human
     8355   understanding
     8757   folly, effects of

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

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