Ariel is another name for Jerusalem. This was David’s City. This is the prophecy repeated of God’s plan to destroy Jerusalem but also to punish those who brought her down. The judgment is against both Israel for her idolatry and disobedience, but also against her enemies. God uses the treachery of other nations to bring judgment on sin, but God does not take responsibility for it. He holds the nations responsible for their action because it is their sin. In his power and providence God merely uses the actions, both good and evil, of humankind to accomplish his purposes. Fortunately, for us, it is also always intended to move us to be reconciled with God so that we can have life!
Verse 13 is an important one because it describes the condition of human sin related to faith and worship that transcends time and space. In every era, in every part of the world this is an accurate description of people when they do not acknowledge their Creator and God. What is this common and recurrent condition?
First it is a shallow and superficial faith. The mouth and the lips say one thing, but the heart–the devotion and affection and attention–demonstrates something else. Our lips can sing the songs and say the prayers, but our hearts can be totally disengaged at the same time! We can be singing “Lord, I love you,” and we can be living, “I love myself and other things in this world!” We can be sitting in a pew in worship but our lives the rest of the week we are “sitting” in very different places not anywhere near worshiping God.
Second, our worship can become a matter of going through the motions. We can be simply obeying “rules only taught by men.” As a wise person once said, “Standing in the garage does not make a person a car, and sitting in church does not make a person a Christian.”
Isaiah’s word to the Israelites so many thousands of years ago is also a word to us. Are we worshiping with our hearts or just with our lips?