5. A king who will reign in righteousness (32:1-20)

Isa 32:1-8 is a messianic passage. The prophet has given up on human kings and looks to the future, to a time when a great king, an idealized king, will rule in righteousness. Such a king will be divinelike, providing for each person shelter and refuge in the storm (v.2; cf. 4:6; 25:4, which demonstrate that this is the provenance of God). Life-giving water will transform the desert, the blind will see, and the deaf will hear (vv.2-3). Understanding will be given to the people (v.4) and there will be a great reversal correcting the distortions mentioned in ch. 28. The foolish will be seen as fools and the noble as noble.

Before the messianic vision can be fulfilled there must first come judgment (vv.9-14). For some reason, Isaiah singles out complacent women as recipients of God’s judgment, as he did in 3:16-4:1. Surely, they, in their unrecognized vulnerability, are fulfilling a representative role. The impending disaster and devastation will destroy the land, terminate the merriment, and cause great mourning.

But this portrayal of destruction is interrupted by a return to the messianic vision of the opening verses of this chapter. Peace and security will come at last to the people.