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Ariel the Lion
Isaiah 29:1 “How horrible it will be for you Ariel, Ariel, the city where David dwelt!”
Whenever you see the letters or words “el“, especially at the end of a name, it probably means “El” for Elohim, which translates to God. And in this case it is the same, Ari (H738 – ‘ărî) & El (H410 – ‘ēl). Ari means Lion, so Ariel H740 – ‘ărî’ēl means “Lion of Elohim“. So in this prophecy, the translators make it very confusing by talking about “Ariel”, and saying “woe to Ariel“.. while if you read it in Hebrew, you will rather read “Woe to the lion of El“. And don’t always trust Google either.. it will bring all kinds of explanations, even saying that it is really “unknown” or not sure.. but it is right there in Hebrew, Ari-El.
So who is this Lion? In Genesis 49:9-10, Jacob blesses his son Judah, prophesying, “Judah is a lion’s cub…He stooped down, he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?”. Revelation 5:5 identifies the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” as Yeshua, fulfilling this prophecy. We also know that Jerusalem was the capital of the kingdom of Judah, and that is indeed the city that David lived. 2 Samuel 5:6-9 says, “And the king and his men went to Jerusalem .. David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David .. So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David”
Hidden words (can't understand)
Isaiah 29:11 “To you all these visions will be like words in a book that is closed and sealed. You give this book to someone who can read, saying, “Please read this” but he answered, “I can’t read it. It’s sealed.”“
It is indeed, that YHWH’s Scriptures and Words are not just a mystery, or sounds like nonsense, but it is even misunderstood and misconstrued! See our previous post on the language of Parables and Prophecies. Even Yeshua’s disciples sometimes had to ask for interpretations of His Words. The Word of YHWH truly is something you cannot rush through, and you have to lay aside your own thinking and interpretations, and ask the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit of YHWH) for wisdom. Like David prayed in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I might behold the marvellous beauty from Your Instructions“.
The Hebrew word for what Isaiah used in this verse for “closed and sealed” is Hatam H2856 – ḥāṯam, meaning it is sealed up, locked up, closed. Job uses this word alot, like in Job 33:15-17 “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth H2856 their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” Only YHWH can open and seal His Words, give us understanding. However from Psalm 115 we learned that having idols (looking to anything other than YHWH for guidance), that is what makes us blind and deaf also. Listening to the world, celebrating their festivals, worshipping on their days, can cause that we become blind, and deaf, that we cannot see or hear/understand the words of YHWH (click here to read more on that post).
Back in Isaiah 8:15-17 we read, “And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up H2856 the testimony, seal the law (Torah in Hebrew) among my disciples. And I will wait upon YHWH, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.” So Isaiah prays that those who keep the Torah and the Testimony (commands from YHWH) will be protected.. while the rest will stumble.
We also see with the prophecies and revelations that Daniel received in Daniel 12, that the meaning of those prophecies are to be sealed and hidden till the end of time, “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed H2856 till the time of the end.” In Revelation 5 and 6 we read about the One worthy to Open those seals, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?”
Looking for help
Isaiah 30:1 “.. rebellious children. They carry out plans, but not mine. They make alliances against My will. They pile sin on top of sin.”
This chapter continues describing how people make their own plans and agendas to save their own skins. They go to the big cities and rulers, like the Pharaos. They look for protection.. but in verse 7 YHWH says, “Egypt’s help is completely useless!” When YHWH judges, and when His word is spoken, no one can hide and no one can protect or help. But still YHWH has mercy, in verse 15 He still says, “You can be saved by returning to Me. You can have rest. You can be strong by being quiet and by trusting Me. But you don’t want that.”
People don’t know how to be still and trusting YHWH when their whole world get turned upside down, when things go wrong. The very first thing we do, and are told to do, is go to the doctor when you get sick! Go to the police for protection, go to court to sue those who treat you unfairly, go borrow some money from the bank when you need it.. for every crisis we seem to have our own solutions.. do we ever stop, be quiet and just wait and trust YHWH?
The Maccabean Revolt:
We see a similar thing happening in the years leading up before Yeshua was born, from around 165BC with the Maccabees until 37BC where Herod the Great (a Jewish born with family ties to Rome) takes control (Rome gave Herod rulership over Jerusalem). If you ever get a chance, read the books of Maccabees (there are 1-3 Maccabees available on the online Bible reading app called Biblegateway. Other books like Esdras is also available there). These books are really easy and quick to read. You might pick up a few things.. like they hardly ever mention YHWH or His Name, they do pray and fast for Him, but they don’t get an answer or guidance from YHWH. Instead it looks like they are war-hungry and scramble to come up with their own solutions. Even though their motives are to save Jerusalem and restore the Temple, at the end of the day they make an alliance with Rome “to be safe”. Just like we read here in Isaiah 30:1 “they make alliances against my will”. Because of that alliance, Rome till this day have a big hold on Jerusalem and christianity in the form of the Roman Catholic Church.
