Isaiah 33:16, commentary and pictures

He shall dwell on high is promised only to the one who walks righteously and uprightly, speaks honestly, rejects gain from oppression and bribes, and turns away from bloodshed and evil. To have the munitions of rocks for defense is to dwell securely with God himself as refuge and strength in an impregnable high stronghold. To have bread given and waters sure is to have unfailing food and water, for God will supply what His faithful children need and will not forsake them. This security and provision belong above all to the final conflict and time of trouble, when commandment-keepers under ban, death threats, and persecution flee to desolate mountain strongholds yet are shielded, sustained, and brought to deliverance. Therefore they are to trust wholly in God rather than store food from fear or cling to earthly goods, for He can sustain them miraculously on bare bread and water as He fed Elijah and Israel, until they see the King in His beauty and receive the eternal reward.

The Upright and Their Refuge

The promise belongs only to a definite character, the one who walks righteously and uprightly and speaks honestly and uprightly, who despises gain from oppression, who shakes the hands from holding bribes, who stops the ears from hearing of blood and bloodshed, and who shuts the eyes from seeing evil. Only such a person will dwell securely beyond the reach of danger, with food and water assured in the time of judgment and the church's final conflict, and need not fear the final crisis before deliverance. To live this way is to live righteously and honestly, to act justly, to reject profits gained through oppression and bribery and to turn away from violence and evil, and to such uprightness security and provision are assured.

To dwell on high means to dwell securely with God beyond the reach of danger, sheltered in a high refuge with God himself as refuge and strength. The place of defence as the munitions of rocks means protection like an impregnable rocky stronghold and rock-secured fortress, a safe dwelling in the day of judgment. These images of dwelling on high, rocky defenses, and certain provision represent spiritual realities, not merely outward places.

Bread given and waters sure mean dependable, unfailing provision of food and water, that needs will be supplied and sustained even in famine. God will shield his own when persecuted, distressed, and deprived of food, will supply what they need, and will not forsake his faithful children or leave them without what they need or let them perish. The faithful person's bread and water are assured, given by God and remaining sure.

The verse answers who can dwell amid devouring fire and everlasting burnings, while sinners in Zion are afraid and hypocrites are surprised by fearfulness. It belongs with the Lord filling Zion with judgment and righteousness, with wisdom and knowledge giving stability and salvation through the fear of the Lord, and it leads on to seeing the King in His beauty and beholding the land very far off. God is a devouring fire to those who break His law, yet a place of safety for His people, so that they pass unharmed through pestilence, tempest, and earthquake.

Sustained Through Final Trouble

The promise belongs to the time of judgment, the church's final conflict, and the time of trouble, when the righteous face persecution, distress, famine, and privation yet are kept secure, shielded, and sustained through to deliverance, so they need not fear the final crisis. Even when earthly support fails and they are persecuted, distressed, and deprived of food, they will not be left to perish, for food and water are assured and God will supply what they need even in famine.

In that crisis the faithful commandment-keepers who refuse to break God's law may face a ban on buying and selling, death threats, and famine. Rulers will issue a decree against them that withdraws the protection of government and abandons them to those who desire their destruction.

God's people will then flee from cities and villages and gather in companies in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in high, solitary places and in the strongholds of the mountains, making the high places of the earth their sanctuaries. They will thank God for rocks as fortresses for defense, for the rocks are their defense. This flight to solitary places is the lot of the saints who leave the cities in the time of trouble.

Even when distressed, imprisoned, and deprived of food and water, they will not be left to perish, for God does not abandon them. They remain calm, trusting his promise of escape, and angels protect them from those who seek to kill them and provide their food and water. While the wicked suffer hunger and thirst, angels supply the saints with what they need.

God can sustain them miraculously in the wilderness as ravens fed Elijah and manna was given to Israel. Their bread and water will be sure, and they will not lack or suffer hunger or go hungry. Even when their provisions are reduced to the bare essentials of bread and water, God will provide for the remnant, and stern necessity will compel them to live on bread and water alone. Those who trust and obey can expect only bread and water in that time, yet these necessities will be supplied.

At that time they will do no work with their hands to earn a living and will be unable to earn their living by working, and their suffering will be mental. While the wicked suffer hunger and thirst and perish for lack of bread and for want of food, the saints will not lack or suffer hunger. Those who sacrifice for God and trust him are thus assured that even in famine their bread and water will be sure.

Trusting Provision Toward Glory

In the time of trouble, when sword and famine and pestilence fill the land, the promise calls for wholehearted trust in God to sustain life rather than dependence on food stored up beforehand. No preparation is to be made to supply temporal wants from human foresight, and there is no need to cling to earthly possessions from fear of coming to want. Bread and water will be made sure, so that the faithful will not lack or suffer hunger even while famine wastes others. Provision may come by miracle in the wilderness, as ravens fed Elijah and manna was given to Israel.
Any food laid up from fear will fail, for what is stored in advance may be taken away or spoiled. What is left in the fields or laid up in store may be seized by violent hands. What is bought and laid by when prices rise from fear of want will breed worms and living creatures and become unfit for use.
The assurance of bread and water in that future crisis does not require living on bread and water now. At present the duty is to work with the hands to supply personal needs and the needs of others. Present eating is to be of wholesome food that strengthens the body as God's temple, while in the coming distress stern necessity will compel a bare bread-and-water existence, work with the hands to earn a living will cease, and suffering will be mental rather than physical toil.
Bread and water mean more than temporal necessities, for they also represent the bread and water of eternal life. Christ himself is the life and strength, efficiency and power, wisdom and holiness of his people, giving protection like a rocky stronghold and unfailing sustenance. Those who trust and obey God, who sacrifice for him and heed his invitation, are secure in him as their strength through trials and conflict, sustained while the wicked perish for lack of bread. Even in famine their bread and water will be sure.
The same security and provision open into glory, for the promise is joined to seeing the King in his beauty and beholding the land that is very far off. The upright who are defended and fed will stand with Christ in glory at his coronation. Those who trust and obey are thus brought through conflict to the eternal reward of the righteous.