Judgments upon Idumea.

Isaiah is rightly called the evangelist of the Old Testament. Throughout his book of prophecies he refers to conditions as they would obtain in the time of the Messiah. In chapters 34 and 35 also, which form the conclusion of the first half of his book, he makes use of New Testament ideas and pictures. For this reason these ers, at the same time, strike the introductory chords to the great Book of Consolations, 40-66.

Introductory Proclamation

v. 1. Come near, ye nations, to hear, and hearken, ye people! the prophet’s proclamation being so great and momentous that he summons all nations to give attention. Let the earth hear and all that is therein, all creatures being concerned in this weighty announcement; the world, the entire circle of time inhabited globe, and all things that come forth of it. The invitation is like Eze 6:3; Deu 32:1; Psa 50:4; Mic 6:1-2.

v. 2. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, His is a great wrath, which will result in punishment upon all His enemies, and His fury upon all their armies, upon which they, in the excess of their insolence, rely; He hath utterly destroyed them, doomed them, by a solemn curse, to destruction, He hath delivered them to the slaughter, appointed them to be slain.

v. 3. Their slain also shall be cast out, left to lie unburied, and their stink, the odor of decay, shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood, washed away as by a mighty torrent. Cf Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:7-10; Rev 6:13-14.

v. 4. And all the host of heaven, all the stars and heavenly bodies, shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, in the manner in which parchment-rolls were formerly rolled together; and all their host shall fall down, as the firmament of the heavens passes away, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, upon its fading in the autumn, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree, immature and useless. The prophet clearly has in mind the final dissolution of the universe, the end of the present dispensation, for which reason Peter makes use of the same picture in describing the end of the world, 2Pe 3:10-12.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

SECTION 11. THE DIVINE JUDGMENT ON THE WORLD, AND THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH CONSEQUENT UPON IT (Isa 34:1-17; Isa 35:1-10.).

EXPOSITION

Isa 34:1-17 and Isa 35:1-10. are generally recognized as constituting a distinct prophecy, complete in itself, and only slightly connected with what precedes. The passage is, as Bishop Lowth observes, “an entire, regular, and beautiful poem, consisting of two parts, the first (Isa 34:1-17.) containing a denunciation of Divine vengeance against the enemies of God; the second (Isa 35:1-10.) describing the flourishing state of the Church of God, consequent upon the execution of those judgments.” The present chapter, which forms the first half of the poem, is wholly denunciatory. Its theme is vengeance on God’s enemies generally; but, as a typical specimen, the Edomites are selected, and their punishment is depicted in the strongest colors. The awful picture, with its dark and lurid hues, prepares the way for the soft and lovely portraiture of the blest condition of the Church triumphant, which is contained in the ensuing chapter.

Isa 34:1

Ye people; rather, ye peoples. The address is couched in the widest possible terms, so as to include the whole of humankind. The earth and all that is therein; literally, the earth, and the fullness thereof. The inhabitants are no doubt intended.

Isa 34:2

For the indignation of the Lord is upon, etc.; rather, for the Lord hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host. He hath utterly destroyed; rather, he hath devoted, or put under ban.

Isa 34:3

Cast out; i.e. refused burialthrown to the dogs and vultures (comp. Jer 22:19; Jer 36:30). Such treatment of the dead was regarded as a shame and a disgrace. It was on some occasions an intentional insult (Jer 22:19); but here the idea is rather that it would be impossible to bury the slain on account of their number. In ancient times corpses often lay unburied on battle-fields (Herod; Isa 3:12). The mountains shall be molted with their blood. When the feelings of the prophet are excited, he shrinks from no hyperbole. Here he represents the blood of God’s enemies as shed in such torrents that mountains are melted by it.

Isa 34:4

All the host of heaven shall be dissolved. A dissolution of the material frame of the heavens, in which the moon and stars are regarded as set, seems to be intended (comp. Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:10). The slaughter of God’s enemies is here connected with the cud of the world, as in the Book of Revelation (Rev 19:11-21). The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; literally, as a book. Ancient books were written on long strips of paper or parchment, which, when unrolled, extended to many yards in length, but which might be rolled together “by means of one or two smooth round sticks into a very small compass.” Such a rolling together of the widely extended heavens is here intended, not a shriveling by means of heat (comp. Rev 6:14). All their host shall fall (comp. Mat 24:29, “The stars shall fall from heaven”).

Isa 34:5

My sword shall be bathed in heaven; rather, has been bathed, or has been made drunken (, LXX.) in heaven. Some suppose a reference to the old” war in heaven,” when the sword of Divine justice was drawn against the devil and his angels. Others regard the sword now to be used against the Idumeans as first, in heaven, “made drunken” with the Divine anger. It shall come down upon Idumea (comp. Isa 63:1-6). The Edomites first showed themselves enemies of Israel when they refused to allow the Israelites, under Moses, “a passage through their border” (Num 20:14-21). David subdued them (2Sa 9:1-13 :14); but they revolted from Jehoram (2Ch 21:8-10), and were thenceforward among the most bitter adversaries of the southern kingdom. They “smote Judah” in the reign of Ahaz (2Ch 28:17), and were always ready to “shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity” (Eze 35:5). Amos speaks of them very much in the same tone as Isaiah (Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12). They ultimately “filled up the measure of their iniquities” by open rejoicing when Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people led away captive by Nebuchadnezzar (Psa 137:7; Oba 1:10-14; Lam 4:21, Lam 4:22; Eze 35:10-13). In the present passage we must regard the Edomites as representative of the enemies of God’s people generally (see the introductory paragraph). The people of my curse; i.e. “the people on whom I have laid a curse”the Edomites. Esau was to “serve” Jacob (Gen 25:23; Gen 27:40), Edom to be “a possession” for Judah (Num 24:18). God had said of Edom, probably before Isaiah uttered the present prophecy, “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof but I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah” (Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12). Thus Edom was under a curse.

Isa 34:6

The sword of the Lord is filled; or, glutted (Lowth). The tense is “the perfect of prophetic certainty.” It is made fat with fatness. “Fed, as it were, on the fat of sacrifices” (see Le Isa 3:3, Isa 3:4, Isa 3:9, Isa 3:10, Isa 3:15; Isa 7:3, etc.). Lambs goats rams. The lesser cattle represent the lower classes of those about to be slain, while the “unicorns“ and “bullocks“ of Isa 34:7 represent the upper classesthe great men and leaders. The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah. This Bozrah, one of the principal cities of Idumaea, is to be distinguished from “Bozrah of Moab,” which was known to the Romans as “Bostra.” It lay in the hilly country to the south-cast of the Dead Sea, about thirty-five miles north of Petra, and was one of the earliest settlements of the descendants of Esau, being mentioned as a well-known place in Gen 34:1-31 :33). The threats here uttered against it are repeated by Jeremiah (Jer 49:13), who says that “Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; all the cities thereof [i.e. the dependent cities] shall be perpetual wastes.” Bozrah is probably identified with the modern El-Busaireh, a village of about fifty houses, occupying a site in the position above indicated, amid ruins which seem to be those of a considerable city.

Isa 34:7

The unicorns; Bishop Lowth renders ream by “wild goats;” Mr. Cheyne by “buffaloes.” Probably the wild ox, a native of the trans-Jordanic region, is intended. Shall come down; rather, shall go down; i.e. shall fall and perish (comp. Jer 1:1-19 :27).

Isa 34:8

The day of the Lord’s vengeance (comp. Isa 61:2 and Isa 63:4). In all three places the “day” of God’s vengeance is contrasted with the “year” of his recompense, to show how infinite is his mercy, how short-lived, comparatively speaking, his auger. Mr. Cheyne well compares the concluding clauses of the second commandment, where “retribution is declared to descend to the third and fourth generation, but mercy to the thousandth.” Recompenses for the controversy of Zion; rather, for the vindication of Zion; i.e. for the maintenance of her right in the quarrel between her and her enemies.

Isa 34:9

And the streams thereof; i.e. “the streams of the land of Edom.” Though Edom has no perennial rivers, it has numerous torrent-courses to carry off the winter rains (see 2Ki 3:20-22). These should run with pitch, instead of water. The general idea is that Edom should be visited with a destruction like that of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24; comp. Jer 49:18). But the prophet scarcely intends his words to be taken literally; he is making Edom a type or representation of God’s enemies, and the gist of his teaching is that a dreadful vengeance, an utter destruction, will come upon all who set themselves up against the Most High. In the next verse he declares that the vengeance will be eternal (comp. Isa 66:24).

Isa 34:10

None shall pass through it forever and ever. There was a literal fulfillment of the prophecies against Edom to a considerable extent. Malachi, writing three hundred years after Isaiah, says that the “mountains and the heritage of Esau were laid waste for the dragons of the wilderness” (Mal 1:3); and he makes the Edomites themselves exclaim, “We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places” (Isa 1:4). A certain amount of recovery must have followed; and in the Maccabee period Edom appears once more as an adversary of Israel, and an adversary of some importance (1 Macc. 5:3, 65). Gradually, however, she had to yield to the superior power of Judaea, and was even ruled by viceroys, whom the Maccabee princes nominated. One of these, Antipater, was the father of Herod the Great. From his time Idumea languished until, in the seventh century after Christ, it was overrun dud conquered by the Mohammedan Arabs, who completed its ruin. It is now, and has been for above a thousand years, one of the most desolate tracts upon the earth’s surface.

Isa 34:11

The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it. Compare the prophecy against Babylon in Isa 14:23. The Hebrew word translated “cormorant,” is now generally regarded as designating the “pelican,” while the one rendered “bittern” is thought by some to mean “hedgehog” or “porcupine.” Animals that delight in solitude are certainly meant, but the particular species is, more or less, matter of conjecture. He shall stretch out upon it; rather, and one shall stretch out upon it. The verb is used impersonally. The line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness; rather, the line of desolation, and the plummet of emptiness. The destruction of cities was effected by rule and measure, probably because different portions of the task were assigned to different sets of laborers, and, if the work was to be completely done, it required to be done systematically. Here, the measuring-tape and the plumb-line are to be these of tohu and vohu, or of the eternal chaos out of which God, by his word, produced order (Gen 1:2).

Isa 34:12

They shall call the nobles, etc.; rather, as for her nobles, there shall be none there for them to call to the kingdom. The nobles are termed horim, probably because the right of succession to the kingdom was vested in the descendants of the Horites, from whom the Edomites took their territory (Gen 36:20, Gen 36:29, Gen 36:30). These having died out, there would be no one to appoint as king.

Isa 34:13

Thorns shall come up in her palaces. The “palaces” of Bozrah are mentioned also by Amos (Amo 1:12), and are threatened with destruction by fire. Amid their ruins should grow up thorns and briars. It shall be an habitation of dragons; or, of jackals (see the comment on Isa 13:22). Owls; literally, daughters of screaminga description better suited to the owl than to the ostrich, which some regard as the bird meant.

Isa 34:14

Wild beasts of the desert wild beasts of the island. In the original, tsiyim and ‘iyim“wailers” and “howlers”probably jackals and wolves, or wolves and hyenas.” The satyr (see the comment on Isa 13:21). The screech owl The word here used, lilith, occurs only in this place. It may be doubted whether any bird, or other animal, is meant. Lilit was the name of a female demon, or wicked fairy, in whom the Assyrians believeda being thought to vex and persecute her victims in their sleep. The word is probably a derivative from leilah, night, and designates” the spirit of the night”a mischievous being, who took advantage of the darkness to play fantastic tricks. A Jewish legend made Lilith the first wife of Adam, and said that, having pronounced the Divine Name as a charm, she was changed into a devil. It was her special delight to murder young children (Buxtorf, ‘Lex. Rabbin.,’ ad voc.). The prophets, when they employ poetic imagery, are not tied down to fact, but are free to use the beliefs of their contemporaries in order to heighten the force of their descriptions.

Isa 34:15

The great owl; rather, the arrow-snake (Serpens jaculus). Gather under her shadow; i.e. “gather her young ones under her.” There shall the vultures also be gathered; rather, there verily shall the vultures assemble.

Isa 34:16

Seek ye out of the book of the Lord. By “the book of the Lord” some understand a collected volume of Moses and the prophets, psalmists, etc; previous to Isaiah’s time, which they suppose to have existed in his day. But there is no evidence of any such collection. It is better to understand the expression of Isaiah’s own prophecies, or of such a collection of them as he had made previously to the composition of the present chapter. Nothing contained in the entire book should, he says, fail of its accomplishment. Even the minutiae of the present chapter should, each and all, have their fulfillment, though not, perhaps, in every case a literal one. My mouth his Spirit. The “mouth” of the prophet and the “Spirit” of God, which dictates to him what he is to write, are in accord; and the Spirit will bring to pass what the mouth inspired by him has “commanded.”

Isa 34:17

He hath cast the lot for them. God, who allots to all the nations of the earth their several countries, has now allotted Idumea to the unclean beasts and birds and reptiles which have been mentioned; henceforth it is formally assigned to them as their habitation. It is throughout to be understood that Idumea stands for the world power, which resists God and will be finally abased and put to shame.

HOMILETICS

Isa 34:1-10

The terrors of the Lord not to be held back by the preacher,

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord,” says the great apostle of the Gentiles, “we persuade men. There is m these modern times a sickly sentimentality prevalent, which protests against the employment by preachers of arguments that address themselves to the fears of their hearers. Delicate nerves are not to be hurt by disagreeable images, or highly wrought descriptions of sufferings. Ears accustomed to flatteries are not to be shocked by suggestions that make the listeners uncomfortable. “Speak unto us smooth things” is the universal demand, or, at any rate, the universal desire. There is considerable danger of preachers yielding to the wishes of their hearers in this respect; since it is always pleasant to be popular, and disagreeable to be thought to take a pleasure in hurting people’s feelings. But the preacher of God’s Word should be actuated by higher considerations. He must shape his conduct by

(1) the example of great preachers in the past, as Isaiah, St. Paul, St. John, Christ himself;

(2) the real needs and true interest of those whom he addresses; and

(3) the declarations of Holy Scripture concerning the duty of a preacher.

I. THE EXAMPLE OF GREAT PREACHERS IN THE PAST. It is clear that Isaiah did not hold back the terrors of the Lord. Almost one-half of his prophecy is denunciatory; and the denunciations uttered are of a truly fearful character. All the great powers of the earth, and many minor powers, are threatened with the Divine vengeance, and that vengeance is depicted in very terrible language. Babylon is to be “brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isa 14:15); Assyria is to be burnt up; his glory is to be consumed; he is to be “as when a standard-bearer fainteth” (Isa 10:17, Isa 10:18); Edom is to become “burning pitch” (Isa 34:9), which “shall not be quenched night nor day” (Isa 34:10); God’s enemies generally are to be “slain” and “consumed,” and set in a place where “their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched” (Isa 66:24). St. Paul persuaded men by “the terror of the Lord” (2Co 5:11). He warned them to “look for judgment and a fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Heb 10:27). He reminded them that “our God is a consuming Fire’ (Heb 12:29), and that “it is a fearful thing to fall into his hands” (Heb 10:31). St. John, the apostle of love, spoke of those who should “drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation,” and who should be “tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and of the Lamb,” and said that “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever,” and that they “have no rest day nor night” (Rev 14:10, Rev 14:11). It is to our blessed Lord himself that we owe the picture of the rich man tormented in the flame, and praying Abraham to send Lazarus, that he might “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue” (Luk 16:24). Our Lord, moreover, adopts the dreadful imagery of Isaiah with respect to the undying worm and the fire that is never quenched, and points his teaching by revealing to us the awful words of the final sentence of reprobation, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mat 25:41).

II. THE REAL NEEDS OF THOSE TO WHOM PREACHING IS ADDRESSED. It cannot be denied that fear is a strong constraining motive. Human laws are enforced, by penalties, the object of which is to “put men in fear.” Punishment holds its place in every system of moral training, and punishment is an appeal to fear. Whatever may be the case with a chosen few, the hulk of mankind will always be more readily influenced by fear than by hope, by punishments than by rewards, by threats than by promises. The preacher cannot afford to lose the moral force which is thus put within his reach. It is hard enough to restrain men from evil courses, and induce them to lead a godly life, by freely using all the means of persuasion that are in our power. To refrain from using one of the most potent would be to fight Satan with one hand instead of two.

III. THE TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE CONCERNING THE DUTY OF A PREACHER. Preachers are directed to open to their disciples “the whole counsel of God.” They are not to pick and choose what doctrines of Christianity they will teach. They are to deliver to others “the gospel,” “that which they also received” (1Co 15:3)not “another gospel” (Gal 1:6). Now, it cannot be pretended that “the terrors of the Lord”his wrath against sin, and its dreadful final punishment, are not as much portions of the teaching of Christ as any other. Not to preach them is to keep back a part of the message which Christ brought us from the Father. No preacher is entitled so to act, whatever the disinclination of his congregation to hear the plain teaching of Scripture on these points plainly declared. The disinclination is itself an indication of a need. Those who most dislike the doctrine of final punishment are probably those who most require to have the doctrine pressed upon them.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON

Isa 34:1-17

The sins and punishment of Edom.

The Edomites appear in the blackest colors in the descriptions of the prophets. And in this oracle their punishment is represented in the horrible desolation of their land.

I. THEIR SINS. Their cruelty is above all stigmatized. At the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar they helped to plunder the city and slaughter the poor Jews. Their conduct on this occasion was never forgotten (Psa 137:1-9.). In Obadiah we have the feelings about them brought into the clearest light (Oba 1:10-16). They were akin to the Jews, Esau the ancestor of the one, Jacob of the other. Their cruelty was accused as “violence against a brother.” They had entered the gate of the city on the day of their brethren’s calamity, to exult over them, and to join hand in hand with the conqueror and the spoiler. But the day of vengeance has come, and their violent dealing is to be returned upon their own heads (cf. Isa 63:1-4; Jer 49:17; Lam 4:21; Eze 25:13, Eze 25:14; Eze 35:1-15.; Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12).

II. THEIR PUNISHMENT.

1. The sword of Jehovah an emblem of Divine vengeance. So in numerous passages (Isa 27:1; Isa 31:8; Isa 34:5; Isa 66:16; Deu 32:41, Deu 32:42; Jer 12:12; Jer 46:10; Jer 47:6, 35-38; Zec 13:7). It has been bathed in blood in heaven, that is, upon the objects of idolatrous worship, demons of the stars, etc.

2. Sacrifice as also a figure of vengeance. A “sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.” So sacrifice and feasting connected with judgment in Zep 1:7; Jer 46:10; Eze 39:17-19.

3. Pictures of desolation. It is a volcanic land, and the prophet sees it deluged with lava-floods, like the guilty cities of the plain (cf. Jer 49:18; Rev 14:10; Rev 19:3). The further features of the picture are sketched in the most gloomy colorsits castles and strong places in ruins and overgrown with weeds; wild animals haunting the former abodes of man; and demons or fairies, such as are in popular superstition, hovering about the former scenes of human pride and power.

III. EDOM AS TYPICAL OF THE UNGODLY WORLD. There seems reason for supposing the prophet to have had this larger thought in mind.

1. All the nations are summoned to hear the judgments of God.

2. The desolation predicted is said to be eternal; and this is four times repeated.

The general lessons, then, of Divine judgments may be repeated in connection with this awe-inspiring picture.

1. The particular example of Divine judgment illustrates the general truth. That which concerns the people in this respect concerns mankind. The beam which strikes this or that object strikes many others in its rebound.

2. Destruction and discrimination in the judgments are the mark of Providence. When God strikes an individual, or a nation, the conclusion is that they were aimed at.

3. An utter doom the cow, sequence of utter sin. None can think of the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of Edom, without a shudder, without hearing the reverberations of the thunder from Sinai; without attending to the appeal, “Break off your sins by righteousness!” “Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts!”J.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Isa 34:1-15

The Divine indignation.

The strong, pictorial language of the prophet brings into bold relief some truths respecting God’s indignation of which it is needful to be occasionally reminded. We learn

I. THAT IT IS A CONSTANT FACTOR IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD. “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people; let the earth hear, and all that is therein for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations,” etc. (Isa 34:1, Isa 34:2). It is seldom, perhaps never, the duty of the Christian minister to employ such terms as those used in this prophecy (Isa 34:3, Isa 34:5, Isa 34:6). But it is his duty to make it clear that benevolence and its kindred attributes do not constitute the character of God; that, though it is a truth of inestimable price that “God is love,” it is also true that “our God is a consuming Fire;” that though it is a fact that “justice and judgment are his strange work,” it is also a fact that God does pour out his indignation “upon all nations;” that “the hand of the Lord is against them that do evil,” that he will render “indignation and wrath.; upon every soul of man that doeth evil.” Religious doctrine, like all other truth, must be seen in its true proportions, or it will be misconceived. To represent God’s indignation against sin as the chief element in his character is essentially false; to represent his love as absorbing or eclipsing his hatred of sin and his intention to punish the guilty is also, if not equally, false. The same lips which opened to invite every weary wanderer to return to him and find rest in his happy service declared that many of the children of privilege should be shut out of the kingdom of heaven. To the Thrice-Holy One sin is now “that abominable thing which his soul hateth,” and against it he will always express, both in word and deed, his righteous indignation.

II. THAT IT IS SOMETIMES POSITIVELY OVERWHELMING IN ITS EFFECTS. “He hath utterly destroyed them” (Isa 34:2); “Their slain shall be east out the mountains shall be melted with their blood” (Isa 34:3); “All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,” etc. (Isa 34:4); “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, the Lord hath a great slaughter in the land” (Isa 34:6). God is sometimes “terrible in his doings toward the children of men.” The flood swept away the race; the fires of heaven consumed-the cities of the plain; the avenging armies destroyed the population of the guilty land. And now the corrupt nation pays for its apostasy and its crimes the penalty of defeat and humiliation; the degenerate Church also suffers feebleness, decline, perhaps positive extinction; and the debased, hardened man finds himself bereft of every good, pursued and overtaken by gathering evils, having nothing to hope and everything to fear. God is “slow to wrath,” he gives opportunities for repentance, he welcomes and restores the penitent; but on the impenitent and unreturning sinner he lays his hand of retribution, and alas for those who find from their own experience that “the way of transgressors is hard!”

III. THAT IT IS OFTEN EXCITED BY OFFENCES COMMITTED AGAINST HIS PEOPLE. “The day of the Lord’s vengeance” is “the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion“ (see Num 20:20; 2Ch 21:8-10; 2Ch 25:12; Psa 137:7; Oba 1:10-16). Our Divine Lord has told us that to cause one of his little ones to stumble is a heinous offence in his sight; that, inasmuch as we do not our duty to one of the least of his brethren, we withhold what is clue to himself. The persecution of the people of God has taken many forms beside that of slaughter or imprisonment; they who resort to it must reckon on a very serious measure of Divine disapproval.

IV. THAT IT SHOWS ITSELF IN ITS SADDEST FORM IN A COMPLETE DEGENERACY. “From generation to generation it shall lie waste” (Isa 34:10 and Isa 34:11-15). It is a sad descent, a melancholy instance of degeneracy, when the thickly peopled city is abandoned by mankind, is untrodden by the human foot, and becomes the haunt of the wild beast, of the obscene bird, and of the “night-monster.” The last and worst penalty which God’s indignation inflicts on the children of men is utter spiritual degeneracythe mind losing its intellectual faculties, and becoming imbecile through vice and folly; the wilt broken down and become helpless, bent and swayed with every breeze; the heart hardened so that all feeling of pity and affection has departed; the soul foregoing and forgetting its higher aspirations and sunk into the condition in which it craves nothing better than worldly increase or animal indulgence. Sad as is the loss of position or estate when the powerful prince becomes a menial or the wealthy merchant becomes a beggar, immeasurably sadder in the sight of Heaven is that spiritual degeneracy in which, as the inevitable wages of sin, a human spirit loses all its nobility of character and becomes an outcast in creation, mere driftwood on the ocean, the sport of the devouring waves.C.

Isa 34:16, Isa 34:17

The Divine Word and human woe.

These words are called forth by

I. ANTICIPATED INCREDULITY. The prophet thinks that the solemn threatenings he has uttered will not be credited. He seems to say, “You heard these awful utterances, but you will not heed them; you will indulge the thought that they are nothing more than a fanatic’s dream; you think in your hearts that they will never be fulfilled; you imagine that you can afford to disregard them; but you are mistaken, there will be the closest correspondence between what is written in ‘the book of the Lord’ and what shall one day be witnessed in the experiences of Edom.” There is a great deal of unwarranted incredulity in the hearts of men respecting the penal purposes of God. He has spoken, has warned men, has clearly intimated what will be the consequences of crime, of vice, of ungodliness, of the rejection of the gospel of Christ, of unfaithfulness and disloyalty in the Christian life. But men’s hearts are hard, their understanding is veiled so that they do not see.

1. They delude themselves with the thought that, though other men suffer the penalty of their sin or folly, they will, in some way, escape.

2. Or they deceive themselves by holding up before their minds one-half only of the truth; they dwell on the graciousness and mercy of God, and act as if he were not as righteous as he is tender, as pure as he is pitiful.

3. Or they misrepresent the character of their misdeeds to their own minds, persuading themselves that they are slight and venial, however serious they may be in the sight of God. It is a melancholy fact, calling for utmost vigilance, that the frequent repetition of sin and ultimate familiarity with it reduce its apparent guiltiness to the smallest fraction.

II. THE PROPHETIC ASSURANCE. The prophet says, “Compare what is written in the ‘book of the Lord’ with the facts, and they shall tally with one anothernot one shall fail; for the command shall go from heaven, and these wild beasts, whose presence has been threatened as a dire scourge and as the mark of saddest degeneracy, shall possess the holy land, and ‘from generation to generation shall dwell therein;’ the very worst that has been foretold shall happen, and what the Divine Word has predicted shall be endured in its most grievous form.” They who now speak for God have to give similar assurance: they have to warn men that the worst must be expected if they remain impenitent and disobedient; they have to insist upon it, sorrowfully but emphatically, that everything threatened in the “book of the Lord” will compare with the experiences of the persistently obdurate and disloyal. It is their duty to show:

1. That, sooner or later, men may expect the righteous retribution of God to overtake them; “the sword of heaven is not in haste to smite, nor yet doth linger;” that, though God keeps silence long, he will reprove men, and set their sins in order before their eyes (Psa 1:1-6 :21).

2. That, if not here, yet hereafter, the judgments of God will reach the guilty, and then, if not now, “every one will receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

3. That Divine retribution will take some other form if it come not in the one men have expected. There are other “wild beasts,” and worse, than those which are here referred to (Isa 34:14, Isa 34:15). There are other evils, and worse, than the poverty, the diseases, the mortality, from which sinners shrink and from which they may long escape. There are evils which haunt the heart, calamities which afflict the soul, ruin which reaches the character, death which overtakes the man himself,judgments which God in righteousness “hath commanded,” and which more than fulfill the saddest and strongest word he has instructed his spokesmen to employ.C.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Isa 34:1

God’s dealing with one nation for the sake of many.

“Let the earth hear.” This chapter, with the following one, constitutes a distinct prophecy, and forms the completion of the first part of Isaiah’s work. This chapter further illustrates the point which has been again and again enforced, that “no man liveth unto himself;” a man’s successes, achievements, failures, losses, troubles, are all for the sake of others. Every man’s life is really vicarious, and this truth is pictured for us in the history and relations of nations. It is plain that no nation liveth unto itself; it is inspiration or warning to other nations around. A man’s experience, and a nation’s experience, can only to a very limited extent help the man or the nation; but it can most materially help other men and other nations. Therefore “let the earth hear” what God will do unto Edom. For Edom is principally referred to here, as the peculiarly inveterate and malignant enemy of ancient Israel. As we know that Edom submitted to Assyria, it is quite possible that they played a part in Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah, in his attack on Jerusalem; so the prophet foresees Divine judgments falling on Edom as soon as Sennacherib is removed. The historical relations of Edom and Israel should be carefully studied. It is thought that from the historical reference to one nation the prophetic vision advances to the end of the world and the final judgment. We may keep to the lessons which arise out of the purely historical association. Dealing with one or with a few, for the sake of the many, has been God’s universal law of relationship with men. It is the law of elections, or rather selections, the calling out of specially fitted ones to be workers for, or examples to, all. We readily recognize this law, as the responsibility of talents, positions, or opportunities; but it is less usual to see that it equally applies to disabilities, failures, and judgments. Men work for others, and men suffer for others. Nations gain power for the sake of others; nations are crushed and humbled for the sake of others. Illustration of this point may run along three lines.

I. A MAN‘S OR A NATION‘S GENIUS IS NOT FOR SELF. “The earth must hear,” and know about it. All gifts are trusts.

II. A MAN‘S OR A NATION‘S SUFFERINGS ARE NOT FOR SELF. The most striking illustration in a man is Job; in a nation, the people of Israel. All sufferers bear their part in the moral education, the redemption, of the race.

III. A MAN‘S OR A NATION‘S JUDGMENTS ARE NOT FOR SELF. We are not punished for our own sakes alone. Judgments follow us for the sake of the on-lookers.R.T.

Isa 34:2

Divine indignations.

It is important that we use the words which express the severe side of Divine dealings with great judgment and carefulness. We should resist the tendency of modern times to eliminate all the severer features from the conception of the Divine Being. Dr. Bushnell thus expresses it: “Our age is at the point of apogee from all the robuster notions of Deity.” Our fathers made too much of t he Divine “wrath;” but we are in danger of making too little. There is a considerable variety of words that we may use to express this sterner side of the Divine dealing’wrath,’ ‘anger,’ ‘indignation,’ ‘fury,’ ‘vengeance,’ ‘judgment,’ ‘justice,’ and the like, but they are all more or less defective. Wrath is the term most commonly used in our translation, and it is really the best, if only we can hold it closely enough to the idea of a moral, in distinction from a merely animal, passion; else, failing in this, it will connect associations of unregulated temper that are painful, and as far as possible from being sacred. It requires in this view, like the safety-lamps of the miners, a gauze of definition round it, to save it from blazing into an explosion too fierce to serve the purposes of light.” Indignation is the most unexceptionable word, and it is to one point in connection with it that attention is now invited. It is especially suited to express the feeling of God, because it applies to wrong-doers rather than to wrong actions. It links on to the view that the essence of sin is not a wrong thing done, but the wrong will out of which the doing came. We cannot get up indignation merely at things done; our feeling settles and centers on the bad doers. In all cases of sin we should keep quite clearly before us that the Divine concern is not, supremely, the disturbed circumstances, but the sinners and the sufferers. Divine power can readjust and rearrange all our conditions and circumstances, just as that power can preserve the order, and put straight the broken or deflected order, of creation. It is God’s own condition, laid upon himself, that moral states can only be reached by moral means. Divine indignations, as they concern moral beings, find expression in the persuasions of Divine judgments; these fall on the man himself, or they may fall on his substitute and representative; and so is opened up for treatment the mystery of Divine indignations resting on Christ for us, for our sakes.R.T.

Isa 34:8

The Lord’s controversy.

“The year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” Fausset says, “When Judah was captive in Babylon, Edom in every way insulted over her fallen mistress, and killed many of those Jews whom the Chaldeans had left, and hence was held guilty of fratricide by God (Esau, their ancestor, having been brother to Jacob): this was the cause of the denunciations of the prophets against Edom (Isa 63:1; Jer 49:7; Eze 25:12-14; Eze 35:3-15; Joe 3:19; Amo 1:11, Amo 1:12; Oba 1:8, Oba 1:10, Oba 1:12-18; Mal 1:3, Mal 1:4).’ The Israelites were familiar with the law of retaliation. It was the pervading law of men as gathered into tribes, and their basis-idea of justice. Moses adopted it for his legal system, but qualified its operation, preparing the way for an entire change from personal retaliation for offences, to a calm, unbiased, systematic consideration of the case of all wrong-doers, and adjustment of punishments on a fixed scale. So far as the idea of retaliation was right as between men, it may be applied as between God and men, and it is introduced in this verse. Edom took advantage of Israel’s weakness to act unbrotherly, and to encroach. Therefore the Lord has a controversy with Edom; and he will surely retaliate, bringing judgments upon them.

I. RETALIATION AS A PRIMITIVE IDEA OF JUSTICE, “It was an ethical maxim, extensively accepted among ancient nations, that men must suffer the same pains that they have inflicted on others. The later Greeks called this the Neoptolemictisis, from the circumstance that Neoptolemus was punished in the same way in which he had sinned. He had murdered at the altar, and at the altar he was murdered.” Show how natural the retaliatory idea seems to children. The old sentiment still lingers in men’s minds, so that we have great satisfaction in hearing of cases wherein Providence deals the blow to men which they have dealt to others.

II. RETALIATION DANGEROUS BECAUSE OF THE CHARACTER OF AVENGERS. It would be a safe working principle if men were good, and not subject to unworthy passions. These make men do more than retaliate.

III. RETALIATION AS A PART OF DIVINE DEALING. He has a “year of recompenses”a time when he will make a man’s violent doing fall upon his own pate. All sin is wrong done to him; it calls for due recompense. It must be precisely shown how far the idea of retaliation may be applied to God.

IV. RETALIATION BY GOD IS GUARANTEED BY THE CHARACTER OF GOD. It can never be the expression of personal feeling. It can never be unqualified or excessive. It can never be without its own aim to secure the final good of those on whom it must fall.R.T.

Isa 34:13-15

The witness of desolate lands.

In every age there have been such. In the forefront of the world’s history there was desolated Sodom and Gomorrah, witnessing to Israelites, and witnessing to all the world. Our Lord, as a Teacher, called attention to its message. Attention may be directed to Babylon, Tyre, Palestine; and for modern times, to the decay of the commercial cities of Italy, to Holland, etc.countries which may be spoken of as “desolate” when compared with former prosperities. Edom, or Idumea, is the country alluded to by the prophet, and travelers describe very forcibly the completeness of its desolation. “Captains Irby and Mangles tell us that the Arabs about Akaba are a very bad people, notorious robbers, and at war with all others. The desolation of the land is utter and perpetuala terrible monument of the Divine displeasure against wickedness and idolatry. The whole land lies under a curse; the ruins of its cities of rock, and the remains of architectural skill and ingenuity, attest its former greatness, while they set forth the solemn fact that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Dr. Robinson says, “A more frightful desert it had hardly been our lot to behold. Now and then a lone shrub of the Ghudah was almost the only trace of vegetation. The mountains beyond presented a most uninviting and hideous aspect; precipices and naked conical peaks of chalky and gravelly formation rising one above another without a sign of life or vegetation.” Dr. Olin speaks of it as in “a state of desolation and ruin the most absolute and irretrievable, such as probably no portion of the globe once populous and fertile now exhibits.” What, then, is the message which such a desolate land bears for all the world and for us? This may be worked out and illustrated under the following divisions.

I. IT WITNESSES FOR GOD. “He is known by the judgments which he executeth.” There is evidently more than a mere operation of natural forcesthere is Divine direction of natural forces to effect Divine ends. This may get more familiar illustration from Palestine, which is a country with God’s curse on it.

II. IT WITNESSES FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. “Righteousness exalteth a nation.” Righteousness is sure defense, security, stability. If a land is desolate, it calls to all other lands, saying, “Hold fast by righteousness.” Lands fall through the iniquity of the peoples.

III. IT WITNESSES FOR JUDGMENT. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished.” Sooner or later every kingdom, every nation, will find that God will arise and vindicate himself, and render a reward to the proud.R.T.

Isa 34:16

Appeal to the Word.

“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read.” Literally, the word is “from upon the book,” meaning, “Search it from the top to the bottom; and in so doing you will find abundant illustrations of Divine threatenings faithfully executed.” “Be sure that the desolation which is here preannounced to the literal Edom, and which is foretold in other parts of Scripture, as the doom of God’s enemies, will be exactly fulfilled in all those who imitate their temper, in rebellion against God, and in cruelty and treachery to Israel.”

I. ALL GOD‘S WRITTEN WORD WILL BE FOUND TO AGREE TOGETHER. It is the exceeding marvel of it, the best evidence of Divine inspiration, that, though written by different men, at different times, and in different lands, on all main points of revelation it is at absolute agreement; and contradictions, which men may fancy they find, gain easy solution. Moral principles, religious teachings, representations of Divine dealings, are the same throughout. This may be illustrated in specific eases. Take the idea of God as One, and as a Spirit; or take the Divine relation to idolatry; or take the response of God to penitence; in each instance search the book, and you will surely find a uniform and harmonious testimony. Or take the case of the text, and show the certainty that judgment will follow threatening, if penitence do not intervene.

II. ALL GOD‘S WRITTEN WORD IS IN HARMONY WITH HIS SPOKEN WORD. This seems to be the point of Isaiah’s appeal, tie spoke this denunciation of Edom by word of mouth; it had not yet been written down, so he pleads thus: “Test it as much as you please by the written Word that you possess: it is all one; God spoke then; God speaks by me. The vision is true. The judgment is sure.” The condition of listening to any one who professes to have a message and revelation from God is that they shall speak in harmony with the Word of God which we possess. “If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” Distinction may wisely be made between the mere details of the Word, and the great truths and principles of the Word. These latter alone can be used as tests; and very much of the sect-separation of Christianity has come through overvaluing, and unskillfully using, mere biblical details. All doctrine, all moralsbut no sciencecan be, and should ever be, fully tested by scriptural principles.R.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Isa 34:1. Come near, &c. Draw near, O ye nations, and hearken; and attend unto me, O ye peoples! Let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all that spring from it. Lowth. As the prophet here directs his discourse to all the inhabitants of the earth, properly speaking, and not figuratively, as elsewhere, (ch. Isa 1:2.) By the fulness of the earth, we must understand men, who replenish it; and their offspring by all that come forth of it.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

FOURTH SUBDIVISION
THE CONCLUSION OF PART FIRST

Isaiah 34-35

Chapters 3435 are the proper conclusion of the first part of Isaiahs prophecies. For chaps. 3639 are only an historical supplement, though a very important one. Hence I do not think that chaps. 3435. are only the finale of chaps 2833; for that we have already found in chap. 33. rather chaps. 3435 form a conclusion of the first half of the book that sums up and finishes the announcements of judgment and salvation of the first part, and prepares for and introduces those of part second. For we notice already in these chapters the language of 4066. First of all the Prophet carries us in chap. 34 to the end of days. As if to make an end corresponding to the beginning, 1, 2, he summons the earth and all its inhabitants to notice the announcement of the final judgment that is to comprehend heaven and earth (Isa 34:1-4). But he is not in condition to represent the how of the worlds destruction. As remarked in the introduction to 2427 he can only paint that remote judgment in colors of the present. He gives at once a vivid and an agreeable picture of it by representing it as a judgment against Edom. For the negative base of Israels hope of salvation is that its enemies shall be destroyed. That the Prophet means here to conclude all announcement of judgment against their enemies appears from the demand of Isa 34:16 that they shall search the book of the Lord, and compare the prediction there with the fulfilment. We shall try to show that this appeal to the book of the Lord implies the entire foregoing book.

In chap. 35 the Prophet presents the other side of the judgment of the world, viz., the final redemption of Israel. It appears as a return home to Zion out of exile. Not a word intimates that the Prophet has in mind only the return from Babylon. He names no land; he speaks only of return (, Isa 34:10) in general. Already in Deu 30:3 sqq. it is promised that the Lord will gather the Israelites and bring them back out of all lands, even though driven out to the end of heaven, thence too the Lord will fetch them. On the ground of this passage Isaiah had already held out a similar prospect (Isa 11:11 sqq.; Isa 19:23 sq.; Isa 27:12 sq.), and after him Jeremiah especially deals much in this particular of the glorious last time (Jer 16:14 sqq.; Jer 23:3; Jer 29:14; Jer 32:37; Jer 40:12; Jer 46:27). Therefore the Prophet promises here glorious and joyful return homethat to the Israelite must be dearest of alland the object of his greatest longing (Psa 137:5-6), and in that home eternal joy (Isa 34:10). One may say that he draws here the outline of the picture that he afterwards carries out in chaps. 4066. in all the varieties of its forms.

Their contents show that the two chapters belong together. Chap. 35 is the necessary obverse of 34. The expressions Isa 35:7, which manifestly contrasts with Isa 34:13, form a close bond between the two chapters; and it is to be noted that in the sense of occurs only in these two places. Also the metonymic use of (Isa 34:15; Isa 35:6) which occurs beside only Isa 58:8; Isa 59:5, is a peculiarity of language that points to the correlation of the two chapters.

Eichhorn, Gesen., Rosenmueller, De W., Maur., Hitzig, Ew., Umbr., Knobel and others ascribe these chapters to a later author that lived in the time of the captivity. They only differ in that some (Gesenius, Rosenmueller, Hitzig, Ewald) put this unknown author at the end of the exile, the others at an earlier period. We will show in the exposition, by exact investigation of the language, that both the contents and the form of language of these chapters connect them intimately with 4066, yet that in both these respects there is also a common character with part first. This view is confirmed by the undeniable fact that these chapters are variously quoted by prophets before the exile. This will be proved in respect to Jer 46:10 in the comment on Isa 34:5 sqq. I have shown the connection between these chapters and Jer 50:27; Jer 50:39; Jer 51:40; Jer 51:60 sqq. by an extended examination in my work: Der Prophet Jer. und Babylon, Erlangen, 1850. Comp. Kueper, Jerem. libr. sacr. interpr. atque vindex, Berolini, 1837, p. 79 sqq. Caspari, Jerem., ein Zeuge fr d. Echtheit von Jes. 34, etc., Zeitschr. von Rudelbach und Guericke, 1843, Heft. 2, p. 1 sqq. The proof that Jer. has drawn on our chapters carries with it the proof that the resemblances noticed between Zep 1:7-8 and Isa 34:6, and between Zep 2:14 and Isa 34:11, are to be regarded as a use of these chapters by Zephaniah, the older contemporary of Jeremiah, and not a quotation of Zephaniah by these chapters.

The reasons adduced against Isaiahs authorship of these chapters will not stand examination. Knobel thinks the hatred of Edom in the degree shown in Isa 34:5 sqq. is to be found only in passages that belong to the time after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. But not to mention Obadiah (especially Isa 34:10-14), there are found in Joel (Joel 4:19) and Amos (especially Amo 1:11 sqq.) proofs enough that there could be in Isaiahs time a hatred like that expressed in our chapter 34 We will show in the exposition of 35 that it does not presuppose the Babylonish exile, but the second, great and last exile in general. It is incomprehensible how the announcement of a great judgment on the heathen generally (Isa 34:2-3; Isa 34:5 sqq.; Isa 35:8) can denote a later authorship, seeing the same is announced in the acknowledged prophecies of Isa 2:4; Isa 2:11 sqq., and even in Isa 30:25 sqq. (see comm. in loc.). But we may refer in this matter to the entire liber apocalypticus (2427), by assaulting which the critics of course becloud for themselves the conspectus of Isaiahs field of vision. What Knobel further urges of the extravagant expectations (Isa 34:3-4; Isa 34:9; Isa 35:1-2; Isa 35:5 sqq.), affects only the bold and grand images in which the Prophet utters these expectations. And these images are too bold, too hyperbolical for Isaiah! If the genuineness of chs. 13, 14, 2427 is denied, then the analogies for the dissolution of the heavens (Isa 34:4) and for the goblins of night and wild beasts (Isa 34:11-17) are surrendered. On this subject we can only refer back to our defence of the genuineness of chap. 13, 14. Finally Knobel mentions a number of expressions in these chapters which in general, or at least, in their present meaning, occur only in later writers, putting in the latter class some expressions that are peculiar to this author. One may admit that many expressions occur in Isaiah that only later writers employ, or that are analogous to expressions of later use. But is this any proof of the later origin of these chapters? Isaiah is so opulent a spirit, he reigns with such creative power even in the sphere of language, and his authority is so great with his successors, that we may confidently affirm, that very many later words and expressions are to be referred to him as the source or exemplar. Moreover that argument loses weight when we consider that in our chapters much ancient linguistic treasure occurs, e.g., Isa 34:3; Isa 34:7; and Isa 34:8.

Isaiah, then, is doubtless the author of our chapters. But he wrote them in his later period, when Assyria was for him a stand-point long since surmounted, and when, withdrawn from the present, he lived, with all his prophetic seeing and knowing, in the future. I agree with Delitzsch in assuming that Isaiah, in preparing the book as a whole (if he actually himself attended to this matter), put these chapters here as a conclusion of the first part of his prophetic discourses. I only add that on this occasion Isaiah must have added Isa 34:16-17 with their reference to the now completed book of the Lord.

The division of the chapters is simple:

1. The judgment on all nations, Isa 34:1-4.

2. The judgment on Edom as representation of the whole in one particular example, of especial interest to Israel, Isa 34:5-15.

3. Concluding remark: summons to compare the prophecy with the fulfilment, Isa 34:16-17.

4. The obverse of the judgment: Israels redemption and return home, 35.

1. THE JUDGMENT ON ALL NATIONS

Isa 34:1-4

1Come near, ye nations, to hear;

And hearken, ye people:
Let the earth hear, and 1all that is therein;

The world, and all things that come forth of it.

2For 2the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations,

And his fury upon all their armies:

He 3hath utterly destroyed them,

He hath delivered them to the slaughter.

3Their slain also shall be cast out,

And their stink shall come up out of their carcases,
And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,

And the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:
And all their host shall 4fall down,

As the leaf falleth off from the vine,
And as a 5falling fig from the fig tree.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[For the sake of economy in labor and space we will omit in this and subsequent chapters the Authors abundant and laborious citations of texts illustrative of Isaiahs style, and involving proof of the common authorship of parts first and second. The Author has prepared a comprehensive list of the words and texts concerned in these chapters, which appears at the close of the volume and, except where the commentary furnishes additional matter, we shall refer to that list by the sign see list.Tr.].

Isa 34:1. , , see list. occurs often in both parts, e.g., Isa 1:4; Isa 2:4; Isa 10:7; Isa 11:10; Isa 40:15; Isa 41:2. The expression occurs Deu 33:16; Psa 24:1; Mic 1:2, and often; in Isaiah only here. Comp. Isa 42:10; Isa 6:3; Isa 8:8; Isa 31:4. (comp. on Isa 13:11) occurs only in part first. (plur tant.) are , the products. The expression is based on Gen 1:12; Gen 1:24 ( ). The Prophet thus does not mean only men, as many, influenced by the LXX. and Chald., have supposed. The word, being made parallel with denotes everything that as production of the earth fills it.

Isa 34:2-3. , , , see list. casus absolutus, comp. Ewald, 309 b. only here in Isaiah. Comp. Joe 2:20; Amo 4:10.

Isa 34:4. (as verb only here in Isaiah), is used Psa 38:6 of a festering wound, in Zec 14:12 of rotting flesh, i.e., eyes and tongues rotting in their natural place. In Lev 26:39; Eze 24:23; Eze 33:10 it is used in the more general sense of passing away, disappearing; Isa 3:24; Isa 5:24. is that which has rotted, mouldered. Add to this that Psa 106:43; Job 24:24; Ecc 10:18, denotes corruere, collabi; Lev 25:25; Lev 25:35; Lev 25:39; Lev 25:47 means to collapse, decline, wax poor, but (Amo 9:5; Amo 9:13; Psa 65:11, etc.), diffluere, dissolvi. Thus we must recognize as the fundamental meaning of this family of words decomposition, dissolution, rotting, mouldering, turning to dust occasioned by the departure of the spirit of life. But this effect may be variously brought about. Fire, e.g., can produce it in a tree by scorching it. Such appears the sense here. Thus 2Pe 3:12 seems to me to correspond to our for see Greens Gram., 140, 2. Niph. only here in Isaiah; Polal. Isa 9:4. comp.Isa 1:30; Isa 24:4; Isa 28:1; Isa 28:4; Isa 40:7-8; Isa 64:5, especially as regards see on Isa 28:1; Isa 28:4.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. It is a mighty matter, the concern of all nations that the Prophet has to announce: hence he summons all to hear his address (Isa 34:1). For the wrath of the Lord is kindled against all nations and all that belongs to them. They are all to be given up to the slaughter (Isa 34:2), and shall be cast out so that the stench shall mount up, and whole mountains shall run with blood (Isa 34:3). Yea, the heavens shall roll up as by strong heat, and the heavenly bodies shall fall like dry leaves (Isa 34:4).

2. Comefig tree.

Isa 34:1-4. The expression occurs only in Job and Isaiah (see on Isa 22:24). The use nearest like the present Isa 42:5. In Isa 34:2 only the nations are mentioned as the object of the judgment. Though impersonal nature shares in it, still this is only the means to an end. , having a similar relation to that of (see Text. and Gram.), denotes not the host merely, but the host of mankind in general. Already, by virtue of the decree of wrath determined against them, the Lord has laid on them His curse or ban (11:15; Isa 37:11), and devoted them to slaughter.

On the description Isa 34:3 comp. Isa 14:19; Isa 37:36; Isa 66:24; Isa 10:18; Isa 13:7; Isa 19:1. The passages Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:12; Rev 6:13-14 are founded on the present text. For that the Prophet has in mind the destruction of the world, is manifest from this description comprehending the earth and heavens.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Isa 34:1-4. Because Rev 6:12-17 has express reference to this passage, some would conclude that the Prophet here has in view only that special event of the worlds judgment (the opening of the sixth seal). But that is not justified. For other passages of the New Testament that do not specially relate to the opening of the sixth seal are based on this passage (Mat 24:29; 2Pe 3:7 sqq.; Rev 14:11; Rev 19:11 sqq.). It appears from this that the present passage is, as it were, a magazine from which New Testament prophecy has drawn its material for more than one event of fulfilment.

2. On Isa 34:16. The word of God can bear the closest scrutiny. Indeed it desires and demands it. If men would only examine the Scriptures diligently and with an unclouded mind and love of truth, whether these things are so, as did the Bereans (Act 17:11; Joh 5:39)!

3. On Isa 35:3. The Christian church is the true Lazaretto in which may be found a crowd of weary, sick, lame and wretched people. Therefore, Christ is the Physician Himself (Mat 9:12) who binds up and heals those suffering from neglect (Eze 34:16; Isa 61:1). And His word cures all (Wis 16:12). His servants, too, are commissioned officially to admonish the rude, to comfort the timid, to bear the weak, and be patient with all (1Th 5:14). Therefore, whoever feels weak, let him betake himself to this Bethania; there he will find counsel for his soul, Cramer.

4. [On Isa 35:8-9. They who enter the path that leads to life, find there no cause of alarm. Their fears subside; their apprehensions of punishment on account of their sins die away, and they walk that path with security and confidence. There is nothing in that way to alarm them; and though there are many foesfitly represented by lions and wild beastslying about the way, yet no one is permitted to go up thereon. This is a most beautiful image of the safety of the people of God, and of their freedom from all enemies that could annoy them. The path here referred to is appropriately designed only for the redeemed of the Lord. It is not for the profane, the polluted, the hypocrite. It is not for those who live for this world, or for those who love pleasure more than they love God. The church should not be entered except by those, who have evidence that they are redeemed. None should make a profession of religion who have no evidence that they belong to the redeemed, and who are not disposed to walk in the way of holiness. But for all such it is a highway on which they are to travel. It is made by leveling hills and elevating valleys; across the sandy desert and through the wilderness of this world, infested with the enemies of God and His people. It is made straight and plain, so that none need err; it is defended from enemies, so that all may be safe; because He, their Leader and Redeemer, shall go with them and guard that way. Barnes in loc.]

Footnotes:

[1]Heb. the fulness thereof.

[2]the Lord has wrath on.

[3]hath cursed.

[4]wilt.

[5]Or, wilted leaf-fall.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

In this chapter we have the Lord’s judgments declared, which shall finally and fully take place on all out of Christ. Explained and illustrated by the gospel standard, it becomes the same, as all the sacred writers of the New Testament declare, concerning the final judgment of God.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The manner in which the Lord, by his servant the Prophet, opens this chapter, is very striking, and not unsimilar to other places on the same subject. When the Lord speaks, well may man hear; Eze 9:1 ; Mic 6:2 . It is only for the Reader to turn to those scriptures, to discover, how both prophets and apostles agree in this same thing; 2Pe 3:10 ; Mat 24:29-30 ; Rev 6:12-14 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Contrasts In Providence

Isa 34 , Isa 35

These chapters are part of the summing-up of the first section of Isaiah’s double volume. They are the epilogue of the first volume. Hezekiah was closing his sovereignty, apparently; whether anything may occur to extend the reign will presently be seen. The Egyptian alliance, and the attack of Sennacherib upon Israel, are matters that have fallen back a long way, if not in time-distance, yet in sense of victory and deliverance. These are two wonderful chapters, and great use is made of them by Jeremiah and by Zephaniah. This use of the Bible by the Bible is of great consequence; not only is it interesting as a literary incident, but it is full of suggestion as to the range and certainty and usefulness of inspiration. The thirty-fourth chapter stands in wondrous contrast to the thirty-fifth. We shall have to pass through night to enter into day; we shall have to listen to such a storm as never burst on land and sea, before we come into the garden of delight, the paradise of Christ, the restored and immortal Eden. The styles of the two chapters are such as hardly any one man could command. It would seem as if each chapter required a whole genius to itself. It will be wonderful if the same hand should be cunning enough to write the storm, and write the hymn: to create the wilderness, and create the land of blossoming and joy.

In the first instance “the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations” ( Isa 34:2 ). A singular word is that “indignation” in this connection. It has in it the sense of boiling. It is not a passing wrath; a cloud without substance that frowns, and vanishes. Here the judgment of the Lord boils like a cauldron, and nations are thrown into it as trifles. All things, great and small, that have set themselves against the Lord of heaven, are thrown into the cauldron that they may perish in the fury of the Lord’s indignation. Nor is this the work of man. Statesmanship, diplomacy, and all craft, bearing upon war and delighting in it, must stand back, whilst the Lord himself claims the entire responsibility of the marvellous action. He will speak for himself; he shall speak of his own sword, and he shall say “My sword shall be bathed in heaven:” not the sword of some king or captain of war, but “My sword” long, heavy, keen, tempered in heaven; a sword that no man can handle, no human fingers grasp. We read of the Greeks dipping their swords in order to give the steel due temper. Here is a sword that is dipped: but it is dipped in heaven; the secret of the tank in which it is plunged is on high. The moral is obvious namely, that the sword is not one of vengeance or bloodthirstiness, not a sword that longs for carnage merely for the sake of declaring victory and triumphing over the foe, but the sword is “bathed in heaven” in righteousness, in truth, in equity; it is not only a symbol of war, it is a symbol of moral judgment. When God’s own sword, heaven-bathed, strikes a man or a nation, it is righteousness that affirms itself, it is goodness that declares the range of its sovereignty.

As for the whole structure of things, down it must come in the day of judgment.

“And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree” ( Isa 34:4 ).

“The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness” ( Isa 34:6 ).

The Lord returns not from war other than as conqueror. His is not a blood-sprinkled sword, but a sword drunk with blood. To-day, that is within the range of this chapter, God “hath a sacrifice in Bozrah [the Metropolis of Edom], and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea,” not hid under its Greek designation, but still the ancient hostile Edom that stumbling-block in the way of heaven, that early curse in history, that marvel amounting to a mystery in the whole tragedy of human life. The figure glows with energy. The Lord is in Edom; he is in the very London of Edom, yea, in the very Bozrah, and at night his sword will be drunk with blood. Call these, if you please, emblematic representations of a great truth, still the great truth itself remains, and that great truth is, that the Lord has a day of judgment, a day of vengeance, a day of retribution. That is the permanent lesson. Dismiss all Hebrew redundance of terms, all Oriental imagery, and you still have left this fact, that there are times in human history when God stands forth with sword in hand as a man of war. That can never be rationally denied, or can never encounter any denial that is sustained by confirmation. Nations have been smitten, thrones have been torn, kings that have no right to reign, or have forfeited their original right, have been dethroned and blown away into undiscoverable wildernesses, yea, have been lost in time’s oblivion; and meaner men, men of our own stature and range of influence, who have been unfaithful to the genius of stewardship, have been put down, burned, crushed, destroyed, removed, so that the very place where once they stood can no longer be identified: God hath swept their footprints out of a universe which they defiled by their presence. To realise this is to be chastened; is to be quickened into a sense of responsibility; is to be elevated by that sacred wonder which easily learns how to pray.

The prophet having said all this may have been afraid that he would be considered as a madman. What he declared might have been regarded as a poetic paroxysm, an intellectual violence in which the prophet did in metaphor and symbol what he would have done, could his passions have claimed all their desire, in bold and literal realisation. So in another tone he says,

“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read” ( Isa 34:16 ).

This is not the ebullition of a moment; this is the writing of God from time’s first day; nay, earlier than that, for all that arose on the little theatre of time began in the infinite ranges of eternity: the sin was all foreseen, the sinner was fore-redeemed, the Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the world. Isaiah, therefore, would not have it that what he was speaking was the rhetoric of a moment, a sudden passion that had no relation to history or prophecy; he would insist upon it that every word, though tipped with fire, was a Bible word, a word long written, that had about it the mystery and solemnity of eternity. The judgments of the Lord are not accidents. He is not suddenly awakened so as to pursue a new moral policy in his universe. “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read:” from the beginning sin was hated, sin was punished, hell was provided for retribution. Whatever transpires within the theatre of the universe can bring no surprise to the infinite mind, for by the necessity of its infiniteness all was foreseen. The prophet thus comes away from the whirlwind of his excitement to stand upon the rock of revelation, and there he abides, and declares that the ruin that is to be wrought is not a ruin that is without spirit or reason or judgment. “He hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line” ( Isa 34:17 ). Ruin is measured out. Chaos has a geometric form to the eye that created it. There is nothing of mere tumult, or uproar, or indiscriminateness, in the scattering of divine criticism and judgment and penalty: even our ruin is meted out, our destruction is a calculation, our hell is a measured territory.

Who can live in that thirty-fourth chapter? Who can abide in the city once so fair, but now handed over to the cormorant and the bittern? a city and land in which men shall call for the nobles, but none shall be there; thorns growing in palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses where soldiers lived; dragons inhabiting the old places that were sacred, and owls holding court where wise men used to think and rule: “There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate:” it shall not be a solitary vulture alighting upon a shattered rock and flying off again, but “vultures” one, two; vulture and mate shall abide there, and build their house there, and make their home there, and the whole place shall be filled with their black images. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Or strip the imagery, and there remains after the last symbol has gone the terrific yet beneficent fact that the Lord reigneth and God is judge of all.

Could the man who wrote that chapter of light and darkness, storm and ruin, write in any other style? He proceeds to contrast himself with himself, for no sooner is the ruin measured out than he begins:

“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God” ( Isa 35:1-2 ).

The first promise is that of summer beauty: “The rose the glory of Lebanon the excellency of Carmel and Sharon.” Why, these are summer words! How the wind has changed! It blows no longer from the cruel north-east, it comes up from the south and the south-west, and comes like a blessing; every breath is a gospel, every breeze a new assurance of divine clemency and divine approach. Is there anything corresponding to this in Christian experience? When a man passes out of the black night of sin, and the agonies of penitence, contrition, heartbreak for evil done is there any summer feeling in the soul when all is over, any celestial warmth, any outgoing of affection and triumph, and faith, and confidence, and praise? Is there any stirring that might be as the flutter of budding wings? Let those testify who know. Did Christ ever come into the heart without bringing summer with him, without making the heart conscious of a vitalising energy, so that the heart felt itself growing, felt itself to be not unfitly imaged by a garden in springtime? Has Christ ever come into the heart without abolishing death? That black figure has always had to vanish when he came near. Death might call himself winter, but he had to go; death might assume various poetical disguises, but he had to withdraw himself, for he is ghastly even in poetry. Who has received Christ into the heart, and has not been instantly conscious of immortality? who has not stood above the affairs of time and space and all sense, and crushed the enemy under his feet, and has called for help to come from every quarter to swell his song of praise? Those who have not been in the masonry of this experience have called it ecstasy. There is no reason why they should call it by any other name, because they cannot rise above the level of their folly. It is for those who have lived long years with Christ, and have felt that the love becomes more glowing with the passing decades, to say whether it is mere rapture, or whether it is a sacred and rational joy.

Then there comes a sense of restored and augmented faculty:

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing” ( Isa 35:5 ).

The next promise is that of substantial blessing:

And the parched ground shall become a pool” ( Isa 35:7 ).

Then the prophet sees a great highway; and the way is called

“The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools [the very simplest minds], shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there” ( Isa 35:8-9 ).

It is a well-kept way, broad, plentifully supplied with sunshine, margined with all fairest flowers and most fruitful trees; and the whole avenue, stretching heavenward, shall be filled with the ransomed of the Lord, bought, but not with money, redeemed, but not with price, and they shall come to Zion with songs. The song must always have a place in human history. The fool tries to sing his sorrow away, but there is no reason in the music, so the song is a failure. But this music is to be the last expression of a long process of discipline and chastening and purification. Isaiah is said to be in his old age; yet he opens his old eyes and sees panorama after panorama of progress and glory and light, and see how the old man turns his ear, for he says, What music is this? what sound of music and dancing do I hear? He is no sullen, sour-hearted elder brother when they tell him that the world was lost and is found, dead and is alive again; he says, I will enter and join the glad festival: this is the world’s jubilee! We want old men of that temper; not pessimists, not persons who discourage us, not aged ones who sigh away the enthusiasm of youth, but brave, grand old soldiers who say, Well, we have had our day, we cannot go out cur-selves, for we should only now go to failure because of physical infirmity; but boys, youths, maidens, not one of you must stop at home: go away: fight the Lord’s battles; and when you come back you will bring a song with you, for the Lord is with you, and the Omnipotent is the surety of your success.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXVII

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH

The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.

Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.

In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.

In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.

In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.

The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.

In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.

In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.

In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.

In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).

The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7

In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:

1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.

2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.

3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:

According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .

In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.

In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.

In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”

The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.

The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.

In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”

In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”

Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .

The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”

So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?

In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”

The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”

The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23

QUESTIONS

1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?

2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?

3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?

4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?

5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?

6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?

7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?

8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?

9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?

10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?

11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?

12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?

13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?

14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?

15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?

16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?

17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?

18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?

19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?

20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?

21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?

22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?

23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?

24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?

25. Where is the great invitation and promise?

26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?

27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?

28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?

29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?

30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?

31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

XVII

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PAST 9

Isaiah 34-39

Isaiah 34-35 form an appendix to the preceding parts of the book, setting forth the storm of God’s wrath upon the whole world, and the face of nature in its sweetest forms and brightest colors, after the storm is over.

They constitute the counterparts to one great picture. The first part contains a denunciation of divine vengeance against the enemies of God’s people and the second, a description of the glorious state of things after the execution of these judgments is finished. The awful picture, with its dark lurid hues, prepares the way for the soft and lovely portraiture of the blessed condition which follows.

This section opens with a call to all nations and people, the earth and the fulness thereof, the world and all things therein, to hear the prophet’s message concerning Jehovah’s indignation, which shows that the judgments to follow embrace the whole world.

There are three distinct paragraphs in Isa 34 . In Isa 34:1-7 we have announcement of the final judgment upon the whole world, including Edom as the leader. In Isa 34:8-15 we have the details of the judgment upon Edom as the ideal representative of the world. In Isa 34:16-17 the prophet appeals to the written word.

The allegorical view of the use of the word, “Edom,” in this chapter is in no way inconsistent with the existence of a basis of historical fact, therefore we adopt this view for the following reasons:

1. The invitation shows that the message to be delivered was on universal interest arid application, yet the language is parabolical in kind.

2. The allegorical character of Isa 35 is undeniable, but the two chapters are linked together by the very phraseology’. As the Zion of Isa 35 is the ideal “city of God,” so the Edom of Isa 34 must include all who hate and persecute the mystical Zion.

3. The names, “Edom and Bozrah,” occur in another allegorical passage (Isa 63:1-6 ).

4. Edom, the surname of him who “despised the birthright,” was a fitting designation for those who profanely slighted their privilege as God’s special people.

5. The context is admittedly figurative, but if the lambs, bullocks, and goats be symbolical, then the unclean animals that are to occupy their places should be so, too.

6. In Heb 12:16-17 Esau stands as the type of profane and sensual-minded men, who are identified with those against whom Moses warned Israel in Deu 29:18-23 . The idea is further carried out in the next paragraph. In Isa 34:8-15 we have the more detailed account of God’s vengeance against the enemies of Zion, which is likened unto that upon Sodom and Gomorrah. This, of course, is not literal, but typically represents the punishment of God’s dreadful vengeance upon all his enemies while Edom is here again made the type. Isa 34:10 shows that this curse is to be everlasting in its typical aspect while the following verses show that Edom, as an example of such destruction, was to be literally and perpetually laid waste, and history verifies this prophecy respecting Edom.

The book referred to in Isa 34:16 is the book of Moses and perhaps includes the earlier prophets which had written in them the threatenings against the ungodly. At this time the Pentateuch and history of Joshua and Judges, and the history of the reigns of the kings up to this time had been written and preserved, but the reference is very likely to the Pentateuch, primarily, which was complete in one book and kept in the ark of the covenant. This appeal to the book by Isaiah is to prove that he was in line with the threatenings and judgments which preceded his time and that his prophecies were to be regarded as equal in inspiration and authority with the other scriptures of his day.

Isa 35 is a glorious counterpart of the judgment on Edom in Isa 34 and is distinctly messianic. The outline of these contents consists of three items. In Isa 35:1-2 we have the blessings on the land pronounced which reverses the corresponding desolation of Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon, because of “the glory and excellency of our God.” This is a general statement of the reversal of the judgments before predicted. In Isa 35:3-4 is a general announcement of the hope and good cheer on account of the recompense of God. Then in Isa 35:5-10 the prophet particularizes these blessings which were literally fulfilled in the ministry of Christ. Then the prophet shows us the highway that shall be there, the way of holiness, with no unclean person, no fools and no ravenous beasts walking therein, over which the redeemed shall walk and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return with songs of joy to Zion, where they shall have everlasting joy upon their heads and where sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Thus commencing with the restoration to their land, then passing on to the coming and healing work of the Messiah the prophet closes with the blessing of their conversion. This hope is kept constantly before the holy remnant of Israel by Isaiah, stimulating them in these dark and gloomy hours, just As when the weary traveler gains The height of some o’er-looking hill, The sight his fainting spirit cheers, He eyes his home, though distant still.

This section, Isaiah 36-39, in our outline of Isaiah is called “The Historical Interlude,” sometimes called “The Book of Hezekiah.” There is a reference to this section in 2Ch 32:32 , thus: “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.” as a matter of history almost all this section is embodied in 2 Kings 18-20, which should be carefully studied in connection with this passage in Isaiah.

This section may be regarded as the history of how Hezekiah stood the test applied to him. A like test was put to Ahaz (Isa 7:3-17 ), and he, an unbeliever as he was, simply put the offered grace from him, as swine would deal with pearls cast before them. But Hezekiah’s test reveals a different character, one vastly more interesting and instructive for God’s people in all ages. He proves to be a man of faith in God and, in a large measure, wins out in the conflict, but fails in the matter of the Babylonian messengers and the pride of his heart. Yet again he shows that he was a child of God in that he humbled himself so that the threatened wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. The case of David and Solomon, in which the consequences of Solomon’s sins were deferred till after his death for the sake of David, is similar to this.

This section divides itself into two parts, viz: (1) Sennacherib’s invasion (Isaiah 36-37) ; (2) Hezekiah’s sickness, and the embassy from Babylon (Isaiah 38-39).

Isaiah 36-37 contain a history of an event which had been predicted long before and frequently alluded to afterward (see Isa 8:5-10 ; Isa 10:12-19 ; Isa 10:33-34 ; Isa 30:28-31 ; Isa 31:8 ). It was stated definitely that the stream of Assyrian conquest, after it had overflowed Samaria, would “reach even to the neck” of Judah, and then be suddenly turned back. The fact of the prediction is unquestionable. The actual overthrow of the Assyrian power is as certain as any event in the world’s annals. These two chapters are thus the historical goal of tile book from Isaiah 7-35. So this part of the book is as inseparable from the preceding part of the book as fulfilment is inseparable from prediction itself.

Isaiah 38-39 are, on the other hand, the historical starting point for the rest of the book. These two chapters tell of the failure of the man who had checked the stream of national corruption; who suppressed idolatry, restored the Temple worship, and followed the guidance of the prophetic word; who had been rescued, both from a fatal malady and from the assault of the Assyrian king. When such & one fell away, no higher proof could be given that Judah must be subjected to the severe discipline of the captivity. With this dark foreshadowing there was a necessity for the following chapters of comfort.

The date of Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem is significant. The record tells us that this event was in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, king of Judah, which was forty-six years after the vision of Isa 6 . This taken in connection with Isa 37:30 indicates that they were on the threshold of the Jubilee Year which, with its blessings, should be the sign unto Hezekiah that God would make the Jubilee laws effective at this time and deliver the land from the hand of Sennacherib.

From 2Ki 18:13-16 we learn that the immediate cause of Sennacherib’s invasion at this time was Hezekiah’s refusing to pay tribute. But the record also tells us that Hezekiah righted this wrong to the king of Assyria by sending the tribute and begging his pardon. This did not satisfy Sennacherib because he had a motive beyond that of getting the tribute, for we see him demanding the unconditional surrender of Jerusalem avowedly to be followed by deportation. This was an act of perfidy, as well as of cruelty and arrogance. Undoubtedly Sennacherib’s motive was not merely political, but he was bent on proving that Jehovah was on a level with the gods of other nations. Assyria had become a great power and, as she thought, had overcome the gods of all the other nations, including Samaria whose God was Jehovah. Just one more step now was needed to make Assyria the lord of the world, and that was the capture of Jerusalem. This evidently was his ulterior motive in this invasion.

In Isaiah 36-37 we have the details of this history which is a thrilling account of a conflict between the true and the false religion, similar to that of Moses and Pharaoh, or Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Here it is the Assyrian gods versus Jehovah. The items of this history are as follows: Rabshakeh was sent by Sennacherib from Lachish against Jerusalem with a great army which stopped at the upper pool near the Joppa gate, where Isaiah met Ahaz some forty years before.

Messengers from Hezekiah at once went out to meet Rabshakeh through whom he sent a message to Hezekiah belittling his confidence in Egypt and in Jehovah, saying that Egypt was a bruised reed and could not be depended upon, and that Jehovah had commissioned him to destroy the land of Judah. Then the messengers asked Rabshakeh to speak in the Assyrian language so the people on the wall could not understand, but he deliberately refused to comply, saying that he was sent to speak to the people on the wall. Then he grew bold and made a strong plea to those who heard him to renounce allegiance to Hezekiah and come over to Sennacherib, but they held their peace as they had been instructed to do. Upon this came the messengers to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshakeh. Hezekiah when he heard it rent his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of Jehovah.

Then he sent messengers to Isaiah to ask him to pray for the remnant. Isaiah returned word that there was no need of fear, for Jehovah would send Sennacherib back to his own land and there he would die. Rabshakeh returned to find his master pushing the conquest on toward Egypt and hearing at the same time that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, was coming out to help Hezekiah. This seemed to provoke Sennacherib and he sent a letter to Hezekiah to warn him again putting his trust in Jehovah, reminding him also of the Assyrian victories over the gods of the other nations. Then Hezekiah took the letter and spread it before Jehovah and prayed.

For pointedness, faith, and earnestness, this prayer has few equals on record. Just at this time came another message from the Lord through Isaiah, assuring Hezekiah of the Lord’s intervention, as in very many instances before, to deliver his people from this Assyrian, whom he would lead by the nose back to his own land. Then follows the sign of Jehovah to Hezekiah assuring him that the remnant should prosper under Jehovah’s hand, reannouncing also the defeat of the plan of Sennacherib to take Jerusalem. The rest of Isa 37 is an account of the destruction of the Assyrian army by the angel of Jehovah and the death of Sennacherib in his own land.

Isa 38 opens with the statement, “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death,” which is far from being a precise date, but the promise of fifteen years added to his life and the twenty-nine years of his reign in all, fixes the date in the fourteenth year of his reign, which is the date given in Isa 36:1 . In Isa 38:5-6 the two deliverances are coupled together in a way which suggests that they stood in some close relation to each other. Thus we are led to look on these two pairs of chapters, not as successive in point of time, but as contemporaneous.

In the record here Hezekiah’s malady is called a boil, but we learn that it was a special disease marked by the signs of leprosy. The same word occurs in Exo 9:9-11 to describe the Egyptian plague of “boils,” in Lev 13:18-20 to describe the boil out of which leprosy sprang, in Deu 28:27 ; Deu 28:35 to describe the “boil of Egypt” and the “sore boil that cannot be healed,” and in Job 2:7 to describe the “sore boils” with which Job was smitten. So, humanly speaking, his disease was incurable.

When the prophet announced that Hezekiah must die he prayed and wept. The prayer, as recorded here, is very brief but pointed, pleading his own faithfulness to Jehovah, an unusual petition though allowable in Hezekiah’s case because it was true and was in line with the promise made to Solomon (1Ki 9:4 ).

It was no weak love of life that moved Hezekiah to pray for recovery. It was because that he, who had followed God with all sincerity, appeared to be stricken with the penalty fore-ordained for disobedience. Leprosy means “a stroke,” and was believed to be a stroke from God. That was what made the stroke so exceedingly bitter. He was not to witness that great exhibition of God’s truth and mercy toward which the faithful had been looking for almost thirty years. Such was a sore trial to Hezekiah.

Upon the direction of the prophet, a cake of figs was applied. This remedy is said to be employed now in the east for the cure of ordinary boils. But it was quite an insufficient cure for this incurable “boil” from which Hezekiah was suffering. In miraculous cures, both the Old Testament prophets and our Lord himself sometimes employed means, insufficient in itself, but supernaturally rendered sufficient, to effect the intended cure. (See 1Ki 17:21 ; 2Ki 4:34 ; 2Ki 4:41 ; 2Ki 5:14 ; Joh 9:6 ; Mar 7:33-8:23 , etc.) These are examples of the natural and the supernatural working together for the desired end.

The sign given Hezekiah was the turning back of the shadow on the dial ten degrees. The dial was, perhaps, a large structure consisting of steps upon which the shadow of a great shaft was allowed to fall, which indicated the position of the sun in the heavens. In this case the shadow was made to run back, instantly, ten degrees. How this miracle was performed the record does not say, but it may have been seen by the law of refraction which does not make it any less a miracle. Hezekiah wrote a song of thanksgiving for his recovery, which in the first part looks at the case of his sickness from the standpoint of the despair and gloom of it, while the latter part treats the case from the stand point of the deliverance and wells the note of praise. In the middle of this poem we find his prayer which he prayed in this dark hour.

Hezekiah made a great mistake in the latter part of his life in allowing himself to become exalted in his prosperity and not humbling himself before the Lord as in former years (2Ch 32:24-33 ). So when God tested him again in the matter of the messengers from Babylon, he failed because he had not the spirit of discernment so as to know their purpose to spy out the land. He showed them everything and thus prepared the way for the capture of Judah by the Chaldeans.

The closing part of this section shows the necessity for the second division of the book. This part closes with the announcement of the captivity and gives us a very dark picture which calls for the opening sentence of comfort in the next division. Hezekiah is reconciled to it as we see from his language, but evidently it is to be understood in this connection that the prophet had already revealed to him that there should be peace and truth in his days. Now, if Hezekiah had his message of comfort and was thereby able to joyfully acquiesce in the future calamity already announced, should we not expect a message of comfort also for Judah? The last twenty-seven chapters furnish just such comfort for Judah, that she too might not despair in view of the approaching captivity.

From the many lessons that might be selected from the life of Hezekiah I take but one. Though he was upright and so highly commended in the Scripture (2Ki 18:5-7 ) he had a burden of guilt, from which only God’s grace could absolve him. He could not stand as the “Righteous Servant,” who should “justify many” by “bearing their iniquities.” If good Hezekiah could not, what child of man can? Nay, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the relation of Isaiah 34-35 to the preceding parts, especially the preceding section, of the book?

2. What is the relation of these two chapters to each other?

3. How does this section open and what the nature of the prophecy as indicated by it?

4. What is the analysis of Isa 34 ?

5. Why adopt the allegorical view of the use of the word, “Edom,” in this chapter?

6. How is the idea further carried out in the next paragraph?

7. What is the book referred to in Isa 34:16 and what the import of this appeal to the Word?

8. What is the nature of Isa 35 and what the brief outline of its contents?

9. What is the section, Isaiah 36-39, called, where may we find a reference to them and where do we find nearly the whole of them embodied?

10. What, briefly, is the theme of this section, what similar test was applied to a king of Israel prior to this and what the difference in the deportment of the two kings under the test of each, respectively?

11. What case in the history of Israel similar to this?

12. How is this section divided and, briefly, what does each part contain?

13. What is the date of Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem and what the significance of the date in the light of Isa 37:30 ?

14. What is the cause of Sennacherib’s invasion at this time?

15. What are the essential points in the narrative of Sennacherib’s attack upon Jerusalem?

16. What is the date of Hezekiah’s sickness?

17. What was Hezekiah’s malady and what ita nature?

18. What did Hezekiah do when the prophet announced that Hezekiah must die and what plea did he make?

19. Why did Hezekiah pray to be healed?

20. What is remedy did he apply and why?

21. What is the sign given Hezekiah?

22. How was this miracle performed?

23. What expression have we of Hezekiah’s gratitude for this divine deliverance and what the viewpoints from which it deals with the case?

24. What was Hezekiah’s great mistake in the latter part of his life?

25. How does the closing part of this section show the necessity for the second division of the book?

26. What is great lesson from the life of Hezekiah?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Isa 34:1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

Ver. 1. Come near, ye nations. ] In this chapter and the next, the prophet, for the terror of the wicked, and comfort of the godly, summeth up what he had said before concerning the destruction of the enemies and the restoration of the Church. Eusebius, a with many other ancients, will have this chapter to be understood to be the end of the world and the last judgment; and further saith that Plato hath taken this place of the prophet Isaiah into his writings, and made it his own. Litera vero huius vaticinii de extremo iudicio non loguitur; but this cannot be the literal sense of the text, saith Scultetus. The Jewish doctors will needs understand these two chapters as a prophecy of their return into the Holy Land, when once Idumea shall be destroyed; and for this they allege Lam 4:22 , which yet proveth it not.

a De Praep. Evang., lib. xi.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Isaiah Chapter 34

The Spirit of God has in chapter 34 brought together the earthly extremes of unsparing judgement and of unmingled mercy; these things in two races naturally akin, but so much the more manifesting their divergence and the divine dealing with each from beginning to end. These nations, so judged and so blessed, sprang from the same stock, from the same father, from the same mother, and branched out into twin brothers, Esau on the one hand and Jacob on the other. The land of Idumea is the centre of the one picture, as of the other is Zion. The proud elder must serve the younger. There was from their birth, and before it, we may say, in antecedent revelation, much to strike the mind in these sons of Isaac and Rebecca, much that would cleave to their posterity till His coming Who will not only judge righteously the past but impress the future with the signs and substance of His own glorious presence.

Yet the early history seemed little to answer either to prophecy or to its fulfilment. “Duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Kenaz” (Gen 36 ) and their successors, flourished in the land of Edom, while the sons of Israel were strangers in a land that was not theirs, and ere long proving it a furnace of affliction in bitter bondage. But so it ever is: “that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.” If God’s people hope for that they see not, they must “with patience wait for it.” He Who is sovereign allows that the flesh should show its character to the utmost, save where special mercy interferes to arrest and restrain because of other wise and gracious purposes. But His mercy it is, shown of His own good pleasure, which roused to madness the unbending arrogance of Edom, who never looked to God with a broken spirit even in his deepest need.

On the other hand it was no small moral test for the sons of Israel, that, spite of the divine promises to them, Esau’s descendants should be long settled in peaceful enjoyment as lords of their soil, while Jacob and his seed were sojourners on sufferance, soon to be slaves – and slaves for a long while – in the land of Ham. Half the space that separated the promise from their triumphant exodus saw them a mere family group; and if they afterwards shot up rapidly into a people, it was in circumstances of increasing oppression and degradation. This was no small trial of faith, whether they looked on this side of the picture or on that. Esau had been long established in power and peace and plenty, while Israel lay among the pots of Egypt, and the accursed race of Canaan ruled in their land. And the Bible contains, in the same books the promise and the trial which early appearances made for faith, presenting all calmly as the word of One Who sees the end from the beginning, Who therefore needs no apologies, puts forward few explanations, but claims the confidence of His children, who know Him Whom they have believed, and are persuaded that He is able to keep against that day the deposit they have entrusted to Him. Scripture does not in a demonstrative way force the truth of God upon His people; on the contrary great simplicity of faith is demanded that we receive it unhesitatingly, trusting God in spite of appearances for the present and delays for the future.

Had you looked more closely and spiritually into Jacob’s life, you might have expected long discipline; even as he, their father, was seen lying on his pillow of stone, and Jehovah held out the vision of glory before him. This might have prepared for the thought of trial first, then of gracious blessing. So, later, there was first the crushing of all natural hopes, and then the name of victory conferred (Gen 32:28 ). Thus what we have in Jacob’s early history prepares one for the vicissitudes of his sons. He was a poor trembling man, with plenty of faults shrinking from the presence of his brother, in whom might appear much that was attractive naturally. But God saw under it all that the flesh is a false and proud thing – enmity with God, Who allowed that the worst should show out in him, the despiser of his birthright, its real character. Present things were his life; hence profane unbelief and slight of the things of God. All this and more came out prominently in Esau, as they were to be verified in his race. If Gentiles, at any rate they had a blood relation with the people of God. But their very connection with them, though a sort of transition between Israel and the nations around, was the occasion of envious enmity and ruin. They were to prove that it was not only an Egypt and a Pharaoh who were raised up for God to manifest His judgement upon, but that God would do just the same to the sons of Esau, and that Esau’s flesh would betray the bitterest defiance of God and His people.

The great northern enemy of Isa 33 seems to be historically latest; but morally, the account of Edom’s judgement is kept for the last, perhaps as being so near to Israel by nature. After that great enemy, the Assyrian, is destroyed, we hear of Edom’s doom decided. The reader also may compare the intimation of Psa 83:6-8 . When God was dealing with Israel in blessing or chastisement we have Edom disputing the right of God to bless His people, and taking delight in their shame and sorrow. God resents such spite. And was it not in his race that despised the birthright? This, no doubt, accomplished the purpose of God; but then He admirably makes His end to agree with His word and means. Though a question of His own sovereignty, yet this goes hand in hand with His righteous ways. Jacob was chosen and Esau rejected; but God brought out at the critical time that there was also the seal of righteousness. Certainly Esau deserved to be cast off by God, though Jacob justly traces everything to His mercy and grace. Thus the transgression of selling his birthright confirms what God had already given out as a question of His own disposal. Esau showed that he set no value on his birthright, present existence being dearer to him than any blessing of God. Jacob was utterly wrong in following his mother’s deceitful plan to hinder Isaac’s wish and secure the promise. He ought to have waited in peace and confidence, expecting God to make good His own word. But weak as he was, quite wrong more than once, yet one thing you do find in Jacob, not in Esau – a heart for God, a faith that valued the promises of God. He might be apt to drop into his old craft, and to form plans for himself, for he was indeed “that worm Jacob,” as scripture calls him; but still at bottom there was a purpose that clave to God and His word. So when the struggle came, when God wrestled with His servant, there was nature that needed to be withered up, lest he should suppose that because of any vigour of his own he prevailed. Still on blessing from God he was set, and would not desist till he had the assurance of it. If flesh was there to be judged, surely divine faith was very manifest. Hence Jacob becomes far brighter towards the close, when the flesh was practically set aside.

So with Israel. Though there will be the chastening of their unfaithfulness, yet the day will come when the nations are fully judged, not borne with; and how will it then fare with Edom? When Israel was in the wilderness, Esau stopped their way. The power of God could have smitten him down (as He had determined long before); but the time was not yet come. So Israel struck not a blow upon their guilty brother, but rather turned back like a rebuked child. Ah! it was the token in its patience that a still more tremendous judgement was in store for Edom; for there is nothing so ominous as when God takes patiently the iniquity of men. If there be remonstrance, it shows there is, as it were, a hope; but if all be borne silently, it is the solemn sign of judgement that will fall as surely as it lingers. Blessed as it is for those who walk in grace, there is perhaps no more evident a token of perdition to the world than the saints passing through it without lifting a finger in their own defence, or on God’s behalf. Alas! we know that the church has failed in this, as Israel after their sort. But their path through the wilderness was a type of the journey of faith in grace, the earthly people and things being the shadow of the heavenly.

Possibly there may have been a preliminary judgement at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s onslaught on the Jews. One might judge from the Psalms (see especially Psa 137 , “Remember, O Jehovah, the children of Edom”) that there is a connection between that and Edom; that is, there may have been a partial accomplishment in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. For though on his coming up against Jerusalem, the Edomites helped him to destroy the Jews more effectually, they themselves were not spared by the conquerors. In Psa 83 we find connected with Edom the Assyrian, the great enemy of the ten tribes as we have seen; with Babylon the conqueror of the two. “Keep not thou silence, O God . . . They have taken crafty counsel against thy people . . . Let us cut them off.” All confirms what has been already remarked. In the confederacy against Israel figure “the tabernacles of Edom.” It is the first power mentioned, of course not as the mightiest, but as setting on the others to Israel’s ruin. Being neighbours, they would have a better knowledge of the people and their land, and so be the more dangerous, besides the moral bearing of the case. There are also the Philistines, Tyre, and the various peoples that lived near the sea coast, as well as round about Idumea and the contiguous regions. Then we find the great power of Asshur mentioned as having joined them. So the Spirit of God classes Edom with Israel’s final adversaries, as He had done already by Moses and Joshua with their earliest. There is an evident connection between their rise and the gradual course of their history through scripture. Now at the close we find distinct prophecies applying to Edom. “They are confederate against thee” (v. 5). All their covenants God will break up before the judgement falls upon Esau. They may have joined themselves unto Asshur; but that great power, like the lesser ones, will be directed against God’s people in vain, great and small alike hostile, uniting to aim a more effectual blow at Israel, but only to the destruction of themselves .

God, we may see, always goes back to the beginning when He judges. In the time of the Babylonish captivity, why did He judge Israel? He looks at what they did in the wilderness. It was because of Moloch and Chiun (Amo 5:26 ). They had learnt to worship their images in the wilderness, and therefore should be carried captive beyond Damascus. God, when the time of judgement comes, traces up to the root of evil. So our wisdom as Christians, when we fail, is to go back to our first departure. We never get right by merely judging this or that outbreak, but should always search out the cause. We do not else gather-needed strength, nor is any sin rightly judged by merely judging the manifested effects; but we must probe into the hidden sources of the mischief. It is not enough to judge our acts; judging self is a very different process. We need to discern the springs within ourselves. If we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. It does not mean pronouncing judgement upon any particular fault, but judging the real cause and not occasions merely. Such is the Christian way of judging. It is not occupation with the surface, but with that which is underneath, the hardly seen roots of the acts which any can see.

With unerring wisdom then God goes back to what Esau did from the beginning of his history. He had waited long and patiently, nearly a thousand years, and now shows His perfect knowledge of the course and end; but when the end does come, God invariably traces all up to the beginning.

We need not dwell on all the dark account. The full stroke of judgement comes upon the Edomites in the day of Jehovah. Here, though the scene be laid in Idumea, it is a question of all the heathen. This is referred to here. “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fullness thereof; the world, and all that cometh forth of it. For the indignation of Jehovah [is] upon all the nations, and fury against all their armies; he hath devoted them to destruction, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up from their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall away, as a leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as the withered [fruit] from the fig-tree. For my sword shall be bathed in the heavens; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my ban, to judgement. The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom” (vv. 1-6). The day of the calamity of His people! If there be anything He repeats over and over again, it is the day of their calamity. (Compare Oba 1:11-14 ). He means blessing, and there is nothing that more rouses His judgement than, when through their sin deep sorrow falls and strikes their hearts, men should then take advantage of this to behave themselves proudly against them. There was never a truer picture of the spirit of man than at this very time, unless it be the feeling of Christendom towards those who are seeking to walk in the way that is pleasing to God. If failure is known that fills such with shame, is it not used to wrong them, or to speak evil against them? This was the feeling of Edom; so that we may see how true these principles of God are, and how solemn it is for us to realise the duty that becomes us at the present time.

“And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For [it is] the day of Jehovah’s vengeance, the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night and day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl (or, bittern) and the raven shall dwell therein. And he shall stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none [shall be] there; and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. There shall the arrowsnake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah and read: not one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his spirit, it hath gathered them And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein” (vv. 7-17). There will be one destruction upon the mountains of Israel, but another special carnage in Edom. It is important to bear in mind that this is a future judgement: if any one were to apply it rigorously and in all its extent to the times of Nebuchadnezzar, confusion must result, perverting either scripture or the facts. The contrary rather was seen then. The nations had it all their own way. There was no such thing as God having a great sacrifice of all nations, though treacherous Edom suffered. The real fulfilment will be at the end of the age, though even then will be merely a tremendous convulsion of nature: the total dissolution of heaven and earth will be at the end of the millennium. The Spirit of God in a measure puts the scenes together here.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 34:1-15

1Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!

Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

2For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations,

And His wrath against all their armies;

He has utterly destroyed them,

He has given them over to slaughter.

3So their slain will be thrown out,

And their corpses will give off their stench,

And the mountains will be drenched with their blood.

4And all the host of heaven will wear away,

And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;

All their hosts will also wither away

As a leaf withers from the vine,

Or as one withers from the fig tree.

5For My sword is satiated in heaven,

Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom

And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.

6The sword of the LORD is filled with blood,

It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,

With the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah

And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7Wild oxen will also fall with them

And young bulls with strong ones;

Thus their land will be soaked with blood,

And their dust become greasy with fat.

8For the LORD has a day of vengeance,

A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9Its streams will be turned into pitch,

And its loose earth into brimstone,

And its land will become burning pitch.

10It will not be quenched night or day;

Its smoke will go up forever.

From generation to generation it will be desolate;

None will pass through it forever and ever.

11But pelican and hedgehog will possess it,

And owl and raven will dwell in it;

And He will stretch over it the line of desolation

And the plumb line of emptiness.

12Its nobles – there is no one there

Whom they may proclaim king –

And all its princes will be nothing.

13Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,

Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities;

It will also be a haunt of jackals

And an abode of ostriches.

14The desert creatures will meet with the wolves,

The hairy goat also will cry to its kind;

Yes, the night monster will settle there

And will find herself a resting place.

15The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,

And it will hatch and gather them under its protection.

Yes, the hawks will be gathered there,

Every one with its kind.

Isa 34:1 There are several commands in this verse.

1. draw near, BDB 897 I, KB 1132, Qal IMPERATIVE

2. listen, BDB 904, KB 1151, Hiphil IMPERATIVE

3. hear, BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal JUSSIVE

The Sovereign of the universe is addressing His creation and announcing its judgment.

1. O nations, BDB 156, cf. Isa 34:2; Isa 43:9

2. O peoples, BDB 522, cf. Isa 17:12; Isa 43:9

3. the earth, BDB 75, cf. Isa 37:16; Isa 37:20; Gen 18:18; Gen 22:18; Mic 1:2

4. all it contains, BDB 571, cf. Isa 6:3

5. the world, BDB 385, cf. Isa 13:11; Isa 24:4

6. all that springs from it, BDB 481 CONSTRUCT BDB 425

Obviously this refers to the known world of Isaiah’s day, but the language is universal.

Isa 34:2 For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations. . .He has utterly destroyed them The idea of utterly destroyed (BDB 355 I, KB 353, Hiphil PERFECT) refers to the concept of holy war. In Joshua this concept in relation to Jericho is translated under the ban (i.e., dedicated to YHWH for destruction, cf. Jos 6:17-18 [thrice]; Isa 7:1 [twice], 12 [twice], 13 [twice], 15).

Isa 34:3 This verse expands the thought of Isa 34:2, with graphic metaphors of warfare.

1. their slain thrown out, BDB 1020, KB 1527, Hophal IMPERFECT

2. their corpses will give off (lit. go up) their stench, BDB 748, KB 828, Qal IMPERFECT, cf. Amo 4:10

3. the mountains will be drenched (lit. dissolve) with their blood, BDB 587, KB 606, Niphal PERFECT

This reflects a battle scene where the bodies of the dead have remained for an extended period of time. In the ANE improper burial was a horror and disgrace and might affect one’s afterlife. It represented a total defeat, physically and spiritually.

Isa 34:4 This hyperbolic language relating to the sun and moon cycles of nature is a recurrent theme in the Bible.

1. Isa 13:13; Isa 34:4; Isa 51:6

2. Eze 32:7-8

3. Joe 2:31

4. Mat 24:29

5. 2Pe 3:10

6. Rev 6:12-14; Rev 20:11

The phrase host of heaven can refer to

1. astral deities (sun, moon, stars, planets, comets, etc.) usually associated with Babylon

2. the angelic army (cf. Isa 24:21-22; Jos 5:14-15, based on Deu 32:8 in the LXX and illustrated in Daniel 10)

In this context it refers to the objects of light in the sky. These objects are affected and thrown into disarray by the approach of their creator! These physical objects, often viewed as deities, are subject to YHWH!

rolled up like a scroll This imagery is used by John in Rev 6:14. The sky in the ANE was thought to be (1) tightly stretched skin over the earth like a bowl (cf. Isa 40:22) or (2) a set up tent (cf. Psa 104:2). The old order will be replaced by the new (cf. Rev 21:1).

NASB, NRSVwither

NKJV, TEVfall

This VERB (BDB 615, KB 663) occurs three times in this verse.

1. Qal IMPERFECT

2. Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT

3. Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE

It also occurs in the parallel literary unit of Isaiah 24-27 (cf. Isa 24:4 [twice]). Agriculture also shakes at the coming of the creator! We could say heaven and earth both fall apart at the approach of the Creator/Judge because they, too, have been affected by mankind’s sin (cf. Gen 3:17-19; Rom 8:19-22).

Isa 34:5 for judgment upon Edom Edom is singled out for judgment in this literary unit just as Moab was singled out in Isa 25:10-12. Here Edom (like Moab earlier) is symbolic of all the arrogant nations who rebel against God.

Isa 34:6-7 These verses use the metaphor of sacrifice (cf. BDB 830, f, cf. Jer 50:27; Jer 51:40; Eze 39:17-20) to describe YHWH’s judgment

1. the blood of lambs and goats, Isa 34:6

2. the fat of the kidneys of rams, Isa 34:6

3. young bulls, Isa 34:7

Not only are domestic animals going to be sacrificed, but also wild oxen (BDB 910).

The imagery of YHWH’s sword is also found in Deu 32:41-42 and Eze 21:28-32.

Isa 34:6

NASBis sated with fat

NKJVmade overflowing with fatness

NRSV, REB,

LXXis gorged with fat

NJBis greasy with fat

This VERB (BDB 206, KB 234, Hothpael PERFECT) is found only here in this rare stem. It denotes a reflexive concept, YHWH’s sword has fattened itself. The Pual IMPERFECT of the same VERB is found in Isa 34:7, became greasy with fat. Both speak of a huge number of sacrificial victims slain (metaphor for the dead of the enemies’ army). The fat of the lower organs was that part of the animal placed on the altar.

Isa 34:8 We as modern interpreters must remember the essence of Hebrew poetry is

1. its abbreviated form

2. its sound plays

3. its parallelism

Westerners tend to be Greek-thinking, logical literalists! However, this is ancient eastern poetic literature. See G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible, chapter 5, Hebrew Idiom and Hebrew Thought, pp. 107-117. This is also true of Genesis 1-2. See John L. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis 1.

This verse is a good example, day, line 1 is parallel to year, line 2. This is not meant to be a temporal, historical comment, but the recognition that a time of judgment and accountability to God is coming! How long it will last is not an issue.

Isa 34:9 pitch. . .brimstone. . .burning pitch These (BDB 278, 172, 278/128) are allusions to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 19:24. Also, see the significant parallel of Jer 49:17-18. Sodom and Gomorrah are in the northern area of Edom (i.e., southern end of the Dead Sea).

Isa 34:10 This is hyperbolic language which denotes a complete destruction that lasts into the indefinite future (cf. Isa 1:31; Isa 13:20; Isa 66:24).

There are two terms for forever used.

1. line 2, (BDB 761, see Special Topic: Forever [‘olam] )

2. line 4, (BDB 664, cf. 2Sa 2:26; Isa 13:20; Isa 25:8; Isa 28:28; Isa 33:20; Isa 57:16)

The phrase its smoke shall go up forever is used in Rev 14:11; Rev 19:3. It seems probable that (1) Moab in Isa 25:10-12; (2) Edom in this context; and (3) Babylon in Revelation all stand for human society organized and functioning apart from God or even in rebellion against God.

For a good discussion of the biblical uses of forever see D. Brent Sandy, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks, pp. 98-101.

Isa 34:11-15 There are many animals (mostly birds) mentioned in this section. All of them are unclean according to Leviticus 11. These same unclean animals are seen in the ruins of the city of Babylon (cf. Isa 13:19-22). There are two possible interpretations for this: (1) these ruins are symbolic of fallen human efforts judged and destroyed by God so that nothing but the animals lived there or (2) these cities are now inhabited by the demonic (cf. Mat 12:43). Modern translations such as the NEB have shown clear archaeological evidence that these animals may refer to the demonic (cf. particularly Isa 34:14).

1. NASB hairy goat

NKJV wild goat

NRSV goat-demons

TEV demons

NJB satyr

REBhe-goats

This term (BDB 972 III) refers to

a. idols (cf. 2Ch 11:15)

b. demons (cf. Lev 17:7)

c. wild animals (cf. Isa 13:21)

2. NASB, TEV night monster

NKJV night creature

NRSV, NJB Lilith

REBnightjar

This term (BDB 535) in later Judaism became the name for a female night tempter. The origin of the term and concept may be the three night demons of Akkadian mythology (KB 528). The Peshitta identifies it as a screech owl. The night with all its nature-sounds was terrifying to ancient people.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DEMONIC (UNCLEAN SPIRITS)

Isa 34:11 The terms translated desolation (BDB 1062, cf. Isa 24:10) and emptiness (BDB 96) are used in Gen 1:2 to describe the initial chaos of the planet. Edom (i.e., all rebellious nations) will be reduced to original void and chaos(i.e., Isa 13:9-11; Jer 4:23-26).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

people = peoples.

world = the inhabited world. Hebrew. tebel.

all things, &c. = and all that is therein.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 34

Come near, ye nations, to hear; hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation ( Isa 34:1-2 )

A term that is used in the Old Testament for the Great Tribulation period.

the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations ( Isa 34:2 ),

Or the wrath of God, the Great Tribulation.

his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and the smell shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood ( Isa 34:2-3 ).

Throughout the entire valley of Jezreel, the blood will flow to the horses’ bridles we are told in the great battle of Armageddon, as God destroys the armies of man upon the earth.

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree ( Isa 34:4 ).

This phrase is used or this symbol is used by Joel and repeated by Christ in Mat 24:1-51 , but in Joel’s prophecy chapter 2, verse Joe 2:30-31, he speaks of the stars of the heaven falling as a fig tree drops its untimely figs. A tremendous meteorite shower that will strike the earth.

Out in the Arizona desert near Winslow, Arizona, there is a huge crater that is called the Meteorite Crater. Now most meteorites burn up in our atmosphere and don’t hit the earth. But when one does hit the earth, if they are of any size at all, they leave a tremendous dent upon the earth. That meteorite crater is about a mile across and a couple thousand feet deep there in Arizona. Quite awesome to stand on the rim and look down in.

In 1906 there was a meteorite that hit in Siberia that leveled the pine trees for miles like they were toothpicks. In fact, so great was the destruction of that meteorite in Siberia that some scientists believe that it was perhaps composed of antimatter. For it is hard to conceive of devastation that extensive from just a plain meteorite. And so they believe that perhaps it was of antimatter. Now, antimatter would be a molecular structure that is opposite to what we generally know as atoms where you have the proton in the heart of the nucleus of the atom with the electrons revolving around it. In the antimatter it would be the electrons in the nucleus with the protons revolving around it. And they believe that if matter and antimatter hit that you have just this tremendous double-charged atomic explosion with matter and antimatter.

And it is something that the physicists have theorized as a possibility that antimatter exists in the universe, as well as matter. And that the combination of the two is devastating. And some have even suggested that that meteorite that hit Siberia about 1906 was of antimatter, and thus explain the tremendous devastation that was caused. But imagine the devastation that will come when there comes the meteorite shower upon the earth that just really begins to create these huge, awesome craters.

Now it is interesting that in about 1986 we are anticipating the return of Haley’s Comet. And though it is possible that at this time Haley’s Comet will make its turn on the other side of the sun, and it may be that Haley’s Comet will not even be visible to those that are here upon the earth. Yet, the big concern of the scientists concerning Haley’s Comet is not how close it’s going to approach to the earth, but the fact that every time Haley’s Comet comes along it leaves all kinds of debris in our solar system. And that as the earth makes its orbit around the sun, it passes through the junk, the debris that is left by the tail of Haley’s Comet. The comet’s tail is some a hundred million miles long and is just space junk. Just a lot of debris, meteorites and chunks and all out there in the tail of Haley’s Comet. It seems to follow the comet around and give that long glow of the tail.

Two times a year the astronomers can predict tremendous meteorite activity. What has the scientists and the government right now concerned is that when Haley’s Comet comes around again, it no doubt is going to create-as our earth in its orbit (though we may not even see Haley’s Comet)-when we come into the fresh debris from the tail of Haley’s Comet, we are going to have an unusually heavy bombardment of meteorites again. The thing that is of grave concern is the delicate balance of the ozone in our atmosphere. Already because of the fluorocarbon gases that have neutralized the ozone and turned it into a nitric oxide, and the blanket has been heavily depleted, what they are fearful of is a further depletion by the unusually heavy bombardment of the meteorites from the tail of Haley’s Comet and it may be sufficient to deplete the ozone blanket to the degree that the earth will be subjected at that time to extra heavy ultraviolet radiation from the sun which will cause exposure to the sun to give you a violent burn and ultraviolet radiation rash.

Now last year in one of the water baptismal services where I was out in the water for a prolonged period of time, I got an ultraviolet radiation rash. Because of my length of time there in the water, the exposure to the sun, because the ozone blanket is being depleted constantly. Our atomic testing, atmospheric testing of atomic weapons had an effect upon the ozone blanket. The SST has an effect upon the ozone blanket, as do meteorites and as do the fluorocarbon gases used in the sprays. And though the United States has more or less created laws against the fluorocarbon gases, the other nations of the world haven’t and they still use the fluorocarbon aerosprays and all.

With the depletion of the ozone it then creates this condition with the ultraviolet rays of the sun and the burning that you get, which all is interesting from a prophetic standpoint. Because the Bible speaks of this time when there’s going to be a heavy meteorite shower. It will be like a fig tree casting forth its untimely figs, the stars of heaven falling. Now not literal stars, but we do call them even today. “Oh, did you see that falling star?” We know that they are meteorites, but they are still today called falling stars. And so he’s using the language of the people in describing the stars of the heaven falling to the earth. Not literal stars, but the meteorite showers. And he speaks of this heavy meteorite activity.

But then he also speaks in conjunction with it in Revelation. “And power will be given to the sun to scorch men who dwell upon the earth” ( Rev 16:8 ). And men will become blistered and all as the result of the scorching of the sun. And so it is very interesting that these things are being anticipated for the year 1986 or so when Haley’s Comet again makes its visit into our solar system.

And, of course, right now there is an intensive scientific project to seek to determine what effect the debris of the tail of Haley’s Comet will have upon the ozone blanket around the earth. A group of scientists have been commissioned by the president to study this particular phenomenon and its possible effect upon the earth. Who knows? It’s just food for thought. Put that in your little computer and work on it.

So, “The host of heaven will be dissolved, the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea ( Isa 34:5 ),

The area of Saudi Arabia today.

and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah ( Isa 34:5-6 ),

Which was one of the chief cities of Edom.

and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion ( Isa 34:6-8 ).

God’s vengeance, His year of recompense for the controversy of Zion or Jerusalem. Now it is interesting, of course, that Saudi Arabia has been the main financier of the armaments for the Arab states to attack Israel. Saudi Arabia is the main financier for the PLO and their arms. And Saudi Arabia has been the financial backer behind the attacks against Israel. God speaks about the day of the vengeance and the recompense for Zion.

And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch [or into oil], and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land shall become burning pitch ( Isa 34:9 ).

I wonder what would be the effect there in Saudi Arabia where the oil is so close to the surface and there’s such a tremendous abundance of oil. What would be the effect of an atomic bomb dropped in that area? Igniting the oils that are under the ground and what would be the effect of something like that. It said.

It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing ( Isa 34:10-12 ).

Of course, Saudi Arabia is ruled by four thousand princes actually. This big family and all of the relations are the ones that are gaining from the wealth, not the general public there.

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these things shall fail ( Isa 34:13-16 ),

“When this comes to pass,” Isaiah says, “get out this book.” When these things… when this area is burning with this fire and all, just get out this book and read it and you’ll realize that God has written in advance and not one thing that God wrote of is going to fail. He’s challenging you. So it’s interesting we still have the book of Isaiah. We’ll still be able to get it out and read when these things come to pass. So, “Seek out the book of the Lord and read it. No one of these shall fail.” No one. Now the vultures you’ll see, every one has a mate. You’ll say, “Isn’t that weird?” Every vulture has its mate, just like Isaiah said. Not one is lacking. It’s unreal.

And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation ( Isa 34:17 ) “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Isa 34:1-7

Isa 34:1-7

Just as an earlier section of Isaiah is concluded by a graphic description of the eternal judgment in Isaiah 27, so here, having concluded his prophecies regarding the invasion of Sennacherib, the Lord here, through Isaiah, again made strong reference to the final judgment; and, in both instances, the Edomites are brought in especially as a people judged and condemned. It seems evident that Edom in both cases is singled out as a representative of all the wicked nations on earth, there being no evidence that the destruction of Edom on the last day will exceed in any manner the judgment that shall fall upon all the wicked.

Many scholars have discerned this:

“The theme here is judgment upon God’s enemies generally; but the Edomites were selected as a typical specimen. Edom is not merely a historical entity, but a symbol of all the nations that are hostile to God. By a figure very common in the prophetic writings, any city, or people, remarkably distinguished as enemies of God is put for those enemies in general. Most commentators agree that Edom represents all the nations hostile to God.

As a matter of fact, no more appropriate representative of all the enemies of God could have been chosen. The ancestor of this people was Esau, the profane, adulterous, pagan brother of Jacob. He hated his brother continually. “He cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever” (Amo 1:11). The Edomites even aided Nebuchadnezzar in the destruction of Jerusalem (Oba 1:10 ff); and they were relentless enemies of Israel throughout their history. When Israel desired to pass through their borders on the way to Palestine, they would not allow it; and they sold Israelites as slaves to Tyre, etc., etc. Nor did it end in the Old Testament. When the Son of God was born, who attempted to kill him? who slaughtered the innocents of Judaea? It was Herod the Great, the savage Idumean (and that word means Edomite). One of his Edomite descendants murdered the apostle James and intended to kill all of the apostles until God struck him dead; another presided over one of the mock trials of the Son of God; and his descendants filled the New Testament with their shameful names. One of them murdered John the Baptist; and two of Herod’s posterity, the dissolute Drusilla and Bernice, were thoroughly evil. How fitting it was, therefore, that the Edomites should have been chosen here as a symbol for all the Gentile wickedness on earth.

Isa 34:1-7

“Come near ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fullness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it. For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the wild oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.”

“Come near, ye nations … Let the earth hear …” (Isa 34:1). Such words herald the worldwide importance of the final judgment God here announced. Every man who ever breathed has an interest, whether or not he knows it, in the doings of that Great Day when God will rise in righteous wrath and cast evil out of his universe.

Another important thing about this verse is that it, “reflects the language of the law courts, suggesting the old suzerain treaty so prominent in the Pentateuch, that being a legal device unknown in Isaiah’s times outside of the Pentateuch or the minor prophets anywhere else upon earth. This, of course is proof, absolute, that Isaiah was familiar with the Pentateuch and with the prophets when these words were written.

“Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations … he hath utterly destroyed them … delivered them to the slaughter …” (Isa 34:2). This speaks of the slaughter of “all nations” as something already done. This characteristic of Biblical prophecies is called the “prophetic certainty.” When God prophesies anything, it is as certain to be fulfilled as if it had already occurred.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ETERNAL JUDGMENT

One of the six fundamentals of the Christian religion (Heb 6:2), the judgment is extensively mentioned throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was promised in Genesis (Gen 2:17) where God pronounced death upon the whole race of Adam if they ate of the forbidden fruit. The sentence will be executed “at the end of this dispensation,” which still lies within the perimeter of “the day they ate of it,” the same being the seventh day of creation which is still going on (Heb 4:4-11). The sentence was not repealed, commuted, or softened in any way. It will yet be executed upon Adam and Eve in the person of their total posterity, there being absolutely no exceptions, except “the redeemed of all ages.”

Some of the metaphors under which that Great Day is mentioned in Scripture:

(1) It will be the day when God destroys the Flying Serpent (the Devil), the Crooked Serpent (Evil Human government), and the Winding Serpent (False Religion) (Isaiah 27 and Revelation 12-20), all of whom shall be destroyed in the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone.

(2) It will be the day when Christ separates the sheep from the goats, consigning the lost to “hell prepared for the devil and his angels” and welcoming the redeemed into the “joy of their Lord” (Matthew 25).

(3) In Isaiah 34, it is the day in which God will slaughter all of the rebellious nations on earth.

(4) It will be the day when the greatest earthquake ever known shall occur, the sun will become black, the moon like blood, the stars fall, the heavens disappear, rolled up like a scroll, every mountain and every island removed from their places, and the kings, princes, captains, rich, strong, every bondman, and every freeman shall cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb! (Rev 6:12-17).

(5) It will be the treading of the winepress of the wrath of God against the great World City (Urban mankind in his rebellion against God); “And there came out blood from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs (some 200 miles!) (Rev 14:20).

(6) It will be the day when Babylon the Great falls. “The cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the Great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath … every island fled away, the mountains were not found … great hail, every stone the weight of a talent (about 60 pounds) … the plague thereof was exceeding great” (Rev 16:19 ff). Some associate this with the so-called “Battle of Armageddon” mentioned just previously in Rev 16:16; but nowhere in Scripture is it ever referred to as a battle. It appears to us that God would need a human battle just like he would need a hole in his head!

(7) It is represented as total silence. “And a mighty angel took up a great millstone (weight: about 1,000 pounds or more) and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down and SHALL BE FOUND NO MORE AT ALL … The voice of harpers, minstrels, etc. … SHALL BE HEARD NO MORE AT ALL IN THEE … Craftsmen of whatever craft SHALL BE FOUND NO MORE AT ALL IN THEE … The voice of a mill SHALL BE HEARD NO MORE AT ALL IN THEE … The light of a lamp SHALL SHINE NO MORE AT ALL IN THEE … The voice of the bridegroom and the bride SHALL BE HEARD NO MORE AT ALL IN THEE” (Rev 18:21-24).

(8) It is spoken of as a great war between the kings of the earth, the beast, and all the forces of evil, against Christ who sat on the white horse (Rev 19:16 ff). The kings were slain; and the beast and all who worshipped him were “cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone.” Notice that there was no “battle.” Note also that the “Great Supper of God” was celebrated in this instance by all of the fowls of the air which ate up the flesh of the dead men and horses! (Rev 19:18).

(9) It is presented as an occasion when all the dead who ever lived shall be summoned before the Great White Throne; the books were opened, and the book of life; and the earth and the heavens fled away. “Death and Hades, and the devil that deceived the nations, were also, with the beast and the false prophet, “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone; and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20).

(10) “Both soul and body will be destroyed in hell” (Mat 10:28).

(11) “Hell is a place of unquenchable fire (Mar 9:43).

(12) “Hell: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mar 10:48).

(13) Hell appears to be mentioned in this: “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; where there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (Mat 22:13).

It is apparent that many of these metaphors mention things that are not clearly understood. Darkness, fire, living worms, perpetual silence, weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc., when considered collectively do not give any sharp picture at all of what the final place of God’s disposal of the condemned may actually be. The one overriding feature would appear to be the total undesirability of the place! All men should be cautioned against believing that they know exactly what it will be like in hell.

(14) Still other features of that Great Day are found here. The nations shall be slaughtered and their bodies left unburied; and there will be blood enough to melt the mountains; the host of heaven shall be dissolved; and the heavens themselves shall be rolled together like a scroll (Isa 34:2-4). The whole land of Edom, along with all animals, even the wild ones, together with all the inhabitants shall be, as it were, slaughtered upon the altar of God in that “great sacrifice at Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom” (Isa 34:5-7).

(15) The apostle Peter added that in those terminal events of the Great Judgment:

“The day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2Pe 3:10),

The “great noise” is a feature of the final day that is frequently spoken of as “the sound of a great trumpet,” as mentioned by Christ himself thus:

(16) “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven … And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Mat 24:29-31).

There are some features of the Great Judgment mentioned here which are not found elsewhere, one of these being the mountains melted with blood, and another being the foul stench of the rotting carcasses of the dead. Still another is in the fact of God’s sword having drunk heavily of blood in heaven. This latter statement is likely a metaphor of the long accumulated wrath of God so long stored up in heaven against the incorrigibly wicked. It is quite obvious that this language is undoubtedly metaphorical.

Isa 34:1-4 JUDGMENT ENVISIONED: Once again Isaiah is bringing a section of his written prophecy to a climactic conclusion. He has done so before in chapters 6, 12, and 23. These two chapters (34 and 35) are the climactic conclusion to the section warning Judah not to seek help from Egypt (28-35). Chapters 34 and 35 summarize the reasons Judah should not seek help from pagan, worldly, God-opposing governments: (1) because God has decreed their doom; (2) because God has a glorious future planned for Zion.

What God is going to do will involve the whole cosmos (creation) so (Isa 34:1-2) He calls, through the prophet, the whole creation to attention. What God is going to do involves not only the earth but heaven. He is going to defeat all the principalities, powers, world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places . . . and disarm them, and make a public example of them, triumphing over them in Christ Jesus (Eph 6:12; Col 2:15). God is not going to utterly slaughter all the power that opposes Him in Isaiahs day. Furthermore, the total physical destruction of the world is probably not even intended here. The defeat of the spiritual power that opposes God and enslaves men is much more imperative and cosmically significant than the physical destruction. In other words, the victory Christ accomplished over the world, the flesh and the devil, on the cross and at the resurrection was the great slaughter probably referred to here. Of course, God destroyed His enemies, the great world empires that were possessed by the devil to attempt to thwart Gods redemptive program in the earth. He destroyed them one by one. And, God will ultimately destroy all physical kingdoms with the destruction of the universe, and He will create a new heaven and a new earth (2Pe 3:8-13). But all that would be of little consequence without the once-and-for-all defeat of Satan and his hosts at the cross. It was at the cross (and the empty tomb) that God brought to nothing things that are, destroyed the wisdom of the wise, (1Co 1:18-31), cast out the ruler of this world and destroyed his power (Joh 12:31; Joh 16:11; Heb 2:14-15; 1Jn 3:8). Now this work, culminated in the cross and resurrection, began as God took the people of Isaiahs day and destroyed their pagan enemies, one by one, and delivered a faithful remnant through which God brought the Messiah into the world in order to deliver them from their enemies (cf. Luk 1:67-79). Isaiah is predicting the same great overthrow of the world-opposition as Joel predicts (Joe 2:28 to Joe 3:21). It is the same overthrow of world-opposition Isaiah predicted earlier (See Isaiah 13-23). It is the same overthrow of world-opposition Ezekiel predicts (Ezekiel 38-39) and Daniel predicts (Daniel 2-11) and Zechariah predicts (Zechariah 9-14). It was accomplished in the cross and resurrection when Christ took captivity captive and will be consummated at His second coming.

The Jewish prophets portrayed the end of the Jewish dispensation and the beginning of the new era (the Messianic age) as a Day of Jehovah, a great judgment and redemption. The Messianic age was portrayed in eschatological, cataclysmic, cosmic figures of speech. It is even referred to in the New Testament in somewhat the same way: (Just to list a few)

1. Joe 2:28 to Joe 3:21 2. Mal 3:1-5 3. Eze 38:1 to Eze 39:29 4. Dan 9:24-275. Luk 4:16-29 6. Mat 23:37 to Mat 24:35 7. Col 2:14-15 8. Heb 12:18-29

Much modern-day interpretation of O.T. prophecy alleges the main function of the prophets was to predict the so-called rapture, tribulation, millennium, and the Second Coming of Christ. It seems totally incongruous to us that the prophets would devote as much detail as is alleged to the end of the so-called church age. Their main predictive function, as the New Testament plainly points out, was to proclaim the First advent of Christ and the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth, the church (cf. 1Pe 1:10-12; 2Pe 1:12-21; Luk 24:25-27; Luk 24:44-49, etc.).

If modern readers of the Bible could project themselves back into the days of the prophets or the apostles, or if they could assimilate the Jewishness of those Jews, they might easily understand how eschatological, cataclysmic and cosmic it would seem to talk of the abrogation and abolition of a religious system (Judaism) with 1400 years of heritage. It was their whole existence, politically, socially, religiously. To predict a New Era which would completely replace the Old would seem like a prediction of the end of the world-order. And the prophets were called upon to portray the New Era in just those figures.

Of course, there is always the typical element in every Day of the Lord, which points to Gods ultimate Day, the literal, actual consummation of judgment and redemption. And that is probably the case with our text here in Isaiah. Even Gods awful judgment of sin in the crucifixion of Christ and Gods glorious act of redemption in Christs resurrection is, in addition to being His literal, historical work of salvation, a prophecy, promise and type of the final, consummating work at Christs Second Coming.

Isa 34:5-7 JUDGMENT EXEMPLIFIED: Edom is now cited as a representative of the God-opposing human governments. Edom was one of the first human governments to oppose Gods redemptive work in placing His covenant people in the land of Canaan. The covenant people were later opposed by Ammon, Moab, Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. All these, and others, were, in their own times, condemned by the prophets and judged by God. Even the sinful covenant peoples (Israel and Judah) were condemned and judged because they chose carnal, human systems of government rather than government by the rule of Gods word. Probably the most graphic symbolism of Gods defeat of the attempt by human government to overthrow the rule of God in mens hearts (the establishment of Gods kingdom among men) is the symbolism in the book of Daniel-in the great image (ch. 2) and the four beasts (ch. 7).

The sword of the Lord in heaven is filled with blood. In other words, the wrath of God has been accumulating (cf. Rev 15:7), and it is symbolized by a sword poised to vent its full fury on Gods enemy. God is longsuffering but He will not be opposed forever. The judgment of God is portrayed as a great sacrifice. This is a figure used elsewhere in the Old Testament (Zep 1:7-18; Jer 46:10; Jer 50:27). Sacrifice was worship of the Lord. Slaughtering of animals was never very pretty to behold. In fact, it is always rather revolting. But in spite of the revolting and almost sickening splashing of blood and burning of flesh, God was glorified. The punishing of sin in the innocent and perfect Jesus is an idea both revolting and repulsive to the human ego-nevertheless God is exalted in it. So, God will be glorified in the slaughter that is necessitated at the judgment of human, God-opposing governments. Edward J, Young considers the lambs and goats of Isa 34:6 to be figurative of the general citizenry of Edom and the wild-oxen and bulls of Isa 34:7 to symbolize the leaders of the nation. Whatever the case the point being made is the awfulness and completeness of judgment upon those who have so persistently opposed Gods redemptive work in the world by opposing His people. This should be a graphic warning to all governments in any age opposing Gods people in any way.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This and the following chapter constitute the second part of the final circle of the prophecies of judgment. Terrible indeed is the description of world-wide desolation which this chapter presents. The nations, the people, and the whole earth are summoned to hear. Jehovah declares His indignation, and announces His determination to act in a judgment which will involve the whole earth and the host of heaven.

From this wide outlook, the prophet passes to a description of the judgment of God on Edom, which illustrates the larger truth already declared. In this terrible passage (verses Isa 34:5-17) the reason of the divine vengeance is revealed in the statement, “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense in the controversy of Zion.”

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Reaping the Whirlwind

Isa 34:1-17

This chapter is one prolonged description of the judgments which were to befall the nations at the hand of Assyria and Babylon. The imagery employed is borrowed from the destruction of the cities of the plain. Streams of pitch; dust of brimstone; the ever-ascending smoke of a furnace; the scream of the eagle, hawk, and owl; the invasion of palaces by the thistle; the howl of the wolf; the call of the jackal; the arrow-snakes nest; the kite with its mate-such are the illustrations employed to depict the scorching desolations which were impending. Edom is especially mentioned as suffering these awful desolations because of her long-standing hatred of Israel. See Psa 137:7; Eze 36:5; Lam 4:21-22. These terrible and graphic predictions have been literally fulfilled, but they foreshadow those further and eternal disasters which must overtake willful and designed rejection of the divine purposes and laws. Are not all nations at this hour standing before the Son of man and being judged? See Mat 25:31.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

EXPOSITORY NOTES ON

THE PROPHET ISAIAH

By

Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.

Copyright @ 1952

edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago

ISAIAH CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

THE DAY OF JEHOVAH’S VENGEANCE

THIS chapter, and that which follows, link very closely with what we have already considered, the one setting forth the judgment that is to fall upon the enemies of GOD and His chosen people, Israel, and the other telling of the blessing which this long despised people shall enjoy under Messiah’s benevolent despotism. We cannot read chapter thirty-four without thinking of many other passages of Scripture which clearly tell us of the same stupendous events. First, we have the doom of all the nations that shall come against Judah and Jerusalem in the last days.

“Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood” (verses 1-3).

This prophecy is in perfect harmony with Rev 19:19-21. In fact, these words of Isaiah might be looked upon as a commentary on, and explanation of, the vision found in the Revelation. It coincides also very closely with the first part of the 14th chapter of the book of Zechariah. When all nations shall be gathered together against Jerusalem, the Lord will go forth and fight against them, we are told, as when He fought in the day of battle. In that day, the feet of our blessed Lord will stand upon the Mount of Olives when He returns to deliver His earthly people and to vindicate the promises of GOD made to them by all the prophets of old.

“And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree” (verse 4).

This, in turn, links with the judgment under the sixth seal in the book of Revelation, and also carries our minds on to the end of time, as predicted in Psa 102:26 and Heb 1:11.

It would seem as though the first fulfillment must be taken in a poetic or symbolic sense, that is,

we are to understand by the heavens, the sun, and the stars, not the literal heavenly bodies but rather the ruling Gentile civil and ecclesiastical powers of the last days. Whereas the other two passages would seem clearly to point to the passing away of present conditions entirely, in order to bring In the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

One need have no difficulty in regard to this double application, for we have the same thing elsewhere in Scripture and that in a number of places. GOD often uses symbolic language to describe certain events which may later have a literal fulfillment.

For Instance, our Lord tells us of great earthquakes which will prevail immediately before His second advent. In the book of Revelation we read of such great earthquakes, but there, in accordance with the symbolic character of the book, they have to do with the shaking and breaking down of existing institutions, the destruction of civilization as we now know it.

The following verses deal particularly with the judgment which is to fall upon Idumea, a judgment that has never yet taken place but we may be assured will be fulfilled literally in the end days.

“For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion” (verses 5-8).

GOD declared that He would cut off the people of Edom (Oba 1:18); and in the last days there will be a people in the land of Idumea where once the Dukes of Edom reigned, whose envy of and hatred toward the sons of Jacob will be as great as that of the Edomites of old. Upon these, unsparing judgment will fall. The sword of the Lord will be drawn out from its sheath and will not be returned to the scabbard until all the enemies of Israel will be blotted out.

This will be the day of the Lord’s recompense for all the sufferings that have fallen upon Zion and the people represented by that city throughout the centuries that have gone since they were scattered among the Gentiles, because they knew not the time of their visitation.

Next are described the desolations of the land of Edom, which apparently will continue throughout the entire millennial age as a reminder of the judgment of GOD meted out to a rebellious people, and thus as a warning to any who, even in the day of the Lord’s power, might contemplate turning away in rebellion against the King reigning in Zion.

“And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall

possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate” (verses 9-15).

It is difficult to identify with certainty all of the beasts, birds, and reptiles here mentioned. Scholars are not agreed as to the exact meaning of each of the Hebrew words employed, but even though we may not understand each term used, we can see the full meaning of the passage, namely, that the land of Edom, once a flourishing kingdom, will become utterly desolate and an habitation only for wild creatures of the wilderness.

“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein” (verses 16, 17).

The Lord’s word is absolutely sure. No prophecy of the Scriptures will fail of final and complete fulfillment. Just as type and antitype agree in connection with the truth of our Lord’s Person and redemptive work, so prophecy and fulfillment will be in perfect harmony. Nothing that GOD has spoken will prove to be unreliable. He will never go back on His word whether it have to do with judgment or with grace.

~ end of chapter 34 ~

http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/

***

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Isa 34:5

The text draws back the curtain which separates the visible world from the invisible. It reveals celestial regions, in which there are also great struggles going on. It lifts up our eyes to the grander movements of the world of spirits; and then it declares that the sword which is to be used in fighting what seems to be the petty wars of the Hebrews and the Edomites, is the same sword which has been used in these celestial conflicts; that the means and instruments of righteousness upon the earth must be the same with the means and instruments of righteousness in the heavens.

I. All good struggle in the world is really God’s battle, and ought to recognise itself as such. Every special victory of human progress-the victory over slavery, the victory over superstition, the victory over social wrong, nay even the victory over tough matter, the subduing of the hard stuff of nature to spiritual uses,-each of these is but a step in the great onward march of God taking possession of His own. Fight your battle with the sword bathed in heaven; so you shall make it victorious, and grow strong and great yourself in fighting it.

II. One of the most marvellous things about Jesus is the union of fire and patience. He saw His Father’s house turned into a place of merchandise, and instantly the whip of small cords was in His hands, and He was cleansing the sacred place with His impassioned indignation. And yet He walked day after day through the streets of Jerusalem, and saw the sin, and let the sinners sin on with only the remonstrance of His pure presence and His pitying gaze. Only in God’s own time and in God’s own way can the battles of the Lord be fought. There is no self-will in Jesus. He is one with His Father, and lives by His Father’s will. His sword was always bathed in heaven.

III. The battle which goes on within ourselves is God’s battle, and is of supreme importance. If the battle be God’s battle, it must be fought only with God’s weapons. You want to get rid of your selfishness. You must not kill it with the sword of another selfishness, which thenceforth shall rule in its place. Selfishness can only be cast out by self-forgetfulness and consecration. To count sin God’s enemy, and to fight it with all His purity and strength, that is what it means for us that our sword should be bathed in heaven.

Phillips Brooks, Twenty Sermons, p. 262.

References: Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2.-G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 275. Isa 35:3.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 243. Isa 35:4.-D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3169; W. M. Taylor, Old Testament Outlines, p. 196. Isa 35:5, Isa 35:6.-W. Hubbard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 232; J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 90.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 34

The Day of Jehovah

1. Addressed to the world: Jews and Gentiles involved (Isa 34:1) 2. The shaking of the earth and the heavens (Isa 34:2-8) 3. The day of vengeance (Isa 34:9-17)This is one of the darkest chapters in the Bible. A worldwide judgment is described such as has never taken place in the history of the world. The indignation of the Lord is then upon all nations and upon their armies. Like chapter 33, it tells of the great judgments to come.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Come: This and the following chapter, as Bp. Lowth observes, form one distinct prophecy; an entire, regular, and beautiful poem, consisting of two parts; the first containing a denunciation of Divine vengeance against the enemies of the people or church of God; the second describing the flourishing state of that church consequent upon those judgments. The event foretold is represented as of the highest importance, and of universal concern; all nations are called upon to attend to the declaration of it; and the wrath of God is denounced against all the nations who had provoked to anger the Defender of the cause of Zion. By a figure frequently occurring in the prophetical writings, the cities and people mentioned here, who were remarkably distinguished as the enemies of the people of God, are put for those enemies in general. Isa 18:3, Isa 33:13, Isa 41:1, Isa 43:9, Isa 49:1, Jdg 5:3, Jdg 5:31, Psa 49:1, Psa 49:2, Psa 50:1, Psa 96:10, Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16, Rev 2:7

let the: Isa 1:2, Deu 4:26, Deu 32:1, Jer 22:29, Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2

all that is therein: Heb. the fulness thereof, Psa 24:1, 1Co 10:26

Reciprocal: Gen 25:23 – the elder Isa 18:6 – General Isa 21:11 – me out Isa 47:3 – I will take Isa 48:12 – Hearken Jer 4:16 – ye Jer 25:21 – Edom Jer 49:7 – Edom Lam 4:21 – the cup Eze 25:8 – Seir Eze 25:13 – I will also Eze 32:29 – Edom Eze 35:2 – and prophesy Eze 36:5 – against all Eze 38:17 – whom Hos 4:1 – Hear Joe 1:2 – Hear Joe 3:9 – Proclaim Joe 3:19 – Edom Amo 1:11 – Edom Oba 1:1 – concerning Zec 14:12 – the plague wherewith Rev 11:18 – the nations Rev 16:14 – to gather Rev 19:17 – an angel

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Isa 34:1. Come, &c. Here begins the third discourse of the third part of Isaiahs prophecies, and is continued to the end of the next chapter. It is connected with the preceding, and, Vitringa thinks, was delivered at the same time. It is divided into two sections: the first, contained in this chapter, exhibits judgments upon the adversaries of the church, and particularly upon Edom; the latter, in chap. 35., the jubilee of the church, and its happy, flourishing state. The events foretold are represented as being of the highest importance, and of universal concern, and all nations are called upon to attend to the declaration of them. Thus the prophet: Come near, ye nations, and hear; hearken, ye people As if he had said, Let the people of all nations take notice of what I am about to say, as that wherein they are generally concerned, and by the consideration whereof they may be instructed and reformed, and so delivered from the calamity here denounced.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 34:1-2. Come near ye nations to hearfor the indignation of the Lord is upon all the kingdoms of western Asia. Those nations are named in Jeremiah 25. They comprise Jerusalem, Egypt, Tyre, Edom, Moab, Philistia, Arabia, Elam, and Media. Five years after the fall of Jerusalem, and while the siege of Tyre was conducting, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Edom in his bloody career. At the fall of Jerusalem, Edom had not concealed her wanton joy. She had joined the Chaldeans in cruel wars against the Jews, and cried against Jerusalem, down with it, down with it, even to the ground. Psa 137:7. Eze 35:15. But her joys were short. She had before been scourged with war, now she must drink the cup of red wine from the hand of an angry God.

Isa 34:3. The mountains shall melt with their blood, which congeals with the cold of night on the hills, and melts in the day with the warmer sun. The Edomites acting on the defensive, would occupy positions on their chain of mountains, which runs through their country.

Isa 34:4. The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll of parchment, which, when opened from the staff to read, on letting it slip from the fingers, it rolls spontaneously to a scroll. So the political heavens, as a dense cloud, should lour on all the nations abovenamed.

Sir Isaac Newton, on the figurative style of the prophets, remarks, that it is taken from the analogy which subsists between the natural and the political world. The heavens and their orbs designate thrones and dignities, and the earth the mass of its inhabitants. Great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are equivalent to the overthrow of states and nations. The creation of new heavens, and a new earth, indicate a brighter order of affairs, and stability of government. The obscuration of the sun, the bloody aspects of the full-orbed moon when seen through dense vapours, and the falling of the stars, are figurative of the utter destruction of an empire.

Isa 34:7. The unicorns shall come down with them. See on Num 23:22. It appears from the Chaldaic, that the worthies of Davids army, and afterwards other heroic men, were surnamed lions. Some of the Chaldean chiefs might therefore, on account of their strength, like Memnon, be called unicorns. But others turn this to the wild goats, some species of which have, like the unicorn, but one horn. The unicorn, as found in the interior of Africa, is very destructive to husbandry.

Isa 34:8. It is the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. The heaviest curse therefore shall rest on Edom for the innocent blood she has shed, for she knew the moral wrong she was doing better than the Chaldean. Pitch, sulphur, dust or sand, shall oppose fertility; yea, travellers in future years, shall have difficulty in finding the ruins of her once flourishing cities. Wild beasts shall invade her hills, and birds of less gracious note shall build in her ruins.

Isa 34:16. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate. In the first creation of living beings, God made them male and female; and when he destroyed the world by water, he brought them in pairs to Noah. His gracious care and tender mercies are over all his works.

REFLECTIONS.

How are thy characters here displayed, oh Most Holy! The severity of thine arm seems to correspond with that of men engaged in revengeful wars. The ear tingles at the prophets voice, and the heart palpitates while we read. Thou callest the nations to attend the tragedy of Idumea, and other similar offenders; to look on, while they are drenched with the cup of red wine from thine awful hand.

But severity in this case inculcates humanity on us. We must not rejoice when others are chastened for their sins, for we also are sinners. The calamities of famine, pestilence and war, sport abroad; but surely not on greater sinners than ourselves. The prophet warns Jerusalem by the fall of her sister Samaria.

The curse on Edom is in similar words of desolation to that on Babylon, because, like the Chaldeans, she had fought against Zion, and exulted at her fall. That was not wise. Had Jerusalem flourished, Edom might have attended her feasts, and received instruction. The unhallowed joys and immeasurable cruelties of a wicked age are highly displeasing to the Lord. Thus the sins of men accumulate like clouds, till at length the tempest bursts upon their own heads.

This chapter sounds an alarm to all guilty nations, slumbering in their sins. Those who abused life with the grossest of immoralities, should live no longer. Their rich and fruitful land, stained with crimes, should now be stained with the blood of a guilty people. It had long been the cry, hush! God seeth not. Now he awoke as an angry man.

The very ground itself is cursed for the sake of the people. The lands where devils had been so long worshipped, should be in perpetual desolation; for the dancing of satyrs has a striking coincidence with that of the devil- worshipper in Ceylon, when he is called to attend a dying man. The Wesleyan missionaries have exposed those depths of Satan to open shame. All these birds of mournful note, and serpents, designate the eternal oblivion of Babylon the great, to which the prophet silently slides; for he says, the ransomed of the Lord shall return: Isa 35:10.Where then are the souls of those guilty cities and nations? These strokes are for the instruction of all future generations.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 34:1-4. All nations are summoned to hear their doom. Yahweh is infuriated against them, He has pronounced the ban (pp. 99, 114, Deu 2:34*, Jos 6:17*) upon them. The foul odour of their exposed and putrefying corpses shall fill the air, the mountains be dissolved with their blood. The sky shall be rolled up like a scroll, and the stars drop off it (Rev 6:13 f.) like a fading leaf from the vine or fig-tree.

Isa 34:4. host of heaven: read hills; the line is parallel to the last clause of Isa 34:3.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

34:1 Come near, ye {a} nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that spring from it.

(a) He prophecies of the destruction of the Edomites and other nations which were enemies to the Church.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Universal judgments 34:1-4

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Isaiah called everyone in the world to hear what follows (cf. Isa 1:2; Psa 25:1; Psa 96:1-3; Psa 97:1; Psa 98:1-2; Psa 98:4). It has universal significance and scope.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)