By Eugene Garner

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 34

THE DAY OF THE LORD, VENGEANCE AND
REDEMPTION
(Isa. 34:1-35:10)

DIVINE INDIGNATION AGAINST HUMAN REBELLION

    Throughout this chapter one may observe deep apocalyptic overtones. There is far more involved here than what God is about to accomplish through Assyria or Babylon. Edom has been the perpetual enemy of Israel - his hatred never satisfied by the malicious wickedness that he has practiced against the people of the covenant. It is because of this that Edom is singled out from all the nations as the immediate object of divine vengeance. His destruction is to be as complete and perpetual as that of Babylon. And the validity of Isaiah's prophecy has been attested by a desolation that has now lasted for twenty-six centuries.

   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. 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.

    1. A summons is sent forth to the whole earth - all nations, peoples and everything therein - to hear the complaint of Jehovah, (vs. 1; comp. 41:1; 43:9; Psa. 49:1; Deut. 32:1).
    2. Isaiah sees the Lord rising in indignation and wrath against all nations and against the (military) host that they have sent to war against Zion, (vs. 2; 26:20-21). Details of events leading up to this great battle will be discussed in chapter 63.
    3. The destruction of Zion's enemies is graphically set forth under a number of figures or symbols.
      a. The prophet sees a great slaughter, wherein the enemy is destroyed in direct confrontation with Jehovah, (vs. 2-3; 24:1-2; 30:25; 63:6; 65:12).
        1) So vivid is his description of the slaughter that one can almost smell the stench of decaying bodies, (comp. 5:25; Joel 2:20; Amos 4:10).
        2) The mountains are pictured as being dissolved by the abundance of blood, (Ezek. 35:6; 38:22; Rev. 14:17-20).
      b. Then he sees the manifestation of God's wrath upon "the host of heaven" which dissolves, rolls together as a scroll, and fades away as a leaf under the frown of His indignation, (vs. 4).
        1) One must not imagine that this refers to the Lord's being angry with the literal sun, moon, stars, etc. - the heavens that now "declare the glory of God", (Psa. 19:1-6).
        2) It appears, rather, to suggest His judgment upon spiritual rulers of darkness, "principalities and powers, in heavenly places" - demonic forces that have ever inspired, aided and abetted human rebellion against the Most High, (24:23; Matt. 24:29; Eph. 1:21; 2:2; 3:10; 6:11-12).

   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 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 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.

    1. Edom is Esau, the twin brother of Israel, who, despising his birthright, sold it for a mess of pottage and insisted on living independently - without any reference to God, (Gen. 25:20-34; 36:8-9, 12; Mal. 1:1-4; Ex. 17:13-16; Deut.25:17-18; I Sam. 15:11-23; 28:15-18; II Sam. 1:2-8; Rev. 3:11).
      a. Edom (or Esau) is a type of "the flesh" which is antagonistic toward God and refuses to submit to His rule, (Gal. 5:16-17; Rom. 7:18-25).
      b. There is nothing about "the flesh" that God can approve; it can never do anything that will please Him, (Rom. 8:5-8).
    2. Thus, the sword of the Lord, having dealt with the hosts of rebellion in the heavenlies, is now turned upon the accursed Edom, for judgment, (vs. 5; Jer. 49:20-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad. 1-4, 6).
    3.Then Isaiah describes a great "sacrifice" in Bozrah - a slaughter in the land of Edom, (vs. 6-7; comp. 63:1-6; Ezek. 35:3-15).
      a. Oxen, bullocks, rams and goats represent the mighty men of Edom - all of whom will fall before the sword of divine majesty which is outraged by their wickedness.
      b. The whole land is seen as glutted with blood and saturated with fat, (Ezek. 35:6-8).
    4. The prophetic explanation, for this manifestation of divine vengeance, is that "the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion" has come, (vs. 8; Ezek. 35:5-6).
      a. In patient and longsuffering mercy God has long suspended His judgment against the enemy of His people.
      b. But, when His wrath is full, and the proper time has come, He pours it out, without mercy, upon the head of the proud offender.
    5. The results of the judgment that Isaiah sees drawing near are clearly stated, (vs. 9-15).
      a. Edom will become a perpetual wasteland: her soil turned to brimstone and her streams to burning pitch - smoke ascending from it, day and night, so that none shall pass through it to the end of the age, (vs. 9-10).
      b. Possession of it will pass to pelican and porcupine, owl and raven, wolves and ostriches, desert beasts and howling creatures, shaggy goats and night monsters, screech owls and vultures, (vs. 11-15).
      c.Thorn bushes will thrive in Edom's proud palaces; nettles and thistles will overrun the once-impregnable fortresses, (vs. 13).

   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.

    1. The Lord has recorded His plan in His word; no prophecy thereof shall lack its fulfillment; His counsel shall stand, (vs. 16; 30:8; Mal. 3:16; Isa. 1:20; 40:5; 58:14).
    2. As assuredly as He has divided the land of Canaan, by lot, unto His people, so has He appointed Edom to the above-mentioned creatures of the desert, (vs. 17); His word will not fail!