FRAMEWORKS:
Isaiah 34: Judgment
against the nations & Edom
For
Context see chapter 28
PART
ONE: v.1-4: A General Warning to the whole world
PART
TWO: v.5-17: A Specific Warning to Edom
[Introductory
Comment: See the progression:
Part
1: The
chapter opens with the Lord warning the whole world [v.1] that
He is angry with them [v.2] and will destroy them [v.2,3] and
wind up creation [v.4]. It is thus a summary of the end of the
present world.
Part
2: The remaining
three-quarters of the chapter focuses this destruction on one
land or one people, so it is important to note something of them.
Edom
was another name for Esau (Gen 36:1) and so the Edomites were
descendants of Esau, who had clearly migrated there very early
on (Gen 32:3, 36:1-8), absorbing the Horites who already lived
there (Gen 14:6). Saul had fought against them when he came
to rule (1 Sam 14:47), David subsequently conquered them (2 Sam
8:13,14). Later in Jehoshaphat's time they joined with the Moabites
and Ammonites to fight against the southern kingdom. In the reign
of Jehoram in the south they rebelled (2 Kings 8:20-22). They
were thus an opposition in the south mostly against the southern
kingdom. In this context, they may thus be seen as symbolic of
the world that rebels against God, again His plans and against
His people. The picture in these verses is of a land being taken
from mankind and returned to ‘nature'.]
PART
ONE: v.1-4: A General Warning to the whole world
v.1 (The
Lord calls to the world) Come
near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
v.2 (He
declares His anger and His intent) The
Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
v.3 (He
will bring death) Their slain
will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their
blood.
v.4 (He
will wind up creation) All
the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shrivelled figs from the fig-tree.
PART
TWO: v.5-17: A Specific Warning to Edom
v.5
(He focuses on Edom) My
sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
see, it descends in judgment on Edom,
the people I have totally destroyed.
v.6 (Their
deaths will be like a great sacrifice) The
sword of the Lord is bathed in blood,
it is covered with fat –
the blood of lambs and goats,
fat from the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
v.7 And
the wild oxen will fall with them,
the bull calves and the great bulls.
Their land will be drenched with blood,
and the dust will be soaked with fat.
v.8
(This will be a day of pay-back
for Israel's sake) For the
Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of retribution, to uphold Zion's
cause.
v.9 (Fire
will devastate Edom) Edom's
streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulphur;
her land will become blazing pitch!
v.10 (It
will destroy it for ever) It
will not be quenched night or day;
its smoke will rise for ever.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate;
no one will ever pass through it again.
v.11 (Wild
creatures only, will inhabit the land) The
desert owl and screech owl will possess it;
the great owl and the raven will nest
there.
God will stretch out over Edom
the measuring line of chaos
and the plumb-line of desolation.
v.12 (All
her leaders will be gone) Her
nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom,
all her princes will vanish away.
v.13 (The
land will return to a wilderness) Thorns
will overrun her citadels,
nettles and brambles her strongholds.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
a home for owls.
v.14 (Wild
creatures will find it a peaceful home) Desert
creatures will meet with hyenas,
and wild goats will bleat to each other;
there the night creatures will also lie down
and find for themselves places of rest.
v.15 (Birds
will find it a good place to make an undisturbed home) The
owl will nest there and lay eggs,
she will hatch them, and care for her
young
under the shadow of her wings;
there also the falcons will gather,
each with its mate.
v.16
(This will all happen by
the decree of the Lord) Look
in the scroll of the Lord and read:
None
of these will be missing,
not one will lack her mate.
For it is his mouth that has given the order,
and his Spirit will gather them together.
v.17
(He will oversee all this)
He allots their portions;
his hand distributes them by measure.
They will possess it for ever
and dwell there from generation to generation.
CONTINUE
TO CHAPTER 35