#996 Isaiah 34 O Nations

 

Draw near, O nations, to hear,

and give attention, O peoples!

Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;

the world, and all that comes from it.

2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,

and furious against all their host;

he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.

3 Their slain shall be cast out,

and the stench of their corpses shall rise;

the mountains shall flow with their blood.

4 All the host of heaven shall rot away,

and the skies roll up like a scroll.

All their host shall fall,

as leaves fall from the vine,

like leaves falling from the fig tree.

5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;

behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,

upon the people I have devoted to destruction.

6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;

it is gorged 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,

a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7 Wild oxen shall fall with them,

and young steers with the mighty bulls.

Their land shall drink its fill of blood,

and their soil shall be gorged with fat.

8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,

a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch,

and her soil into sulfur;

her land shall become burning pitch.

10 Night and day it shall not be quenched;

its smoke shall go up forever.

From generation to generation it shall lie waste;

none shall pass through it forever and ever.

11 But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it,

the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.

He shall stretch the line of confusion over it,

and the plumb line of emptiness.

12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,

and all its princes shall be nothing.

13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,

nettles and thistles in its fortresses.

It shall be the haunt of jackals,

an abode for ostriches.

14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;

the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;

indeed, there the night bird settles

and finds for herself a resting place.

15 There the owl nests and lays

and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;

indeed, there the hawks are gathered,

each one with her mate.

16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord:

Not one of these shall be missing;

none shall be without her mate.

For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,

and his Spirit has gathered them.

17 He has cast the lot for them;

his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;

they shall possess it forever;

from generation to generation they shall dwell in it. Isaiah 34 ESV

Isaiah 34 Judgment on the nations

…20Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath. 21For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. 22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.… Matthew 24: 20-22

1-4. Draw near, O nations, to hear - This is the judgment of the nations, a great period of tribulation coming upon the world and its system. The disciples were directed to take the gospel to every nation, and this is the first part of it, that God is holy, that sin is come into the world and that a holy God must be just and remove sin. Do not leave them uninformed or as many who claim to know God now, yet ill informed. 

All the hosts of heaven shall rot away - The armies of mankind will be brought down and even the cosmos will fall. Everything that man sees as permanent or strong will be shaken.

…28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.… Matthew 24: 28-30

5-7. It descends for judgment upon Edom - Edom is representative of those devoted to destruction. Edom is also a name for Esau, Jacob's brother. 

…12not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!…

…15For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”… Romans 9: 12-17

“Edom was a sister nation to Israel, but it hated Israel more than any other nation. Throughout all of history we see a burning hatred of Edom against Israel. It is for this reason that Edom is frequently presented as a representative of all the nations that hated the Jews.” (Bultema)

ii. “Edom had derided and attacked Judah for centuries, but now God would avenge this hateful attitude that is so characteristic of the world’s ways.” (Wolf)

8-12. And her soil into sulfur - This is reminiscent of Sodom, God has not changed in His opposition to sin, but we are with even less excuse, for we know the history of all the nations. 

It's nobles - Over what? There are no permanent human habitations there; it is desolate.

13-17. Thorns shall grow over its strongholds - Ruins are all over our world, some of great architecture that baffles todays engineers, yet they are now inhabited by vines, monkeys, owls and snakes.

Indeed, there the hawks are gathered - The carcasses of men may be the carrion that originally draws them, like Matthew 24: 28. 

Seek and read from the book of the Lord - Look and see whether these things come to pass, if these are true sayings. Watch and be ever on the look out.

34But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare. 35For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”… Luke 21: 34-36