Preparing or Deliverance
Introduction
At Isaiah 34 we arrive at a scripture of prophecy with no happy beginning, no happy middle ground, nor a happy ending. Scriptures like this one are often skipped over because they do not seem to offer us any hope on the surface, but at a closer look we see that this scripture does not refer to the suffering of God’s people, but rather God’s enemies. Isaiah often prophesied about the events of his time while also looking to a future in the last days of God’s complete redemption. Yet in Isaiah 34 we read of a prophecy that is against Assyria (the enemy of Israel in Isaiah’s day) as well as on a broader scale against those who will come to worship the antichrist at the final judgement. Keys to a good understanding of this prophecy in particular are found in Numbers 20:14-21, Romans 3:21-26, Hebrews 12:16, and Revelation 14:11.
Isaiah 34:1-4 NRSV
[1] Draw near, O nations, to hear; O peoples, give heed! 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 hordes; he has doomed them, 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 wither like a leaf withering on a vine, or fruit withering on a fig tree.
God’s judgement of Assyria, the enemy who had already taken Jerusalem and was poised to do the same to Judah, is expanded into a larger prophecy in which Isaiah looked ahead to the final judgement. At this final judgement, all of heaven and earth will be judged and not one person nor one angelic being will be found righteous. For just as Romans 3:23 tells us–all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so at God’s final judgement no one will be found righteous according to the Law. Yet the distinction is made when those who through faith are justified by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. However there will be many who will willingly reject the justification that comes through faith in Jesus, and they will not be spared but will instead be judged according to their sins. These are those whom Isaiah proclaims will wither like the leaf on a vine, since they will have no righteousness by faith in Christ to stand on when God judges all nations.
Isaiah 34:5-7 NRSV
[5] When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, lo, it will descend upon Edom, upon the people I have doomed to judgment. [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 be soaked with blood, and their soil made rich with fat.
Isaiah proclaims that God’s judgement is not only for those on earth, but that it will begin with those spiritual beings in heaven, then it will descend upon “Edom”. Throughout scripture Edom was often used as an example of the ungodly nations that God would judge and destroy because they willingly set themselves against God as his enemies. The Edomites were Israel’s relatives and descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for a single meal. Hebrews 12:15-16 warns us to make sure that there is no immoral or godless person like Esau in our fellowship so that no root of bitterness may spring up and cause trouble. Yet these are those that Isaiah proclaims will have their land horrifically soaked with blood.
Isaiah 34:8-17 NRSV
[8] For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of vindication by Zion's cause. [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; no one shall pass through it forever and ever. [11] But the hawk and the hedgehog shall possess it; the owl and the raven shall live in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plummet of chaos over its nobles. [12] They shall name it No Kingdom There, 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.
This judgement would be a time to pay back God’s enemies for their offenses against him and his people, which again points to Assyria, to whom Isaiah proclaimed in the chapter right before this one, “Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed; you treacherous one, with whom no one has dealt treacherously! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously.”(Isaiah 33:1). This also points to the final judgement when those like the Edomites, who did not support Israel in the journey from slavery to freedom (Numbers 20:14-21), would be repaied with an inquenchible fire, much like the hellfire of torment which will burn forever on those who worship the Antichrist (Revalation 14:11).
Isaiah 34:14-17 NRSV
[14] Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-demons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest. [15] There shall the owl nest and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow; there too the buzzards shall gather, each one with its mate. [16] Seek and read from the book of the LORD: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without its 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 live in it.
Wild animals will take the place of the Edom’s inhabitants since the people of that nation will fall “Never to rise again” (Isaiah 34:10). And just as God’s blessings are stored up from generation to generation of his people, so Isaiah proclaims that God’s wrath is also stored up from generation to generation upon God’s enemies.
Reflection
We see then that a distinction is gracefully made in God’s treatment of those who submit to God and those who stand against him in this life as well as in the next. May we therefore strive to be on God’s side of every matter, for even Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”(Matthew 7:21). Let us also remember that although the graphic nature of Isaiah 34 seems to show a detailed description of God’s wrath, we must keep in mind that this is only an outcome reserved from those who stand opposed to God and his Divine will.
Prayer
Gracious God,
We praise you for the redemption won for us by faith in our Lord Jesus, for we know that no one can stand in your judgement since all have sinned and fallen short of your glory. Yet through our faith in the atoning blood of Christ we await your final judgement with no fear but in confidence and in love. Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we strive to live according to the Spirit and not to the flesh. Show us our errors so that we can repent. For although we stand covered in your grace, we will not leave our deeds unchecked as to dishonor the atonement you offer us through the death of your only begotten Son. Lead us on righteous paths, and when we are tempted provide us, O LORD, a window of escape. Forgive us our countless sins, and free us for joyful obedience. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!