Introduction:
The average person in the street today who does not know the LORD has no real concept of the judgement coming to the nations that reject the salvation that is only found in the Messiah our Lord Jesus (Acts 4:12). Hollywood may produce disaster movies, however, no matter how graphic; they fail to depict the scope and severity of divine judgement that is coming upon a Messiah hating, Messiah rejecting world. While the LORD has unnumbered multitudes of New Covenant believers in Messiah around the globe, for the most part the nations are in rebellion against the LORD. Even the western democracies that once had a Biblical Judeo-Christian heritage are now neo-pagan. In this chapter the LORD speaks through the prophet Isaiah regarding the coming judgement upon the nations as a whole but also zooms in on the judgement that is coming upon the Islamic world because of their militancy against His people Israel and against the Body of Messiah spiritually grafted into the Commonwealth of Israel.
Having said this, today the LORD is also saving untold millions of Muslims on a global scale in Islamic countries who are coming to faith in the Messiah as their saviour and Lord. Not only is this happening because of faithful New Covenant believers witnessing for the Lord Jesus, but also because many Muslims who have no access to the scriptures are encountering Him in dreams and visions which we are told in the prophet Joel and in the Book of Acts will be a prominent feature of these last days which will usher in Messiah’s Second Coming (Joel 3:28) (Acts 2:17). Added to this, the gospel of the kingdom is being preached today in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, which is the last great end-time sign that will usher in the end of this present age which is rapidly approaching (Matthew 24:14).
Today in many Churches in the western democracies the concept of judgement is being neglected and minimised in many pulpits. One thing we see in scripture is that there is always a balance between judgement and mercy. The prophets, the apostles and the Messiah our Lord Jesus Himself in their preaching to the masses always gave people firstly the Law of God before giving them the grace and mercy of God. Repentance from sin, and a returning to the LORD was always preached first before seasons of refreshing came from the presence of the LORD (Acts 3:19). When you look at the preaching of great men like John Wesley, George Whitfield, William Booth, A.R. Torrey, D.L. Moody and many others, who were faithful to the Word of God and saw multitudes saved and sanctified during the course of their ministries, these servants of God firstly gave men and women the demands of God’s law before giving them the grace of His mercy and love.
God’s Word says; “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight” (Proverbs 11:1). If one primarily preaches only about judgement, while neglecting to also preach about mercy, it is a false balance and is not sanctioned by the LORD. On the other hand if one only preaches about the love of God, while neglecting to preach on the coming judgement upon sin, then, this also, is a false balance and not sanctioned by the LORD. As we come to this chapter we see the judgement of God poured out upon the nations especially upon the Islamic world for its persecution of God’s people and this is the main focus of this chapter. The judgement upon Edom is the main thrust of Chapter 34.
In Isaiah Chapter 35 we see the mercy of God towards the redeemed and the joy they exhibit of their salvation. In the accepted earliest Biblical manuscripts of both Testaments there are no chapter and verse divisions in both the Hebrew and the Greek. These were added later in the 13th Century. So in the text Chapters 34-35 can be joined. Chapter 34 emphasises judgement while Chapter 35 emphasises salvation. In this study we will focus on the coming judgement. In the next study we will focus on the joy of all those who have been redeemed and, who after repenting, have experienced seasons of refreshing from the presence of the LORD. Now let’s look at the text…
Isaiah Chapter 34: Exposition
(Vss.1-4) “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!”
We know from God’s Word that since ancient times God spoke to our forefathers of faith through the prophets which we have recorded in the Bible at many times and in various ways, but in the last days He has spoken to us by His Son the Messiah our Lord Jesus, who He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe. God the Son our Lord Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word, who, after He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3). The Messiah our Lord Jesus is God’s final word to the nations concerning salvation and God has nothing more to say. Here through the prophet Isaiah the LORD is calling not only the nations in the time of Isaiah to sit up and take notice of what He is saying to them, but to the generation of the Last Days as this passage of God’s Word also applies to the end of this age, especially as we see it drawing to a close. God is saying; “pay attention! Hear what I have to say to you!” It is not some casual take it or leave it seeker friendly approach, but a command to the people of every nation to hear what He is saying and to change their ways because His appointed day of judgement is coming and that by the man He has ordained to carry through this task, the Messiah our Lord Jesus.
As it is written; “Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). This command of the LORD to the nations to sit up and to pay attention is resounding around the wold today as we see political leaders tossed to and fro upon the stormy seas of the nations in turmoil not knowing the way out (Luke 21:25). The challenge for all of us, including myself, is are we hearing what God is saying in these last of the last days and paying attention? for the time of the end is near, Then Isaiah continues…
(Vs.2-3) “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. Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.”
When the Lord Jesus comes back the armies of the nations of the world will be gathered against Jerusalem as an affront to the sovereignty of God and to the Messiah our Lord Jesus. God will have drawn these armies of the nations into the valley of His Judgement because of the way they have treated Israel (Joel 3:1-3) (Zechariah 14:1-5) (Ezekiel 38:1-6). These armies of the nations will fall on the mountains of Israel, destroyed by fire and the carrion birds of the air will feast on their grilled carcases (Ezekiel 39:1-8) (Revelation 19:17-18). These armies of the nations will have all gone in wholesale lots into the winepress of the wrath of God (Joel 3:12-13) (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 14:17-20) (Revelation 19:15). And then Isaiah continues…
(Vs.4) “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.”
In its context this describes the events in the heavens that will occur just before the Lord Jesus comes back. We know that the constellations will be shaken just prior to His return. Men and women from every walk of life will seek to hide themselves from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? (Revelation 6:12-17) (Isaiah 13:9-13; 24; 34:2-4) (Isaiah 30:25). A severe hail storms will sweep across the earth as it swept through Egypt in the time of Moses. Egypt of course metaphorically in the Bible is used frequently as a reference to the Egypt of this world (Exodus 9:18, 22) (Revelation 8:7; 11:19).
When this time of God’s judgement on the nations, that will inevitably become His wrath falls, those who have been saved and are by faith sheltering under the protection of the Messiah’s justifying, atoning, cleansing and sanctifying blood, will be protected from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9). When God sees the blood of the Messiah sprinkled upon the altar and doorframes of their hearts He will pass over them as He passed over the Israelites sheltering under the lamb’s blood on the night when God judged Egypt (Exodus 12:13, 23)
We who have been born again by the Spirit of God will be protected because the Messiah our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed on our behalf whose atoning blood has paid for our sins in full (1 Corinthians 5:7) (Ephesians 1:7) While as the Body of Messiah we are destined for tribulation in this world we are not destined for God’s wrath (John 16:33) (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9). In a very strong wind a tree with shrivelled leaves and fruit will be shaken and the rotten leaves and fruit will fall to the ground. The wind of God’s judgements will deal with everything on earth that is spiritually corrupted by fallen man! Now God zooms in on the Islamic armies that have led the other armies of the nations to attack Israel. Let’s now look at this…
(Vs.5-7) “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed. 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. 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.”
Here we have a picture of the LORD descending in a bloody judgement that can be likened to the blood and guts of animals being killed. It is a great slaughter we are told. It is likened unto a great sacrifice. Who are these people described and where have they come from? The text tells us who they are. Firstly we see Bozrah mentioned. In ancient Biblical times there was a city of Bozrah located in Edom (Southern Jordan today) and another Bozrah located in Moab (Central Jordan today). The Bozrah mentioned in this text is the one in Southern Jordan and the gateway into Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Islamic world today. Secondly; we know from the prophet Ezekiel that Edom included Saudi Arabia as we are told in the Book of Ezekiel that Teman and Dedan were located in the geographical area of Edom. On ancient maps of the Middle-East you can see Teman and Dedan located in Edom which geographically were located in what is today Saudi Arabia (Ezekiel 25:12-14).
What Isaiah is describing is God’s Judgement on Islam and the sacrifice is the armies of Islam being slain by the sword of the LORD as He wields His Word to strike them down. This will happen when the Lord Jesus comes back and the armies of the Islamic antichrist are slain in wholesale lots by the rider on the white horse (2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2:8) (Revelation 19:19-21). These armies go down into the pit of hell in wholesale lots and they are specifically named and are all Islamic today (Ezekiel 32:18-32). The Messiah’s garments will be stained with the blood of His enemies as we read in Isaiah 63:1-6 which also mentions Edom and Bozrah. In Revelation 19:11-16 we see the same end-time judgement, not only coming upon Islam, but also coming upon the nations of the world. Having said this, Isaiah’s prophecy from verse 5ff focuses on the Islamic world and the geographical region we know as Saudi Arabia today. It will be the day of God’s vengeance upon His enemies and those of His redeemed people. Let’s now look at this…
(Vs.8) “For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.”
In Psalm 87:2–3 it says, “The Lord loves the gates of Zion, more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God.” According to this verse, Zion is synonymous with city of God, and it is a place that God loves. Zion is Jerusalem. Mount Zion is the high hill on which David built a citadel. It is on the southeast side of the city. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the meaning of Zion expanded further to include the temple area (Psalm 2:6; 48:2, 11–12; 132:13). This is the meaning found in the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:6, “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.” In the Old Testament Zion is used as a name for the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 40:9), the land of Judah (Jeremiah 31:12), and the nation of Israel as a whole (Zechariah 9:13).
“Zion” in the Bible spiritually defined is a name for the redeemed people of God corporately and where God dwells among His people by His Spirit. In the Old Testament Zion refers figuratively to Israel as the people of God (Isaiah 60:14). In the New Testament, Zion refers to God’s spiritual kingdom. We have not come to Mount Sinai, says the apostle, but “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22). Peter, quoting Isaiah 28:16, refers to Messiah as the Cornerstone of Zion: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6).
Mount Zion as a geographical area is currently the centre of much dispute. The Bible is clear that, one day, Zion will be the sole possession of the Lord Jesus, and Zion, the nation and the city will be restored. The Millennial Temple will sit upon the original site of Mt Zion which will be raised higher that all other mountains. In the Bible Mountains can refer to kingdoms as well (Revelation 17:9). The Messianic Kingdom will be above all other earthly kingdoms (Isaiah 2:1-5). As Isaiah also prophesies; “Awake, awake, Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion; Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; For the uncircumcised and the unclean Will no longer come into you” (Isaiah 52:1). And “the children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 60:14).
Today in every Islamic country Jews and Christians are persecuted and martyred for their faith in Messiah our Lord Jesus. While God allows this He has a day where His vengeance will be unleashed, and it will be a blood bath on those who have maligned, oppressed, persecuted and killed His people. God is delaying His judgements because He does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), even though in His foreknowledge He knows who will be saved and who will be lost. Even knowing this, He still gives men and women the choice, and in the end it will be choosing between Christ or the Antichrist, or between the cross or the crescent. The day of vengeance has already been set and when that day comes His wrath will be poured out without restraint, without any reprieve!
As Rabbi the apostle Paul writes to the assembly at Thessalonica that was being persecuted by the Roman Empire; “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified [f]in His saints on that day, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). In their time the city of ‘Babylon’ was Rome (1 Peter 5:13). Today the city of ‘Babylon’ would have to be Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the city in a desert by the Red Sea whose destruction will be heard at the Red Sea (Revelation 17:3).
As Jeremiah the prophet wrote; “Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them. At the sound of their fall the earth will quake; their cry will resound to the Red Sea. Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labour (Jeremiah 49:20-22).
In Isaiah we also read; “This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” Today Elam is located in Iran. It is highly likely that the City of Mecca will be hit by missiles from Iran. The city of ‘Babylon’ will burn. Saudi Arabia will be betrayed by Iran the betrayer.
We are also told that this end time ‘Babylon’ is the ‘woman’ that John saw that was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus” (Revelation 17:6). Who is shedding the blood of the saints today? Yes we have the saints being slain in North Korea, in China and in Russia; however, these nations cannot be compared with the Islamic world where both Jews and Christians are being butchered every day. Fundamentalist Jihad minded Muslims such as Iran see Mecca as the harlot of Islam through its trade and interaction with the west via the Sea lanes and especially its association with Israel. The Saudis are afraid of Iran today, hence the Saudis are aligning themselves with Israel and with the west for security.
Iran is the head of the snake that is controlling the terrorists in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen perpetrating acts of terror even happening in the western democracies through Islamic migration of young radicalised Muslims active in college campuses and working at every level of society, including the so called sacred halls of western political establishments. Iran hates the Jews but Iran’s greater goal is the destruction of America and western Christendom. Destroying Israel is the springboard as it were for the globalization of Islam, the fundamental ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. Let’s continue…
(Vs.9-10) “Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulphur; her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.”
The desert of Saudi Arabia is rich in underground oil. They have streams of oil flowing underground. This could be defined as “the maddening wine” that the western nations have become “inebriated” with the oil trade via the Sea that has made the nations that trade with her rich from her excessive luxuries (Revelation 18:3). While ‘Babylon’ is defined as a city the whole world in fact is enslaved to the spirit of ‘Babylon’ which we see in the luxury and opulence and hedonism of the western democracies that reflect the idolatry, the culture, the multi-religions and demonic power of Ancient Babylon.
This city in the desert by the Red Sea which would have to be Mecca in one hour will burn such as would occur with a massive missile strike from Iran. She would be the harlot of Islam that rides on the back of the beats empire of radical Islam which bucks her off from its back and ‘toasts her for breakfast’ (Revelation 17:15—18). The whole Saudi Arabian peninsula would become a blazing inferno of burning pitch (oil) as the underground oil reserves burn out of control polluting the land and the atmosphere and making the region uninhabitable by humans. The merchants that traded by sea with Mecca would stand afar off wailing and lamenting the loss of their oil trade with the harlot of Islam (Revelation 18:11-19). In the closing verse of this chapter we see a land that God has made inhabitable for humans; such will be the extent of His judgement and fury. Let’s continue…
(Vs.11-14) “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. Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom, all her princes will vanish away” Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls. 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.”
God’s plumb line of measuring the geographical region is one of chaos and desolation, depicting judgement. As for the ‘nobles,’ those despots of Islamic tyranny that led their armies against the nation of Israel and the Body of Messiah, will have no kingdom in Edom and will vanish away, never to be heard from again! Such will be the judgement on the militant Jihad-minded Islamic world and the Ayatollah’s and Imams and of all other Islamic leaders. At His Second Coming the Messiah our Lord Jesus will totally obliterate Islam from the face of the earth! The mention of thorns,, nettles and brambles overrunning Edom’s strongholds and becoming a haunt for jackals, a home for owls, and where desert creatures will meet with hyenas, with wild goats bleating, and with the night creatures that also lie down and find for themselves places of rest, depicts a scene where there has been the darkness of demonic activity and is now in chaos and desolation.
In the Book of the prophet Obadiah we see why God judged Edom and it also has a prophetic application to the end of this present age. Obadiah clearly predicted Edom’s destruction (Obadiah 1:1, 8), and his prophecy presents a list of specific reasons for God’s impending judgment: Their heart of pride: “The pride of your heart has deceived you” (Obadiah 1:3). Their violent acts against Israel: “Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever” (Obadiah 1:10). Their attitude toward Jerusalem’s destruction: “Do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin” (Obadiah 1:12). Their plundering and looting of Jerusalem: “Do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity” (Obadiah 1:13). Their mistreatment of Jerusalem’s survivors: “Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives” (Obadiah 1:14). In addition to these specific sins, Edom had been a long time enemy of Israel, ever since the time of the Exodus (Numbers 20:14-21), when the Edomites had acted churlishly toward the refugees. Through Obadiah, God provided a list of eight “do not’s” (Obadiah 1:12-14), a list which Edom obviously ignored. Adding to their culpability is the fact that the Edomites were related to the Israelites.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob and grandson of Abraham. This family tie should have incited compassion for Israel’s plight; instead, it made Edom’s actions even more repulsive, since they were opposing not only God’s chosen people but also their own relatives. Edom’s hostility towards Israel is characteristic of Islamic ideology and militancy today towards Jews and Christians. The prophets in the Old Testament prophesied for three time frames. Firstly for their own time, secondly for the first coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus, thirdly for His Second Coming and the events leading up to it, and the Millennial kingdom He will establish on earth after He has come back.
Prophetically, we are also told in God’s Word that these armies of the nations that will attack Jerusalem will be harvested by one of God’s angels wielding a sharp sickle with which he will reap and cast these armies into the winepress of God’s wrath and be trampled in that winepress so that their blood will flow out of His winepress, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 180 miles (Revelation 14:19-20). It will be God’s payback time for the militant hostile malevolent Jihad-minded Islamic world that has dared to raise itself up against the people of God!
As for the geographical region of Saudi Arabia it will remain uninhabited by humans as a reminder to the people born in the Millennium of God’s judgement on His enemies in the previous age. It will also be a place where those who were slain will be viewed by the inhabitants of earth. Isaiah also seems to allude to this when God says through His prophet; “From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,” says the LORD. “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against Me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind” (Isaiah 66:23-24).
Having said these things “the regeneration” of the earth will commence in the Millennial Messianic Kingdom of God after the Messiah our Lord Jesus has returned. The earth itself will become like Eden was before the fall of man. While the region of Saudi Arabia (Edom) will remain uninhabitable for humans, God in His love for all of His creatures will settle some of them there even in that place of desolation; as we read…
(Vs.15-16) “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.” 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. He allots their portions; His hand distributes them by measure. They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation.”
We are told in the Word of God that “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion. The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made. All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints will bless You” (Psalm 145:8-10). And so this chapter ends with the end of chaos and desolation as we see Eden being reborn as it were and the whole earth regenerated as the Messiah our Lord Jesus said it would be in “the regeneration of all things, when He sits on His glorious throne in the Millennial Messianic kingdom along with His twelve apostles judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). We too who have loved His appearing will also co-reign with Him over the nations of the world (Revelation 2:26-27) (Revelation 5:10). In that day there will only be one flock and one shepherd and in that day the regeneration of all things will be glorious! As Isaiah also tells us; “On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10).
