Chapters 28 through 35 give local prophecies that support the accuracy of the more global prophecies. Israel's two main concerns are the kingdom of Assyria in the east and Egypt in the west. The previous chapter interrupted these prophetic warnings with a promise of a future righteous king. In this chapter Edom, a nation to the southeast, represents the enemies of Jerusalem. (Other prophecies about Edom occur in Isaiah 63 and in the book of Obadiah.)
Isaiah 34:1-4, Judgment coming to all nations
Because of Edom's attacks on Israel, YHWH will attack Edom. (See 2 Kings 16:6-7 for one invasion by Edom.)
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!
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.
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 shriveled figs from the fig tree.
A horrible time of judgment is coming, a horrible time of death and destruction to the nations. At the end, Isaiah pictures the sky dissolving, being rolled up like a scroll.
Isaiah 34:5-7, Bathed in blood
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.
The sword of God is bathed in blood as the people of Edom are "totally destroyed." The blood is of people or (suddenly?) sacrificed lambs and goats.
Bozrah is probably the location of modern day Busaira, in Jordan.
Isaiah 34:8-10, Destruction of Edom
For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
her dust into burning sulfur;
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.
Because of Edom's attacks on Israel, YHWH will attack Edom. (See 2 Kings 16:6-7 for one invasion by Edom.)
Grogan argues that this chapter has both "local" prophecies (historical events of Isaiah's time) and "universal" prophecies, of future events at the end of days (as in the New Testament book of Revelation.)
Isaiah 34:11-15, Overrun by desert creatures
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.
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.
Edom will become a wild place, returning to the desert animals. The phrase "measuring line of chaos" and its parallel, "plumb line of desolation" give images of a builder with a tape measure or a plumb line, but here the builder is pulling down the structure! The words "chaos" and "desolation" harken back to Genesis 1:2 (say both Motyer and Grogan) but here God is reversing His creative acts.
As elsewhere in the Old Testament, the translation of various Hebrew words for wild animals is disputed. We do not have enough clear occurrences of these ancient terms and so some guesswork (involving Hebrew root words and loan words from other ANE languages) is involved.
Grogan argues that the Hebrew in verse 12 translated "have nothing there" is really a sarcastic name for a kingdom: "No Kingdom Here." In Isaiah 30:7 Isaiah calls Egypt, "Rahab the Do-Nothing". A similar insult is intended here.
Isaiah 34:16-17, The scroll of YHWH
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.
God has a plan that will not fail. It is all included in the "scroll of the LORD". (See Revelation 5:1-5 for a similar scroll.)
The original allotment of land occurred in Joshua 14:1-5.
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