Isaiah 34:8

8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. ^[a]

Isaiah 34:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 34:8

For [it is] the day of the Lord's vengeance
The time which he has appointed to take vengeance on antichrist, his 1260 days, or years; being up, in which he is to reign; these being expired, the time is come for the Lord to avenge the blood of his saints; see ( Revelation 18:20 ) ( 19:2 ) : [and] the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion;
the church of God, which has been for many ages abused and injured by the antichristian powers, for which the Lord will have a controversy with them; he will appear in favour of his people, and plead the cause of Zion, and recompense their enemies for all the injuries they have done them; then they that have led into captivity shall go into captivity, and they that have killed with the sword shall be killed with it, ( Revelation 13:10 ) this will be a time of double recompence; and therefore perhaps the word is used in the plural number; it will be the time of rewarding antichrist as he has rewarded others; and it will be the time of the dead, that they shall be judged, and rewards given to God's servants the prophets, ( Revelation 18:6 ) ( 11:18 ) . The Targum is,

``the year of recompence, to take vengeance of judgment for the injury of Zion.''

Isaiah 34:8 In-Context

6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips 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 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.

8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9 Edom’s streams will be turned to tar, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch.

10 It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or of recompense for (Edom’s) hostility against Zion.