The Lord—a Warrior and Vinekeeper—Saves His Sinful People

Isaiah 27

In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bloom and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isa 27:6)

Main Idea: The Lord shows his great power as a warrior and a vinekeeper, so his people will fill the world with fruit for his glory.

1. The Wicked Serpent Is Slain (27:1).
   1. The epic battle: the Lord versus Leviathan
   2. Who is Leviathan? What is the sword of the Lord?
   3. Already and not yet
2. The Vineyard Fills the World with Fruit (27:2-6).
   1. The vineyard of Israel, fruitful at last!
   2. All enemies thrown down
3. The People Are Punished by Measure but Only to Purify (27:7-11).
   1. Israel will be struck, but those who strike her will be struck harder.
   2. Israel’s bitter punishment purges her of sin.
   3. Israel’s cities are made desolate.
4. The Elect Are Gathered by Trumpet Call One by One (27:12-13).
   1. The people of God threshed by judgment
   2. The people of God gathered by trumpet
   3. The people of God assembled to worship
5. The Gospel of Jesus According to Isaiah 27

The Wicked Serpent Slain

Isaiah 27:1

The chapter opens with an awesome battle between two ancient enemies: the Lord vs. Leviathan. Like a heavyweight title fight, this battle is observed by angels and men as the central struggle in the universe. But the Lord’s victory is proclaimed here from the beginning, for the battle is between two infinitely unequal foes. Who is Leviathan? In this chapter the beast is described as a twisting, hissing serpent, a “monster that is in the sea.” The Lord brings judgment on this coiling serpent, putting it to flight with his “relentless, large, strong sword.”

Some Old Testament scholars have noted the similarities of this battle with the mythological struggle in the Babylonian creation myth, the Enuma Elish (Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 66–68).^[8] But there was no need for Isaiah to reach for a Babylonian myth. The Bible itself uses such imagery to picture God’s power over pagan nations. In celebrating the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea crossing, Psalm 74:13-14 says to the Lord, “You divided the sea with your strength; you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water; you crushed the heads of Leviathan; you fed him to the creatures of the desert.” So what is Leviathan? It seems reasonable to understand the “sea monster” both as the Gentile empires that rise out of the sea to destroy God’s people (Dan 7) and as “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil” (Rev 12:9). The serpent motivates the Gentile empires to invade Israel with a long, marching army like a twisting, hissing serpent. The Lord is able to defeat Leviathan with the “relentless, large, strong sword” of his word (see Heb 4:12). Therefore, Isaiah 27:1 represents the power of God to destroy his enemies (Satan and wicked empires) by his powerful word. This is a victory that has already been won through Jesus, and it will be won again at the end of the world. It is “already and not yet.”

The Vineyard Fills the World with Fruit

Isaiah 27:2-6

Verses 2-6 depict the nation of Israel (Jacob) as an abundantly fruitful vineyard. In contrast to the disappointing vineyard of Isaiah 5:1-7, this time the vineyard of the Lord will be worthy of a sweet song of celebration. The Lord will protect it and water it continually (v. 3). He is done being angry at his people and now speaks a word of comfort and blessing to a people formerly under his judgment. He will purge the vineyard of thorns and briers (symbols of the curse—Gen 3:18), guaranteeing its fruitfulness. Even though formerly his enemies, he urges his people to take hold of him for strength and make peace with him (vv. 4-5). As a result, Jacob will take root in the rich soil of God’s grace and “fill the whole world with fruit” (v. 6).

The People Are Punished by Measure but Only to Purify

Isaiah 27:7-11

These verses depict the good effects of God’s stern punishments of Israel. God decrees a bitter exile under the domination of Gentile nations, but even this punishment is measured. God did not punish Israel as he punished the nations that punished Israel. Those nations God eventually gave over to total extinction—not a remnant was left. But God preserved a remnant among the Jews (Isa 1:9), which he did not do among the Assyrians and Babylonians. The purpose of this punishment was to create a heart separation between the people and their idols. By exile, the people would learn to hate the pagan altars and Asherah poles that had caused God’s wrath; they would purge the land of those wicked emblems of paganism, crushing the altar stones like chalk with a fiery zeal. Exile would result in the cities of Israel and Judah (including Jerusalem) being completely deserted. But even in the severest judgments, God still remembered mercy.

The Elect Are Gathered by Trumpet Call One by One

Isaiah 27:12-13

“In that day,” when God is dealing so directly with Israel, he will thresh his people throughout the promised land (from the northern to the southern boundaries). Threshing involves separating the wheat from the chaff, and God would “clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out” (Matt 3:12). The Israelites will be tested and threshed “one by one,” and no one will escape the careful judgment of God. When the people of God are threshed, he will then send out a trumpet call (Num 10:3) to assemble the remnant that is left from Assyria and Egypt to gather at the holy mountain in Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

The Gospel of Jesus According to Isaiah 27

So many of the themes of Isaiah 27 prefigure the saving work of Jesus Christ. It was Christ whose death destroyed Satan, “that ancient serpent,” and freed his people from death (Heb 2:14-15; Rev 20:2). It was Christ’s resurrection and the irresistible power of the advancing kingdom of Christ that continues to crush Satan under our “beautiful feet” (Rom 10:15; 16:20). At his second coming Jesus will crush the final pagan empire of the antichrist and consign both the beast and the devil to the lake of fire, triumphing over them both by the harsh, powerful sword that comes from his mouth—his word (2 Thess 2:8; Rev 19:15; 20:10). It is Christ who guarantees the fruitfulness of God’s vineyard by being the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:1-8). God says in Isaiah 27:4, “I am not angry.” But only in Christ’s work of propitiation is the wrath of God finally averted from the people of God (Rom 3:25). In Christ alone are the remnant of Israel, chosen by grace, finally saved (Rom 11:5). And in Christ alone are the scattered people of God gathered together with the trumpet call of the gospel, assembled to worship God in the new Jerusalem (John 11:51-52; also Matt 24:31).

Applications

We should understand and celebrate each detail of the way Christ has defeated Satan, is defeating him, and will continue to defeat him. We should seek to bear fruit for the glory of God through abiding in Jesus (John 15:1-8). The fruit of our lives should extend to the ends of the earth, especially in our zealous efforts to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ to unreached people groups. We should also be zealous to crush the idolatry in our lives—worldliness, sexual immorality, greed, etc. Finally, we should be part of God’s clear “trumpet blast” to the nations, calling the elect from every tribe to faith in Christ, for that great day of assembly, for the worship of God and of the Lamb in the new Jerusalem.

Reflect and Discuss

1. How should verse 1 motivate us to study and master God’s Word so we can wield it as a spiritual sword (Eph 6:17) in battling sin and Satan more effectively?
2. How can we understand the great suffering our persecuted brothers and sisters are experiencing around the world in light of this chapter?
3. How would you contrast Isaiah 5:1-7 with 27:2-6? Why does the first vineyard of God fail so miserably and the second one succeed so handsomely?
4. How can Christians come to a fuller realization of God’s assertion about us: “I am not angry” (v. 4)?
5. Read verse 6 in light of John 15:1-8. What is the “fruit” that God wants to see in our lives?
6. How does verse 6 point to the fruit of the gospel around the world in the advance of missions?
7. How does verse 7 show that God deals differently with his chosen people in the world than he does with the wicked? How are their punishments far more severe than ours?
8. How is idolatry still an issue for Christians now as it was for Israel in the Old Testament?
9. How do verses 12-13 show God’s faithfulness to Israel after the exile? How does his power to regather them by a trumpet blast give you reason for worship?
10. How does the gospel of Jesus Christ draw together all the themes of this chapter?