Isaiah 30:27

27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden[a] thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

Isaiah 30:27 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:27

Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far
From hence to the end of the chapter ( Isaiah 30:28-33 ) is a very full account, by way of prophecy, of the destruction of the Assyrian army by the Lord; and which is to be considered as a type of the destruction of antichrist, by and at the coming of the Lord Jesus. It is introduced with a "behold", as declaring something of moment and importance worthy of attention, and even wonderful. "The name of the Lord" is the Lord himself; unless it is to be understood of the angel that came in the name of the Lord, and destroyed Sennacherib's army; who may be said to come "from far", because he came from heaven; and from whence Christ the Angel uncreated, in whom the name of the Lord is, will come to judge the world, and to take vengeance on all his and his people's enemies, antichrist and all his followers: burning [with] his anger;
against the Assyrian monarch and his army. So our Lord, when he shall come forth to make war with the antichristian kings of the earth, his "eyes" shall be "as a flame of fire": and when he comes to judge the world, he will descend in "flaming fire", ( Revelation 19:12 ) ( 2 Thessalonians 1:7 ) the day of the Lord will burn as an oven, ( Malachi 4:1 ) : and the burden [thereof is] heavy:
the punishment inflicted, in his burning anger and hot displeasure, will be heavy, even intolerable, heavier than it can be borne, as the Targum paraphrases it; see ( Genesis 4:13 ) : his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring
fire;
the words he will utter, the sentence he will pronounce, will be dreadful, executed by the angel; so the sharp sword that goes out of the mouth of Christ, with which he will smite the nations; and such the awful sentence pronounced by him on the wicked, "go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire" see ( Revelation 19:15 ) ( Matthew 25:41 ) . So the Targum,

``from before him goes out the curse upon the ungodly, and his Word as a consuming fire.''

Isaiah 30:27 In-Context

25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. burden...: or, grievousness of flame
The King James Version is in the public domain.