Isaiah 34

The LORD Will Judge the Nations

1 Nations, come near and listen to me! Pay attention to what I'm about to say. Let the earth and everything in it listen. Let the world and everything that comes out of it pay attention.

2 The LORD is angry with all of the nations. His anger burns against all of their armies. He will totally destroy them. He will have them killed.

3 Those who are killed won't be buried. Their dead bodies will be thrown on the ground. They will give off a very bad smell. Their blood will cover the mountains.

4 All of the stars in the heavens will vanish. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll. All of the stars in the sky will fall like dried-up leaves from a vine. They will drop like wrinkled figs from a fig tree.

5 The sword of the LORD will finish its deadly work in the sky. Then it will come down to strike Edom. He will totally destroy that nation.

6 His sword will be red with blood. It will be covered with fat. The blood will flow like the blood of lambs and goats being sacrificed. The fat will be like the fat taken from the kidneys of rams. That's because the LORD will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah. He will kill many people in Edom.

7 The people and their leaders will be killed like wild oxen and young bulls. Their land will be wet with their blood. The dust will be covered with their fat.

8 That's because the LORD has set aside a day to pay Edom back. He has set aside a year to pay them back for what they did to the city of Zion.

9 The streams of Edom will be turned into tar. Its dust will be turned into blazing sulfur. Its land will become burning tar.

10 The fire will keep burning night and day. It can't be put out. Its smoke will go up forever. Edom will lie empty for all time to come. No one will ever travel through it again.

11 The desert owl and screech owl will make it their home. The great owl and the raven will build their nests there. God will use his measuring line to show how completely Edom will be destroyed. He will use his plumb line to show how empty Edom will become.

12 Edom's nobles won't have anything left there that can be called a kingdom. All of its princes will vanish.

13 Thorns will cover its forts. Bushes and weeds will cover its safest places. It will become a home for wild dogs. It will become a place where owls live.

14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas. Wild goats will call out to each other. Night creatures will also sleep there. They will find places where they can rest.

15 Owls will make their nests and lay their eggs there. And they will hatch them. They will take care of their little ones under the shadow of their wings. Male and female falcons will also gather there.

16 Look in the scroll of the Lord. There you will read that none of those animals will be missing. Male and female alike will be there. The LORD himself has commanded it. And his Spirit will gather them together.

17 The LORD will decide what part of the land goes to each animal. Then he will give each one its share. It will belong to them forever. And they will live there for all time to come.

Isaiah 34 Commentary

Chapter 34

God's vengeance against the enemies of his church. (1-8) Their desolation. (9-17)

Verses 1-8 Here is a prophecy of the wars of the Lord, all which are both righteous and successful. All nations are concerned. And as they have all had the benefit of his patience, so all must expect to feel his resentment. The description of bloodshed suggests tremendous ideas of the Divine judgments. Idumea here denotes the nations at enmity with the church; also the kingdom of antichrist. Our thoughts cannot reach the horrors of that awful season, to those found opposing the church of Christ. There is a time fixed in the Divine counsels for the deliverance of the church, and the destruction of her enemies. We must patiently wait till then, and judge nothing before the time. Through Christ, mercy is exercised to every believer, consistently with justice, and his name is glorified.

Verses 9-17 Those who aim to ruin the church, can never do that, but will ruin themselves. What dismal changes sin can make! It turns a fruitful land into barrenness, a crowded city into a wilderness. Let us compare all we discover in the book of the Lord, with the dealings of providence around us, that we may be more diligent in seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness. What the mouth of the Lord has commanded, his Spirit will perform. And let us observe how the evidences of the truth continually increase, as one prophecy after another is fulfilled, until these awful scenes bring in more happy days. As Israel was a figure of the Christian church, so the Edomites, their bitter enemies, represent the enemies of the kingdom of Christ. God's Jerusalem may be laid in ruins for a time, but the enemies of the church shall be desolate for ever.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 34

This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of all the antichristian nations of the world, and particularly of Rome, signified by Idumea; which is introduced with a call to a general attention to it, it being a very awful and solemn affair, Isa 34:1 utter and universal destruction is declared, as the effect of God's wrath, Isa 34:2 which is expressed by a dreadful scene of blood, to the melting of the mountains with it, and by the dissolution of the heavens, and the hosts of them, Isa 34:3,4 particularly the destruction of Idumea is denounced by the sword of the Lord being on it, and bathed with the blood, both of the common people, and of their princes, signified by various sorts of creatures, Isa 34:5-7 the cause of which is the Lord's vengeance for the controversy of his church and people, injured by Edom or Rome, Isa 34:8 whose desolate and calamitous state is represented as being like that of Sodom, Isa 34:9,10 and should be no more inhabited by men, nor governed by princes, but be the dwelling of wild beasts and unclean birds, Isa 34:11-15 all which is confirmed by the word and Spirit of God, Isa 34:16,17.