A translation and sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 03 June 2007
a. “Warning, high voltage! Do not immerse hairdryer in water. Warn children of the risk of death by electric shock!”
b. Why such alarming notices all over this hairdryer? Why raise such disturbing images in the minds of our children?
c. Because they are dealing with electricity which is powerful and can kill them if they do not follow the instructions. Follow the instructions, and the power works for you!
d. In this chapter, we have a similar warning notice of a Power that is dangerous when you do not follow instructions. We are going to look at the terrifying consequences of failing to follow the warnings of the Bible, at the Power behind these dangers – God Himself, and at how to follow His rules of safety.
e. Chapters 34-35 end the set of warning prophecies to Israel which began at chapter 28.
f. Just like the last set of prophecies against the nations in 13-27, this set of prophecies ends with pictures of end-time judgment.
g. At the end of the last set of prophecies Moab is singled out in chapter 25 as representative of the worldwide judgment of God, here Edom is singled out as representative of God’s global judgment, so this prophecy isn’t only about Edom; it is global.
1 Get close, nations, to hear,
and pay attention, peoples!
The earth will hear and her fullness,
the world and all that comes from her.
2 For anger belongs to Jehovah against all the nations,
and fury against all their host.
He has devoted them to destruction;
He has given then over to the slaughter.
3 And their slain will be cast out and their corpses;
their stench will go up,
and mountains eroded from their blood.
4 And all the host of the heavens will be decayed
and the heavens will be rolled up
like the scroll,
and all their host will wilt
like the wilting of leaves from the vine
and like wilted things from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has become drunk in the heavens.
Look! Upon Edom it descends
and upon a people of my ban to judgment.
6 Jehovah has a sword!
It is full of blood;
it has gotten greasy from the fat –
from the blood of lambs and goats,
from the fat of rams kidneys.
For Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozra
and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Then wild oxen will go down
and the bullocks with the mighty bulls,
and their land will be soaked from the blood
and their dust will be greasy from the fat.
8 For Jehovah has a day of vengeance –
a year of paybacks for the cause of Zion.
9 Then her streams will be changed to tar
and her dust to sulfur,
and her land become burning tar.
10 Night and day it will not be quenched;
her smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation she will lie waste for ever and ever,
and there will be no passers-by in her.
11 Pelican and porcupine will possess her,
and owl and raven will sit in her.
And He will stretch over her a line of desolation and stones of chaos.
12 As for her nobles, there is none there.
They will not call it a kingdom,
and all her princes will be nothing.
13 And thorns will go up in her strongholds;
nettle and thistle in her fortresses,
and she will be a home of coyotes, a yard of ostriches.
14 And wild desert creatures will meet hyenas,
and the he-goat will call upon his neighbor.
Surely there the Night-spirit will settle, and she will find for herself a home.
15 There an arrow-snake will nest and lay and hatch and gather in her shadow.
Surely there buzzards will be gathered, each with her neighbor.
16 Seek out of the book of Jehovah and call it out.
There is not missing a single one from these.
Each is not lacking its neighbor,
for my mouth itself has commanded,
and His Spirit Himself has gathered them.
17 And He Himself has caused a lot to fall for them,
and His hand has apportioned with the line for them.
Until forever they will posses her;
from generation to generation they will dwell in her.
Edom was descendents of Esau, the brother nation who hated Jacob cum Israel. As such, it represents all who hate God’s people.
What does this prophecy warn will happen to all who are like Edom?
1) A bloodbath. Slaughter of the people.
3 And their slain will be cast out and their corpses; their stench will go up, and mountains eroded from their blood… 5 For my sword has become drunk in the heavens. Look! Upon Edom it descends and upon a people of my ban to judgment… 7 Then wild oxen will go down and the bullocks with the mighty bulls, and their land will be soaked from the blood and their dust will be greasy from the fat.
a. v.3 cast out- i.e. not buried. This would be a great disgrace to them.
b. v.3 mountains will be melted-Del.,KJV / be drenched-NAS / be soaked-NIV / flow-Owen, ESV also v.7 land soaked full of blood and dust is greasy or saturated with fat.
c. Gross, yes, but as Young says, “The blood-red sin of rebellion deserves a blood-red punishment… He who really takes offense at what is here related has no true conception of the heinous character of sinful rebellion against the Holy One of Israel.”
d. v.7 young and mature bulls as well as wild ones - unicorns?-KJV - wild animal (Job. 39:9ff) w. strong horns (Deut. 33: 17; Ps. 22:21; 92:10) like American buffalo-Young. May indicate the slaughter of civilians along w. soldiers (Del.), or of various classes of leaders (consensus of Jewish commentators).
2) The stars will fall – the end of the world.
4 And all the host of the heavens will be decayed and the heavens will be rolled up like the scroll, and all their host will wilt like the wilting of leaves from the vine and like wilted things from the fig tree.
a. v.4 the hosts of heaven will rot-Own,ESV,Yng / dissolve to powder-Del.,KJV,NIV / wear away-NAS / fade-Slotki / DSS-valleys break apart
b. like leaves falling-LXX,KJV,ESV/ shriveling-NIV/ withering-NAS / fading-Young Ps. 102:26 “They shall perish, but You will endure; Yes all of them will wear out like a garment; like a robe you shall change them, and they shall pass away.”
c. The destruction of the heavens indicates that this is more than just about Edom.
i. Mat 24:27-30 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28) Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29) But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30) And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.”
ii. 2 Peter 3:10-12 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11) Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
iii. Rev. 6:12-17 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13) and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14) The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places… v.16 [at] the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17) for the great day of their wrath has come…”
“The punishment of the wicked nations which would begin with the overthrow of Assyria would go on until Edom was destroyed and culminate in the complete overthrow of all nature” (Young)
3) The land will burn up.
9 Then her streams will be changed to tar and her dust to sulfur, and her land become burning tar. 10 Night and day it will not be quenched; her smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation she will lie waste for ever and ever, and there will be no passers-by in her.
a. v.9 “streams will be changed to tar/pitch/asphalt” and will “burn forever” There are tar pits around the fault line along the Dead Sea there in what used to be Edom.
b. Do you remember the smell of a road crew pouring fresh asphalt? Can you just smell the foul odor? It is just part of God’s judgment against those who hate His people.
c. It will be like the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah in that same area before. Jer 49:10-18 “I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more... You shall not go unpunished... 13) For I have sworn by Myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes… 17) Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18) As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her…”
d. Language from this verse is also used in Rev. 19:3 to describe the smoke going up from Babylon as it burns. Perhaps speaking of the lake of fire.
e. This is the horror of not listening to God’s instructions. “It is… necessary that the judgments of God should be set forth as in a lively picture, that it may not only make a deep impression in their dull minds but may encourage believers by holy confidence, when they learn that the pride and rebellion of their enemies cannot at all hinder them from being dragged like cattle to the slaughter whenever it shall be the will of God.” - J. Calvin
4) Civilization will disappear.
11b And He will stretch over her a line of desolation and stones of chaos. 12 As for her nobles, there is none there. They will not call it a kingdom, and all her princes will be nothing. 13 And thorns will go up in her strongholds; nettle and thistle in her fortresses,
a. v.11 it’s as if God will use measuring tools to ensure that the cities are completely leveled until it is a “confused,” “chaotic” “desolation” like the “formless void” that existed on the first day of creation (Gen. 1:2).
b. v.12 They would also lose their rulers. In Edom, hereditary nobles were elected kings (Del.), and they prided themselves in their great rulers (Young), but this strength has also been wiped out. Whether we go with the KJV-“there is no one there to call a noble to the kingdom” or the NAS “there is no noble present to proclaim king,” the point is that the people are not there; only the wild animals are.
c. v.13 “Instead of palaces there will be pastures; instead of the fortress, a grass plot; instead of men calling a king,” goats will bleat to one another. (Young)
5) Wild animals will take over.
11 Pelican and porcupine will possess her, and owl and raven will sit in her… 13b and she will be a home of coyotes, a yard of ostriches. 14 And wild desert creatures will meet hyenas, and the he-goat will call upon his neighbor. Surely there the Night-spirit will settle, and she will find for herself a home. 15 There an arrow-snake will nest and lay and hatch and gather in her shadow. Surely there buzzards will be gathered, each with her neighbor. 16b There is not missing a single one from these. Each is not lacking its neighbor, 17b Until forever they will posses her; from generation to generation they will dwell in her.
a. v.11 lists birds that live in the wilderness along with an animal that literally “rolls up” perhaps a hedgehog or porcupine.
b. v. 13 The great fortified cities will become homes for jackals (The KJV confuses the word with a very similarly-spelled word and thus gets “dragon.”) and ostriches / owls. (This is in contrast to the homes of God’s people which in 35:7 will be peaceful!)
c. v.14 has some very interesting desert animals residing in the wasteland of Edom:
i. Howling wolves/ jackals/ hyenas (the word for “howl” is spelled the same as the word for “island” – thus the KJV “island creatures”),
ii. There are also billy-goats, which were a common animal sacrificed as sin offerings, although a number of scholars are convinced this is a satyr or goat-shaped demon,
iii. and next is the Hebrew word “Lilith,” which has a root meaning of “night,” and is either translated as a bird active at night night bird-ESV/ screech owl-KJV or as an evil spirit night hag-Own / LXX-satyrs / night monster-NAS/ night demon-Young In late rabbinic literature, she is depicted as a creature with wings and long, flowing hair (cf. Sirens in LXX v.14). May have been a real creature demonized in surrounding culture, for a goddess by that name is mentioned in ancient Assyrian, Chaldean, and Phoenician literature (TWOT). (cf. Mat 12:43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest”)
d. v.15 drives home the point of Edom becoming wilderness by mentioning even more desert creatures, including owls (or tree snakes) and hawks (or vultures).
e. v.16 adds the finishing touch by saying that not one of these kinds of wildlife will be missing- they will all be there. Once the snakes and vultures arrive, it is not very appealing for human settlement. This is life in rebellion to God. Hello! This is God’s big red warning label: if you ignore it, these are the terrible consequences!
f. Contrast w. 35:9-no lions or wild animals found where God’s people live. Because God instructs His people to take dominion, it is a result of human disobedience and a sign of God’s curse to have an increase in wildlife where you live.
2 For anger belongs to Jehovah against all the nations, and fury against all their host. He has devoted them to destruction; He has given over to the slaughter… 6 Jehovah has a sword! It is full of blood; it has gotten greasy from the fat – from the blood of lambs and goats, from the fat of rams kidneys. For Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom… 8 For Jehovah has a day of vengeance – a year of paybacks for the cause of Zion… 16b. for my mouth itself has commanded, and His Spirit Himself has gathered them. 17 And He Himself has caused a lot to fall for them, and His hand has apportioned with the line for them.
a. Why should the nations draw near and listen? v.2 “Because the LORD is angry” God intends to destroy them! This chapter pictures God as angry and warlike. Do not forget that God has this as part of His nature; He is not only love. God’s wrath is emphasized in this verse and in this chapter.
b. This is the plan of God; He has placed the nations under the ban-Targ. (v.2 & 5) utterly destroyed-KJV,NAS / will totally destroy-NIV / devoted to destruction-ESV
c. v.6 God will execute the bloodshed. He says, “My sword has drunk its fill-LXX,NIV,ESV /was drunk/inebriated-Young,Vulgate/ [bathed-KJV / satiated-NAS] God’s sword, which has been lying in heaven awaiting the command of the Lord to action, is “drunk” with anger and will swagger forth to execute vengeance on God’s enemies. (Young)
d. v. 6 Pictures an animal sacrifice
being made by God. “My sword is filled
with blood, it is” made fat-KJV/ made overflowing-NKJ/ sated-NAS/ covered-NIV/
gorged-Own, ESV/ greased-Slotki/ smeared-Young
In the Bible a great battle is often compared to the slaughter of sacrifice
(cf. Jer. 46:10; 50:27; 51:40; Ezek. 39:17-19; Rev. 19:17-18) – Young
e. v.9-10 God is behind all the burning, too.
i. 30:33-breath of the Lord like a stream of sulphur which “burns”
ii. 33:14 God as “everlasting burnings”
iii.
Why? Because justice is one
of the things He is passionate about. There are only a few things that God
does “night and day” according to Isaiah:
“Night & Day,” God: creates (4:5); watches
(21:8&27:3); punishes (34:10&28:19); and brings worshipers to Himself
(60:11). God is passionate not only about loving His people and getting glory
from His creation, but also about punishing sin! These are the things He will
do night and day.
f. v.8 The LORD has a day of vengeance and payback/recompense/retribution: God is the main character; He will eventually act to set things right, paying back evil to the wicked and giving gifts to His people.
i. 35:4 “…your God will come with vengeance, w. the recompense of God. He will come and save you."
ii. 61:2 “to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn”
g. v.16b God is also behind the wild animals: 3 emphatic subjects in a row emphasize God’s action. His Spirit gathered them (“them” is feminine plural, referring back to the various feminine plural birds and wild animals).
h. v.17 NIV has a good point, stating that God allots portions to these animals rather than casting lots like the other translations say, as though He were gambling & leaving things to chance. God is in complete control of what is going on as He sets up wild animals in the wasteland of the people who had hated Him.
i. God is in control over all things. He has the authority and power to say, “Hey you – the owl and the jackal – y’all move into Edom and stay there.” and not just that, He has the ultimate authority to say, “and you will stay there forever.”
j. Note that while Isaiah teaches that wild animals will inherit the nations, he also teaches in 57:13-“he that puts his trust in Me shall inherit the land.”
If all this happens to Edom, it will also happen to all who rebel against God and hate God’s people. What can we do to be safe from these calamities?
My hairdryer has some instructions: “Unplug after use. Do not place where dryer can fall or be pulled into tub, toilet, or sink. Do not use while bathing. If dryer falls into water, unplug immediately; do not reach into water.”
God is much more powerful and dangerous than my hairdryer. He too has instructions that mean the difference between life and death:
1 Get close, nations, to hear, and pay attention, peoples! The earth will hear and her fullness, the world and all that comes from her… 16 Seek from the book of Jehovah and call it out.
a. The first 2 imperatives in this chapter are in v.1 “draw near… and pay attention”
b. The other two are in v.16 “seek / search/ look and read aloud from the book.”
c. These commands at the beginning and end of the chapter state the main point for which the prophecy was written.
d. What is the book we should look in?
e. How can we “pay attention” and “hear” God? By “reading” and “listening” to the Bible. What you want can be found in the book of the LORD!
i. Read it for yourself in the morning before you go to work, or at other times in the day.
ii. Read it out for others to hear!
iii. Listen to it on your stereo in the car or in the house or walking around, or listen to scripture put to music.
iv. Put scripture verses on your computer screensavers, on your walls, your bathroom mirror or wherever your eyes look to remind them of God’s word.
v. When you hear others read the Bible, abandon whatever you are doing and pay attention.
vi. This attitude of exclusive respect toward God and His word is the path of safety. It lines us up with His plan for world history which is to gather worshippers to Himself from all over the world to honor Him.
So “come near to hear, and pay attention, peoples… seek from the Book of the Lord and read aloud… he that puts his trust in Me shall inherit the land!” (34:1&16; 57:13)
Nate Wilson’s website – Isaiah Sermon Expositions