Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples let the earth hear, and all its fulness; the world, and all that cometh forth of it.
Isaiah 34 opens like a court summons: the nations are called to come and listen. Commentators read what follows as a judgment still to come, focused on Edom but reaching the whole world.
The call goes out to everyone. One writer notes how little answer it gets today.
All the earth is called to hear (v. 1); it is very far now from being willing to answer such an appeal.
The judgment that follows climbs higher than the nations themselves.
Isaiah 34 opens with a call to all the world to listen, because all nations have to face the judgments of God. Those judgments will reach even to "the host of heaven," because there is to be that conflict in the heavens which we read of in Revelation 12:7-8. As a result Satan will lose his foothold there, and his fury will be shut up on earth. But in a very special way the sword of the Lord will come down upon Idumea — that is, upon Esau in his descendants, who are under the curse in a special way.
Edom, the land of Esau's descendants, is also called Idumea. One writer explains what stirred God's judgment against it.
The full stroke of judgment comes upon the Edomites in the day of Jehovah. Though the scene is set in Idumea, the question is about all the nations... The day of the calamity of His people! If there is anything He repeats over and over again, it is the day of their calamity. (Compare Obadiah 11-14.) He means blessing, and nothing rouses His judgment more than this: when deep sorrow falls on them through their sin and strikes their hearts, men take advantage of it to behave proudly against them. This was the feeling of Edom. So we may see how true these principles of God are, and how solemn it is for us to face the duty that suits us at the present time.
Edom is also where Israel's enemies gather.
Isaiah 34 reveals the terrible judgments which will fall upon the other nations in Edom (compare Isa. 63). Here it is those who have oppressed Zion, and the vengeance that God takes on oppressors. Idumea itself is the particular object of this. But all the enemies of Israel who joined with Edom — the armies of the nations gathered against Jerusalem — will perish by the judgment of Jehovah in the land of Edom.
The language of dissolving heavens has led many to read the chapter as the end of everything. One commentator resists that, on the simple ground that a specific country is named.
In Isaiah 34 we read that "the indignation of Jehovah is upon all nations." It is clear enough that in its full sense this is a future scene. No doubt the indignation of Jehovah did fall on particular nations in times past. But it would be hard to say it fell on all nations in the marked way described here... When the wicked dead stand before the great white throne to receive their doom, it will be no question of Idumea or any other land... Here it is the judgment of the earth while the earth still stands. It is not that eternal judgment where the old creation disappears to make way for the "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
Because the summons goes to all peoples, this judgment must be distinguished from what God does with His own people at the same time.
Isaiah 34:1-4 may be compared for the world-wide dealing of God "In the day of His vengeance, the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion" (ver. 8). His dealing with all nations will be thus very distinct from His dealing with Israel, though it may be at the same time.
God judges Edom as Esau's line. That way of judging — going back to the beginning — has a lesson for us.
God, we may see, always goes back to the beginning when He judges... When the time of judgment comes, God traces evil up to its root. So our wisdom as Christians, when we fail, is to go back to our first step away. We never get right by only judging this or that outbreak; we should always search out the cause... It is not enough to judge our acts. Judging self is a very different process. We need to see the hidden sources inside ourselves.
The chapter is not the end of the story; the next one answers it.
Isaiah 35 gives a picture of the blessing that follows the judgment — the blessing even of the wilderness, which depends on the blessing of Israel. The redeemed of Jehovah will go up to Zion with joy and in full safety, and all mourning will pass away for ever.
- Summoned — The call reaches every nation and the earth itself. Few answer it today.
- Scope — Edom answers for its pride in Israel's day of trouble, yet the judgment covers all nations and reaches into the heavens.
- Sequence — This judgment falls on the earth while it still stands. The last judgment, at the great white throne, names no country at all.
- Source — God traces the end back to the beginning. He judges the root, not just the outbreak — and that is our pattern for judging ourselves.
- Sequel — This chapter clears the ground for Isaiah 35: the wilderness glad, the redeemed coming home, sorrow gone for ever.
For the wrath of Jehovah is against all the nations, and [his] fury against all their armies he hath devoted them to destruction, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
Isaiah 34 opens by calling the whole earth to listen. This verse gives the reason: God's anger is not aimed at one guilty people, but at every nation and every army. The words are blunt. The destruction is already decided and the slaughter already handed over. So when does this fall, why does it fall, and what comes after it?
Nothing in past history matches the scale described here. God has judged single nations before. But one writer argues that history has never seen the sweep of this chapter. He also sets it apart from the last judgment of all.
In times past the anger of Jehovah did fall on particular nations, no doubt. But it would be hard to say it fell on all nations in the marked way described here… When the wicked dead stand before the great white throne to receive their doom, there will be no question of Edom or any other land. Here it is the judgment of the earth while it still exists. It is not that eternal judgment where the old creation disappears to make way for the "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
The chapter goes on to name a small nation, Edom (Idumea), the people descended from Esau. Yet the verse speaks of all nations. Commentators hold both together. One land becomes the place where God settles a much wider account.
Isaiah 34 reveals the terrible judgments which will fall upon the other nations in Edom. Here it is those who have oppressed Zion, and the vengeance that God takes on oppressors. Idumea is itself the particular object of this. But all the enemies of Israel joined with Edom — the armies of the nations gathered against Jerusalem — will perish by the judgment of Jehovah in the land of Edom.
Why "furious against all their host"? Verse 8 names the reason. The anger has a history behind it, and Isaiah is not the only place it appears.
In the last book of the Old Testament God says that He hated Esau, and the short book of Obadiah is taken up entirely with predictions against him. Here we find the same thing. Verse 8 tells us that vengeance falls on them as payment for "the cause of Zion." In Zion God chose to have mercy upon Jacob, while Edom pursued them with undying hatred.
God's judgment reaches for the root, not just the latest offence. One writer draws that out, then turns it on the reader.
God always goes back to the beginning when He judges… So our wisdom as Christians, when we fail, is to go back to our first departure. We never get right by only judging this or that outburst. We should always search out the cause… It is not enough to judge our acts. Judging self is a very different thing. We need to see the hidden sources within ourselves.
Notice the order. God calls the nations to come near and listen, and only then announces what He has decided. One writer finds the same pattern later in Isaiah and names the principle behind it.
As always, God warns before He acts in judgment. So before He carries out judgment on the idolatrous nations, He invites them to listen to Him in silence.
The chapter ends in ruin: Edom left to wild animals. One writer points to what God sets right beside that picture.
This is a terrible picture of a vast, empty land, given up as it were to wild beasts, birds of prey and reptiles. Right beside it, God shows that the day which sees this desolation for Edom starts Israel's blessing. And it is not only Israel rejoicing. Jehovah will form a large and growing scene for His own glory, where once there was misery and barrenness.
- Warned — God calls the nations to come near and listen before anything falls. He tells them what He will do before He does it.
- Traced — God does not judge only the latest offence. He goes back to the root. A believer should judge himself the same way.
- Deserved — the fury answers the cause of Zion. Edom hated the people God chose to show mercy to.
- Wide — the chapter names one land, Edom. Yet the armies of all the nations gathered against Jerusalem perish there. This is still judgment on a world that goes on existing, not the final judgment.
- Followed — the same day leaves Edom a wasteland and opens Israel's blessing. Barren ground becomes a scene for God's glory.
And their slain shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up from their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
This verse sits inside a call for the whole earth to listen while God deals with the nations gathered in Edom. Unburied bodies, rising stench, mountains soaked with blood — has this already happened, and does it touch only one small nation?
The place named in the chapter is Edom, also called Idumea — Israel's neighbour and old enemy. But the slaughter here is not a border war. One writer marks how far the picture reaches:
The full stroke of judgment comes upon the Edomites in the day of the Lord. Here, though the scene is set in Idumea, the matter concerns all the nations.
The scale has no match in history:
This is one of the darkest chapters in the Bible. It describes a worldwide judgment such as has never taken place in the history of the world. The Lord's indignation then falls on all nations and on their armies.
Edom descends from Esau, Jacob's brother. Its place in this chapter is not random; it is the settling of an old grudge held against God's people:
In the last book of the Old Testament God says that He hated Esau. Obadiah, one of the Minor Prophets, deals entirely with predictions against him. Here we find the same thing. Verse 8 tells us that vengeance falls on them in payment for "the controversy of Zion." In Zion God chose to have mercy on Jacob. Edom, on the other hand, pursued them with undying hatred, as we see in Psalm 83:3-6.
What rouses God's judgment is kicking a people while they are down — and that habit did not stop with Edom:
He means blessing for His people. Nothing rouses His judgment more than this: their sin brings deep sorrow that strikes their hearts, and men then use the moment to act proudly against them. There was never a truer picture of the spirit of man. Perhaps only one thing matches it — how Christendom feels towards those who are seeking to walk in the way that pleases God.
Many readers file this verse under "the last judgment." The details do not fit:
It is clear enough that in its full meaning this is a future scene. In times past the Lord's indignation no doubt fell on particular nations. But it would be hard to say it fell on all nations in the marked way described here... When the wicked dead stand before the great white throne to receive their doom, it will be no question of Idumea or any other land... Here it is the judgment of the earth while it still exists. It is not that eternal judgment where the old creation disappears to make way for "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
That leaves the timing, and how to read such extreme images:
The prophecy may have had a partial fulfilment already. But it awaits its complete and exact fulfilment before the great white throne of Revelation 20. That throne comes at the end of the thousand-year reign of peace and blessing, so this judgment must come before that reign... Of course the language is highly figurative; everyone admits that. The question is, figurative of what? Of heavenly things or of earthly? Of eternity or of time? Certainly of earthly things, and of time.
If this is not the judgment of the dead, it falls on people still alive and going about their business:
This terrible judgment of the living is lost for Christendom. The Jews knew little of a judgment of the dead. They were used to judgments on the living, where God stepped in and dealt with people visibly in their lifetime. Christians have largely lost sight of the judgment of the living, because they expect judgment only after death. But there will be a judgment of the living as well as a judgment of the dead. They like to forget it. The judgment of the dead is further off, so it does not press so directly on the way one walks on the earth.
The next chapter belongs with this one:
Here is a terrible picture of a vast wasteland for man, given over to hungry wild beasts, birds of prey and reptiles. Set right beside it, God shows that the day which sees Edom desolate begins Israel's blessing. And it is not only Israel rejoicing. The Lord will form a large and growing scene for His own glory where once there was misery and barrenness.
- Cause. Edom hated God's people and gloated over their day of trouble. That brings the sword down. God settles "the controversy of Zion."
- Scope. The place is Edom, but the matter is all the nations. Nothing in world history has yet matched this.
- Timing. This is not the great white throne. It is judgment on an earth still standing and still populated — the judgment of the living, falling before the thousand-year reign of peace.
- Blind spot. People push judgment past death, and so lose the one that touches the way they walk today.
- Result. The same day that leaves Edom a wasteland opens Israel's blessing. Barren ground turns to glory.
And all the host of the heavens shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as a leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as the withered [fruit] from the fig-tree.
Isaiah 34 announces God's judgment on Edom, and the language soon leaves the battlefield for the sky itself. What does that picture mean? Is this the end of the universe, the fall of governments, or the collapse of unseen powers?
The chapter names one small nation — Edom, also called Idumea — yet the address is universal.
The full stroke of judgment comes upon the Edomites in the day of Jehovah. Here, though the scene is laid in Idumea, it is a question of all the nations.
Language this violent is often read as the end of the world. But this passage keeps naming one country.
How can sensible men, let alone believing and reverent men of God, apply all this to what people call the day of judgment? When the wicked dead stand before the great white throne to receive their doom, it will be no question of Idumea or any other land... Here it is the judgment of the earth while the earth still exists. It is not that eternal judgment where the old creation disappears to make way for the "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
If the stars do not literally fall, what does the picture mean?
This passage seems to refer, at least in its final application, to the time of the end when the Lord comes. But the wording in its setting shows that we cannot take literally the dissolution of the heavens it pictures. After the judgment here, Idumea lies in complete desolation. And when the Lord comes, no upheaval of nature takes place like the one described here, if we take it literally. On the other hand, the meaning of it as a symbol is not hard to grasp. Even in a physical sense, the heavens rule the earth. Scripture uses them in this way to picture earthly government.
Commentators differ here. Others take "the host of heaven" to mean real beings above, whose removal Scripture describes elsewhere.
Isaiah 34 opens with a call to all the world to listen, since all nations have to face the judgments of God. Those judgments will reach even to "the host of heaven," because there is to be that conflict in the heavens which we read of in Revelation 12:7-8. As a result Satan will lose his foothold there, and his fury will be shut up on earth. But in a very special way the sword of the Lord will come down on Idumea, that is, on Esau in his descendants, who are under the curse in a special way.
The same writer explains why God's dealings would touch the sky at all.
The heavens are the seat of Satan's power. Scripture calls him "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). Under him are "the rulers," "the authorities," "the cosmic powers over this present darkness" and "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). From that seat of power in the heavens he directs much of the evil that fills the earth. God is going to deal in judgment not only with the sin and the evils that fill the earth below, but also with the Satanic powers above, the source of it all.
The verse ends with fruit dropping from a fig tree. Revelation uses the same image, and one writer explains which fruit falls.
The unripe figs are the ones hidden under the leaves. They never ripen, and a strong winter wind shakes them off. When the wintry winds of God's wrath sweep across the scene, those who were never really His will openly abandon every outward tie to Him, however high their position.
Why does the sword fall on Edom, and whose sword is it?
There is "a great slaughter in the land of Edom." It is "a day of vengeance" for the LORD, "a year of recompense for the cause of Zion." His sword comes down upon Edom, the people of His curse (Isaiah 34:4, 8). So in Isaiah 63 the Mighty to Save is coming to Zion, and someone asks, "Who is this who comes from Edom?" Isaiah 34 tells us who it is. It is the LORD; it is JEHOVAH. It is THE ANOINTED PREACHER, THE REDEEMER AND THE AVENGER of chapters 61, 62 and 63. IT IS JESUS!
- Scope — the sword lands on Edom, but the summons is to all nations; one land is the scene, the world is the subject.
- Timing — this judgment falls on an earth that goes on existing. It is not the great white throne, where the old creation disappears.
- Height — the judgment reaches up as well as out. Commentators differ: does "the host of heaven" picture rulers falling on earth, or powers thrown down above it?
- Exposure — the unripe fig never ripened; the storm only reveals what was never truly His.
- Person — the avenger of chapter 34 is the redeemer of chapters 61-63. The sword and the salvation belong to the same hand.
For my sword is bathed in the heavens; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my ban, to judgment.
Isaiah 34 announces a sword bathed in heaven, and it comes down on Edom. Two questions follow: why does the blow fall on Edom, and when is the sword drawn?
The sword is in heaven before it strikes. One writer weighs that phrase, and the darkness that comes with the day it is drawn:
The sword and the sceptre of this coming day of power stand alone in their glories. The sword is to be "bathed in heaven" (Isa. 34:5). What an expression! The sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood. The powers of heaven will shake. Darkness will be under His feet, and thick clouds of the sky will go with Him, on the day when that sword is drawn for the slaughter.
Edom is Esau's line. One writer traces this judgment back to Edom's spite against Israel, and to the birthright Esau despised:
Morally, Edom's judgment comes last in the record, perhaps because Edom was so near to Israel by nature... When God was blessing Israel, or correcting them, Edom disputed God's right to bless His people. Edom took delight in their shame and sorrow. God resents such spite. And was it not in the line of the man who despised the birthright?
The same writer notes how far back God reaches when He settles the account:
With unerring wisdom God goes back to what Esau did at the very beginning of his history. He had waited patiently, nearly a thousand years. Now He shows His perfect knowledge of the whole course and its end. But when the end does come, God always traces everything back to the beginning.
Nothing in Edom's past has matched this. One writer places the fulfilment in the day of the Lord, and dates it from the next verses:
The sword bathed in heaven, coming down on Edom, is unfulfilled to the present time. It will be fulfilled when "the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom" (verse 6), that is, in the future day of the Lord. The context shows the same in Isaiah 34:8: "For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion."
Because the language sounds cosmic, many read the chapter as a picture of the last judgment. Kelly argues the named country rules that out:
How can sensible men — still less believing, reverent men of God — apply all this to what people call the day of judgment? The wicked dead will stand before the great white throne to receive their doom. Then it will be no question of Edom or any other land... Here it is the judgment of the earth while it still exists, not that eternal judgment where the old creation disappears to make way for the "new heavens and new earth, in which righteousness dwells."
Another writer adds why people forget it:
Edom is marked out as a centre of judgment for the living... Christians have in great measure lost sight of this terrible judgment of the living, because they expect judgment only after death. But there will be a judgment of the living as well as a judgment of the dead. People like to forget it. The judgment of the dead is further off, so it does not press so closely on the way one walks on the earth.
The sword comes down on Edom, but Edom is not the whole story. Edom's land is where a wider reckoning falls:
Isaiah 34 reveals the terrible judgments which will fall upon the other nations in Edom (compare Isa. 63). Here it is those who have oppressed Zion, and the vengeance that God takes on oppressors. Edom itself is the particular object of this. But all the enemies of Israel who joined with Edom — the armies of the nations gathered against Jerusalem — will perish by the judgment of Jehovah in the land of Edom.
Isaiah later asks who it is that comes from Edom. One writer answers from this chapter:
There is "a great slaughter in the land of Edom." "It is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion." His sword comes down upon Edom, the people of His curse... So in Isaiah 63, the Mighty to Save is coming to Zion; and the question is asked, "Who is this that comes from Edom?" Isaiah 34 tells us who it is. It is the LORD; it is JEHOVAH. It is THE ANOINTED PREACHER, THE REDEEMER AND THE AVENGER, of chapters 61, 62 and 63. IT IS JESUS!
- Cause — Edom's judgment goes back to Esau, who despised his birthright, and to a line that delighted in Israel's shame. God waited nearly a thousand years, then traced the end back to the beginning.
- Sword — God bathes it in heaven before it comes down. Sun, moon and the powers of heaven shake on the day it is drawn.
- Timing — Nothing in the past has matched this. Verses 6 and 8 date it: a sacrifice in Bozrah, the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year when God settles Zion's cause.
- Reach — God names one country, but Israel's enemies from every side fall there. The armies gathered against Jerusalem perish on Edom's ground.
- Result — This is judgment on a living earth, not the great white throne. It touches how we walk now. And the One who comes from Edom is Jesus.
The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
The verse pictures God's sword soaked in blood and fat, like a knife at an altar. Two questions follow: when does this happen, and why does the sword fall on Edom?
Bozrah was a city in Edom, the land of Esau's descendants. Edom is also called Idumea. The armies that have troubled Jerusalem meet their end there.
Isaiah 34 reveals the terrible judgments that will fall upon the other nations in Edom (compare Isaiah 63). Here it is those who have oppressed Zion, and the vengeance that God takes on oppressors. Idumea is itself the particular object of this. But all the enemies of Israel who joined with Edom — the armies of the nations gathered against Jerusalem — will perish by the judgment of the LORD in the land of Edom.
This is judgment on people still alive, not on the dead. One writer says Christians today have lost sight of it, and points back to Korah and Achan, judged openly in their own lifetime.
The Christian world has lost this terrible judgment of the living. The Jews had no clear idea of a judgment of the dead. They knew judgments on the living, which God carried out visibly by His direct government, as we see with Korah and Achan. The resurrection has changed everything in the church's relationship with God. So Christians have largely lost sight of the judgment of the living, because they expect judgment only after death. But there will be a judgment of the living as well as a judgment of the dead.
The verse names a country. A judgment that ends the old creation would have no place for named countries.
How can sensible men — never mind believing and reverent men of God — apply all of this to what people call the day of judgment? For when the wicked dead stand before the great white throne to receive their doom, it will be no question of Idumea or any other land. Here it is the judgment of the earth while it still exists, not that eternal judgment where the old creation disappears to make way for "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
Edom's hatred of Israel runs back to Esau. This chapter gives the reason for the sword in verse 8.
In the last book of the Old Testament God says that He hated Esau. One of the shorter prophetic books, Obadiah, deals entirely with predictions against him. Here we find the same thing. Verse 8 says that vengeance falls on them in repayment for "the cause of Zion." In Zion God chose to have mercy on Jacob, while Edom pursued them with undying hatred, as we see in Psalm 83:3-6.
The delay before the sword falls is not indifference. It is God taking the long view of a family quarrel.
With unerring wisdom God goes back to what Esau did from the beginning of his history. He had waited long and patiently, nearly a thousand years, and now He shows His perfect knowledge of the whole course and its end. But when the end does come, God always traces everything back to the beginning.
One writer links this chapter with Isaiah 63, and warns against confusing that scene with the cross.
The nations will gather in Idumea, and there they will be judged (Obadiah 13-15; Psalm 137:7; Isaiah 63:1-4). The sword of the LORD will come down on Idumea, and on the people of His curse, for judgment. Edom is marked out as a centre of judgment for the living. He has disciplined His people to sanctify them, but He will judge the nations. Chapter 63 shows what will happen to them at that time. Jesus will judge and trample them down in His fury. That scene has no connection with the cross, where Jesus was Himself trampled down.
God traces a nation's ruin back to its first wrong turn. One writer applies the same method to believers.
God always goes back to the beginning when He judges. So our wisdom as Christians, when we fail, is to go back to our first departure. We never get right merely by judging this or that outbreak; we should always search out the cause. Otherwise we do not gain the strength we need. We never judge a sin properly by judging only its visible effects. We must probe into the hidden sources of the trouble.
- Sword — The sword comes down on a named country. That settles the timing. This is judgment on the earth while it still stands, not the final judgment where the old creation disappears.
- Sacrifice — The verse calls the slaughter a sacrifice, because God Himself acts. Edom is the marked centre for the judgment of the living.
- Cause — Edom fell under it for its undying hatred of Israel, repaid as "the cause of Zion."
- Christ — In Isaiah 63 Jesus tramples His enemies in fury. That scene is not the cross, where He was trampled down Himself.
- Self — Believers should judge themselves the way God judges Esau. Trace the failure back to its first cause, not just its latest outbreak.