Answers. Questions. Isaiah 34:1-17

Transcription

1 1 Answers to Questions on Isaiah 34: Much of the book of Isaiah was written in poetic form and figurative language. 2. Hebrew poetry, among other things, was characterized by parallel statements, not by rhyming lines. 3. Isaiah 34 centers on the devastation that was to befall Edom, the country, and the Edomites, the people. 4. Edom represents itself and all the other wicked nations who have rebelled against God and refuse to repent. 5. Edom, also known as Esau, was the twin brother of Jacob, also known as Israel. 6. From the animosity that was experienced between Jacob and Esau grew a lasting, centuries long hostility between their descendants, the Israelites and the Edomites (Edumaeans).

2 An Edomite, Herod the Great (older) tried to kill the baby Jesus. Another Edomite, Herod Antipas, had James the brother of John executed with a sword. An Edomite, Agrippa I, presided over the trial of Jesus just before his crucifixion. This same Edomite, Herod Antipas, had John the Baptist killed for preaching the truth. 8. Isaiah 34 and 35 constitute a unit, The Second Book of General Judgment, which sets forth the judgment and destruction of the enemies of Jehovah (chapter 34) and the redemption and glory of the ransomed (chapter 35). 9. Edom is presented as a symbol of all the nations that are hostile to God. 10. Isaiah 34 addresses the enemies of God centering on the Edomites. Isaiah 35 speaks of the blessings enjoyed by God s people following the destruction of their wicked enemies. 11. All nations, then and now, are to pay attention, listen to what God has to say. 12. Isaiah 34 presents two pictures of judgment, one of a worldwide catastrophe and one of a specific nation of that judgment; viz., Edom. 13. A day will certainly come when God will hold all nations accountable for their sins and will inflict on them a frightening penalty for their rebellion.

3 The Lord is angry (indignant) at all the sinful nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate (utterly destroy) them and slaughter them. 15. Speaking figuratively and employing hyperbole (exaggeration), verse 3 says, Their slain will be left unburied, their corpses will stink; the hills will soak up their blood. 16. To leave dead bodies unburied, thrown to the dogs and vultures, was regarded as shameful, insulting! 17. Verse 4 reminds the reader of the literal end of the world, but here this is a strong metaphor describing the end of the world for the rebellious, heathen nations... all their luminaries. 18. God s sword has slaughtered heavenly powers, the most majestic, powerful of her enemies. 19. Edom (Idumea) is singled out in particular as representative of all sinful people who rebel against God. 20. The Edomites had been especially persistently antagonistic to Israel through the centuries. 21. The Lord s sword is dripping with blood, it is covered with fat; it drips with the blood of young rams and goats and is covered with the fat of ram s kidneys. 22. Jehovah is viewed as offering sacrifices. The blood and fat of sacrificed animals belonged exclusively to God.

4 Bozrah was the chief city of Edom, located approximately twenty-seven miles southeast of the Dead Sea and thirty miles northeast of Petra. Bozrah was strongly fortified and considered impregnable. (See Hailey.) 24. What animals were sacrificed by the Lord according to verses 6 and 7? Rams, goats, oxen, bulls. (NET) These animals, large and small, represented all strata of Edomite society. 25. Divine revenge, vengeance, awaits sinners who have shown hostility toward God and his people. 26. God s vengeance to the third and fourth generation on those who hate him stands in sharp contrast with his mercy to the faithful. 27. Burning pitch and brimstone pictures complete desolation. Edom will become like Sodom and Gomorrah. 28. Edom s streams, it had no rivers or lakes, would flow with burning pitch. 29. The destructive fire will burn perpetually, night and day, with its smoke ascending continually. 30. The descriptions of the destructions that befell Sodom, Gomorrah, and Edom also are fitting descriptions of the final judgment, end of the world and eternal punishment. 31. For over a thousand years what was Edom has remained one of the most desolate places on earth.

5 Wild animals will replace people as the inhabitants of Edom. 33. These animals, according to the NET, include owls, wild animals, all kinds of wild birds, jackals, ostriches, wild dogs, wild goats, nocturnal animals, and hawks. 34. The same God who is the wondrous creator of the heavens, earth and everything good and wonderful is also the God who, with revenge, vengeance and retribution, will destroy sinners who would destroy what God has done. (See Briley.) 35. Referencing the tools of surveyors, the Lord measures the extent of the ruin and destruction which will befall the ungodly Edomites. 36. This destruction will come upon God s enemies systematically, in an orderly fashion as surveyors would employ in the course of their work. 37. The nobles and officials of the land of Edom would have nothing left to rule and would themselves disappear from the scene. 38. Where the wicked once lived opulently in strength in palaces defended by fortresses now is in total ruins overgrown with thickets and weeds and populated by jackals and ostriches instead of people. 39. What was the scroll (book) of the Lord? (1) Isaiah s writings (Bailey), or (2) the books of Moses plus all other

6 6 books of the Old Testament which had been written at the time this verse was written (Coffman). 40. We had better carefully listen and obey what the scroll (book) of the Lord says! 41. There was perfect agreement between what God spoke and what Isaiah prophesied. There must also be perfect agreement between what God says in the Holy Bible and what we teach and preach. 42. Acts 17:26, From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places they would live. This was certainly true of Edom! 43. Edom as a political entity has long ago ceased to exist. The territory once occupied by that proud nation consists of bleak mountain heights and barren tablelands. The area swarms with snakes and various desert creatures. (Smith)

7 What happened to Edom only prefigures the punishment that will befall all the earth s wicked at the end of the world and in eternity forevermore. 45. How horribly terrible are the consequences of sin!