The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 34
Chapter XXXIV · Vol. III, pp. 1186–1188
1 The judgments wherewith God revengeth his church. 11 The desolation of her enemies. 16 The certainty of the prophecy.
1 Come near,a ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people; let the earth hear, and all that is therein:1 the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2 Forb the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed2 them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
b Zep.3.8. ch.24.1-6. Je.25.15-26. Hag.2.6,7. Re.6.12-17; 14.14-19; 17.14; 16.14,16; 19.19-21; 20.9, with De.32.42. ch.63.1,2. Joel 3.12,13. Zec.14.2,3.
2 He hath utterly destroyed—that is, in fixed purpose, though it be future in completion.—C.
3 Theirc slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and thed mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And eall the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree.
e Hag.2.7. Re.6.13,14. ch.24.23; 14.13; 13.10. Mat.24.29. Eze.32.7,8. Ps.102.26. 2 Pe.3.10,12. Joel 2.31; 3.15,16.
5 For gmy sword shall be bathed in heaven:3 behold, it shall come down hupon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
6 Thei sword of the LORD is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah,4 and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
i Eze.21.4,5,10. ch.63.1-4. Ps.68.21,30. Je.46.10; 50.27; 51.40. Eze.39.18. Zep.1.7. Re.19.15,18,21; 17.16.
4 Bozrah was the capital of Edom, and one of its principal fortresses. It is now called Buseireh, and is situated on the crest of the mountain-chain about twenty-five miles S.E. of the Dead Sea. The Bozrah of Edom must not be confounded with another city of the same name in Moab, which became in after years the capital of a Roman province, and the seat of a Christian bishop.—P.
7 And jthe unicorns5 shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked6 with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For it is kthe day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.
9 And lthe streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10 Itn shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever:7
n Re.18.18; 19.2,3; 14.11. Mal.1.3,4. Je.7.20. 2 Th.1.9. Mat.25.41. Mar.9.44.
7 In former days there was a large transit trade by caravans through Idumea. The Nabatheans who possessed it from the third century B.C. and onward were prince merchants. Now it is desolate. It is only at the risk of life any traveller can pass through it. Its transit trade is gone, and can never be renewed. Its rock-hewn temples and palaces are all desolate; its cities are waste without inhabitant. In this respect the words of the prophet have been fulfilled.—P.
11 Buto the cormorant8 and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he pshall stretch out upon it the line of confusion,9 and the stones of 1emptiness.
12 Theyq shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.
q ch.3.1-8; 14.21,22. Ec.10.16.
13 Andr thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.2
r ch.32.13,14. Ho.9.6. Zep.2.9,14. ch.13.21,22; 14.23. Re.18.2.
2 Heb. daughters of the owl, or ostriches.
14 The wild beasts of the desert3 shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island,4 and the satyr5 shall cry to his fellow; the screech-owl6 also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
3 Heb. Ziim, or wild cats.
4 Heb. Ijim, or jackals.
5 Literally, 'hairy ones.'—C.
6 Or, night-monster.
15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of sthe book of the LORD, and read; tno one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate:7 for umy mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
Notes
Ver. 3-6. The mountains shall run down with large streams of the blood of slain persons. Dreadful shall be the confusion, desolation, and consternation everywhere; for my purposed judgments shall be executed upon the wicked who have given themselves to sin and persons of all ranks shall fall a sacrifice to their own sin. 11, 12. God finds the abominably wicked as with a line and plummet; and none shall be able to govern or help them. 16, 17. In the exact fulfilment of this prophecy shall the Spirit, power, and providence of God collect together, and preserve a succession of these doleful creatures, in these perpetually desolate habitations of wickedness.
Ver. 1. This prophecy is addressed to 'the kingdoms of this world,' and predicts a fearful political revolution, in which 'all rule and authority,' that stands opposed to 'God and his Christ,' shall be utterly, and for ever, subverted. It corresponds with the vision in Re. 19. 13-21. C.
Ver. 4. This dissolving and falling of the 'host of heaven' does not refer to the visible heavens and the end of the world (as will appear from the state that is to follow, ch. 36. 5-10), but to the dissolving and falling of all the political and ecclesiastical powers usurped by 'the beast and the false prophet,' Re. 19. 20. C.
Ver. 5. My sword . . . shall come down upon Idumea. It shall come upon Idumea as a commencement of the prophecy— a specimen and notice of the judgments to come. Nor is there any land, except that of Babylon, whose destruction seems so complete, or whose renovation seems so hopeless. Like judgments were foretold against both, and alike terrible to the nations that forget God should be their fulfilment. C.
Ver. 9. Emblems of an overthrow as complete as that of Sodom and Gomorrah; while it is not improbable that the description may have been literally realized in volcanic eruptions. C.
Ver. 10. Irby and Mangles, after the greatest difficulties, got a sight of the ancient capital, but were not able to pass through the land.—See Keith on Prophecy. C.
Ver. 17. They shall possess it. That is, the wild beasts and birds of prey and solitude shall possess the forests, rivers, and ruined cities. C.
Reflections.—It is proper that sinners should listen to God's threatenings, as he can quickly make them feel what they are averse to hear. Terrible, but righteous, are the judgments which he inflicts, especially upon them who injure his people. And he can easily unite the curses of Sodom and Babylon upon such as refuse to take warning by their fate. It is madness to fix our hearts on earthly things when their end may quickly be so miserable. And let us here seriously consider how dreadful sin must be, the cause of all judgments—and hell, the perfection of them.