Think on these questions as you dwell in Isaiah 34:1-17:

1. How does Isaiah 34 emphasize God's authority over all nations and His role as the righteous judge of those who oppose Him?

2. What is the significance of the vivid and intense imagery used in describing God's vengeance and judgment in this chapter? How does it convey the seriousness of God's actions?

3. How can we reconcile the idea of God's judgment with the message of salvation and the proclamation of the Gospel? What role does the proclamation of the Gospel play in light of God's judgment?

Transcript:

The language of judgment is back for us as we come to Isaiah 34. We are used to this, but some of this is maybe some of the most vivid imagery we have been given. That's saying something because we've seen some vivid imagery from Isaiah here, haven't we? But as this starts out, we'll get to some of that vivid imagery, but as this starts out, we see the idea that God is speaking judgment over not just Israel, not just a few nations, but over other nations, over all the nations. God is speaking to those nations specifically who have risen up against Jerusalem, have risen up against Israel and against Judah. The language here is basically saying, Hey, God has authority over not just His people, but over all peoples. We see that right here in verse 1, draw near, O nation, to hear and give attentions, O peoples. I think it's important that we remember that the idea of nations that you and I naturally have is basically based upon borders. That's a very, very, very new concept. This would have been speaking about people groups, people who were connected to each other. And so this goes back to the Book of Genesis.

Remember when I was preaching through Genesis, we had all these names of these people that we didn't necessarily remember as being that important as we were reading through Genesis? But I pointed out, and we'll see them again in the future, that some of these people groups, these descendants of whether it's Abraham or someone else in the Book of Genesis, they would come back to be the enemies of the people of God. And here specifically, we're going to see that this judgment is towards Edom, but that is probably referring to all those who rise up against Israel. And the reason we would say that is because Israel is Jacob, right? We know that. Jacob's name was Israel. We get that. But remember who was the opposite or was the opposition of Jacob? It was Esau, which was Edom. So it would be anyone who would oppose Israel, anyone who would oppose Jacob, we'd be considered to be Edom. Hope that makes sense. But that would apply to any ethnic group who rose up in that way. We see this when it says, Give attention, O peoples, that the earth here and all that fills it, the world and all that comes from it, for the Lord is enraged against all the nations and furious against all their hosts, he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.

Again, this isn't just one people group. God is speaking through the prophet, Isaiah, to all those who would oppose his people. Now we see, again, some really intense language here. The mountain shall flow with blood. We see in verse three, The stench of their corpses shall rise. They're in verse three as well. The stuff is rotting. We have this very, very strong imagery of all this stuff that is happening. And the idea behind it is that God is coming in vengeance. He is giving them what they deserve. Vengeance, this is not somebody who's just running around and getting unjust revenge. God is right in His judgment. When God comes in vengeance, when the days of vengeance come, God is in the right no matter what. People are in rebellion against him. Any judgment that he does against the people, against his will, is just. We have this idea that these areas of where people are opposed to God, that these areas are going to be one day basically put away, that they're going to be desolate. We get this idea that there's really only Hawks and porcupines. Now, there's some question on whether or not that's a good translation of the word porcupine.

There's some footnotes here that say maybe this is just another a rare bird because all the other animals in here, I believe, are birds. But the idea is that birds would fly over. They're really not going to be much vegetation or other animals there. Maybe some birds making a last nest, but that's it. We see in verse 13, Thorns shall grow, nestles and thistles, and its fortress. It's going to be the haunt of jackals and an abode for ostriches. Here we have some other animals that would come in on foot. But you get the idea that this is a desolate, desolate place that God is leaving for those who are in opposition to Him. There's really an idea of continued judgment. We see here, as this chapter closes up, seek and read from the Book of the Lord. Not one of these shall be missing. None shall be without her mate, for the mouth of the Lord has commanded, and his spirit has gathered them. He has cast a lot for them. His hand is portioned out to them with the line. They shall possess it forever from generation to generation. They shall dwell on it.

This is going to be a lasting judgment for those who are in opposition to God. That's the big message here. And what we see is that God has ordained this. Notice that He has cast a lot for them. He is making this happen. He is working this out. But the language here used is that this is random, casting a lot. But the idea that's being expressed here by Isaiah is, This may seem like a random thing to you, those of you who are being judged, but it's not. God is coming in judgment. He intentions to do that. He is the one who is doing this. We have seen this all through the Book of Isaiah, right? That God is the one who does His goodwill, and He comes in judgment, and it's for a purpose. He is going to do it. It's important for us to remember this idea of who God is. Now, I've mentioned many times that the idea of vengeance, the idea of judgment, is a very harsh one. It is difficult for our ears to hear, but it's always for the purpose of calling His people back. Well, here we see that these are not the people of God.

This is judgment over sin. This is not a reminder for us to, Okay, we need to get things together. God is calling us back. No, this is more of a reminder for us to proclaim the word of the Lord, for us to remember that God is a judge, and we should be proclaiming the gospel of salvation in Christ to other people that they might hear that His word might come to their ears that they would not be found to be desolate, that instead life would be found in them, that God would bring them new life in Christ through the proclamation of the Word. So may we proclaim the Gospel, understanding the severity and the serious nature of judgment. May we proclaim that Gospel, hoping that God would show mercy and He would bring people to faith through our proclamation of His great Gospel.