Isaiah 34:5-15 – Our security is found in Christ

Isaiah 34 opened with the whole earth being called to pay attention to what God would do to judge it. Verses 1-4 gave us a bleak picture of how the earth would be strewn with putrefying decaying corpses that would stench the whole atmosphere. The dire situation was further described as mountains drenched with the blood of the great slaughter and how the earth would be plunged into pitch darkness. In verse 5, the judgment is said to fall on Edom. The sword of God drunk with blood from heaven would fall upon the Edomites. God had designated Edom for destruction. The Edomites, as we know, were descendants of Esau. Though they were somewhat related to Israel they had never been kind to the latter. They would not lift a finger to help Israel in their times of dire need but had instead been hostile toward them. Here Edom is used to represent all the powers of the nations that were hostile to God’s people. Hence, they had been placed under a ban and scheduled for utter destruction.   

Here we first see the Edomites being likened to various kinds of animals. Every one of them from weak to strong, from ordinary to noble were being represented by animals. From lambs to goats and young bull, from wild oxen to strong bull, they were all scheduled for the slaughter. Like animals for sacrifices, they would all be destroyed. And there would be a huge sacrifice at Bozrah, the capital city, and the land would be drenched with the blood of the great sacrifice. Their payback time for all the hostilities they had shown toward Zion was scheduled for the day of the LORD’s vengeance. There would be a wholesale death where no one would be spared.     

 

In verses 9-10, the destruction of Edom would be like what had happened to Sodom and Gomorrah which the Lord had destroyed. Pitch and brimstone would be left of the land. It would be an unquenchable burning heap where the smoke of the fire would continually ascend. What Isaiah was doing was to show a picture of complete destruction. Edom would be forever barren and uninhabitable. Then finally in verses 11-15, Isaiah painted a picture of permanent devastation. The land would be plunged into complete waterlessness. It would be largely a place that would be disorganized and not habitable, and a place infested by wild desert animals.

 

Lessons: The ungodly world is scheduled for utter and complete destruction on the day of reckoning. It would be a complete and total annihilation where none would escape. Thankfully, like Noah and his family in the Ark, we who have placed our hope in Christ can find our security in Him. As the day of reckoning looms nearer and nearer, we should seize every opportunity to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Let us submit wholly to God and allow Him to work in us that which He had begun on the day of our conversion. Remember when God’s judgment comes, it will be swift and fast and none can escape, except those who are safe in His loving arms!