Isaiah 34:16-17

The general purpose of Isaiah’s words is to convince his readers that the *Lord will carry out his judgements completely.

Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s name ‘Lord’ means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
worship ~ to praise God and to pray to him; or, to praise and to pray to a false god.
sacrifice ~ a gift of value to God.
ancestor ~ original father of later families.
Edomites ~ a person from the country called Edom; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Edom.
Babylonian ~ a person from the country called Babylon; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Babylon.'thorn-bush ~ a bush with sharp points.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

King Hezekiah

Isaiah Chapter s 34 to 40

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Isaiah Chapter s 7 to 40: God’s king rules God’s people

We have seen that this main section of the Book of Isaiah contains 6 smaller sections.

Isaiah Chapter s 7 to 12	Isaiah Chapter s 13 to 23	Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27	Isaiah Chapter s 28 to 33	Isaiah Chapter s 34 to 35	Isaiah Chapter s 36 to 40
		The little *apocalypse	The sad people
	Countries near Judah			The centre of the book
King Ahaz					King Hezekiah

We have already studied the first four of these sections. So we shall now study the centre of the book, and then King Hezekiah.

Chapter 34

v1 Come near [to me], you nations, and listen [to me].

[All] you peoples, give [me] your attention.

Hear [me, all] the earth, and everything that is in it.

[Listen, all the] world, and all that comes from it.

v2 Yes! The *LORD has a [right to be] very terribly angry against all the nations.

And [he has a right to] be very, very angry against all their armies.

[The *LORD] will *destroy them.

He will send them to their deaths.

v3 Nobody will bury the dead bodies.

The dead bodies will fill the air with a very bad smell.

Their blood will *sink into the mountains.

v4 And every army in the skies will melt.

And the skies will roll up like a *scroll.

And all their armies will fall

like [dead] leaves that fall from a *vine.

[They will fall] like [dry] figs (sweet fruits) from a fig tree.

v5 When my sword [of judgement] has done its work in the skies,

it will come down on Edom. Look!

[It will fall] on the people that I have decided to *destroy.

v6 The *LORD [has a right] to a sword!

[He will] bathe it in blood. [He will] cover it with fat.

It is the blood of young sheep and goats.

It is the fat from male sheep’s kidneys (parts inside the body).

Yes! The *LORD [has a right] to a *sacrifice in Bozrah.

And many [people] will die in the [country called] Edom.

v7 And wild oxen (animals like cows) will fall (die) with them.

Young *bulls [will die] with old *bulls.

Blood will *sink into their land.

Fat will *sink into their earth.

v8 Look! The *LORD [has a right] to a day when he will punish [people].

It will be a year when [the *LORD] supports *Zion.

[It will be a year] when he *destroys [*Zion’s enemies].

v9 The desert streams [in Edom] will turn into [a sticky black substance called] pitch.

Its soil will turn into [a yellow substance called] sulphur that is burning.

Its land will become pitch (a sticky black substance) that is burning fiercely.

v10 Nobody will put out [the fire] in the day or in the night.

Smoke from [the fire] will rise up for a long time.

[The land] will be empty from one century to the next century.

Nobody will ever pass through it again.

v11 But [these *owls] will possess it: the desert *owl, the *owl that screams and the great *owl.

And the raven (a large black bird) will nest there.

And [the *LORD] will stretch a line over [Edom] to measure it. [The line will make it] lose its shape.

[He will stretch over it] a plumbline (string that hangs straight down)

[The plumbline will make it] empty.

v12 [Edom’s] leaders will have nothing there that they can call a *kingdom.

And all its princes will vanish.

v13 And *thorn bushes will cover its palaces.

Nettles (weeds that sting) and *briers [will cover] its castles.

Jackals (wild dogs) will occupy the land and ostriches (huge birds) will live in it.

v14 Wild animals and hyenas (animals like large wild dogs) will gather together.

And wild goats will call to each other.

Also, Lilith, the female devil of the night, will rest there.

And she will find for herself a place in which to stay.

v15 The *owl (a bird that hunts at night) will build a nest there.

And she will lay her eggs there and she will *hatch them.

And she will protect [her young birds] under the shadow [of her wings].

Vultures (large birds that hunt) will gather there too. Each [one will be] with her partner.

v16 Look in the *LORD’s *scroll and read this!

‘None of them will be missing.

None of them will be without her partner.

Because his mouth gave the order

and his breath will gather them together.

v17 He [the *LORD] will divide their shares [for them].

And his hand will distribute [these things] to them with the measuring line.

They will always possess it.

They will live in it from one century to the next century.’

heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
Apocalypse ~ another name for the last book in the Bible, called Revelation. The Little Apocalypse (Isaiah Chapter s 24 to 27) is similar to the Book of Revelation. It is about the end of time. In other words, it is about the time when Jesus returns to the Earth.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’) it is a name for God.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
destroy ~ to punish very severely, often by means of death.
sink ~ to go down.
scroll ~ a very long piece of paper.
vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
sacrifice ~ something that the priests put apart (or separated) for the LORD. Usually it was an animal. They killed it and then they burned it.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’) it is a name for God.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
bull ~ a male animal of the same kind as a cow.
Zion ~ a name for Jerusalem.
owl ~ a large bird that hunts for its food by night.
kingdom ~ a country that a king rules.
thorn ~ a bush with sharp points on its branches. The sharp points are also called thorns.
briers ~ bushes that have sharp thorns on their branches.
thorn ~ a bush with sharp points on its branches. The sharp points are also called thorns.
hatch ~ how a bird keeps eggs warm, until the young birds leave the eggs.