5 As the heat in a dry place will you bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the awesome ones shall be brought low.
But thus says Yahweh, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children. I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them.
I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!" The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. I heard the angel of the waters saying, "You are righteous, who are and who were, you Holy One, because you have judged these things. For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this." I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments." The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't repent and give him glory. The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn't repent of their works. The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrise. I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty. "Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn't walk naked, and they see his shame." He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, Megiddo. The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came forth out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city. Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.
The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his place shall he honor the god of fortresses; and a god whom his fathers didn't know shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god: whoever acknowledges [him] he will increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for a price. At the time of the end shall the king of the south contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also on the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many. He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Thus he said, The fourth animal shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end. The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole the sky, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes. The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are round about her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain. There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are round about them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for [they were] the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword. There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh. For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh. The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered: for the destroyer is come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite. I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Hosts.
They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' cubs. When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says Yahweh. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! The sea is come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves of it. Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby.
Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses; your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh. Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her.
Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence, as when fire kindles the brushwood, [and] the fire causes the waters to boil; to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you. Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of me, says Yahweh.
He is green before the sun, His shoots go forth over his garden. His roots are wrapped around the rock pile, He sees the place of stones. If he is destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.' Behold, this is the joy of his way: Out of the earth shall others spring.
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will he guide them.
Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of [his] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of Yahweh shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he strike [him]. Every stroke of the appointed staff, which Yahweh shall lay on him, shall be with [the sound of] tambourines and harps; and in battles with the brandishing [of his arm] will he fight with them. For a Topheth is prepared of old; yes, for the king it is made ready; he has made it deep and large; the pile of it is fire and much wood; the breath of Yahweh, like a stream of sulfur, does kindle it.
For thus has Yahweh said to me, I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm. At evening, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are no more. This is the portion of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who rob us.
All they shall answer and tell you, Are you also become weak as we? are you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, [and] the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and worms cover you. How you are fallen from heaven, day-star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. Those who see you shall gaze at you, they shall consider you, [saying], "Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms;
I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
This very day shall he halt at Nob: he shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
For he says, Aren't my princes all of them kings? Isn't Calno as Carchemish? Isn't Hamath as Arpad? Isn't Samaria as Damascus? As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? Therefore it shall happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down those who sit [on thrones]: and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped. Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? as if a rod should wield those who lift it up, [or] as if a staff should lift up [him who is] not wood.
He spread a cloud for a covering, Fire to give light in the night.
Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, That vengeance for your servants' blood is being poured out. Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death; Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom Their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.
Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, All the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary. Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs. They behaved like men wielding axes, Cutting through a thicket of trees. Now all its carved work They break down with hatchet and hammers. They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling-place of your Name. They said in their heart, "We will crush them completely." They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped. We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, Neither is there among us anyone who knows how long. How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever? Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them! Yet God is my King of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures. You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers. The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun. You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter. Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name. Don't deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don't forget the life of your poor forever. Honor your covenant, For haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth. Don't let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name. Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day. Don't forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 25
Commentary on Isaiah 25 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 25
Isa 25:1-12. Continuation of the Twenty-fourth Chapter. Thanksgiving for the Overthrow of the Apostate Faction, and the Setting Up of Jehovah's Throne on Zion.
The restoration from Babylon and re-establishment of the theocracy was a type and pledge of this.
1. wonderful—(Isa 9:6).
counsels of old—(Isa 42:9; 46:10). Purposes planned long ago; here, as to the deliverance of His people.
truth—Hebrew, Amen; covenant-keeping, faithful to promises; the peculiar characteristic of Jesus (Re 3:14).
2. a city … heap—Babylon, type of the seat of Antichrist, to be destroyed in the last days (compare Jer 51:37, with Re 18:1-24, followed, as here, by the song of the saints' thanksgiving in Re 19:1-21). "Heaps" is a graphic picture of Babylon and Nineveh as they now are.
palace—Babylon regarded, on account of its splendor, as a vast palace. But Maurer translates, "a citadel."
of strangers—foreigners, whose capital pre-eminently Babylon was, the metropolis of the pagan world. "Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise" (Isa 29:5; Eph 2:12; see in contrast, Joe 3:17).
never be built—(Isa 13:19, 20, &c.).
3. strong people—This cannot apply to the Jews; but other nations on which Babylon had exercised its cruelty (Isa 14:12) shall worship Jehovah, awed by the judgment inflicted on Babylon (Isa 23:18).
city—not Babylon, which shall then be destroyed, but collectively for the cities of the surrounding nations.
4. the poor … needy—the Jews, exiles from their country (Isa 26:6; 41:17).
heat—calamity (Isa 4:6; 32:2).
blast—that is, wrath.
storm—a tempest of rain, a winter flood, rushing against and overthrowing the wall of a house.
5. Translate, "As the heat in a dry land (is brought down by the shadow of a cloud, so) thou shalt bring down the tumult (the shout of triumph over their enemies) of strangers (foreigners); and as the heat by the shadow of the cloud (is brought low), so the branch (the offspring) of the terrible ones shall be brought low." Parkhurst translates the Hebrew for "branch," the exulting song. Jerome translates the last clause, "And as when the heat burns under a cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the terrible ones to wither"; the branch withering even under the friendly shade of a cloud typifies the wicked brought to ruin, not for want of natural means of prosperity, but by the immediate act of God.
6. in this mountain—Zion: Messiah's kingdom was to begin, and is to have its central seat hereafter, at Jerusalem, as the common country of "all nations" (Isa 2:2, &c.).
all people—(Isa 56:7; Da 7:14; Lu 2:10).
feast—image of felicity (Ps 22:26, 27; Mt 8:11; Lu 14:15; Re 19:9; compare Ps 36:8; 87:1-7).
fat things—delicacies; the rich mercies of God in Christ (Isa 55:2; Jer 31:14; Job 36:16).
wines on the lees—wine which has been long kept on the lees; that is, the oldest and most generous wine (Jer 48:11).
marrow—the choicest dainties (Ps 63:5).
well refined—cleared of all dregs.
7. face of … covering—image from mourning, in which it was usual to cover the face with a veil (2Sa 15:30). "Face of covering," that is, the covering itself; as in Job 41:13, "the face of his garment," the garment itself. The covering or veil is the mist of ignorance as to a future state, and the way to eternal life, which enveloped the nations (Eph 4:18) and the unbelieving Jew (2Co 3:15). The Jew, however, is first to be converted before the conversion of "all nations"; for it is "in this mountain," namely, Zion, that the latter are to have the veil taken off (Ps 102:13, 15, 16, 21, 22; Ro 11:12).
8. Quoted in 1Co 15:54, in support of the resurrection.
swallow up … in victory—completely and permanently "abolish" (2Ti 1:10; Re 20:14; 21:4; compare Ge 2:17; 3:22).
rebuke—(Compare Mr 8:38; Heb 11:26).
9. And it shall be said in that day, &c.—"After death has been swallowed up for ever, the people of God, who had been delivered from the hand of death, shall say to the Lord, Lo, this is our God, whom unbelievers regarded as only a man" [Jerome]. "The words are so moulded as to point us specially to the person of the Son of God, who 'saves' us; as He vouchsafed to Israel temporal saving, so to His elect He appears for the purpose of conferring eternal salvation" [Vitringa]. The Jews, however, have a special share in the words, This is our God (see on Isa 25:6).
we have waited—"Waited" is characteristic of God's people in all ages (Ge 49:18; Tit 2:13).
we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation—compare Ps 118:24, which refers to the second coming of Jesus (compare Ps 118:26, with Lu 13:35).
10. rest—as its permanent protector; on "hand" in this sense; compare Ezr 7:6, 28.
Moab—while Israel is being protected, the foe is destroyed; Moab is the representative of all the foes of God's people.
under him—Rather, "in his own place" or "country" (Ex 10:23; 16:29).
for the dunghill—Rather, "in the water of the dung heap," in which straw was trodden to make it manure (Ps 83:10). Horsley translates either, "in the waters of Madmenah," namely, for the making of bricks; or as the Septuagint, "as the threshing-floor is trampled by the corn-drag" (see Margin; Mic 4:11-13).
11. he—Jehovah shall spread His hands to strike the foe on this side and on that, with as little effort as a swimmer spreads forth his arms to cleave a passage through the water [Calvin]. (Zec 5:3). Lowth takes "he" as Moab, who, in danger of sinking, shall strain every nerve to save himself; but Jehovah (and "he") shall cause him to sink ("bring down the pride" of Moab, Isa 16:6).
with the spoils of … hands—literally, "the craftily acquired spoils" of his (Moab's) hands [Barnes]. Moab's pride, as well as the sudden gripe of his hands (namely, whereby he tries to save himself from drowning) [Lowth]. "Together with the joints of his hands," that is, though Moab struggle against Jehovah hand and foot [Maurer].
12. fortress—the strongholds of Moab, the representative of the foes of God's people [Barnes]. Babylon [Maurer]. The society of infidels represented as a city (Re 11:8).