ISAIAH 34-35: “The Lord Will Judge All Nations /
Everlasting Joy will Fill Christ’s Kingdom”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at the last of the 6 ‘woes’ which demark this section of the book of Isaiah,
and it is the ‘woe’ against the treacherous destroyer,
1.1.1.
We saw that Assyria had
deceived Hezekiah and the people of
1.1.2.
This was a time of great
distress, however the king and the people had cried out to the Lord and so the
Lord was planning now to arise and judge
1.1.3.
1.2.
In our study today we are
going to look in chapter 34 at the judgment that the Lord is one day going to
bring against all nations, particularly the nation of Edom, then in chapter 35
we will look at the blessings of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ which God’s
people will enjoy
1.2.1.
We are now with this study
finishing this section of the book of Isaiah that was demarked by the six
‘woes’, and we are going next into the second major section of the book
1.2.2.
We will see in chapter 24
that with the judgment that is coming against all of the nations, and Edom in
particular, that the events described are depicting the 7 Year Tribulation of
the book of Revelation, and the battle of Armageddon, which will end with the
Second Coming of Christ to set up His Millennial Reign
1.2.3.
Isaiah tells us in chapter
35 that in Christ’s kingdom that there will be joy continually, with nothing to
fear, no illness to bring down our spirits, and no sorrow
1.2.3.1.We Christians need to fix our hope on heaven
1.2.4.
Note that many of the names
of the animals that are mentioned in chapter 34 cannot be accurately deciphered
into our modern species
2.
VS 34:1-3 - “1 Draw near, O nations, to hear;
and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and
all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it. 2 For the Lord’s indignation is against all
the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given
them over to slaughter. 3 So their slain
will be thrown out, And their corpses will give off their stench, And the
mountains will be drenched with their blood.” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord’s wrath and
indignation is against all of the nations
2.1.
We have seen already the prophesies of
judgment that Isaiah has delivered against all of the nations of his day,
including
2.2.
Since the Lord is in the process of
establishing His kingdom it is only natural that He would also have to remove
all of the wicked from the earth in order to do so. We have seen in our study already that:
2.2.1.
The only way the earth could be restored in
holiness is for wickedness to be removed.
2.2.2.
Whatever is done to God’s people is
considered by Him to be done to Himself, therefore He must judge all nations
for all have persecuted His people in this world.
2.2.3.
When every king begins to reign he must put
down his enemies in order to take up his kingdom, and thus it is only natural
that the Lord do this same thing when He establishes His kingdom.
2.3.
Isaiah sees prophetically that they have
already been destroyed and the people slaughtered.
2.4.
Isaiah sees prophetically even the stinking
corpses of the slain armies and people of all of the nations and that the
mountains of the earth will be covered with their blood. Isaiah is forseeing the events that will
occur at the battle of Armageddon in this chapter.
3.
VS 34:4 - “4 And all the host of heaven
will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a
leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree.” - Isaiah tells us that when the
Lord judges all of the nations that there will be catastrophic signs in the
heavens
3.1.
This
verses tells us, in case we weren’t sure, that when the Lord undertakes
to judge all of the nations of the world that it will be at a time unlike any
other in history, and that in fact the Lord will destroy the firmament (sky)
and the stars of the heavens (‘their hosts’) on that day.
3.1.1.
This is the time when the new heavens and
earth are created, after the 7 Year Tribulation of the book of Revelation as
well as the Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth.
4.
VS 34:5-8 - “5 For My sword is satiated in
heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon
4.1.
We see in the scriptures that the nation of
Edom was made of the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob who though the
oldest of the twin sons of Isaac was not chosen by the Lord to be the son
through whom the promise of Abraham would come, the line through whom all the
nations of the earth would be blessed.
The lineage of the Messiah came through Jacob, who was named by God ‘
4.1.1.
The nation of Idumea came from the
descendants of Esau.
4.1.2.
4.1.3.
4.1.4.
The last known Edomites were the family of
the Herods.
4.1.5.
Jewish tradition holds that the Romans were
descendants of the Edomites.
4.2.
In this chapter,
4.3.
The judgment that Isaiah tells us will fall
upon
4.4.
Esau had not allowed malice to gain a hold in
his heart against his brother Jacob because of his tricking him out of his birthright, however
Esau’s descendants ended up harboring malice against Jacob’s descendants.
4.4.1.
In Ezek. 25:12-14,
we read that the Lord has determined to judge Edom because they carried
vengeance on Israel, God’s people, “12 ‘Thus says the Lord
God, “Because Edom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance,
and has incurred grievous guilt, and avenged themselves upon them,”13
therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will also stretch out My hand against
Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman
even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.14 “And I will lay My vengeance on
4.4.2.
We read in 2 Chron.
28:16-17 that during King Ahaz’ reign that the Edomites had
attacked Judea and carried away captives from them, “16 At that
time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help.17 For again the Edomites
had come and attacked Judah, and carried away captives.”
4.4.3.
In Psalm 137:7
we read that the Psalmist had said that the Edomites had wanted to raze
Jerusalem to the ground and therefore he was invoking the vengeance of God
against them, “7 Remember, O Lord,
against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, “Raze it, raze it, To
its very foundation.””
4.4.4.
Jeremiah prophesied in Jer. 49:7-22 about the judgment that come against
4.5.
The Lord promises that He will make of
4.6.
The wild oxen and young bulls refer to the
rebellious house of
4.7.
All of this has come about because of the way
that
5.
VS 24:9-11 - “9 And its streams shall be
turned into pitch, And its loose earth into brimstone, And its land shall
become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be
quenched night or day; Its smoke shall
go up forever; From generation to
generation it shall be desolate; None
shall pass through it forever and ever.
11 But pelican and hedgehog shall possess it, And owl and raven shall
dwell in it; And He shall stretch over
it the line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord
is going to turn the
5.1.
The destruction of
5.1.1.
Read about the judgment upon
5.2.
Likewise, the judgment and complete
destruction of
5.2.1.
In Rev.
14:8-11,19:3 we read about the coming judgment upon the city of
Babylon, “8 And another angel, a second one,
followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the
nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”9 And another
angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone
worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon
his hand,10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed
in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the
Lamb.11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have
no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever
receives the mark of his name…3 And a second time they said,
“Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.”””
5.3.
When the Lord comes to judge the nations of
the world that are in rebellion against Him, which is all nations, then the
Lord will completely overthrow them and remove all the wicked from them. His kingdom will be established in
righteousness, therefore all of the wicked must go.
6.
VS 34:12-15 - “12 Its nobles—there is no one
there whom they may proclaim king— And all its princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in its fortified
towers, Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities; It shall also be a haunt of jackals And an
abode of ostriches. 14 And the desert
creatures shall meet with the wolves, The hairy goat also shall cry to its
kind; Yes, the night monster shall
settle there And shall find herself a resting place. 15 The tree snake shall make its nest and lay
eggs there, And it will hatch and gather them under its protection. Yes, the hawks shall be gathered there, Every
one with its kind.” - Isaiah portrays for us the desolation of the
nation of
6.1.
When the Lord has overthrown
6.2.
There will only be a variety of animals
living in the land when the nation of
7.
VS 34:16-17 - “16 Seek from the book of the
Lord, and read: Not one of these will be
missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit
has gathered them. 17 And He has cast
the lot for them, And His hand has divided it to them by line. They shall possess it forever; From generation to generation they shall
dwell in it.” - Isaiah tell us to ‘seek from the book of the
Lord and read’, for the Lord has promised that wild animals will possess the
7.1.
The ‘it’ of which Isaiah is referencing in
verse 17 is the nation of
7.2.
Isaiah tells us that the Lord has promised
that the wild animals will possess the nation of
8.
VS 35:1-2 - “1 The wilderness and the desert
will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus 2 It will blossom profusely
And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.
The glory of
8.1.
The scriptures tells us in Psalm 16:11 that in the presence of the Lord is fullness
of joy, “11 Thou wilt make known to me the path of
life; In Thy presence is fulness of
joy; In Thy right hand there are
pleasures forever.
8.2.
When all of the wicked have been removed from
the earth, then the presence of the Lord will fill the earth, and those who are
God’s people will be constantly filled with the joy of the Lord.
8.2.1.
Even the creations who do not have the soul
such as the one God placed in man and animals will rejoice when Christ
establishes His kingdom. The desert and
wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
8.2.2.
Isaiah tells us that though at the time of
his writing, after the devastating attacks of Assyria that had come upon
Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon, which had left them in desolation, that when
Christ established His kingdom these places would again display their former
majesty. Furthermore, the land and it’s
people who are comprised of a faithful remnant will see the glory and majesty
of God.
8.3.
The Lord healed all who were sick of any
sickness whenever people came to Him, and this was a foretaste of that time
when He would establish His kingdom and remove all sickness, sorrow, tears, and
pain.
8.4.
I had a dream once that I was walking along
in heaven and in my dream every step that I took brought me joy. There was continual joy in the presence of
the Lord in my dream. I now understand
that this is what the scripture teaches us will be the case in His kingdom.
9.
VS 35:3-7 - “3 Encourage the exhausted, and
strengthen the feeble. 4 Say to those
with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will
save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind
will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, And
the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy.
For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the
Arabah. 7 And the scorched land will become
a pool, And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.” - Isaiah tells his listeners and readers to
encourage the exhausted, strengthen the feeble, and tell the anxious to take courage
and not to fear
9.1.
Our job is to encourage God’s people with
their hope in heaven.
9.2.
The hope of heaven is meant to encourage
God’s people, however few churches today teach much about the hope of heaven.
9.3.
We read in Hebrews chapter 11 that Abraham
went out look for the city whose architect and builder was God, and this cannot
be an earthly city. It must be a
heavenly city. Even Abraham then was
truly placing his hope beyond the grave not in this life on the earth. His hope was the heavenly city of
9.4.
We should be encouraged that the Lord is one
day going to establish His kingdom and begin to restore the earth and it’s
godly inhabitants to the state that they would have if man had never
sinned. The fact that the curse that
came upon the earth and it’s inhabitants from man’s fall will be removed is a
hope that is guaranteed to encourage and strengthen God’s people and give them
courage.
9.5.
Isaiah tells us that the Lord is indeed going
to pour out His vengeance and provide a recompense, however the encouragement
for God’s people is that He will indeed save us.
9.6.
In Matt. 11:2-6,
we read that when John the Baptist had been imprisoned for rebuking Herod that
he had begun to doubt whether or not that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, so he
sent his disciples to ask Jesus if indeed he was the Messiah, then when those
disciples came Jesus quoted these verses from Isaiah, “2 Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent
word by his disciples,3 and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we
look for someone else?”4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to
John what you hear and see:5 the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed
and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel
preached to them.6 “And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.””
9.6.1.
Though Jesus’ message to John the Baptist to
encourage him that He was indeed the Messiah revealed that these verses were
fulfilled by Jesus’ public ministry, these verses will be fulfilled in a second
and complete sense when Christ establishes His kingdom.
9.7.
In these verses we see also the blessings
that come to the lives of those who receive Christ as their Lord and
Savior. Today, the Lord opens blind eyes
and makes deaf ears hear the truth of the gospel so as to be saved. Likewise, the Lord heals those of whom sin
has caused to be lame and dumb, and he causes us to show forth joy because of
the great salvation that we have received.
9.8.
The streams and pools of water in the
wilderness, the Arabah, and the thirsty ground are to be literally fulfilled
during Christ’s Millennial Reign but also allegorically fulfilled in the
washing of the word of God and renewing of the Holy Spirit for those who come
to salvation through Christ.
9.9.
Reeds and rushes grow in water and grass upon
the dry land, thus the Lord promises that He will water the land when He
establishes His kingdom in the earth.
10.
VS 35:8 - “8 And a highway will be there, a
roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it
will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.” - Isaiah tells us that in that
day when the Lord establishes His kingdom that there will be a Highway of
Holiness
10.1.
We have already seen that ‘holiness’ is one
of the main themes of the book of Isaiah, and Isaiah believed that ‘holiness’
was the one thing that most separated the Lord from all of the rest of
creation. It was His one distinguishing
characteristic.
10.2.
Isaiah also now introduces another of his
favorite themes, that of ‘the highway’.
10.3.
The Lord will be on the earth during Christ’s
Millennial kingdom, and there will be a road or a path to Him, and Isaiah tells
us that this path is the path of Holiness.
10.3.1.In
Heb. 12:14, we read that no one will
ever see the Lord who is not himself ‘holy’, “14 Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
10.4.
When the Lord establishes His kingdom, He
will have removed the wicked and fools from the earth, therefore Isaiah tells
us that the unclean and fools will not travel upon that ‘Highway of Holiness’
that will exist upon the earth.
11.
VS 35:9-10 - “9 No lion will be there, Nor
will any vicious beast go up on it;
These will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk there, 10 And the ransomed of the Lord will
return, And come with joyful shouting to
11.1.
By speaking of the redeemed, we see that
Isaiah is beginning to formulate His theology of redemption which we will see
developed throughout the rest of the book.
11.2.
In the Old Testament there was a person known
as a ‘kinsman redeemer’. He was one who
acted on another’s behalf, and one in fact who was of the same bloodline as the
person he represented. The ‘kinsman
redeemer’ would also exact revenge on their relative’s behalf if someone murdered
them.
11.2.1.Jesus
is our kinsman of our own bloodline, being 100% human and 100% divine, and He
acts on mankind’s behalf. He is the one
who on our behalf went to the cross and paid for our sins.
11.3.
To have been ‘redeemed’ means that at one
time you were enslaved. However, a price
had been paid in order for your freedom to be obtained.
11.4.
Christ is our redeemer because He paid the
price which we owed for the debt of our sins, and thus He has obtained our
pardon and forgiveness and set us free from our slavery to sin, self, and the
Devil.
11.5.
Isaiah tells us that there is no reason to
fear any wild or vicious beast as you are walking on this Highway of Holiness,
for the Lord will not allow any harm to befall you.
11.6.
Isaiah tells us that the redeemed of the Lord
will return to Him upon that Highway of Holiness and that they will come with
‘joyful shouting to Zion’, and with everlasting joy upon their heads.
11.6.1.We
are promised that in God’s kingdom we will find ‘gladness and joy’ and that all
‘sorrow and sighing’ will be removed from our lives.