God Punishes, but Preserves, Israel

Isaiah 27:7. “Hath He smitten him, as He smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by Him?

The pronouns in this verse could lead one to give up trying to figure out what it means.  I’ve read several explanations.  Amazingly enough, they all agree with each other!

Here’s another way to read it:

Has He (God) destroyed him (Jacob) in the same way He (God) destroyed Jacob’s enemies?  Or is Jacob (Israel) dealt with in the same way as Jacob’s enemies have been slain?

The answer?  No. God’s wrath, poured out on  Israel’s enemies, was not and will not be poured out in equal measure on Israel.  He punished Israel for her sins, but He will redeem and restore Israel. Israel’s enemies will never be restored (Is. 63:1-5; Zech. 14; Mt. 25:31-46).

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Blessings of the Millennium

Isaiah 27:4-6. “Fury is not in Me: who would set the briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me. He shall case them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit.”

In the Millennium, God is no longer angry with His people because they will be gathered from all nations to make the 12-tribe kingdom of Israel in the Millennium, and they will then be saved and blessed under the Messiah, being no more in rebellion and scattered among the nations (Zech. 14; Acts 15:13-16; Rom. 11:25-29).

God challenges His enemies whom He liken to briers and thorns that would burn by the fury of God in battle. Or, if the enemy does not want to be burned like briers and thorns in the fire, let him take hold of God’s strength and make peace with God, and he will be blessed with Israel.

God will plant Judah and all Israel again like a vineyard being planted, and they will blossom and bud again, and fulfil their calling of filling the whole world with fruit. All nations will be blessed by them (Is. 5:1-7). I did a little research on this blossoming and fruitfulness, and it is already taking place. Israel is producing wonderfully well, and is exporting the fruits of its labors all around the world.

Of course we know that all nations will be blessed by Israel through the person of Jesus Christ, as well.

 

A Millennial Song

Isaiah 27: 2-3. “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.”

In that day:  The Millennium, when Jesus reigns over the whole earth from Jerusalem. Judah will sing a song of God’s vineyard.

Judah is the Vineyard, and God’s anger has passed. These verses describe the tender care He will provide His vineyard during the Millennium. He will make sure it is well-watered, and will protect it night and day.

Verses 4-6 continue this beautiful picture of a restored and redeemed Israel.

 

Leviathan

Isaiah 27:1. “In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

We do not know what Leviathan looks like. Many suppositions exist, but I want to clarify that this is only an artist’s rendering.  It is not a photograph 🙂

“That Day” refers to the Tribulation and Millennium.

There is a threefold sword of destruction described here. It is described as heavy, hard, and grievous. There will be no defense against it. Leviathan, in this verse referring  to  the great world powers at the end of this age, and of the evil one who will instigate them.  He is spoken of both as the serpent and the dragon, Gen. 3:1; Rev. 20:2, 10.

Rev. 19 corresponds to  Isaiah 26:21, And Rev. 20 to Isa. 27:1

 

Destruction of the Unjust

Isaiah 26:21. “For behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”

The Lord’s place is heaven. When He comes out of His place, He will bring dire consequences to those who have denied Him (Rev. 19: 11-21).

“The blood of the earth” here refers to guilt, as in the case of the blood of Abel which was said to be crying from the ground (Gen. 4:10). The guilt of the earth will be disclosed and it will no longer be able to cover its slain; that is, the earth will not be able to hide crimes so they will not be known.  All sin committed in the Millennium will be fully exposed–never kept secret, due to the fact that the resurrected saints will be rulers and judges throughout the earth, and in their glorified, immortal state of knowing as they were also known, they will be able to read the thoughts of men and thereby know the guilt of any transgressor  (I Cor. 13:12).

Preservation of the Just

Isaiah 26:20. “Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”

This verse refers to the flight of the sun-clothed woman of Rev. 12 (national Israel) from Judah into the wilderness of Edom and Moab for protection from Antichrist until the little moment, or until the indignation (Tribulation) be overpast.

There is a terrible time coming for this whole earth; far more terrible than anything we have seen or experienced before, when Antichrist will have deceived the nations into believing that he is the answer to all the ills of the world. Israel, of course will be the main target of Antichrist’s wrath, and they will suffer.  They will also find refuge, for by this time the other nations will have begun to realize what an awful mistake they’ve made.

Resurrection

Isaiah 26:19. “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”

Is this a fanciful picture? I don’t know.I have no real idea what it will look like when those who have died in the Lord rise up from their graves. I just know it will happen.

Isaiah is saying here that the dead men of Israel, along with with Isaiah himself, will rise from their graves. The word awake refers to the sleep of death. Dew is an emblem of that which revives and refreshes.

There is some discussion about the rest of this verse. Some feel that it means those who persecuted Israel, including the Rephaim (giants) will not be a part of this resurrection. Here is an argument for this position:

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(14) They are dead . . .—We get a more vivid rendering by omitting the words in italics, Dead, they live not; shadows (Rephaim, as in Psalm 88:10), they rise not. Those of whom the prophet speaks are the rulers of the great world-empires, who, as in Isaiah 14:9; Ezekiel 32:21, have passed into the gloomy world of Hades, out of which there was, for them at least, no escape. Their very names should perish from the memories of men. The LXX., adopting another etymology of the word Rephaim, gives the singular rendering, “Physicians shall not raise them up to life.”

Our verse today says Thy dead men shall live.  That is, in this sense, men of Israel.

I  often wish I were expert in the original biblical languages. I have to depend on the studies and the knowledge of others, and I am thankful for those who understand the original languages. However, sometimes they don’t agree with one another. I have given you in this post the position that makes the most sense to me.