I've gone backwards to reading Isaiah 1 to 39 after concentrating for some time on Isaiah's second half (chapters 40-66). One thing I noticed (it's taken me several reads and re-reads to fully appreciate it) is the way that the themes of the second half of Isaiah are most often introduced and established earlier on in the first half, and how vital these introductions are to understanding the visions of Isaiah 40-66. We need to keep reading the book as a whole (and perhaps even stop thinking of Isaiah as a two-halved book). Previously, I think I've over-relied on the artificial division at chapter 40, between a 'pre-exilic' and a 'post-exilic' Isaiah (who did I get that from anyway?), and this has meant that I've missed some of the background clarity that Isaiah has initially given to the later stuff.
Of particular interest to me recently (because of its relevance to Universalism), is the way that Isaiah 34 to 35 relates so directly to Isaiah's concluding vision in chapter 66, in which he ends the book with a final sentence that leaves us fixed on an awesome picture of those who are permanently redeemed starring with abhorrence upon those rebels, having been slain by the sword of the LORD, whose destruction follows by means of a fire that continues without end: "For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many... And [the survivors] shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be abhorrence to all flesh" (Isaiah 66:16, 24).
This vision has its introduction in Isaiah 34, including the metaphors of death by sword followed by destruction without end by fire. This chapter may perhaps be the hardest passage of Scripture to read in the whole Bible? Certainly some of the horrible imagery in the Book of Revelation, about the eternal torment of those who suffer everlasting destruction in the lake of fire, borrows directly from this passage. But here (and what makes it even harder to read?) the details are more slowly, carefully and clearly defined and elaborated upon with the un-escaping focus of a magnifying glass.
Here we have an entire chapter within the Prophets dedicated to explaining and clarifying the definition and nature of the place of hell and the permanent situation of those who go there: "Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever... He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it" (Isaiah 34:10, 17).
What is more, this terrifying vision is contrasted immediately with the comparison of the everlasting joy of the redeemed, and also accompanied by an emphatic denial that all without exception shall enter upon that way or dwell there among them, though at the same time maintaining without contradiction the very gladness of those ransomed whose sorrow has ended permanently: "No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:9-10).
But you need to read it all together as a whole to let its entirety, and its own internal consistency, interpret itself. In fact, to the modern mind (if you're a reader anything like me) you'll probably need several goes to get into the rhythm and paradigm of Isaiah's genre.
Isaiah 34:1-35:10 is perhaps the most staggering view from the entire Old Testament for its grandness, scope, and its clarity. It is also perhaps the most frightful and, at the same time, wonderful picture from the Prophets (In my limited estimation anyway).
I dare you to read it all together as one passage. I dare you to read it several times, and then re-read it again. After all, Isaiah dedicated himself to here give significant treatment to this subject for good reason: we need to hear this for our good. So here it is: Isaiah 34 and 35 together...
And don't forget: read x 7, then re-read again!
Of particular interest to me recently (because of its relevance to Universalism), is the way that Isaiah 34 to 35 relates so directly to Isaiah's concluding vision in chapter 66, in which he ends the book with a final sentence that leaves us fixed on an awesome picture of those who are permanently redeemed starring with abhorrence upon those rebels, having been slain by the sword of the LORD, whose destruction follows by means of a fire that continues without end: "For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many... And [the survivors] shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be abhorrence to all flesh" (Isaiah 66:16, 24).
This vision has its introduction in Isaiah 34, including the metaphors of death by sword followed by destruction without end by fire. This chapter may perhaps be the hardest passage of Scripture to read in the whole Bible? Certainly some of the horrible imagery in the Book of Revelation, about the eternal torment of those who suffer everlasting destruction in the lake of fire, borrows directly from this passage. But here (and what makes it even harder to read?) the details are more slowly, carefully and clearly defined and elaborated upon with the un-escaping focus of a magnifying glass.
Here we have an entire chapter within the Prophets dedicated to explaining and clarifying the definition and nature of the place of hell and the permanent situation of those who go there: "Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever... He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it" (Isaiah 34:10, 17).
What is more, this terrifying vision is contrasted immediately with the comparison of the everlasting joy of the redeemed, and also accompanied by an emphatic denial that all without exception shall enter upon that way or dwell there among them, though at the same time maintaining without contradiction the very gladness of those ransomed whose sorrow has ended permanently: "No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:9-10).
But you need to read it all together as a whole to let its entirety, and its own internal consistency, interpret itself. In fact, to the modern mind (if you're a reader anything like me) you'll probably need several goes to get into the rhythm and paradigm of Isaiah's genre.
Isaiah 34:1-35:10 is perhaps the most staggering view from the entire Old Testament for its grandness, scope, and its clarity. It is also perhaps the most frightful and, at the same time, wonderful picture from the Prophets (In my limited estimation anyway).
I dare you to read it all together as one passage. I dare you to read it several times, and then re-read it again. After all, Isaiah dedicated himself to here give significant treatment to this subject for good reason: we need to hear this for our good. So here it is: Isaiah 34 and 35 together...
(34:1) Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.
(2) For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. (3) Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. (4) All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.
(5) For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. (6) The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom. (7) Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
(8) For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. (9) And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch. (10) Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. (11) But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. (12) Its nobles--there is no one there to call it a kingdom, and all its princes shall be nothing. (13) Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. (14) And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. (15) There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. (16) Seek and read from the book of the LORD: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the LORD has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. (17) He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line; they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
(35:1) The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; (2) it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. (3) Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. (4) Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." (5) Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; (6) then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; (7) the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. (8) And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. (9) No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. (10) And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(Isaiah 34:1-35:10)
And don't forget: read x 7, then re-read again!
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