In our last study, we saw how the Lord brought destruction to Sennacherib and the Assyrian empire. This chapter continues the theme.
Isaiah 33
Read verse 1
1 Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.
Not when they choose to stop, rather when the Lord steps in and stops them.
Having just written this, Isaiah is overcome and praises the Lord, full of confidence.
Read verse 2
2 Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
We need to reconnect with the Lord each morning – a day started without the Lord could lead to distress!
Read verses 3-4
3 At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
When the Assyrians spread over the land, they stripped it of anything valuable. We saw last week that having attacked Jerusalem, the Lord stepped in, killing the whole army, leaving the spoil for the people to ‘harvest’.
Read verses 5-6
5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.
If only the people would recognise it: the Lord could be their sure foundation, bringing justice, righteousness, salvation and wisdom. But it will be kept locked away, until people truly have ‘the fear of the Lord’ to unlock it.
Read verses 7-9
7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted, no travellers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected.
9 The land dries up and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
Here is a picture of a deserted land, where the inhabitants have been taken away. Even if some brave men return and call out, there will be no-one to answer. The land itself seems to have become a desert where nothing grows.
Read verses 10-14
10 ‘Now will I arise,’ says the Lord. ‘Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
11 You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thorn-bushes they will be set ablaze.’
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: ‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?’
Now Isaiah’s message is to all those who thought they could ‘go it alone’ or ‘do their own thing’. Ignoring their all-powerful creator God, thinking they could stand against him. He will simply blow away the chaff, burning up the worthless stubble of their feeble attempts to seize power. A theme taken up by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7-12.
Read verses 15-18
15 Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil –
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: ‘Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?’
19 You will see those arrogant people no more, people whose speech is obscure, whose language is strange and incomprehensible.
Read verses 20-22
Even so, there will be righteous, God-fearing people who will be brought back and the land will recover. But again the prophecy seems to look even further into the future, when God would again reign supreme over his new creation.
20 Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
21 There the Lord will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.
A time when all wars have ceased and the Lord again takes his rightful place, Not as a tyrant king but as a loving Lord.
Read verses 23-24
23 Your rigging hangs loose: the mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.
24 No one living in Zion will say, ‘I am ill’; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
There will be no need for warships, they will be abandoned. Instead there will be an abundance for all to share. A time when ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ (Revelation 21:4)
Now the theme of a new Heaven and a new Earth continues.
Isaiah 34
Read verse 1
1 Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it!
There are many places in the Bible where a similar Hebrew word ‘hinneth’ is used and it’s difficult to translate. It means: Now look at this! Guess what! You’ll never believe it!
Or maybe just ‘wow!’ (see study in 1 Kings)
Here in verse 1 we really must stop, listen and pay attention. What Isaiah is about to reveal was very important then and still is today.
Read verses 2-3
2 The Lord is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
As I write this there are roughly 56-59 major conflicts and over 90 countries affected by war.
This was not what the Lord had envisaged when he saw all that he had made and declared it ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31) Therefore there would be a time coming when he will again step in and take control.
The first time he tried to reset the course of sinful man was in Genesis 6:5-7 when 5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created – and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground – for I regret that I have made them.’
The second time was when, having rescued his chosen people from Egypt, he met with Moses in the wilderness to explain that he wanted them to be a ‘Holy’ nation and provided a system of laws and sacrifices to achieve that end.
The third time was when he punished his rebellious people with the Babylonians and allowed them to be exiled from their land for a period of 70 years, before bringing them back to start again.
Then he sent his Son to repair with love, and provide a way for sinful mankind to repent and again make contact with their God.
But the next time will be final.
Read verse 4
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shrivelled figs from the fig-tree.
But then, he will provide a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17) for those that truly love him.
Now, coming back to the here and now, Isaiah will describe the punishments that will be handed out to God’s enemies. Here he singles out Edom as an example of what will happen to any nation who challenge the authority of God. It is still a warning to our present day and perhaps explains why world-wide economies are under threat.
Read verses 5-10
5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed.
6 The sword of the Lord is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat – the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the bull calves and the great bulls. Their land will be drenched with blood, and the dust will be soaked with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause.
9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulphur; her land will become blazing pitch! 10 It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will rise for ever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.
Here the picture is of a seismic disaster similar to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Read verse 11
11 The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb-line of desolation.
In this verse, and in several following, the repeated references to owls serve as powerful prophetic signposts of irreversible destruction and a warning of the consequences of opposing God's will.
- Desolation and Abandonment: Owls are nocturnal birds that naturally inhabit ruins and deserted places. Their presence in the prophecy against Edom (which represents all nations opposed to God) paints a vivid picture of total human abandonment. The land becomes a permanent wasteland fit only for wild, solitary creatures.
- Divine Judgment: The mention of owls, along with other birds of prey and wild animals, emphasizes the severity and totality of God's wrath against sin. The judgment is so complete that the land's previous order is reversed, returning it to a state of chaos and emptiness, or "de-creation".
- Uncleanliness: In Mosaic law, owls were classified as "unclean" birds, forbidden for the Israelites to eat. Their presence in the doomed land underscores the moral and spiritual defilement that has resulted from the nation's turning away from God's commandments.
- Permanence of Ruin: The imagery of owls nesting, laying, and hatching their eggs in the ruins (verse 15) suggests that the desolation is not short-lived but permanent, lasting for generations. Life continues for the wild creatures, but human civilization is completely gone, sealing the nation's fate.
- Contrast with God's Protection: The image of a mother owl gathering her brood offers a stark contrast to God's protective care for His people, often described as a hen gathering her chicks or being under His wings (e.g., Psalm 91:4) highlighting the absence of divine protection for rebellious nations.
Read verses 12-17
12 Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom, all her princes will vanish away.
13 Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls. 14 Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other. There the night creatures will also lie down and find for themselves places of rest.
15 The owl will nest there and lay eggs, she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings; there also the falcons will gather, each with its mate.
16 Look in the scroll of the Lord and read:
None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together. 17 He allots their portions; his hand distributes them by measure. They will possess it for ever and dwell there from generation to generation.
As Isaiah drew this prophecy to an end he added verses 16-17 – reminding people that in the years to come, they could look back at these words, which he is confident will be included in the Bible, as a permanent reminder that God’s words cannot be ignored.
Following the end of the Babylonian conquests, the land of Edom was depopulated and for centuries was taken over by wild animals. Later nomadic Arab tribes from the east settled in their land.
But this prophecy applies today too.
How many nations have turned their backs on God?
How many people are physically suffering as the results of moral decline, tyranny and greed?
How many refugees are forced to camp out in the ruins of their destroyed civilisations?
Worldwide, in mid 2025 there were 117.3 million people who had been forcibly displaced. That is 1 in 70 of all people in the world.
Is it all to be doom and gloom? No – read on
Isaiah 35
Read verses 1-10
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
What a brilliant end to this section of prophecy, pointing to the coming of Jesus and the salvation and newness of life that he brings.
