Isaiah 34 explained: Judgment on Edom and the Nations

The whole world summoned (vv. 1-4)

Every nation is called to hear that the LORD is angry with them and their armies, and the bloodshed is described in graphic, unsoftened terms. The sky rolling up like a scroll and stars falling like dried figs picture the whole order of things collapsing, imagery the book of Revelation later borrows.

Slaughter pictured as sacrifice (vv. 5-7)

The focus narrows to Edom, southeast of Judah, and Bozrah, one of its major cities, where the killing is described like a huge temple sacrifice with blood and fat everywhere. The lambs, goats and bulls stand for Edom's people, from the weakest to the strongest.

The reason: Zion's cause (v. 8)

Zion means Jerusalem, and this is framed as God settling accounts on its behalf. Many scholars connect it to the bitter memory that Edom, traditionally descended from Jacob's brother Esau, cheered and took part when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.

A land that burns forever (vv. 9-10)

Burning pitch and sulfur echo the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis. Smoke rising forever is poetry for permanent ruin, and Edom did eventually disappear as a nation.

Handed over to wild animals (vv. 11-15)

The measuring line and plumb line that builders used to lay out a city now mark out emptiness instead. Owls, jackals, hyenas and even a night creature from folk belief move into the abandoned palaces, though the exact animals named in the Hebrew are uncertain.

Every creature in its place (vv. 16-17)

Readers are told to check the LORD's scroll, and scholars are unsure whether this means a written record of the prophecy or something else. The grim point is that God himself assigns Edom to the wild animals, the way land was divided by lot among new settlers.

Key verse: Isaiah 34:8

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether this chapter describes only the historical downfall of ancient Edom or also a future final judgment of the whole world, with Edom standing for all who oppose God.

Something to think about

When a people has suffered real wrongs, how would you tell the difference between a cry for justice and a wish for revenge, and does that difference matter?