이사야 Chapter 27

Translation: ESV

1

In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Key Message

God finally conquers all evil and chaos in history—this is the completion of salvation.

▸This is the climax of the Isaiah Apocalypse (chapters 24-27).

This is the climax of the Isaiah Apocalypse (chapters 24-27). Leviathan is the symbol of chaos and evil. God finally conquers this primordial evil power. This is God's ultimate subduing of the chaos that was present at creation.

Related Verses

And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
2

In that day, 'A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!'

Key Message

After judgment the pleasant vineyard of restoration opens; God's story does not end with judgment.

▸This is a song of restoration for the vineyard, contrasted with the vineyard song of judgment in chapter 5.

3

'I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day.'

Key Message

God is the keeper of his people, protecting them night and day.

▸God himself becomes the keeper of the vineyard.

4

'I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together.'

Key Message

When God's judgment is complete, wrath ceases and restoration begins.

▸God declares he has no wrath toward the vineyard (Israel).

5

Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me.

Key Message

The way to make peace with God is to lay hold of his strength—this is the way open to everyone.

▸Laying hold of God's strength and making peace with God is the only way.

6

In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.

Key Message

Israel's restoration is not only for Israel but blesses the entire world.

▸This is the eschatological vision of Israel's restoration.

7

Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?

Key Message

God disciplines his own people, but also judges the excessive evil of those used as instruments.

▸Those who attacked Israel also receive God's judgment, but not as harshly as Israel received.

8

Measure by measure, by exile you contended with them; he removed them with his fierce breath in the day of the east wind.

Key Message

God's judgment is carried out by precise method and timing—it is not disordered.

▸Israel's exile was carried out by God's appointed method and timing.

9

Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces, no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.

Key Message

God's judgment is a means of purifying sin, and through suffering God turns people away from idols.

▸The purpose of the judgment is revealed: to atone for the guilt of Jacob.

10

For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; there the calf grazes; there it lies down and strips its branches.

Key Message

Even the enemy's strongest fortresses become dwellings for animals before God's judgment.

▸The enemy's fortified city is made desolate.

11

When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor.

Key Message

Without the knowledge of God, one does not receive the compassion and favor of the Creator.

▸A people without discernment—a people who do not know God—do not receive the compassion of the one who made them.

12

In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel.

Key Message

God will gather his scattered people one by one—this is eschatological restoration.

▸Just as grain is threshed to gather each kernel, God will gather scattered Israel one by one.

13

And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Key Message

The Isaiah Apocalypse concludes with the scene of God's scattered people returning to worship.

▸With the sound of a great trumpet, scattered Israel returns.