Slices
Prepare
In verse 5 of today’s passage, God says, ‘… let them make peace with me’. How should the Israelites go about this?
Bible passage
Deliverance of Israel
27 In that day,
the Lord will punish with his sword –
his fierce, great and powerful sword –
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster of the sea.
2 In that day –
‘Sing about a fruitful vineyard:
3 I, the Lord, watch over it;
I water it continually.
I guard it day and night
so that no one may harm it.
4 I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
I would march against them in battle;
I would set them all on fire.
5 Or else let them come to me for refuge;
let them make peace with me,
yes, let them make peace with me.’
6 In days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will bud and blossom
and fill all the world with fruit.
7 Has the Lord struck her
as he struck down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
as those were killed who killed her?
8 By warfare and exile you contend with her –
with his fierce blast he drives her out,
as on a day the east wind blows.
9 By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:
when he makes all the altar stones
to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles or incense altars
will be left standing.
10 The fortified city stands desolate,
an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,
there they lie down;
they strip its branches bare.
11 When its twigs are dry, they are broken off
and women come and make fires with them.
For this is a people without understanding;
so their Maker has no compassion on them,
and their Creator shows them no favour.
12 In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Explore
Sometimes Isaiah seems to be all over the place! I mean two things. First, my modern mind likes linear outlines and logical connections: it’s challenging at times to follow Isaiah’s thinking. People saw things very differently so long ago. Secondly, the genius of Isaiah (or, should I say, of the Holy Spirit?) is to focus sharply on a specific time and place while at the same time describing realities far beyond the struggling Israelites of the late eighth century. We are ‘in that day’ again. We might leave the question of when that day will be to God. However, Isaiah does give us various pointers as to its nature and context.
Deliverance is the central theme. First Leviathan, the representative huge, evil entity, is defeated (v 1). Then a range of horticultural images are used to present God’s longing to save, nurture and nourish his people. Verse 4 is a distinctive expression of God’s heart, and in verse 12 it is the Lord himself who gathers in the harvest. It is not an easy process. We sense here something of the struggle which God has set himself to bring people back to his ‘holy mountain’ (v 13). To achieve this by force would be simple for him. He has resolved to accomplish his divine purpose through love.
Respond
Imagine yourself climbing the holy mountain. What do you pray as you climb?
Deeper Bible study
‘The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters’.1 Rest in God’s presence.
This chapter opens with a big bang, at least for Isaiah’s original hearers. They would have been familiar with the Canaanite mythology describing Leviathan, a powerful sea monster, being defeated by the pagan god Baal but, here, Isaiah’s prophecy reframes the story: it is the Lord who defeats the coiling serpent, which in this context represents Israel’s oppressors, Assyria and Egypt. ‘In that day…’, the refrain repeated through this chapter, God will decisively come to the rescue.
This deliverance has two main implications for his people, both of which were very positive. First, he will care for them once again; that’s the main point of the vine imagery (vs 2–9). The first step to deliverance is removal of sin (v 9), which opens the way for God’s loving care for his people; note the personal tone, ‘I, the Lord, watch over it’ (vs 2–4). The second implication is that he will gather them once again (vs 12,13), a reality that would have been an impossible dream in captivity.2
So how does this ancient prophecy speak to us today? I find it incredibly hopeful to know that God is using both my failings and my obedience to further his plan in my life.3 It’s good to be reminded of that when we find ourselves in a desert place in life. I also find it incredibly reassuring to know that some day God will defeat evil once and for all. It’s good to remind ourselves of that truth when we contemplate what’s happening in our world today. Isaiah’s message resonates so powerfully because we know that one day it will find ultimate fulfilment in the return of Jesus Christ.4
What is the biggest ‘monster’ (v 1) you are facing in your life right now? Prayerfully imagine God standing with you to face it.
1 Ps 23:1 2 Ps 137 3 Rom 8:28 4 Rev 12:7–12
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 44,45; Psalms 129–131
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