Isaiah With Training Wheels: Ch. 27

The corresponding part of the chiasmus covering chapters 24-27 involves the destruction of Babylon. In contrast, this is about gathering and nurturing Zion. Zion is the garden that God nurtures.

A God’s victory in Heaven, the Great Sword (v. 1)

B The Lord’s vineyard, destined to fill the world (v. 2-6)

C The Lord’s dealings with his people (v. 7-11)

B The Lord’s harvest, gathered from all the world (v. 12)

A God call on earth, the Great Trumpet (v. 13)

27:1 In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

3 I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.

4 [I am not angry: Should briars and thorns come up,I will ruthlessly attack them and set them ablaze all together.]

5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

6 [In days to come, Jacob will] take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

7 ¶ Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?

8 [By banishment and by exile you pleaded with them: by his fierce blasts they were flung away in the day of the east wind.]

9 [Therefore] by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be [atoned for; as a result of this, his sins will be removed]; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, [Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.] the groves and images shall not stand up.

10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

12 ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall [harvest] from the River [Euphrates] unto the [Brook] of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.

13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were [perishing] in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Notes:

V. 1 Mesopotamian Creation myth typically involved a deity defeating the forces of  Chaos before the actual Creation. Thus, this is a defeat of Satan that deliberately echoes the War in Heaven. Here we see Satan’s defeat in air, land and sea.

v. 2-6 Notice the contrast with Isa. 5:1-7, how the Lord keeps this vineyard, and defends it instead of deliberately removing protections and withdrawing support.

Also notice that even the weeds are offered peace, and a place in the garden, if they will come to the Gardener. (v. 5)

v. 7-8 Verse 7 is beautiful in the Hebrew, if less clear in the English. It says, Has God smitten or punished Israel like he has the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians or the Philistines? Israel has never been treated as badly when they were punished. There was always divine restraint. Compare this with the end of chapter 28.

Likewise in verse 8, the word translated contend or debate is also translated ‘plead’.

v. 9 It is by this restrained punishment, that Israel’s sins will be purged and atoned for, and they will destroy idolatry ie. the idolatrous alters.

v. 10-11 Who are the wicked here? Babylon in general, or the wicked and proud among Israel? Or is that a false distinction? It is probably all the Great and Spacious Building / Babylon, especially among those who claim to be the Lord’s people.

v. 12-13 Again, we see the worldwide focus for Israel, that they will be gathered from distant lands. Egypt and Assyria are representative of oppressors both historical and contemporary – they will be delivered from all oppression.

Regarding, God as a gardener,

God Is the Gardener