Isa 34.1-17 is a prophecy about judgment coming on the whole world. Edom is used as a type for all the nations, but it also alludes to more. Edom was a name used for Rome in rabbinic literature, and later for Apostate Christianity. So, it will also apply to the False Messiah and his kingdom in particular because it will be supported by Replacement Theology Christianity. The scenario here will play out in the birth-pains, or “tribulation” period.
v 1…Draw near, O nations, to hear and listen, O peoples (What Isaiah has to say is so important that he calls all nations together to hear his word)! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it (similar invitation in Ezek 6.3; Deut 32.1; Psa 50.4; Mic 6.1-2).
v2…For the Lord’s (Yehovah) indignation (a term for the birth-pains-Deut 29.28; Job 10.17; Psa 69.24, 78.49, 102.10; Isa 10.5, 25, 13.5, 66.14; Jer 10.10, 15.17, 50.25; Lam 2.6; Rev 14.10) is against all nations, and his wrath against all their armies (Rev 16.14); he has utterly destroyed them, he has given them over to the slaughter (Rev 19.21).
v 3…So their slain will be thrown out (to open fields as in the Feast of Leviathan-Rev 19.20-21; Ezek 29.1-7, 32.1-8; Luke 17.37; Matt 13.30), and their corpses will give off their stench, and the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
v 4…And all the host will wear away (sun, moon, stars), and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll (a great change-2 Pet 3.10-12); all their host will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from the fig tree (this speaks of the end of the Olam Ha Zeh, this present age, and the beginning of a new age called the Atid Lavo, or future coming or age).
v 5…For my word (Torah, etc) is satiated in heaven (bathed, intoxicated, as he prepares his judgment), behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom, upon the people of my curse, for judgment (Edom literally killed the Jews who remained in the land after Babylon deported the others. But Edom is a type of the non-Jewish nations who have persecuted the Jews through the ages. In the birth-pains this will allude to the False Messiah and his kingdom also).
v 6…The sword of Yehovah is filled with blood, it is sated (bathed) with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats (this alludes to a great slaughter of all ranks of men), for Yehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah (Isa 63.1-6), and a great slaughter in the land of Edom (Rev 19.17).
v 7…Wild oxen (kings, princes) will also fall with them, and young bulls with strong ones (all classes of people will be like sacrificial animals); thus their land will be soaked with blood, and their dust become greasy with fat (this speaks of a great carnage of all ranks of people).
v 8…For Yehovah has a day of vengeance; a year of recompense for the cause of Zion (these are Yom Kippur terms and alludes to what will happen when the Messiah comes on Yom Kippur-Matt 24.29-31).
v 9…And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its loose earth into brimstone and its land shall become burning pitch (like Sodom and Gomorrah-this agrees with the sulphurous and oil-rich make-up of the country, especially around the Dead Sea).
v 10…It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall be desolate; none shall pass through it forever (as a result of great volcanic upheavals and earthquakes in the area. The Dead Sea was called the Lake of Fire or “Lake Asphaltus” by the Romans because it would periodically be on fire due to the tar and oil that floated on the top. This area was once a valley with tar pits-Gen 14.10).
v 11…But the pelican and the hedgehog shall possess it, and the owl and raven shall dwell in it (the wilderness was seen as a habitation of demons, symbolized by these unclean animals); and he (Yehovah) shall stretch over it the line (for measuring) of desolation (his intent was ruin) and a plumb line of emptiness (his exact purpose was destruction).
v 12…Its nobles-there is no one there whom they may proclaim king-and all its princes shall be nothing.
v 13…And thorns shall come up in its fortified towers (growing among the ruins as a curse), nettles and thistles in its fortified cities; it shall also be a haunt for jackals and an abode of ostriches.
v 14…And the desert creatures shall meet with the wolves, the hairy goat also shall cry to its kind; yes, the night monster (screech owl) shall settle there and shall find herself a resting place (a habitation).
v 15…The tree snake shall make its nest and lay eggs there, and it shall hatch and gather them under its protection. Yes, the hawks shall be gathered there, every one with its kind (again, the wilderness was seen as the habitation of demons and these unclean creatures symbolize that concept-Matt 4.1-11; 12.43).
v 16…Seek from the book of Yehovah (the prophecies) and read; not one of these will be missing (fail to be fulfilled or given meaning); none will lack its mate (prophecies are related to each other-Remez) for his mouth has commanded (them to assemble so that the prophecy will be fulfilled literally).
v 17…And he has cast the lot for them (for all these creatures), and his hand has divided it to them line by line (Edom has been given to them to live in and distributed to each creature). They shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they (these creatures) shall dwell in it (Edom was the pride of the people and it is now given to the desert creatures-Yehovah will protect his people).
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