1 Come near, you nations, and hear!Pay attention, you peoples!Let the earth give heed, and all who are upon it,the world, and all who spring from it.
2 Jehovah’s rage is upon all nations,his fury upon all their hosts;he has doomed them,consigned them to the slaughter.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
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3 Their slain shall be flung outand their corpses emit a stench;atheir blood shall dissolve on the mountains,
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
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4 their fat decompose [on the hills]a—when the heavens are rolled up as a scroll,and their starry hosts shed themselves with one accord,like withered leaves from a vine,or shriveled fruit from a fig tree.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
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5 When my sword drinks its fill in the heavens,it shall come down on Edom in judgment,on the people I have sentenced to damnation.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
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6 Jehovah has a sword that shall engorge with bloodand glut itself with fat—the blood of lambs and he-goats,the kidney fat of rams.For Jehovah will hold a slaughter in Bozrah,an immense massacre in the land of Edom;
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
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7 among them shall fall buffalo, bulls, and steers.Their land shall be saturated with blood,their soil enriched with fat.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
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8 For it is Jehovah’s day of vengeance,the year of retribution on behalf of Zion.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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9 Edom’sb streams shall turn into lavaand her earth into brimstone;her land shall become as burning pitch.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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10 Night and day it shall not be quenched;its smoke shall ascend forever.It shall remain a wastelandfrom generation to generation;through endless ages none shall traverse it.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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11 But hawks and falcons shall possess it,and owls and ravens inhabit it.It shall be surveyed with muddled measureand chaotic weight.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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12 Shall they summon its nobles when it is no kingdom,when all its lords no longer exist?
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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13 For thorns shall overgrow its palaces,thistles and briars its strongholds;it shall become the haunt of howling creatures,a reservec for birds of prey.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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14 Prairie wolves shall greet jackals,and wild goats call to one another.There too shall the night owl find reposeand discover for herself a resting place.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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15 There shall the hawk owl nest and lay eggs,hatch them and brood over her young.There too shall kites come together,each one accompanying her mate.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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16 Search, and read it in the book of Jehovah:None is unaccounted for, not one lacks her mate.By his mouth he decreed it,by his Spirit he brings them together.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, Jehovah's mouth or mouthpiece, who acts as mediator of Jehovah's covenant and a source of divine revelation prior to the earth's millennial age of peace.
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17 It is he who allots them an inheritance,his hand that divides it by measure.They shall possess it forever,inhabit it from generation to generation.
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's rage toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who personifies Jehovah's fury toward his reprobate people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment to destroy them from the earth.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who commits mass genocide of the miscreants of Jehovah's people and the nations when their time expires in Jehovah's Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon and his alliance, who personify the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked in the heavens and on earth in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, the sword of justice Jehovah empowers to slay the miscreants of his people and the nations when their time expires in his Day of Judgment.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's vengeance on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes Jehovah's retribution on the evildoers of his people and the nations when Jehovah comes out in judgment against them.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, Jehovah's mouth or mouthpiece, who acts as mediator of Jehovah's covenant and a source of divine revelation prior to the earth's millennial age of peace.
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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, his hand of deliverance, who gathers Jehovah's elect from their dispersed condition and assigns them lands of inheritance as did Joshua.
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Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 34
The nations of the world receive warning that Jehovah’s Day of Judgment is at hand, that they have but a brief time in which to repent. Jehovah has “doomed” or “cursed” them (hehrim)—all who fail to attain the Zion/Jerusalem category of his people before time runs out. Jehovah will vent upon them his rage and fury—the king of Assyria/Babylon—“him who with unerring blows struck down the nations in anger, who subdued peoples in his wrath by relentless oppression” (Isaiah 14:6). As Jehovah’s instrument of destruction, he causes the nations’ slaughter—a term that he typifies (Isaiah 65:12).
A cataclysmic genocide leaves unburied bodies littering the landscape. The lack of a burial—a covenant curse—attests to the exigency of those times. Apart from cosmic debris, space technology and nuclear weapons may account for a destruction of that magnitude: “I will make mankind scarcer than fine gold, men [more rare] than gold of Ophir. I will cause disturbance in the heavens when the earth is jolted out of place by the anger of Jehovah of Hosts in the day of his blazing wrath” (Isaiah 13:12-13); “For when the windows on high are opened, the earth shall shake to its foundations” (Isaiah 24:18).
The name “Edom” or “red” (’edom) derives from the red pottage Jacob cooked with which he purchased his father’s birthright from his twin elder brother Esau (Genesis 25:29-34). Esau’s descendants—and all who sell their spiritual birthright for a “mess of pottage” or its equivalent—thus identify with Edom. Beginning with Esau’s intention to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:42), to his descendants’ betrayal of Judah to the Babylonians (Psalm 137:7; Obadiah 1:9-10), all who emulate Esau’s treachery incur Jehovah’s “damnation” (herem). The archtyrant—Jehovah’s sword—will slay them (Isaiah 66:15-16).
As anciently the land of Edom was cattle country, so the nations’ destruction compares to the bloody “slaughter” or “sacrifice” (zebah) and “massacre” or “slaughter” (tebah) of fattened beasts who turn into fertilizer. The ritually clean nature of the animals—lambs, he-goats, rams, buffalo, bulls, and steers—identifies them as Jehovah’s apostate people: “I will destine you to the sword; all of you shall succumb to the slaughter. For when I called, you did not respond; when I spoke, you would not give heed. You did what was evil in my eyes; you chose to do what was not my will” (Isaiah 65:12; cf. 63:1-6).
Jehovah’s “day of vengeance” and “year of retribution” on behalf of Zion—his Day of Judgment—occur as a covenant curse upon the wicked who violate the rights of his elect: “I had resolved on a day of vengeance, and the year of my redeemed had come” (Isaiah 63:4; cf. 47:3-4; 59:17-18; 61:2). That day of vengeance is also the day of the king of Assyria/Babylon, whom Jehovah empowers to destroy the wicked (Isaiah 2:12; 7:17; 10:3-7; 13:6-13). Those who persecute Jehovah’s righteous people suffer the curses of the covenants he made with his people at the time he reverses their circumstances.
As an integral part of Greater Babylon, the covenant breakers among Jehovah’s people meet Babylon’s fate. When, like Esau, they want their birthright back and are willing to slay their brothers for it (Genesis 27:41), Jehovah intervenes to cut them off from his blessings and to lay waste their habitations (Isaiah 1:7; 21:2; 24:1; 42:15). Their now uninhabitable land becomes a memorial of the damned for future generations (Isaiah 13:20-21; 14:22-23; 32:14; 66:24). The hell on earth they leave behind that is a consequence of their wickedness foreshadows the foreboding world they inherit in the hereafter.
Human political systems, having been tried and found wanting, are done away. Humanity’s lowest spiritual categories—Perdition, Babylon, and Jacob/Israel—cannot exist in the millennial age. The kingdom of God and its divine institutions—Zion/Jerusalem and categories higher—alone remain: “I will make peace your rulers and righteousness your oppressors; tyranny shall no more be heard of in your land” (Isaiah 60:17-18). Only the millennial “lords” and “nobles” of the earth—the proxy saviors of Jehovah’s people—are summoned on solemn occasions to pay tribute to Jehovah, the King of Zion.
Lands the wicked occupied turn into habitations for wild animals and revert to “thorns,” “thistles,” and “briars,” reflective of those who lived there (Isaiah 5:5-6; 13:21-22; 18:6). Arid lands and wilderness, where wild animals used to live, on the other hand, regenerate and blossom into paradise (Isaiah 35:1-7; 41:18-19; 51:3). Because beasts and birds also represent people, Isaiah projects their imagery onto another level, showing how common animals typify life’s true values—finding a mate, building a nest, and raising young. In effect, Jehovah provides for those who follow his design for his creation.
Carrying bird imagery a step further, Isaiah shows that Jehovah assigns each female a mate by an edict recorded in his “book”—the Book of Life. Jehovah’s mouth—his servant—“decrees” or “ordains” (siwwa) it, while Jehovah’s Spirit brings them together so that they find one another. Jehovah’s hand—his servant—assigns them permanent inheritances in the land, as did Joshua: “I have created you and appointed you to be a covenant of the people, to restore the Land and reapportion the desolate estates” (Isaiah 49:8; cf. Joshua 11:23). Unlike in modern times, divine inheritances are never sold.