Isaiah27

In that day, the Lord will punish Leviathan, the piercing and crooked serpent, with His mighty sword. He will also protect and water Israel, His vineyard, ensuring its fruitfulness and global spread. Though a defenced city will be desolate due to a lack of understanding, the children of Israel will ultimately be gathered from their dispersion to worship the Lord in Jerusalem.
Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

The Defeat of God's Enemies

1
In that day Jehovah with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and he will slay the monster that is in the sea. ​

Israel, the Protected Vineyard

2
In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing ye unto it. ​
3
I Jehovah am its keeper; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. ​
4
Wrath is not in me: would that the briers and thorns were against me in battle! I would march upon them, I would burn them together. ​
5
Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; yea, let him make peace with me. ​
6
In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the face of the world with fruit. ​

The Purpose of Israel's Chastisement

7
Hath he smitten them as he smote those that smote them? or are they slain according to the slaughter of them that were slain by them? ​
8
In measure, when thou sendest them away, thou dost contend with them; he hath removed them with his rough blast in the day of the east wind. ​
9
Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more. ​
10
For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the 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 shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have compassion upon them, and he that formed them will show them no favor. ​

The Final Gathering of the Remnant

12
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will beat off his fruit from the flood of the River 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 a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. ​

Study Notes for Isaiah 27

Verse 1

Leviathan, the piercing/crooked serpent, is a mythological sea creature often symbolizing primordial chaos and powerful human empires (like Egypt or Babylon). This verse promises the ultimate, decisive judgment by God over all evil and oppressive world powers in the Day of the Lord.

Verse 2

Unlike the neglected vineyard of Isaiah 5, this vineyard represents the restored Israel, now fruitful and worthy of a song. The 'red wine' signifies the quality and joy of the renewed covenant relationship.

Verse 3

This verse emphasizes God’s vigilant care. He is the keeper, constantly watering the vineyard, assuring its security against any external threat, marking a reversal of past judgment.

Verse 4

God declares that His wrath against His own people is finished ('Fury is not in me'). Any enemies who dare to attack the vineyard (symbolized by 'briers and thorns') will be utterly consumed by His power.

Verse 5

This provides a merciful alternative for those who stand opposed: they must take refuge in God’s strength. To 'take hold of my strength' means to submit to His covenant authority and seek reconciliation.

Verse 6

The ultimate result of God's protection is global blessing. Israel will not only survive but will thrive and expand, causing its fruit (spiritual and physical prosperity) to fill the entire world.

Verse 7

This rhetorical question establishes a key theological point: God’s judgment upon Israel (Jacob) was restorative and limited, never annihilating, unlike the total destruction He brought upon Israel’s oppressors.

Verse 8

The judgment was executed 'in measure' (carefully calibrated). The 'rough wind' (symbolizing the judgment/exile) was restrained by God, ensuring the punishment did not exceed the purpose of purification.

Verse 9

The primary 'fruit' of the discipline is ethical and religious cleansing. The destruction of idolatrous altars ('chalkstones') signifies the removal of sin and the end of pagan worship as the condition for restoration.

Verse 10

This verse shifts focus, contrasting the purified Israel with the fate of the 'defenced city' (likely referring to the capital of an oppressive nation or a spiritually corrupted Jerusalem). It faces permanent desolation and ruin.

Verse 11

The reason for the city’s destruction is a profound lack of spiritual understanding. Because they have no wisdom or comprehension of God's ways, God, their Creator, will show them no mercy.

Verse 12

The phrase 'beat off' refers to the careful harvesting or gathering of scattered grain, symbolizing God’s deliberate collection of the scattered Israelites ('one by one') from the farthest reaches of the known world (Euphrates to Egypt).

Verse 13

The 'great trumpet' (shofar) is a biblical signal for the commencement of a holy war, a feast, or, here, the final messianic ingathering. The exiles from Assyria and Egypt will return to Jerusalem to worship God eternally.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options