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.
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The Defeat of God's Enemies

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. ​

Israel, the Protected Vineyard

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
Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them 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
He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. ​

The Purpose of Israel's Chastisement

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
In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. ​
9
By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, 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. ​

The Final Gathering of the Remnant

12
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream 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 ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount 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.

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