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Reading Isaiah 27:1-13 where God talks about restoring Israel and striking down those who have afflicted His people, including that great dragon of the sea, Leviathan. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
In Isaiah chapter 27, Yahweh promises to deliver His people. And just as He was faithful to fulfill that promise then, so He will be faithful to fulfill His promises now, when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.
Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. Back to our study, the book of Isaiah, and we're up to chapter 27 this week. If you want to open up a Bible and join with me there. This is a fairly short chapter, just 13 verses, so I'm going to go ahead and read through the whole thing out of the Legacy Standard Bible.
Hear the word of the Lord. In that day, Yahweh will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, with his fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan, the twisted serpent, and he will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
In that day, a vineyard of delight, sing of it, I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I water it every moment, lest anyone damage it. I keep it night and day. I have no wrath. Who would ever give me briars and thorns in the battle?
I would step on them. I would burn them completely. Or let him rely on my strong defense. Let him make peace with me. Let him make peace with me. In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud, and they will fill the whole world with produce.
Like the striking of him who has struck them, has he struck them? Or like the slaughter of those of his who were killed, have they been killed? You contended with them by driving them away, by making them forlorn.
With his fierce wind, he has expelled them on the day of the east wind. Therefore, through this, Jacob's iniquity will be atoned for, and this will be the whole fruit of the turning away of his sin. When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones, when ashram and incense altars will not stand.
For the fortified city is isolated, a haunt forlorn and forsaken like the desert. There the calf will graze, and there it will lie down and feed on its twigs. When its limbs are dry, they are broken off.
Women come and light a fire with them, for they are not a people of discernment. Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, and their Creator will not be gracious to them. And it will be in that day that Yahweh will start his threshing from the flowing stream of the river to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.
And it will be in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria, and who were banished in the land of Egypt, will come and worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
So back at the very start of this, this is talking about Yahweh delivering Israel. Remember what we've read here in these particular proclamations in this section of Isaiah. In chapter 24, Yahweh will empty the earth.
In chapter 25, God will have victory even over death. In chapter 26, he establishes peace. And here in chapter 27, seems to be more specific with regards to the deliverance and reestablishment of Israel.
All of this is prophesying their captivity to the Babylonians, but God saying that he will rescue them out of the Babylonians' hand and reestablish them. Thus, this statement at the very beginning of chapter 27, where it says Yahweh will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and that may be in reference to Babylon.
That's kind of the opening statement of chapter 27. You have the word of God then that comes in verses 2 through 6. It is the Lord himself speaking. And then verses 7 through 11 talking about how God is the one who strikes, and so therefore he is the one who restores.
And then closing in verses 12 and 13 about how God is overthrowing the Egyptians, but he will reestablish his people on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. That's the very closing line of chapter 27 here.
So our bookends are, and in verse 1, the dragon will be overthrown, and in verse 13, Israel will be reestablished. So let's come back to the very beginning of this. In that day, Yahweh will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, with his fierce and great and mighty sword, even Leviathan, the twisted serpent, and he will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.
That's an interesting statement. What is the dragon that lives in the sea? When you hear that phrase, the dragon that lives in the sea, what does it make you think of? It might make you think of a sea monster, right?
But where else do we hear that in the Bible? There's the dragon in Revelation that comes up out of the sea, right? Could the two be related? Possibly. I think there is a prophecy that's being made here that's in direct correlation with Israel.
It's talking about Israel being rescued and restored. But there could also be something prophetic that's looking toward a far distant completion that's not going to be fulfilled with the restoration of Israel.
After all, we had just read in the previous two chapters that God is going to swallow up death and he's going to establish peace. Those things that do not happen when Israel is rescued out of the hands of the Babylonians or then the hands of the Medes and the Persians.
So maybe this is looking toward something that's going to happen later on with the dragon being destroyed and Israel being delivered will be in reference to the church, not the nation of Israel, but the people of God, all those who are in Christ Jesus.
So there could be a connection then, is what I'm saying, between chapter 27 verse 1 and what we read in Revelation with regards to the beast that comes up out of the sea. This reference to Leviathan, the most well-known place in scripture that you've heard Leviathan referred to is in Job 41.
And you have a dragon that's being described there, flashes of lightning that come from his mouth and fire from his nostrils. Sounds like a fire-breathing dragon there. And dragons certainly were more than mythical creatures.
They were real animals. I think there was a lot of mythologizing going on concerning dragons, making them larger and more ferocious than they really were. But there were these reptilian creatures that breathe fire, again, just like we read in Job 41.
And there was more than one kind of dragon that was referred to as Leviathan. Some of the pagans even worshiped a god that was called Leviathan. That which we call dinosaurs today, though, they would have called dragons back then.
So we're seeing a parallel between Leviathan and dragon. Leviathan, that twisted serpent. He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea. It's all talking about the same thing. And it may be in reference to Satan, just as Satan is called the dragon in the book of Revelation.
If you'll remember back to Isaiah 14, this is the chapter where the name Lucifer is derived from. In the King James, it says in Isaiah 14, 12, how you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.
And that word Lucifer means morning star. That's literally how it's translated in Isaiah 14, 12. How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn. So Lucifer was the Latin word for morning star.
And it's from the Latin Vulgate that we had Lucifer appear first. But that would not have been the name. That wouldn't have been the original name in Hebrew. So Lucifer is just a word for morning star.
It's not actually the devil's original name. Whatever that phrase would be in Hebrew would be closer to what his original name would be. But anyway, remember, this was an oracle that was concerning the king of Babylon.
But consider how it's being talked about here, how the king of Babylon is being addressed. Isaiah 14, verse 12, how you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn. You have been cut down to the earth.
You who have weakened the nations. Well, the king of Babylon was not in heaven. So how could that be said of the king of Babylon? Let me continue on. But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven.
I will raise my throne above the stars of God. And I will sit on the mount of assembly and the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high.
Nevertheless, you will be brought down to shield to the recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you. They will carefully consider you saying, is this the man who made the earth tremble, who caused kingdoms to quake, who made the world like a wilderness and pulled down at cities who did not allow his prisoners to go home?
All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own place. Okay, let me stop there. So this is the passage that it's often said was really addressing Satan, even though in context we see it's talking about the king of Babylon.
So how could it be in reference to Satan? Well, this one and the one that's like it in the book of Ezekiel, it could be that what's being prophesied here, though it is talking about the king of Babylon, it's almost like it's looking past the king of Babylon and addressing the power that is behind him.
And the power behind him could have been Satan or some kind of adversity that certainly had the power of Satan, the authority of Satan, which is authority that has been granted by God. Satan can only do what God allows him to do.
So it's very likely that Satan is the power behind the king of Babylon. And thus it is being said to Satan addressing the king of Babylon. But more than this, the power that is behind him, how you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn.
Okay, so keeping that in mind, which we had read previously in Isaiah 14. Now we come back here to Isaiah 27, and this is talking about how the Babylonians will be cut down so that Israel will be delivered from their hand.
And it said of the Babylonians that they're like a dragon. So once again, this could be addressing the power that is behind the king of Babylon rather than talking about the king himself. In that day, Yahweh will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent with his fierce and great and mighty sword.
Interesting that Leviathan would be referred to as a serpent here because we know that Satan who is called that ancient serpent is also called a dragon. So again, could be addressing the power behind the king, his fierce and great and mighty sword referring to the weapons of God that he will use to strike down Leviathan.
You have it stated three times, like three witnesses, the great power that is in the weapon that will be brought against Leviathan to strike him. His fierce and great and mighty sword. No matter how fierce Leviathan is thought to be, God's weapons are greater.
He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea. Good news to the Hebrews who would have heard this being said, that power which has come against us, God will strike down and we will be delivered from his hand.
Now, of course, this is all being prophesied before Israel is captured and sent into captivity. But they are to remember those words when they are in exile, that God will not let his people be annihilated by the Babylonians.
God himself will come against the powers behind Babylon and strike them down and deliver his people. And so it is said in verses two through six, this next section where God himself is the one who speaks.
In that day, a vineyard of delight, sing of it, I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I water it every moment, lest anyone damage it. I keep it night and day. So this vineyard is in reference to Israel. This is the vineyard that God has grown.
It belongs to him. Jesus makes the same kind of references in some of his parables. Remember how he's referred to Israel or his people as a vineyard. So he takes that straight from the prophet Isaiah and how Isaiah made a reference to Israel.
Jeremiah and Ezekiel did the same thing. But anyway, we have here in Isaiah, Yahweh saying, I am the keeper of this vineyard. So if anyone damages it, I keep it and I will strike them down. Verse four, I have no wrath who would ever give me briars and thorns in the battle.
I have no wrath, meaning nobody can bring anything against me. Who could ever give me briars and thorns in the battle? I am the one that keeps and protects this garden. Nobody can bring anything against it.
I would step on them and I would burn them completely. Or let him rely on my strong defense. Let him make peace with me. God says, and then that phrase is repeated, let him make peace with me. So God is either going to strike you down or you make peace with God and you also will be delivered on that day that God brings deliverance.
I can't help but think that this comes back to Psalm 2 in some way. Now O kings show insight, take warning O judges of the earth, serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun lest he become angry and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in him. So that's kind of the statement that's being made here in Isaiah 27 five, let him make peace with me before God's wrath is kindled. Verse six, in the days to come, Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and bud and they will fill the whole earth with produce.
God talking about how he's going to deliver his people and they will fill the whole earth. And I believe that is in reference to the gospel going out and those who hear the gospel, which will come from Israel.
Remember that the gospel goes out from Judah, Jesus saying to his disciples, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And so the gospel goes out from there and fills the whole world with produce.
Beginning in verse seven, like the striking of him who has struck them, has he struck them or like the slaughter of those who were killed, have they been killed? This is in reference to the remnant. God has preserved a remnant of the people for himself.
He did not allow Babylon to come in and strike them all down or later the Medes and the Persians. Verse eight, you contended with them by driving them away, by making them forlorn with his fierce wind.
He has expelled them on the day of the east wind. It is God who controls all of this. He is the one who has punished his own people and used a pagan people in order to do that. We had read previously in Isaiah that the Babylonians were used as like God's hammer against Israel, who is being punished because they worship false gods, they disobeyed God.
And so God was bringing this punishment against them, but it is God who drives them away. So verse nine, therefore through this, Jacob's iniquity will be atoned for. And this will be the whole fruit of the turning away of his sin when he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones, when asherim and incense altars will not stand.
This is talking about how God's punishment against Judah will be so total that it will cleanse the land. They are cleansed of their sin and the land is cleansed of the idolatry that they practiced when they were in it.
Verse 10, for the fortified city is isolated, a haunt forlorn and forsaken like the desert. There the calf will graze and there will lie down and feed on its twigs. When its limbs are dry, they are broken off.
Women come and light a fire with them for they are not a people of discernment. Therefore their maker will not have compassion on them and their creator will not be gracious to them. Those that were left behind in the exile would end up being destroyed and God's compassion would not be upon them.
And we see that even in Jeremiah, where Jeremiah 28 and 29, the very same place where we read that famous verse, for I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, a plan to prosper and not to harm you, to give you a hope in a future.
That's Jeremiah 29, 11. It's in that same place where it is talked about that those who do not go away in the exile or even try to flee the wrath that is to come, God is going to strike them down. So same kind of a statement that's being made here in Isaiah 27.
And then we close out with these two verses in 12 and 13, which talk about how the enemies of Israel will be struck and Israel, even Jerusalem itself, this city that's been talked about as being forsaken, like the desert, a haunt forlorn.
Jerusalem's restoration is mentioned in verse 13. So let me read in verse 12 here. And it will be in that day that Yahweh will start his threshing from the flowing stream of the river to the brook of Egypt.
And you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. And it will be in that day that a great trumpet will be blown. And those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and those who were banished in the land of Egypt will come and worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
So though Judah had been carried away in exile to the Babylonians, there were many others that ended up in other places, even in the land of Assyria and in the land of Egypt. But God will still gather his remnant and bring them to his holy mountain at Jerusalem.
And of course, we see that fulfilled in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. So God's people will be gathered once again at that place and will worship God on Mount Moriah when the temple is rebuilt. But all of this is ultimately pointing toward how God is going to bring to himself a people from all over the world.
Even these references here to Assyria and to Egypt is a reference to the nations. And so today, we have that through Judah came a Savior who is Christ. The gospel was proclaimed and went out to the earth.
And even from the nations around, there are people that have come to Mount Zion, that place where God dwells with his people, that is through Jesus Christ. And we, as the church, have come together to worship God.
So even this prophetically points toward that. We've seen some things prophetically that have pointed toward how Satan will rule in the land like a dragon, but God is going to strike him down. We've seen reference to how the people of God will fill the whole earth with produce.
That's a reference to the church going out into all the world. We've seen a reference to people from all the different nations, Assyria and Egypt coming to Jerusalem, which is also a term that gets used for the church.
We see that in Revelation. And so people from all over the nations come to God in Christ Jesus through his church. Some of these things prophetically even pointing to things that will happen later on.
But we can take hope in all that is said here and that we are the people of God. We are his remnant that are gathered to himself. No one is going to bring briars and thorns against God in the battle. God will step on them.
He will burn them completely, and we will be gathered up and delivered by our Savior who will even strike down the dragon, that ancient serpent. The devil will not have victory over us. We have victory in Christ.
Those things we are reminded of, even as we read here in Isaiah 27, Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He rose again from the dead, conquering death itself so that all those who are in Christ Jesus, our sins are forgiven, just as it said here of Israel that their iniquity will be atoned for.
In Christ, our sins are forgiven, and in him we have the promise of everlasting life as we come to his holy mountain to worship him. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read here, even in this prophecy concerning Israel and Judah in Isaiah 27.
We have the hope of deliverance that is given to us as well. We have been rescued from our sin. Our sin has been atoned for. That enemy, the devil, the adversary that comes against us, you will strike him down.
We will fill the whole earth, and there is a place that has been promised for us in glory. As you have been faithful to fulfill your promises in the past, so we know that you will fulfill your promises in the future as well.
Deliver us, Lord God. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. We pray in your name, amen.
This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.
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