- Isaiah 27 (Contemporary English Version)
- On that day, Leviathan, the sea monster, will squirm and try to escape, but the LORD will kill him with a cruel, sharp sword.
- At that time you must sing about a fruitful vineyard.
- I, the LORD, will protect it and always keep it watered. I will guard it day and night to keep it from harm.
- I am no longer angry. But if it produces thorns, I will go to war against it and burn it to the ground.
- Yet if the vineyard depends on me for protection, it will become my friend and be at peace with me.
- Someday Israel will take root like a vine. It will blossom and bear fruit that covers the earth.
- I, the LORD, didn't punish and kill the people of Israel as fiercely as I punished and killed their enemies.
- I carefully measured out Israel's punishment and sent the scorching heat to chase them far away.
- There's only one way that Israel's sin and guilt can be completely forgiven: They must crush the stones of every pagan altar and place of worship.
- Fortress cities are left like a desert where no one lives. Cattle walk through the ruins, stripping the trees bare.
- When broken branches fall to the ground, women pick them up to feed the fire. But these people are so stupid that the God who created them will show them no mercy.
- The time is coming when the LORD will shake the land between the Euphrates River and the border of Egypt, and one by one he will bring all of his people together.
- A loud trumpet will be heard. Then the people of Israel who were dragged away to Assyria and Egypt will return to worship the LORD on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.
In this chapter Isaiah is addressing the future restoration of Israel. The time period, though, is not clear. Is it the near future as with Israel's restoration after exile in Babylon or is it the far future restoration when Christ will reign? Her restoration will occur after God brings judgment on those He used to bring judgment on Israel. The Leviathan of verse one represents this judgment. Does the Leviathan represent Babylon or does it represent those nations in general that were instrumental in the destruction of Israel? There thought in both directions. In either case, the slaying of the monster is the slaying of Babylon or all these nations.
When God restores His people they will once again be a fruitful vineyard, though a caution is given that if they should produce thorns and briers instead of grapes God will again trample them. But is God's judgment on Israel the same as His judgment on those nations that struck Israel? The implied answer is no. His dealings with Israel is more measured than with the other nations. It has the distinction purpose of restoring her to the covenantal relationship God has had with her. When she is restored, Israel will be ready to renew the covenant with God and to destroy her idols as stated in verse 9: "Therefore Jacob's iniquity will be purged in this way, and the result of the removal of his sin will be this: when he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing."
Israel must discover, as we must discover, that the core of life is our relationship to God. Everything else is peripheral to that. Whatever else we might pursue is given meaning and is enjoyed to its fullest through our relationship with God. But we are prone to reverse this order. We try to make the core of life our own pursuits and make God peripheral to those pursuits. But with this order to life our pursuits lose their meaning and significance and fullest enjoyment.
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