Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guided (PDF download).
1. Isaiah 34:1-4 (printed below) foretells the coming day of God’s judgment of this present world. How is that day described in these verses?
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all that comes forth out of it. (2) Jehovah has indignation against all the nations, and his wrath is against all their armies. He will totally destroy them; he will give them over to be slaughtered. (3) Their slain will be thrown away, their dead bodies will send up a stench; and the mountains will be soaked with their blood. (4) All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved, and the heavens themselves will be rolled up like a scroll. All of the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. (Isaiah 34:1-4)
Verse 1 may be seen as a divine and universal subpoena being served upon the nations. The announcement contained in verse 1 is reminiscent of Psalm 24:1-2, reminding us that mankind, being created by God, is ultimately accountable to God. Verse 2a tells of the Lord’s indignation against all the nations and all their hosts (note, also, Psalm 7:11). Verses 2b-3 portray the execution of God’s judgment in the most fearsome of terms—portraying the judgment in terms of a great battle in which the Lord slays His enemies and them treats them with the utmost contempt. Verse 4 indicates that this day of final judgment will be of cosmic proportions (note, also, 2 Peter 3: 10).
2. According to Isaiah 34:8 (printed below), what is one reason why the Lord will carry out this judgment? Note: “Zion” represents the kingdom of God, including His cause, His honor, and all that belongs to Him.
…Jehovah has appointed a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, for Zion’s cause. (Isaiah 34:8)
Verse 8 defines the day of divine judgment as “a day of vengeance…for Zion’s cause.” The Lord has appointed a day of reckoning at which time He will punish sinful man for what he has done to Zion: for how he has mocked God’s name, trampled down God’s honor, usurped God’s prerogatives, violated God’s law, hated God’s rule, persecuted Gods people. The Anti-Christ, embodying all the attitude of sinful mankind is described as the one who “opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God…proclaiming himself as God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
3. In what ways does Isaiah 34:16 (printed below) testify to the certainty of that coming day of judgment?
Look in the scroll of Jehovah and read: Not one of these will be missing, not one shall lack its mate—for the command has come from my own mouth; and his Spirit will gather them together. (Isaiah 34:16)
Verse 16 testifies to the certainty of that approaching day of holy vengeance by declaring that the Lord Himself has spoken the word, and His Holy Spirit shall carry out that appointed judgment. The Lord has furthermore guaranteed it by putting it into writing: it is inscribed in “the scroll of Jehovah.” Christian, as you look at the world around you and witness the predominance of evil, don’t lose heart, be assured that the Lord will come with a holy vengeance for Zion.
4. According to Isaiah 35:10 (printed below), who shall enter Zion (i.e.; the kingdom of God?)
Then those who have been ransomed by Jehovah will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them; sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)
Isaiah 35:10 declares that “those who have been ransomed by Jehovah will return. They will enter Zion.” Here is the assurance that you, as one who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ and has been redeemed by His sacrifice at Calvary, shall surely arrive at Zion and gain entrance into that heavenly kingdom of God (note John 14:1-3).
5. What does Isaiah 35:8-9 (printed below) tell us about the highway that leads to Zion?
A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called, The Way of Holiness. The unclean man will not travel on it; it will only be for the redeemed. Whoever walks on that road, even the feeble-minded, will not go astray. (9) No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get onto that road—they will not be found there. Only the redeemed will walk there. (Isaiah 35:8-9)
That highway is marked “The Way of Holiness” (verse 8a). Whereas the spiritually and morally unclean shall not travel that highway; indeed, they refuse to travel that road (note Proverbs 1:22,24,25), it is the responsibility of the redeemed, in reliance upon the Holy Spirit, to walk in that way of holiness (Hebrews 12:14). That Highway of Holiness is described as being secure from lions and every beast of prey (verse 9). Here is the assurance that the Lord will guard our souls from the deadly clutches of the evil one (John 10:27-30).
