ISAIAH
The Gospel To Israel
Book 2

LESSON  TWELVE
Isaiah 26:1 - 27:13

Isaiah 26:1

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (1) In that day, this song shall be sung in the land of Judah: Ours is a mighty city; He makes victory our inner and outer wall. In that day they shall sing this song in the land of Judea;  Behold a strong city; and he shall make salvation its wall and bulwark. At that time shall they sing this song of praise in the land of the house of Judah; we have a strong city; salvation shall be set upon the walls thereof and mercy. From the NKJV (1)  In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city;  God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.

The Third Echo:
Israel Brought Back (Raised from the Dead)
26:1-21

Thus the second hymnic echo has its confirmation in a prophecy against Moab,  on the basis o f which a third hymnic echo now arises.

According to the punctuation,  this ought to be rendered,  "A city is a shelter for us;"  but `oz (OT:5797)  `iyr (OT:5892)  seem rather to be connected,  according to Prov 17:19, "a city of strong,  i.e., of impregnable offence and defense."

The subject of  yaashiyt (OT:7896) God will appoint -  is Jehovah.
The figure indicates what He is constantly doing,  and ever doing afresh;  for the walls and bulwarks of  Jerusalem (cheel,  the small outside wall which encloses all the fortifications)  are not dead stone,  but yeshuâh,  ever living and never exhausted salvation (Isa 60:18).

In just the same sense Jehovah is called elsewhere the wall of Jerusalem,  and even a wall of fire in Zech 2:9 - parallels which show that yeshuâh is intended to be taken as the accusative of  the object,  and not as the accusative of  the predicate,  according to Isa 5:6; Ps 21:7; 84:7; Jer 22:6 (Luzzatto).
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Isaiah 26:2

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (2)  Open the gates, and let a righteous nation enter, [A nation] that keeps faith. Open ye the gates, let the nation enter that keeps righteousness, and keeps truth, Open ye the gates, which the righteous people, which have kept the law with a perfect heart, may enter in. From the NKJV (2)  Open the gates,  that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.

In chapter 26 we have the Song of  Judah (26:1)
In chapter 27 we have the Son of  Israel (27:6,12)

In verse 1 this city is thought of  as still empty:  for,  like paradise,  in which man was placed,  it is first of  all a creation of  God.
Hence the exclamation in verse 2.
The cry is a heavenly one;  and those who open,  if indeed we are at liberty to inquire who they are,  must be angels.
We recall to mind Ps 24,  but the scene is a different one.
The author of  Ps 118 has given individuality to this passage in verses. 19, 20.
Goi tzaddik (a righteous nation)  is the church of  the righteous.
Goi  (nation)  is used here,  as in verse 15 and Isa 9:2,  with reference to Israel,  which has now by grace become a righteous nation,  and has been established in covenant truth towards God.

Note the pattern found in this song in Judah -  Isaiah 26:1-21

Keeps the truth = maintained fidelity.
The NIV has: "The nation that keeps faith"
See Deuteronomy 32:20 for the opposite side.  "And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faith."    (NKJV)

And here is a thought:
Revelations 21:23-27
"And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendor and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp. [Isa 24:23; 60:1,19.]
The nations shall walk by its light and the rulers and leaders of the earth shall bring into it their glory.
And its gates shall never be closed by day, and there shall be no night there. [Isa 60:11.]
They shall bring the glory (the splendor and majesty) and the honor of the nations into it.
But nothing that defiles or profanes or is unwashed shall ever enter it, nor anyone who commits abominations (unclean, detestable, morally repugnant things) or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life."     (AMP)

Isaiah 26:3

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (3)  The confidant mind You guard in safety, in safety because it trusts in You. Supporting truth, and keeping peace: for on thee, O Lord, With a perfect heart have they kept peace; peace shall be wrought for them, because they have trusted in thy Memra. From the NKJV (3)  You will keep him in perfect peace,  whose mind is stayed on You,  because he trusts in You.

The relation of  Israel and Jehovah to one another is now a permanent one.
A gnome (borrowed in Ps 112:7-8),  but in a lyrical connection,  and with a distinct reference to the church of  the last days.  The state of  mind is mentioned here as designating the person possessing it,  according to his inmost nature.

The Promise - Perfect Peace
In the Hebrew it is peace,  peace (shâlom, shâlom).
From Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown:

The Condition - Mind stayed on God
From Keil & Delitzsch:

Isaiah 26:4

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (4)  Trust in the Lord forever and ever, for in Yah the Lord you have an everlasting Rock. They have trusted with confidence for ever, the great, the eternal God; Trust ye in the Memra of the Lord for ever and for everlasting ages: for then shall ye be delivered by the Memra of the Terrible One, the Lord, the Mighty One of the ages. From the NKJV (4)  Trust in the LORD forever,  for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.

A cry goes forth again,  as if  from heaven,  exhorting Israel to continue in this mind.

The combination Jah Jehovah is only met with here and in Isa 12:2.
It is the proper name of  God the Redeemer in the most emphatic form.
In Jah Jehovah (munach, tzakeph) there is an everlasting rock, i.e.,  He is essentially such a rock (compare Deut 32:4, like Ex 15:2 for Isa 12:2).

Isaiah 26:5, 6

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (5)  For He has brought low those who dwelt high up, has humbled the secure city, humbled it to the ground, leveled it with the dust – Who hast humbled and brought down them that dwell on high thou shalt cast down strong cities, and bring them to the ground. For he hath brought down them that dwell on high, the mighty city: he will bring it down, he will cast it to the earth; he will bring it even to the dust. Targum (6)  To be trampled underfoot, by the feet of the needy, by the soles of the poor. And the feet of the meek and lowly shall trample them. Feet shall tread it down, even the feet of the righteous, the soles of the humble, and of the poor of the people. From the NKJV (5)  For He brings down those who dwell on high,  the lofty city;   He lays it low,  He lays it low to the ground, He brings it down to the dust.  (6) The foot shall tread it down — the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy.

He has already proved Himself to be such a rock,  on which everything breaks,  which would attack the faithful whom He surrounds.
Passing beyond the fall of  Moab,  the fall of  the imperial city is celebrated,  to which Moab was only an annex  (Isa 25:1-2; 24:10-12).
The second thought of verse 6 is a more emphatic repetition of  the first:
It is trodden down;  the oppression of  those who have been hitherto oppressed is trodden down.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

There is no power so high that it can hinder God, when he will deliver his.
God will set the poor afflicted over the power of the wicked.
(from Geneva Notes, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Here (as often in the Prophets and Psalms) the lowly,  persecuted, despised people of God who suffer hardship and discrimination in this life. They will yet see the power and pretensions of the world crushed to the ground.
(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press)

Isaiah 26:7

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (7)  The path is level for the righteous man; O just One, You make smooth the course of the righteous. The way of the godly is made straight: the way of the godly is also prepared. The ways of the righteous are upright; yea, the deeds of the ways of the righteous wilt thou direct. From the NKJV (7)  The way of the just is uprightness;  O Most Upright,  You weigh the path of the just.

The righteous,  who go astray according to the judgment of  the world,  thus arrive at a goal from which there way appears in a very different light.

yaashaar (OT:3477)  is an accusative predicate:  You roll it,  i.e., You smooth it,  so that it is just as if it had been beveled with a rule,  and leads quite straight and without interruption to the desired end.
The song has here fallen into the language of  a mashal of Solomon (vid. Prov 4:26; 5:6,21).
It pauses here to reflect, as if at the close of a strophe.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Here (as often in the Prophets and Psalms) the lowly,  persecuted, despised people of  God who suffer hardship and discrimination in this life.  They will yet see the power and pretensions of the world crushed to the ground.
(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press)

The word used here for weigh - paalac (OT:6424)  may mean:

Isaiah 26:8, 9

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (8)  For Your just ways, O Lord, we look to You; we long for the name by which You are called. For the way of the Lord is judgment: we have hoped in thy name, and on the remembrance of thee, Surely for the way of thy judgments have we waited, O Lord; for thy name and for thy remembrance has our soul longed. (9)  At night I yearn for You with all my being, I seek You with all the spirit within me. For when Your judgments are wrought on earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Which our soul longs for: my spirit seeks thee very early in the morning, O God, for thy commandments are a light on the earth: learn righteousness, ye that dwell upon the earth. My soul longs to pray before thee in the night; yea, my spirit within me blesses thee; for when thy judgments are established upon the earth, they that dwell in the world shall be taught to execute truth. From the NKJV (8)  Yes, in the way of Your judgments,  O LORD, we have waited for You;  the desire of our soul is for Your name and for the remembrance of You.  (9)  With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;  for when Your judgments are in the earth,  the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

It then commences again in a lyrical tone in verses. 8 and 9.
The church of  the last days,  looking back to the past,  declares with what longing it has waited for that manifestation of  the righteousness of  God that has now taken place.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Hence the multitudes that come out of the great tribulation in Revelation 7:14-17.

They longed for God to come as a Redeemer in the way of  His judgments.
The  "name"  and  "remembrance"  and the nature of  God,  that has become nameable and memorable through self-assertion and self-manifestation (Ex 3:15 - Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of  your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of  Isaac,  and the God of  Jacob,  has sent me to you. This is My name forever,  and this is My memorial to all generations.').
They desired that God should present Himself again to the consciousness and memory of  man,  by such an act as should break through His concealment and silence.  The prophet says this more especially of  himself;  for he feels himself  "in spirit"  to be a member of  the perfected church.

"My soul" and "my spirit" are accusatives giving a more precise definition (Ewald, §281, c).
"The night"  is the night of  affliction,  as in Isa 21:11.

I will seek you
In connection with this,  the word shicheer (lit. to dig for a thing, to seek it eagerly)  is employed here,  with a play upon shachar.
The dawning of the morning after a night of  suffering was the object for which he longed,

Revelations 7:14-17
(14)  I replied, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [Gen 49:11; Dan 12:1.]
(15)  For this reason they are [now] before the [very] throne of God and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary (temple); and He Who is sitting upon the throne will protect and spread His tabernacle over and shelter them with His presence.
(16)  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any scorching heat. [Isa 49:10; Ps 121:6.]
(17)  For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. [Ps 23:2; Isa 25:8; Ezek 34:23.]       (AMP)

Isaiah 26:10

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (10)  But when the scoundrel is spared, he learns not righteousness; in a place of integrity, he does wrong – he ignores the majesty of the Lord. For the ungodly one is put down: no one who will not learn righteousness on the earth, shall be able to do the truth: let the ungodly be taken away, that he see not the glory of the Lord. Thou hast granted them a respite, even to the wicked, so that, if they returned to thy law – and they returned not all the days that they were alive – they might do righteousness upon the earth: they have been treacherous dealers, yea, they regard not the praise of thy glory, O Lord. From the NKJV (10)  Let grace be shown to the wicked,  yet he will not learn righteousness;  in the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,  and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

Here again the shiir has struck the note of a mâshâl.  And proceeding in this tone,  it pauses here once more to reflect as at the close of a strophe.

Granting that favor (cheen = "goodness,")  is constantly shown to the wicked man.

The land of uprightness
'Eretz necochoth is a land in which everything is right,  and all goes honorably.
A worthless man,  supposing he were in such a land,  would still act knavishly;  and of  the majesty of  Jehovah,  showing itself in passing punishments of sin,  though still sparing him,  he would have no perception whatever.  The prophet utters this with a painful feeling of  indignation;  the word bal  (not) indicating denial with emotion.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Isaiah 26:11-13

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (11)  O Lord! They see not Your hand exalted. Let them be shamed as they behold Your zeal for Your people and fire consuming Your adversaries. O Lord, thine arm is exalted, yet they knew it not: but when they know they shall be ashamed: jealousy shall seize upon an untaught nation, and now fire shall devour the adversaries. O Lord, when thou shalt be revealed in thy might to do good unto them that fear thee, there shall be no brightness for the enemies of thy people; the wicked shall see, and be put to shame; the vengeance of the people shall cover them, yea, fire shall destroy thine adversaries. (12)  O Lord! May You appoint well-being for us, since You have also requited all our misdeeds. O Lord our God, give us peace: for thou hast rendered to us all things. O Lord, thou wilt establish peace for us; for at all times dost thou exercise forbearance towards our transgressions. (13)  O Lord our God! Lords other than You possessed us, but only Your name shall we utter. O Lord our God, take possession of us: O Lord, we know not any other beside thee: we name thy name. O Lord our God, other nations beside thee have had dominion over us, so as to be masters over us; but in thy Memra do we trust, in thy name do we give thanks. From the NKJV (11)   LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see.  But they will see and be ashamed for their envy of people;  yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. (12)   LORD, You will establish peace for us,  for You have also done all our works in us.  (13)  O LORD our God, masters besides You have had dominion over us;

Here are three forms of address beginning with Jehovah,  and rising in the third to  "Jehovah our God."

The hand of  Jehovah had already shown itself  to be highly exalted,

The  "zeal for a people,"  when reduced from this ideal expression into a concrete one,  is the zeal of  Jehovah of  hosts for His own nation.

You will establish peace
tishpoot shâlom - expresses the certain hope of  a future and imperturbable state of  peace;  and this hope is founded upon the fact,  that all which the church has hitherto accomplished has not been its own work,  but the work of Jehovah for it.

And the deliverance just obtained from the yoke of  the imperial power is the work of  Jehovah also.
The meaning of  the complaint,  "other lords beside Thee had enslaved us,"  is just the same as that in Isa 63:18;  but there the standpoint is in the midst of the thing complained of,  whereas here it is beyond it. Jehovah is Israel's King.
He seemed indeed to have lost His rule,  since the masters of  the world had done as they liked with Israel.  But it was very different now,  and it was only through Jehovah ("through Thee") that Israel could now once more gratefully celebrate Jehovah's name.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Isaiah 26:14

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (14)  They are dead, they can never life; shades, they can never rise; of a truth, You have dealt with them and wiped them out, have put an end to all mention of them. But the dead shall not see life, neither shall physicians by any means raise them up: therefore thou hast brought wrath upon them, and slain them, and hast taken away every male of them. Bring more evils upon them, O Lord; They serve the dead who shall not live, their heroes who shall not rise; therefore thou shalt punish them for their transgressions and shalt destroy them and make all their memory to perish. From the NKJV (14)  They are dead, they will not live;  they are deceased, they will not rise.  Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,  and made all their memory to perish.

Job 26:5
The shades of the dead tremble underneath the waters and their inhabitants.    (AMP)

The tyrants who usurped the rule over Israel have now utterly disappeared.
The meaning is not that Jehovah had put them to death because there was no resurrection at all after death;  for,  as we shall see further on,  the prophet was acquainted with such a resurrection.

In meethim (dead) and rephâ'im (deceased)  he had directly in mind the oppressors of  Israel,  who had been thrust down into the region of  the shades (like the king of  Babylon in ch. 14),  so that there was no possibility of their being raised up or setting themselves up again.  They had fallen irrevocably into Sheol,  and consequently God had swept them away,  so that not even their name was perpetuated.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Revelations 20:5-6
The remainder of the dead were not restored to life again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.   Blessed (happy, to be envied) and holy (spiritually whole, of unimpaired innocence and proved virtue) is the person who takes part (shares) in the first resurrection! Over them the second death exerts no power or authority, but they shall be ministers of God and of Christ (the Messiah), and they shall rule along with Him a thousand years.     (AMP)

Isaiah 26:15

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (15)  When You added to the nation, O Lord, when You added to the nation, extending all the boundaries of the land, You were honored. Bring more evils on the glorious ones of the earth. Thou wast revealed that thou mightest gather together the dispersed of thy people, O Lord; yea, thou art about to bring (home) their exiles, to be revealed in thy might that thou mayest cast away all the wicked to Gehenna. From the NKJV (15)  You have increased the nation, O LORD,  You have increased the nation;  You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land.

Israel,  when it has such cause as this for praising Jehovah,  will have become a numerous people once more.

The allusion is to the same thing as that which caused the prophet to rejoice in Isa 9:2.

Just as verse 13 recalls the bondage in Egypt,
and verse 14 the destruction of  Pharaoh in the Red Sea,
so verse 15 recalls the numerical strength of the nation,  and the extent of the country in the time of  David and Solomon.
At the same time, we cannot say that the prophet intended to recall these to mind.  The antitypical relation,  in which the last times stand to these events and circumstances of  the past,  is a fact in sacred history,  though not particularly referred to here.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Isaiah 26:16-18

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (16)  O Lord! In their distress, they sought You; Your chastisement reduced them to anguished whispered prayer. Lord, in affliction I remembered thee: thy chastening was to us with small affliction. Lord, in trouble they used to remember thy fear, in their troubles they used secretly to teach the instruction of thy law. (17)  Like a woman with child approaching childbirth, writhing and screaming in her pangs, so are we become because of You, O Lord. And as a woman in travail draws nigh to be delivered, and cries out in her pain; so have we been to thy beloved. Like as a woman with child, that at the time of her delivery trembled and crieth out in her pangs, so have we been because we transgressed before thee, O Lord. (18)  We were with child, we writhed – it is as though we had given birth to wind; we have won no victory on earth; the inhabitants of the world have not come to life! We have conceived, O Lord, because of thy fear, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth: we shall not fall, but all that dwell upon the land shall fall. Trouble hath seized us as a woman with child, the time of whose delivery cometh swiftly as the wind: they that dwell in the world have not brought salvation to the land; they have not wrought, yea, they will not be able to do, any marvelous deeds. From the NKJV (16)  LORD, in trouble they have visited You,  they poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.   (17)  As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs,  when she draws near the time of her delivery,  so have we been in Your sight, O LORD.   (18)  We have been with child, we have been in pain;  we have, as it were, brought forth wind;  we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,  nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

He now returns to the retrospective glance already cast in verses 8, 9 into that night of affliction,  which preceded the redemption that had come.
The substantive circumstantial clause in the parallel line,  to be poured out and melt away,  with Lâchash is a quiet,  whispering prayer;  sorrow renders speechless in the long run;  and a consciousness of  sin crushes so completely,  that a man does not dare to address God aloud.

Pregnancy and pangs are symbols of  a state of  expectation strained to the utmost,  the object of  which appears all the closer the more the pains increase.

The first kªmow (OT:3644) is equivalent to kª,  "as a woman with child,".
The second is equivalent to ka'asher (OT:834),  "as it were, we brought forth wind."
This is not an inverted expression,  signifying we brought forth as it were wind;  but kªmow (OT:3644) governs the whole sentence in the sense of  "(it was) as if."
The issue of  all their painful toil was like the result of  a false pregnancy,  a delivery of wind.

This state of  things also proceeded from Jehovah,  as the expression  "in Your sight"  implies.   It was a consequence of  the sins of  Israel,  and of  a continued want of  true susceptibility to the blessings of  salvation.

Side by side with their disappointed hope, verse 18 places the ineffectual character of  their efforts.
Israel's own doings - no, they could never make the land into yªshuw`ot (OT:3444) (i.e., bring it into a state of complete salvation);  and  they waited in vain for the judgment of  Jehovah upon the sinful world that was at enmity against them,  or they made ineffectual efforts to overcome it.

Throughout the whole of  this cycle of  prophecies yooshbee teebeel  (inhabitants of the world) does not mean the inhabitants of  the holy land,  but of the globe at large in the sense of  "the world".
The punishment of  the land under the weight of  the empire still continued,  and a new generation did not come to the light of day to populate the desolate land.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Isaiah 26:19

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (19)  Oh, let Your dead revive! Let corpses arise! Awake and shout for joy, you who dwell in the dust! For Your dew is like the dew on fresh growth; you make the land of the shades come to life. Whenever it shall pass by, it shall take you; morning-by-morning it shall pass by in the day, and in the night there shall be an evil hope. Learn to hear, It is thou that brings the dead to life, thou raises up the bones of their dead bodies; all that were cast to the dust shall live and sing praises before thee; for thy dew is a dew of light unto them that observe thy law, but the wicked to whom thou gavest might, but who have transgressed thy Memra (Jesus), shalt thou deliver unto Gehenna. From the NKJV (19)  Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise.  Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;  for your dew is like the dew of herbs,  and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Note the following:

The prophet speaks thus out of  the heart of  the church of  the last times.
In consequence of  the long-continued sufferings and chastisements,  it has been melted down to a very small remnant;  and many of  those whom it could once truly reckon as its own,  are now lying as corpses in the dust of the grave.

The church,  filled with hope which will not be put to shame,  now calls to itself,  "Thy dead will live" (meeteykaa (OT:4191) yichªyuw (OT:2421), reviviscent, as in hameetiym tªchiyat,  the resurrection of the dead),  and consoles itself  with the working of  divine grace and power,  which is even now setting itself in motion:  "my corpses will rise again."
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

It also cries out,  in full assurance of  the purpose of  God,  the believing word of  command over the burial-ground of  the dead,  "Wake up and rejoice, ye that sleep in the dust,"  and then justifies to itself this believing word of command by looking up to Jehovah, and confessing,  "Thy dew is dew born out of (supernatural) lights,"  as the dew of  nature is born out of  the womb of  the morning dawn.

The plural implies that there is a perfect fullness of  the lights of  life in God  ("the Father of lights," James 1:17).

The dew from the glory of  God falls like a heavenly seed into the bosom of  the earth;
and in consequence of  this,  the earth gives out from itself  the shades that have hitherto been held fast beneath the ground,  so that they appear alive again on the surface of  the earth.

When compared with the New Testament Apocalypse,  it is  "the first resurrection"  which is here predicted by Isaiah.  The confessors of  Jehovah are awakened in their graves to form one glorious church with those who are still in the body.

Isaiah 26:20, 21

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum 20 Go, my people, enter your chambers, and lock your doors behind you. Hide but a little moment, until the indignation passes. Go, my people, enter into thy closets, shut thy door, and hide thyself for a little season, until the anger of the Lord has passed away. Go, my people, do good deeds which may protect you in the time of trouble; hide thyself for a little while until the curse pass away. 21 For lo! The Lord shall come forth from His place to punish the dwellers of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth shall disclose its bloodshed and shall no longer conceal its slain. For, behold, the Lord is bringing wrath from his holy place upon the dwellers on the earth: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall not cover her slain. For, behold, the Lord revealed himself from the place of his Shekinah, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their transgression; the earth also shall reveal the innocent blood which hath been shed in her, and shall no more cover her slain. From the NKJV (20)  Come, my people, enter your chambers,  and shut your doors behind you;  hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,  until the indignation is past.   (21)  For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;  the earth will also disclose her blood,  and will no more cover her slain.

The judgment upon them is not mentioned,  indeed,  till after the completion of  the church through those of  its members that have died,  although it must have actually preceded the latter.
Thus the standpoint of  the prophecy is incessantly oscillating backwards and forwards in these four chapters (24-27).  This explains the exhortation in the next verses,  and the reason assigned.

The prophecy speaks once more as a prophet.
Whilst the judgment of  wrath (za'am) is going forth,  and until it shall have passed by,  the people of God are to continue in the solitude of  prayer.

They can do so,  for the judgment by which they get rid of  their foes is the act of  Jehovah alone;  and they are to do so because only he who is hidden in God by prayer can escape the wrath.
The judgment only lasts a little while,  a short time which is shortened for the elect's sake.

Instead of  the dual dªlaateykaa (OT:1817) (the house-door),  just as the prophet intentionally chooses the feminine chabiy (OT:2247) instead of chabeeh (Hide yourself).
The nation is thought of  as feminine in this particular instance;  because Jehovah,  its avenger and protector,  is acting on its behalf,  while in a purely passive attitude it hides itself in Him.
Just as Noah,  behind whom Jehovah shut the door of  the ark,  was hidden in the ark while the water-floods of  the judgment poured down without,  so should the church be shut off  from the world without in its life of  prayer,  because a judgment of  Jehovah was at hand.

"The Lord comes out of His place" (the same as in Mic 1:3),  i.e.,  not out of  His own divine life,  as it rests within Himself,  but out of  the sphere of  the manifested glory in which He presents Himself  to the spirits.
He goes forth,  equipped for judgment,  to visit the iniquity of  the inhabitant of  the earth upon him  (the singular used collectively),  and more especially their blood-guiltiness.

The prohibition of  murder was given to the sons of  Noah,  and therefore was one of the stipulations of  "the covenant of old" (Isa 24:5).

The earth supplies two witnesses:

Revelations 19:10-21
(11)   After that I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse [appeared]! The one Who was riding it is called Faithful (Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady) and True, and He passes judgment and wages war in righteousness (holiness, justice, and uprightness). [Ezek 1:1.]
(12)   His eyes [blaze] like a flame of fire, and on His head are many kingly crowns (diadems); and He has a title (name) inscribed that He alone knows or can understand. [Dan 10:6.]
(13)   He is dressed in a robe dyed by dipping in blood, and the title by which He is called is The Word of God.
(14)   And the troops of heaven, clothed in fine linen, dazzling and clean, followed Him on white horses.
(15)   From His mouth goes forth a sharp sword with which He can smite (afflict, strike) the nations; and He will shepherd and control them with a staff (scepter, rod) of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath and indignation of God the All-Ruler (the Almighty, the omnipotent). [Ps 2:9.]
(16)   And on His garment (robe) and on His thigh He has a name (title) inscribed, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. [Deut 10:17; Dan 2:47.]
(17)   Then I saw a single angel stationed in the sun's light, and with a mighty voice he shouted to all the birds that fly across the sky, Come, gather yourselves together for the great supper of God, [Ezek 39:4,17-20.]
(18)   That you may feast on the flesh of rulers, the flesh of generals and captains, the flesh of powerful and mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all humanity, both free and slave, both small and great!
(19)   Then I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops mustered to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse and against His troops.
(20)   And the beast was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who in his presence had worked wonders and performed miracles by which he led astray those who had accepted or permitted to be placed upon them the stamp (mark) of the beast and those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone.
(21)   And the rest were killed with the sword that issues from the mouth of Him Who is mounted on the horse, and all the birds fed ravenously and glutted themselves with their flesh.     (AMP)

Isaiah 27:1

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (1)  In that day the Lord will punish, with His great, cruel, mighty sword Leviathan the Elusive  Serpent; He will slay the Dragon of the sea. In that day God shall bring his holy and great and strong sword upon the dragon, even the serpent that flees, upon the dragon, the crooked serpent: he shall destroy the dragon. At that time shall the Lord punish with his great and strong and powerful sword the king that exalted himself like Pharaoh the first king, and the king that acted proudly like Sennacherib the second king, and shall slay the king that is as strong as the dragon that is in the sea. From the NKJV (1)  In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,  will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,  Leviathan that twisted serpent;  and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

Upon whom the judgment of  Jehovah particularly falls,  is described in figurative and enigmatical words. No doubt the three animals are emblems of  three imperial powers.

Leviathan
Three great aquatic animals are here mentioned: probably referring to Israel’s three great enemies:

Now the tannin (the stretched-out aquatic animal)  is the standing emblem of  Egypt (Isa 51:9; Ps 74:13; Ezek 29:3).

And as the Euphrates-land and Asshur are mentioned in verses 12, 13 in connection with Egypt,  it is immediately probable that the other two animals signify

Moreover,  the application of  the same epithet Leviathan to both the kingdoms,  with simply a difference in the attributes,  is suggestive of  two kingdoms that were related to each other.  The epithet employed was primarily suggested by the situation of the two cities.
Nineveh was on the Tigris, which was called Chiddekel.

Babylon is compared to a twisted serpent,  i.e.,  to one twisting about in serpentine curves,  because it was situated on the very winding Euphrates,  the windings of  which are especially labyrinthine in the immediate vicinity of  Babylon.  The river did indeed flow straight away at one time,  but by artificial cuttings it was made so serpentine that it passed the same place,  viz.,  Arderikka,  no less than three times;  and according to the declaration of  Herodotus in his own time,  when any one sailed down the river,  he had to pass it three times in three days (Ritter, x. p. 8).

The real meaning of  the emblem,  however,  is no more exhausted by this allusion to the geographical situation,  than it was in the case of  "the desert of the sea" (Isa 21:1).

The attribute of  winding is also a symbol of  the longer duration of  one empire than of  the other,  and of  the more numerous complications into which Israel would be drawn by it.

Note the following:
Revelations 18:8-10
(8)    So shall her plagues (afflictions, calamities) come thick upon her in a single day, pestilence and anguish and sorrow and famine; and she shall be utterly consumed (burned up with fire), for mighty is the Lord God Who judges her.
(9)    And the rulers and leaders of the earth who joined her in her immorality (idolatry) and luxuriated with her will weep and beat their breasts and lament over her when they see the smoke of her conflagration. [Ezek 26:16,17.]
(10)  They will stand a long way off, in terror of her torment, and they will cry, Woe and alas, the great city, the mighty city, Babylon! In one single hour how your doom (judgment) has overtaken you!      (AMP)

Revelations 12:7-9
(7)   Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.
(8)   But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in heaven any longer.
(9)   And the huge dragon was cast down and out--that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him. [Gen 3:1,14,15; Zech 3:1.]      (AMP)

Isaiah 27:2-5

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (2)  In that day, they shall sing of it: “Vineyard of Delight” In that day there shall be a fair vineyard, and a desire to commence a song concerning it. At that time the congregation of Israel, which is like a choice vineyard in a goodly land, sing ye to it. (3)  I the lord keep watch over it, I water it every moment; that no harm may befall it, I watch it night and day. I am a strong city, a city in a siege: in vain shall I water it; for it shall be taken by night, and by day the wall shall fall. I the Lord do keep for them the covenant of their fathers, and will not destroy them; nevertheless when they provoke me (lit. before me) to anger, I cause them to drink the cup of their punishment: yet though their transgressions caused them to be punished in time past, night and day doth my Memra (Jesus) protect them. (4)  There is no anger in Me: If one offers Me thorns and thistles, I will march to battle against him, and set all of them on fire. There is no woman that has not taken hold of it; who will set me to watch stubble in the field? Because of this enemy I have set her aside; therefore on this account the Lord has done all that he appointed. Behold many mighty things are before me; if the house of Israel would set their faces to do the law, would I not send forth my anger and wrath against the nations who are stirred up against them, and destroy them, just as the fire destroyed the briars and thorns together? (5)  But if he holds fast to My refuge, He makes Me his friend; He makes Me his friend. I am burnt up; they that dwell in her shall cry, let us make peace with him, let us make peace, Or, if they would take hold of the words of my law, would not peace be wrought for them? Would not peace be wrought for them henceforth? From the NKJV (2)  In that day sing to her, "A vineyard of red wine!   (3)  I, the LORD, keep it, I water it every moment;  lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.   (4)  Fury is not in Me. Who would set 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."

The Fourth Echo:
The Fruit-Bearing Vineyard under the Protection of Jehovah
27:2-6

The prophecy here passes for the fourth time into the tone of a song.
The church recognizes itself in the judgments upon the world,  as Jehovah's well-protected and beloved vineyard.

Instead of  introducing the song with,  "In that day shall this song be sung,"  or some such introduction,  the prophecy passes at once into the song.
It consists in a descending scale of  strophes,  consisting of

Jehovah Himself is introduced as speaking.
He is the keeper of  the vineyard,  who waters it every moment when there is any necessity,  and watches it by night as well as by day,  that nothing may visit it.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Briers and thorns - the internal enemies of  the vineyard  (as the wild beasts are the external enemies).
These are now the objects of  His wrath.

Only by yielding themselves to mercy will they find mercy. The song closes here. What the church here utters is the consciousness of  the gracious protection of  its God,  as confirmed in her by the most recent events.

I can’t help but think of the so-called Preachers that are supposed to be Christians but in reality they are from the pits of  Hell,  with the desire to destroy the faith of  the children of  God.
They discount the works of  Jesus and try to destroy any belief in the Scriptures.
See Mt. 23:15
Paul the Learner.

Isaiah 27:6

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (6)  [In days] to come Jacob shall strike root, Israel shall sprout and blossom, and the fact of the world shall be covered with fruit. They that are coming are the children of Jacob. Israel shall bud and blossom, and the world shall be filled with his fruit. They shall be gathered from among their exiles, and shall return to their land; there they that are of the house of Jacob shall beget children; they that are of the house of Israel shall increase, and multiply, and shall fill the face of the world with children’s children. From the NKJV (6)  Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.

The prophet now adds to the song of  the vineyard,  by way of  explanation.
We may see from habaa'iym (OT:935) (acc. temp. as in Eccl 2:16, equivalent in meaning to "Behold, the days come," Jer 7:32, etc.),  that the true language of  prophecy commences again here.
The prophet here says,  in a figure,  just the same as the apostle in Rom 11:12, viz.,  that Israel,  when restored once more to favor as a nation,  will become "the riches of the Gentiles."
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Isaiah 27:7, 8

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum 7 Was he beaten as his beater has been? Did he suffer such slaughter as his slayers? Shall he himself be thus smitten, even as he smote? And as he slew, shall he be thus slain? Hath he smitten him (or, was he smitten) as the smiting wherewith he was smiting those that smote him, or was he slain as the slaying of them that were slain by him? 8 Assailing them with fury unchained, His pitiless blast bore them off on a day of gale. Fighting and reproaching he will dismiss them; didst thou not meditate with a harsh spirit, to slay them with a wrathful spirit? With the measure wherewith thou wast measuring shall they measure thee; for that thou wast sending them away and oppressing them, scoffing (lit. murmuring against) at them with words, and hardening thy heart against them in the day of cursing. From the NKJV (7)   Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him?  Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him? (8)   In measure, by sending it away, you contended with it.  He removes it by His rough wind in the day of the east wind.

The prophet does not return even now to his own actual times;  but,  with the certainty that Israel will not be exalted until it has been deeply humbled on account of  its sins,  he placed himself in the midst of  this state of  punishment.  And there,  in the face of  the glorious future that awaited Israel,  the fact shines out brightly before his eyes,  that the punishment,  which God inflicts upon Israel,  is a very different thing from that inflicted upon the world.

"Those who struck"  (macceehuu)  is the imperial power by which Israel had been attacked (Isa 10:20);  and  "those slain by Him"  (harugaayw (OT:2026))  are the slain of  the empire who had fallen under the strokes of  Jehovah.  The former smote unmercifully,  and its slain ones now lay without hope.

Jehovah smites differently,  and it is very different with the church,  which has succumbed in the persons of  its righteous members.

Isaiah 27:9

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (9)   Assuredly, by this alone shall Jacob’s sin be purged away; this is the only price for removing his guilt: that he make all the altar-stones like shattered blocks of chalk with no sacred post left standing, nor any incense altar. Therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be taken away; and this is his blessing, when I shall have taken away his sin; when they shall have broken to pieces all the stones of the altars as fine dust, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols shall be cut off, as a thicket afar off. Therefore by this shall the transgressions of the house of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the work of removing his transgressions; when he maketh all the stones of the idol altar as chalkstones that are shattered in pieces the Asherim and the sun-images shall not endure. From the NKJV (9)  Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered;  And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:  when he makes all the stones of the altar like chalkstones that are beaten to dust, wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.

He was angry,  but not without love;  He punished,  but only to be able to pardon again.

His punishment is a way to salvation:  therefore it ceases as soon as its purpose is secured;
and so would it cease now,  if Israel would thoroughly renounce its sin,  and,  above all,  the sin of all sins,  namely idolatry.
Namely the breaking to pieces of  the altars and images of  the moon goddess; or possibly, to speak more correctly,  the goddess of  the morning-star,  and those of  the sun-god as well (see Isa 17:8).
By the fact that Israel put away the fundamental cause of  all mischief,  viz.,  idolatry,  the guilt for which it had yet to make atonement would be covered,  made good,  or wiped away.

Isaiah 27:10, 11

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (10)  Thus fortified cities lie desolate, homesteads deserted, forsaken like a wilderness; there calves graze, there they lie down and consume its boughs. The flock that dwelt there shall be left, as a deserted flock; and the ground shall be for a time for pasture, and there shall flocks lie down to rest. For the city that was fortified shall sit solitary; it shall be cast out and forsaken like the wilderness; the righteous shall war against it, and spoil its goods, and her armies shall cease to go forth. (11)  When its crown is withered, they break; Women come and make fires with them. For they are a people without understanding; That is why their Maker will show them no mercy, Their creator will deny them grace. And after a time there shall be in it no green thing because of the grass being parched. Come hither, ye women that come from a sight; for it is a people of no understanding; therefore he that made them shall have no pity upon them, and he that formed them shall have no mercy upon them. Their strength shall be cut off; they shall be ashamed of their deeds, they shall be dismayed; women shall enter into the house of their idol and shall teach them, for they are not a people of understanding; therefore he that made them will not have compassion upon them, and he that created them will not spare them. From the NKJV (10)  Yet the fortified city will be desolate, the habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness; there the calf will feed, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. (11)  When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;  the women come and set them on fire.  For it is a people of no understanding; therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them, and He who formed them will show them no favor.

The prophet said this from out of  the midst of  the state of  punishment,  and was therefore able still further to confirm the fact,  that the punishment would cease with the sin,  by the punishment which followed the sin.

The nation without any intelligence,  of  which Jehovah was the Creator and Former,  is Israel;  and therefore the fortress that has been destroyed is the city of  Jerusalem.
The standpoint of  the prophet must therefore be beyond the destruction of  Jerusalem,  and in the midst of  the captivity.

Yet the fortified city
Gesenius supposes that this means Jerusalem.
So Calvin and Piscator understand it.
Barnes thinks it is Babylon (as Vitringa, Rosenmuller, and Grotius).
Others understand it of Samaria.
And others of  cities in general,  denoting those in Judea,  or in other places.

Set them on fire
The scarcity of fuel,  especially wood,  in most parts of  the east is so great,  that they supply it with everything capable of  burning;  cow-dung dried,  roots,  parings of  fruit,  withered stalks of  herbs and flowers.
Vine-twigs are particularly mentioned as used for fuel in dressing their food,  by D'Arvieux; La Roque, Palestine, p. 198.  Ezekiel says,  in his parable of  the vine,  used figuratively for the people of  God,  as the vineyard is here:  "Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?  Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel."
"If a man abide not in me," saith our Lord, "he is cast forth as a branch of the vine and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned;" John 15:6.
They employed women and children to gather these things,  and they laid them up in store for use.  The dressing and pruning their vines afforded a good supply of  the last sort of  fuel;  but the prophet says that the vines themselves of  the beloved vineyard shall be blasted,  withered,  and broken,  and the women shall come and gather them up,  and carry away the whole of them to make their fires for domestic uses
(from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft)

Isaiah 27:12, 13

From the Tanakh From the  LXX From the Targum (12)  And in that day, the Lord will beat out [the peoples like grain] from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wady of Egypt; and you shall be picked up one by one, O children of Israel!   And it shall come to pass in that day that God shall fence men off from the channel of the river as far as Rhinocorura; but do ye gather one by one the children of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that time that the slain shall be cast before the Lord from the rock of the river Euphrates unto the brook of Egypt, but ye shall be brought near, one by one (lit. to the side of the other), O house of Israel. (13)  And in that day, a great ram’s horn shall be sounded; and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come and worship the Lord on the holy mount, in Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day, that thy shall blow the great trumpet, and the lost ones in the land of the Assyrians shall come, and the lost ones in Egypt, and shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass at that time that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they that were exiled to the land of Assyria, and they that were cast forth in to the land of Egypt, shall come and worship before the Lord in the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.       From the NKJV (12)  And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will thresh,  from the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt;  and you will be gathered one by one,  O you children of Israel. (13)  So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, and they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

But when Israel repents,  the mercy of  Jehovah will change all this.
I regard every exposition of  that supposes it to refer to the return of  the captives as altogether false.  The Euphrates and the brook of  Egypt, i.e., the Wady el-Arish,  were the north-eastern and south-western boundaries of  the land of  Israel,  according to the original promise (Gen 15:18; 1 Kings 8:65),  and it is not stated that Jehovah will beat on the outside of  these boundaries, but within them.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Though Jerusalem shall be desolate and forsaken for a time,  yet there will come a day when its scattered friends shall resort to it again out of all the countries whither they were dispersed;  though the body of  the nation is abandoned as a people of  no understanding,  yet those that are indeed children of  Israel shall be gathered together again,  as the sheep of  the flock when the shepherds that scattered them are reckoned with.
Now observe concerning these scattered Israelites,

Isaiah 26:1 - 27:13 - from the Amplified Version

26:1  IN THAT day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; [the Lord] sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.
(2)    Open the gates, that the [uncompromisingly] righteous nation which keeps her faith and her troth [with God] may enter in.
(3)    You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.
(4)    So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
(5)    For He has brought down the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city; He lays it low, lays it low to the ground; He brings it even to the dust.
(6)    The foot has trampled it down--even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
(7)    The way of the [consistently] righteous (those living in moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relationship of their lives) is level and straight; You, O [Lord], Who are upright, direct aright and make level the path of the [uncompromisingly] just and righteous.
(8)    Yes, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord, we wait [expectantly] for You; our heartfelt desire is for Your name and for the remembrance of You.
(9)    My soul yearns for You [O Lord] in the night, yes, and my spirit within me seeks You earnestly; for [only] when Your judgments are in the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God).
(10)  Though favor is shown to the wicked, yet they do not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness they deal perversely and refuse to see the majesty of the Lord.
(11)  Though Your hand is lifted high to strike, Lord, they do not see it. Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be ashamed; yes, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.
(12)  Lord, You will ordain peace (God's favor and blessings, both temporal and spiritual) for us, for You have also wrought in us and for us all our works.
(13)  O Lord, our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us, but we will acknowledge and mention Your name only.
(14)  They [the former tyrant masters] are dead, they shall not live and reappear; they are powerless ghosts, they shall not rise and come back. Therefore You have visited and made an end of them and caused every memory of them [every trace of their supremacy] to perish.
(15)  You have increased the nation, O Lord; You have increased the nation. You are glorified; You have enlarged all the borders of the land.
(16)  Lord, when they were in trouble and distress, they sought and visited You; they poured out a prayerful whisper when Your chastening was upon them.
(17)  As a woman with child drawing near the time of her delivery is in pain and writhes and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before You (at Your presence), O Lord.
(18)  We have been with child, we have been writhing and in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth [only] wind. We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world [of Israel] have not yet been born.
(19)  Your dead shall live [O Lord]; the bodies of our dead [saints] shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For Your dew [O Lord] is a dew of [sparkling] light [heavenly, supernatural dew]; and the earth shall cast forth the dead [to life again; for on the land of the shades of the dead You will let Your dew fall]. [Ezek 37:11-12.]
(20)  Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord's] wrath is past.
(21)  For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place [heaven] to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also will disclose the blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain and conceal her guilt.

27:1   IN THAT day [the Lord will deliver Israel from her enemies and also from the rebel powers of evil and darkness] His sharp and unrelenting, great, and strong sword will visit and punish Leviathan the swiftly fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting and winding serpent; and He will slay the monster that is in the sea.
(2)    In that day [it will be said of the redeemed nation of Israel], A vineyard beloved and lovely; sing a responsive song to it and about it!
(3)    I, the Lord, am its Keeper; I water it every moment; lest anyone harm it, I guard and keep it night and day.
(4)    Wrath is not in Me. Would that the briers and thorns [the wicked internal foe] were lined up against Me in battle! I would stride in against them; I would burn them up together.
(5)    Or else [if all Israel would escape being burned up together there is but one alternative], let them take hold of My strength and make complete surrender to My protection, that they may make peace with Me! Yes, let them make peace with Me!
(6)    In the days and generations to come Jacob shall take root; Israel shall blossom and send forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit [of the knowledge of the true God]. [Hos 14:1-6; Rom 11:12.]
(7)    Has [the Lord] smitten [Israel] as He smote those who smote them? Or have [the Israelites] been slain as their slayers were slain?
(8)    By driving them out of Canaan, by exile, You contended with them in a measure [O Lord]--He removed them with His rough blast as in the day of the east wind.
(9)    Only on this condition shall the iniquity of Jacob (Israel) be forgiven and purged, and this shall be the full fruit [God requires] for taking away his sin: that [Israel] should make all the stones of the [idol] altars like chalk stones crushed to pieces, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall not remain standing or rise again.
(10)  For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken like the wilderness; there the calf grazes, and there he lies down; he strips its branches and eats its twigs.
(11)  When its boughs are withered and dry, they are broken off; the women come and set them afire. For they are a people of no understanding or discernment--witless folk; therefore He Who made them will not have compassion on them, and He Who formed them will show them no favor.
(12)  And it shall be in that day that the Lord will thresh out His grain from the flood of the River [Euphrates] to the Brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered one by one and one to another, O children of Israel!
(13)  And it shall be in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and they will come who were lost and ready to perish in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt, and they will worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. [Zech 14:16; Matt 24:31; Rev 11:15.]

 

(End of  Lesson 12)

Bibliography