10 For the strong town is without men, an unpeopled living-place; and she has become a waste land: there the young ox will take his rest, and its branches will be food for him.
And for the land of my people, where thorns will come up; even for all the houses of joy in the glad town. For the fair houses will have no man living in them; the town which was full of noise will become a waste; the hill and the watchtower will be unpeopled for ever, a joy for the asses of the woods, a place of food for the flocks;
But when you see armies all round about Jerusalem, then be certain that her destruction is near. Then let those who are in Judaea go in flight to the mountains; and those who are in the middle of the town go out; and let not those who are in the country come in. For these are the days of punishment, in which all the things in the Writings will be put into effect. It will be hard for women who are with child, and for her with a baby at the breast, in those days. For great trouble will come on the land, and wrath on this people. And they will be put to death with the sword, and will be taken as prisoners into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be crushed under the feet of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles are complete.
For the time will come when your attackers will put a wall round you, and come all round you and keep you in on every side, And will make you level with the earth, and your children with you; and there will not be one stone resting on another in you, because you did not see that it was your day of mercy.
The Lord of armies has said to me secretly, Truly, numbers of great and fair houses will be waste, with no one living in them. For ten fields of vines will only give one measure of wine, and a great amount of seed will only give a small measure of grain.
The Lord has become like one fighting against her, sending destruction on Israel; he has sent destruction on all her great houses, making waste his strong places: increasing the grief and the sorrow of the daughter of Judah. And he has violently taken away his tent, as from a garden; he has made waste his meeting-place: the Lord has taken away the memory of feast and Sabbath in Zion, and in the passion of his wrath he is against king and priest. The Lord has given up his altar and has been turned in hate from his holy place; he has given up into the hands of the attacker the walls of her great houses: their voices have been loud in the house of the Lord as in the day of a holy meeting. It is the Lord's purpose to make waste the wall of the daughter of Zion; his line has been stretched out, he has not kept back his hand from destruction: he has sent sorrow on tower and wall, they have become feeble together. Her doors have gone down into the earth; he has sent destruction on her locks: her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; even her prophets have had no vision from the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 27
Commentary on Isaiah 27 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 27
In this chapter the prophet goes on to show,
All this is applicable to the grace of the gospel, and God's promises to, and providences concerning, the Christian church, and such as belong to it.
Isa 27:1-6
The prophet is here singing of judgment and mercy,
Isa 27:7-13
Here is the prophet again singing of mercy and judgment, not, as before, judgment to the enemies and mercy to the church, but judgment to the church and mercy mixed with that judgment.