Isaiah 34:1-4: Come near, you nations, to hear; and hearken, you peoples!

Isaiah 34:1-4

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

34 Come near, you nations, to hear; and hearken, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it; the world, and all things that come forth from it.

2 For the Lord is indignant against all nations, and His wrath is against all their host. He has utterly doomed them, He has given them over to slaughter.

3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall rise, and the mountains shall flow with their blood.

4 All the host of the heavens shall be dissolved and crumble away, and the skies shall be rolled together like a scroll; and all their host [the stars and the planets] shall drop like a faded leaf from the vine, and like a withered fig from the fig tree.

The Lord bids the nations and the earth to come near to hear His pronouncement of judgement. Sometimes it can seem on this earth the wicked go forth doing what they desire and it seems that all the while God is silent. We sometimes wonder why the wicked prosper. But God has an appointed time to deal rightly with all people. There is a day and hour in which the Lord shall fully deal with the nations of the earth. We must keep our eyes fixed upon the Lord as we await His return and pray forth His will upon the earth. Sometimes we may think we know what God should do, but we must always remember that His ways and His thoughts are higher and different than our own. He calls us to trust Him at all times. He calls us to walk by faith and not our own understanding.

When it says the Lord is angry at all nations it speaks of those nations who have dealt in wickedness. Throughout the centuries God has always set people apart for Himself. Not everyone who has been born on this earth will be saved and go to Heaven. On this earth there are those who are righteous who have been called by God and have responded to that call. They have placed their faith and trust in Almighty God and have made the decision to live their lives for Him.

But there are those who have rejected the Living God. They have looked at creation itself and have worshipped that which is created instead of worshipping the creator (Romans 1:18-32). They have brought the wrath of God upon themselves because they have rejected the Lord and His ways. If a person ultimately ends up in Hell separated from Almighty God it is not that God has rejected them, it is that they have chosen to reject the Living God. They have allowed pride and arrogance to rule their heart instead of humbling themselves before Almighty God and giving their life to Him. For He is the one who has created them and given them life.

The word wrath translated in the Hebrew can also mean rage or anger. God is full of love, grace, and mercy. It says He is slow to anger and abounding in love (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:5; Psalm 86:15; Jonah 4:2). But the mercy of God has a limit. God is far more patience than we understand. But there is a day coming in which the Lord will fully and rightly deal with the wickedness of the nations. It is known as the day of the Lord and it is a time in which the full measure of God’s wrath is poured out. In Revelation 6-18 we see all that will take place during the day of the Lord. In Revelation 6-18 we see a series of twenty-one judgements that begin with Jesus breaking the first seal. These judgments poured out upon the earth, increase in intensity. On a daily basis God calls people continually to repent and turn from their sins. But in their sin and wickedness they reject the mercy of God and therefore are only left with His wrath.

An uncovered corpse was a sign of being cursed and under the judgment of Almighty God. When the dead were honored, they were buried and they were covered. Here it says the slain will be thrown out. Those that God deals with in His anger and His wrath will find no escape. Like those in Noah’s day who watched Noah build the ark and heard of the judgement of God that was coming, they thought he was a fool and laughed at what he was building. They had never seen rain before.

But when the time came for God’s judgement to be poured out, the only ones who were saved were Noah and His family. This is how God always deals with those who truly love Him and live for Him. God has not appointed us to suffer wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). But for those who reject the Living God and His mercy there is no escape when the full measure of His rage, anger, and indignation is poured out. Every day the wicked invite the Lord to move in ways that when it actually happens is far more terrible than we can even imagine. It is a fearful and dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.

In Revelation 14:20 we are told that the blood will reach a length of 1600 furlongs or almost 200 miles. When God fully deals with the wickedness of the nations there is a reason it is known as the day of the Lord. He will completely and fully deal with wickedness in His perfect righteousness and justice. The only escape is to humble oneself and receive the precious gift of salvation that the Lord offers.

All the hosts of heaven will wither away. The sky will be rolled back like a scroll. From our perspective on the earth the host of heaven and the sky itself seems fixed. They seem to vast and great to be moved. But it shows us the power and might of the Living God. With a mere word He spoke all things into existence. Before He said let there be light, there was darkness and chaos. But when God spoke into the darkness and void, it not only brought forth light, it brought forth order.

All the host also refers to the many false gods and deities that man worships instead of the true and Living God. There is none that rivals the Living God. He is far more awesome and vast than we can even comprehend. But thankful in His mercy He has sent His Son to take the wrath that we deserve and in exchange give us brand new life. It says as the leaf withers from the vine and as a fig withers from the fig tree. This poetic language gives us a picture of the awesome power that God has. The host of heaven and the sky itself will seem like mere leaves and figs. When a leaf withers from the vine and a fig withers it is powerless against the elements of creation. When the judgement and wrath of Almighty God comes, those who reject His mercy will be powerless to resist what God shall pour out upon the earth.