1 The Great Opponent Killed
1 In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who [lives] in the sea.
This chapter can be divided into three parts (verses 1,2-11,12-13), each beginning with “in that day”, which is the day the LORD comes to purify the earth of evil by judgment. In verse 1 the judgment of God on the world reaches its climax and according to its content belongs to the judgment announced in Isaiah 26 (Isa 26:21).
It may be that in verse 1 there are three monsters; it may also be a three-headed monster (cf. Psa 74:13-14). Two of the monsters are called “Leviathan” (Job 41:1-34).
The first one is called “the fleeing serpent”. This is Assyria. The Tigris, the river in northern Iraq, is a fast flowing river. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, is located on the Tigris.
The second one is called “the twisted serpent”. The Euphrates is the twisting river in southern Iraq, where the capital Babylon is located.
The third monster, “the dragon”, is “in the sea”. This is Egypt (cf. Isa 51:9). The sea is usually a picture of the nations, but here possibly also an indication of the Nile. It is the world powers that play a significant role in the history and prophecies of Israel.
In the serpent and the dragon, we can also see the evil power behind the scenes, that one “great dragon …, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan” (Rev 12:9a). God will definitely deal with this power and his demonic companions.
2 - 5 The LORD Protects His Vineyard Israel
2 In that day,
“A vineyard of wine, sing of it!
3 “I, the LORD, am its keeper;
I water it every moment.
So that no one will damage it,
I guard it night and day.
4 “I have no wrath.
Should someone give Me briars [and] thorns in battle,
[Then] I would step on them, I would burn them completely.
5 “Or let him rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”
Since the destruction of these monsters – or the monstrous manifestations of one monster – by the LORD is absolutely certain, another prophetic song sounds in which the joy of redeemed Israel is expressed (verse 2). It is the joy of the LORD over His people. They are a vineyard which He does not entrust to others who are unfaithful (Mt 21:33-39), but which He Himself constantly protects and waters (verse 3). This song is a continuation of the song about the vineyard in Isaiah 5 (Isa 5:1-7). At the same time, this vineyard is in sharp contrast with that vineyard.
His wrath is over because there is nothing left to become angry about (verse 4). His people answer to His purpose. If enemies would rise up against His people, He would burn like fire and consume those enemies like briars and thorns. God stands up for His vineyard. Whoever wants to attack that vineyard will have to deal with Him. The enemies do better to make peace with Him (verse 5). Peace with Him can be made through faith in the Lord Jesus (Rom 5:1). Then they will escape His anger (cf. Psa 2:12), because even in His wrath He remembers mercy (Hab 3:2).
6 - 9 Israel Will Blossom and Sprout
6 In the days to come Jacob will take root,
Israel will blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain?
8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled [them] on the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven;
And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
[When] Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
When the Assyrians are finally destroyed, when the indignation is over, Israel will blossom and sprout and produce fruits that will be a blessing for the whole world (verse 6). This is the beginning of the realm of peace. Thus they will literally be the “riches for the Gentiles” (Rom 11:12). Spiritually, this is God’s purpose and desire for the believers in the present age, until the church is complete (Jn 15:1-16). Filling the earth with fruit represents the consequences of missionary work among all nations (Rom 15:16).
The LORD had to strike His people, but He did not do so in the way He has struck the people who have struck His people (verse 7). He has struck His people “in measure” (Darby Translation) and not in the fullness of His wrath (verse 8; Psa 118:18). In that case He would have wiped them completely from the earth. Now He has contended with His people by expelling them with the breath of His mouth, scattering them all over the earth. The wind purifies the harvest as it were, just as it does when the wheat is shaken and sifted. His purpose in doing so has been to forgive their iniquities and pardon their sins completely (verse 9).
The full fruit of this action of the LORD is that all idols are pulverized and hewn down. Everything they have given the place of the LORD, they have removed, so that Ephraim will say: “What more have I to do with idols?” (Hos 14:8a).
10 - 11 Consequences of the Wrath for Jerusalem
10 For the fortified city is isolated,
A homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert;
There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and feed on its branches.
11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come [and] make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of discernment,
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
The discipling hand of the LORD will work that Israel will repent. Verses 10-11 show what that discipline means. The once strong and populated Jerusalem will seem a forsaken wilderness (verse 10). This is the result of the (first) attack of the Assyrians or the king of the North (cf. Zec 13:8-9). In the middle of the ruins the cattle will find some greenery. After some time, the branches that are eaten bare will be dry enough to light a fire to cook or fry what is still edible (verse 11).
The cause of this situation is their lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6), which led them to follow the antichrist (Jn 5:43b). It is a guilty lack of knowledge. They are to blame for turning their back on their “Maker” and for forgetting their “Creator”. In doing so, they have closed themselves off to His compassion and grace. In this way they have made it impossible for Him to have compassion on them and to be gracious to them (2Chr 36:16).
12 - 13 The LORD Gathers Up His people
12 In that day the LORD will start [His] threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
In these verses we see that “mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jam 2:13). God always sees an opportunity to have mercy. That is along the path of conversion and repentance that He works in His people. When the threshing of His people – Judah, the two tribes realm – is finished and the chaff is separated from the wheat, He gathers the rest of His people (verse 12; cf. Mt 24:31). He does this by gathering up the members of His people – the ten tribes realm – one by one. The few do not disappear in the mass. Not one will be left behind or forgotten. He will gather them all from between the Euphrates and the promised land.
He will call the lost ten tribes to His land by “a great trumpet” from all nations (verse 13; Mt 24:31). It is the consummation of the resurrection of Israel buried for so long. This is the great year of jubilee when, on the day of atonement, every member of the people will regain his possessions (Lev 25:9,13). Peter calls it the “period of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). When they have returned to the land, their first act will be to “come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem”, together with their brothers from the two tribes realm.