I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground. I am not angry.This phrase reflects God's disposition towards His people, indicating a period of reconciliation and peace. In the broader context of Isaiah, God often expresses His righteous anger towards Israel due to their disobedience and idolatry. However, here, He assures them of His mercy and willingness to forgive. This aligns with the theme of divine compassion found throughout the prophetic books, where God’s ultimate desire is restoration rather than destruction (e.g., Hosea 11:8-9). If only thorns and briers confronted Me,
Thorns and briers symbolize obstacles and challenges, often representing sin and rebellion in biblical literature (Genesis 3:18, Hebrews 6:8). In the context of Isaiah, these could represent the nations or elements within Israel that oppose God’s will. The imagery suggests that God is prepared to deal with these hindrances decisively. This metaphor is consistent with the agricultural language frequently used in the Bible to describe spiritual realities. I would march and trample them,
This phrase conveys God’s power and determination to overcome opposition. The imagery of marching and trampling is reminiscent of a warrior or king leading a victorious campaign. It reflects God’s sovereignty and His ability to subdue any force that stands against His purposes. This is echoed in other scriptures where God is depicted as a mighty warrior (Exodus 15:3, Isaiah 42:13). I would burn them to the ground.
Fire is a common biblical symbol for judgment and purification (Malachi 3:2-3, 1 Corinthians 3:13). Here, it signifies the complete removal of sin and rebellion, ensuring that nothing impure remains. This act of burning can also be seen as a purifying process, preparing the way for a new beginning. The imagery of fire aligns with the prophetic theme of refining and renewal, pointing towards a future where God’s people are restored and holy. Persons / Places / Events 1. GodThe speaker in this verse, expressing His lack of wrath and readiness to deal with opposition. 2. Briars and ThornsSymbolic of obstacles or adversaries that oppose God's purposes. 3. BattleRepresents the spiritual or moral conflicts where God asserts His power and authority. Teaching Points God's Peaceful DispositionGod declares, "I have no wrath," indicating His desire for reconciliation and peace rather than judgment. Application: Believers can find comfort in God's patience and readiness to forgive, encouraging them to seek His grace. Divine Readiness to Overcome ObstaclesThe imagery of God marching against briars and thorns shows His power to remove hindrances. Application: Trust in God's ability to clear the path of spiritual and moral obstacles in our lives. Symbolism of Briars and ThornsThese represent sin and rebellion, which God is prepared to eradicate. Application: Reflect on areas of life where sin may be acting as a thorn, and seek God's help to remove it. God's Sovereignty in BattleThe verse portrays God as a warrior ready to act decisively against opposition. Application: Rely on God's strength in spiritual battles, knowing He is capable of overcoming any adversary. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the absence of God's wrath in Isaiah 27:4 provide comfort and assurance to believers today? 2. In what ways can the imagery of briars and thorns be applied to personal spiritual growth and challenges? 3. How does the concept of God as a warrior in this verse relate to other biblical depictions of God's power and authority? 4. What practical steps can we take to ensure that we are not like the briars and thorns that God is ready to burn up? 5. How does the message of Isaiah 27:4 connect with the New Testament teachings on God's grace and judgment? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 5:6This verse also uses the imagery of briars and thorns, symbolizing judgment and desolation when God's protection is removed. Hebrews 6:8The New Testament echoes the imagery of thorns and briars, associating them with things that are worthless and near to being cursed. Romans 5:9Highlights the absence of God's wrath for those justified by Christ, aligning with the assurance of peace in Isaiah 27:4. John 15:6Jesus speaks of branches that do not remain in Him being thrown away and burned, similar to the fate of briars and thorns in Isaiah. People Isaiah, Israelites, JacobPlaces Assyria, Brook of Egypt, Egypt, Euphrates River, JerusalemTopics Altogether, Attack, Battle, Briars, Brier, Briers, Burn, Burned, Completely, Confronting, Fighting, Fire, Flame, Fury, Giveth, March, Oh, Passion, Someone, Step, Thorn, Thorns, WrathDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 27:4 4422 brier
4520 thorns
4540 weeds Library The Grasp that Brings Peace
'Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; yea, let him make peace with Me.'--ISAIAH xxvii. 5. Lyrical emotion makes the prophet's language obscure by reason of its swift transitions from one mood of feeling to another. But the main drift here is discernible. God is guarding Israel, His vineyard, and before Him its foes are weak as 'thorns and briers,' whose end is to be burned. With daring anthropomorphism, the prophet puts into God's mouth a longing for the enemies to measure …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureTwelfth Day for the Spirit to Convince the World of Sin
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Spirit to convince the World of Sin "I will send the Comforter to you. And He, when He is come, will convict the world in respect of sin."--JOHN xvi. 7, 8. God's one desire, the one object of Christ's being manifested, is to take away sin. The first work of the Spirit on the world is conviction of sin. Without that, no deep or abiding revival, no powerful conversion. Pray for it, that the gospel may be preached in such power of the Spirit, that men may see that they have …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ;
OR, A PLAIN AND PROFITABLE DISCOURSE ON JOHN 6:37 SHOWING THE CAUSE, TRUTH, AND MANNER OF THE COMING OF A SINNER TO JESUS CHRIST; WITH HIS HAPPY RECEPTION AND BLESSED ENTERTAINMENT. WRITTEN BY JOHN BUNYAN, AUTHOR OF "THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS." "And they shall come which were ready to perish."--Isaiah 27:13. London, 1681. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. "Come and welcome to Jesus Christ," is a subject peculiarly fitted to the deep and searching experience of John Bunyan. He knew all the wiles of sin and …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life "But we are all as an Unclean Thing, and all Our Righteousnesses are as Filthy Rags,"
Isaiah lxiv 6, 7.--"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags," &c. This people's condition agreeth well with ours, though the Lord's dealing be very different. The confessory part of this prayer belongeth to us now; and strange it is, that there is such odds of the Lord's dispensations, when there is no difference in our conditions; always we know not how soon the complaint may be ours also. This prayer was prayed long before the judgment and captivity came …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon.
Pliny writes, "From Pelusium are the intrenchments of Chabrias: mount Casius: the temple of Jupiter Casius: the tomb of Pompey the Great: Ostracine: Arabia is bounded sixty-five miles from Pelusium: soon after begins Idumea and Palestine from the rising up of the Sirbon lake." Either my eyes deceive me, while I read these things,--or mount Casius lies nearer Pelusium, than the lake of Sirbon. The maps have ill placed the Sirbon between mount Casius and Pelusium. Sirbon implies burning; the name of …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Worst Things Work for Good to the Godly
DO not mistake me, I do not say that of their own nature the worst things are good, for they are a fruit of the curse; but though they are naturally evil, yet the wise overruling hand of God disposing and sanctifying them, they are morally good. As the elements, though of contrary qualities, yet God has so tempered them, that they all work in a harmonious manner for the good of the universe. Or as in a watch, the wheels seem to move contrary one to another, but all carry on the motions of the watch: …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial What Messiah did the Jews Expect?
1. The most important point here is to keep in mind the organic unity of the Old Testament. Its predictions are not isolated, but features of one grand prophetic picture; its ritual and institutions parts of one great system; its history, not loosely connected events, but an organic development tending towards a definite end. Viewed in its innermost substance, the history of the Old Testament is not different from its typical institutions, nor yet these two from its predictions. The idea, underlying …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Great Shepherd
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. I t is not easy for those, whose habits of life are insensibly formed by the customs of modern times, to conceive any adequate idea of the pastoral life, as obtained in the eastern countries, before that simplicity of manners, which characterized the early ages, was corrupted, by the artificial and false refinements of luxury. Wealth, in those …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 27:4 NIVIsaiah 27:4 NLTIsaiah 27:4 ESVIsaiah 27:4 NASBIsaiah 27:4 KJV
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