The Third Chastisement. The Disintegration Of Their Society (Isaiah 9:18-21).
Analysis.
a For wickedness burns like a fire, it devours the thorns and the thistles, yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upwards in clouds of smoke (Isaiah 9:18).
b Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts, is the land burnt up, the people also are as fuel for the fire (or ‘as the fuel of fire'), no man spares his brother (Isaiah 9:19).
b And one will snatch on the right hand, and be hungry. And he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied, they will eat every man the flesh of his own arm (Isaiah 9:20).
a Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh, and they together will be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still (Isaiah 9:21).
In ‘a' wickedness is all-devouring and consumes thorns and thistles, and in the parallel wicked Israel are against thorny Judah. In ‘b' the people are fuel, and even brothers are not spared, while in the parallel the people will desperately eat anything, even ‘the flesh of his own arm'.
‘For wickedness burns like a fire,
It devours the thorns and the thistles,
Yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest,
And they roll upwards in clouds of smoke.'
The new leadership was inadequate and the result was the open rise of wickedness. And wickedness always eventually results in destruction. It is self-destroying. Thus here it is pictured as being like a fire which destroys all in its path. It begins with the briars and thistles, which here refer to those who perpetrate the wickedness, but then it spreads and becomes a great forest fire, burning the thickets and producing huge plumes of smoke, thus affecting everyone. This is then defined in the following verses as being as a result of the wrath of Yahweh and as resulting in civil unrest which eventually affects everyone, even the highest.
We should learn from this that sin self-multiplies. It may begin in a small way but it soon becomes a forest fire. Thorns and thistles are often used as emblems of the wicked (Micah 7:4; Nahum 1:10; 2 Samuel 23:6), and their burning as a figure for the punishment of sinners (Isaiah 33:12; Psalms 118:12; 2 Samuel 23:7), especially by means of foreign enemies (Isaiah 10:17; Isaiah 32:13).
‘Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts,
Is the land burnt up.
The people also are as fuel for the fire (or ‘as the fuel of fire').
No man spares his brother.
And one will snatch on the right hand, and be hungry.
And he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied.
They will eat every man the flesh of his own arm.
Manasseh, Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh,
And they together will be against Judah.'
‘Through the wrath of Yahweh of hosts is the land burnt up.' Isaiah boldly depicts all that results as due to the wrath of Yahweh ‘bursting out' (which lies at the root of the word used for ‘wrath') and burning up the land. The lesson is that Yahweh lies behind everything. Nothing happens outside His control. He is over all. But we must recognise that a part of this is not direct action but the result of the restraints and consequences that He has built into creation, and Israel are in fact bringing their troubles on their own head as a result of the bursting out of their own sinfulness.
(Thus there was a human explanation for all that happened. It is just that Isaiah is bringing out that behind the human situation was always the hand of Yahweh).
The deterioration of the leadership has resulted in civil unrest and famine which spreads like a fire. Neighbour attacks neighbour. Everyone looks to his own interests. Men are desperate for food, looking everywhere and snatching it wherever it is to be found, but unable to obtain enough to be satisfied. Self-preservation takes over. There will be no tribal loyalty, (Manasseh and Ephraim were brother tribes), and Israel will also turn on Judah their brother nation in order to find sustenance.
‘They will eat every man the flesh of his own arm.' Not cannibalism but unneighbourliness and disloyalty. They will eat at the expense of those nearest to them, and of those on whom they depend (their arm). As a result of the rejection of the covenant, which has not been replaced by anything acceptable by all, there is a moral void in Israel which weak leadership has allowed to break out and take over.
‘For all this his anger is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still.'
But still God did not remove His anger from them, and continued to stretch out His hand against them, because they did not repent and seek His face.