27:1 In that a day the LORD with his severe and great and
strong b sword shall punish leviathan the piercing
serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall
slay the dragon that [is] in the sea.
(a) At the time appointed.
(b) That is, by his mighty power, and by his word. He
prophecies here of the destruction of Satan and his
kingdom under the name of Liviashan, Assur, and Egypt.
27:2 In that day sing ye to her, A vineyard c of red wine.
(c) Meaning, of the best wine, which this vineyard, that
is, the Church would bring forth, as most agreeable to
the Lord.
27:4 Fury d [is] not in me: who would set the briers [and]
thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I
would burn them together.
(d) Therefore he will destroy the kingdom of Satan, because
he loves his Church for his own mercies sake, and cannot
be angry with it, but wishes that he may pour his anger
on the wicked infidels, whom he means by briers and
thorns.
27:5 Or let him e take hold of my strength, [that] he may make
peace with me; [and] he shall make peace with me.
(e) He marvels that Israel will not come by gentleness,
unless God make them to feel his rods, and so bring
them to him.
27:6f He shall cause them that descend from Jacob to take
root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of
the world with fruit.
(f) Though I afflict and diminish my people for a time, yet
will the root spring again and bring forth in great
abundance.
27:7 Hath he smitten g him, as he smote those that smote him?
[or] is he slain according to the slaughter of them that
are slain by him?
(g) He shows that God punishes his in mercy, and his
enemies in justice.
27:8 In h measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate
with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east
wind.
(h) That is, you will not destroy the root of your Church,
though the branches of it seem to perish by the sharp
wind of affliction.
27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged;
and this [is] all the i fruit to take away his sin; when
he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that
are beaten asunder, the idols and images shall not stand
up.
(i) He shows that there is no true repentance nor full
reconciliation to God, till the heart is purged from
all idolatry and the monuments of it are destroyed.
27:10 Yet the k fortified city [shall be] desolate, [and] the
habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there
shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and
consume its branches.
(k) Not withstanding his favour that he will show them
later, yet Jerusalem will be destroyed, and grass for
cattle will grow in it.
27:11 When its boughs are withered, they shall be broken off:
the l women come, [and] set them on fire: for it [is] a
people of no understanding: therefore he that made them
will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will
show them no favour.
(l) God will not have need of mighty enemies: for the very
women will do it to their great shame.
27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD
shall gather from the channel of the m river to the
stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye
children of Israel.
(m) He will destroy all from the Euphrates to the Nile:
for some fled toward Egypt, thinking to have escaped.
27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the great
trumpet shall be n blown, and they shall come who were
ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts
in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD on the
holy mount at Jerusalem.
(n) In the time of Cyrus, by whom they would be delivered:
but this was chiefly accomplished under Christ.