27:1 At that time the Lord will punish with his destructive, great, and powerful sword Leviathan the fast-moving serpent, Leviathan the squirming serpent; he will kill the sea monster.
“At that time” is the end of the Great Tribulation. If taken literally, Psalm 74:13-14; Psalm 104:26; and Job 41:1-34 refer to this animal as a marine dinosaur. Only the false suppositions of evolutionary ages of geology claim that dinosaurs became extinct seventy million years before man evolved. Although Leviathan was a real animal, this real animal also symbolized Satan.
In Revelation 20:1-3, Satan will be punished. He will be bound in the Abyss for 1,000 literal years.
27:2 When that time comes, sing about a delightful vineyard!
The “time” is the Millennial Kingdom. In that day, a new song will be sung about the vineyard. The lyrics are recorded in verses 2-6.
In Isaiah 5:1–17, Israel was pictured as a vineyard that brought forth wild and sour grapes. Since it produced such poor quality grapes, God judged it by leaving it unprotected. He withheld rain from it. He allowed it to be surrounded and choked by thorns and briers. During the Millennial Kingdom, the new Israel will be “a delightful vineyard” which will produce good grapes.
27:3 I, the Lord, protect it; I water it regularly. I guard it night and day, so no one can harm it.
Jehovah will take care of the new vineyard. He will water it by helping it to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. He will protect it by purging all of Israel’s anti-Semitic enemies out of the world.
27:4 I am not angry. I wish I could confront some thorns and briers! Then I would march against them for battle; I would set them all on fire,
God is no longer angry at His vineyard. He no longer judges His vineyard. There are no more thistles and thorns in His vineyard. During the Millennial Kingdom, “all” Israel will be saved.
27:5 unless they became my subjects and made peace with me; let them make peace with me.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will make peace with Jehovah by believing in Jesus.
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and grow branches. The produce will fill the surface of the world.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will not become a fruitless vineyard like they were in the days of Isaiah. They will become a vineyard which produces good fruit. During the Millennial Kingdom, they will lead all nations to knowledge of the Messiah.
27:7 Has the Lord struck down Israel like he did their oppressors? Has Israel been killed like their enemies?
After finishing the Millennial Kingdom Song of the Vineyard, Jehovah asked two questions to Israel. First, “Has God ever devastated Israel in the same way that He has devastated Israel’s enemies?” Second, “Has Israel ever suffered the same type of vengeance that the Gentile nations have received?”
The price for attacking Israel was kind-for-kind judgment. Whenever the enemies attacked Israel, their actions chose their own judgment.
27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; he drives her away with his strong wind in the day of the east wind.
The answer to both questions is verse 8 is “no.” God does not treat Israel like the other nations. God will divorce Israel by sending her away by the strong eastern wind of captivity, but He will never destroy Israel. The strong eastern wind could be the Assyrians and/or the Babylonians, who both took Israel into captivity
27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: They will make all the stones of the altars like crushed limestone, and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.
The sin of Israel will be removed by the blood of her Messiah. The stones were a soft and powdery limestone. They were brittle and easily pulverized. During the Millennial Kingdom, unlike the Israel in Isaiah’s day, Israel will completely abandon idolatry.
27:10 For the fortified city is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare.
The fortified city is the future Babylon of the Great Tribulation. This will be the capital of the Antichrist. During the Millennial Kingdom, this evil city will become a deserted settlement. It will become abandoned, just like a desert. Cattle will graze on its grass, meaning that this land is only good for grazing.
27:11 When its branches get brittle, they break; women come and use them for kindling. For these people lack understanding, therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
When tree branches become brittle, then they are of no use. They are burned in the fire. Babylon will continually burn during the Millennial Kingdom as a visual object lesson of her evil history. Edom will receive the same kind of judgment. Demons will be confined in both Babylon and Edom.
27:12 At that time the Lord will shake the tree, from the Euphrates River to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites.
“At that time” refers to the Millennial Kingdom. At the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, Jehovah will shake the trees of the Gentiles. All of the Jews will fall out of the tree. Jehovah will gather all of His fruit one by one and plant them back into His land. The borders of Israel will be from the Euphrates River to the Nile River. Israel has never possessed all of this land, but she will during the Millennial Kingdom. It is verses such as this one which prove that Amillenialism and Postmillenialism are both heretical.
27:13 At that time a large trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
When the shofar blows, Israel will return to her land. The Jews will be drawn from all over the world, especially Assyria and Egypt. Assyria and Egypt were two of the major enemies of Israel. There are still Jews living today in both of these territories. When they are regathered, they will worship Jehovah at Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
If read literally, this is not the modern church, but literal Israel. Isaiah was talking to Israel in this day and not the church. Amillennialists need to allow the Word of God to say what it says, without spiritualizing the passage to make it fit their own personal theology.