Your Breath, As Fire, Shall Devour You
;tldr There seems to be a strong correlation between rioting and the day God stands up.
Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered;
And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you!
When you cease plundering,
You will be plundered;
When you make an end of dealing treacherously,
They will deal treacherously with you.
...
We have waited for You.
...
At the noise of the tumult the people shall flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
And Your plunder shall be gathered
Like the gathering of the caterpillar;
As the running to and fro of locusts,
He shall run upon them.
Isaiah 33:1-4
"When thou shalt cease to spoil - This does not relier to his having voluntarily ceased to plunder, but to the fact that God would put an end to it."
Plunder: to act violently, to oppress, to destroy, to lay waste (Gesenius)
In the span of just four verses, we have here, what sounds to me, like God interrupting those who are plundering, rioting and looting, who were not, themselves, plundered.
Ellicott on Is. 33:4 "He who came to spoil should find himself spoiled."
The highways lie waste,
The traveling man ceases.
He has broken the covenant,
He has despised the cities,
He regards no man.
The earth mourns and languishes,
Lebanon is shamed and shriveled;
Sharon is like a wilderness,
And Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
“Now I will rise,” says the LORD;
“Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
Isaiah 33:8-11
As God lifts himself after such a long age of grace, it brings widespread destruction to the earth. To breathe fire implies extreme anger. But their anger, and whatever goal it is they are trying to achieve, will come to nothing (ie. results in chaff, stubble). God will put an end to it. Notice the very strong connection between verses 10 and 11. "I'm rising up, and even in doing so, I'm putting an end to those who are breathing out the fire of anger as they loot and riot and destroy."
The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
“I have held My peace a long time,
I have been still and restrained Myself.
Now I will cry like a woman in labor,
I will pant and gasp at once.
I will lay waste the mountains and hills,
And dry up all their vegetation;
I will make the rivers coastlands,
And I will dry up the pools.
...
But this is a people robbed and plundered;
All of them are snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
They are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”
...
Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the LORD,
He against whom we have sinned?
Isaiah 42:13-15, 22, 24
The first half of Isaiah 42 describes Jesus' first coming. The second half describes the day when He stands up in strong judgment to break His long, 2000 year age of peace. In this context, we see God's people, or their nation, have been given over to robbers and plunders and have been hidden away in their prison houses, because they have become polluted with the sin of their nation.
Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him.
Psalm 68
God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
...
Before Him went pestilence,
...
He stood and measured (to shake, move, agitate) the earth;
He looked and startled (to tremble, palpitate) the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
The curtains of the land of Midian (strife) trembled.
Habakkuk 3:7
The root word of Midian means strife or contention.
For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
...
The cup of the LORD’s right hand will be turned against you,
And utter shame will be on your glory.
...
For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you,
And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid,
Because of men’s blood
And the violence of the land and the city,
And of all who dwell in it.
Habakkuk 2:14, 16-17
As we saw earlier, God's glory will cover the heavens when He is about to "stand up."
"the plunder of beasts"
Swedenborg describes beasts, in a negative sense, as evil affections of men. At our worst, when our base desires control us, man does act like a beast.
Babylon/America at her end is the focus of the book of Habakkuk. This passage sounds to me, at least in part, like the violence of the land invites God's retribution.
When I [give healing to] Israel,
Then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered,
And the wickedness of Samaria.
For they have committed fraud;
A thief comes in;
A band of robbers takes spoil outside.
Hosea 7:1
When God stands up to heal His polluted people (see Isaiah 1)...it's at this time our sin is judged and healed, and there are thieves and robbers taking spoil.
Wicked leaders sympathize: Ellicott on Hos. 7:3: "Glad.—The evil awakens no alarm, but rather sympathy and gladness, in the breasts of their kings and rulers, who are ready to follow suit in all deeds of violence."
Therefore thus says the LORD:
“Behold, against this family I am devising disaster,
...
Lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You pull off the robe with the garment from those who trust you, as they pass by, like men returned from war.
...
The one who breaks open will come up before them...
Micah 2:3, 8, 13
He's devising disaster against a people who are attacking each other, even those who would not expect to be assaulted. I saw a video recently of a young, black woman lamenting that even she was attacked by the violent mob.
Most commentators agree that he who breaks open is referring to Christ.
Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
...
Assemble on the mountains of Samaria (chief, end-time nation of the lost 10 tribes, ie. America); See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her. For they do not know to do right,’ Says the LORD, ‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.'
Amos 3:2, 9-10
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