And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
The people becoming as the burnings of lime and as thorns cut up burned in the fire means they are made fuel to be consumed in a lime-kiln and in a fire, like cut thorn bushes cast to the flames. It belongs to prophecy looking toward the last days, when the Lord rises to judgment and is exalted in general desolation, and sinners in Zion are seized with fear so that even high religious profession will not save them. It describes the destruction of the wicked peoples who oppose and reject God at the Lord's coming and day of the Lord, inflicted by real fire upon the body and not merely as figure or mental suffering. The lime and cut-thorn images show utter loss and complete consumption that ends life, using the most combustible materials to show certainty of ruin rather than length of burning, for the wicked are not immortal and do not burn forever. This is the second death in the final lake of fire after the second resurrection at the close of the thousand years, where the same glorious presence withers the wicked outside the city into dust and ashes while the righteous dwell safely unharmed within it and are made immortal.
Language and Context
Isaiah 33:12 belongs to a section of Isaiah's prophecies that looks toward the last days and God's judgments upon the earth. The peoples becoming as the burnings of lime and as thorns cut up burned in the fire means they become fuel consumed in a lime-kiln and in a fire, like cut thorn bushes put to the fire. The image shows perishable material burned away to utter destruction.
The burning happens when the Lord rises to judgment and is exalted, at the time of the general desolation. Alongside it comes the collapse of human wisdom, which produces only chaff and stubble. Its setting is when false professors are brought to recognize their lost condition just before this destruction. At that time sinners in Zion are seized with fear and fearfulness surprises the hypocrites, so that even high religious profession will not save them. It is the time when the wicked see the reward of the righteous and the righteous see the reward of the wicked, with terrible punishment rained upon the heads of the wicked that utterly consumes them as fat of lambs.
The destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation was only a type; the verse points forward beyond it to the consummation of all things. The people described are those of the fourth kingdom in the final punishment, who unlike the subjects of earlier kingdoms are not transferred into a succeeding government. On one reading, the coming in judgment described here is linked with millennial times and is not to be read as a literal event. The verse is included among assurances that God gives extraordinary help to his chosen people in extraordinary times, when the righteous are safe on the earth in a place of defense inside the holy city, where their eyes see the King in his beauty in glory and their heart meditates terror as they look out on a world on fire and fully behold the destruction of the wicked in immediate connection with it.
Final Punishment by Fire
The verse describes the destruction of the wicked peoples who oppose and reject God at the Lord's coming and day of the Lord, when He rises to judgment and general desolation approaches. It is the fate awaiting those who reject the warning of His soon return, overtaking false professors just as they are brought to recognize their lost condition, when even high religious profession will not save them and human wisdom collapses producing only chaff and stubble. The burning is literal, material and bodily, inflicted by means of real fire in contact with physical sensibilities, and is fulfilled as a real event and not merely a figure of speech or mental suffering only. The wounding and torturing of physical sensibilities by material torments is worse than mental sufferings, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation was only a type while the verse points forward beyond it to the consummation of all things when the wicked are finally destroyed by material fire on the earth.
The lime and cut-thorn images show utter loss, ruin and complete consumption that ceases life, rather than preserving the wicked alive for endless punishment or continued existence. Like lime in a kiln and cut thorn bushes put to the fire they are burned down, cut up and thoroughly consumed in final destruction, which is their entire loss, ruin and utter destruction. The images use the most combustible and perishable materials to describe certainty of destruction rather than how long they burn, for they perish completely when burned. The burning takes place in the fire that burns the earth and melts the mountains and makes the earth a lake of fire, in which corrupt sinners are devoured as dry chaff in a furnace, giving a period of anguish, but the wicked are not immortal and do not burn forever.
The destruction is the perdition and destruction of ungodly men in the second death and final lake of fire at the close of the day of the Lord when God rises and is exalted, while the righteous live forever with the Lord. Then fire falls from heaven and meets fire from beneath until the earth is one molten sea, acting as God's touchstone that tries every man's work and sets the mightiest works and claims of men and Satan against the faith and work of God. There the wicked, who believed the lie that they shall not surely die and claimed inherent immortality apart from Christ, are proved false and are utterly destroyed with all wicked works, while the righteous, who accepted righteousness and life through Christ and are gathered in the city of God, are vindicated, for righteousness is proved to be life, and made immortal and partakers of the divine nature dwelling unharmed amid the devouring fire and everlasting burnings; the words may also apply to judgments in this life. This final punishment comes after the second resurrection at the close of the thousand years, just before the new heavens and new earth, while the saints are on the earth inside the beloved city. The descended New Jerusalem inhabited by the saints is preserved unharmed in the midst of that consuming fire, as the ark was preserved through the deluge, so the righteous are protected within the holy city in a place of defense, see Jesus in His glory and the King in His beauty, and witness the destruction of the wicked outside as the old world burns.
The same glory performs a double work like sunlight: the glorious brightness of Christ's presence withers the wicked into dust and ashes in complete and final destruction, while raising the righteous to life. This destruction is complete and final, not an endless prolonging of rebellious existence, and it accords with love and justice and the safety of God's government, utterly consuming the wicked like fat of lambs as a terrible punishment rained upon their heads. Thus the devouring fire and everlasting burnings that consume the wicked outside the city are the presence in which the righteous who walk righteously and speak uprightly dwell safely unharmed, while God's sinless children dwell unharmed in the glory that destroys sin. At that time the wicked see the reward of the righteous and the righteous see the reward of the wicked, while sinners in Zion are afraid and fearfulness surprises the hypocrites, and the righteous safe on the earth inside the holy city meditate terror as they look out on a world on fire and fully behold the destruction of the wicked in immediate connection with seeing the King in His beauty in glory.
The people becoming as the burnings of lime and as thorns cut up burned in the fire means they are made fuel to be consumed in a lime-kiln and in a fire, like cut thorn bushes cast to the flames. It belongs to prophecy looking toward the last days, when the Lord rises to judgment and is exalted in general desolation, and sinners in Zion are seized with fear so that even high religious profession will not save them. It describes the destruction of the wicked peoples who oppose and reject God at the Lord's coming and day of the Lord, inflicted by real fire upon the body and not merely as figure or mental suffering. The lime and cut-thorn images show utter loss and complete consumption that ends life, using the most combustible materials to show certainty of ruin rather than length of burning, for the wicked are not immortal and do not burn forever. This is the second death in the final lake of fire after the second resurrection at the close of the thousand years, where the same glorious presence withers the wicked outside the city into dust and ashes while the righteous dwell safely unharmed within it and are made immortal.
Language and Context
Isaiah 33:12 belongs to a section of Isaiah's prophecies that looks toward the last days and God's judgments upon the earth. The peoples becoming as the burnings of lime and as thorns cut up burned in the fire means they become fuel consumed in a lime-kiln and in a fire, like cut thorn bushes put to the fire. The image shows perishable material burned away to utter destruction.
The burning happens when the Lord rises to judgment and is exalted, at the time of the general desolation. Alongside it comes the collapse of human wisdom, which produces only chaff and stubble. Its setting is when false professors are brought to recognize their lost condition just before this destruction. At that time sinners in Zion are seized with fear and fearfulness surprises the hypocrites, so that even high religious profession will not save them. It is the time when the wicked see the reward of the righteous and the righteous see the reward of the wicked, with terrible punishment rained upon the heads of the wicked that utterly consumes them as fat of lambs.
The destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation was only a type; the verse points forward beyond it to the consummation of all things. The people described are those of the fourth kingdom in the final punishment, who unlike the subjects of earlier kingdoms are not transferred into a succeeding government. On one reading, the coming in judgment described here is linked with millennial times and is not to be read as a literal event. The verse is included among assurances that God gives extraordinary help to his chosen people in extraordinary times, when the righteous are safe on the earth in a place of defense inside the holy city, where their eyes see the King in his beauty in glory and their heart meditates terror as they look out on a world on fire and fully behold the destruction of the wicked in immediate connection with it.
Final Punishment by Fire
The verse describes the destruction of the wicked peoples who oppose and reject God at the Lord's coming and day of the Lord, when He rises to judgment and general desolation approaches. It is the fate awaiting those who reject the warning of His soon return, overtaking false professors just as they are brought to recognize their lost condition, when even high religious profession will not save them and human wisdom collapses producing only chaff and stubble. The burning is literal, material and bodily, inflicted by means of real fire in contact with physical sensibilities, and is fulfilled as a real event and not merely a figure of speech or mental suffering only. The wounding and torturing of physical sensibilities by material torments is worse than mental sufferings, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation was only a type while the verse points forward beyond it to the consummation of all things when the wicked are finally destroyed by material fire on the earth.
The lime and cut-thorn images show utter loss, ruin and complete consumption that ceases life, rather than preserving the wicked alive for endless punishment or continued existence. Like lime in a kiln and cut thorn bushes put to the fire they are burned down, cut up and thoroughly consumed in final destruction, which is their entire loss, ruin and utter destruction. The images use the most combustible and perishable materials to describe certainty of destruction rather than how long they burn, for they perish completely when burned. The burning takes place in the fire that burns the earth and melts the mountains and makes the earth a lake of fire, in which corrupt sinners are devoured as dry chaff in a furnace, giving a period of anguish, but the wicked are not immortal and do not burn forever.
The destruction is the perdition and destruction of ungodly men in the second death and final lake of fire at the close of the day of the Lord when God rises and is exalted, while the righteous live forever with the Lord. Then fire falls from heaven and meets fire from beneath until the earth is one molten sea, acting as God's touchstone that tries every man's work and sets the mightiest works and claims of men and Satan against the faith and work of God. There the wicked, who believed the lie that they shall not surely die and claimed inherent immortality apart from Christ, are proved false and are utterly destroyed with all wicked works, while the righteous, who accepted righteousness and life through Christ and are gathered in the city of God, are vindicated, for righteousness is proved to be life, and made immortal and partakers of the divine nature dwelling unharmed amid the devouring fire and everlasting burnings; the words may also apply to judgments in this life. This final punishment comes after the second resurrection at the close of the thousand years, just before the new heavens and new earth, while the saints are on the earth inside the beloved city. The descended New Jerusalem inhabited by the saints is preserved unharmed in the midst of that consuming fire, as the ark was preserved through the deluge, so the righteous are protected within the holy city in a place of defense, see Jesus in His glory and the King in His beauty, and witness the destruction of the wicked outside as the old world burns.
The same glory performs a double work like sunlight: the glorious brightness of Christ's presence withers the wicked into dust and ashes in complete and final destruction, while raising the righteous to life. This destruction is complete and final, not an endless prolonging of rebellious existence, and it accords with love and justice and the safety of God's government, utterly consuming the wicked like fat of lambs as a terrible punishment rained upon their heads. Thus the devouring fire and everlasting burnings that consume the wicked outside the city are the presence in which the righteous who walk righteously and speak uprightly dwell safely unharmed, while God's sinless children dwell unharmed in the glory that destroys sin. At that time the wicked see the reward of the righteous and the righteous see the reward of the wicked, while sinners in Zion are afraid and fearfulness surprises the hypocrites, and the righteous safe on the earth inside the holy city meditate terror as they look out on a world on fire and fully behold the destruction of the wicked in immediate connection with seeing the King in His beauty in glory.