Isaiah 9:19, commentary and pictures

Isaiah 9:19 belongs to the account of a conspiracy against Judah and to the reproofs of sin found in its chapter. Within the book it stands in chapters 2-12, which form the four prophecies of the first part, chapters 1-39. It was given through Isaiah, whose name means Jehovah is salvation, who prophesied between 760 and 698 B.C., beginning as a young man in the reign of Uzziah and continuing through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, in crucial times in Judah that foreshadow the great days to come. Isaiah is the Gospel prophet, speaking more than any other Old Testament prophet of the last days, the sufferings and work of Jesus Christ, and the kingdom of glory to come.

The image of the people becoming fuel for fire under the wrath of the Lord of hosts describes the destruction of the wicked by fire. The kindled thickets of the forest mounting up picture the supremacy of Gentile rule taking the place of Israel, whose mountain, government and kingdom is uprooted and abolished so that enemies rule over God's professed people. Beyond the destruction of Jerusalem, the scene points to the end of all things, with Jerusalem and the Jewish nation serving as a type of that future judgment.

The conspiracies of that time serve as types of conspiracies in the last days. Sins act as fuel for an inner fire of conscience that scorches instead of warming unless the fuel is removed or its heat is eased by tears of repentance.