Isaiah 27:4
I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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God is not saying He wants thorns and briers to fight; rather, He's highlighting how easily He could destroy them if they dared to challenge Him. It's a powerful way of emphasizing His immense power and His restraint, showing He's not eager for conflict but more than capable of winning it.
This passage is part of a song or prophecy about God's relationship with his people, symbolized as a vineyard. After describing how God tends and protects his vineyard, he addresses a potential confrontation. He declares that his "fury is not in me," meaning he doesn't harbor vengeful anger towards his people, but if wicked enemies (like thorns and briers) dare to challenge him, he will utterly destroy them. This declaration is a powerful reassurance of his protection for his chosen people.
We often think of God as primarily angry, but what if His 'wrath' isn't His natural state?
Isaiah declares, 'Fury is not in me.' This is a profound statement! The commentaries suggest that God's anger, while real and righteous, is not His default setting. It's described as His 'strange work'—something He engages in, but it's not His true nature. His true nature is love and mercy. When He does express 'fury,' it's often a response to persistent rebellion, like the 'thorns and briers' that choke out the good fruit of His vineyard (His people). Even then, His desire isn't destruction for its own sake, but to deal with what hinders life and flourishing.
Why does God compare His enemies to thorns and briers, and what does He intend to do with them?
The imagery of 'thorns and briers' is powerful. These are things that impede growth, cause pain, and are useless for a vineyard's purpose. The commentaries consistently identify these as symbols of God's enemies, both external oppressors and internal corruptions within His people that resist His will. God's response to these 'thorns and briers' is decisive. He states, 'I would march against them, I would burn them up together.' This isn't a hesitant action; it's a complete and utter annihilation. It underscores God's commitment to protect His people and His purposes from anything that seeks to thwart them.
Understand the original words
chemah · Hebrew Noun
God’s righteous displeasure and settled opposition toward sin and rebellion, which is satisfied in those who turn to Him.
Isaiah's prophecy often addresses the immediate threats of powerful empires like Assyria and Babylon, offering both judgment and hope for God's people amidst devastating historical crises. The imagery of God battling thorns and briers speaks to His fierce protection of His people, even when they have faltered.
c. 740 BC
Assyrian Expansion and Northern Kingdom's Fall
The Assyrian Empire is aggressively expanding its borders. The northern kingdom of Israel has already fallen (722 BC), and Judah is under immense pressure, often paying heavy tribute.
c. 701 BC— this verse
Sennacherib's Invasion of Judah
King Sennacherib of Assyria invades Judah, conquering many cities and besieging Jerusalem. This event deeply shook the Judean people.
c. 605 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
Babylon defeats Assyria and Egypt, becoming the dominant power. King Nebuchadnezzar begins deporting Judean elites to Babylon, marking the start of the exile.
586 BC
Fall of Jerusalem and Temple Destruction
Nebuchadnezzar completely destroys Jerusalem and its Temple, exiling most of the remaining population to Babylon. This is a catastrophic event for the Judean people.
This passage also uses the vineyard imagery, highlighting how a vine's primary purpose is to yield wood for use, and if it fails, it is only fit for the fire, mirroring God's judgment on fruitless people.
Hosea 10:1Hosea describes Israel as a 'luxuriant vine that yields its fruit,' but then notes that their increasing fruitfulness led to an increase in their altars and idols, showing how abundance can be misused, similar to how briers and thorns represent a corrupted state of what should be fruitful.
Matthew 3:10John the Baptist's warning about the axe lying at the root of the trees, ready to cut down those who don't bear fruit and cast them into the fire, directly parallels God's intention to 'burn up' the briers and thorns.
Hebrews 12:29This verse states that 'our God is a consuming fire,' which echoes the imagery in Isaiah where God declares He 'would burn them up together,' emphasizing His powerful and purifying nature.
bensonIsaiah 27:4: "Fury 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."
Isaiah 27:4-5 . Fury is not in me — Namely, against my vineyard or my people; I have been displeased with them, and have chastized them, but I am not implacable toward them, and resolved utterly to destroy them, as their enemies are. Who would set the briers and thorns against me, &c. — Yet if any hypocrite in the church, false professor, or wilful sin…
clarkeIsaiah 27:4: "Fury 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."
Fury is not in me "I have no wall" - For חמה chemah, anger, the Septuagint and Syriac read חומה chomah, wall. An ancient MS. has חימה cheimah. For בה bad, in her, two MSS. read בם bam, in them, plural. The vineyard wishes for a wall and a fence of thorns - human strength and protection, (as the Jews were too apt to apply to their powerful neighbor…
God is not saying He wants thorns and briers to fight; rather, He's highlighting how easily He could destroy them if they dared to challenge Him. It's a powerful way of emphasizing His immense power and His restraint, showing He's not eager for conflict but more than capable of winning it.
This passage is part of a song or prophecy about God's relationship with his people, symbolized as a vineyard. After describing how God tends and protects his vineyard, he addresses a potential confrontation. He declares that his "fury is not in me," meaning he doesn't harbor vengeful anger towards his people, but if wicked enemies (like thorns and briers) dare to challenge him, he will utterly destroy them. This declaration is a powerful reassurance of his protection for his chosen people.
This passage is part of a song or prophecy about God's relationship with his people, symbolized as a vineyard. After describing how God tends and protects his vineyard, he addresses a potential confrontation. He declares that his "fury is not in me," meaning he doesn't harbor vengeful anger towards his people, but if wicked enemies (like thorns and briers) dare to challenge him, he will utterly destroy them. This declaration is a powerful reassurance of his protection for his chosen people.
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539 BC
Cyrus the Great's Conquest of Babylon
Cyrus the Persian conquers Babylon, allowing exiled peoples, including the Judeans, to return to their homelands.
c. 516 BC
Rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple
The returned exiles, under Zerubbabel and Joshua the priest, complete the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, though it is a shadow of Solomon's original structure.
"I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together." — God is not saying He wants thorns and briers to fight; rather, He's highlighting how easily He could destroy them if they dared to challenge Him. It's a powerful way of emphasizing His immense po…
