Isaiah 34:9-17
Persistent rebellion results in lasting desolation.
9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It won’t be quenched night nor day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever.
11 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
14 The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest.
15 The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate.
16 Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
Persistent rebellion results in lasting desolation.
To portray the total desolation of Edom as a perpetual sign of divine judgment.
The LORD’s Judgment on the Nations and the Desolation of Edom
The LORD summons the nations to hear that His holy wrath will judge proud hostility against Zion, turning Edom into a permanent witness that God’s word of vengeance and recompense cannot fail.