Mountain Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) ©WikiC
The verses below, quoted from the Bible Gateway – Isaiah 18:6 for Isaiah 18:6
KJV
Isaiah 18:6 “They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.” (KJV)
They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey And for the beasts of the earth; The birds of prey will summer on them, And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
Mountain Caracara (Phalcoboenus megalopterus) ©WikiC
They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills and for the wild animals of the land. The birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the wild animals the winter.
They will all be left to the vultures in the mountains and to the wild animals in the fields; the vultures will feed on them in summer, and the wild animals of the fields in winter.
Mountain Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) by Peter Ericsson
They shall be left together unto the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the earth; and the birds of prey shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.
Mountain Buzzard (Buteo oreophilus) ©WikiC
And they will all be left for birds of prey that live on the mountains and for wild animals. Birds of prey will pass the summer feeding on them, and all the wild animals will pass the winter feeding on them.
They will be left for the birds of prey on the mountains and the wild animals. The birds of prey will feed on them in the summer, and all the wild animals on earth will feed on them in the winter.
Grey-faced Buzzard (Butastur indicus) by Peter Ericsson
They shall all be left to the mountain vultures and to the beasts of the earth; The vultures shall summer on them, all the beasts of the earth shall winter on them.
***
It looks like the birds of prey, whether vultures, or mountain birds of prey, birds of prey on the hills, or fowls of prey are going to be eating something. What is the “they“? The three translations below begin to give a clue as to the “they” is.
White-eyed Buzzard (Butastur teesa) by Nikhil Devasar
They (warriors) will be left together for the mountain birds of prey, And for the beasts of the earth; And the birds of prey will [spend the] summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them
Ethiopians will be food for mountain buzzards during the summer and for wild animals during the winter.
Your mighty army will be left dead on the field for the mountain birds and wild animals to eat; the vultures will tear bodies all summer, and the wild animals will gnaw bones all winter.
White-bellied Sea Eagle captured a Lesser Whistling Duck ©WikiC
When we back up several verses, we begin to understand what the birds are dealing with. God has been dealing with Cush. God only deals with men and nations so long, and then, if they don’t repent and change their evil ways, He gives judgment. Today many people believe that if God is a loving God, he will not hand out judgments. That is not what Scriptures says repeatedly throughout His Word.
The flood came about because man refused to repent of their evil ways and The Lord destroyed all but eight souls. He also provided a means of “salvation” to Noah and his family.
Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) by Ian
Here, the people of “Cush” or Assyria, finally received their judgment. All the bodies were left on the mountains and the birds of prey and the beast of the mountains, feasted on the corpses. Not a pretty picture, but God Almighty was justified in this punishment.
“2. He will reckon with his and their enemies, Isa. 18:5, 6. When the Assyrian army promises itself a plentiful harvest in the taking of Jerusalem and the plundering of that rich city, when the bud of that project is perfect, before the harvest is gathered in, while the sour grape of their enmity to Hezekiah and his people is ripening in the flower and the design is just ready to be put in execution, God shall destroy that army as easily as the husbandman cuts off the sprigs of the vine with pruning hooks, or because the grape is sour and good for nothing, and will not be cured, takes away and cuts down the branches. This seems to point at the overthrow of the Assyrian army by a destroying angel, when the dead bodies of the soldiers were scattered like the branches and sprigs of a wild vine, which the husbandman has cut to pieces. And they shall be left to the fowls of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth, to prey upon, both winter and summer; for as God’s people are protected all seasons of the year, both in cold and heat (Isa. 18:4), so their enemies are at all seasons exposed; birds and beasts of prey shall both summer and winter upon them, till they are quite ruined.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary]
Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) ©WikiC
It is more enjoyable to write about the Birds of the Mountains and point out God, their Creator’s care for them. Yet, Isaiah 18:6 is also part of The Bible. Our Savior has provided salvation to those who repent and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Yet, many people today, do not want to believe that God would condemn anyone to Hell. That is a lie, straight from Satan.
John 3:16, plus, still gives us the answer for this. Also, if you followed the 28 Chapters of Matthew last month, you would have read the whole of the Gospel. Jesus, God, came to earth in the flesh, to teach us and to provide salvation for us buy his death on the cross. Then, He defeated death and rose again, and is now at the right hand of the Father.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:16-21 KJV)
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