Isaiah 14:29
29 Rejoice [samach] not thou, whole
Palestina [Palesheth], because the rod [shebet] of him that smote [nakah]
thee is broken [shabar]: for out of the
serpent's [nachash] root [sheresh] shall come forth [yatsa'] a
cockatrice [tsepha`], and his fruit [pariy] shall be a fiery [saraph]
flying [`uwph] serpent [saraph]. KJV-Interlinear
29 "Do not rejoice, O
Philistia, all of you, Because the rod that struck you is broken; For from the
serpent's root a viper will come out, And its fruit will be a flying serpent. NASB
The warning
continues. Even though there is coming a
leadership change, and even though Judah may be perceived as in a weaker state
and susceptible to an attack, that is not to fool anyone who would have such
ideas of attacking or taking advantage of Judah.
Whole Philistia, is a
reference to the whole of Palestine.
Palestine means, land of
the Philistine. But it also means, land
of the stranger, or land of the sojourners.
Philistia was located to
the southwest of Judah, along the Mediterranean Sea. The Philistines engaged in war with Judah,
frequently, and had been put in their place by Uzziah, who here is being
referred to as the serpent.
Not that Uzziah was a
serpent, but from the perspective of the Philistines, he was viewed as a pain
in their side and plans.
When Uzziah died and
the reigns of power went to Ahaz, then the Philistines viewed this change as a
weakness in Judah. This view was
furthered when Ahaz died, moving the reigns of power to an even more
inexperienced leader, Hezekiah.
But God here warns
them, the Philistines, as well as all foreigners whomever they might be, that
even though there was a serpent in their eyes in the form of Uzziah, there is
yet another and greater serpent coming that would end their existence forever.
The word for serpent, ‘nachash,’
is a general term referring to any serpent, not so much as a poisonous threat,
but a nuisance to anyone who had to deal with it.
The word for
cockatrice, ‘tsepha,’ refers to a highly toxic and venomous serpent, far more
dangerous and fatally dangerous than any common serpent.
The root here, refers
to a specific root that comes out of a dead stump. Jesus has often been referred to as the root
that will spring out of the stump of Jesse, and so here the reference to the
far more dangerous threat, is to that of Christ.
In the next verse the
root of Philistine, will be killed, never to exist again.
And so here is a
warning to Philistia, but more than that, it is a warning to any and all who
might perceive Judah, or Israel, or the Jewish peoples, as being weak and an
easy target of opportunity, that they cancel their plans because there is a far
greater power that they would have to deal with, if in fact they invade or even
challenge Judah, etc., in any way.
That result will be
their destruction.
In this warning, there
is also the promise and the secure feeling for Gods people, that God protects
his own.
And especially when the
final days of history arrive, then all evil will be destroyed and removed from
history, leaving Gods people the sole survivors and victors over evil in all of
its forms.
In the final days of
history, Judah will be terribly compromised by larger powers, but there will
also be lots of smaller groups or individuals or nobody's, who will try to take
advantage of their weaknesses for their own gain.
But those plans of
smaller peoples will not succeed. Israel
will survive despite overwhelming odds against them, as well as the innumerable
petty plans of other smaller adversaries.
