THE NATURE OF THE COMING JUDGMENT EXPLAINED. Hints have been already given that the judgment which is to fall on the nation is a foreign war, or a series of foreign wars (see Isaiah 3:25; Isaiah 5:13).
But now for the first time a terrible invasion, in which many nations will participate, is clearly announced. At first the imagery is obscure (Isaiah 5:25), but it soon grows more distinct. "Nations" are summoned to the attack; a vast army comes, and comes" with speed swiftly" (Isaiah 5:26); then their array is described (Isaiah 5:27, Isaiah 5:28); and finally their ravin is compared to that of lions, and their success in catching and carrying off their prey is prophesied (Isaiah 5:29).
In the last verse of the chapter the prophet falls back into vaguer imagery, comparing the roar of the invaders to the roaring of the sea, and the desolated land to one seen under the gloom of a preternatural darkness (Isaiah 5:30).