Isaiah 27:4 - Exposition

Fury is not in me ; i.e. "I am not now angered against my vineyard, as on the former occasion ( Isaiah 5:1-30 :47); or at any rate my anger now is not fury." (Isaiah frequently ascribes "fury" to God, as in Isaiah 34:2 ; Isaiah 42:25 ; Isaiah 51:17 , Isaiah 51:20 , Isaiah 51:22 ; Isaiah 58:1-14 :18; Isaiah 63:3 , Isaiah 63:5 , Isaiah 63:6 ; Isaiah 66:15 .) Who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle? The "briars and thorns" are apparently unrighteous members of the Church, who have fallen below their privileges. God asks, "Who will set the briars and thorns in array against me?" in a tone of contempt. "Who will dare to do battle against me with such weak material?" And then he adds a forecast of the result in such a case: "I would move forward; I would burn them all together" (comp. Isaiah 10:17 ).