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I am reading about the Lord's judgement against Edom in an end-time prophecy written in the book of Isaiah (niv), and the prophecy appears to be speaking about a great destruction in Edom.Isaiah 34.

I am also reading an end-time prophecy in the book of Daniel which has a reference to Edom which reads,

Daniel 11:40-41 (NIV)

40 “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. 41 He will also invade the Beautiful Land.Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand.

These two prophecies are clearly speaking of end-time events,but the first one speaks about destruction of Edom and the second one appears to say that Edom will be delivered from the "invader", which i understand to mean, that Edom escapes judgement.@scottS answer to This question is what motivates my question.

How does the reader reconcile these two end-time prophecies?

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Bagpipes
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  • This question is off-topic because it is specifically asking for a systematic interpretation of two texts. –  Jan 15 '15 at 17:13
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    @MarkEdward I disagree w/ your assessment. The question doesn't ask for the reconciliation of a systematic interpretation of 2 texts, it asks for a reconciliation between both texts; therefore it is about the text and not the system. However, site directives tell us to "bring our framework", which means we 'may' use a systematic interpretation if it clarifies the meaning of the text. Since both of these texts are OT, and no mention has been made(in the question) of NT sources or doctrine, one can answer this question and not be 'anachronistic' in one's assertions. – Tau Jan 17 '15 at 10:18

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I'll take a moment to briefly answer since you stated a previous answer of mine elicited the question, and since by my hermeneutic, there is no problem asking a question such as yours on this site because part of understanding a text is understanding how it relates to other areas of Scripture that discuss similar topics (though you perhaps assume too much by how you asked the question).

Recall that in my previous answer, I am understanding Isaiah 34:1-7 as a prophecy of Christ coming in judgment against Edom during His campaign of judgment at His return. I'm not going to rehash that here.

But who does Dan 11:41 (that you quote) say Edom is delivered from? The short answer is not "the Lord" as in Isa 34:6 (which I interpreted there as a reference to Christ). In Dan 11 it is the "king of the North" that Edom is delivered from, who is the main king being mentioned in the previous context of Daniel 11.

So just because Edom escapes one "judgment" does not mean it escapes a later one. The passages are reconciled by there being two different referents of who is (or is not) dealing with Edom.

That's all I have time for at the moment, but my answer does pointedly address your question of reconciling these two passages.

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ScottS
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  • My view is that the judgement of Edom as recorded in Isaiah 63 must happen first and this judgement is not connected to war because it is written in Isaiah "I have trodden the winepress alone,from the nations no-one was with me".This is phase one of the campaign where Christs garments were bloodied(which we both agree on )Isaiah 34 records that Edom has been left desolate after this judgement.This leaves me to believe that the scripture in Daniel 11 is saying Edom has been delivered from the hand of the invader because Christ has already judged Edom.It is the only explanation i can see ! – Bagpipes Jan 16 '15 at 08:49
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    @Bagpipes: I agree Isa 63 shows the Isa 34 judgment of Edom comes before the events of Isa 63 which references those, but I would disagree if you are placing the reference of Isa 34 and 63 before those of Dan 11:41. Rather, they would happen after Edom has been spared from the king of the North. Isa 34 and 63 happen in conjunction with the "end" of that king in Dan 11:45, when "Michael" stands for Israel as Dan 12:1-4 summarizes and indicates. – ScottS Jan 16 '15 at 13:05
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    @ScottS There is a dearth of these questions lately; it would be certainly helpful if you could 'shovel' the path to a satisfactory answer again, and attenuate the 'naysayers' that say such questions shouldn't be allowed. – Tau Jan 17 '15 at 10:25