“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 27:13 Mean?
Isaiah paints the final scene of Israel's restoration with a single, vivid image: a great trumpet, and the scattered coming home.
"In that day" — the phrase signals eschatological fulfillment. Not tomorrow. Not next year. The day God has been working toward — the day all the preceding chapters of judgment and promise have been building to.
"The great trumpet shall be blown" — the trumpet (shôphār) was the instrument of assembly in Israel. It gathered the armies. It announced the feasts. It signaled the Year of Jubilee. The great trumpet is the ultimate version — not a local gathering but a cosmic one. The sound carries to the ends of the earth because the scattered are at the ends of the earth.
"They shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria" — the exiles in Assyria, the northern kingdom's survivors, scattered and forgotten, nearly dead. Ready to perish — on the edge of extinction, of cultural erasure, of being absorbed and lost forever. The trumpet reaches even them.
"And the outcasts in the land of Egypt" — Egypt, the land of original bondage, the place Israel should never have returned to. And yet some did — refugees, fugitives, outcasts (niddāḥ, the same word used for a woman driven out). Even the outcasts in the wrong place hear the trumpet.
"And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem" — the destination isn't just geographic. It's liturgical. They don't just come home. They worship. The scattered become the gathered. The perishing become the worshipping. The outcasts become the congregation. And the holy mount that was desolate in chapter 1 is full again.
Jesus alludes to this trumpet in Matthew 24:31: "He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds." The gathering Isaiah saw is the gathering Christ completes.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you identify more with the 'ready to perish' in Assyria or the 'outcasts' in Egypt? Where has your exile taken you?
- 2.How does the fact that the trumpet reaches both the perishing and the outcasts challenge the idea that some people are too far gone?
- 3.What does it mean that the destination is worship — not rehabilitation, not probation, but direct access to God's presence?
- 4.Is the trumpet sounding in your life right now — calling you from where you've been scattered back to where you belong? What does it sound like?
Devotional
The trumpet reaches the perishing and the outcasts. That's the detail that should undo every person who believes they've gone too far or wandered too long. You're ready to perish in a foreign land? The trumpet is for you. You're an outcast in the wrong place — somewhere you never should have ended up? The trumpet is for you. The sound isn't just for the faithful remnant who stayed close. It's for the ones who are barely alive and completely lost.
The great trumpet. Not a small one. Not a quiet signal for the nearby. A great sound that crosses borders, penetrates exile, reaches into the land of the oppressor and the land of the outcast simultaneously. No distance is too far. No exile is too deep. No lostness is too complete. The trumpet finds you wherever the scattering took you.
And the destination is worship. Not a refugee camp. Not a holding facility. Not a probationary re-entry program. The holy mount. Jerusalem. The place of God's presence. The perishing walk straight from near-death to the throne room. The outcasts walk straight from exile to the altar. There's no intermediate stage. The trumpet calls you from the furthest point directly to the most sacred one.
If you feel like you're perishing — barely surviving spiritually, emotionally, relationally — listen. If you feel like an outcast — driven out, displaced, in a land you don't belong in — listen. The trumpet is coming. It might already be sounding. And it's calling you not just back, but all the way home. To the holy mount. To worship. That's your destination. Not the perishing. Not the exile. Worship.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When the Lord is about to do the above things, and in order to it. The…
The great trumpet shall be blown - This verse is designed to describe in another mode the same fact as that stated in…
Here is the prophet again singing of mercy and judgment, not, as before, judgment to the enemies and mercy to the…
the( a) great trumpet Cf. ch. Isa 18:3; Zec 9:14; Mat 24:31; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16.
they … which were ready to perish the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture