By night or by day it will not be extinguished; to time indefinite its smoke will keep ascending.” (Isaiah 34:9, 10a)

The smoke ‘ascending to time indefinite’ vividly illustrates this. When a house burns down, smoke keeps coming from the ashes for some time after the flames have died down, providing onlookers with evidence that there has been a conflagration. Since Christians today are learning lessons from the destruction of Edom, the smoke of Edom’s burning is still, in a sense, ascending.

16, 17. What will Edom become, and how long will it continue in such a state?

¹⁶ Isaiah’s prophecy continues, foretelling that Edom’s human population will be replaced by wild animals, implying a coming desolation: “From generation to generation she will be parched; forever and ever no one will be passing across her.

This parched state of the land will continue, as Isa 34 verse 10 says, “forever and ever.” There will be no restoration.​—Obadiah 18.