Consummation
The Meaning of Consummation
The English word "consummation" in the KJV translates the Hebrew "killayon," derived from the root "kalah," meaning to complete, finish, or bring to an end. In biblical usage, it carries the sense of total destruction or a decisive conclusion. Modern translations often render it as "complete destruction," "full end," or "decreed destruction," capturing the sense of an end that has been determined by divine decree and will be carried out in full.
Isaiah's Prophecy of Determined Destruction
Isaiah uses the concept of consummation in the context of God's judgment upon Israel through the Assyrian invasion. In Isaiah 10:22-23, the prophet declares that though Israel's people are as numerous as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. "Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth" (Isaiah 10:22-23). This passage is significant because Paul quotes it in Romans 9:27-28 to explain God's dealings with Israel. The consummation is both terrible and righteous — God's judgment is not arbitrary but flows from his commitment to justice.
Isaiah returns to this theme in Isaiah 28:22, warning, "Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a decree of destruction upon the whole land." The consummation is presented as an irreversible divine decision that no human action can avert once it has been decreed.
Daniel and the End of Desolations
The most theologically charged use of consummation appears in Daniel 9:27, within the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks. Daniel writes that the one who makes desolate will continue "until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator" (Daniel 9:27). The KJV renders this as "the consummation," emphasizing that the period of desolation will itself come to a determined end. God has set limits even on the duration of judgment and oppression. The consummation in Daniel points forward to the final defeat of evil and the establishment of God's eternal kingdom.
Consummation and Consumption
A related Hebrew word from a different root appears in passages about physical disease, translated as "consumption" in the KJV (Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:22). Though the English words "consummation" and "consumption" sound similar, they translate different Hebrew terms. The physical wasting disease is part of the covenant curses that God warned would follow disobedience, while the prophetic consummation refers to the final, decisive end of a period or system of evil. Both concepts, however, share the underlying idea of being consumed or brought to completion.
The Broader Theme of God's Determined Purposes
The concept of consummation reveals a God who does not act impulsively but according to determined purposes. Isaiah's phrase "decreed destruction" and Daniel's "decreed end" both emphasize that God's judgments are planned, purposeful, and unstoppable. This theme continues into the New Testament, where Paul speaks of the "fullness of time" (Galatians 4:4) and the consummation of all things when Christ returns. The book of Revelation envisions the ultimate consummation, when the old order passes away and God makes all things new (Revelation 21:1-5).
Biblical Context
The word 'consummation' (killayon) appears primarily in Isaiah 10:22-23 and 28:22, and in Daniel 9:27. Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22-23 in Romans 9:27-28 in the context of God's sovereign election. The related concept of covenant curses including consumption (disease) appears in Leviticus 26:16 and Deuteronomy 28:22.
Theological Significance
Consummation teaches that God's judgment is not chaotic or unpredictable but determined and purposeful. It reveals that evil has an expiration date — God has decreed its end. This provides both warning and comfort: warning to those who persist in wickedness that a full end has been decreed, and comfort to the faithful that oppression and injustice will not last forever. The concept ultimately points to the eschatological consummation when Christ returns to judge and restore.
Historical Background
Isaiah's prophecies of consummation were spoken against the backdrop of the Assyrian threat to Judah in the eighth century BC. Sennacherib's invasion of 701 BC partially fulfilled these warnings. Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks was given during the Babylonian exile (sixth century BC) and has been interpreted by scholars as spanning from the Persian period through the time of Christ. The concept of divinely decreed endings was familiar in ancient Near Eastern thought, where gods were believed to determine the fates of nations.