THE LORD GOD HAS SPOKEN
Isaiah 21:1-17 / Keywords 21:10
O
my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from
the LORD Almighty, from the God of Israel.
21:1 A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:
Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland,
an invader comes from the desert,
from a land of terror.
2 A dire vision has been shown to me:
The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.
Elam, attack! Media, lay siege!
I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.
3 At this my body is racked with pain,
pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;
I am staggered by what I hear,
I am bewildered by what I see.
4 My heart falters,
fear makes me tremble;
the twilight I longed for
has become a horror to me.
5 They set the tables,
they spread the rugs,
they eat, they drink!
Get up, you officers,
oil the shields!
6 This is what the Lord says to me:
“Go, post a lookout
and have him report what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots
with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
or riders on camels,
let him be alert,
fully alert.”
8 And the lookout[a] shouted,
“Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
every night I stay at my post.
9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot
with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen!
All the images of its gods
lie shattered on the ground!’”
10 My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,
I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
from the God of Israel.
A Prophecy Against Edom
11 A prophecy against Dumah[b]:
Someone calls to me from Seir,
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?”
12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
and come back yet again.”
A Prophecy Against Arabia
13 A prophecy against Arabia:
You caravans of Dedanites,
who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
14 bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,
bring food for the fugitives.
15 They flee from the sword,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
and from the heat of battle.
16 This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. 17 The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.
Footnotes
a. Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text A lion
b. Isaiah 21:11 Dumah, a wordplay on Edom, means silence or stillness.
1.
Isaiah had a very troubling vision about Babylon which he calls the Desert by
the Sea. God would use Elam and Media to bring judgment against Babylon. These
nations would sweep through Babylon like a whirlwind. Babylon would be taken
completely by surprise (5; see Daniel 5). She would be betrayed and looted.
Isaiah did not rejoice at the downfall of his people’s future
captors (6b). The violence and the horror he saw racked his body with pain. his
heart faltered. The vision terrified him. Nevertheless, Isaiah saw himself as a
watchman who had to speak what he heard from the LORD Almighty even when it
frightened him.
2.
Then someone from Seir called on Isaiah to predict when Edom’s suffering
would end. Isaiah could only vaguely answer that both morning and night would
come and told him to ask again later. Isaiah would not go beyond what God told
him to speak.
3.
Isaiah continued by pronouncing judgment against the Dedanites. They would
become refugees, fleeing sword and battle. Finally, the LORD said that Kedar
would also come to an end with very few survivors within a year. The LORD had
spoken, and this would all surely come to pass. We can confidently stand on God’s word.
Prayer Father, your word is true. Help us to believe your word as it is.
Help us to courageously speak your word, to not add or take away from it.
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