seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 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.
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.
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.
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!
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.”
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!’”
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.
I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
from the God of Israel.
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.”
“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.”
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.
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.
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
This is from the easy English site.
Babylon was a city on the river Euphrates (see Genesis 10:10), 50 miles south of modern Baghdad in Iraq.
- The Negeb (or Negev) is still today the name for the region that is south of Judah.
Elam and Media were two nations in the area of modern Iran.
Isaiah’s fierce pain was like the pain of a woman who is giving birth to her baby. This is a word in pictures that the Bible sometimes uses to describe great emotion (see Isaiah 26:17; see also Jeremiah 13:21 and Hosea 13:13).
In a vision Isaiah sees the military leaders and the political leaders of Babylon. They are enjoying a special meal together. But bad news that they did not expect suddenly interrupts their cheerful party.
Now the Lord speaks. He tells Isaiah to appoint a look-out to watch for somebody who is bringing news to Judah. It will be news about one of Judah’s neighbours.
‘Horsemen in pairs’ describes Arabs who were preparing to go into battle. The horsemen each rode an animal (camel or horse). But they each also led another animal (camel or horse). That is, each horseman took two animals. The second animal was to use for a quick escape, if the enemy won the battle. The look-out needed to work out, even from a distance, who had won the battle. This is why the look-out had to look so carefully.
The look-out emphasises that he is loyally doing his duty.
The broken images are evidence that the gods of Babylon were unable to protect their own city. So those gods cannot help the people in Judah or anybody else.
Only the Lord is the true God of Israel. He can deal with every situation.
A very short message about Dumah, a small place in the desert, 300 miles south-east of Jerusalem. Dumah was at an important cross-roads where routes from Babylon and Edom and Syria met. Merchants could exchange news about political events that could affect their trade.
- A caller (whom Isaiah does not name) in the region of Seir (a place in Edom) asks a question from a look-out. The look-out answers. ‘Morning’ and ‘night’ probably refer to ‘a time of peace’ and ‘a time of war’. The answer therefore warns that after a short break, war will begin again.
Tema was 200 miles south of Dumah. The last king of Babylon lived there. Dedan is 90 miles south of Tema. Both are in the desert between Babylon and Judah. The inhabitants of Dedan and Tema must provide help for people who are escaping south from the terrors of war.
Further south still, Kedar too, with its great army, will suffer a heavy defeat. And this defeat will happen in less than a year’s time.
These comments are from the blueletterbible.org.A burden against the Wilderness of the Sea: Babylon is called the Wilderness of the Sea because the great plain of Babylon was divided with lakes and marshes, so it was referred to as a "sea."
Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media: Elam and Media are the ancient names for the peoples of Persia, modern day Iran. The Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian Empire, and Isaiah her prophetically sees their armies marching on Babylon.
As the people collapse from fear and pain (Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor), the nation prepares for war (Arise, you princes, anoint the shield!).
The report comes to the watchman: Babylon is fallen, is fallen! This dramatic scene was fulfilled when the Medo-Persian Empire conquered Babylon, but it also has a prophetic application. Revelation 18:2 describes the cry of an angel when God judges the world system, both commercial Babylon and spiritual Babylon: And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!" The repetition of the phrase is fallen, is fallen connects the two passages.
Dumah was another ancient name for the kingdom of Edom, in the mountainous region of Seir. The Edomites descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob (Israel). They settled in the land to the south-east of Israel, and were the sometimes enemies of Israel.
Isaiah pictures the refugees from an attack on Arabia. They are traveling companies of Dedanites; they are thirsty, and they need bread, because they fled from the swords and from the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
b. This attack will come soon: Within a year … the glory of Kedar will fail. Poole on according to the year of a hired man: "An exact year; for hirelings diligently observe and wait for the end of the year, when they are to receive their wages."
Like I said.... the only reason this wasn't called World War I seems to be that the people didn't think in terms of the "whole world". They were too busy just worrying about their part of the flat planet..... that the sun revolved around.... most people would have thought the whole world was at war.
This is from bible-studys.org.
Verses 1-10: The desert of the sea is unclear but seems to refer to Media and Persia, which lay beyond the desert and the Persian Gulf. Therefore, Elam and Media are pictured as going up against Babylon. Thus, in the vision, Isaiah sees the Medo-Persian invasion of Babylon. The reference to the night of my pleasure may well refer to Belshazzar’s banquet (in Daniel 5), for on that night self-sufficient Babylon fell (539 B.C.).
Babylon is fallen, is fallen is repeated twice for emphasis. The same exclamation is used (in Revelation 14:8), to refer to the fall of symbolic “Babylon.”
Verses 11-12. Dumah refers to Edom, which was south of Moab. Seir is another name for the same area where the descendants of Esau settled. Here Edom is pictured as hiding in Seir wondering whether it is safe to come out. Isaiah is called a watchman and warns them of impending judgment unless they return (shub, repent).
Verses 13-17: The burden upon Arabia refers to the various Arabian tribes of the desert beyond Edom. Dedanim refers to Dedan, a region in Arabia. Tema was an oasis where Nabonidus spent much of his time while his son Belshazzar ruled over Babylon. Kedar is a tribe of Ishmaelite descent. The prophet predicts that these desert tribes will be no match for the coming Assyrian invasion.
When these countries fell..... there were plenty of refugees.... they had no home... no food.... nothing to drink.... when war happened back then.... it was an all or nothing affair..... everyone was run down or run thru or castrated or captured and enslaved. There was none of this bomb and negotiate.... it was a bomb until there was nothing left to bomb. Back in that day.... the best defense was the total obliteration of the enemy and the total obliteration of future soldiers.Now... consider a really thick and luscious lemon meringue pie..... now consider what would happen if you dropped a bowling ball on that beautiful pie..... there would be meringue and lemon filling all over the place..... That's kind of what's happening here..... war is causing refugees to run.... and they are running to other countries.... but hidden in their packs.... are those shiny little idols..... their religion was scattered in among the nations surrounding them.
It makes me wonder.... how much of what I was taught as a child was tainted by the lemon meringue of the pagans?
