21. Isaiah Chapter Twenty-One
Isaiah Chapter 21
Three oracles are pronounced in this chapter, concerning Babylon, Edom and Arabia. "The desert of the sea" (Isaiah 21:1) is Babylon (cp. Jeremiah 50:38; Jeremiah 51:13, Jeremiah 51:36, Jeremiah 51:55). It was soon to be conquered by the Medes (Elam, Isaiah 21:2, is Media), who would come upon it with violence and rapidity, like the storms which in Chaldea spring up from the south. Isaiah was overcome with emotion at the prospect (Isaiah 21:3-4). He was deprived of the pleasure of rest at night in realizing the horror of the destruction. The Babylonians would be indulging in luxury and debauchery when the calamity fell upon them (Isaiah 21:5). So it came to pass, as described in Daniel 5:1-31. The prophet was to employ a watchman, (in Isaiah 21:11 he is himself the watchman; cp. Habakkuk 2:1-2). The watchman is one who stands in God’s counsels, knows what is coming and looks out for the event. So now, he who learns from the completed Scriptures what God has foretold, discerning His purposes, not by speculative interpretation, but by comparing Scripture with Scripture, and accepting what is therein made plain, is able to warn and exhort others. He stands upon the watchtower (Isaiah 21:7) in fellowship with God.
What the watchman saw was a procession of chariots, driving in pairs (r.v.). Contemplating the vision carefully, he discerned the impending calamity, and cried "as a lion" (r.v.). He beheld "a troop [or cavalcade] of men, horsemen in pairs" (Isaiah 21:9). In Isaiah 21:10 the "threshing, and child of my threshing-floor" is figurative of crushing oppression (Isaiah 41:15; Micah 4:12-13), and of Divine judgment (Jeremiah 51:33), and this reference is to God’s use of Babylon as an instrument of chastisement upon His people Israel. In Isaiah 21:11 Dumah is Edom. Dumah means "silence" (i.e., of death). Isaiah, the watchman, received an inquiry, earnest in its repetition, "How far on is it in the night?" the reply is to the effect that while the morning is coming, night will yet envelop it. If they wish to inquire, let them do so, but the one thing necessary is that they should turn to God in repentance. For Israel and the world the morning is coming, the dawn of the Millennial day; but there must come the Day of the Lord in judgment, and Israel must pass through the night of the great tribulation. As to Arabia (Isaiah 21:13-17), the caravans of the Dedanites must pass the night in the forest (or wilderness). The inhabitants of Arabian Tema must bring (margin) them water and bread. In Isaiah 21:16 Kedar stands for the Arabian tribes. First the Assyrians and then the Chaldeans would subdue Arabia (see Jeremiah 49:28-33). The time was predicted precisely: for the phrase "according to the years of an hireling," see on Isaiah 16:14.