Isaiah 21

Isaiah 21:1

8. Judgment on Babylon (21:1-10)21:1-4 The three oracles in chapter 21 bring bad news for Babylon, Edom, and Arabia. The Wilderness of the Sea is Babylon, perhaps that portion of Babylon adjacent to the Persian Gulf. Destruction will roar upon it like whirlwinds . . . from the desert. Because it still plunders and despoils, it will be laid low by the Persians (Elam) and the Medes (Media). No more will Babylon cause others, like the Jewish captives, to groan. The vision is so terrible that it causes Isaiah acute anguish. 21:5 While the rulers feast and carouse in supposed security, suddenly the call to arms rings out (“Anoint the shield!”). The reference, of course, is to Belshazzar’s Feast (Dan. 5). 21:6-10 The Lord instructs Isaiah to appoint a watchman to describe the attacking hordes, especially the numberless cavalry units. After waiting for days and nights, he reports the advance of riders in pairs. This may suggest the Medes and the Persians. Then, with a lion-like roar, he announces the fall of Babylon and of her idolatrous religion. The announcement is a message of comfort to Israel, a nation that has been threshed and winnowed by Babylon. It is good to remember that this prophecy was made about two hundred years before Babylon’s fall. We too can be watchmen for God’s kingdom: 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 watch-tower (verse 7) in fellowship with God.

Isaiah 21:11

9. Judgment on Dumah (Edom) (21:11, 12)Dumah is Idumea, or Edom. An anxious Edomite asks the watchman how far gone the night is, that is, if the Assyrian menace is almost over. The answer is: The night of your present turmoil will end, and a new day will follow, but soon another night will come. If you seek a comforting answer to your anxious inquiries, you must first “return,” a word which also means “repent.” Only then will the answer be such as you hoped for; the night of your suffering will end, and a new bright morning of deliverance will dawn upon you.

Isaiah 21:13

10. Judgment on Arabia (21:13-17)There is trouble ahead for Arabia, too. The caravans will hide (lodge) in the forest from the Assyrian army, and those who escape from the carnage will suffer intense hunger and thirst. The LORD has decreed that Arabia’s glory will fail in a year, and only a few of her famous warriors will survive. The expression “the year of a hired man” means not one day longer than a year.