Isaiah 21:16-17

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.

vision ~ a mental picture from God to show something from God that only you can see.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, it means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.'look-out ~ a person whose job is to watch for anything that may cause trouble; or a special building for use by that person.'look-out ~ a person whose job is to watch for anything that may cause trouble; or a special building for use by that person.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah. But the ‘New Jerusalem’ is God’s future, perfect home for his people.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

Countries near Judah

Isaiah Chapter s 13 to 23

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 21

Another message about Babylon, and some messages about Edom, Arabia, Kedar and Judah.

v1 [This is] a serious message about the wild country near the sea. It comes from the wild country. [It comes] from a terrible place. It is like a storm from the Negev [desert].

v2 A hard message came to me. [It is this.] The thief robs and the destroyer destroys. [People from] Elam, go up [to Babylon]! [People from] Media, put your army all round [Babylon]! [The *LORD says,] ‘I will stop [Babylon’s] tears.’

v3 [All] this hurts me. Sharp pains come to me suddenly. [They are] like the sharp pains that come suddenly to a woman. [They come] when she is having a baby. What I hear bends me over. Therefore, I cannot listen. What I see frightens me. Therefore I cannot look.

v4 It confuses my mind. I shake because I am so afraid. I wanted a quiet evening. [But] now it has become [a time when there is] terror for me.

v5 They prepare a big, splendid meal. They spread the carpets. They eat and drink. Officers, get up! Make your *shields ready!

v6 Because this is what the *Lord said to me. ‘Go! Make somebody stand. He must watch [what will happen]. [Tell] him to report what he sees.

v7 He may report:

• a rider [or]

• a pair of [men on] horses, [or]

• a rider on a donkey (animal like a small horse), [or]

• a rider on a camel.

If [he reports it], then make him watch. And he must watch. He must watch with very great care.’

v8 Then the man that was watching shouted. [He said this.] ‘*Lord, I am standing every day on a tall building where I watch [for danger]. I am standing at my place every night.

v9 And look! Someone is coming! [It is] a rider. [It is] a man with a pair of horses! [The man] reports and [he] says this. “Babylon has fallen! It has fallen! All the images of its gods lie in pieces. [They lie in pieces] on the ground!” ’

v10 [Judah,] people have *threshed you and they have *winnowed you. [But] I have told you what I have heard. [I heard it] from the *LORD of Everything. [He is] the God of Israel.

Notes

Verse 1 The note before Isaiah 13:1 explains the words ‘serious message’. So does the note about Isaiah 15:1. ‘The wild country near the sea’ is a puzzle to Bible students. A few old *Hebrew and *Greek Bibles do not have the words that mean ‘near the sea’. Some Bible students think that ‘near the sea’ should be ‘a loud noise’. That would describe the storm from the Negev desert that the writer mentions later in the verse. But suppose that ‘near the sea’ is correct. Then we may ask where the sea is. This message is about Babylon (verse 9), so the sea will be south from Babylon. Today we call that sea the Persian Gulf. The storms that come from the Negev desert frighten many people. The *Hebrew Bible does not make clear what ‘it’ is. Some Bible students say that it is ‘a loud noise’. Such noises come in storms. For Isaiah, the serious message is like a loud noise. And it comes from the wild country near the Persian Gulf!

Verse 2 Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language. The *Hebrew word that he used for the message here means ‘vision’. A ‘vision’ is something very special that someone sees. Usually, nobody else sees it. It usually has a special meaning. The note about Isaiah 1:1 explains what ‘see’ (or ‘saw’) often means in Isaiah’s book. The vision was ‘hard’ because people would not want to hear it.

It is not easy for us today to understand the history of the events that Isaiah describes here. But some Bible students have given this explanation. The king of Judah was King Hezekiah. And an important minister in his government was called Shebna (Isaiah 22:15). We know that Isaiah spoke severe words against Shebna (Isaiah 22:17-19). Hezekiah’s government wanted good relations with the government of Babylon. Isaiah spoke severe words against that, too (Isaiah chapter 39).

So perhaps there is a connection between these facts. Perhaps Hezekiah’s minister, Shebna, did not want to hear Isaiah’s message about Babylon. Shebna told Hezekiah to support the army of Babylon against Assyria’s army. But soon the ‘thief’ (which may mean Assyria’s army) would destroy Babylon! So those Bible students think that this *prophecy is about that battle.

We know from history, however, that Babylon became strong again after that defeat. In fact, Babylon became the most powerful country in the world. And it defeated both Assyria and Judah. But then armies from Media and Persia overcame Babylon again. And that terrible defeat was the end of Babylon’s power. But let us return to Isaiah’s *prophecy.

In the message, Isaiah tells the armies of Elam and Media to go to Babylon. That really means, ‘Attack Babylon. Stay there until you have won the battle.’ Elam and Media are both in Iran now.

Then the *LORD says, ‘I will stop [Babylon’s] tears.’ In some Bible students’ opinion, it means the tears of the people in Babylon. Babylon’s people are crying because the armies from Elam and Media are attacking Babylon. And in some other Bible students’ opinion, the people whom Babylon’s army has hurt are crying. The note after Isaiah 1:1 explains ‘*LORD’. It is a special name for God.

Verse 3 The pain is in the middle of the person’s body. It is like a woman’s pain when she is having a baby. It is like the pain when someone hits a person in the stomach. One *Hebrew word means both ‘hear’ and ‘listen’, as in this translation. And one *Hebrew word means both ‘see’ and ‘look’. But we may wonder whose body feels the pain. Many Bible students say that it is Isaiah. But some students say that it is Shebna, Hezekiah’s minister. In other words, Shebna will feel awful when his plans do not work! Maybe God felt the pain, too. Isaiah 22:15-19 contains part of the story about Shebna.

Verse 4 Even in the quiet evenings, all this makes Isaiah (or Shebna) very afraid. The *Hebrew word for ‘mind’ means ‘heart’. This translation has ‘mind’. The *Jews believed that people thought in their hearts. The *Jews spoke the *Hebrew language. They lived in Israel and Judah.

Verse 5 This verse describes how the people in Babylon were enjoying a big, splendid meal. There was a lot of food and drink. They did not have chairs, but they sat on carpets or rugs (small carpets). While they ate, someone told their officers to get ready urgently for an attack. The *Hebrew word for ‘officers’ means ‘princes’. The princes were the leaders of the people. Soldiers used *shields to protect themselves in battle. And the soldiers rubbed oil on their *shields to make them ready for battle. The *Hebrew word for ‘make ready’ here actually means ‘put oil on’. Below, ‘B.C.’ means ‘years Before Christ came to the Earth. Bible students are not sure which battle against Babylon Isaiah describes here. Assyria’s army defeated Babylon’s army several times:

• in 710 B.C., when Sargon the Second was king of Assyria.

• in 702 and 689 B.C., when Sennacherib was king.
• in 648 B.C., when Asshurbanipal was king.

Or the battle may have been in 537 B.C. In that year, Cyrus led an army from Media to Babylon to fight Babylon’s army. The battle happened while the people in Babylon were enjoying their big, special meal. (See Daniel chapter 5.)

But we do not know which of these battles Isaiah was describing in his *prophecy. People that study history suggest this. They say that it was probably the battle in 689 B.C. That is because King Sennacherib did much damage in that battle. We can get that idea from verses 2-3. Cyrus did not do much damage in his battle, because Babylon’s army did not fight against him.

Verse 6 ‘Lord’ is a word that means ‘master, someone with authority’. It is not the same *Hebrew word as ‘*LORD’. The person (‘somebody’) that stood had to watch. He had to report to Judah’s people what he saw. And those people would include Shebna and the king.

Verse 7 In this verse, two *Hebrew words each appear three times. The words are ‘rider’ and ‘watch’. The actual *Hebrew word for ‘rider’ here means ‘chariot’. A ‘chariot’ was a special cart in which soldiers rode. Horses pulled the chariot. But the *Greek translation of Isaiah’s book has ‘rider’. And so do the Dead Sea *Scrolls. The words for ‘rider’ and ‘chariot’ are nearly the same in *Hebrew. A ‘donkey’ is like a small horse. As donkeys and camels do not normally pull chariots, this translation has ‘riders’, not ‘chariots’. The Dead Sea *Scrolls are a very ancient collection of *scrolls. Someone found the Dead Sea *Scrolls 50 years ago near the Dead Sea in Israel. They include copies of the complete Book of Isaiah, in the *Hebrew language.

Verse 8 The *Hebrew word for ‘the man that watched’ means ‘the lion’! But the Dead Sea *Scrolls have ‘the man that watched’. That makes more sense. (The note about verse 7 explains about the Dead Sea *Scrolls.) But some Bible students believe that ‘lion’ is correct. They say that ‘the lion’ could mean this. ‘The man that watched was as strong and brave as a lion.’ The man watched from a tall building. From there, he could see easily what was happening. In verse 9, we learn what he saw.

Verse 9 The man saw a rider. The rider came with this message. In the *Hebrew text, it means ‘Babylon has fallen! She has fallen!’ In the Bible, cities are often called ‘she’ or ‘her’. And that includes Babylon. Babylon ‘has fallen’ means this. Someone (probably Assyria’s army) has defeated Babylon’s people and that army has destroyed the city. This is the message ‘from the wild country’ (verse 1). The people in Judah, especially leaders like Shebna, would not like it. Because they supported Babylon, Elam and Media when those countries’ armies fought against Assyria.

Verse 10 ‘Thresh’ and ‘winnow’ are what farmers do to their corn. This is what ‘thresh’ means. The farmers hit the plants with sticks so that the grain falls out. Then they ‘winnow’ the plants. It means that they throw the grain into the air. When they do that, the wind blows the rubbish away. Then people can make flour and bread from the grain. Here it is a special description that means this. Assyria’s and Babylon’s armies made Judah’s people suffer very much. So there was much pain in Judah. ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God that his servants use. ‘The *LORD of Everything’ is also a name for God. It means that he has very many servants. We sometimes translate it as ‘*LORD of Many [Armies]’.

v11 [This is] a serious message about Dumah. Someone is calling to me from Seir. [That person is asking,] ‘Watchman (man that watches by night), how much of the night [remains]? Watchman, how much of the night [remains]?’

v12 The watchman (man that watches) said this. ‘The morning will come, [but] so will the night. If you want to ask [again, then] come back. Come [and] ask!’

Notes

Verse 11 The word ‘Dumah’ means ‘silence’. It was probably the name of a town in Edom. Edom was a country next to Judah. It was on the south and east side of Judah. Some old *Hebrew and *Greek Bibles have ‘Edom’ instead of ‘Dumah’. Seir was an important town in Edom. Isaiah said that he had a message from someone in Seir. That ‘someone’ called Isaiah a ‘watchman’. A watchman ‘watched the time’. He told people what time it was. And a watchman also watched for danger. It was the watchman who guarded an ancient city, especially by night. The question was, ‘How much of the night remains?’ That probably means, ‘For how much longer time will there be danger?’

Verse 12 The answer seems to mean this. ‘The danger will go, but it will come back again.’

v13 [This is] a serious message about Arabia. You people from Dedan [have brought your] groups of camels. You will find shelter [behind] the bushes in Arabia.

v14 [There] you will give water to [people] that need [water] to drink. People that live in Tema will give bread to the *refugees.

v15 [The *refugees] are running away from [all this]:

• swords

• swords [that are] ready to fight [with]

• and bows [that soldiers have] bent

• and from the danger in battle.

v16 Because this is what my *Lord has said to me. ‘In less than a year, [this will happen]. All the proud attitude of [people in the region called] Kedar will have gone. Count the year as a hired servant counts a year.

v17 Only a few men that use bows will remain [from the] soldiers. [That is, the soldiers] among the men from Kedar. [That will happen] because the *LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.’

Notes

Verse 13 Some translations have ‘wild country’ instead of ‘Arabia’, because the *Hebrew word for ‘wild country’ is ‘arabia’. The groups of camels carried goods from one place to another. These people were from a town called Dedan. They found protection in the bushes in the wild country. They found a place to hide there from an enemy on their journeys. But that enemy was not the enemy of the people from Dedan. It was the enemy of the people (the *refugees) in verse 14.

Verse 14 The enemy had made some people into *refugees. It meant that those people were running away from their own country. They were looking for a safe place where they could live. Here Isaiah told the people from Dedan town to give water to the *refugees. And he told the people from Tema (another town) to give bread to them. The *Hebrew word for ‘bread’ also means ‘food’. The *Hebrew words for ‘give bread (food)’ mean ‘meet them with bread (food)’. Both Dedan (verse 13) and Seir (verse 11) were south from Judah. We do not know where the *refugees came from.

Verse 15 The *refugees are running away from where the battle is most dangerous. The swords and bows were ready to kill people. A bow that someone has bent is ready to shoot an arrow.

Verses 16-17 ‘Lord’ in verse 16 is not the same *Hebrew word as ‘*LORD’ is in verses 10 and 17. ‘Lord’ is a word for ‘master, someone with authority’. Here it is another name for God. When someone hires a servant for a year, the servant counts that year very carefully. Because he does not want to work for a longer time than it is necessary! He is a hired servant for that time only. Kedar was a region in the desert called Arabia. That was east from Judah. The two towns called Dedan and Seir were south from Kedar. The men from Kedar shot arrows from their bows. So the people whom they attacked went to Dedan and Seir. But God told Isaiah that someone would defeat Kedar. And that would happen in less than a year. (Some *Hebrew Bibles have ‘three years’ here instead of ‘a year’.) Sennacherib, king of Assyria, defeated Kedar in 689 B.C. ‘B.C.’ means ‘years Before Christ came to the Earth’.

heavens ~ either the home of God or the skies.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
lord ~ master. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YAHWEH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YAHWEH.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
shield ~ what a soldier uses to protect his body against an enemy’s sword.
lord ~ master. With a capital L, it can be a name for God.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YAHWEH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YAHWEH.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
thresh ~ to beat corn. This prepares the corn so that people can store it.
winnow ~ to throw plants into the air, so that the wind blows away the rubbish.
Greek ~ the language that people spoke in Greece.
prophecy ~ the words of a prophet.
prophet ~ someone who tells people what God is saying.
Jews ~ people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
scroll ~ a very long piece of paper. People wrote on it and then they rolled it up. In order to read it, they unrolled it.
scroll ~ a very long piece of paper. People wrote on it and then they rolled it up. In order to read it, they unrolled it.
refugee ~ someone who has had to run away from his or her own country.