Compared to the first series of oracles against the Gentile nations, this second series is more negative. Also the nations and cities against which they were sent are not as clearly defined suggesting that they apply more broadly to all the nations, not just the historical ones addressed.
This is a message of the destruction of the anti-God religious and commercial system that Babylon has symbolized throughout history (cf. Rev. 17-18).
21:1 This oracle concerns the wilderness of the sea. This enigmatic title probably refers to the flat Mesopotamian plain near the Persian Gulf, which the Assyrian and Babylonian empires occupied. This area would become a wilderness because of God's judgment. The oracle came as a sirocco (a hot, desert wind) from the Negev, a land infamous in Judah for its barrenness and heat. The destruction coming on Babylonia from a terrifying land would be similar to the devastation that blew into Judah periodically from the Negev.
21:2 Isaiah received this harsh vision. Treachery and destruction continued to mark the Persian Gulf area. Elam and Media were to go up against this foe to put an end to her evil ways that produced groaning in her victims. Elam ceased to oppose the Mesopotamian powers by 639 B.C., so Isaiah evidently gave this oracle before then, possible as early as the Babylonian Merodach-baladan's visit to Jerusalem about 701 B.C. (cf. ch. 39).
21:3-4 The thought that God would destroy Babylon completely undid the prophet (cf. 13:7-8). His reaction evidences some compassion for the Babylonians, even though they were a threat to Judah's security, as well as shock that the destruction would be so great.
21:5 If the setting for the prophecy was the embassy of Merodach-baladan, the people who set the table and provide a meal refers to the Judeans. They entertained representatives of the nation under divine judgment (Babylon) who, as they dined with the Judeans, planned war against them among themselves.195The Assyrians captured and destroyed Babylon in 686 B.C. Another possibility is that Isaiah saw a banquet in Babylon (cf. Dan. 5). The plan for battle would, in that case, be that of Babylon's invading enemy, perhaps the Medes and Persians.196
21:6-7 The sovereign God told Isaiah to post a reliable sentry who would report what he saw. When the sentry saw horsemen in pairs with a train of donkeys and camels, he should pay close attention. According to the Greek historian Xenophon, this is how the Persian army marched.197
21:8-9 The lion-like sentry reported to his sovereign Lord that he was not neglecting his duty but was paying close attention to what he saw. He reported that a troop of riders in pairs had appeared and had announced the fall of Babylon (cf. Rev. 18:2).198Her fallen idols symbolized their inability to protect her from her enemy (cf. Jer. 51:47, 52).
21:10 Isaiah concluded this oracle by telling the Judeans, a people whom he compared to a threshed crop because of their oppressions, that what he had announced about Babylon's destruction was from Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.
This oracle would have encouraged the Judeans to put their trust in God rather than in the Babylonians, as tempting as their power would have been. Babylon would come to an end.
Compared to the second oracle in the first series of five, this one reveals greater ignorance about what is coming.
21:11 An Edomite kept asking Isaiah, the watchman who saw by prophetic revelation how things would go (cf. vv. 6-9), how long the night of oppression on his nation would last. "Edom"is "Dumah"in the Hebrew text, a word play.199Dumah means "silence,"which is appropriate here since this oracle is silent concerning Edom's ultimate fate.
"As a sick person lying awake through the long, agonizing hours of night cries out to know what the time is and how much of the night has passed, so Edom, feeling the oppression of Assyria, will call out to the prophet to ask him how much longer the oppression must endure."200
21:12 The watchman responded that there was hope, but there were also more bad things coming. The Edomites could request further information about the future again later.
Edom would experience a kind of darkness that would last a long time before her night would pass even though better times would come. Therefore it was foolish for Judah to trust in her.
The former oracle promised prolonged recurring trouble for Edom, but this one warns that the Arabians would suffer defeat soon.
21:13 "Arabia"describes the territory southeast of Edom, which was also in danger of Assyrian takeover. The Dedanite Arabian caravans would have to hide among the bushes because they were in danger from an enemy.
21:14-15 Other Arabians would provide sustenance for the refugees of war who would seek them out (cf. 16:2-3).
21:16-17 Within precisely a year, however, these Arabians would suffer destruction and their army would dissolve. There end would be due to the sovereign Lord, not to the force of opposing armies. The Lord Himself assured the prophet of this.
The place that refugees from advancing Gentile armies would seek security, Arabia, would soon prove insecure. Israel should not trust in this neighbor but in her Lord.
As in the first series of oracles, God's people occupy the fourth place in this second series, which points farther into the future, surrounded by the nations of the world. In the first series the Northern Kingdom was in view, but in the second series Judah takes the spotlight. Three aspects of life in Judah receive separate attention in this chapter: the city of Jerusalem (vv. 1-14), the individual Shebna (vv. 15-19), and the family of Eliakim (vv. 20-25). All three sections reveal the thoroughness of Israel's sin of seeking security in the world rather than in the Lord, namely, self-sufficiency.
". . . Jerusalem is found cannibalizing itself to make itself safe, without a thought of looking to the Lord (verses 8-11); Shebna is portrayed as the man concerned only for his own worldly glory, before and after death (verses 16-18); and Eliakim is at risk of becoming the focal point of the security of others to his own and their downfall (verses 23-24)."201
The first part of the oracle deals with self-sufficient Jerusalem (vv. 1-14). At present there was joy in the city (vv. 1-2a), but in the future there would be sorrow (vv. 2b-7). Past actions (vv. 8-11) had produced the present joy, and they determined future consequences (vv. 12-14).
22:1 The prophet employed another enigmatic title that implied a contrast with the actual condition of the place described to indicate the object of this oracle (cf. 21:1). "Valley of vision"refers to Jerusalem (cf. vv. 5, 9-10). Isaiah pictured it as the depressed place (cf. Ps. 125:2) where he received a depressing vision, namely, the inevitable judgment that would come on the city. In this valley there was a notable lack of vision among God's people when it came to seeing things from His perspective.202
Isaiah thought the residents of Jerusalem had behaved inappropriately by going up on their flat housetops to rejoice. Some turn of events in his day had resulted in the people feeling very secure.203
22:2-3 Such rejoicing was inappropriate, however, because Isaiah saw in his vision that they would fall to an enemy, not because of combat but starvation. This happened when the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took it in 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 25:3-4; Jer. 52:6). Jerusalem, as well as Babylon, would fall (cf. 2:6-22; 21:1-10).
22:4 Therefore Isaiah rejected the attempts of his fellow citizens to get him to participate in their celebrating. The terrible end of the city drew tears from him that the present rejoicing could not stop. Isaiah was a compassionate person because he identified with his countrymen in their suffering.
22:5 The Lord Himself would bring this fate on Jerusalem. The residents would then panic, be subjugated and confused, and cry to the surrounding mountains for help as the city walls broke down.
22:6 The enemy would be Elam, an ally of Babylon's to her east, and Kir, whose exact location is unknown but was the destination of some Israelites taken into Assyrian captivity (cf. 2 Kings 16:9; Amos 1:5; 9:7). Isaiah did not identify the main enemy, Babylon herself, but only two of her allies here, perhaps to emphasize the size (by merism) and or distance of the foe.
22:7 This enemy would conquer the countryside around Jerusalem and then set up a siege of the city outside her walls at her very gates.
22:8 Such an attack would be possible because the Lord would remove His defensive screen from around the city. The reason was that the people had relied on physical implements of warfare for their security rather than on Him. Evidently the "house of the forest"of Lebanon was an armory in Isaiah's day (cf. 1 Kings 7:2; 10:17).
"The Lord is always the ultimate agent in his people's experiences . . ."204
22:9-11 The people would try many forms of defense, but all would fail because they did not depend on the Lord who had made the city what it had become. Strong walls and adequate water would be their hope rather than their God. Hezekiah's strengthening Jerusalem's walls and securing her water source were not wrong in themselves. The people's reliance on these physical securities was their sin.
"If it is true that God is the Sovereign of the universe, then our first task in a moment of crisis is to be sure that all is clear between him and ourselves. Then other preparations, if necessary, can follow."205
22:12 Rather in that day the people should turn to the Lord in repentance and reaffirm their trust in Him for their security. He is the sovereign, almighty God who can save.
22:13 However, they would not repent but rejoice in their apparent security believing that if they could not save themselves nothing else could (cf. Rev. 9:20-21). Isaiah saw in the present rejoicing over security (vv. 1b-2a) the same attitude of self-sufficiency that would doom the Jerusalemites in the future.
Normally ancient Near Easterners used cattle and sheep for producing milk and wool; they did not slaughter them to eat very often because these animals produced valuable products. Killing them to eat, therefore, expresses the people's utter despair and their self-indulgence thinking there was no future left for them (cf. 1 Cor. 15:32).
22:14 The Lord had revealed to Isaiah that He would not forgive their unbelief in Himself. As long as they continued to trust in themselves rather than in Him, He would not save them.
Unbelief persisted in until death is the only sin that God will not forgive. In the unsaved it results in eternal damnation, and in the saved it results in the loss of some eternal reward plus temporal punishment in some cases. However, as long as people can repent there is hope.206Repentance was still possible for Isaiah's original audience.
The oracles against Shebna and Eliakim that follow are the only ones on individuals in chapters 13-27. They show that the choice between faith and works with its attending results is individual as well as national. They also provided immediate signs of the prophecies that Isaiah gave here concerning the fate of Jerusalem in the future. Shebna was as self-reliant individually as the people of Jerusalem were collectively (vv. 15-19). Eliakim was an object of trust by the members of his family and the residents of Jerusalem and so risked taking the Lord's place in their affections (vv. 20-25).
22:15 The Lord commanded Isaiah to go to Shebna who was steward (ruler) over the royal household (cf. Joseph).
22:16 Isaiah's question is almost identical to the one in verse 1 tying Shebna's error to that of the people of Jerusalem. He had no personal right nor a right by reason of his position to prepare a permanent and prominent tomb for himself. A person's tomb made a statement about his importance, and Shebna wanted to guarantee his future recognition by building himself a respectable monument in Jerusalem.207
22:17-18 Shebna would not die in peace in Jerusalem as he anticipated. God would throw him like a balled up rag that cannot control where it is going into a distant land where he would die. Presumably the Assyrians took him captive. His emblems of greatness would also end up there rather than in the place where he wished to be remembered. His attitude of self-glorification made him unworthy of the office he occupied, in Isaiah's view (cf. 1 Cor. 10:12).
22:19 The Lord promised to drive Shebna out of his office and to tear him down from his exalted position in which he took so much pride.
22:20-21 The Lord also predicted that He would appoint Eliakim to a special position of authority, complete with the symbols of that authority, to replace proud Shebna.208He would become a father to the people of Jerusalem in that he would care for them sacrificially at God's appointed time.
"Shebna had been riding ostentatiously in his chariots and building a splendid grave for himself, seeking in all this the praise of men. How much better to have God's smile of approval and to be described, in a simple but eloquent phrase, as my servant' (v. 20; cf. 20:3; 42:1; 52:13)."209
"When god designates a man my servant, He attributes high honor to that man; He asserts that that man is one who will serve Him."210
22:22 Eliakim would bear authority to administer the affairs of David's royal house, which the key on the shoulder symbolizes. His decisions would be binding, as when one unlocks or locks a door with a key (cf. Matt. 16:19; 18:18; Rev. 3:7).
22:23-24 He would also serve as a tent peg holding the royal house and all Jerusalem stable against the winds of adversity. He would bring glory to his father's house. He would be such a strong figure that many people would rely on him and commit much responsibility to him.
22:25 Unfortunately, Eliakim would not be able to carry all the weight of responsibility committed to him and would fail. Thus the people's trust in another human being, even a very capable person, would prove misplaced. They could only safely trust in the Lord Almighty; He is the only one who would not fail them.211
This oracle reproved the people of Jerusalem for trusting in the arm of flesh to protect them from their enemies. Isaiah epitomized and condemned this attitude by citing Shebna's self-confident behavior. He also showed that trusting in even the most capable of people, such as Eliakim, would prove disappointing. Rather their trust should be in their sovereign, almighty Lord.
Christians face temptations similar to the ones Isaiah identified here. We may fail to trust the Lord first and to pray for His guidance resting rather on our own or another's ability to solve problems. We may become so preoccupied with our own interests and reputations that we fail to serve the Lord and people. We may also put too much hope in our leaders and not enough in our God.
The first cycle of oracles closed by revealing that Egypt, the political oppressor of the Israelites, would come into equal status with Israel in the future (19:25). The second cycle similarly closes by disclosing that Tyre, the materialistic religious corrupter of God's people in the past, would come into a relationship of holiness (v. 18). Thus the climax of both revelations of judgment was the divine blessing of the Gentiles.
There are also parallels between Babylon, the first oracle in the first series, and Tyre, the last oracle in the second series. Babylon was the great land power of the ancient world, and Tyre was the great sea power. Babylon gained her power through warfare whereas Tyre gained hers peacefully. The descriptions of both cities meld into the view of future Babylon presented in Revelation 17-18. There the religious and commercial aspect of future Babylon are strongly reminiscent of Tyre. Note also the reference to a prostitute in both passages.
"Babylon's greatness lay in her glory, the list of her achievements and accomplishments, her sophistication and culture. Tyre did not have all of that, but she did have her wealth and her vast maritime contacts. So between the two of them, Babylon and Tyre summed up from east to west all that the world of that day--and this--thought was significant."212
This oracle consists of two parts: a poem describing Tyre's fall (vv. 1-14) and a prediction of Tyre's ultimate commitment to the Lord and His people. Tyre was the major city of Phoenicia at this time and undoubtedly represents the other towns allied with it in some of the references in this chapter.213
23:1 The prophet described news of Tyre's total destruction reaching sailors on ships of Tarshish moored in Cyprus. Tarshish was probably in Spain, but "ships of Tarshish"was a term that described the largest ships of the day capable of the longest voyages (cf. 2:16). Tyre was a very important Mediterranean seaport north of Israel, and its destruction would impact maritime trade everywhere.
23:2-3 Isaiah also called the residents of the Phoenician coast, including Sidon, another important port, to be silent and motionless since Tyre had collapsed. Tyre had been the marketplace for the large wheat crops that came from Egypt and were distributed to other Mediterranean lands.
23:4 Isaiah also gave voice to the sea, the mother of Tyre, which bewailed its loss at Tyre's demise. It's children were the ships that plied its waters because of Tyre's commercial activity. This loss would be a source of embarrassment to Sidon since it was a sister city in Phoenicia.
23:5 The fourth entity to sorrow over the news of Tyre's downfall would be Egypt. Tyrian ships transported Egyptian products all over the Mediterranean region. Tyre's destruction would have far-reaching effects.
23:6-7 Isaiah advised refugees to flee from Tyre to Tarshish. How the course of Tyre's fate would change! She had for centuries been a world power, not as an empire but as a broker of international trade. Her ambitions were not political, to rule others, but commercial, to grow rich. As such, Tyre symbolizes one aspect of worldly endeavor.
23:8-9 Why had Tyre perished? When Tyre founded colonies, she set up rulers over them--bestowed crowns. Princes and the honored of the earth ended up serving Tyre's ends. Thus this ancient city had tremendous power and influence. The reason for Tyre's death was the plan of the Lord Almighty. He desired to humble the proud and to humiliate the admired. He wanted to show the transitory nature of human glory and the folly of depending on such glory. God does not object when worthy people receive the credit due them. What He opposes is pride that seeks to live independent of Himself.
23:10 Tarshish could now expand freely, as the Nile overflows Egypt, because God had removed her main competitor, Tyre.
23:11-12 The Lord had stretched His hand over the sea in judgment, as He had over Egypt long ago (cf. Exod. 14:16; 15:4-6, 12). The sea was His province, not Tyre's (cf. Jon. 1:3-4). He had made all kingdoms tremble by condemning the whole Gentile Canaan region to judgment. The Phoenician coastal cities would have no more joy, peace, or security. Their residents would flee to Cyprus, Tarshish, and elsewhere but would not be able to find rest.
23:13 They would not find rest because the Assyrians would take revenge on any nation that gave sanctuary to the Tyrians. God's agent in the destruction of Tyre was first Assyria, then Babylonia, and finally Greece. Tiglath-pileser of Assyria set up a military governor in Tyre in 738 B.C., and his successors imposed escalating restraints on the city because it stubbornly resisted foreign control. Alexander the Great finally wiped the city into the sea in 332 B.C. leaving it uninhabitable.214Here Isaiah pointed to Assyria as the power God would use to cut back the influence of Tyre. Assyria had already done to the Chaldeans what the prophet foretold it would do to Tyre.215
23:14 This repeated call to the ships of Tarshish to wail concludes Isaiah's announcement of Tyre's destruction forming an inclusiowith verse 1. Even though Tyre's demise would give Tarshish more control, Tarshish would suffer because Tyre determined the prosperity of the Mediterranean world. The ships of Tarshish would have no port to enter at Tyre (v. 1), and they would have no security for their enterprise (v. 14). How foolish it would be, then, for the Jerusalemites to pin their hopes on Tyre.
As in the previous chapter, Isaiah gave a sign that what he had predicted about Tyre's destruction would indeed happen (cf. 22:15-25). It would experience a brief revival in the near future. Looking into the far distant future, the prophet also announced the conversion of Tyre into a place of holiness to the Lord (cf. 19:16-25).
23:15-16 In the day that the Lord would execute His plan against Tyre, there would be a period of 70 years when Tyre would experience relief from her oppressors.216"Like the days of one king"refers to the book of days that kings kept in which they recorded the events of their reigns day by day. The meaning is similar to "as a hired man would count"(16:14; 21:16), namely, that these would be 70 literal years. Tyre did experience such a period of respite following the campaigns of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. During the next 70 years Assyria was in decline and did not pay much attention to Tyre.217Consequently Tyre regained some of her former strength.
23:16 Isaiah's comparison of Tyre's recovery to the self-advertisements of a harlot illustrates two realities. Tyre would attract interest in herself again, and what she did was selfish and strictly for money (cf. Amos 1:9).
23:17 At the end of 70 years the Lord would restore Tyre to her former position of playing the materialistic harlot among the nations.
23:18 Unlike a selfish prostitute, however, Tyre would set aside her income to the Lord, and it would benefit those who dwell in the Lord's presence. When the Jewish exiles returned from Babylon, the merchants of Tyre sold them building materials for the second temple (Ezra 3:7), as they had done for the first temple during Solomon's reign (1 Kings 5:1-12). But the change in the Tyrians' attitude that this verse promises did not mark them then; they still engaged in commerce for selfish ends. Thus this verse looks beyond the history of ancient Tyre to a time yet future when God will transform hearts and cause Gentiles worldwide to come and worship Him (cf. 60:5-9; Rev. 21:24-26).218In the future Tyre will have a new status, a new spirit, and a new allegiance (cf. Ps. 87:4). She will join the Ethiopians, Egyptians, Assyrians (18:7; 19:18-25), and many other Gentiles in uniting to fulfill God's glorification of Israel.
"The care of a Phoenician widow once extended to a prophet (1 Ki. 17:8-16) will be the norm of coming relationships."219
The Judeans should not envy the Tyrians, nor should God's people of any age envy materialistic idolaters. Ultimately God's people will enjoy all the wealth of Tyre that will come to her God.
". . . chs. 13-23 seem to be saying that since the glory of the nations (chs. 13, 14) equals nothing, and since the scheming of the nations (chs. 14-18) equals nothing, and since the vision of thisnation (chs. 21, 22) equals nothing, and since the wealth of the nations (ch. 23) equals nothing, don't trust the nations! The same is true today. If we believe that a system of alliances can save us, we have failed to learn the lessons of Isaiah and of history. God alone is our refuge and strength (Ps. 46:2 [Eng. 1])."220
