ISAIAH 20-22

 Isaiah 20

At first, critics felt the Bible was mistaken since there was no record of a King Sargon. Then Assyrian inscriptions were found in Ashod in 1843 with his name on them. Then those scholars used those inscriptions to prove that the king himself led the army instead of his tartan. Subsequently found Assyrian inscriptions pointed out that the king himself remained in Assyria during the campaign. In 711 BC, Sargon II attacked Ashod, a Philistine city, because they had rebelled against Assyria. Egypt pledged to support Ashod but did not deliver on the promise. Therefore this may have been a warning to Egypt of what would happen if they joined in the revolt. Within a few years, Egypt was attacked by Assyria, perhaps in response to an otherwise unknown rebellion of Egypt in the meantime. Judah was also approached to see if they would support the rebellion.

This is an acted-out prophecy such as Ezekiel and Jeremiah performed at God's request, and it is the only one Isaiah participated in. “Naked” means in a loincloth only. The prophet Micah did the same thing. Perhaps it was carried out periodically and openly in the presence of his disciples. Judah may have heeded Isaiah since they apparently never joined the rebellion and were never punished by Assyria. “Isaiah's discomfort and humiliation were the price of his people's safety.” (New Bible Commentary) Somewhat like Paul willing to be a “fool for Christ.” Perhaps there is a lesson here on the fact that we can communicate God's word today without a word.

Isaiah 21

This chapter is confusing as to setting and the vision itself. There have been several points of view.

Verses 1-4 describe the sudden onset of prophetic ecstasy, but subsequent verses seem to point to a purposeful waiting for a vision to come.

The fall of Babylon pictured in verses 1-10 surfaces again in Revelation 18 where Babylon can be taken as symbolic of all world powers or as a code for Rome.

Verse 1 The sea is felt to be the marshy land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia. The same Hebrew consonants could be translated as wildernesses or destroyers. Although Babylon was lush at Isaiah's time, later salinization of the soil through agriculture rendered it a desert.

Verses 3-4 Isaiah shows pity for those he prophecies against – a valuable lesson for today.

Verse 5 They banquet while they should have been preparing for war. This literally happened according to the Book of Daniel and Herodotus when Persia conquered Babylon.

Verses 6-8 The watchman. Compare Habakkuk 2:1: “I will take my stand on the watchtower and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me.”

Verse 8 in MT reads “And he cried, a lion.” But a Qumran document has the more likely (with transposition of two letters) “Then he who said, cried.”

Verse 9 Babylon was taken a number of times in history, so the exact identification of the historical background is uncertain. This cry is repeated in Revelation 14:8 and 18:2 where Babylon stands for civilization in opposition to God.

Verse 10 either expresses pity for the fate of the Babylonians or, more likely, turns to Judah, which had suffered under the Babylonians.

Verses 11-12 Prophecies against Edom. “The night” = time of distress. Dumah may have been particularly chosen because the name means “silence.” It fits in with the answer in 12b. Like the parables in that one must come back for the meaning. The verse seems to mean that the night of Assyrian dominance will end soon but will be followed by Babylonian dominance.

Verses 13-15 Plea for the desert tribes to help the refugees.

Verse 13. Desert plain = Arabia.

Verse 14 Tema was an oasis.

Verse 15 The Arabian simple bows were no match for superior weapons (including composite bows) of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Thus it fell in 715 BC when King Sargon invaded Arabia.

Verse 16 The Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah has “three years,” as in Isaiah 16:14.

Verses 16-17 Kedar = a tribe hostile to Judah in the time of Nehemiah and known for the skill of their archers (Genesis 21:20). There is an uncertain Hebrew word which may mean treacherous or slackness (as of bows).

Isaiah 22

This is the only prophecy in the series not directed to a foreign nation.

Verse 1 Location of the valley is unknown, perhaps Gehenna. Or perhaps Jerusalem, which is surrounded by mountains. On the housetops was where pagans worshiped astral deities.

This oracle is addressed to the city of Jerusalem in feminine singular. The title may be sarcastic and ironic since the people did not see the vision of their coming destruction.

Verses 1-4 Misplaced rejoicing in Judah, perhaps after Sennacherib's army left. Assyrian records confirm that some of the Israelite troops in the city deserted.

Verse 4 is explained as Isaiah wanting time to complete the grieving process for his people.

Verses 8b-11 This is a backflash describing the preparation for the siege of Jerusalem.

Verses 9-14 The New Bible Commentary: “Note, in all this, that Jerusalem oscillated between activism (vv. 9-11) and escapism (vv. 12-14); the former was a denial of faith, the latter a denial of repentance.” Do you see any parallels in the life of America or in your personal life?

Verse 8 I Kings 10:17 mentions that the house of the forest is an armory.

Verses 12-14 Misplaced bacchanale in the presence of impending doom.

Verse 13 Ecclesiastes 8:15 has “Eat, drink and be merry.”

Verse 15-19 Righteous King Hezekiah was on the throne at the time so judgment falls on the next in line among leadership. No patronymic given for Shebna in any other OT text, indicating that he was an “upstart” of unknown origin.

Verse 16 This is perhaps the rock-hewn tomb excavated near Jerusalem with the inscription “This is the [tomb of Sheban]yahu who is over the house. There is no silver and no gold here, but his bones and the bones of his wife with him. Cursed be the man who opens this.”

Verses 20-22 For the backdrop, see 2 Kings 18:18, etc. It indicates that by that time, Eliakim had already replaced Shebna, as predicted. “Servant” in Isaiah is usually applied to the Messianic servant.

The Targum states that tunic and sash indicate both kingly and priestly authority.

Verse 22 Only the king could countermand his orders. Like the loosing and unloosing authority given to Peter and the apostles. This also may have been the inspiration for Revelation 3:7, where ultimate authority is given to Christ.

Verses 24-25 Eliakim, in turn, will be replaced due to his nepotism (v. 24). A later prophecy appended to the previous one?

The picture is one of a tent-peg now turned into a kitchen peg that fails under a heavy weight.

The alternative meaning is that the people of Israel placed all their hopes on a human leader, but he could not deliver on their demands and hopes.

Fulfillment: Jerusalem fell in 586 BC.

Types: Eliakim (verse 22) = Christ (Revelation 3:7)

Shebna (verse 17) = Satan (Matthew 12:29)