Isaiah 15-20
Welcome to the beginning of month 2 of the Seven Streams Bible Reading Method. We are in Prophetic Stream today continuing in the book of Isaiah. We are reading from The Message this week. We’re reading chapters 15-20 today.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for your protecting hand and for understanding our doubts and frailties as we are on pilgrimage. We know of your goodness and of your unfailing love toward us. We still, however, have fears that creep in as Judah did when things seemed hopeless Let us be reminded that in you, things are never hopeless. Amen.
Commentary
15 – This and the next chapter are linked prophetic themes that are not two different chapters. They are a tale of Moab’s future, or rather their lack of a future. Moab is going to fall and fall fast. When it says every head and beard shaved, that is not a good thing here. Clean shaven was a sign of royalty in Egypt. But here, the preference was to have a John-the-Baptist look -for those who could grow it. Here they are clean shaven by their captors. And there is weeping and grieving on the near horizon. City after city in Moab is desolate. People are fleeing. Those that happen to barely escape the Assyrians are mauled by wild animals as even the streams turn red. This nation that had a very sketchy and dark beginning in Genesis 19:30ff. is going to a violent and nightmarish finish –
16 – –the women of Moab are on the run. They are distant relatives of Israel as they are both from Abraham’s father from 12-13 centuries prior. Perhaps they could have stayed in touch with their Israelite cousins versus being a great harassment for a millennium and more. They could use the active kinship as Jerusalem would be a sole haven real soon. Plus in Zion there is going to be justice and righteousness, Isaiah interjects a prophetic word for Zion (as is his style) amid castigating Moab. As for Moab, it has fostered its shame which has morphed into pride. As the Lord shuns the proud, Moab will be shunned, beaten down, vineyards trampled, harvest permanently lost, and orchards in a grim state. Even Isaiah feels the grief of a Moab that prays to no avail. When Isaiah says that this will all come down with finality in three short years it is not delineated as to whether Moab is finished off by Tiglath-Pileser of the 732 B.C. raid, Sargon II in 713 B.C. or Sennacherib’s charge in 701 B.C. Maybe that can be someone’s dissertation to look into this. Amos wrote a collateral prophecy several decades back in Amos 2:1-3. Yes, Moab is over. None were thinking, “hey, drink up, we still have three more years…” No. Great gloom settles over Moab now and it would never be the same.
17 – Though Isaiah covers many themes here, he commences saying that Damascus had a beating in store for them. They had joined up with Israel in the north; (also in Isaiah 7:1ff.) to attack Judah in the south. And the northern kingdom would suffer along with Damascus for this alliance. Glory would fade from Israel for this. There would however be a small remnant from the northern Kingdom that looks to God not altars. Verse 9ff. talks of Damascus leaving for south to help Israel rebel further. This merely left their cities to be easily mopped up by Assyria. Again, this is a direct correlation to what Isaiah said in chapter 7. This part in chapter 17 was likely written at that same time as 7. The line in v. `12; “Oh, the raging of many nations -” may remind us of school days when the teacher paused to scold someone doing sloppy work. They then do a quick sample of others to find that the whole class sloughed off. So the teacher blurts out, “hey, you’re all a bunch of duffers!” Here Isaiah pauses on scolding Damascus and declares many nations as outrageous people. They will all be rebuked by God and blown away. So it goes for those who hate the contemporaries and fellow citizens of Isaiah in Jerusalem.
18 – This prophecy about Cush (KJV Bible says ‘Ethiopia’) is peculiar in that it references a land far away in the upper Nile River quite south of Egypt. But this land of Cush had a vested interest in current matters for Assyria would eventually march south to Egypt; their neighbors. Nevertheless ruthless Assyria was marching their direction. But God would intervene while Cush looked on. “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place” – so says v. 4. Just watch the show, Cush. This fight will be handled in Judah far before coming to you. These Assyrians will be cut down and the army will be food for Jackals, hyenas, vultures, crows, insects -yeesh! And Cush will bring gifts of gratitude to Mount Zion over this relieving development.
19 – Then Isaiah “calls it” about Egypt who will have years of great strife within Egypt. It’s not an army invading at first but civil unrest and religious chaos. Then a fierce king will rush in and rule over them. This talks of the 19-year time period that Assyria ruled them; 671-652 B.C. The doom to come on Egypt is from outside rule, but also the Nile drops drastically which disrupts fishing, the atmosphere, plant life, textile workers. The culture melts into chaos from there and it shows among the ‘wise men’ turned to fools and it affects everything from there. God needed to reduce Egypt to make them receptive. So comes infighting, then comes the Assyrians. Realize that when 186,000 Assyrians are struck dead ca. 681 B.C. in Judah that was not the end of Assyria. They had other soldiers throughout the empire. And they were not taken over by Babylon for another 75 years; 605 B.C. As for Judean influence in Egypt, many of them came back from Babylonian captivity ca. 536 B.C. and preferred to settle in Alexandria, Egypt / North Africa. So why are they terrified of Judah (v. 16-17)? They know that the God who has the power to snuff an Assyrian army resides among the Judeans. The God of Moses brought plagues on them 700+ years ago. So there are Hebrews that will settle in Egypt after the Babylonian captivity. Also some will stay in the local region as the Persians take over. So there is to be regular traffic between Egypt and Assyria and the Jewish people are the impetus of this development. The plateau above and east of the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and Galilee is referred to as the King’s Highway. When the Assyrians and the Egyptians would traverse back and forth, this is the route they would take. Everything Isaiah writes comes to pass, folks.
20 – Isaiah is writing this chapter in 711 B.C. God is clearly ordering Judah that they are not to look to Egypt for help against the Assyrians. The Assyrians enter Egypt a decade or so later. For what it’s worth, this Assyrian king Sargon, who is mentioned only once in the Bible, is a name that surfaced in the 1800’s in an archaeological project. This further verified the biblical record. He was a magnanimous character that did tremendous exploits during his 17 year reign. Looking at a timeline of this era will illustrate and make this time in history simpler to envision. So here’s the summary, Judah had been pondering getting help from Egypt as Assyria moves south toward their area. Isaiah orders them not to as Egypt will be invaded and carried away in an embarrassing manner. For the unwise in Israel, they will see Egypt in chains and exclaim of their own vulnerabilities. But as Egypt is being led away to captivity, Judah is not to feel exposed or less protected in any way. For in less than two decades, Assyria will be laid waste personally by God’s angel. The final verse, “How then can we escape?” Come on now. These things are never a puzzle to God.