Isaiah 21 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes
Isaiah 21 Short Summary:
Isaiah 21 contains 3 oracles prophesying warnings against 3 nations. The longest oracle is directed towards Babylon and prophetically predicts their downfall at the hands of the Medes. The second is a short oracle directed at Edom. The chapter concludes with God telling the Arabians they would be punished.
Isaiah 21 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
The prophetic ministry of Isaiah spanned the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
We do not have a specified date for when this prophecy was spoken. We know the Medes conquered Babylon in 539 BC.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.
The Babylonians – The Babylonian Empire dominated the world from 626-539 BC. The capital, Babylon, was in Mesopotamia on the Euphrates River.
The Medes and Elamites – They originated in the territory of modern-day Iran. God used them to overthrow the Babylonians during the days of Daniel.
Dumah (Edom) – The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother, and relatives of the people of Judah. Edom was located to the south of the Promised Land.
Arabia – Tribes, often nomadic, living within the Arabian Peninsula.
DEFINITIONS:
Oracle (21:1) - A divine announcement; a message from God.
Winnow (21:10) – To separate the good part of the grain from the bad part (chaff).
OUTLINE:
AN ORACLE AGAINST BABYLON (21:1-12):
Isaiah 21 begins with an oracle directed at the “wilderness of the sea.” In verse 9, it is made clear that this title was a designation for the city of Babylon.
The language in chapter 21 is very poetic. For the sake of this study, we’ll just try to capture the main idea.
God was going to stir up the Elamites and the Medes against the country of Babylon (21:2).
Isaiah, speaking as if he were a citizen of Babylon when this calamity befell them, spoke of the pain, horror, and trembling of that day.
Isaiah was told to appoint a watchman to watch for the fulfilment of the Lord’s words. He was to watch for armies on the horizon.
Upon seeing the armies, he declared in despair, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground” (21:9).
AN ORACLE AGAINST EDOM (21:11-12):
The next short oracle spoken by Isaiah was against Dumah, another name for the Kingdom of Edom.
This oracle is challenging to understand, partially because of its brevity.
The people of Seir, a prominent location in Edom, called out to their watchmen for the nightly report. The watchmen responded that the night was past, morning was coming, but the light of the morning would soon be covered again by the darkness of night.
The meaning may be that Edom had escaped one threat (the night), but another was soon to be upon them.
AN ORACLE AGAINST ARABIA (21:13-17):
This oracle pictures the people of Arabia fleeing from enemies and hiding for their lives.
They would be without bread and water as they fled from men with swords and drawn bows.
God prophesied that within one year the glory of Arabia would come to an end.
BIBLE COMPREHENSION :
Verse 5 contains a remarkable prophecy. It describes the men of Babylon feasting before their city was attacked.
But why would men be feasting if they knew they were under threat of attack? The only way they would be doing that was if they were unaware of the threat.
As soon as the threat was realized an order was given for all the men to prepare their weapons (“oil the shield!”).
This matches perfectly with the events described in Daniel 5, where the Babylonians were feasting the night the Medes conquered their city.
Unaware of the danger, King Belshazzar of Babylon “made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine” (Dan 5:1).
“That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom” (Dan 5:30-31).
