Isaiah 21: 11-17

Here are two short prophecies. The first is against Edom (11, 12) and the second against Arabia (13 – 17). Both are devastating, if brief, in their content.

Against Edom (11, 12): The opening words are full of significance: ”An oracle concerning Dumah”. ”Dumah” means ‘silence’, but it sounds like ‘Edom’ in Hebrew. After God’s judgment Edom will indeed be silent. It is good to remember that a day is coming when all the blasphemous, antagonistic, ridiculing ‘noise’ this world creates against God and His Christ (and His people also) will be silenced, and every tongue will have to say that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’ Even now, God is able to silence those who hate and oppose Him. Never doubt it!

Edom, also called ”Seir” (11), was located south of Israel. It was the home of the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother (Gen. 32:3;36:9). The people of Edom were bitterly hostile to the Jews (Ps.137:7) In his vision, Isaiah is the ”watchman” announcing God’s judgment on Seir. It has been ”night” for this place. They have experienced a ‘night’ of oppression from Assyria. But although ”Morning is coming” there will be further ”night” to follow – the ‘night’ of trouble from Babylon. Edom would experience a ‘double whammy’!

In our day, we Christians are like watchmen proclaiming that the ‘morning is coming’. We already see the first rosy tints of dawn in the Eastern sky. Jesus is coming again. We know it. God’s Word shows us. Prophecy’s many fulfilments endorse the Scriptures. But we also know that although it will be ‘morning’ for believers, it will be the darkest night for those who reject Christ, who is the ”light of the world” (John 8:12). We have to be true to both sides of the message.

Some see in the second half of verse 12 God’s invitation to seek Him. But the Edomites did not take Him up on the invitation. They were conquered by the Babylonians, and then by the Persians (who changed their name to ‘Idumea’), and finally by the Romans. The battle between Esau and Jacob was carried on by the Herods, who were Idumeans. After the fall of Jerusalem in A.D.70, Edom vanished from the scene.

Against Arabia (13-17): Even Arabia, far to the south, would not be free from Assyrian and Babylonian oppression. Within a year, the pomp and glory of the Arabian tribes would be over. Isaiah mentions several groups of Arabians who would suffer attacks from their enemies to the north. Some people today may think that they live ‘far to the south’; that they are safe, invulnerable, and impregnable, out of reach of God’s judgment. They may believe they have good reason for their sense of security, but they are holding on to an illusion. Their beautiful brightly coloured bubble will burst. No-one who rejects Christ is beyond the reach of God’s eternal rejection of them. They are foolish to think otherwise. God knows where they live in the ‘deep south’. His eye sees them there, and they are by no means beyond His infinite reach.

Prayer: Help us Lord to be faithful watchmen who are prepared to speak about both the light and dark sides of the message. Enable us to communicate the balance of the gospel.