“Egypt
Shall become
A desolation.
Edom
Shall become
A desolate wilderness.
They have done violence
To the people of Judah.
They have shed
Innocent blood
In their land.”
Egypt and Edom would become desolate and a wilderness because of the violence that they have done to Judah in shedding innocent blood. Edom would disappear, but Egypt still stands today
“Now they keep on sinning.
They make a cast image
For themselves.
They make idols
Of silver,
According to their understanding.
All of them are
The work of artisans.
‘Sacrifice to these!’
They say.
People are kissing calves!
Therefore,
They shall be
Like the morning mist,
Like the dew
That goes early away,
Like the chaff
That swirls
From the threshing floor,
Like smoke
From a window.”
Yahweh, via Hosea, had this main complaint against the northern Israelites that they kept on adoring these idol Baal images. They kept on sinning. They made their own silver idols. They made their own images without any understanding, clearly the work of artisans. When they were finished, they wanted the people to sacrifice to these idols. They wanted people to kiss these idol calves. Yahweh was going to punish them. They were going to become like the morning mist that disappears during the day. They were going to be like chaff that blows in the wind from the threshing floor. They were going to be like smoke from a window. They would disappear before their very own eyes.
“Therefore thus says Yahweh.
‘Ask among the nations?
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel has done
A very horrible thing.
Does the snow of Lebanon
Leave the crags of Sirion?
Do the mountain waters run dry?
Do the cold flowing streams stop?
But my people have forgotten me.
They burn incense to a delusion.
They have stumbled in their ways,
On the ancient roads.
They have gone into bypaths.
They have not gone on the highway.
They are making their land a horror.
This is a thing to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who passes by it
Is horrified.
They shake their heads.
Like the east wind,
I will scatter them
Before the enemy.
I will show them my back.
I will not show them my face,
In the day of their calamity.’”
Yahweh wants to know why the Israelites have forgotten him. This virgin Israel has done a horrible thing. He asks whether the snow leaves the mountains of Lebanon at Mount Hermon. Sirion is another name for Mount Hermon. Do the mountain waters dry up? Do the cold streams disappear? Do these sources for the Jordan River stop? Of course not, yet Yahweh’s people have forgotten him. They have turned to offering incense to false delusionary idol gods. They were stumbling along. They have gone off the main highways into the side roads. Their land has become horrible. People shake their heads and hiss as they pass by. Thus Yahweh was going to be like a wind from the east and scatter them to their enemies. When the day of troubles would begin, he would show them his back and not his face.
“A Spirit from on high is
Poured out on us.
The wilderness becomes a fruitful field.
The fruitful field is deemed a forest.
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness.
Righteousness will abide in the fruitful field.
The effect of righteousness will be peace.
The result of righteousness is quietness.
The result of righteousness is trust forever.
My people will abide
In a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings,
In quiet resting places.
The forest will disappear.
The city will be utterly laid low.
Happy will you be
Who sow beside every stream.
You will let the ox range freely.
You will let the donkey range freely.”
Into this desolate situation, Isaiah inserts a ray of hope. The Spirit of Yahweh will descend on his people. The wilderness will become a fruitful field, almost like a forest. Justice shall dwell in the wilderness, while righteousness will be in the fruitful fields. This righteousness will bring peace, quiet, and everlasting trust. You will live peacefully in secure houses with quiet resting places. The city and the forest will disappear. You will lead a happy life sowing along streams and letting your ox and donkeys graze freely. This will be the ideal time of peaceful farmers.
“From that day,
Tyre will be forgotten
For seventy years,
The lifetime of one king.
At the end of seventy years,
It will happen to Tyre
As in the song
About the prostitute.
‘Take a harp!
Go about the city!
You forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody!
Sing many songs!
That you may be remembered!’
At the end of seventy years,
Yahweh will visit Tyre.
She will return to her trade.
She will prostitute herself
With all the kingdoms of the world
On the face of the earth.
Her merchandise,
Her wages will be dedicated
To Yahweh.
Her profits will not be stored.
They will not be hoarded.
Her merchandise will supply
Abundant food.
They will supply fine clothing
For those who live
In the presence of Yahweh.”
Isaiah proclaims that Tyre will be forgotten from that day of destruction for 70 years, instead of a total desolation, as in the previous verses. Tyre would disappear, but only for the lifetime of a king. At the end of 70 years, Tyre would be like an old prostitute that sings in the streets. Like a forgotten person, she would sing melodic songs so that she would be remembered. Then Yahweh would visit Tyre, so that it would be consecrated to Yahweh. Tyre would continue her prostituting trade ways with all the countries in the world. However, her merchandise and wages would be dedicated to Yahweh. Tyre would not store or hoard her profits, but her merchandise would provide food and clothing for those who lived in the presence of Yahweh, the Lord.
“O the thunder of many people!
They thunder
Like the thundering of the sea!
O the roar of nations!
They roar
Like the roaring of mighty waters!
The nations roar
Like the roaring of many waters.
But he will rebuke them.
They will flee far away.
They will be chased
Like chaff on the mountains
Before the wind.
They will be chased
Like whirling dust
Before the storm.
At evening time,
Behold terror!
Before morning,
They are no more.
This is the fate
Of those who despoil us.
This is the lot
Of those who plunder us.”
Here Isaiah warns of a coming thundering water deluge. Many people will come like thunder. They will roar like roaring mighty waters of the sea. However, Yahweh will rebuke them. They will flee like chaff in front of a mountain wind or like whirling dust before a storm. At night, they will say that terror is coming. But by morning, they will be gone. They will be no more since those who wanted to plunder and destroy them will disappear. This could be an allusion to the Assyrians attempt to capture Jerusalem around 701 BCE as told in 2 Kings, chapters 18-19.
“‘See!
Damascus will cease to be a city.
It will become a heap of ruins.
Her towns will be deserted forever.
They will be places for flocks.
These animals will lie down.
No one will make them afraid.
The fortress will disappear
From Ephraim.
The kingdom will disappear
From Damascus.
The remnant of Syria
Will be
Like the glory
Of the children of Israel.’
Thus says Yahweh of hosts.”
This is another oracle of Yahweh, via Isaiah. Damascus will cease to be a city, plain and simple, as it will become a heap of ruins deserted forever. This did not happen. Damascus would become a place for grazing animals to lay down where no one would bother them. Then we have an implied reprimand for the northern Israelites, as Yahweh says that Ephraim, with the capital city of Samaria, would lose its fortress. The northern Israelites were aligned with Syria or Aram against Judah. The Aramean kingdom would disappear from Damascus, which did happen. The remnant of Syria would give glory to the children of Israel. Thus we have this divine diatribe against Damascus in Syria.
“In the year that King Ahaz died
This oracle came.
‘Do not rejoice!
All you Philistines!
The rod that struck you is broken.
From the snake’s root
Will come forth an adder.
Its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.
The firstborn of the poor will graze.
The needy will lie down in safety.
But I will make your root
Die of famine.
Your remnant,
I will kill.
Wail!
O gate!
Cry!
O city!
Melt in fear!
O Philistia!
All of you!
Smoke comes out of the north.
There is no straggler in his ranks.’”
Next Isaiah turned to the coastal Philistines. This oracle has a specific time frame, the year that King Ahaz died, which would have been about 716 BCE. The Philistines had been a common enemy of the Israelites, especially during the time of King Saul and King David in 1 Samuel and I Chronicles. The Philistine southwestern coastal 5 cities had been captured by the Assyrians. Thus with the destruction of Assyria, they should be free. However, another foe from the north would come to attack them. Yahweh reminded them that a small adder snake can come from the fallen snake like a fiery flying serpent. Although it will seem okay because there will be food to eat and the needy will be safe, Yahweh was going to send them a famine to kill those left over. The Philistines would cry and wail. They would melt with fear because a great army from the north was coming. The Philistines actually seemed to disappear after the Assyrian takeover.
“The wolf shall live
With the lamb.
The leopard shall lie down
With the kid goat.
The calf shall be with the lion.
The lion and the fatling shall be together.
A little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze together.
Their young shall lie down together.
The lion shall eat straw
Like the ox.
The nursing child shall play
Over the hole of the asp.
The weaned child shall put his hand
On the adder’s den.
But they will not get hurt.
They will not destroy
All my holy mountains.
The earth shall be full
Of the knowledge of Yahweh,
Just as the waters cover the sea.”
Isaiah points out that this future messianic king will be Davidic, with the Spirit of Yahweh, just, and live in an ideal perfect time, where all disagreements would disappear. All our problems would be solved in this idyllic perfect age to come, like the paradise that was lost. The wolf and the lamb would get along. So too, the leopard and the kid goat would be fine together. Calves, lions, and feed animals would all be as one. The cow and the bear would graze on the same field. A little child would be able to lead them, since they are so tame. Lions would eat grass and straw, just like oxen. Little nursing children would play by an asp nest or put their hands into adder’s den, and still not get hurt. No one will hurt the holy mountains. The whole earth would be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh, the Lord, just as there is the right amount of water in the seas.
“All bribery
Will be blotted out.
All injustice
Will be blotted out.
But good faith
Will last forever.
The wealth of the unjust
Will dry up like a river.
The wealth of the unjust
Will crash like a loud clap
Of thunder in a storm.
A generous person
Has cause to rejoice.
Lawbreakers
Will utterly fail.
The children of the ungodly
Put out few branches.
They are unhealthy roots
On sheer rock.
The reeds by any water
Or river bank
Are plucked up
Before any grass.
Kindness is
Like a garden of blessings.
Almsgiving endures forever.”
Sirach utters some proverbs or sayings about injustice and life. Bribery and injustice will be blotted out, but good faith will last forever. The wealth of the unjust will disappear like a dried up river or thunder in a storm, here today, but gone tomorrow. Generous people should rejoice, while the lawbreakers will fail. The children of the ungodly will have few branches because their unhealthy roots are on solid rocks so they will have no yield. They are like reeds near water that is plucked before the grass. Kindness, on the other hand, grows into a garden of blessings. Then too almsgiving endures forever.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 