“I will make Rabbah
A pasture for camels.
Ammon shall be
A fold for flocks.
Then you will know
That I am Yahweh.”
Rabbah was the capital of Ammon. Thus the capital city would become a pasture for camels. The current capital of Jordan is Amman where Rabbah once was. Ammon would just become a place for animals to graze. They would learn that Yahweh was in charge.
“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.
“Yahweh will give rain for the seed
With which you sow the ground.
Grain will be the produce of the ground.
It will be rich
It will be plentiful.
On that day,
Your cattle will graze in broad pastures.
The oxen will till the ground.
The donkey will eat silage
That has been winnowed
With shovels and forks.
On every lofty mountain,
On every high hill,
There will be brooks running with water.
On this day of the great slaughter,
The towers will fall.
The light of the moon will be
Like the light of the sun.
The light of the sun
Will be sevenfold,
Like the light of seven days.
On the day
When Yahweh binds up
The hurt of his people,
He will heal the wounds
Inflicted by his own blows.”
In this future time, things will be good. Yahweh will send rain to make the seed grains grow rich and plentiful. The cattle will graze in large pastures. There will be plenty of winnowed silage for the working oxen and donkeys so that they can till the ground. All the mountains and the hills will have flowing brooks. The towers will fall on the day of slaughter. However, the light from the moon will be like that of the sun, while the light from the sun will be like the light of a week of sunlight. Yahweh will heal the wounds that people have suffered even from his own blows.
“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.
“Therefore Sheol
Has enlarged its appetite.
It has opened its mouth
Beyond measure.
The nobility of Jerusalem
Go down to Sheol.
Her multitudes
Go down to Sheol.
Her throng
Go down to Sheol.
All who exult in her
Go down to Sheol.
People are bowed down.
Everyone is brought low.
The eyes of the haughty
Are humbled.
But Yahweh of hosts
Is exalted
By justice.
The Holy God
Shows himself holy
By righteousness.
Then the lambs shall graze
As in their pasture.
Fatlings shall feed
Among the ruins.
Kids shall feed
Among the ruins.”
Because there were so many evil people, Sheol, the shadowy afterlife underworld, had to get bigger to hold all these people. After all, the nobility of Jerusalem would go down to Sheol. Along with them, the multitude and the throngs of people would also go down to Sheol. Everyone will be brought low, as the eyes of the haughty or proud will be humbled. However, Yahweh, the Lord, will be exalted by justice since he will show his righteous holiness. As for Jerusalem, the lambs, the fatlings, and the kid animals will graze as if they were in a pasture among those ruins of Jerusalem. This is a desolate picture.
“Many bulls encircle me.
Strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
They open wide their mouths at me,
They are like a ravening and roaring lion.”
Bashan was on the northern plains. The first Israelite settlers under Moses had attacked the king of Bashan, King Og, in Numbers, chapter 21. This must have been a great place for bulls to graze. Apparently, they were famous at the time of this biblical writing. Somehow bulls that were like these Bashan bulls surrounded David or the psalmist. With their mouths wide open, they were like roaring lions. Perhaps this is an indication of those who were against him. This may be the source of the term bullying.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 